Shakespeare's Histories

The language in Shakespeare’s histories is quite similar in that they both have dramatic, important speeches made by the main characters. These speeches which can be broken down into different parts or sections are either spoken by Richard III, who was the antagonist of the play Richard III, or Henry, the protagonist, from the play Henry V.

All of Richard’s speeches were about his vengeance for the crown and how he wanted to destroy as many lives as he could to receive the crown. His most famous speech happens to be the very first page of the play. It sets up the reader so they know right away that he is the villain in the play. His speech begins with him telling the reader how the war is over and all the soldiers are coming home to their lovers and families while he has no one. He states that he does himself does not have a lover due to his deformities. "Deformed, unfinished, sent before my time... That dogs bark at me as I halt by them". (Act I Scene I) The deeper meaning to his deformities causes Richard to hate the world for the world hating him. All he wants is to be loved and liked but he cannot because of how he looks which could be the main reason for his bitterness and anger. There are no secrets in Shakespeare’s play. He makes sure that the audience knows of Richard’s plans and his murderous ways so that they may see the man he truly is, a two-faced man and down right evil with no conscience.

Henry, from Henry V, is the total opposite to Richard in the sense that the people love Henry while the people hate Richard. But if you analyze both of their speeches, you notice that both of them use their power and their way with words to get people to do their bidding. They also are after the same thing in general. They both want more power. Richard wants the crown, Henry wants France. Only Henry’s way is the noble way while Richard’s way is the murderous way.

Henry’s speeches are replicated in almost every movie and before any big dramatic event or a time of much needed moral. In his famous speech which became known as the Crispin Day Speech, he gets his army to go from we’re all doomed to a horrible death to, this is the greatest day of our live and most honorable thing we will ever fight for. He was a master at raising moral and making people believe in something worth fighting for. He, in the same way as Richard, manipulates people’s emotions and minds. The soldiers did not want to fight the next day to an army that out numbered them five to one. Henry influences his soldiers to fight the same way Richard controlled the assassins to kill all of the people he wanted dead.

Shakespeare’s histories are made to entertain his audience of a historical event or being without boring the audience with facts most already knew. He had to create a setting and plot that entertained people and get them to love and hate the characters right away to keep them interested. Most of the audience already knew the stories of the characters the histories told about, so Shakespeare had to tell the “untold” stories and background of the decisions made by such characters to introduce a whole new light on the subject.

In Richard III they open up with his speech which makes the audience love to hate Richard and they want to see if his plan works in the end or if there is hero in the end that will stop him. And in Henry V, Henry was described by the Archbishop and the Bishop as a boy who turned into a man over night and earned the respect of his country. The audience is captured by the set up of the plays and Shakespeare’s writes his plays of a dull subject into an exciting and visually appealing play that is loved and replicated through the ages.

I did not enjoy the histories as much as I enjoyed the comedies, but I did like the histories and the way they developed the plot and the way they asked us to use our imagination to help set up the play. It forces the audience to think and not just listen. Shakespeare cleverly incorporated a fault in his plays which where that they did not have the space to set up the magnificent scenes being played for the audience and made it seem like the audience had little help with the play and made them feel more involved in the play than just watching it unfold it before them.

I enjoyed Richard III more than Henry V mostly because it easier to love to hate someone than it is to love a character. In Richard is was very easy to hate him and despise all the things he had done and find satisfaction in the way that he was killed. For a man who planned everything out and have no conscience second thoughts of his actions, was killed because he simply fell off his horse.

The Comedies of Shakespeare

Between the three comedies read in class, they have similar style context and similar style plots and even similar speeches. Shakespeare knew the workings of how to manipulate the style of his comedies to entertain people through out centuries.

