The basic plot of The Age of Innocence is this, Newland is engaged to May Welland during the time where high society dominated New York. However, when May’s scandalous cousin, the Countess Ellen Olenska, returns to the city, his world is turned upside down as he falls in love with her. What bothers me the most about this story is that is appears as though Newland falls for Ellen the second he sees her. It does not make sense, but the way I am interpreting it is that Newland is engaged to May and over the moon about it, then the Countess comes along and all of a sudden now he loves her. I feel like there is no process of the two of them falling in love. I can understand why Newland is attracted to her. Ellen represents everything New York society is against, “it is clear she is not ‘innocent’, and she doesn’t pretend to be so” (Davis article). Since Newland is struggling with his own identity within society at this time, Ellen seems like the perfect girl for him. It frustrates me for in the beginning of the novel, Newland could not be happier with his choice of a bride, “She dropped her eyes . . . Newland Archer . . . drew a breath of satisfied vanity and his eyes returned to the stage” (26). Then all it takes is some new meat to come along and he can change his affections just like that? Again, I understand why Newland and Ellen fall for each other, I’m just not happy about it.
I find all of the women in this novel to be confusing. Countess Olenska is constantly gossiped about and to an extent ostracized for her scandalous, non New York high society behavior, but Mrs. Manson Mingott definitely marched to the beat of her own drum and she was respected for it,
He had always admired the high and mighty old lady who . . . put the crowning touch to her audacities by building a large house of pale cream-coloured stone (when brown sandstone seemed as much as the only wear as a frock-coat in the afternoon) (33).
When the Countess is old will she be admired for her bold choice in clothing and quirky house in the artists district? It is interesting that Wharton chose to have these two clearly independent female characters mixed in with the rest of the society pleasing women who would not be caught dead wearing last seasons colors. The fact that these two types of women are put in the same social settings and therefore always being compared by the reader only makes them contrast more.
(456)
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Monday, April 28, 2008
Miss Independent?
When I first started reading “The Age of Innocence”, I felt like the character of May Welland was not one to stand up for herself in a sense. She seemed like the kind of person who would do whatever anyone told her and appeared to be very naïve and prim and proper about things. Especially when compared against the Countess Olenska, who’s every action made some kind of scandalous statement, I considered May to be somewhat bland, even possibly annoying, “A lovely human doll whose uselessness aggrandizes her owner’s social standing” (147). However, one of the Jstor articles I found discusses how although May comes off as this quiet, prude, she is actually quite clever and able to manipulate situations and people to work in her favor, while keeping up her innocent façade the entire time. While Newland thinks he is the one controlling the relationship, “It would presently be his task to take the bandage from this young woman’s eyes and bid her look forth on the world” (101); it is May who is really calling the shots. She decides when they get married, and she decides when they announce their engagement, not Newland. She executes her power in the relationship in such a subtle manner that it is almost impossible to detect it unless it is pointed out to the reader. There is one part of the article that I disagree with though. When May questions Newland’s feelings about her after he asks to move up the engagement, she tells him, “ I couldn’t have my happiness made out of a wrong . . . if you feel yourself pledged in any way . . . Newland, don’t give her up because of me!” (167). Why is she willing to sacrifice her happiness so the man she loves can be with another woman? If I were May I would be angry both with Newland and with this mystery fiancée snatcher.Why does May offer Newland a chance to call off the engagement? Is it that she is trying to avoid the embarrassment of having a cheating husband? Does she want to cut if off before things get out of control? Is she trying to do the socially acceptable thing? Or is she really just that considerate of others and their feelings?
Jstor Articles
The Transparent Eyes of May Welland in Wharton’s The Age of Innocence
Vulgarity and Red Blood in The Age of Innocence
A Footnote to Edith Wharton
(412)
Jstor Articles
The Transparent Eyes of May Welland in Wharton’s The Age of Innocence
Vulgarity and Red Blood in The Age of Innocence
A Footnote to Edith Wharton
(412)
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
The Man Who Laughs At Death
John Donne’s “Death be not proud”, otherwise known as Holy Sonnet X, was part of a collection of nineteen sonnets that were published after John Donne’s death. Donne wrote several poems challenging death, his most notable being his “Death’s Duel” sermon, which he delivered when he was on the verge of death himself. Although the exact year in which “Death be not proud” was written is unknown, many believe it to be between 1601 and 1610. Throughout the entire poem the speaker dismantles death from something feared and unknown to something weak and irrelevant. His challenging something that is so universally feared is what makes the poem so captivating. The language in the poem is relatively simple, which allows the speaker’s confidence to shine through. It is this confidence that makes death seem less terrifying.
“Death be not proud” is a fourteen-line sonnet consisting of an eight-line stanza, called an octave, and a six-line stanza, called a sestet. This kind of sonnet is commonly known as a petrarchan sonnet, with the octave presenting the theme and the sestet developing it. In this particular case the octave presents the idea of why death is not as powerful as people believe it to be, “For, those, whom thou think’st, thou dost overthrow, die not . . .” (4). The speaker then goes on to explain why he doubts death’s power in the sestet. The poem takes the rhyme scheme ABBA, ABBA, CDDC, EE and while the meter varies, most of the lines are in iambic pentameter.
The ways in which Donne describes death in the poem are essential to the overall theme of removing death from its pedestal. Words like “poor” or “slave” causes death to appear flawed and almost pathetic. It is these same words and more that help Donne personify death and have it be the person he addresses throughout the poem. In the opening line “Death be not proud . . .” (1), this simple command signals that death is the one the poem is directed at. The most obvious personification is the speaker’s referral to death as “thou”, “thee”, and “thy”, which of course translates over as “you” and “your”. By awarding death possessive pronouns Donne makes it seem less conceptual and more physical, since clearly it is quite difficult for ideas to have ownership over something. They say “to err is human” and by humanizing death it is easier for the speaker to point out its imperfections. The speaker makes several acute observations about death and how it truly is a lowly slave to luck, hoping for wars, accidents, murders, and plagues just so it can have a purpose and “put men to sleep”. However, as death fails to see, a simple potion made from a poppie or some kind of incantation can also cause men to sleep—and do a better job than death can.
Donne focuses on the Christian ideal of life after death throughout the poem. The line “an soonest our best men with thee do go, rest of their bones, and souls delivery” (7) talks about how even though death may have condemned a man’s body to a coffin, his soul continues to live on for all eternity in heaven. It is this belief in the afterlife that ends up being the death of death, for there is no such thing as “dying” any more, “One short sleep past, we wake eternally” (13). When we “wake eternally” our souls remain alive forever, only the physical part of man is gone. Death has no right to be proud since not even he can take away a person’s soul.
