Tess of D'Urbervilles
SUMMARY
Tess of the D’Urbervilles is the heart throbbing story of a young woman sent by her father to claim her fortune. The story begins when Tess' father, John Durbeyfield, finds that he is descendent of the wealthy and noble D'Urbervilles. He proceeds to send his daughter to live with Mrs. D'Urbervilles, but, John does not realize that he is not related to her at all. Tess does not realize this either, and soon Mrs. D'Urbervilles' son, Alec, offers Tess a job which she desperately needs. Tess accepts ,and while she works for the D'Urbervilles, Alec constantly flits with her in an attempt to seduce Tess, and Tess does well to resists for awhile before giving in. One day after an outing, Alec takes advantage of Tess. Tess knows she doesn't love Alec and forces herself to leave; returning home and bearing Alec's child. When Tess gives birth to the child, she names it Sorrow, and unfortunately, Sorrow dies soon after birth. After this incident, Tess enters a depression and does not seek work for a year.
When she does, she finds work as a milkmaid at the Talabothays dairy. There, she discovers a man whom she has seen before. This man, Angel Clare, had caught Tess' eye years ago at a fair and she had never forgotten him. After much time working together, the two fall in love and Angel proposes to Tess. Tess says yes, but is troubled by her past and fears that Angel will not approve or even leave, so she vows to tell him. Tess slips a letter under Angel's door, but in a tragic flaw to Tess' plan, it slips underneath the carpet he never sees it. The two get married, and Angel feels compelled that the two should share NO secrets, so they tell all. Tess recalls her relationship with Alec and Angel ,never previously knowing, is deeply angered. He claims that he may never forgive Tess.
After what had happened the day after their marriage, Angel leaves Tess, setting out for Brazil to start a farm. Tess desperately wants Angel to stay, but he warns her not to come after him; he will find her when he forgives her. Once again, Tess is out of work and out of luck. By chance, Tess encounters Alec, who has now become a traveling minister. Both are shocked to see each other and Alec soon begs Tess to marry him, but Tess is not thrilled with this offer. When Tess' family is evicted from their residence, her father dies unexpectedly, and the bills begin piling up, Alec comes to offer help. Tess tries to resists his attempts to lure her in once more, yet for only a short time before the two are back together.
When Angel returns begging Tess to return to him, she has already fallen back into Alec's trap. Upon learning this, Angel leaves, crushed, while Tess thinks about what has just happened. Soon, Tess travels upstairs and kills Alec, fleeing the scene to find Angel. She has done so because she realizes who she truly loves, and thus, has removed Alec from her life completely. Upon learning of this transgression, Angel is shocked, yet he aids in Tess' escape anyway. Initially, the two get away, but soon Tess is captured by a search party and is incarcerated. Tess' sister and Angel watch the prison where Tess is held as a black flag is raised above it, a sign that Tess had just been executed.
MAIN CHARACTER ANALYSIS
Tess is the main character; the protagonist and the most important in the story. The story revolves around Tess and her encounters with other prominent characters, such as Alec, Mrs. D'Urbervilles or Angel. She is a very beautiful and intelligent girl whom is trapped amongst the poor and surrounded by a world of apparent hopelessness. Further, Tess is a martyr for the poor, as she symbolizes the consequences dealt when striving for something far beyond yourself; being greedy. Even if it was only her father who wished for her fortune, Tess is still the martyr whom bears the negative consequences within the story. Tess' life is full of trying circumstances and a tragic plot. This plot, in due course, concludes with Tess' untimely death. Moreover, Tess was designed so the reader may feel sympathetic towards her, as she was a genuinely good person and generally a happy character. As result, the reader wishes Tess to find a "happy ending" and when she kills Alec, the reader is shocked and the realization that there can be no such "happy ending" finally sinks in.
SETTING
The enthralling and rather depressing Tess of the D’Urbervilles takes place somewhere within the revolutionary 1860's-1890's, in the quiet Wessex of Southern England. It was during this turbulent time that the Second Industrial Revolution and Agricultural Revolution was well under way. With magnificent advances in science, work tactics, techniques and more, an increasing amount of people were moving away from farming, were now living in or around cities, and the previously large gap between the poor and rich was closing fast with the arrival of a new middle class in industrial societies. It was during this time that life became easier for many in an economic boom, yet life remained a struggle for some still. Those whom remained in farming related professions or were unlucky enough to be replaced by newly invented machines in factories found it hard to leave and advance towards wealth of any kind. Thus, it is understandable that Tess' father and herself looked for ways to accumulate wealth and get by, and also understandably, were prepared to pursue a fortune in their supposed relation to the D'Urbervilles nobility. Throughout the course of her dark endeavor called life, Tess experienced several variations in setting, from her home, to a poor village, and the D'Urbervilles estate. Some, of course, a world away from the next despite the closing gap between the social classes due to drops in goods prices, new opportunities for work in urban areas, and an increase in the education of non-upper class peoples.
