The End.

I have to confess that I more or less expected the ending. It was happy ending and we can say that the characters will live happily ever after. Although it is a little cliché I am not disappointed. Austen manages to make it interesting in my opinion. She does not make Bingly and Darcy go to the Bennet’s and express their love. Instead she adds mystery and drama for that time.
Lydia’s marriage was a scandal. She ran off with a man that was not her husband and then when she does marry him she feels like she’s better than everybody.

“Ah! Jane, I take your place now, and you must go lower, because I am a married woman”(235).

“I am sure my sisters must all envy me. I only hope they may have half my good luck” (236).

Then, we learn that Mr. Darcy is the one that finds Lydia and Wickham and was he that paid what Wickham owed so that they could marry. This not only gives us a clue that he loves Elizabeth but proves that Lydia and Wickham are good for nothing (mantenidos) and are always asking for money.

“Lydia was Lydia still; untamed, unabashed, wild , noisy, and fearless” (234).

“Nothing was to be done that he did not do himself” (241).

“They owed the restoration of Lydia, her character, everything to him”( 243).

Mr. Bingly returns from London and he goes along with Darcy to have dinner at the Bennet’s. After some time and other dinners he finally proposes and Jane was now engaged. Darcy continues to go but does not treat Elizabeth well. She gets frustrated and fears he might not love her anymore.

“He could still be amiable, still pleasing to my uncle and aunt when he was in town; and why not to me? If he fears me, why come him hither? If he no longer cares for me, why silent? Teasins, teasing man. I will think no more about him” (253).

They actually get the chance to talk. Elizabeth thanks him for what he has done concerning Lydia’s marriage. (This happened after the rumors of him proposing to her had reached her. And after Lady Catherine had been extremely rude to Elizabeth)

“If your feelings are still what they were last April, tell me so at once. My affections and wishes are unchanged, but one word from you will silence me on this subject forever. ” (274).

We know her feelings have changed and so they are now engaged. People do not believe her at first because she always showed hatred for him. Mr. Bennet was happy for her and Mrs. Bennet was delighted especially because of the money he had.

What seemed to be a simple love story gets complicated. After finishing the book I decided that my favorite topics are characters relationships, how they change throughout the novel. Especially Darcy and Elizabeth’s relationship since it is the one that most changes. If we consider most of the characters, the only ones that don’t change are Mr. and Mrs. Bennet. They still hold the same opinions and attitude from the begging of the novel. Jane and Elizabeth do not change in personality but do change in respect to their relationship. Miss. Bingly and Georgina are cordial to Elizabeth at the end of the novel and Lady Catherine learns to accept the marriage. Maria leaves the chase of officers and Kitty matures. Lydia stays the same but her change is of course her marriage. Austen gives a lot of importance to the characters in the book because they make up the story. And evaluating their behavior and relationships would be interesting. (Especially Darcy and Elizabeth and how they fall in love throughout the novel.)

Changes.

Relationships between Characters/ Character Change:

“And at that moment she felt that to be the mistress of Pemberley might be something” (181).

“Mrs. Reynolds’s respect for Elizabeth seemed to increase on this intimation of her knowing her master” (183).

“He was always the sweetest-tempered, most generous-hearted boy in the world ” (184).

“Some people call him proud but I am sure I never saw anything of it” (184).

“Their eyes instantly met, and the cheeks of each were over spread with the deepest blush’” (186).

“It is impossible that he should still love me” (189).

“His wish of introducing her sister was a compliment of the highest kind” (190).

“Miss Darcy was exceedingly proud; but the observation of every few minutes convinced her that she was only exceedingly shy” (193).

“All Elizabeth’s anger against him had been long done away; but had she still felt any, it could hardly have stood its ground against the un affected cordiality with which he expressed himself, on seeing her again ”. (193)

“It was gratitude. Gratitude not merely for having once loved her, but for loving her still well enough to forgive all the petulance and acrimony of her manner in rejecting him and all the unjust accusations accompanying her rejection” (196).

“Miss Bingly was venting her feelings and criticism on Elizabeth’s person, behavior, and dress but Georgina would not join her. Her Brothers recommendation was enough to ensure her favor: his judgment could not err, and he had spoken in such terms of Elizabeth as too leave Georgina without the power of finding her otherwise than lovely and amiable. ” (200).

“ She (Lydia) had gone off to Scotland with one of his officers; to own the truth with Wickham” (202).

“Imprudent as a marriage between Wickham and our poor Lydia would be we are anxious to be assured it has taken place” (203).

“But she was convinced that Lydia had wanted only encouragement to attach herself to anybody” (207).

“All that i required of you to assure you daughter, by settlement, for equal share of five thousdand pounds…. To enter into and engagement of allowing her during your life one hundred pounds per annum” (224).

Characters continue to change and as they change so do relationships in the book. Elizabeth experiences regret when she learns how good-hearted Mr. Darcy really is. Lydia’s marriage is something unexpected that seems to be connected to many things. First, she is going to marry Wickham. Elizabeth and Jane now the truth about him and feel guilty for not having made that public. On the other hand Mrs. Bennet wants the marriage because he is and eligible man for her daughter. Mr. Bennet does not love the idea but prefers rather than a bad reputation. So, not only do relations between characters are involved but also pride and prejudice. They want Lydia to marry because they are afraid of what people might think of them. And as the novel approaches, Darcy and Elizabeth’s pride is put to a test. Who will give in? We don’t know if one them will, I suspect one them will do it, because we know they still love each other, know even more.

Little Black Book.

I have already read fifty more pages of the novel since I last blogged. I mentioned some topics that recur in that novel that interest me. Character relations are my favorite and in these fifty pages many things happen that relate to it.

“My dear Eliza he must be in love with you, or he would never have called on us in this familiar way” (135).

“More than once did Elizabeth in her ramble within the park unexpectedly meet met Mr. Darcy. She felt all the perverseness of the mischance that should bring him where no else was brought ..” (136).

“In vain have I struggled. It will not do. My feelings will not be repressed. You must allow me to tell you how ardently I admire and love you.” (142).

“What he told me was merely this: that he congratulated himself on having lately saved a friend from the inconveniences of a most imprudent marriage ” (139).

"He was the cause, his pride and caprice were the cause of all that Jane had suffered and still continued to suffer. He had ruined for awhile every hope of happiness for the most affectionate, generous heart in the world; and no one could say how lasting an evil he might have inflicted” (140).

“I had not been long in Hertfordshire before I saw, in common with others that Bingly preferred your eldest sister to any other young woman in the country” (147).

“Mr. Wickham was to the last so steady that in his will he particularly recommended it to me to promote his advancement in the best manner that his profession might allow, and if he took orders, desired that a valuable family living might be his as soon as it became vacant” (150).

“Her feelings as she read were scarcely to be defined” (153).

“Elizabeth had frequently unite with Jane in an endeavor to check the imprudence of Catherine and Lydia; but while they were supported by their mother’s indulgence what chance could there be of improvement?” (159).

“I am glad you are back, Lizzy” (165).

The quotes above show that everybody is involved with each other up to the point where they affect important decisions. The biggest shock of the fifty pages was Darcy’s declaration. Austen did give the reader some proof that there was attraction between them, but the reader never expects such a declaration. Those words spoken by Darcy are what reveal the “sneaky" connections of the novel. Because of the declaration and Elizabeth’s rejection comes the letter, where Darcy explains everything. He accepts he does not want Bingly to marry Jane and also the truth about Wickham. How he tried to take advantage of what the Darcies had done for him and how he planned to marry Georgina only for the money.

That letter is like a little black book that reveals the mischievous aspects of the novel and characters. All of them are involved in each other’s life and first impression change. Characters change and so do their feelings. As I said before these relationships are what trigger the novel.

