We.

Quite possibly one of the best books written. That's all.

Comedies

Although having very different plots and characters, the writing of many of Shakespeare's comedies contain similar, if not the same, elements and writing style, his comedies having a silly, lighthearted feeling despite dire situations. In the opening of A Midsummer Night's Dream, Hermia's father, Egeus threatens to have her killed for marrying a man he doesn't like. Quite comedic. But in the scene, the structure of the lines, such as a rhyming scheme, lift the dreary reality off and giving way to ridiculousness, a theme of the play. The same is true for the Tempest, Caliban and Stephano's plotting to kill Prospero and take his daughter is nonsense, Caliban a fish monster and Stephano a bumbling drunk, and so plot for murder is not something dark and harrowing in this play, it's nothing more than comic relief.




Passage/Language Analyses

Petruccio: Come, come, you wasp, i’faith you are too angry.
Katherine: If I be waspish, best beware my sting.
Petruccio: My remedy is then to pluck it out.
Katherine: Ay, if the fool could find where it lies.
Petruccio: Who knows not where a wasp does wear his sting? In his tail.
Katherine: In his tongue.
Petruccio: Whose tongue?
Katherine: Yours, if you talk of tales, and so farewell.
Petruccio: What, with my tongue in your tail?
The Taming of the Shrew (II.i.207–214)

The above passage shows Katherine and Petruccio's stunning verbal wit and the ending line completes the comedy of the scene, this is a common theme of Shakespearean comedy, making such a serious, or otherwise dramatic situation, laughable through slight mockery and subtle use of diction. In A Midsummer Night's Dream, however, the use of comedy is very different, while pertaining to the same general strucutre set by Shakespeare. In A Midsummer Night's Dream, comedy is used to make light of deadly and painful situations rather than to mock a shrew like Katherine. Without the rhyming schemes set in place or the airiness with which everything is received, the two plays would not be considered comedies, perhaps romances in their own right, but murder and intrigue do not a comedy make.

TITANIA
I pray thee, gentle mortal, sing again:
Mine ear is much enamour'd of thy note;
So is mine eye enthralled to thy shape;
And thy fair virtue's force perforce doth move me
On the first view to say, to swear, I love thee.

BOTTOM
Methinks, mistress, you should have little reason
for that: and yet, to say the truth, reason and
love keep little company together now-a-days; the
more the pity that some honest neighbours will not
make them friends. Nay, I can gleek upon occasion

TITANIA

Thou art as wise as thou art beautiful.

This passage from A Midsummer Night's Dream directly follows the scene wherein Bottom's head is transformed into that of an ass, one of Puck's many tricks throughout the play. This scene is entirely ridiculous, a Queen of fairies mooning amorously over a man who now has the head of an ass, and all as part of a practical joke. Without the visual impact of this scene, some of the comedy is lost but after taking Bottom's personality, and name, into account it truly shows how skilled Shakespeare is, making his comedy transfer not only to a stage but to readers.

Commentary

The Shakespearean comedies read in class are more than just stories about fairies, shrews, and magical islands. In the case of The Taming the Shrew, the play centers on a theme of domestication, Katherine's adamant stand against Petruccio's fawning being all in vain, so it would seem, due to his unrelenting and charming attitude. The battle waged between the two appears to be a hyperbole of the classic spousal struggle for power, Katherine challenging the traditional role of women as submissive, secondary to their husbands. To the audience of the time, this in itself may be comedy enough, but the returning fire from Petruccio elevates it even more, his kind and loving words so very different from her cursing and silver tongue. A Midsummer Night's Dream and The Tempest are different though, A Midsummer Night's Dream reminds on several occasions, through soliloquy, that you should not take the actions too seriously, and remember that it is all but a dream. The Tempest, though, is different even still from both, in The Tempest, the major theme of the work is that of justice, and retribution, paying for ones sins though not with the ultimate price. Propsero, through the play, seems to want vengeance upon his brother and other mutinous subjects but, in the end, he spares them, so long as they understand the brevity of their actions, that what they had done was treacherous. Overall, the comedies send different messages to the reader, or viewer, but it remains constant that they are not simply silly plays through each.