However, it was near the end of the possible time period for Tess of the D’Urbervilles - 1870-1890 - that Britain underwent great economic trouble following initial economic boom and instability, called the Long Depression. So, in reality, Tess and her family probably lived in the downturn of the industrial revolution. Therefore, the family's desperate conditions as well as strive for fortune and happiness makes even more sense upon the examination of this fact.
Main Conflicts
Man Vs. Man - Tess is seduced and taken advantage of by Alec, which in turn ruins a majority of Tess' life later on, the conflict created by this is most evident and through a series of strange circumstance eventually leads to the death of Alec and eventually Tess.
Man Vs. Self - Tess must deal with what has happened in her past, as well as things she has done to cause them or has done to harm other people. For example, Tess kills Alec, which in turn causes serious repercussions which Tess must suffer herself.
Major Themes
1. The changing social strata of England- Tess' journey and several workplaces highlight the situations a poor person would be in during the latter portion of the industrial revolution. From small village to the city, the differences are obvious.
2. Sexuality- Though it is never described in detail, Thomas Harding's Tess of the D’Urbervilles was still relatively hard to publish because it contains so many sexual references. The world was not used to anything like this before. Tess of D'Urbervilles was a groundbreaking work and fairly controversial due to its use and illustration of this topic.
3. The differences between the city and the farming villages- As stated in the setting portion of the analysis, more and more people were moving to densely populated areas. Furthermore, through Tess' adventures, the stark physical differences between the two is highlighted.
Symbols
1. Brazil - Brazil represents a place where dreams can come true, as it is far away from familiar evils a drudgery of England. Not in mere coincidence, the Character Angel escapes temporarily to this figuratively heaven-like environment. This place is not only a otherworldly symbol, but moreover, it is a key factor in the advancement of plot. If Angel had not traveled there, Tess would not have met Alec once more and would not have practically forgotten Angel.
2. Tess- Tess herself represents the poorer classes in general and the false sense of innocence surrounding many young women. Though she is described as innocent, and believed by the author to be so, it becomes obvious through her actions that she is not innocent, and that no one can really be or remain such forever.
3. Angel - Angel represents Tess' salvation from a horrible life of pain and suffering after her relationship with Alec. He comes to her and saves her, as if by miracle, but when he learns of Tess' past with Alec he returns to a heavenly land (Brazil, as explained above), as would an actual angel. Thus, his name is as much of a title as it is an identifier.
Tess of the D’Urbervilles is the heart throbbing story of a young woman sent by her father to claim her fortune. The story begins when Tess' father, John Durbeyfield, finds that he is descendent of the wealthy and noble D'Urbervilles. He proceeds to send his daughter to live with Mrs. D'Urbervilles, but, John does not realize that he is not related to her at all. Tess does not realize this either, and soon Mrs. D'Urbervilles' son, Alec, offers Tess a job which she desperately needs. Tess accepts ,and while she works for the D'Urbervilles, Alec constantly flits with her in an attempt to seduce Tess, and Tess does well to resists for awhile before giving in. One day after an outing, Alec takes advantage of Tess. Tess knows she doesn't love Alec and forces herself to leave; returning home and bearing Alec's child. When Tess gives birth to the child, she names it Sorrow, and unfortunately, Sorrow dies soon after birth. After this incident, Tess enters a depression and does not seek work for a year.
When she does, she finds work as a milkmaid at the Talabothays dairy. There, she discovers a man whom she has seen before. This man, Angel Clare, had caught Tess' eye years ago at a fair and she had never forgotten him. After much time working together, the two fall in love and Angel proposes to Tess. Tess says yes, but is troubled by her past and fears that Angel will not approve or even leave, so she vows to tell him. Tess slips a letter under Angel's door, but in a tragic flaw to Tess' plan, it slips underneath the carpet he never sees it. The two get married, and Angel feels compelled that the two should share NO secrets, so they tell all. Tess recalls her relationship with Alec and Angel ,never previously knowing, is deeply angered. He claims that he may never forgive Tess.