Some Ideas.

From the moment we start reading we can guess the novel is going to be about pride and prejudice or at least something related to it. The novel is mainly a love story. It starts off with a mother of five daughters and how she wants them to marry well. That is the first clue that it will talk about love. Then Mr.Bingly comes up, another hint because he will probably marry one of the daughters. Austen gives us another clue when Mr.Darcy arises and the way he treats Elizabeth. When the Bennet sisters stay at Mr.Bingly’s house, Miss.Bingly gets jealous when she notices how Darcy looks at Elizabeth. That again, is Austen giving us another clue.

Besides love, there are other topics that recur in the novel, prejudice is one them. The whole novel is based on it and society in that time was to. What people thought about you was very important and that relates to social classes. We see the high society and the middle class and even if it is a broad topic it still affects some characters or situations in the novel. For example, at some point Jane does feel pressure when she receives a letter from Ms.Bingly saying that his brother had gone to London and was with Darcy’s sister. Mr. Collins is another example of this. He is an idiot and I don’t like him. The way he was so sure that Elizabeth would marry him and how he brags about Miss. De Bough, makes me think he just cares to be in the “V.I.P” list of the time.
Arranged marriages can be a datable topic. They don’t actually appear in the novel but that’s how it can be seen. Mrs.Bennet wants a wealthy man for their daughters and in some way chooses for them. Elizabeth’s aunts also tell her that she should not marry Mr. Wickham because he is not wealthy enough. I know that that’s how things were done back then. But comparing it with today’s society may be something interesting. Also, Elizabeth can be seen as a rebel, the one that goes against what is known as normal.

I love how Austen exposes the relationship between characters. And I think that would be really interesting to look at. Each of the five sisters is different and their mother acts differently with each of them. Jane and Elizabeth have a stronger bond between them than with the others. The way Jane and Bingly act compared to how Darcy and Elizabeth flirt with each other. The characters in my opinion are the essence of the novel. How they act and the way they are connected by some reason is what triggers novel. Because an act one characters does ends up affecting many if not all of them.

There can be many things to discuss about this novel. Those were just some ideas that interest me, especially the character one. Of course they can all change as I finish reading.

Words To Know.

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6.


1. Incumbent: imposed as an obligation or duty.

2. Barbarously: lacking refinement or culture.

3.Abhorrence: one that is disgusting, loathsome, or repellent.

4. Encroaching: to take another's possesions gradually or stealthily.

5.Pompous: excessive self-esteem or exagerated dignity.

6.Transient: pssing with time, transitory.

http://www.thefreedictionary.com/

Wrong Choice.

One of the best things Jane Austen does with her novel is describe the characters. From her description the reader gets the perfect image of their personality and even how they would appear physically. Being that the novel is based on relationships, the character’s description is crucial. From this depends whether the reader will fully understand the relationship. If the author does not manage to bring the character to life the relationship will not make as much sense because they character’s personality guides the relationship and how they react with the different characters in the novel.

Compared to the books I have read in the past, with this one I actually feel like I know the characters. When I read I picture the movie in my mind I have my personal image of each character. I have found that this is easier with movie. First because you actually see the character and second because they are physically similar to their personality. With Pride and Prejudice this was the case. As I watched the movie, the characters appeared just as I had pictured them. The three younger sisters, Kitty, Lydia, and Mary act foolish, jumpy and silly just like in the book. Mr. Darcy’s entrance in the ball was perfect, with his chin up looking at everyone as if he were saying he was better. Jane is very beautiful just like in the book and when she is talking with Mr. Bingly her sweetness is reflected. Kiera Knightly plays an excellent Elizabeth Bennet. Not only is she physically different from the other four sisters, but they way she talks to Mr. Darcy is the same as Austen puts it. So far I was pleased with the movie.

But I must say that the director made a mistake. The book describes Mr.Bingly as “good looking and gentlemanlike; he had a pleasant countenance, and easy unaffected manners” (6). I imagined him almost like Mr. Darcy only tenderer. Instead the movie portrays him as the complete opposite. He has the look of a silly kid always with an annoying smile. And every time he said something it was foolish or was making really bad jokes. What a shame. It would have been a perfect movie, almost like the book but Bingly’s character messes it up.

I must admit I did not watch the whole movie so he may change at the end but I really doubt it.

"The Woman" (Of Pride and Prejudice)

Yesterday I saw a movie called The Women. It lasted about two hours and not once did a man appear. The movie tells the story about four friends and the whole point is that they represent the different women that we see today (well most of them). It doesn’t generalize about all women because they are all rich and live in New York. So it’s the typical story of woman that go everyday to Saks fifth avenue to get their nails done and their calendars are full of social events so they feel they actually do something with their lives.

One of the four friends is a successful business woman that practically lives in her office. Another one represents the modern liberal woman, she is a lesbian. The third one would be the “normal” woman, she is a married stay at home mom. And the last one can also be considered normal, with the so called ideal life. Also married with a daughter and a rich husband, the only flaw is that he cheats on her and she is in denial that her marriage is not perfect. There is a fifth woman, one that always exists. She is the mistress also known as the gold digger. As the movie happens the three friends try to discover who that mistress is and the one who is being cheated on discovers her husband is having an affair so she dumps him. While they do this, the viewer gets the idea of how each of these women lives and what her priorities are.

Jane Austen does this in a similar way. Even though this is not the main theme of the novel it is present. Each woman that appears in the novel represents a stereotype of a woman. Elizabeth can be seen as the liberal one. She disagrees with her mother and is a “rational creature speaking the truth from her heart” (83). Jane is the typical one from her time. Beautiful and intends to find a husband that will give her a good life. She does things the way they are supposed to be done. Lydia and Mary are the foolish ones. The ones that today would not care about anything g but the image that they have a perfect marriage.

Without a doubt the woman that we see today are really different from the ones in the book, still one can relate and see that although times have changes, those differences still exist. In every case there is the easy woman. I thought I would not find one the novel because of the time period but I was wrong. Mr. Collins asks Elizabeth to marry her and she says no, that was obviously expected but then we learn he proposes to Charlotte (Elizabeth’s best friend) and she accepts. Having known Mr. Collins for only a few days and accepting his offer only for “the pure and disinterested desire of an establishment” (93) Charlotte may be seem like the easy woman on the novel. Yes, all of the women except Elizabeth marry which ever man that can give them a good life but at least they worry about liking him a little. Just like spending the rich man’s money was the whole point for the gold digger in the movie, “marriage had always been her (Charlottes) object; it was the only honorable provision for well-educated young women of small fortune” (93). She did not care about the man, just about being married so she is easy because then she would marry which ever man that would have proposed the idea to her only because getting married was something that should be done.

I Smell Trouble.

Pride and Prejudice is a typical love story. If we don’t consider that it talks about a different society and people live according to different “rules”, it still narrates the relationship between characters and flirting is abundant during the novel. As any love story there are two characters that stand out more, in this case we know those are Miss Elizabeth Bennett and Mr. Darcy. From the beginning of the novel we know this. She is, of the five sisters the one that has the worst relationship with her mother and is thought to be a “headstrong foolish and girl” by her (84). That makes her different to her sisters that always follow the rules and live the way their mother wants them to live. Mr. Darcy is introduced as “the proudest most disagreeable man in the world” (6). They stand out from the rest of the people that seem to be normal for the society.

The first encounter between Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth is at the ball. She was the only girl not dancing and before Darcy and her even spoke a word she had insulted her indirectly saying there was no “another woman in the room whom it would not be a punishment to me to stand up with” (7). From this moment I noticed a sense of attraction from Elizabeth. Even though he was rude, there was something about him that called her attention. When Elizabeth and Jane stay at the Bingly’s place for a few days attraction between these two also appears. Even Miss. Bingly noticed it and wanted Elizabeth to leave because she “suspected enough to be jealous” (38).

