Symbolism and transformation of Laura

"Horn! It doesn't matter. Maybe it's a blessing in disguise." p. 1282

Wait, is this the same Laura who screamed when Tom broke some of her figures earlier in the story? Yes and no. Physically, she is still obviously still Laura. But, physiologically, she seems to be a different person. Before, she was lonely, barely spoke and was reserved. Around Jim, she has opened up, danced, and feels as pretty as Jim tells her. Jim says once that she is different, but in a good way; she is unique. This made me think to why the unicorn was her favorite figurine. It too was lonely because it was different. Once the horn is broken, Laura says, "The horn was removed to make him feel less - freakish!" Jim removed Laura's horn to make her more like the rest of the horses, but still different.

Themes of the Glass Menagerie

"You are the only young man that I know of who ignores the fact that the future becomes the present, the present the past, and the past turns into everlasting regret if you don't plan for it!" p. 1259

Whether it is a universally accepted theme by literary scholars, a theme that jumped at me was maturity. With his father abandoning him at a young age, Tom has had to become mature, very quick. It also seems evident that due to him rushing his maturity he missed out on some key lessons. One of lessons he missed out from having to work to support to his family was how to handle stress and pressure. While Tom tries to cite a lack of adventure for him going to the movies every night, I seem to think his alcoholism stems from stress. Notice how he always leaves to go drink after him and his mother get into a fight. While Tom has become a man, he still has some growing up to do with his alcoholism and dealing with confrontation in general. He seems to think that him running from his family will solve his issues; I don't think so.

Protagonists and Antagonists in Glass Menagerie

"Don't think about us, a mother deserted, an unmarried sister who's crippled and has no job!" p.1288

In looking at the plot of the story is hard to clearly define an antagonist in the story. The four main characters all seem like good people with flaws that come out throughout the story. Through the eyes of the memory of Tom though, I would have to define his mother Amanda as the antagonist. From Tom's memory, she is always badgering him like the quote above and yelling at him. Aside from the portrayal of Tom's memory, I think she is just trying to watch out for him to make sure he doesn't become an alcoholic traveling man like his father. Without the bias of Tom's memory, Tom could be seen as an antagonist due to him leaving his family. Defining a protagonist is just as hard. The reader could sympathize with Tom due to him carrying the family workload or Laura for her shortcomings, but neither is fighting for good like a protagonist.

Depth

"Say you love me not, but say not so in bitterness." (III.v.50)

This simple quote from Sylvius is an expression of love. Yes, love is quite prevalent throughout this story. But, what disappointed me was the overall depth of this play. No elaborate schemes really, an easy to follow plot line, and a happy ending. Maybe since I was on retreat, I wasn't able to bounce ideas off of other people, but I generally was justed "ehh"ed by this play: nothing spectacular. Unlike Othello, no real universal themes to name and no elaborate and deep character conflicts, external or internal. Again, maybe due to my lack of time spent with the work contributed to my lack of grasp of a deep underlying theme or point. Like my reference in my previous blog, I would say this play was a romantic comedy: the guy gets the girl with a few laughs along the way. Touchstone provided humor in his shovinistic attitudes, the Dukes put a slight twist on the usual story with the ownership of the Kingdom; but, overall, I would call this play just a "ho-hummer".

Genre-Comedy

"You to former honour I bequeath..." (V.iv.78)

The simply said statement is what sets apart this comedy from a tragedy. Obviously, a tragedy has tragic elements like death, failed romance, hatred, a tragic hero with a fatal flaw, and more death, in the case of Shakespeare. Contrastingly, a comedy like As you Like it  has the happy ending every reader wishes for, characters reconcile, and the play ends in happy marriages. Specifically, I cannot decide if this play is more satirical or romantic. It seems a little satirical in the way that some characters like Touchstone mock love and what stands for. But, more prevalent is romance and love itself. Most of the main characters in the story are discovering love, reassuring their love, and pursuing unrequited love. In saying that, I would conclude this is a Shakespearean romantic comedy, without Adam Sandler

Microsoft went down 3 points.