After what had happened the day after their marriage, Angel leaves Tess, setting out for Brazil to start a farm. Tess desperately wants Angel to stay, but he warns her not to come after him; he will find her when he forgives her. Once again, Tess is out of work and out of luck. By chance, Tess encounters Alec, who has now become a traveling minister. Both are shocked to see each other and Alec soon begs Tess to marry him, but Tess is not thrilled with this offer. When Tess' family is evicted from their residence, her father dies unexpectedly, and the bills begin piling up, Alec comes to offer help. Tess tries to resists his attempts to lure her in once more, yet for only a short time before the two are back together.
When Angel returns begging Tess to return to him, she has already fallen back into Alec's trap. Upon learning this, Angel leaves, crushed, while Tess thinks about what has just happened. Soon, Tess travels upstairs and kills Alec, fleeing the scene to find Angel. She has done so because she realizes who she truly loves, and thus, has removed Alec from her life completely. Upon learning of this transgression, Angel is shocked, yet he aids in Tess' escape anyway. Initially, the two get away, but soon Tess is captured by a search party and is incarcerated. Tess' sister and Angel watch the prison where Tess is held as a black flag is raised above it, a sign that Tess had just been executed.
MAIN CHARACTER ANALYSIS
Tess is the main character; the protagonist and the most important in the story. The story revolves around Tess and her encounters with other prominent characters, such as Alec, Mrs. D'Urbervilles or Angel. She is a very beautiful and intelligent girl whom is trapped amongst the poor and surrounded by a world of apparent hopelessness. Further, Tess is a martyr for the poor, as she symbolizes the consequences dealt when striving for something far beyond yourself; being greedy. Even if it was only her father who wished for her fortune, Tess is still the martyr whom bears the negative consequences within the story. Tess' life is full of trying circumstances and a tragic plot. This plot, in due course, concludes with Tess' untimely death. Moreover, Tess was designed so the reader may feel sympathetic towards her, as she was a genuinely good person and generally a happy character. As result, the reader wishes Tess to find a "happy ending" and when she kills Alec, the reader is shocked and the realization that there can be no such "happy ending" finally sinks in.
SETTING
The enthralling and rather depressing Tess of the D’Urbervilles takes place somewhere within the revolutionary 1860's-1890's, in the quiet Wessex of Southern England. It was during this turbulent time that the Second Industrial Revolution and Agricultural Revolution was well under way. With magnificent advances in science, work tactics, techniques and more, an increasing amount of people were moving away from farming, were now living in or around cities, and the previously large gap between the poor and rich was closing fast with the arrival of a new middle class in industrial societies. It was during this time that life became easier for many in an economic boom, yet life remained a struggle for some still. Those whom remained in farming related professions or were unlucky enough to be replaced by newly invented machines in factories found it hard to leave and advance towards wealth of any kind. Thus, it is understandable that Tess' father and herself looked for ways to accumulate wealth and get by, and also understandably, were prepared to pursue a fortune in their supposed relation to the D'Urbervilles nobility. Throughout the course of her dark endeavor called life, Tess experienced several variations in setting, from her home, to a poor village, and the D'Urbervilles estate. Some, of course, a world away from the next despite the closing gap between the social classes due to drops in goods prices, new opportunities for work in urban areas, and an increase in the education of non-upper class peoples.
However, it was near the end of the possible time period for Tess of the D’Urbervilles - 1870-1890 - that Britain underwent great economic trouble following initial economic boom and instability, called the Long Depression. So, in reality, Tess and her family probably lived in the downturn of the industrial revolution. Therefore, the family's desperate conditions as well as strive for fortune and happiness makes even more sense upon the examination of this fact.
Main Conflicts
Man Vs. Man - Tess is seduced and taken advantage of by Alec, which in turn ruins a majority of Tess' life later on, the conflict created by this is most evident and through a series of strange circumstance eventually leads to the death of Alec and eventually Tess.
Man Vs. Self - Tess must deal with what has happened in her past, as well as things she has done to cause them or has done to harm other people. For example, Tess kills Alec, which in turn causes serious repercussions which Tess must suffer herself.
Major Themes
1. The changing social strata of England- Tess' journey and several workplaces highlight the situations a poor person would be in during the latter portion of the industrial revolution. From small village to the city, the differences are obvious.
2. Sexuality- Though it is never described in detail, Thomas Harding's Tess of the D’Urbervilles was still relatively hard to publish because it contains so many sexual references. The world was not used to anything like this before. Tess of D'Urbervilles was a groundbreaking work and fairly controversial due to its use and illustration of this topic.