There has not come a point in the novel yet where the characters accept they like each other. But Austen does give us hints that there is some attraction. So it would be perfect, a perfect love story. Jane would marry Mr. Bingly and eventually Darcy and Elizabeth would end up together. That was what I thought until Mr. Wickham appeared and caught Elizabeth’s eye. It would still be a love story but a more complicated one. I think that Wickham and Darcy will fight for Elizabeth and she would have to choose one of them. To make it more interesting, Austen makes them hate each other, and before we actually know their whole story she gives us hint. They were in town, the sisters were with Wickham and his friend Mr. Denny and when they see Darcy “Mr. Wickham after a few moments touched his hat-a salutation to which Mr. Darcy just deigned to return” (55). I guess Mr. Darcy has a right to hate him. His father did prefer Wickham over him. But since Lizzy does seem to like both characters I smell a problem will arise.

He's Mine.

On Sunday I was watching a novela. A typical Colombian story, where the man falls in love with the woman he is not supposed. There were two wealthy families one of them had a son and the other a daughter who obviously was madly in love with the son. And wanted to marry him just because he was “ Mr.Right”. One day he goes to the girl’s house and falls in love with the maid that worked there. As the story continued, he visited the house very often and the lady stared to realize that he was not there to see her but the maid.

The situations are different. In Pride and Prejudice there is no maid, still I could not help but relate it with the book. In the beginning of the novel Darcy shows no interest for Elizabeth in fact he says that she is “tolerable but not handsome enough to tempt me” (7). But as the novel continues he is attracted by her beauty and attitude until the point where “she attracted him more than he liked” (44). Miss Bingly is very confident that she is better and Elizabeth and always tries to impress Mr.Darcy. Until she realizes that he’s not interested in her and saw he was interested in Elizabeth. She “suspected enough to be jealous”(38.)

Then it hit me, both situations are alike because of jealously. In both cases there is one woman that think she’s better than the other but the man ends up falling for the “less” one. Jealously is present in most love stories. It is more like the chase for the man and the competition between the women to see which one can get him. Even though Austen wrote this novel about 200 years there are some aspects that although differently happened in that time period but also in this one. If you think about it jealously is present in our every day lives. And what it really becomes is a competition to see who can get the prize.

Gotta Love Mommy.

Mrs. Bennet. The mother of five daughters from the beginning of the novels expresses her urge in wanting her daughters to marry well. From the moment she hears about Mr. Bingly she tells her husband that’s a “fine thing for our girls” (1). It is understandable that after having raised them she seeks a good life for them with someone wealthy. Still I see her a little intense. There are examples from the book that prove this:

When Jane receives the letter from Miss.Bingly inviting to her house, she says that Jane can’t go in the carriage and “had better go on horseback, because it seems likely to rain and then you must stay all night.” (22)
She gets lucky and it rains. Because of the rain Jane gets sick and must stay there until she gets better. Mrs. Bennet does not seem to care very much that her daughter is sick instead she thinks that “as long as she stays there, it is all very well.” (23)

Desperate to leave, Elizabeth asks her mother for the carriage and she tells them that “they could not possibly have the carriage before Tuesday” (44). As another resort, Elizabeth begs Jane to ask Mr. Bingly for his carriage. He lends it to them and the girls “were not received home very cordially by their mother”(45) because they did not stay as long as she wanted.

Up to now in the book there have been no fights between the mother and the girls because of her intensity. Perhaps the girls know the she does this for their own good. Or that that’s normal for a mother. Considering that the novel was written about 200 years ago we can’t compare it to a modern situation but it does serves as an example to see how times have changed. Now days, you never see a mother choosing a husband for her daughter. Sure she might give her opinion or be in disagreement but still it is not her decision. In a hidden way, this book alludes to arranged marriages because even if it seems normal that Mrs.Bennet chooses for her daughters and they agree with it, the girls don’t choose. I think they are raised with the mentality that that is how it’s supposed to be or at least the book puts it that way.

I am against arranged marriages. We should be able to choose who we want to be with and if we choose learn, face it and learn from it. Still it could be soon the other way, which they choose for us because they want what’s best for us. In this book this is the case and also the time period. But my point is that even if Mrs.Bennet and mothers in general are intense we love them.

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1. vouchsafed:to condescend, to grant or bestow. A privalege.

2.inquitous:lack of justice or a wicked act.

3.laconic:concise

4.panegyric:a lofty creation or writing in praise of a person or thing. A eulogy.

5.intrepidity: fearless.

6.self-complacency: pleased with oneself.

7.supercilious: haughtily disdainful or contemptouos, as a person or facil expression.

thefreedictionary.com
dictionary.com

Your Pride Hurt Mine.

There are two different types of pride. One is more a personality or defines a person’s character like his ego. The other one is a positive feeling of accomplishment. In the first chapters of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice we encounter different characters and two of them caught my attention because they happen to fall into a situation where both sense of pride are reflected.

The novel begins with the Bennet’s, a family of five sisters and the want their mother has for them to marry a wealthy man. Mr. Bingly appears as a suitable man for one of the daughters and as a meeting with him is established Darcy appears. A good friend of Bingly and was the “proudest, most disagreeable man in the world” (7). They were all at the ball and Elizabeth one of the sisters was not dancing instead she heard a conversation between the two friends where Mr. Darcy showed all his pride. When Bingly told him to dance he answered that there “is not another woman in the room whom it would not be a punishment to me to stand up with”(7). If I were Elizabeth, a woman at the ball not dancing at the moment I would not want to ever see Darcy again regardless of how handsome he was.

Pride is reflected in the example above. Clearly there is no one that thinks higher of himself than Darcy and there is nothing wrong with being proud if you know how to manage it. Up to know from what I have read I know he has friends and most people think highly of him until they meet him. But it depends on who that person is because Darcy chooses how to act with each person depending if they are good enough for him or not. So basically depending who are, and your social status depends whether Mr. Darcy’s pride will affect you or not, because he will judge you or not. And Elizabeth could have “forgive his pride, if he had not mortified mine” (13).

Allusion To Hamlet.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AUemKNQNYT0.

A Vicious Circle.

Besides everything else, Hamlet is a story about revenge. Since the moment that Hamlet knows that his father was killed by his uncle he plans a way to revenge his father’s death. Looking into other details we find that is not the only revenge situation there is. When Hamlet kills Polonius, Laertes also seeks for revenge. Hamlet even kills Rosencrantz and Guildenstern for betraying him and helping the king. So there is revenge all around. But when the play actually ends the revenge situation that appears at the beginning does not make sense. Yes Claudius dies, Hamlet makes him drink the poisoned cup and cuts him with the poisoned dagger. But Gertrude and Leartes also die and Hamlet dies too. So Hamlet gets his revenge, but why did he die? And why did the others die as well when the only one that “should” have dies was Claudius. Maybe it’s was a way of showing that everyone that kills dies, again showing revenge.

All humans seek revenge when something bad is done to us. I think its natural and we try to cover it up with the excuse that justice is being served. Hamlet’s actions fit this situation perfectly. His uncle killed his father so it seems fairs that he would kill him. But then Hamlet is also killed because of revenge. One may argue that that is unfair but then that goes back to the same point. Revenge is like vicious circle that does not end, because there is always going to be a reason to in this case, kill someone else. If we were to consider this situation now days, Hamlets actions would not be tolerated and he would have committed the crime and suffer the consequences as well as his uncle. It would not be ok just because the person he killed had killed his father.