(609)
“Death be not proud” is a fourteen-line sonnet consisting of an eight-line stanza, called an octave, and a six-line stanza, called a sestet. This kind of sonnet is commonly known as a petrarchan sonnet, with the octave presenting the theme and the sestet developing it. In this particular case the octave presents the idea of why death is not as powerful as people believe it to be, “For, those, whom thou think’st, thou dost overthrow, die not . . .” (4). The speaker then goes on to explain why he doubts death’s power in the sestet. The poem takes the rhyme scheme ABBA, ABBA, CDDC, EE and while the meter varies, most of the lines are in iambic pentameter.
The ways in which Donne describes death in the poem are essential to the overall theme of removing death from its pedestal. Words like “poor” or “slave” causes death to appear flawed and almost pathetic. It is these same words and more that help Donne personify death and have it be the person he addresses throughout the poem. In the opening line “Death be not proud . . .” (1), this simple command signals that death is the one the poem is directed at. The most obvious personification is the speaker’s referral to death as “thou”, “thee”, and “thy”, which of course translates over as “you” and “your”. By awarding death possessive pronouns Donne makes it seem less conceptual and more physical, since clearly it is quite difficult for ideas to have ownership over something. They say “to err is human” and by humanizing death it is easier for the speaker to point out its imperfections. The speaker makes several acute observations about death and how it truly is a lowly slave to luck, hoping for wars, accidents, murders, and plagues just so it can have a purpose and “put men to sleep”. However, as death fails to see, a simple potion made from a poppie or some kind of incantation can also cause men to sleep—and do a better job than death can.
Donne focuses on the Christian ideal of life after death throughout the poem. The line “an soonest our best men with thee do go, rest of their bones, and souls delivery” (7) talks about how even though death may have condemned a man’s body to a coffin, his soul continues to live on for all eternity in heaven. It is this belief in the afterlife that ends up being the death of death, for there is no such thing as “dying” any more, “One short sleep past, we wake eternally” (13). When we “wake eternally” our souls remain alive forever, only the physical part of man is gone. Death has no right to be proud since not even he can take away a person’s soul.
(609)
Friday, April 11, 2008
The Age of Innocent Gossip
Before I started reading Edith Wharton’s The Age of Innocence, I had always thought it would have been so much fun to live like the characters did. Money, glamorous clothes, and mingling with Dukes and other New York royalty at the opera, all sounded like so much fun. However, when I began reading the book, I saw that the grass was not that green on the other side. One was constantly judged by every aspect; their clothes, who the talked to, where they lived, and even on what kind of food they served at their dinner parties. It seems that all these people did was about one another, like it was their life source or something. Were the New York aristocrats really that bored? I did find it rather amusing however that the go-to person for the latest dish was a man, Mr. Sillerton Jackson. Usually the novel’s designated gossip is a silly and a somewhat ridiculous woman. Mr. Sillerton Jackson however, appears as cool and collected as any other New York gentleman, and understands the importance of respect when it comes to sharing secrets, “For not only did his keen sense of honor forbid his repeating anything privately imparted, but he was fully aware that his reputation for discretion increased his opportunities of finding out what he wanted to know”(31). Gossip seems to be the driving force in these peoples lives, “what will so and so think if I wear this” “can you believe he showed up with her?”. You would think with all that money and the opportunity to travel and learn these New Yorkers would want to talk about things slightly more substantial than just how low-cut Countess Olenska’s dress was at last night’s opera.
The character of Newland Archer is slightly refreshing in the novel because it seems he does not really care about the latest bit of gossip, and overall finds the New York aristocrat scene rather unfulfilling. It is almost quite humorous. I have this image of Newland standing outside the door of a house with a look of dread on his face and the second the door opens he puts on a big smile and exclaims “How lovely to see you!” while on the inside he is going “kill me”, “The man had spent an unsatisfactory day . . . packed in the family landau the rolled from one tribal doorstep to another . . . with the feeling he had been shown off like a wild animal cunningly trapped” (87). Now this does not mean that he does not care about what others think of him. In the beginning of the novel Newland cares about his social standing just as much the rest, “What was or was not ‘the thing’ played a part as important in Newland Archer’s New York as the inscrutable totem errors that had ruled the destinies of his forefathers thousands of years ago” (24). I think Newland does not care what others think, but he just doesn’t know it yet. He is drawn Countess Olenska because of her ability to speak her mind and not worry about committing any social blunders. Newland wishes to have that same kind of bravery and I believe that is one of the many reasons why she attracts his attention.
(549)
The character of Newland Archer is slightly refreshing in the novel because it seems he does not really care about the latest bit of gossip, and overall finds the New York aristocrat scene rather unfulfilling. It is almost quite humorous. I have this image of Newland standing outside the door of a house with a look of dread on his face and the second the door opens he puts on a big smile and exclaims “How lovely to see you!” while on the inside he is going “kill me”, “The man had spent an unsatisfactory day . . . packed in the family landau the rolled from one tribal doorstep to another . . . with the feeling he had been shown off like a wild animal cunningly trapped” (87). Now this does not mean that he does not care about what others think of him. In the beginning of the novel Newland cares about his social standing just as much the rest, “What was or was not ‘the thing’ played a part as important in Newland Archer’s New York as the inscrutable totem errors that had ruled the destinies of his forefathers thousands of years ago” (24). I think Newland does not care what others think, but he just doesn’t know it yet. He is drawn Countess Olenska because of her ability to speak her mind and not worry about committing any social blunders. Newland wishes to have that same kind of bravery and I believe that is one of the many reasons why she attracts his attention.
(549)
Monday, March 10, 2008
A Not So Beautiful Mind
I do not like Troy Maxson. I think what he did to Cory regarding his football career was awful and I don’t blame Cory for his behavior towards his father after that. Also, I do not like the way he treats Rose. He talks to her as if she is an object and that her only purpose in life is to cook him food, raise his kids, and sleep with him. However, I can understand why Troy acts the way he does. But just because I understand why does not mean I have to like him. I believe Troy’s issues date all the way back to his relationship with his mother and father (surprise surprise). It is quite obvious that Troy’s own parenting issues stem from the ones his father had. Because Troy was forced to work his entire childhood, that is why he places so much emphasis on Cory working too, “A kid to him wasn’t nothing. All he wanted was for you to learn how to walk so he could start you working” (2022). He thinks that is how you treat your children because that is how he was treated and he does not know any better. Still, I feel like since Troy was treated in such an awful manner you would think he would never want his son to go through that. I guess in some ways Troy is being a better father than his own ever was. I mean we do not hear of any instances where Troy attempts to violate a girl Cory is after and then absolutely pulverize Cory. Still, I think what he did to Cory with regards to his football career was awful and I had to stop reading for a second. Just because Troy’s baseball career never took off does not mean Cory can’t follow his own dreams.