3. The differences between the city and the farming villages- As stated in the setting portion of the analysis, more and more people were moving to densely populated areas. Furthermore, through Tess' adventures, the stark physical differences between the two is highlighted.
Symbols
1. Brazil - Brazil represents a place where dreams can come true, as it is far away from familiar evils a drudgery of England. Not in mere coincidence, the Character Angel escapes temporarily to this figuratively heaven-like environment. This place is not only a otherworldly symbol, but moreover, it is a key factor in the advancement of plot. If Angel had not traveled there, Tess would not have met Alec once more and would not have practically forgotten Angel.
2. Tess- Tess herself represents the poorer classes in general and the false sense of innocence surrounding many young women. Though she is described as innocent, and believed by the author to be so, it becomes obvious through her actions that she is not innocent, and that no one can really be or remain such forever.
3. Angel - Angel represents Tess' salvation from a horrible life of pain and suffering after her relationship with Alec. He comes to her and saves her, as if by miracle, but when he learns of Tess' past with Alec he returns to a heavenly land (Brazil, as explained above), as would an actual angel. Thus, his name is as much of a title as it is an identifier.
Hamlet
SUMMARY
On a cold night in Denmark, two watchmen are caught off guard by a unexpected phantom. They call a wise member of the Royal court, Horatio, to bear witness to this ghost. Horatio is critical at first and doubts the specters existence, when he sees it however, he calls for Prince Hamlet. The ghost appears to be Prince Hamlet's deceased father, the previous king who had recently died and left his throne open for Claudius, Hamlet's uncle. Hamlet sees the ghost of his father and it shares with him that Claudius had killed him, furthermore, that revenge must be had. The Ghost disappears as quickly as it had arrived, and from this point on, Hamlet swears vengeance.
Although Hamlet could have stricken down Claudius that day, he desires to prove his guilt first, and his intellect yearns to plan. Hamlet enters a great depression and apparent madness, as if to remove any idea that he may be a threat to Claudius or may even capable of recognizing his guilt. His false madness worsens until Claudius hires two of Hamlet's past friends, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, to spy on him and decipher the cause of his madness. With this tactic resulting in no new information, Polonius - a member of the Royal Court - suggests that Hamlet is mad with love for his daughter, Ophelia. Hamlet and Ophelia had been seeing each other and Hamlet was seeming more and more invested in meeting her with every day. Claudius and Polonius' attempt to prove this theory by spying on the two fails, as Hamlet merely appears insane; he shows no love for Ophelia and he verbally assaults her. When asked, Hamlet now claims he DID have feelings for her once, but, he possesses them no longer.
Having come to no conclusion as to why Hamlet has changed so drastically, Claudius' scrutiny lessens, and it is at this point in the play that Hamlet seizes the opportunity to prove his uncle's guilt. A traveling group of actors arrive in the city and Hamlet has hatched a brilliant plan. He employs these actors to enact a play, a play which of course mirrors Claudius' own evils (poisoning the king in his sleep) and will thusly spark the emotion of guilt within him amongst his viewing of said play.
Claudius reacts just as Hamlet had expected, halting the play and fleeing the scene. However, Hamlet does not pursue killing Claudius, for he finds him praying and believes that he will not go to Hell after being recently forgiven for his sins, so, Hamlet instead goes to meet with his mother, Gertrude. Gertrude rudely asks why Hamlet is trying to prove his uncle's guilt and Hamlet snaps, condemning his mother for her sins in a rage. Then, all of a sudden, as Hamlet bears down upon his mother Polonius calls out -- from behind the curtain he is hiding behind this entire time-- for help. Hamlet believes it may be Claudius behind the curtain and then swiftly, and hopefully, lunges his sword into the spy's chest. Claudius he was not, and thusly, Hamlet leaves his mother's room to bury the body. When Claudius discovers what has happened, he has Hamlet sent to England immediately. With him, he sends Rosencrantz and Guildenstern bearing orders to execute Prince Hamlet.
After Polonius' death, Ophelia falls into a deep depression and drowns in a river while aimlessly wondering in a melancholy daze. Laertes, Ophelia's brother, now has a vendetta against Hamlet at this point; soon he and Claudius plan to kill hamlet upon his return to Denmark.
Now, Hamlet has returned to England and has stumbled upon Ophelia's funeral, where he encounters Laertes. After this encounter, Hamlet is invited to fence against Laertes in audience of the Royal Court. Hamlet does not know yet, but, Claudius and Laertes have poisoned both sword and drink at this event. During the match, Gertrude takes a sip of Hamlets poisoned drink and, feeling its affect, warns him of his Uncle's plan. Hamlet, already poisoned by Laertes' sword, kills both whom plotted against him and in the matter of five minutes, the entire court is dead except for Horatio. Hamlet's dying wish is for Horatio to spare his own life (not commit suicide) and to give the throne to the advancing prince of Norway, Fortinbras. Hamlet is carried away like a fallen soldier and the play ends.