The languages in all of these plays are very similar to one another. Shakespeare uses his language to get different meanings from one speech spoken by a character. In Taming of the Shrew, when Petruchio and Kate interact for the first time, all she tries to do is insult him and make him sound idiotic while Petruchio takes what she is saying and makes it incredible dirty with sexual innuendos all over the place. They argue and Petruchio states that Kate is a bee, she then says to beware of her sting. He then replies that he would pluck it out, and then she says only if he is able to find it. He says that it is on the tail, she says tongue, he asks whose, she replies his, then he says, “What, with my tongue in your tail? nay, come again, Good Kate; I am a gentleman.” She means the sting to be her words which lay on her tongue, but the whole time he is talking in the sexual terms. These types of hidden innuendos are all over the place in Shakespeare’s comedies.

Most of Shakespeare's comedies all have the same or similar themes which involve the protagonist falling in love and out of love fast while the antagonist tries to stop the communion of those who are in love. Of course there are more details and some plot lines change a little along with the characters, but Shakespeare was a master at creating characters that seem like everyday folk but live in a whole different world of mystical beings and ridiculous everyday events that are the norm for the characters and unrealistic to us, the audience.

Two of those comedies we read in class, Taming of the Shrew and A Mid-Summer Night's Dream, have much in common. They both contain a fool, hero, heroine, villain, and plays within a play. The character’s who play the fools are Bottom in A Mid-Summer Night's Dream, and Grumio in Taming of the Shrew. They are there for the comic relief factor and just too plainly make people laugh. They get themselves into ridiculous situations that do not faze them at all. Both take themselves to be very serious people when in all actuality they are anything but the total opposite of serious. Bottom for example had his head turned into that of a donkey's head. This is why Shakespeare named Bottom, for he acts like that of a donkey's "bottom". He is there to make fun of those who take them far too serious and to make the audience laugh.

Another recurrence of structure in Shakespeare's comedies is the play within a play. In A Mid-Summer Night's Dream and in Taming of the Shrew there is a play within the play. For A Mid-Summer Night's Dream it was a play about Pyramus and Thisbe which is about two people in love but can not be together because there parents are forbidding them from being together, just as in the actual play Hermia is in love with Lysander but her father wants her to marry his choice, Demetrius, whom she does not love. Pyramus and Thisbe’s story is one of the most romantic and classic love story there is and the whole time it is being acting out, lines are being forgotten or screwed up while Bottom over acts everything making himself more of a fool. In Taming of the Shrew the play within the play is actually the main story. The play is Taming of the Shrew which is acted out for Christopher sly who believes he is lord when really the trick is being played upon him.

All of Shakespeare's comedies treat sensitive and usually meaningful subjects lightly and with ironic and moronic satire. I find all of the comedies we have read to be funny and joyful. The main reason is because Shakespeare makes sure that there is no seriousness in the plays at all. It is funny how all of the characters believe that everything they is serious and take it full heartedly while the audience is laughing at them the whole time. It is also comical to listen to the language because every time you read a play, no matter how many times you have read it previous, you find some type of new symbol or meaning or theme in Shakespeare’s writing. He was a great manipulator of words.

Tale of Two Cities

In Dickens famous Tale of Two Cities, there are many symbols through out the novel as well as themes. One of the symbols in this novel was the peasants drinking up the split wine off the streets. This symbolizes the literal meaning that they were starving due to poverty, and also symbolizes the hunger of a new revolution and government. The citizens in poverty all lap up the wine and get monstrous vicious looks in them, and then one of them dips their fingers in the wine and writes "blood" on a window, which foreshadows the the revolutionaries who will fight on the same street later and spill blood. The wine symbolizes the new blood that the people want and the new political powers they want to save them from such horrible poverty and horrible living conditions and economic conditions.

One of the most famous quotes in the whole novel is also one of the most famous quotes opening a novel "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom,
it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of
incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was
the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us,
we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going
direct the other way . . ."

I chose this quote because of Dickens style of writing and the descriptive and the contrasting of exact opposite things and create a fluency like no other author. Dickens uses anaphora to describe the struggle between the good and the evil, the light and the darkness, and the struggle of balance and the struggle to keep that balance.