Themes- Deception

"And therefore look you call me Ganymeade." (I.iii.15)

This sentence changes the course of the play. Disguised as Ganymeade, Rosalind accomplishes many tasks that she would not be able to do as herself. Firstly, she is able to leave the Kingdom and with Celia and enter into the Ardenne Forest. Once in the forest, she is able to deceive a few more people for her benefit. But, what differs her from other deceptive and manipulative characters from previous Shakespearean plays *cough, cough Iago* is that she doesn't harm anyone in the process. In manipulating Orlando, she is able to test his love and devotion to her. In manipulating Phoebe, Rosalind is able to secure her for Sylvius, ensuring a happy ending for all, uncharacteristic of most Shakespearean plays I have read.

Reflective Essay Interactive Blog

Reflective Essay

            Throughout the history of man, there have been numerous evil people. Hitler, Sadaam Hussein, Charles Manson, Stalin, and many other men have wrecked havoc in our world for centuries. But, what sets the evil men from the psychotically evil men is their motive. Those who are truly wicked have no motive. They find their amusement in the death and fall of men. Those with the usual motives of money, power, control, and revenge have clear and predictable motives. But, those who just do evil deeds for the sake of evil are often more unpredictable, diabolical, and therefore more fearful. Characters like Iago and the Joker in The Dark Knight and a person like mass murderer Jim Jones exemplify people with evil at their core, psychotic, and caused chaos within their respective worlds.

            One of the strongest and most immersive characters in film history in the last 10 years was Heath Ledger’s portrayal of the deranged Joker in the Dark Knight. From the opening scene in which the Joker manipulates local criminals to do his dirty work and rob a bank, telling each to kill the man doing the previous job in the plan, he is established as a manipulative character. As Iago is able to manipulate Cassio, Othello, Emilia, and Roderigo, the Joker is also able to shake the foundations of the most hardened criminals of Gotham to put immense pressure on the Batman. Also, like Iago, the Joker changes his story. While Iago claims that the reason he is after the Moor is because he “twixt” his sheets or he wanted the duties of Cassio, it becomes clear throughout the plot neither is the truth (I.i.367). Likewise, the Joker offers many explanations for his scars. First he speaks of an episode with his drunken father and a kitchen knife saying, “Then, he looks at me and says, 'Why so serious?' Comes at me with the knife, 'Why so serious?' Sticks the blade in my mouth, 'Let's put a smile on that face.'”.  Then, he tells a story of his supposed wife: “Hey, one day they carve her face. We have no money for surgeries, she can't take it. I just want to see her smile again. I just want her to know that I don't care about the scars. So I stick a razor in my mouth...and do this...to myself. And you know what? She can't stand the sight of me! She leaves. Now I start to see the funny side. Now I'm always smiling (Nolan)." Which story is true? Like Iago’s unclear motives, the Joker’s deranged stories of his scars are irrelevant in that the point is to reveal their psychopathic nature.

Jim Jones of Lynn, Indiana

            Without a doubt, the most powerful people in the world are leaders. While it takes followers for a movement to gain steam, it takes a strong leader to maintain a movement. Objectively, one cannot argue that Jim Jones was not a powerful leader with an innate ability to get others to follow whatever he preached. Like Iago, Jones is able to persuade people to do the unthinkable. Even in the face of repeated failure, Iago is able to persuade Roderigo one last time to try to kill Cassio for him (IV.ii.206-11).  Jones was able to convince hundreds of people to kill themselves as a part of a mass suicide by saying, “We committed an act of revolutionary suicide protesting the conditions of an inhumane world (Introduction-Jonestown).” Due to dedication to their causes, both men are persuasive enough to convince their followers to do the as they wish.

Two Face, previously Harvey Dent

            With the demented minds and intentions of these three men, their plans caused chaos. Iago was able to corrupt and control numerous people that ended in the death of 5 main characters and the corruption of the most noble man of all, Othello. In the case of the Joker, he created bedlam in the city of Gotham with his killings, collaboration with thugs, corruption of local law enforcement, and completely transforming upstanding crime fighter and Gotham City District Attorney Harvey Dent into the evil Two Face. Jim Jones was able to get hundreds of people to buy into his philosophies and kill themselves in the greatest American civilian casualty before September 11, 2001.  The quote that can help best explain men like this comes from Alfred in The Dark Knight in explaining the Joker: “Because some men aren't looking for anything logical, like money. They can't be bought, bullied, reasoned, or negotiated with. Some men just want to watch the world burn.” Unfortunately for society, these misguided men pop up in history every now and again with no precursor and will not stop until their death.