MAIN CHARACHTER ANALYSIS
The main character and protagonist, Hamlet, is the son of the previous King, Hamlet. Hamlet's father was murdered, and upon discovery of this fact he swore to enact revenge upon his killer, Claudius. Hamlet is an intellectual whom, under a fiery madness on the outside, keeps his cool and thinks rationally about most things that happen in the story. For example, when Claudius is exposed, Hamlet takes a moment to think things through rationally -though to the reader it may same very odd- determining that he must wait till kill Claudius, still. Hamlet's apprehensive and odd behavior is what shapes the story into what it is, furthermore, the repercussions of several snap decisions made in a crazed state seal Hamlet's fate forever. Hamlet forms a false identity of insanity throughout the play that gradually evolves into a reality; an absolute truth about his character Sadly, he let his plan drag on too far and descended into true madness.
SETTING
This famous Shakespearian tragedy takes place in the small monarchal European state of Denmark, during the late medieval period in Europe. The majority of significance in this setting lies not in its physical being but in its chronological inaccuracies. The order of events which take place in Shakespeare's famous play are out somewhat of order and sometimes out of context. Such as, the Norwegian prince Fortinbras' movements and interactions with Norway's fellow small states of Denmark and Poland. This common occurrence in literature shows the creative liberties taken by Shakespeare in his play-writing, which are obviously not only in character , but in Europe's history as well. Also, upon examination, Shakespeare's Hamlet does maintain a certain amount of accuracies in historical detail with the tragic play, as some of the events it portrays are still in the recent past of Europe -that is, recent history- and the story must be relatable in order to be enjoyable to a broader audience. Furthermore, the setting of Denmark was, and is, probably the most familiar to those whom would have enjoyed the play at the time of its creation and then production at the globe theatre. Denmark was close to England, held diplomatic ties with England, and had held prominent monarchal and militaristic authority on the continent of Europe for hundreds of years. Denmark was still making contributions to history at the time Hamlet was written, and still does to this day. There are many reason why the setting of Demark is important to, and perfect for, the story of Hamlet.
MAIN CONFLICTS
Man Vs. Man- Hamlet vs. everyone. That is essentially the premise of Hamlet. Almost EVERY major character is attempting to keep Hamlet from avenging his father's death in SOME way.
Man Vs. Self- Hamlet chooses the wrong strategies to aid in his plans for revenge; he ends up hurting everyone he loves and even dying. Honestly, how can pretending to be insane for months on end be very healthy, or beneficial?
THEMES
1. Revenge - Obviously, a major them of the play is revenge. The entirety of Hamlet's actions are driven by his overwhelming desire to avenge his father's death. Thus, all reactions by other characters are made as result of this obsession with revenge.
2. Tragedy - The play does claim to be a tragedy, and it does follows all guidelines and meets all requirements desired to hold this title. The protagonist, his love, and nearly all other characters die via some tragic, untimely means. You can't understand Hamlet without understanding Tragedy.
3. Fate - All characters in the tragedy are, by default, destine to die or fail in some way. Their actions set them up for this failure, and not shockingly, the best example of this is Hamlet! Despite his best efforts to simply avenge his father, everything still goes to Hell in the end.
SYMBOLS
1. Claudius- Claudius represents the evil within humanity and the lust for power that can lead to murder. He also symbolizes Hamlets purpose. After his father's death, Hamlet had nothing, he needs a purpose and Claudius becomes that purpose. Heck, we don't even know if the Ghost every actually talked to Hamlet.
2. The Ghost- The Ghost is a symbol of foreshadowing for Denmark and the characters of the tragedy. The arrival of the Ghost, which illustrates what happens after death, foreshadows what the characters and country will soon suffer.
3. Ophelia - Ophelia not only represent innocence, but she represents and foreshadows the consequences of revenge. Hamlet's blood lust for revenge leads him down a dark and reckless route; the death of Ophelia as an indirect result is a prime example of the repercussions dealt by his actions, and subsequently, is foreshadowing for those to come.