That is one thing that Shakespeare wanted to prove with the ending of the play or at least that is one thing I understood from it. Revenge is what triggers the play and most of the characters in it, because we believe that revenge is the same as justice when it is not. Even Shakespeare try to prove this when Laertes says “he is justly served”(Act. V S. II. 348) when the king dies. And that is why every one dies in the end. Because revenge does not leave anything good and because Shakespeare had to put an end to the circle that was created at the beginning. Even Gertrude dies and she did not do anything wrong because if she was left alive she could have wanted to seek revenge of Hamlet for killing Claudius or of Claudius for killing her son. The only one that is left alive is Horatio “to tell my (Hamlet’s) story”. We can all learn that revenge is not the answer.

Interpretations are Inevitable.

As the video states, “William Shakespeare wrote 37 plays and of these one stands out among the rest it is called The tragedy of Hamlet, king of Denmark.” (Discovering Hamlet.) this play has been studied for a very long time, and even me that have only studied it for about two weeks now know that there are millions of interpretations and opinions about it. It is inevitable to expect that anybody that reads something or even watches does not relate to it in some way or develop a personal opinion about it. We can’t know for sure what Shakespeare intended Hamlet to represent and that’s why every interpretation (within reason) is valid. Up to know I have seen two different versions of the play, the Kenneth Branagh one and the David Tennant one. In each Hamlet is played by a different actor and each actor acts the role in the way they identify to it. Based on what I stated above, I was surprised to see how another great figure of literature would criticize Hamlet.

In his text Hamlet and his Problems T.S Eliot explains how “Hamlet the play is the primary problem and Hamlet the character only secondary.” (Hamlet and his problems) and how the character is most jeopardized by the critic that has creativity. This did not make sense to me because if there would be no creativity then how would an interpretation be possible? The problem is then, that “Hamlet is a stratification” and how each critic builds upon the previous one to interpret the play, therefore not focusing on the play itself but on some interpretation. Of course I am nobody compared to this great author still as I read more of his essay it was shocking to me and how he dared to say that Hamlet was the “Mona Lisa of literature” and that people believe it to be a work of art mainly because of the fame it has gained throughout time. He could be right, and the reason that the play has been around so long can lead to the many interpretations that exist but I think, disagreeing with the author is that each interpretation is valid and comes from the root Hamlet.

He also talks about emotion and how the key is to express emotion with the action, something that Hamlet fails to do because he can’t express it. In other words saying that “Shakespeare tackled a problem which proved too much for him” (Hamlet and his problems). But this we can’t know for sure because we will never know what Shakespeare wanted Hamlet to mean. That is why interpretations are important. And every person that reads the play or has some contact to it will make an interpretation for themselves. This happens not only with literature and not only with Hamlet but with any work of art. Not everyone leaves their “mark” on the play. Only few critics and actors that interpret the character but this proves my point. And how it is inevitable not to let an interpretation be involved because unfortunately a very long time has passed since the original came out.

I am sure that as time passes this play will still be read by many people that will each react differently to it and there will be more critics and actors that will leave a mark on the play. Therefore it is inevitable not to base ourselves on the versions or interpretations that already exist. The important thing is that Hamlet will be Hamlet always, no matter how we look at it or what we get from it.

Words.

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1.Stratifaction: formation or deposiion of layers as of rock or sediments.

2.Lull: to cause sleep or to rest; to sooth or calm

3.Irrefragable: impossible to refute or controvert.

4.Superfluous: exceeding what is sufficient or requiered. Excessive.

5.Bafflement: to defeat or check (as a person) by confusion. Disconcert.

6.Aberrations: a departure from the normal or typical.

thefreedictionary.com

The Women.

Women, most of the times have an important role in the stories I have heard. Although I have only read two Shakespeare plays, in both of them woman is of vital importance. In Romeo and Juliet she is the main character and the story revolves around how she can marry Romeo leaving aside the family issues. She can be seen as a rebel that contradicts her family and most importantly her father on a tradition that existed I am guessing long before she did. In Macbeth, Lady Macbeth has the power. Shakespeare portrays her as strong woman in character by making her manipulate her husband’s actions to get what she wants. Both demonstrate woman strength, and how in both cases they go “against a man” to get what they want.

In Hamlet, the female roles that exist are nothing like the ones mentioned above. Two women are very important in the play: Gertrude, Hamlet’s mother and Ophelia, Laureates daughter and Hamlet’s lover. They don’t show a sense of power or rebellion towards men. Instead they fallow order and can be seen as insecure characters. In Act 3 Scene 4 Hamlet has an encounter with his mother after the play and he is rude to her, still she does not show so much sense of authority towards his son, she shows fear. Hamlet’s actions can be justifies. His mother married the man that killed his father I wouldn’t be too happy either but why does she let him her treat that way? at some point in the scene when the conversation has just started Gertrude says: “Hamlet, thou hast thy father much offended.” and Hamlet answer her: “mother, you have my father much offended”. (A3.S.4) Gertrude was talking about Claudius, his step father and Hamlet meat his father. It was a way of telling her again, that he is appalled with what she has done. He makes points like this repeatedly in the scene trying to make her feel bad about what she did. He is rude and still she does not do anything. It may be because she knows that was she did was wrong and is too ashamed to accept, demonstrating a weak and insecure character, the opposite as the other women in Shakespeare plays.

Before the ghost appears, Hamlet is rude again and tells her: “Nay, but to live in the rank sweat of an enseamed bed, stewed in corruption, honeying and making love over the nasty sty”(A.3S.4). he makes her feel guilty of sleeping in the same bed that belonged to her husband with her brother, insulting her and she says nothing more except “no more, sweet Hamlet.” He makes her loose her pride by telling her she nothing more than a prize to Claudius, a sign of victory.

No Regret.

Regret is something I think all humans being have experienced. Even if it is in the dumbest situations, everyone can think of something, and say to themselves why didn’t I do that or why did I. There are different ways to deal with it, you can do something to change what you did or in some cases you have to deal with it. I have regretted many things in my life but I have my conscious clean because I have done things to make it better. Reading Hamlet, I thought about Claudius and how he deals with the fact that he killed his brother to marry his wife and become king. Not one time on the book does he express feelings of regret or guilt.
Then I thought about the difference between guilt and regret. The dictionary says they are basically the same thing except that guilt is more commonly known when someone does something and violates a rule, so not everyone has felt guilty. Going back to Claudius, he is obviously guilty and he knows that but he does not seem to care. Until act 3 scene 3:

O, my offence is rank it smells to heaven;
It hath the primal eldest curse upon't,
A brother's murder. Pray can I not,
Though inclination be as sharp as will:
My stronger guilt defeats my strong intent;
And, like a man to double business bound,
I stand in pause where I shall first begin,
And both neglect. What if this cursed hand
Were thicker than itself with brother's blood,
Is there not rain enough in the sweet heavens
To wash it white as snow? Whereto serves mercy
But to confront the visage of offence?
And what's in prayer but this two-fold force,
To be forestalled ere we come to fall,
Or pardon'd being down? Then I'll look up;
My fault is past. But, O, what form of prayer
Can serve my turn? 'Forgive me my foul murder'?
That cannot be; since I am still possess'd
Of those effects for which I did the murder,
My crown, mine own ambition and my queen.
May one be pardon'd and retain the offence?(Act3Scene3)


This is one of the few times if not the only one that he comes clean about what he did. When Polonius goes to eaves drop on the conversation between Hamlet and his mother, Claudius tries to pray. He first says what he did and then realizes he can’t pray because he still wants the prize that came with the sin. This is when the difference between guilt and regret is seen. He does feel guilty, but can’t pray because he does not feel regret. he never expresses that he wishes he had not killed his brother. He knows it was a crime, something he should not have done, but he can’t ask for forgiveness because he does not want to and in some ways knows he does not deserve it. He states it clearly:

“O, what form of prayer
Can serve my turn? 'Forgive me my foul murder'?
That cannot be; since I am still possess'd
Of those effects for which I did the murder,”
He still wants the crown and Gertrude so that’s that. There is anything else that can be done. He admits that the committed a crime but also recognizes that even though he is guilty there is nothing that can be done. He still wants the prize, there is no remorse or sorrow in what he did. If this were different and Claudius would have felt shame Hamlet would have been a different story, and he would have don’t something about his mistake. But that is not that case he still want the power. And we learn the difference between guilt and regret thanks to Claudius.