Works Cited

 Dark Knight, The. By Christopher Nolan. Perf. Christian Bale, Heath Ledger, and Kirsten Dunst. Warner Bros. Pictures, 2008. Film.

"Introduction-Jonestown: The Life and Death of Peoples Temple." PBS: Public Broadcasting Service. Web. 13 Feb. 2012. <http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/introduction/jonestown-introduction/>.

Perrine, Laurence. “Othello.” Perrine’s Literature: Structures, Sound, and Sense. Fort Worth. Harcourt College. 2002. 1362-462. Print.

Faithfully

One of the most amazing aspects of the character Othello in Othello is his undying devotion to Desdomona. As Iago reveals what he believes to be true of Desdemona's affair with Cassio, he still is loyal to her. His love never diminishes. Even as he is about to kill her, he rationalizes his killing as something that needs to be done, not out of anger, but out of what is right. When telling Lodovico of what to write back to Venice, he tells Lodovico to portray him in the right light: "Of one who not loved wisely but too well (V.ii.343)". In the song "Faithfully" by Journey, Steve Perry tells of "restless hearts" which perfectly fits Othello. He also characterizes Othello's love by saying "I'm forever yours, faithfully". Even through an affair and killing his wife, Othello's last actions are kissing the wife he killed. In Desdomona showing her devotion to Othello, saying she killed herself, she links herself to the song by staying true, loyal, and loving Othello "faithfully" like the song says, "you stand by me".

Lyrics to "Faithfully"

Motives of Iago

"Demand me nothing. What you know, you know. From this time forth I never will speak word (V, ii, 302-303)

This is all Iago leaves is with. No last explanation or spiteful words. Truthfully, I have no idea what Iago's motives were and will not pretend to know; but, all I can do is offer up possibilities. One theory I have depends on Iago's state of life. Obviously this was a man in an awful marriage, not where he wanted to be professionally, and possibly in a life he thought was meaningless. Being a little demented, he might have just had no hope in life and wanted to go out with a bang and be remembered. While that theory may be far-fetched, this one might be more plausible. What took down Othello? Jealousy. Multiple times in the story Iago speaks highly of Desdemona, which he often doesn't do for women. This leads me to believe he wanted Desdemona to himself, but knew how unrealistic it was. In order to right this wrong, he decides to take down Othello with the green-eyed monster that consumes him: jealousy. Either way, it seems obvious to me that Shakespeare is commenting on how much love can change, consume, and distort the minds of even the best and brightest. I'm reminded of the movie Hancock in which immortals are paired together at the creation of the universe and only become mortal and powerless when they get close to their eternal partner. All humans, even the great Othello, are weak to Cupid's arrows.

Creation of suspense in Othello

"By Heaven, that should be my handkerchief ( IV,i,148)!"

This quote from Othello in Act 4 reveals how suspense is created the play. Usually, suspense is created by the reader, or in this case, the audience, being left in the dark. But, in Othello, suspense is created by the main characters being clueless to what is really happening. The suspense comes to its peak in the last act, last scene of the play where most of the cast ends up dead. As the pawns Othello, Roderigo, and Cassio do Iago's dirty work, he sits back and the audience is wondering when/if he will be found out. Not until the very last scene does his plan come to fruition, then blow up in his face. It had all gone well had Emilia kept her mouth shut.

Response to part of question 3-role of minor characters

"I will not charm my tongue, I am bound to speak. My mistress here lies murdered in her bed." (V.ii.183-184)

These are the words of Emilia, wife of Iago. In many ways, this minor character completely changes the plot. Without the presence of Emilia at the end, Iago possibly would have gotten away with his heinous plan. After being quiet and walked on by her husband in Act 2, she stands up for herself; rather, she actually stands up for Desdemona. Since the stakes and motivation has changed, she decides she won't let her husband get away with  deceiving Othello, Cassio, Roderigo, and all the other people he lied to. Had it not been for her intervention, Iago most likely walks away a free man ready to ruin someone else's life. One other significance of Emilia is revealed early. Iago claims his motive for revenge against the Moor is that he supposedly slept with Emilia. Later this was dispelled; whether it was true or not, whether it even mattered to Iago, it was one of the motives he revealed.