It also gives a hint into the novel of what it will focus on. It sets up the reader to be prepared to read a story about the fight of good and evil and power.

I thought this novel, well worth its credibility and the title of a classic, was written in an extremely proper and precise way. The descriptive language created vivid images and left no setting unseen. On the other hand, with such descriptive style, it is hard to follow along with the story and follow which character is which. I felt it was also a lot harder getting into the novel than most. Near the middle it was easier to understand it, but I was still unclear on a lot of events happening.

So, all in all, this was not one of my favorite novels, but I was satisfied in reading it because I believe we all should read this book because of how famous it is and all the references there are to this novel.

Cat's Cradle

Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut, he wrote about the end of the world. A major theme in the novel was about how technology, if not taken serious or taken to far, could potentially destroy earth as we know it. It was all about how careless people are with what they invent and why they want to invent something new. In the novel, Felix Hoenikker, the father of the atom bomb, was asked to invent something so the marines no longer have to deal with mud. Everyone ignored this request besides Felix. While no one was watching, he created one of the worlds most dangerous material even known. A weapon created for the sole use of making mud solid.

His message was to warn people about how far they can take technology, and possibly there is a reason why we have the few elements we have and we should keep it that way. We went far enough with the atomic bomb which, during the authors time was the most dangerous weapon, but now there are new forms of weapons such as gases and biological weapons.

The quote I chose was on page 171 during the ambassador's speech.

"...Think of people.
"And children murdered in war...
"And any country at all.
"Think of peace.
"Think of brotherly love.
"Think of plenty.
"Think of what paradise this world would be if men were kind and wise."

I thought this quote was important because it expresses the characters views as well as my own. Vonnegut wrote such a powerful message using a very small variety of words. It is almost like a poem using repetition and using a meaning of peace and the wanting of peace on earth and sorrow for everyone, in every country, because everybody dies a little with every war. We are all people, whether it is your country losing people, or your enemies, some one's child or children are being murdered.

I thought this novel was interesting in a very good way. At first I had no clue what was going on and did not understand what the plot was suppose to be up until the last few chapters, but once I understood, the rest of the novel clicked together and it all made sense and it was excellent! Vonnegut's ironic style made me laugh at parts and then right away would make me think about something and have me thinking about it even after I put the book down. I also liked the religion or following he created because it puts a realistic view on religion. Bokononism has a little of something everybody wonders about or believes in. As a whole, this is one of the best books we have read in class so far.

The Handmaid's Tale

One of the main topics in this particular novel was religion and whether or not the good intentions it sought forth after were in fact for the greater good of mankind. The countries religion is the base and ground working for the government. They create a world that was meant to be safe for women and protect them and help lives and the population of the world. The women are safe but with major consequences. They had almost all of their freedoms taken away and for the handmaid's they even had to give up their bodies for procreation to a man they never met. It is disgusting to even imagine what life must be like in their shoes because of all of the laws that prohibit them from living their lives. These women are monitored so closely they can't even be trusted to have any objects that could be potentially used as a weapon to kill themselves.


Another topic is that the religion itself isn't even taken seriously. They only follow it because they have to. The people don't have faith in the religion or believe in what the teachings teach. For example the part of the novel where Offred is watching the Soul Scrolls, "Ordering prayers from Soul Scrolls is supposed to be a sign of piety and faithfulness to the regime, so of coarse the Commanders' Wives do it a lot. It helps their husbands' careers." (167). The people can order a scroll and have a machine repeat it for them. This alone proves how unimportant religion is for people. They only do it to get farther ahead the social ladder.


One of the only quotes I enjoyed in this novel was near the end of Chapter 7 on page 39, "I would like to believe this is a story I'm telling. I need to believe it. I must believe it. Those who can believe that such stories are only stories have a better chance. If it's a story I'm telling, then I have control over the ending. Then there will be an ending, to the story, and real life will come after it. I can pick up where I left off."