The Question.

We all question ourselves at some point in our lives. And due to different situations we must decide what we want to do. But the decision is hard, and you are never really sure if you chose well. A really simple example would be to choose between two guys, a classic Hollywood movie. You have guy A and guy B each different but great at the same time and you know that if you choose one the doubt of what would have happened if you chose the other one will never leave your mind. That happens with mostly every decision we have to make and until one of the two does something weather to prove he is “the one” or does something wrong you won’t be at peace with your decision. I even risk to say that you won’t be able to decide.

Hamlet, just like us deals with a situation like this (Although his is nothing like the example mentioned above). His father was killed, his uncle became king and married his mother, and he sees a ghost and tries to prove if his uncle killed his father. Poor Hamlet, he’s desperate. Due to all of this he must decide if he kills his uncle or not. But before that, comes the famous line that to most people represents Hamlet: “to be or not to be, that is the question” (A,III S i). Because of his desperation he must decide if he wants to kill himself or not. He asks himself if it’s worth to suffer or better to fight the problem but by ending it. Either by reading the soliloquy or by watching it you can identify Hamlets emotions. In the play (book) he considered both options just like we do, but can’t decide because both are the same. One is not better or worse than the other. In David Tennant’s interpretation the camera focuses on Hamlet’s profile from the back and the scene is dark and blurry except his face. He tries to hide behind a wall and has his eyes closed showing worry and fear. I can’t be sure but when he says “thus conscience does make cowards of us all” (A.III Si) Hamlet answers his own questions. The fear of dying keeps us and in this case him from choosing one reason over the other. We prefer to suffer with something that we know than experience something new. So the question that Hamlet’s asks himself is something that we ask ourselves every day, sometimes with more important topics than other. Shakespeare did not write to die or not die. Of course this was the case for Hamlet, but the “be” opens the questions for whatever we want to fill in with.

The Perfect Hamlet.

In my last blog I wrote about how it does not really matter what interpretation of a character you experience as a viewer. What’s important is if the actor is able to transmit the characters emotions. As I listened to the radio recording I was surprised. I never imagined that prisoners would do that in jail but the idea fascinated me. When it was over I actually told my sister that she should listen to it.
My idea of the perfect play was Broadway and every time I thought of Hamlet I imagined New York City and Jude Law. But I was wrong, this was the perfect Hamlet. It didn’t matter that the actors weren’t famous. Instead they were criminals, people that had actually done the things the play talks about. And that makes it ideal, because they don’t have to fake the emotion, they have felt it so they know how to transmit it.

As the recording said, most of them barely had a high school education and all they knew about Hamlet was the famous quote “to be or not to be” but that was the main point because all of them were going through the same dilemma. Do they or live or don’t they? Do they change and regret what they did? Most of them want that and feel identified with the character. Four guys play Hamlet, they divide the lines and they actually said that Hamlet was like their fifth friend.

What Agnes is doing I think is really great, because the impression I got from the recording was that they prisoners learn and realize that what they did was wrong. They can have a real experience with the play because they can relate to it. Of course I can relate to it too. I can watch it, enjoy it, and say it impacted me and from the first time I saw it left a mark in my life for whatever reason. But that experience is different compared to the one the people of the Missouri East Correctional Institution have. They take the play as lesson, and through the character they represent realize the mistake they did. So it helps them. And if we were to see that play (I think) we would enjoy it too because it would be as if we were seeing a real life Hamlet. The character would have actually killed a man.

Modern vs. Classic

A same role can be interpreted in many different ways. In Kenneth’s Branagh version we see a more classic Hamlet. Even before I started reading the play or even watching one of these clips I had a vision of Hamlet in my head, it was almost the same as the Hamlet we see in the video. The video focuses mostly on his face to enhance on the problem he seems to be having. He moves slowly and focuses on the words he says portraying anger and desperation.

The interpretation of Hamlet by Tennant, Downie, and Stewart shows a different soliloquy and a different Hamlet at the same time. Just the first few seconds of the clip demonstrate this when we see the character’s clothes. He wears jeans, a simple t-shirt and is barefoot. The focus of the camera also differs, here we see a wider shot, and they don’t focus only on the characters faces because he moves much more than the other Hamlet.

Both characters are interpreting Hamlet. That is an obvious similarity, but apart from that the scenery in both is also similar, it’s dull and represents the typical castles or noble homes we all know from movies. So we can’t say that is the difference and is what separates the two clips into modern and classic. Hamlet, the interpretation of the character is what creates the difference. The way the two directors create their character reveals the main difference between them (regardless of the fact there different parts of the play). That is what I found interesting, how one play, one plot can be represented through different approaches. In one we a see “today” Hamlet, the way he dresses, speaks and moves is like someone today would express anger and desperation. While in the other one we see a typical Hamlet, the one we expect to see when we think about Shakespeare play. The important thing and what both these directors manage to do is that no matter the approach they take with the character, they can make him express to the audience the emotions he feels.

From Passive To Active Voice.

Passive:

1.The statue is being visited by hundreds of tourists every year.

2.My books were stolen by someone yesterday.

3.These books had been left in the classroom by a careless student.

4.Coffee is raised in many parts of Hawaii by plantation workers.

5.The house had been broken into by someone while the owners were on vacation.

6.A woman was being carried downstairs by a very strong firefighter.

7.The streets around the fire had been blocked off by the police.

8.Have you seen the new movie that was directed by Ron Howard?

9.My car is in the garage being fixed by a dubious mechanic.

10.A great deal of our oil will have been exported to other countries by our government.

Active:

1.Hundreds of tourists visit the statue every year.

2.Someone stole my books yesterday.

3.A careless student left the books in the classroom.

4.Plantation workers raise coffee in Hawaii.

5.Someone broke into the house while the owners were on vacation.

6.A very strong firefighter carried a woman downstairs.

7.The police blocked the streets around the fire.

8.Ron Howard directed a new movie, have you seen it?

9.A dubious mechanic is fixing my car in the garage.

10.Our government will export a great deal of our oil to other countries.

The Truth Behind Krapp.

I find Krapp interesting, the whole plays is interesting and intriguing. It’s short, and about an old man listening to some recordings of himself years before. As readers or viewers we can’t be sure why he acts that way and why he listens to his recordings. There are several options that one may come up with. As I mentioned in my last blog the character could be desperate and unsatisfied with the outcome of his life or as my classmate Mariana wrote in her blog he is crazy and at the same time driving himself crazy.

He may also be seen as funny character, like those old people that are just simply confused and don’t know what they are doing that decide to look at their things from the past. Or the play can also show the characters regret. Life is about that, and when you are old, at least in my family, my mom, aunt, grandmother and so on are always nagging about the mistakes they made and they regrets they have. They tell me what they did and then why they regret. When Krapp says “just been listening to that stupid bastard I took myself for thirty years ago, hard to believe I was ever as bad as that” (Beckett), it’s like when a family member tell their story to me, the difference is that in this case, Krapp does not want anyone to learn from his mistakes except himself, it is only know thirty years later that he understands and realizes that he does not agree with the way he lived before, he regrets it.