I think part of the reason why Troy prevents Cory from playing football in college is because maybe a part of him is jealous of Cory. I mean Troy only got to play in the Negro Leagues, never in college or any other kind of professional level. Maybe Troy has the “Well it didn’t work out for me so why should it work out for him” mindset. Yes it’s unfair, but it’s also unfair that Troy’s father beat him and his mother skipped town, but it still happened. I think the fact that Troy never really grew up with a mother figure really affected how he treated Rose and women in general. He never saw how a good husband takes care of his wife and remains faithful to her because his deadbeat dad never treated Troy’s mother that way. Like father like son. It is just once of those unfortunate situations since Cory and Rose did nothing wrong and all they do it get treated badly by Troy. But at what point is it Troy acting because he is just mean and because he just doesn’t know better? And if it is the latter, is that an appropriate excuse for what he did to Rose and Cory? The world may never know.
(524)
I think part of the reason why Troy prevents Cory from playing football in college is because maybe a part of him is jealous of Cory. I mean Troy only got to play in the Negro Leagues, never in college or any other kind of professional level. Maybe Troy has the “Well it didn’t work out for me so why should it work out for him” mindset. Yes it’s unfair, but it’s also unfair that Troy’s father beat him and his mother skipped town, but it still happened. I think the fact that Troy never really grew up with a mother figure really affected how he treated Rose and women in general. He never saw how a good husband takes care of his wife and remains faithful to her because his deadbeat dad never treated Troy’s mother that way. Like father like son. It is just once of those unfortunate situations since Cory and Rose did nothing wrong and all they do it get treated badly by Troy. But at what point is it Troy acting because he is just mean and because he just doesn’t know better? And if it is the latter, is that an appropriate excuse for what he did to Rose and Cory? The world may never know.
(524)
Thursday, February 21, 2008
Hamlet and Gertrude: take 2
LORD POLONIUS
He will come straight. Look you lay home to him:
Tell him his pranks have been too broad to bear with,
And that your grace hath screen'd and stood between
Much heat and him. I'll sconce me even here.
Pray you, be round with him.
He calls from outside the room.
HAMLET
Mother, mother, mother!
QUEEN GERTRUDE
I'll warrant you,
Fear me not: withdraw, I hear him coming.
Polonius hides behind the arras as Hamlet enters. He knows what his mother called him in for but plays ignorant to see how the situation plays out.
HAMLET
Now, mother, what's the matter?
Hamlet's behavior in the past couple days has been unexplainable, but the stunt he pulled during the play pushed it over to inexcusable.
QUEEN GERTRUDE
Hamlet, thou hast thy father much offended.
If anyone has offended any fathers, it was Gertrude by marrying King Hamlet's brother right after his death.
HAMLET
Mother, you have my father much offended.
QUEEN GERTRUDE
Come, come, you answer with an idle tongue.
He is seeing how far he can push his mother with his attitude. He disdain for her at this point is so strong he can hardly be civil towards her.
HAMLET
Go, go, you question with a wicked tongue.
Gertrude can't understand why Hamlet is so upset with her, for in her mind she has done nothing wrong and that Hamlet is just overreacting with her marriage to Claudius.
QUEEN GERTRUDE
Why, how now, Hamlet!
HAMLET
What's the matter now?
QUEEN GERTRUDE
Have you forgot me?
He feels no respect for her at all and when she belittles him with the threats of sending for others he shows his true feelings, anger and shame, more and more with each line.
HAMLET
No, by the rood, not so:
You are the queen, your husband's brother's wife;
And--would it were not so!--you are my mother.
QUEEN GERTRUDE
Nay, then, I'll set those to you that can speak.
He pushes her into a chair, his anger becomes more obvious in his tone.
HAMLET
Come, come, and sit you down; you shall not budge;
You go not till I set you up a glass
Where you may see the inmost part of you.
Her eyes are wide with fright as she grips the arms of the chair.
QUEEN GERTRUDE
What wilt thou do? thou wilt not murder me?
Help, help, ho!
Polonius panics from behind the arras.
Lord Polonius
What, ho! help, help, help!
Hearing Polonius, he draws his sword and whips around. Livid that he is being spied on, he loses all self-control.
HAMLET
How now! a rat? Dead, for a ducat, dead!
Makes a pass through the arras. Gertrude gets up from her chair and runs to the other side of the room in fear as Hamlet slashes at the arras.
Clutching his wound, Polonius struggles to speak.
LORD POLONIUS
[Behind] O, I am slain!
Falls and dies, his eyes wide, with almost a look of surprise on his face.
In shock over what has just happened, she slowly approaches Hamlet, her voice soft with fright.
QUEEN GERTRUDE
O me, what hast thou done?
Slightly stunned by his own actions, he looks at his sword, and then at the torn arras.
HAMLET
Nay, I know not:
Is it the king?
QUEEN GERTRUDE
O, what a rash and bloody deed is this!
He slowly turns to her and glares, upset by his mother's inability to see how wrong her marrying Claudius was.
HAMLET
A bloody deed! almost as bad, good mother,
As kill a king, and marry with his brother.
QUEEN GERTRUDE
As kill a king!
He knows Gertrude knows what he is talking about.
HAMLET
Ay, lady, 'twas my word.
Hamlet lifts up the array and discovers POLONIUS. He sighs heavily. He is disheartened for he knows if Polonius had just minded his own business he would still be alive.
Thou wretched, rash, intruding fool, farewell!
I took thee for thy better: take thy fortune;
Thou find'st to be too busy is some danger.
Leave wringing of your hands: peace! sit you down,
And let me wring your heart; for so I shall,
If it be made of penetrable stuff,
If damned custom have not brass'd it so
That it is proof and bulwark against sense.
Speaking to Hamlet's back, her question sounds sincere.
QUEEN GERTRUDE
What have I done, that thou darest wag thy tongue
In noise so rude against me?
He turns and looks at her with disbelief that she is still pretending to not know what he is talking about. He really can't believe that she is still denying it.
HAMLET
Such an act
That blurs the grace and blush of modesty,
Calls virtue hypocrite, takes off the rose
From the fair forehead of an innocent love
And sets a blister there, makes marriage-vows
As false as dicers' oaths: O, such a deed
As from the body of contraction plucks
The very soul, and sweet religion makes
A rhapsody of words: heaven's face doth glow:
Yea, this solidity and compound mass,
With tristful visage, as against the doom,
Is thought-sick at the act.
She is becoming frustrated with Hamlet, her voice pained with confusion.
QUEEN GERTRUDE
Ay me, what act,
That roars so loud, and thunders in the index?
At first he is filled with anguish, but it evolves into anger as he finally lets out all hate and disgust he felt towards Gertrude and Claudius.