On a cold night in Denmark, two watchmen are caught off guard by a unexpected phantom. They call a wise member of the Royal court, Horatio, to bear witness to this ghost. Horatio is critical at first and doubts the specters existence, when he sees it however, he calls for Prince Hamlet. The ghost appears to be Prince Hamlet's deceased father, the previous king who had recently died and left his throne open for Claudius, Hamlet's uncle. Hamlet sees the ghost of his father and it shares with him that Claudius had killed him, furthermore, that revenge must be had. The Ghost disappears as quickly as it had arrived, and from this point on, Hamlet swears vengeance.
Although Hamlet could have stricken down Claudius that day, he desires to prove his guilt first, and his intellect yearns to plan. Hamlet enters a great depression and apparent madness, as if to remove any idea that he may be a threat to Claudius or may even capable of recognizing his guilt. His false madness worsens until Claudius hires two of Hamlet's past friends, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, to spy on him and decipher the cause of his madness. With this tactic resulting in no new information, Polonius - a member of the Royal Court - suggests that Hamlet is mad with love for his daughter, Ophelia. Hamlet and Ophelia had been seeing each other and Hamlet was seeming more and more invested in meeting her with every day. Claudius and Polonius' attempt to prove this theory by spying on the two fails, as Hamlet merely appears insane; he shows no love for Ophelia and he verbally assaults her. When asked, Hamlet now claims he DID have feelings for her once, but, he possesses them no longer.
Having come to no conclusion as to why Hamlet has changed so drastically, Claudius' scrutiny lessens, and it is at this point in the play that Hamlet seizes the opportunity to prove his uncle's guilt. A traveling group of actors arrive in the city and Hamlet has hatched a brilliant plan. He employs these actors to enact a play, a play which of course mirrors Claudius' own evils (poisoning the king in his sleep) and will thusly spark the emotion of guilt within him amongst his viewing of said play.
Claudius reacts just as Hamlet had expected, halting the play and fleeing the scene. However, Hamlet does not pursue killing Claudius, for he finds him praying and believes that he will not go to Hell after being recently forgiven for his sins, so, Hamlet instead goes to meet with his mother, Gertrude. Gertrude rudely asks why Hamlet is trying to prove his uncle's guilt and Hamlet snaps, condemning his mother for her sins in a rage. Then, all of a sudden, as Hamlet bears down upon his mother Polonius calls out -- from behind the curtain he is hiding behind this entire time-- for help. Hamlet believes it may be Claudius behind the curtain and then swiftly, and hopefully, lunges his sword into the spy's chest. Claudius he was not, and thusly, Hamlet leaves his mother's room to bury the body. When Claudius discovers what has happened, he has Hamlet sent to England immediately. With him, he sends Rosencrantz and Guildenstern bearing orders to execute Prince Hamlet.
After Polonius' death, Ophelia falls into a deep depression and drowns in a river while aimlessly wondering in a melancholy daze. Laertes, Ophelia's brother, now has a vendetta against Hamlet at this point; soon he and Claudius plan to kill hamlet upon his return to Denmark.
Now, Hamlet has returned to England and has stumbled upon Ophelia's funeral, where he encounters Laertes. After this encounter, Hamlet is invited to fence against Laertes in audience of the Royal Court. Hamlet does not know yet, but, Claudius and Laertes have poisoned both sword and drink at this event. During the match, Gertrude takes a sip of Hamlets poisoned drink and, feeling its affect, warns him of his Uncle's plan. Hamlet, already poisoned by Laertes' sword, kills both whom plotted against him and in the matter of five minutes, the entire court is dead except for Horatio. Hamlet's dying wish is for Horatio to spare his own life (not commit suicide) and to give the throne to the advancing prince of Norway, Fortinbras. Hamlet is carried away like a fallen soldier and the play ends.
MAIN CHARACHTER ANALYSIS
The main character and protagonist, Hamlet, is the son of the previous King, Hamlet. Hamlet's father was murdered, and upon discovery of this fact he swore to enact revenge upon his killer, Claudius. Hamlet is an intellectual whom, under a fiery madness on the outside, keeps his cool and thinks rationally about most things that happen in the story. For example, when Claudius is exposed, Hamlet takes a moment to think things through rationally -though to the reader it may same very odd- determining that he must wait till kill Claudius, still. Hamlet's apprehensive and odd behavior is what shapes the story into what it is, furthermore, the repercussions of several snap decisions made in a crazed state seal Hamlet's fate forever. Hamlet forms a false identity of insanity throughout the play that gradually evolves into a reality; an absolute truth about his character Sadly, he let his plan drag on too far and descended into true madness.