There’s no way of being sure that old man Krapp regrets his life, still it is a possibility and watching him alone at his basement made me think about the movie Seven Pounds. Where this man Tim Thomas makes a mistake and not only hurts himself but seven other people including his fiancée. And then full of regret he donates his organs to the point of killing himself so that he could save the life of seven strangers. So there are two types of regrets, or better yet, two ways of feeling regret. With one, you make a mistake and try to make it up like Tim Thomas did, or like Krapp that knows he made them but accepts it. And imagines the “What if” or the “could have” of the situation.

Krapp can also be seen as the readers “puppet” we deduce or create a situation for him. I have two that are linked together. He is a desperate old man because he regrets the way his life has been up to now. But at the same time is confused and can’t decide which Krapp he wants to be the guy from the tapes or the man that is listening to them. He reveals the uncertainties that a person has to always deal with. Every choice you make has a consequence and every person will always doubt if he chose the right one. What we have to do is follow Krapp advice and don’t “want them back” (Beckett).

25 Words. Act 1 Scene 3.

Laertes: Farewell. Pherhaphs loves you know but you must fear.

Polonius: What is't Ophelia he hath said to you.

Ophelia: He hath made tenderous affection to me.

He's Desperate.

Something happened to me while I watching Krapp’s Last Tape, my computer had no volume. Waiting to see if came after all of sudden, I started watching the first part without audio. I knew that I would have to watch it again, to actually understand what they old man was saying or listening to still I saw it audio less first. It made no sense, I was confused and did not understand why this man was alone in a basement with a single table and was eating bananas. The only thing that stood out to me was his facial expressions and his movements. The way he clumsily walked holding onto the wall (part 1 3:28 and 2:12), his sweaty face, messy hair and sort of grimace expression with his frowned eyebrows gave me the impression he was desperate and confused. He goes out the basement to another room and brings back boxes with some tapes in them that he will later listen to and in one moment throws them on the ground. This was getting more confusing.

Audio decided to appear in my computer so I started the video again. And for the first minutes of the video I had the same impression of the man, except that this time the noises he makes show him in a state of greater desperation. He listens to his own recordings, the first one was when he was turning thirty-nine, thirty from where the old man is at present time, his sixty-ninth birthday. The same thought recurred in my mind, the anxiety of the old man. The audio, in this case his voice and recording don’t change the fact or the reaction the viewer gets when watching the character. I believe that he was in shock of the things he had said years before, still that doesn’t explain this old man’s behaviors. He started with the same grimed face and desperation even before he started listening to the tape.

There was something bothering him, and just as I was confused while watching he was confused during the video as well. Trying to look for the reason of this desperation he uses his tapes to find an answer that does not satisfy him because the play finishes and the man has the same face. Of course, this was intended to be seen with audio, to actually understand the story, but what I’m saying is that if we for same case ignore that, we get the same idea of the man. He is desperate, showing signs of mental problem as if he were crazy. And I am not sure why. My best guess is he is not pleased with the outcome of his life after 69 years.

I Expect.

In his introduction to Hamlet, Kenneth Branagh says that he became obsessed with that story since he was 15 or even younger. I can’t say that that also happened to me but ever since I read Romeo and Juliet in eight grades and then again in ninth grade I started to really like Shakespeare’s work. With Macbeth I liked them even more because of the way that story was explained to me.

Watching this introduction also made me think about the movies I saw about the other Shakespeare productions I have read, The Leonardo Di Caprio version of Romeo and Juliet and Orson Welles’s Macbeth. With Hamlet, I expect I better movie than the other ones, it’s not that I did not enjoy those ones but they were confusing and boring. What I look forward to with Hamlet is a movie that can really capture Shakespeare’s play unlike the other movies, one that can express the characters real emotions. But before we watch the movie I suppose we are going to read it and I expect a better story than the ones I have already read so that I can love Hamlet as Branagh does.

The Secretary Tale.

And now I will tell you guys my story
About how I almost got my glory.
It all begins with how I got my job
And that thank god I was hired by Bob.
I sit at my desk, high heeled with a skirt
As all men pass by they begin to flirt.
As Bob passes by I get hypnotized
And by the others very criticized.

My days are always boring and the same
Until Bob and I started a fun game.
On Monday we left the office real late
And the next morning we felt really great.
Last night we had fun he whispered to me
I knew I would become his wife to be.
Our game went on all day and all night long
One time Bob even stole my pink lace thong.
One night at his place and the other in mine
And every Wednesday we drank cold white wine.
People were talking and looked at me weird
That they would find out was what I most feared.
His wife came in one day tall and pretty
In her purse carried a fluffy kitty.
Passes beside my desk and gave me the face
Oh my god! I felt like such a disgrace.
In Bob’s office I only heard them scream
How I would wish it had been all a dream.
She came out and in my desk left the thong
I can’t believe that she knew all along.
I tried to call Bob, he told me to leave
How dumb could I be to be so naïve?
And actually think that he would pick me
All I wanted know was a cup of tea.

I guess it’s my fault and call me a slut
I’m left alone and in my heart a cut.
Wealthy guys are not so easy to find
Still I can’t seem to take one off my mind.
I know Bob loved me and yet chose his wife
Only because he was used to that life.
Next time I’ll be sure to pick him single
And around people that do not mingle.
And now friends I will finish the story
That left me alone and with no glory.
For a longtime I did nothing but cry
Left with my hopes up, it was all a lie.

As my tale ends my life stays the same
With the same job, without Bob all so lame.
Waiting for a man, answering the phone
And at the same time getting Bob a scone.

So Unpredictable.

That was an unexpected ending. Papa dies and the family that was following them comes and saves the boy. The least I imagined would happen was a somewhat happy ending. Reading 200 pages or so about death, bad guys and a “grey beach, cold, desolate, birdless”(215) I thought they both were going to die, never reaching south. My idea of a happy ending would have been that both of them will die together, after struggling so much to survive. I have to admit I was a little disappointed with the ending so I decided to watch the movie to see if it was the same.

And another disappointment, the movie was so boring. I had enjoyed reading the novel, and reading the trek of Papa and the boy to reach south so I thought the movie was going to be more exciting. Watching the trailer you get that feeling, the music and images give you the feeling of suspense and thrill but it’s nothing like that. It’s slow, and dull. If I would have to choose one and I would say that book, so to you my reader if you doubt to either watch the movie or read the book, read the book. The movie takes so much away to McCarthy’s novel. Really, both are very similar they have the same important scenes that stand out in the novel. For example:

1. The coke scene.
2. The suicide of the mother.
3. The boat and the grey beach.
4. “carrying the fire” (283)
5. The dungeon with the almost dead people to eat.
6. When the dad gets hurt.

I do give some credit to the movie and how it represents the father as a struggling man that would do anything for his son. But the other scenes mentioned above lack emotion in the movie. Maybe it was hard to create the images described in the book but then I thought about the movie 2012 and they do make you feel emotion, still there is no book about that movie and there never will be so we are left with the doubt. With this, I think I learned a lesson and finally realized that books are almost always better than movies because the author unlike the director has no limits. I am not saying this based only on The Road. Having also read and watched the Twilight movies and Harry Potter I got the same impression. These others movies were not bad compared to The Road movie, I did liked them but still the books are better because as I said before the author has no limits. They could describe the vampire or wizard image however they wanted, without a perimeter.

Two things I want to point out: the ending was unpredictable and don’t waste your time watching the movie, read the book.

Reading With Different Eyes.

I have to agree with Sonya Chung when she says that she “admires people who reread book over and over again.” I’ve never done that and reading this made me think why I love and don’t mind repeating movies that I have seen but it has never occurred to me to reread a book that I liked. So I asked my mom if she ever rereads books that she likes and, no she does not. Because of this, I think people when they read, they do it in a more general way. What I mean is that they don’t read to get a message out of it or find its symbols. They read to distract themselves and to understand the global idea of it.