HAMLET
Look here, upon this picture, and on this,
The counterfeit presentment of two brothers.
See, what a grace was seated on this brow;
Hyperion's curls; the front of Jove himself;
An eye like Mars, to threaten and command;
A station like the herald Mercury
New-lighted on a heaven-kissing hill;
A combination and a form indeed,
Where every god did seem to set his seal,
To give the world assurance of a man:
This was your husband. Look you now, what follows:
Here is your husband; like a mildew'd ear,
Blasting his wholesome brother. Have you eyes?
Could you on this fair mountain leave to feed,
And batten on this moor? Ha! have you eyes?
You cannot call it love; for at your age
The hey-day in the blood is tame, it's humble,
And waits upon the judgment: and what judgment
Would step from this to this? Sense, sure, you have,
Else could you not have motion; but sure, that sense
Is apoplex'd; for madness would not err,
Nor sense to ecstasy was ne'er so thrall'd
But it reserved some quantity of choice,
To serve in such a difference. What devil was't
That thus hath cozen'd you at hoodman-blind?
Eyes without feeling, feeling without sight,
Ears without hands or eyes, smelling sans all,
Or but a sickly part of one true sense
Could not so mope.
O shame! where is thy blush? Rebellious hell,
If thou canst mutine in a matron's bones,
To flaming youth let virtue be as wax,
And melt in her own fire: proclaim no shame
When the compulsive ardour gives the charge,
Since frost itself as actively doth burn
And reason panders will.
She had begun to cry while Hamlet yelled at her. Not wanting to face the awful reality of her marriage to Claudius, she begs him to stop.
QUEEN GERTRUDE
O Hamlet, speak no more:
Thou turn'st mine eyes into my very soul;
And there I see such black and grained spots
As will not leave their tinct.
He comes in close to Gertrude's face, his anger only increasing due to the shame he feels towards her. He clenches his teeth in anger.
HAMLET
Nay, but to live
In the rank sweat of an enseamed bed,
Stew'd in corruption, honeying and making love
Over the nasty sty,--
Gertrude can't take it anymore. She falls to her knees sobbing, her hands over her ears.
QUEEN GERTRUDE
O, speak to me no more;
These words, like daggers, enter in mine ears;
No more, sweet Hamlet!
Hamlet feels almost a sense of satisfaction after finally telling his mother how he feels. He yells his accusation and speaks clearly,as if he wants the entire world to hear it.
HAMLET
A murderer and a villain;
A slave that is not twentieth part the tithe
Of your precedent lord; a vice of kings;
A cutpurse of the empire and the rule,
That from a shelf the precious diadem stole,
And put it in his pocket!
QUEEN GERTRUDE
No more!
HAMLET
A king of shreds and patches,--
Enter Ghost. As if suddenly under a spell, Hamlet becomes calm, falling to his knees as a sign of respect for his father.
Save me, and hover o'er me with your wings,
You heavenly guards! What would your gracious figure?
She regains her senses and is puzzled by Hamlet's sudden calmness.
QUEEN GERTRUDE
Alas, he's mad!
Hamlet, ignoring his mother, is anxious to know why the ghost is visiting him and is hoping he has come to give him more instructions.
HAMLET
Do you not come your tardy son to chide,
That, lapsed in time and passion, lets go by
The important acting of your dread command? O, say!
Hamlet has strayed from his original goal of seeking revenge on Claudius, and the ghost is putting him back in his place.
Ghost
Do not forget: this visitation
Is but to whet thy almost blunted purpose.
But, look, amazement on thy mother sits:
O, step between her and her fighting soul:
Conceit in weakest bodies strongest works:
Speak to her, Hamlet.
HAMLET
How is it with you, lady?
Gertrude doesn't know how to answer Hamlet's question. The conversation he just had with himself in addition to his strange behavior over the past few days only confirms that he has gone crazy. However, Gertrude senses Hamlet is having a semi-sane moment and jumps at the opportunity to attempt to gain any insight.
QUEEN GERTRUDE
Alas, how is't with you,
That you do bend your eye on vacancy
And with the incorporal air do hold discourse?
Forth at your eyes your spirits wildly peep;
And, as the sleeping soldiers in the alarm,
Your bedded hair, like life in excrements,
Starts up, and stands on end. O gentle son,
Upon the heat and flame of thy distemper
Sprinkle cool patience. Whereon do you look?
Hamlet's anger has subsided and is attempting to somewhat rebuild the bridge he has just burned with his mother, hoping to do so by showing her his father's ghost. The problem with this however, is that its distracting Hamlet from his revenge.
HAMLET
On him, on him! Look you, how pale he glares!
His form and cause conjoin'd, preaching to stones,
Would make them capable. Do not look upon me;
Lest with this piteous action you convert
My stern effects: then what I have to do
Will want true colour; tears perchance for blood.
QUEEN GERTRUDE
To whom do you speak this?
The mood has become tense for neither Gertrude nor Hamlet wants to upset the other. They are tiptoeing around the issue that in their own mind, the other person is slightly off.
HAMLET
Do you see nothing there?
QUEEN GERTRUDE
Nothing at all; yet all that is I see.
HAMLET
Nor did you nothing hear?
QUEEN GERTRUDE
No, nothing but ourselves.
HAMLET
Why, look you there! look, how it steals away!
My father, in his habit as he lived!
Look, where he goes, even now, out at the portal!
The ghost leaves. Gertrude is trying her hardest to bring Hamlet back to reality.
QUEEN GERTRUDE
This the very coinage of your brain:
This bodiless creation ecstasy
Is very cunning in.
This is key, for throughout the entire play Hamlet has been playing the crazy card a but now it has made it impossible for anyone to take him seriously. He is frustrated the one time he wants to be seen as sane, he is viewed as a lunatic.
HAMLET
Ecstasy!
My pulse, as yours, doth temperately keep time,
And makes as healthful music: it is not madness
That I have utter'd: bring me to the test,
And I the matter will re-word; which madness
Would gambol from.
Hamlet attempts to get back to the issue of his mother and Claudius. He and Gertrude are drifting from the real problem, which is Gertrude marrying Claudius, not Hamlet's questionable sanity.
Mother, for love of grace,
Lay not that mattering unction to your soul,
That not your trespass, but my madness speaks:
It will but skin and film the ulcerous place,
Whilst rank corruption, mining all within,
Infects unseen. Confess yourself to heaven;
Repent what's past; avoid what is to come;
And do not spread the compost on the weeds,
To make them ranker. Forgive me this my virtue;
For in the fatness of these pursy times
Virtue itself of vice must pardon beg,
Yea, curb and woo for leave to do him good.
She wants nothing more than for all of this too end for it isn't doing any good for anyone. She falls back into her chair, exhausted with grief.