SETTING
This famous Shakespearian tragedy takes place in the small monarchal European state of Denmark, during the late medieval period in Europe. The majority of significance in this setting lies not in its physical being but in its chronological inaccuracies. The order of events which take place in Shakespeare's famous play are out somewhat of order and sometimes out of context. Such as, the Norwegian prince Fortinbras' movements and interactions with Norway's fellow small states of Denmark and Poland. This common occurrence in literature shows the creative liberties taken by Shakespeare in his play-writing, which are obviously not only in character , but in Europe's history as well. Also, upon examination, Shakespeare's Hamlet does maintain a certain amount of accuracies in historical detail with the tragic play, as some of the events it portrays are still in the recent past of Europe -that is, recent history- and the story must be relatable in order to be enjoyable to a broader audience. Furthermore, the setting of Denmark was, and is, probably the most familiar to those whom would have enjoyed the play at the time of its creation and then production at the globe theatre. Denmark was close to England, held diplomatic ties with England, and had held prominent monarchal and militaristic authority on the continent of Europe for hundreds of years. Denmark was still making contributions to history at the time Hamlet was written, and still does to this day. There are many reason why the setting of Demark is important to, and perfect for, the story of Hamlet.
MAIN CONFLICTS
Man Vs. Man- Hamlet vs. everyone. That is essentially the premise of Hamlet. Almost EVERY major character is attempting to keep Hamlet from avenging his father's death in SOME way.
Man Vs. Self- Hamlet chooses the wrong strategies to aid in his plans for revenge; he ends up hurting everyone he loves and even dying. Honestly, how can pretending to be insane for months on end be very healthy, or beneficial?
THEMES
1. Revenge - Obviously, a major them of the play is revenge. The entirety of Hamlet's actions are driven by his overwhelming desire to avenge his father's death. Thus, all reactions by other characters are made as result of this obsession with revenge.
2. Tragedy - The play does claim to be a tragedy, and it does follows all guidelines and meets all requirements desired to hold this title. The protagonist, his love, and nearly all other characters die via some tragic, untimely means. You can't understand Hamlet without understanding Tragedy.
3. Fate - All characters in the tragedy are, by default, destine to die or fail in some way. Their actions set them up for this failure, and not shockingly, the best example of this is Hamlet! Despite his best efforts to simply avenge his father, everything still goes to Hell in the end.
SYMBOLS
1. Claudius- Claudius represents the evil within humanity and the lust for power that can lead to murder. He also symbolizes Hamlets purpose. After his father's death, Hamlet had nothing, he needs a purpose and Claudius becomes that purpose. Heck, we don't even know if the Ghost every actually talked to Hamlet.
2. The Ghost- The Ghost is a symbol of foreshadowing for Denmark and the characters of the tragedy. The arrival of the Ghost, which illustrates what happens after death, foreshadows what the characters and country will soon suffer.
3. Ophelia - Ophelia not only represent innocence, but she represents and foreshadows the consequences of revenge. Hamlet's blood lust for revenge leads him down a dark and reckless route; the death of Ophelia as an indirect result is a prime example of the repercussions dealt by his actions, and subsequently, is foreshadowing for those to come.
Frankenstein
Summary
The plot of the story begins with a certain man, Robert Walton, a captain of a ship throttling its way to the North Pole, running into the path of a man by the name of Victor Frankenstein. Both men are trapped in seas of ice and are unable to get out of their misery so Walton decides to listen to Frankenstein’s wonderfully intricate and capturing story. First, Victor begins to describe his early years and the college he went to along with what he studied then gradually starts talking about his obsession to discover the secret to life. He goes on to recount his fashioning of a dead body that would soon receive life; basically, he is telling Walton his tale of creating a zombie like monster. Apparently, one night in his apartment, he brought his monster to life only to discover later on in the night that the monster was leaning over him. This of course, scares him so much that he runs into the streets like a crazy man and begins to wander in remorse for creating such a monster. Meanwhile, once Victor returns to his apartment with a friend, he falls very ill and is sickened by his actions when he discovers his apartment vacant and without the monster. Because of this, he plans to return to his favorite place, Geneva, however right before he was going to leave, he received a letter in the mail from his father letting him know that his brother William was murdered. When he returns home, he wanders the woods where his brother was murdered and sees the monster wandering around. Obviously, he puts two and two together and deduces that the monster murdered his brother. However, arriving in Geneva, he finds out that a nice, gentle girl, Justine Moritz, who had been adopted by his family has been accused of the murder. Doing nothing to reveal the truth that the monster had killed his brother, she is sentenced to death and executed; more blood is now on his hands. One day on vacation in the mountains