I like this quote a lot because this relates to many people in different areas of the world. It is a defense mechanism she is using to save herself from herself. Without the stories she tells herself, then there really only would be reality for her; a reality that could cause her to take her own life.

The Importance of Being Earnest

In Oscar Wilde's play The Importance of Being Earnest, Wilde focuses on the ridiculousness of the Victorian era and their etiquette they had to follow. In his play, he creates characters who follow all the rules and makes them out to be very shallow people who don't care about anything other than the materialistic belongings and superficial meanings, such as the importance of being named Earnest. The characters who follow the edicts exactly all seem alike because of all the social rules set upon them. Jack, Algy, Gwen, and Cecily all are similar to the point where they argue the same way about almost the exact same thing. Such when Gwen and Cecily argued about how much sugar in tea is sufficient and when Algy and Jack were auguring about the proper way to ear muffins, both arguments took place while a very important event was happening that they did not care about. For the girls, they found out they were both engaged to Earnest Worthington. Then the men had their argument right after they told their betrothals the truth about their names not being Earnest. These people do not care about something that is life altering because it would be unaccepted to show so much emotion, as Lady Bracknell would most likely have put it. The authors message of how ridiculous the people of that era was well exampled and portrayed all of them as ignorant people who do not care about anything under the surface of things.


A quote I enjoyed in this play was on page 40 when Jack is confessing to Gwen the truth about his non existing brother,

"Gwendolen--Cecily--it is very painful for me to be forced to speak the truth.
It is the first time in my life that I have ever been reduced to such a painful
position, and I am really quite inexperienced in doing anything of the kind."

This quote makes me laugh because Jack had just confessed he is not use to telling the truth and he is not "experienced" in the way of speaking it fluently. This quote proves the authors point in how shallow these people were. They were so use to lying and digging no deeper than the surface that telling the truth is harder than coming up with a story to cover a lie. It is also humorous because he talks about telling the truth as lowering himself and his standards.


I really enjoyed reading this play. I loved the fact that the author was ridiculing the etiquette of the Victorian era and the superficial beliefs they had. I also like it because you can relate it to today's' society. In today's society it is all about looks and higher standards and the importance of having the fanciest item and latest trend. For the women in the play it was all about getting a man named Earnest, today it's all about getting a rich man. Also, with the men, Algy and Jack, they switched identifies to get away from their lives and to fool around, which is found in the present day. Although we have come very far, we still see many examples of extremely shallow and ignorant people today who could relate closely to the main characters to this play.

Anthem

This is probably one of my favorite books. I loved the way it was set and the Utopian society the author created. It made me realize how fortunate I really am to have the freedom of saying "I" and the freedom of being me, an individual. My favorite symbol is the most obvious one, the light bulb the narrator discovers and creates. With the discovery of that light bulb, he found knowledge, and the wisdom that he needed. With that discovery he fully broke away from his society of no ones and become himself, he became someone. The elders did not like his invention because he was the only one to create it and he was the only one who took part in it. He could not realize why they felt that way which meant we could no longer understand why they did anything, or rather, do nothing.



My favorite quote is on page 86 when the Golden One says, "We love you" to the narrator. She then realizes that she did not want to say we, she wanted to say love you to just the narrator from herself, not the we of society. And when she realizes this, she and the narrator are broken and hurt like the narrator said, "And we felt torn, torn for some word we could not find." This part makes me feel such pity and sorrow for them because I do not know what I would do if I could not say I love you to somebody when I really wanted to and mean it.
This quote also helped me realize that they did not even know what it was like to feel something for themselves. They have been trained since birth that everything was for everybody and no body was allowed to be different or feel different.

This novella was probably the best one I have ever read. I loved the development of the story and the development of the characters and the plot. It was written amazingly well and using such simple language made such a deep meaning and impact.