Reflection

I enjoyed reading these plays, each of them being uniquely comedic, their structure applying to the same basic format while sending their individual meanings to the reader. I found The Taming of The Shrew particularly funny, Katherine's best attempts at pushing Petruccio away being in vain, and her reputation as the great and terrible shrew in tatters. The Tempest was my least favorite of the comedies, I felt that it was highly illogical, other than the supernatural themes, such as Prospero's being trapped on the island despite having 'all powerful' magic and Miranda falling immediately in love upon seeing Ferdinand was a stretch. It was a good play, and a good example of Shakespeare's comedies but not my favorite. A Midsummer Night's Dream was somewhere in the middle for me, certain aspects of the play such as the feud between Oberon and Titania being highly amusing but the lovers' troubles seemed so frivolous in comparison although the two are meant to run parallel storylines. Overall, the three plays were good examples of Shakespearean comedy.

The Histories

Shakespeare's histories, while documenting important moments and people in English history have given modern readers a look into the social stratum of the times, with plays such as Richard III, history is used to ridicule and denounce an enemy of the royal house. In Henry V, however, Shakespeare builds patriotic pride with the rise of a hero rather than the fall of a villain.

Passage/Language Analyses

The largest factor in Shakespeare's success with writing is his strength with words and choices therein.

"Margaret: No sleep close up that deadly eye of thine, unless it be while some tormenting dream affrights thee with a hell of ugly devils. thou elvish-marked, abortive, rooting hog, thou that wast sealed in thy Nativity, the slave of nature and the son of hell, thy slander of thy heavy mother's womb, thou loathed issue of thy father's loins. Thou rag of honor, thou detested--"
Richard: Margaret!" -- Richard III 1.3.57

This passage clearly displays Margaret's prophetic insults and jeers, every curse spewed forth by the aged queen having not only come true, but contributed to the dramatic irony of the piece as a whole. The language, while very central to this particular History is nearly a mirror opposite to the devices and language used in Henry V, itself being a direct opposite to Richard III, representing an English hero rather than an English villain and displaying a prominent and just past rather than the dismal, dark days of Richard III where fear and terror ruled rather than Henry's heroic acts to restore honor to the English royalty. Margaret's curses remove Richard from Henry further, Richard being a symbol of hatred while Henry is epitomized as all that is good about royalty and their power with Richard being the slimiest man imaginable. Despite their obvious differences, Richard and Henry do have few similarities, both being ruthless, no nonsense kings though for very different reasons. Richard, while being a dirty, scum of the earth type character, does have some of the qualities of benevolent Henry, his doggedness,his passion and lust for power, and both manipulate nearly every character in their respective plays, albeit in very different ways and for very, very different reasons.

"He which hath no stomach to this fight,
Let him depart; his passport shall be made,
And crowns for convoy put into his purse:
We would not die in that man's company
That fears his fellowship to die with us.
This day is called the feast of Crispian:
He that outlives this day and comes safe home,
Will stand a tip-toe when this day is named,
And rouse him at the name of Crispian." Henry V 4.3.83

Henry uses his influence to bend his men to his will, using male bravado and pride rather through instilling fear in them and threatening them, or in the case of Queen Elizabeth, promising grandchildren in penance for murdering her own children. Henry's speeches instill such a spirit in his men that they will willing give up their lives for his honor rather than return to their country. In the scene prior to the battle on St Crispian's day Henry plays on what seems to be a theme of Shakespeare's, his male characters' weakness when their manhood is questioned, the same thing ocured in Richard III when the two murderers accuse their consciences of making them womanly and therefore the two backpedal and talk their way into manly, testosterone-filled peace, with such masculine things as murder, rape, adultery, and theivery. Quite the examples of what it is to be a man. In Henry, however, manhood is achieved, as said in his speech by fighting a doomed battle for the sake of your king's honor. This stunning contrast of language lends such unique airs to each of the plays and builds on Shakespeare's own skill even more, should that be possible.