QUEEN GERTRUDE
O Hamlet, thou hast cleft my heart in twain.
Hamlet has hope for his mother. He takes her hands in his and earnestly looks at her, feeling a need to protect her from Claudius and hoping she has enough strength to resist him.
O, throw away the worser part of it,
And live the purer with the other half.
Good night: but go not to mine uncle's bed;
Assume a virtue, if you have it not.
That monster, custom, who all sense doth eat,
Of habits devil, is angel yet in this,
That to the use of actions fair and good
He likewise gives a frock or livery,
That aptly is put on. Refrain to-night,
And that shall lend a kind of easiness
To the next abstinence: the next more easy;
For use almost can change the stamp of nature,
And either the devil, or throw him out
With wondrous potency. Once more, good night:
And when you are desirous to be bless'd,
I'll blessing beg of you. For this same lord,
He motions toward Polonius, aware that he must face the consequences of his actions.
I do repent: but heaven hath pleased it so,
To punish me with this and this with me,
That I must be their scourge and minister.
I will bestow him, and will answer well
The death I gave him. So, again, good night.
I must be cruel, only to be kind:
Thus bad begins and worse remains behind.
One word more, good lady.
QUEEN GERTRUDE
What shall I do?
He cautions her to not be lulled into a false sense of security by Claudius and expose his plan and all he has worked for. The situation is very delicate at this point and even the smallest upset could ruin everything.
HAMLET
Not this, by no means, that I bid you do:
Let the bloat king tempt you again to bed;
Pinch wanton on your cheek; call you his mouse;
And let him, for a pair of reechy kisses,
Or paddling in your neck with his damn'd fingers,
Make you to ravel all this matter out,
That I essentially am not in madness,
But mad in craft. 'Twere good you let him know;
For who, that's but a queen, fair, sober, wise,
Would from a paddock, from a bat, a gib,
Such dear concernings hide? who would do so?
No, in despite of sense and secrecy,
Unpeg the basket on the house's top.
Let the birds fly, and, like the famous ape,
To try conclusions, in the basket creep,
And break your own neck down.
Easier said than done. She is not strong enough to betray Claudius like that.
QUEEN GERTRUDE
Be thou assured, if words be made of breath,
And breath of life, I have no life to breathe
What thou hast said to me.
He will come straight. Look you lay home to him:
Tell him his pranks have been too broad to bear with,
And that your grace hath screen'd and stood between
Much heat and him. I'll sconce me even here.
Pray you, be round with him.
He calls from outside the room.
HAMLET
Mother, mother, mother!
QUEEN GERTRUDE
I'll warrant you,
Fear me not: withdraw, I hear him coming.
Polonius hides behind the arras as Hamlet enters. He knows what his mother called him in for but plays ignorant to see how the situation plays out.
HAMLET
Now, mother, what's the matter?
Hamlet's behavior in the past couple days has been unexplainable, but the stunt he pulled during the play pushed it over to inexcusable.
QUEEN GERTRUDE
Hamlet, thou hast thy father much offended.
If anyone has offended any fathers, it was Gertrude by marrying King Hamlet's brother right after his death.
HAMLET
Mother, you have my father much offended.
QUEEN GERTRUDE
Come, come, you answer with an idle tongue.
He is seeing how far he can push his mother with his attitude. He disdain for her at this point is so strong he can hardly be civil towards her.
HAMLET
Go, go, you question with a wicked tongue.
Gertrude can't understand why Hamlet is so upset with her, for in her mind she has done nothing wrong and that Hamlet is just overreacting with her marriage to Claudius.
QUEEN GERTRUDE
Why, how now, Hamlet!
HAMLET
What's the matter now?
QUEEN GERTRUDE
Have you forgot me?
He feels no respect for her at all and when she belittles him with the threats of sending for others he shows his true feelings, anger and shame, more and more with each line.
HAMLET
No, by the rood, not so:
You are the queen, your husband's brother's wife;
And--would it were not so!--you are my mother.
QUEEN GERTRUDE
Nay, then, I'll set those to you that can speak.
He pushes her into a chair, his anger becomes more obvious in his tone.
HAMLET
Come, come, and sit you down; you shall not budge;
You go not till I set you up a glass
Where you may see the inmost part of you.
Her eyes are wide with fright as she grips the arms of the chair.
QUEEN GERTRUDE
What wilt thou do? thou wilt not murder me?
Help, help, ho!
Polonius panics from behind the arras.
Lord Polonius
What, ho! help, help, help!
Hearing Polonius, he draws his sword and whips around. Livid that he is being spied on, he loses all self-control.
HAMLET
How now! a rat? Dead, for a ducat, dead!
Makes a pass through the arras. Gertrude gets up from her chair and runs to the other side of the room in fear as Hamlet slashes at the arras.
Clutching his wound, Polonius struggles to speak.
LORD POLONIUS
[Behind] O, I am slain!
Falls and dies, his eyes wide, with almost a look of surprise on his face.
In shock over what has just happened, she slowly approaches Hamlet, her voice soft with fright.
QUEEN GERTRUDE
O me, what hast thou done?
Slightly stunned by his own actions, he looks at his sword, and then at the torn arras.
HAMLET
Nay, I know not:
Is it the king?
QUEEN GERTRUDE
O, what a rash and bloody deed is this!
He slowly turns to her and glares, upset by his mother's inability to see how wrong her marrying Claudius was.
HAMLET
A bloody deed! almost as bad, good mother,
As kill a king, and marry with his brother.
QUEEN GERTRUDE
As kill a king!
He knows Gertrude knows what he is talking about.
HAMLET
Ay, lady, 'twas my word.
Hamlet lifts up the array and discovers POLONIUS. He sighs heavily. He is disheartened for he knows if Polonius had just minded his own business he would still be alive.
Thou wretched, rash, intruding fool, farewell!
I took thee for thy better: take thy fortune;
Thou find'st to be too busy is some danger.
Leave wringing of your hands: peace! sit you down,
And let me wring your heart; for so I shall,
If it be made of penetrable stuff,
If damned custom have not brass'd it so
That it is proof and bulwark against sense.
Speaking to Hamlet's back, her question sounds sincere.
QUEEN GERTRUDE
What have I done, that thou darest wag thy tongue
In noise so rude against me?
He turns and looks at her with disbelief that she is still pretending to not know what he is talking about. He really can't believe that she is still denying it.
HAMLET
Such an act
That blurs the grace and blush of modesty,
Calls virtue hypocrite, takes off the rose
From the fair forehead of an innocent love
And sets a blister there, makes marriage-vows
As false as dicers' oaths: O, such a deed
As from the body of contraction plucks
The very soul, and sweet religion makes
A rhapsody of words: heaven's face doth glow:
Yea, this solidity and compound mass,
With tristful visage, as against the doom,
Is thought-sick at the act.