I remembered when I saw the movie Salt for the first time. I enjoyed it and thought it was a good movie, then my sister asked me to watch it with her again, so we went to the movies and when it was over I realized many things that I had not understood the first time I saw it. For example, the fact that agent Salt was infiltrated in the C.I.A from the beginning. I know that if I had not watched it again, I would still have that doubt. So if we understand better when we watch it for the second time maybe we all should reread books that we really enjoy.

The author of the blog states that “there’s knowing something, and then there’s knowing something. It’s like I’m a born-again rereader, experiencing anew how a first read can be as different from a second read or a third read as reading two completely different works. And yes: with great literature, the experience is deeper and richer with each successive reading.Of course, the works stays the same; it’s we who change.” I agree with her, and not only referring to books. When looking at a movie for example, or an article or a poem even more, the second time you read it you focus on different aspects, more specific details than the first time. Because when you read or watch for the first time you tend to try and understand the broad idea, leaving details behind.

She shares her own experience with Gatsby by writing on how she focused on Fitzgerald sentences, Daisys voice, “the eyes of Dr. T.J Eckleburg,” and the meaning of the yellow car. And I had my own experience with the movie. So we can conclude that rereading book is useful in getting a different approach of the novel, because each time you reread it, you read it with a different approach, it is as if you were reading with different eyes.

Father for Son.

Father
It's not time to make a change,
Just relax, take it easy.
You're still young, that's your fault,
There's so much you have to know.
Find a girl, settle down,
If you want you can marry.
Look at me, I am old, but I'm happy.

I was once like you are now, and I know that it's not easy,
To be calm when you've found something going on.
But take your time, think a lot,
Why, think of everything you've got.
For you will still be here tomorrow, but your dreams may not.

Son
How can I try to explain, when I do he turns away again.
It's always been the same, same old story.
From the moment I could talk I was ordered to listen.
Now there's a way and I know that I have to go away.
I know I have to go.

Father
It's not time to make a change,
Just sit down, take it slowly.
You're still young, that's your fault,
There's so much you have to go through.
Find a girl, settle down,
if you want you can marry.
Look at me, I am old, but I'm happy.
(Son-- Away Away Away, I know I have to
Make this decision alone - no)
Son
All the times that I cried, keeping all the things I knew inside,
It's hard, but it's harder to ignore it.
If they were right, I'd agree, but it's them They know not me.
Now there's a way and I know that I have to go away.
I know I have to go.
(Father-- Stay Stay Stay, Why must you go and
make this decision alone?)

Cat Stevens

These father-son situations are not exactly the same. Still while I read I could not help but think about this song. The lyrics state a father son problem in which they argue because the father is trying to protect his son from the “out side” world telling him there is no rush into growing up. The son tries to tell him that he has to let go and that that is the only way that he will learn. The son feels that all his life has been about doing what his father wants, in fact most kids and even myself think that in one point of our life. What we don’t know or it takes us a long time to figure out is that they only do it for our benefit, our protection. In The Road this is also seen. Even though the child is small and does not argue with his father, we can see how throughout the novel Papa is always worrying about the boy and tries to protect him. “if they find you you are going to have to do it. Do you understand? Shh. No crying. Do you hear me? you know how to do it. You put it in your mouth and point it up. Do it quick and hard. Do you understand?” (113). The boy probably does not understand why his father would tell him to kill himself but he only does it for his protection, so that if something were to happen to him the boy would not be left alone. Both, the song and the book represent what parents always do, and if even if we as kids don’t agree with them we must think that it’s always for our benefit.

Light at the end of The Road.

So basically, this is a story about survival. The characters are travelling through the road because the world has been destroyed. When reading stories liked this, I see two possibilities either the author gives us some kind of clue that the characters will survive or he gives clues that they are going to die. With The Road I haven’t been able to make up my mind. The clues of death stand out more in the novel but then again “the boy stood wrapped in the blanket looking down at the road” (69). This may be the only sign of hope that they have although we can’t be sure if they will be saved when they reach south.

Still the boy asks “are we going to die” (10) permanently through the novel. The father tries to deny the possibility to the boy but still he knows that they have scarce food, bad weather, and the thought that his mother shot herself recurring through his mind. The chances of hope and survival seem dull up to this point. They are surrounded by deadly things, “coming back he found the bones and the skin piled together….A pool of guts” (69). Everything that happens to them brings them one step closer to death, they are faced with dangerous things, but still as they face this things they walk south through the road. And we are left with the doubt of what will happen to them because as they walk down the road they are faced with death. So there is always the possibility that they will survive.

Chaucer's Tales Couplets.

The Knight, the Miller, the Wife and the Pardoner. Four tales, and one word repeated over and over again: Life. Or, more accurately, lyf. The following were found in the corresponding tales, and capture the essence of the mood for each one:


The Knight's Tale -
"Allas, myn hertes quene, allas my wyfe,
myn hertes lady, endere of my lyfe" (2775-2776).
As you can see, this shows that the Knight's
tale is a dramatic and flowery story, full of love and
tragedy. Showing how fake the Knight is, and
how he wants to be viewed...noble, and chivalrous.
Because he is trying so hard, we can conclude
that he is the opposite of that.


The Miller -
" I am thy trewe, verray wedded wyf;
Go, deere spouse, and help to save oure lyf" (3609 - 3610).
In context, this excerpt shows the deceit of love,
and the blindness of the fools. It's vulgarness
describes the Miller's perverted sense of humor,
and his version of love.

The Wife -
"And be to yow a trewe, humble wyf,
And nevere yow displese in al my lyf" (1221-1222)
The wife, who had just been telling of her own
cruelty to her many husbands, tells a story of a
rapist marrying an old hag, who ends up becoming
beautiful, and pledging to dutifully serve her husband.
This shows us that the wife is a silly woman who
doesn't understand herself, or what she wants.


The Pardoner -
"Ne deeth, allas, ne wol nat han my lyf.
Thus walke I, lyk a restelees kaityf" (727-728).
This is the first tale that does not rhyme the words
lyf and wyf. This is most likely because the Pardoner
has been castrated, thus does not feel the pull of lust.

Unconditional Love.

I have only read the first fifty pages and I can say this is not like any book I have read before. The way the author tells the story makes it an easy read but still at the beginning the reader or maybe just me is a little lost. Until now, I know The Road is a story about the journey of a man and his son as they struggle to survive. Why they have to survive? How they got to the woods where they wake up when the story starts? I don’t know. What I do know is that this novel reveals how unconditional love for your own child exists.

People always say that the moment you see your child for the first time you fall in love him, there’s nothing that you will ever love as much as that, and your goal will be always to protect him no matter what. In the Road, papa and the boy are on a journey where they don’t have permanent shelter, warmth or food. It was a hard situation. The boy was little and had to be taken cared of. The dad had to do everything he could in order to save him, because “the boy was all that stood between him and death.” (29) Papa does not want to keep living that way but he does for his sons because he can’t leave him.

Another reason could be that he, the father felt guilty for the loss of the boy’s mother. “he did not take care of her and she dies alone somewhere in the dark” (32). He still loves his child but feels he has to protect him more so that he won’t lose him. I even risk to say that the father is not living for himself right know but for his son. Probably if they were not traveling together and he were alone the story would be different, he would take other roads.
I can’t say that I have experienced this unconditional love because I haven’t had a child, but up to this moment in the story there is a bond between father and son. On the verge of death and terrible conditions, he has to live to protect his child or will he be able to even consider the possibility of dying knowing that’s his son will have to continue the journey alone and unprotected?