Commentary

The Histories, while still based on fact and the two actual kings Richard of Gloucester and Henry V, are both very romanticized, one for the better and the other in order to make a rival and extinct house infamous. This romanticizing of the past, and therefore altering of history, makes for a better story despite the loss of fact in the dramatization. Richard and Henry were excellent novels to read back-to-back, being as the two are such distinct opposites in their documenting of a brief span in England’s history. This romanticizing, while dramatic and engaging, also gives the plays a more literary effect, Richard III concentrating on the allure of evil and the downfall of those who are tempted while Henry V concentrates on one's personal glory and the honor within victorious war. The common themes of historical plays seem to be putting rulers above their subjects, in Richard this being through his casual murders and utter diffidence for his crimes, in Henry V, he thinks that a personal insult from the French is enough to throw away the lives of his countrymen simply to teach the French a lesson in humility. Even though both plays had been written to please the current monarch, both seem to stab at the monarchy in subtle ways that are not entirely obvious to the viewer unless they delve deeper into the structure of the plays themselves.

Personal Reflection

I enjoyed reading these plays, both being key moments in English history and representing such powerful symbols in literature despite being historical accounts. The persona that Richard presented was so wonderfully and deliciously dark, the man seeming to have absolutely no morals or conscience and therefore ruling with entirely free reign, doing as he pleased at every turn, no matter how horrific the means to his ends. Henry, however, was so overblown and had such an inflated sense of self-importance, War would not be my reaction to a nasty joke. Despite his reaction and 'noble' intentions, Henry V was a good book to read, rich with male pride and a very different kind of ruthless quest for domination. Henry's betrayal of Falstaff is a tarnish on the shiny silver of his reputation, ridding himself of such a rambunctious and lowly friend sure did help him get to the throne and secure his status there however for such a goodly man, it seemed out of place and odd. Ovgerall, the rallying patriotism of the play did itself in, for my taste, it lacked the air of intrigue and deceit that Richard III was so rich with. But, although it may fall short of the dark setting and plot of Richard, Henry was itself a good play in its own right. The two were good examples of Shakespeare's histories and pairing the two together increased the effect the juxtaposition of two such major characters.

Tyrrel
"Their lips were four red roses on a stalk,
Which in their summer beauty kiss'd each other.
A book of prayers on their pillow lay;
Which once,' quoth Forrest, 'almost changed my mind;
But O! the devil'--there the villain stopp'd
Whilst Dighton thus told on: 'We smothered
The most replenished sweet work of nature,
That from the prime creation e'er she framed.'
Thus both are gone with conscience and remorse;
They could not speak; and so I left them both,
To bring this tidings to the bloody king.
And here he comes.
All hail, my sovereign liege!"
KING RICHARD III
"Kind Tyrrel, am I happy in thy news?"
Richard III 4.3.217

A Tale of Two Cities

Charles Dickens' novel, A Tale of Two Cities is a historical fiction novel about the struggle of the French during the revolution and the injustice that prevailed during the so-called liberators' reign. The plot follows characters from London and a few in Paris that all face the bitter retribution of the Revolution, including accusing a nephew of his uncles' crimes and seeking revenge through the sweeping executions by guillotine.

Throughout the novel, wine is used as a symbol, a symbol for the bloody revolution to come and as a symbol for the people's hunger for something new and more than the meager existence prior to the revolution. During one scene in the novel a cask of wine falls and splits open in the street and the beleaguered, malnourished people scramble like so many rats to spilling wine, and drink it up. Dickens uses this symbol in order to show the people's thirst for blood, their thirst for vengeance on the aristocracy, a burning desire for the bloody justice owed them for the terrible crimes inflicted upon them. The wine shop itself is the headquarters of the revolutionaries, wherein Madame Defarge plots against those who've wronged her family in the past, such as Darnay and Lucie both of which she attempts to have executed. Wine, in this novel, is the essence of revenge, the lifeblood of the revolution and is used to show how depraved the masses of France had become in order to begin executing any and all the nobles who dared cross their paths.