She is becoming frustrated with Hamlet, her voice pained with confusion.
QUEEN GERTRUDE
Ay me, what act,
That roars so loud, and thunders in the index?
At first he is filled with anguish, but it evolves into anger as he finally lets out all hate and disgust he felt towards Gertrude and Claudius.
HAMLET
Look here, upon this picture, and on this,
The counterfeit presentment of two brothers.
See, what a grace was seated on this brow;
Hyperion's curls; the front of Jove himself;
An eye like Mars, to threaten and command;
A station like the herald Mercury
New-lighted on a heaven-kissing hill;
A combination and a form indeed,
Where every god did seem to set his seal,
To give the world assurance of a man:
This was your husband. Look you now, what follows:
Here is your husband; like a mildew'd ear,
Blasting his wholesome brother. Have you eyes?
Could you on this fair mountain leave to feed,
And batten on this moor? Ha! have you eyes?
You cannot call it love; for at your age
The hey-day in the blood is tame, it's humble,
And waits upon the judgment: and what judgment
Would step from this to this? Sense, sure, you have,
Else could you not have motion; but sure, that sense
Is apoplex'd; for madness would not err,
Nor sense to ecstasy was ne'er so thrall'd
But it reserved some quantity of choice,
To serve in such a difference. What devil was't
That thus hath cozen'd you at hoodman-blind?
Eyes without feeling, feeling without sight,
Ears without hands or eyes, smelling sans all,
Or but a sickly part of one true sense
Could not so mope.
O shame! where is thy blush? Rebellious hell,
If thou canst mutine in a matron's bones,
To flaming youth let virtue be as wax,
And melt in her own fire: proclaim no shame
When the compulsive ardour gives the charge,
Since frost itself as actively doth burn
And reason panders will.
She had begun to cry while Hamlet yelled at her. Not wanting to face the awful reality of her marriage to Claudius, she begs him to stop.
QUEEN GERTRUDE
O Hamlet, speak no more:
Thou turn'st mine eyes into my very soul;
And there I see such black and grained spots
As will not leave their tinct.
He comes in close to Gertrude's face, his anger only increasing due to the shame he feels towards her. He clenches his teeth in anger.
HAMLET
Nay, but to live
In the rank sweat of an enseamed bed,
Stew'd in corruption, honeying and making love
Over the nasty sty,--
Gertrude can't take it anymore. She falls to her knees sobbing, her hands over her ears.
QUEEN GERTRUDE
O, speak to me no more;
These words, like daggers, enter in mine ears;
No more, sweet Hamlet!
Hamlet feels almost a sense of satisfaction after finally telling his mother how he feels. He yells his accusation and speaks clearly,as if he wants the entire world to hear it.
HAMLET
A murderer and a villain;
A slave that is not twentieth part the tithe
Of your precedent lord; a vice of kings;
A cutpurse of the empire and the rule,
That from a shelf the precious diadem stole,
And put it in his pocket!
QUEEN GERTRUDE
No more!
HAMLET
A king of shreds and patches,--
Enter Ghost. As if suddenly under a spell, Hamlet becomes calm, falling to his knees as a sign of respect for his father.
Save me, and hover o'er me with your wings,
You heavenly guards! What would your gracious figure?
She regains her senses and is puzzled by Hamlet's sudden calmness.
QUEEN GERTRUDE
Alas, he's mad!
Hamlet, ignoring his mother, is anxious to know why the ghost is visiting him and is hoping he has come to give him more instructions.
HAMLET
Do you not come your tardy son to chide,
That, lapsed in time and passion, lets go by
The important acting of your dread command? O, say!
Hamlet has strayed from his original goal of seeking revenge on Claudius, and the ghost is putting him back in his place.
Ghost
Do not forget: this visitation
Is but to whet thy almost blunted purpose.
But, look, amazement on thy mother sits:
O, step between her and her fighting soul:
Conceit in weakest bodies strongest works:
Speak to her, Hamlet.
HAMLET
How is it with you, lady?
Gertrude doesn't know how to answer Hamlet's question. The conversation he just had with himself in addition to his strange behavior over the past few days only confirms that he has gone crazy. However, Gertrude senses Hamlet is having a semi-sane moment and jumps at the opportunity to attempt to gain any insight.
QUEEN GERTRUDE
Alas, how is't with you,
That you do bend your eye on vacancy
And with the incorporal air do hold discourse?
Forth at your eyes your spirits wildly peep;
And, as the sleeping soldiers in the alarm,
Your bedded hair, like life in excrements,
Starts up, and stands on end. O gentle son,
Upon the heat and flame of thy distemper
Sprinkle cool patience. Whereon do you look?
Hamlet's anger has subsided and is attempting to somewhat rebuild the bridge he has just burned with his mother, hoping to do so by showing her his father's ghost. The problem with this however, is that its distracting Hamlet from his revenge.
HAMLET
On him, on him! Look you, how pale he glares!
His form and cause conjoin'd, preaching to stones,
Would make them capable. Do not look upon me;
Lest with this piteous action you convert
My stern effects: then what I have to do
Will want true colour; tears perchance for blood.
QUEEN GERTRUDE
To whom do you speak this?
The mood has become tense for neither Gertrude nor Hamlet wants to upset the other. They are tiptoeing around the issue that in their own mind, the other person is slightly off.
HAMLET
Do you see nothing there?
QUEEN GERTRUDE
Nothing at all; yet all that is I see.
HAMLET
Nor did you nothing hear?
QUEEN GERTRUDE
No, nothing but ourselves.
HAMLET
Why, look you there! look, how it steals away!
My father, in his habit as he lived!
Look, where he goes, even now, out at the portal!
The ghost leaves. Gertrude is trying her hardest to bring Hamlet back to reality.
QUEEN GERTRUDE
This the very coinage of your brain:
This bodiless creation ecstasy
Is very cunning in.
This is key, for throughout the entire play Hamlet has been playing the crazy card a but now it has made it impossible for anyone to take him seriously. He is frustrated the one time he wants to be seen as sane, he is viewed as a lunatic.
HAMLET
Ecstasy!
My pulse, as yours, doth temperately keep time,
And makes as healthful music: it is not madness
That I have utter'd: bring me to the test,
And I the matter will re-word; which madness
Would gambol from.
Hamlet attempts to get back to the issue of his mother and Claudius. He and Gertrude are drifting from the real problem, which is Gertrude marrying Claudius, not Hamlet's questionable sanity.
Mother, for love of grace,
Lay not that mattering unction to your soul,
That not your trespass, but my madness speaks:
It will but skin and film the ulcerous place,
Whilst rank corruption, mining all within,
Infects unseen. Confess yourself to heaven;
Repent what's past; avoid what is to come;
And do not spread the compost on the weeds,
To make them ranker. Forgive me this my virtue;
For in the fatness of these pursy times
Virtue itself of vice must pardon beg,
Yea, curb and woo for leave to do him good.