"The Raven"

Symbolism is “something that represents something else, either by association or by resemblance. It can be a material object or a written sign used to represent something invisible.” (http://www.worsleyschool.net/socialarts/symbolism/page.html)

In the poem The Raven by Edgar Allen Poe we see a clear example of symbolism. In this case the symbol is the raven. Before we know that, we know that the narrator remembers someone named Lenore.
“Eagerly I wished the morrow;—vainly I had sought to borrow
From my books surcease of sorrow—sorrow for the lost Lenore—
For the rare and radiant maiden whom the angels name Lenore—”

Then we know one night the raven lands above his chamber door. From this we can infer that the raven symbolizes Lenore. We can’t be sure of why Lenore left, she may have just gone or she may be dead. Thinking about the color of the raven, black I think Lenore died, so the raven has come to tell the narrator that Lenore has left and will not come back.

"Greed is the root of all evil"

Reading the Pardoner’s Tale made me feel as if I was getting a lecture from my mom. Every time that she wants to tell me what I call a life lesson, she starts off with the point of it and then tells a story that relates to it. It would go something like this:

The main point of the lecture:

“Isabella cae primero un mentiroso que un cojo.”

Then she would say:

I did not raise you to lie, people that lie may get off easy at first but then they get caught, always. I will not accept it.

And then she would tell me the story:

One time, when I was about your age I told my mother that I was going to my best friend’s house. Instead of going there I told my driver to take me to Juan’s house, my boyfriend. Thinking that she would never find out I stayed there a while and then came back home. When she asked me how it went I told her we had seen a movie and then we ordered pizza. That night she sat me down and told me that she would give me one chance to tell her the truth. I was confused but still insisted that I had gone to Virginia’s house. She looked at me with disappointment and told me that her friend Maria had told her that she had seen our car parked outside of Juan’s house. So she would say then, even though my plan was perfect, in the end my mother found out because lies always go out in the open so it’s better not to lie in the first place.

I take in the lesson but then can help but think why she tells me that when she also lies.

The Pardoner’s Tale is similar. In this case the pardoner does the same thing as my mother and the pilgrims like me listen to the lecture and the story.

The main pint of the lecture:
“My theme is always the same, and ever was --
'Greed is the root of all evil.” (333)

Then the Pardoner says that he does not agree with three main things that people take a lit if time doing.

“In Flanders once was a company
Of young folk who practiced folly,
Such as debauchery, gambling, brothels, and taverns,
Where with harps, lutes, and guitars,
They dance and play at dice both day and night,
And also eat and drink beyond their capacity,
Through which they do the devil sacrifice
Within that devil's temple in cursed manner
By abominable excess.” (467-471).
“O gluttony, full of cursedness!
O first cause of our ruin!
O origin of our damnation,” (499-500)
He disagrees with drunkenness and gambling:
“ A lecherous thing is wine, and drunkenness
Is full of striving and of wretchedness.”(550
“ Now I will forbid you gambling.
Dicing is the true mother of lies,
And of deceit, and cursed perjuries,
Blasphemy of Christ, manslaughter, and waste also
Of possessions and of time; and furthermore,
It is a disgrace and contrary to honor
To be considered a common dice player.” (589-596)

And then he told the story.

The tale begins with three friends and how all of them carry out the practices that he just mentions he does not agree with. While they are drinking together someone tells them that a friend of them has just been killed by a mysterious person named Death. Annoyed and angry they set out to kill Death in revenge of their friend. While looking for Death they come across an old man that has been waiting for Death to kill him, the three friends ask him where they can find Death and the old man tells them that behind an oak tree. When they get there, Death is not there but instead they see gold coins that have no owner. They want to steal it but know they can’t do it during the day because they will be taken as thieves. And to make a long story short, once of them goes to town to get food and the others plan to kill him when he came back. He returns, they kill him and drink the wine he had brought but also die because the other one had put poison in the wine so that he would end up with all the money.

We learn a lesson through this tale and in fact “greed is the root of all evil”. As we see here, three friends plan evil things against each other because they want all of it, be it whatever for themselves. What I can’t seem to understand is why the pardoner and also my mother told me this story, with this lesson when they don’t even follow it. My mom lies and the pardoner accepts that “for my intention is only to make a profit, and not at all for correction of sin” (403-404). So even though we know greed is not a correct thing we always do it because it is easier to say to someone not to do it rather than not doing it yourself. Maybe we should all do as the pardoner and give the lesson just accepting that we don’t live by it.

What Women Want.

After reading the “Wife of Bath”, the only thing that comes to my mind is power. We have always heard how women throughout history are underestimated and considered less than men. The battle of power has always existed and we feel like we have to prove that we are equal. A simple example comes to mind. This summer I went to Cape Town and as you all should know or if you don’t I’ll tell you that over there you drive on the right side. My father was bored one day and did not want to leave the hotel but my mother and me wanted to go out. He told us it was best if we did not go because the driving was difficult, but still my mother busted out “do you think I am stupid? I am perfectly capable of driving on the right”. So we left the hotel and before driving two blocks we had crashed against the sidewalk. No one told my mom that she was not capable, still she had to go and prove that she could do it. The easy solution of the problem would be not to get married so we don’t have to fight the battle of power constantly. Then again why do we do it? What are we women looking for? Why did the wife of bath look for another husband when she left the first one, and then another after that one and another of that one? The answer is simple, we are looking for happiness but still that is really hard to get.

That is just a simple guess but King Arthur’s wife also wanted to know “what thing is that women most desire?” (905). So the story of “The Wife of Bath” begins, as a rapist is given the chance to answer the queens doubt in return of his life. He asks many women and always gets different answers. Some say money is all they care about, others sex and looks and some just want to be free. Not one of these women helps until he finds an old hideous woman that tells him she has the answers but will only give it to him if he does whatever she wants when he is saved. According to the old lady and the answer that the queen was hoping to get, is that “women desire to have sovereignty as well over her husband and her love, and to be in mastery above him”(1038-1040). The knight gets to keep his life and in return the old lady asks him to marry her. Surprised and disgusted the knight tells her she can have anything she wants but that. They get married and the old lady tells him he can have her ugly and loyal or young, beautiful and flirty. He lets her choosing because that answer of his gave her what she most desired, power. She then transforms into a beautiful woman and is always obedient to her husband.

More than the search for happiness or the power over ones husband,women look for
security and consideration. Why do you think the old lady became beautiful, because her husband let her choose. And why do you think the only husband that the wife really loved was the one that was with her at her others husband’s funeral. It does not matter to how many men you are married, or if you have more power in your relationship at the end what matters is if you are considered. It’s like a circle that begins with the search for happiness, then becomes the battle of power, and ends before it starts again, with whether they consider you or not.

Vocabulary.

7.
6.
5.
4.
3.
2.
1.




1. folly
2. surplice
3.beguile
4.remnant
5.woebegone
6.cloistered
7.wan

(The Miller's Tale)

The Knight’s Tale and The Miller’s Tale are two different stories. One is far more elegant than the other, much more romantic and exaggerated. The other one is funny and grotesque. Even though they are different and tell different love stories the character of the woman is important in both. Emelye in the case of the Knight’s Tale “That Emelye, who was fairer to be seen than is the lily upon its green stalk, and fresher than the May with new flowers” (1036 -1037). And Alisoun, “fair was this young wife, and moreover as any weasel was her body graceful and slender.”(3233-3234) two aspects of love are described in these tales but the fact that the woman is puffed up in both is something to take into account. Having read the Wife of Bath already makes me think that Chaucer gives importance to the female character making her either the problem or the protagonist of the story, it may be a way of saying that love or a relationship depends more on women than it does on men, even though men like to believe that they have complete authority.