"A wonderful fact to reflect upon, that every human creature is constituted to be that profound secret and mystery to every other. A solemn consideration, when I enter a great city by night, that every one of those darkly clustered houses encloses its own secret; that every room in every one of them encloses its own secret; that every beating heart in the hundreds of thousands of breasts there, is, in some of its imaginings, a secret to the heart nearest it! Something of the awfulness, even of Death itself, is referable to this."
This passage from A Tale of Two Cities gives an accurate air of the suppressed feelings the lower classes had leading up to the bloody Revolution. The passage gives readers a sense that all the people of the lower classes had been feeling the same thing, they were a singly minded organism, breathing and building up their hatred together while not acting on their thoughts. The people, prior to the Revolution, were all equally subjugated by the small class of people, all of them being held in contempt by the wealthy and their so-called 'betters.'
In my opinion, this is a good novel, however, Dickens' style is very particular and unfit for contemporary readers, in a sense. The complications of such a descriptive book can be a challenge for modern readers to grasp. The underlying meaning and symbolic nature of the book can be clearly seen once the description and metaphor is stripped away. On the whole, though, it is a good book and a very good example of metaphor and symbolism.

The Importance of Being Earnest

“Jack: How can you sit there, calmly eating muffins when we are in this horrible trouble, I can’t make it out. You seem to me to be perfectly heartless.
“Algernon: Well, I can’t eat muffins in an agitated manner. The butter would probably get on my cuffs. One should always eat muffins quite calmly. It is the only way to eat them.”
Oscar Widle’s The Importance of Being Earnest is a farce that satirizes and greatly exaggerates the life of the aristocracy in the Victorian age. Wilde’s use of hyperbole gives the play a comedic air, an atmosphere of silliness and exaggeration. The passage above uses muffins in comparison to the blind following of miniscule details and meaningless things in life as to what is truly important, such as both men’s fiancées breaking off their engagement, if only for the silly matter of a name, or lack thereof.
The passage is a perfect example of Wilde’s message from play because of the utter ridiculousness of the situation, worrying more about butter getting onto your cuffs than of the situation of your future marriage. This passage is easily my favorite from the entire play because it nearly sums up the entire silly plot of Wilde’s play, manifesting the idea of ridiculing the aristocrats in one simple situation. This passage is one of the many instances of comedic relief from an entirely disregarded situation, such as a broken off engagement or the discovery of a man’s true parents and origins.
The work as a whole was just a silly farce. As it was meant to be, however, the play has a consistent storyline which gives the farce a more serious tone, making the situations more apparent to the readers which, in turn, makes readers care more about what has happened to the characters than even they seem to. The entire cast of characters has a contemptuous disregard of anything serious, and they seem to be wearing blinders, put on at birth and enforced by custom, to keep them from wanting anything that matters, to make sure they don’t stray away from the set course, laid out by those such as the opinionated, officious, and brainless Lady Bracknell.