She wants nothing more than for all of this too end for it isn't doing any good for anyone. She falls back into her chair, exhausted with grief.
QUEEN GERTRUDE
O Hamlet, thou hast cleft my heart in twain.
Hamlet has hope for his mother. He takes her hands in his and earnestly looks at her, feeling a need to protect her from Claudius and hoping she has enough strength to resist him.
O, throw away the worser part of it,
And live the purer with the other half.
Good night: but go not to mine uncle's bed;
Assume a virtue, if you have it not.
That monster, custom, who all sense doth eat,
Of habits devil, is angel yet in this,
That to the use of actions fair and good
He likewise gives a frock or livery,
That aptly is put on. Refrain to-night,
And that shall lend a kind of easiness
To the next abstinence: the next more easy;
For use almost can change the stamp of nature,
And either the devil, or throw him out
With wondrous potency. Once more, good night:
And when you are desirous to be bless'd,
I'll blessing beg of you. For this same lord,
He motions toward Polonius, aware that he must face the consequences of his actions.
I do repent: but heaven hath pleased it so,
To punish me with this and this with me,
That I must be their scourge and minister.
I will bestow him, and will answer well
The death I gave him. So, again, good night.
I must be cruel, only to be kind:
Thus bad begins and worse remains behind.
One word more, good lady.
QUEEN GERTRUDE
What shall I do?
He cautions her to not be lulled into a false sense of security by Claudius and expose his plan and all he has worked for. The situation is very delicate at this point and even the smallest upset could ruin everything.
HAMLET
Not this, by no means, that I bid you do:
Let the bloat king tempt you again to bed;
Pinch wanton on your cheek; call you his mouse;
And let him, for a pair of reechy kisses,
Or paddling in your neck with his damn'd fingers,
Make you to ravel all this matter out,
That I essentially am not in madness,
But mad in craft. 'Twere good you let him know;
For who, that's but a queen, fair, sober, wise,
Would from a paddock, from a bat, a gib,
Such dear concernings hide? who would do so?
No, in despite of sense and secrecy,
Unpeg the basket on the house's top.
Let the birds fly, and, like the famous ape,
To try conclusions, in the basket creep,
And break your own neck down.
Easier said than done. She is not strong enough to betray Claudius like that.
QUEEN GERTRUDE
Be thou assured, if words be made of breath,
And breath of life, I have no life to breathe
What thou hast said to me.
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
Let it be sung
Hallelujah by Jeff buckley
Well I heard there was a secret chord
That David played, and it pleased the Lord
But you don't really care for music, do you?
Well it goes like this
The fourth, the fifth
The minor fall and the major lift
The baffled king composing Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Well Your faith was strong but you needed proof
You saw her bathing on the roof
Her beauty and the moonlight overthrew you
she tied you to her kitchen chair
And she broke your throne and she cut your hair
And from your lips she drew the Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Well baby I've been here before
I know this room and I've walked this floor
I used to live alone before I knew you
I've seen your flag on the marble arch
Love is not a victory march
It's a cold and it's a broken Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Well there was a time when you let me know
What's really going on below
But now you never show that to me do you?
And remember when I moved in you?
And the holy dove was moving too
And every breath we drew was Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Well maybe there's a God above
But all I've ever learned from love
Was how to shoot somebody who'd out drew you
And it's not a cry that you hear at night
It's not somebody who's seen the light
It's a cold and it's a broken Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Well I heard there was a secret chord
That David played, and it pleased the Lord
But you don't really care for music, do you?
Well it goes like this
The fourth, the fifth
The minor fall and the major lift
The baffled king composing Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Well Your faith was strong but you needed proof
You saw her bathing on the roof
Her beauty and the moonlight overthrew you
she tied you to her kitchen chair
And she broke your throne and she cut your hair
And from your lips she drew the Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Well baby I've been here before
I know this room and I've walked this floor
I used to live alone before I knew you
I've seen your flag on the marble arch
Love is not a victory march
It's a cold and it's a broken Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Well there was a time when you let me know
What's really going on below
But now you never show that to me do you?
And remember when I moved in you?
And the holy dove was moving too
And every breath we drew was Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Well maybe there's a God above
But all I've ever learned from love
Was how to shoot somebody who'd out drew you
And it's not a cry that you hear at night
It's not somebody who's seen the light
It's a cold and it's a broken Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Thursday, January 31, 2008
Men, Morals, and the Law
When I first read Antigonê, I did not find any moral conflicts among the characters. I thought Antigonê was right and Creon was wrong. I thought, and still think, she had a right and moral obligation to properly honor her dead brother that no law could overrule. However, as we discussed the play in class I began to look at the situation from Creon’s view. Polyneicês was a traitor and fought against Creon’s kingdom, so why should he give him a proper burial? So for a while I was caught between the two sides. Which law held preference, family law or state law? Although not as mind-boggling as the chicken or the egg question, it is still a real brain buster. I feel that the opening scene between Antigonê and Ismenê represents this moral dilemma,
Antigonê: You may do as you like, since apparently the laws of the gods mean nothing to you.
Ismenê: They mean a great deal to me; but I have no strength to break the laws that were made for the public good (60).
I still feel Antigonê was correct in wanting a proper funeral for her brother even though he was a traitor. All she wanted was to bury him. No elaborate funeral plans or anything like that, just the opportunity to honor the brother she lost. I feel like Creon should have been able to get off his high horse and grant her that single request. Yes Polyneicês betrayed him, but the kingdom is still standing. Even though I understand where Creon is coming from in his reluctant to grant Antigonê’s request, I still feel he is in the wrong. Apparently I was not the only one, since as the play progresses we find Antigonê’s case silently gaining support from others.
One question that remained in the back of my mind during this play was how would the situation play out if Antigonê were a man? Would she have been put to death instead of being locked in a box? Would the majority still have agreed with her? Would Creon still have reconsidered the punishment? Many people in the play felt that because Antigonê was a woman, she was weak in character, “For they are women, and even brave men run when they see Death coming” (160). There are countless examples from the text that support the chauvinistic view many of the men hold, “If we must lose, let’s lose to a man at least! Is a woman stronger than we?” (45). When Creon first hears of the attempted burial of Polyneicês, he and those around him immediately assume it is a man who committed the act. Throughout the play though Antigonê proves to be no shrinking violet. It takes a great amount of courage to stand up to a higher authority, especially when that authority is family. She is willing to die for her cause and boldly defends herself in front of Creon during a time where most would be shaking in fear. Her bravery and sense of morality in the play easily standout and make her the memorable character she is.
(524)
Antigonê: You may do as you like, since apparently the laws of the gods mean nothing to you.
Ismenê: They mean a great deal to me; but I have no strength to break the laws that were made for the public good (60).
I still feel Antigonê was correct in wanting a proper funeral for her brother even though he was a traitor. All she wanted was to bury him. No elaborate funeral plans or anything like that, just the opportunity to honor the brother she lost. I feel like Creon should have been able to get off his high horse and grant her that single request. Yes Polyneicês betrayed him, but the kingdom is still standing. Even though I understand where Creon is coming from in his reluctant to grant Antigonê’s request, I still feel he is in the wrong. Apparently I was not the only one, since as the play progresses we find Antigonê’s case silently gaining support from others.
One question that remained in the back of my mind during this play was how would the situation play out if Antigonê were a man? Would she have been put to death instead of being locked in a box? Would the majority still have agreed with her? Would Creon still have reconsidered the punishment? Many people in the play felt that because Antigonê was a woman, she was weak in character, “For they are women, and even brave men run when they see Death coming” (160). There are countless examples from the text that support the chauvinistic view many of the men hold, “If we must lose, let’s lose to a man at least! Is a woman stronger than we?” (45). When Creon first hears of the attempted burial of Polyneicês, he and those around him immediately assume it is a man who committed the act. Throughout the play though Antigonê proves to be no shrinking violet. It takes a great amount of courage to stand up to a higher authority, especially when that authority is family. She is willing to die for her cause and boldly defends herself in front of Creon during a time where most would be shaking in fear. Her bravery and sense of morality in the play easily standout and make her the memorable character she is.
(524)
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
A Bug's Life
Franz Kalfka’s Metamorphosis is by far one of the weirdest stories I have ever read. However, I found it quite refreshing to start a story with such a frank, “When Gregor Samsa awoke one morning from troubled dreams, he found himself transformed in his bed into a monstrous insect.” (1) Short, sweet, and to the point, just my kind of sentence. What boggled my mind the most throughout the entire story though was how never once did Gregor stop and think “Whoa, I’m a giant bug, I wonder how that happened”. I even got slightly annoyed at one point because this man woke up as a giant bug and all he could worry about was getting to work on time. I guess this goes back to what we were talking about in class with Gregor having bug-like qualities. Now I cannot speak for all bugs, but I feel like Gregor shares the same one-track mind characteristic many insects possess. Frankly, I just found it frustrating how the story went on for roughly thirty pages and not once does anyone stop to think how Gregor turned into a giant bug. Why is it that no one was extremely confused by the fact that instead of a person there was a large insect in its place? I personally found it quite mind-boggling. Maybe Gregor did not question his new physical state because his mindset was already so bug-like it was only a matter of time before the rest of him caught up.
Another thing we talked about in class I was able to pull from the story was how even though Gregor turning into this monster and his eventual death was this awful event, some good did come from it. Maybe it was my inner optimist trying to find some silver lining in the situation. Gregor’s inability to work was the push his father needed to get out of his armchair and join the rest of working society. Also, I think it gives his father a bit of an ego boost because it seems he is so proud of himself once he starts working again, “ . . . he refused to take off his messenger’s uniform even in the apartment . . . as of he were always ready for duty and waiting even here for the voice of his superior”. (64) It just seems unfair that one person, in this case Gregor, had to lose their life in order for those around him, his family, to regain theirs.
(422)
Another thing we talked about in class I was able to pull from the story was how even though Gregor turning into this monster and his eventual death was this awful event, some good did come from it. Maybe it was my inner optimist trying to find some silver lining in the situation. Gregor’s inability to work was the push his father needed to get out of his armchair and join the rest of working society. Also, I think it gives his father a bit of an ego boost because it seems he is so proud of himself once he starts working again, “ . . . he refused to take off his messenger’s uniform even in the apartment . . . as of he were always ready for duty and waiting even here for the voice of his superior”. (64) It just seems unfair that one person, in this case Gregor, had to lose their life in order for those around him, his family, to regain theirs.
(422)
Thursday, January 17, 2008
Excerpts from Letters to a Young Poet
Letters to a Young Poet by Rainer Maria Rilke
How could we forget those ancient myths that stand at the beginning of all races,
the myths about dragons that at the last moment are transformed into princesses?
Perhaps all the dragons in our lives are princesses who are only waiting to see us act,
just once, with beauty and courage. Perhaps everything that frightens us is,
in its deepest essence, something helpless that wants our love.
So you mustn't be frightened, if a sadness rises in front of you,
larger than any you have ever seen; if an anxiety, like light and cloud-shadows,
moves over your hands and over everything you do.
You must realize that something is happening to you, that life has not forgotten you,
that it holds you in its hand and will not let you fall.
"When I was one-and-twenty..." By A. E. Housman
When I was one-and-twenty
I heard a wise man say,
"Give crowns and pounds and guineas
But not your heart away;
"Give pearls away and rubies
But keep your fancy free."
But I was one-and-twenty,
No use to talk to me.
When I was one-and-twenty
I heard him say again,
"The heart out of the bosom
Was never given in vain;
Tis paid with sighs a plenty
And sold for endless rue."
And I am two-and-twenty,
and oh, 'tis true, 'tis true.
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
It's just a little too late.
Recently I was working on my essay for the Loyola Marymount application and I couldn’t help but notice a connection between the prompt and the story The Death of Ivan Ilych. The question asked why the journey to be oneself seems the riskiest of all journeys. My response was it seems to frightening because we run the risk of discovering who we really are too late, like Ivan Ilych. I, and I feel many will agree with me, do not want to realize on my deathbed that the life I had lived was unhappy and unfulfilling. However, I find it hard to believe that there was not one day where Ivan looked at his life and questioned if it was what he really wanted. Maybe it was his overwhelming sense of propriety or his obsession to climb the social totem pole that blinded him from his true desires. At least there was some silver lining in the storm cloud that was Ivan’s death. His death caused Ivan to finally come to terms with his life and help him gain closure. Also, it forced many of his associates to face the realities of life. It seems everyone in the story was taking the “if I don’t think about it, then it’ll go away” approach to every little problem they faced, whether it be health, work, or family issues. Yet Ivan’s death forces those around him to open their eyes and stop avoiding their problems. Many of these characters have built up these internal walls to prevent them from getting involved with messy, emotional situations. For what reason though? Why are these people afraid to show any kind of unhappy emotion? Is it a fear of appearing weak? Ivan and his fellow power players spend their lives working their way to the top, and perhaps in that kind of dog-eat-dog environment, the best offense is a good defense. However, does that mean these men face an ultimatum, either live a happy and fulfilling life or a life spent atop the social ladder. If Ivan were able to go back and do it again, I believe he would choose the former.
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