Cat's Cradle

Kurt Vonnegut’s novel, Cat’s Cradle, while being a novel, on the surface, of a man’s creation a super weapon with terrifying potential and its use, is a true commentary on blind belief in the logic of the sciences or in religions which are created for the sole purpose of control over populations in which they are implemented.
The most obvious of these symbols is the very creation of the carless Dr. Hoenniker, ice-nine. Ice-nine, as described the narrator and the characters that are knowledgeable of it, is the last creation of the father of the atomic age. Hoenniker, for the simple reason of being able to, created a weapon that could destroy, and would destroy, the world in a matter of moments. The god-like power of ice-nine is used as a symbol of science’s terrifyingly advancing rate and the proliferation of arms that is caused by the rapid acceleration of physical science and the carelessness of those who bring their destructive power to bear. This idea of reckless disregard for the horrifying might of these weapons is made evident through not only Dr. Hopenniker, but his children as well, each of his children were gifted a fragment of ice-nine, each of them relinquished a portion of it to world powers, in one way or another. The USSR and the United States both received a portion of it, during the height of the cold war arms race. And yet none of them seemed to care at all for the repercussions of this, not until the world’s oceans froze over and the ‘purple worms’ descended from the sky and tore what remained of the Earth to shreds. Until as was lost, they felt no remorse for their actions and Vonnegut’s use of this symbol is astounding.
“I recalled an advertisement for a set of children’s books called The Book of Knowledge. In that ad, a trusting boy and girl looked up at their father. ‘Daddy,’ one asked, ‘what makes the sky blue?’ The answer, presumably, could be found in The Book of Knowledge.
“If I had my daddy beside me as Mona and I walked down the road from the palace, I would have had plenty of questions to ask as I clung to his hand. ‘Daddy, why are all the trees broken? Daddy, why are all the birds dead? Daddy what makes the sky so sick and wormy? Daddy what makes the sea so hard and still?’ It occurred to me that I was qualified to answer those questions better than any other human being, provided there were other human beings alive.”
This passage, post the end of the world, at the hands of ice-nine, instills a feeling of loneliness and sadness in a reader. A feeling that man is truly lonely, that there is no one else to answer the great questions or even the small, nagging ones that can never be answered by any one but ourselves. The melancholy effect of such a passage makes one ask themselves, who, if not us, meaning human beings, will be there to ask such questions, to wonder, to think, to dream, of why the trees are broken.
I think that Vonnegut’s use of language and symbols in the novel are masterful. I enjoyed the symbolic nature of the book, finding his commentary on a rapidly advancing technological and logical society insightful and well-developed. However, the physical and concrete book was rather difficult to read. The style used by Vonnegut can become rather convoluted and difficult to follow, especially in his books such as Cat’s Cradle and Slaughterhouse-Five where the plot is not a sequence of events but rather a compilation of thoughts and ideas from the entire timeline of the novel. Overall, the book was a wonderful piece of literature.

The Handmaid's Tale

"I can spend minutes, tens of minutes, running my eyes over the print: FAITH. It's the only things they've given me to read. If I were caught doing it, what would it count? I didn't put the pin cushion here myself." This excerpt from Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale is an example of the struggle that the Handmaids and the other various female characters throughout the book face. Offred's struggle is only one of many potential stories that Atwood could have acknowledge. This book could have just as easily been The Martha's Tale or The Wives' Tale or even The Econowives Tale. But why did Margaret Atwood choose to make it central on the Handmaid's struggle? What made Offred's story the one she chose to write about? I believe that the novel was written from the point of view of a Handmaid in order to maximize the emotional toll on the readers. How could the story of a housemaid instill the same emotion as that of a woman who is passed around men in order to carry their seed and treated as nothing but a womb and a pair of ovaries? The answer is simple, it wouldn't.
Atwood's use of faith in this novel is miraculous, creating a society blinded by their faith in politics, creating a nation of overly pious zealots, where fear and faith rule their lives, and their reproductive cycles. The Bible is used a symbol of both undying faith and the sugjugation of women in the novel, where the Bible is steadfastly followed, quite literally, in everything it says, and while the 'Good Book' is followed so rigidly, women are not permited to read it, or anything else for that matter, in fear of them rediscovering themselves. The Commander read to his women, from the bible, on a regular basis, on the night of the Ceremony, in order to pass on the righteous knowledge held within, and therefore out of reach for any lacking the correct genitalia. The Bible is used in the novel as more than just a symbol for the zealotry that's taken hold of the Republic of Gilead, it's used in order to bring the opression to readers in a physical sense, to force us, as observers, to truly understand what it is to be a woman in the new age of the world.
The entire novel centralizes on Offred's new life in this world of men and God and her reminisces of what it was to be a woman, a wife, and a mother before all of society was controlled by the holy men of the military. The idea that women were forced to give up their lives to their husbands or other suitable men is heart-wrenching, that Women were forced to be second-class citizens due to their lack of equipment below the waist is a terrible, foreboding thought. However, Atwood's use of language throughout the novel, and her stunning skill in the use of devices displayst he terrible world of Gilead in a remarkable way so that, while being a tale of woman's struggle against the government and opression it keeps the attention of the reader in a hopeful way, holds our attention raptly so much that readers hope for Offred's suffering to end and for women to be liberated.