to get away from the horrible events at home, the monster approaches him begging persuasively for Victor to craft him a companion; another half of him that he can confide in and live his life with. Unfortunately, Victor agrees and travels to an island in the Orkneys with compiled information regarding the creation of the female and dedicates himself to fulfilling his word to craft the monster a companion. One night on the island, Victor realizes what he is doing is wrong and decides to destroy his unfinished creation and to dump the remains into the water. Victor’s actions enrage the monster who then vows to be with Victor on his wedding night to exact revenge. The next morning, Victor is arrested and charged with the murder of his friend Henry Clerval causing him to, once again, fall very ill and spend his days in prison until his recovery. He is later acquitted of the crime and released. Deciding to return to Geneva with his dad, Victor also decides to marry his lover, Elizabeth. However, he remembers the monsters vow to be there at his wedding and thinks that he will be murdered. To make sure he is safe, he sends Elizabeth away to wait for the ceremony but then hears her screams and realizes that the monster didn’t want him, but wanted him to be alone in the world just like he was. Later, his father dies and the grief causes Victor to vow to track down the monster and kill it. Staying true to his promise, he eventually tracks down the monster to the north into the ice taking chase in a dog sled to catch up, however, once the monster is in sight, the sea swells up and the ice breaks forming a great divide which Victor cannot cross. The narrative of the story shifts to the meeting of Walton on the ship and catches up to the time of Walton’s fourth letter to his sister. Walton then tells the rest of the story in more letters to his sister, but cannot help the ailing Victor who then dies not long after this. When Walton returns to Victor’s corpse, he is stunned to see the monster crying over his body. Apparently, the monster then tells Walton that because his creator has died, he can now end his own life and his suffering with it. Finally, the monster decides to depart for the barren edges of the ice to die.
Analysis of Major Characters
Victor Frankenstein- Victor Frankenstein is the main character of the story who eventually creates a zombie like creature who actually becomes his downfall. Throughout his early years, Victor Frankenstein is extremely fascinated with the “secret of life”. This drive is what ultimately brings him to bring a hideous monster to life; he finally knows what it feels like to be a creator like God. Basically, Victor Frankenstein goes through multiple phases of illness, not excluding mental possibilities, when his creation starts wreaking havoc on his life killing many of his loved ones such as his brother and his to-be-wife. The blame for the death of his brother ultimately lands on an adopted child of the family who is then executed; although Victor knows it was the monster who killed his brother, he does not say anything, concealing his secret. Essentially, Victor changes throughout the plot from an innocent youth intrigued by the secret of life to a guilty, ill-fated man who has caused the death of many. By the end of the novel, Victor had chased the monster to the edge of the North Pole eventually falling ill unable to fully catch up and ends up dying with the monster crying over his creator.
The Monster- The monster, possibly the second most important character in the novel, is Victor Frankenstein’s creation made from deceased body parts combined with unique chemicals brought to life by a mysterious spark. The monster is eight feet tall and extremely strong, possessing the mind of an infant. This of course, spells trouble down the road for everyone in his path, including Victor Frankenstein. Throughout his life, looking in the mirror, he realizes his deformities and understands that he is extremely ugly; these features cause him to take out his frustration of Victor Frankenstein by murdering many members of his family. He pursues Victor’s morals, initially convincing him to forge a companion with the same grotesqueness, however, once Victor sees the error of his ways, he dumps the uncompleted body enraging the monster. The monster decides to kill Victor’s soon to be wife at his wedding forcing Victor to pursue the monster for vengeance. However, Victor is never actually able to catch the monster and ends up dying in pursuit. At the end of the novel, the monster finds Victor’s corpse and weeping over it, decides to take his own life. The monster then walks to the furthest edge of the North Pole and then dies.
Robert Walton- Robert Walton is, without a doubt, the weakest major character in the story. He stay’s static the entire story and is, essentially, the narrator; the story is set in his letters to his sister recounting the events of Victor’s life. In the story, Walton is the captain of a ship that becomes trapped and stranded in the midst of a sea of ice. It is here, in an obsolete location he finds the ailing Victor Frankenstein and listens to his remarkable story. Throughout the novel, Walton functions as the window through which the reader sees the story play out however, he also draws many parallels to Victor. Both are explorers chasing after the “country of eternal light” while Walton also acts as a foil to Victor by not acting obsessive enough to risk death and acting courageous enough to let his passion drive him in life. In the end, Walton is a foil to Victor who is a fellow explorer recounting the story in narrative form.
Setting
The story of Frankenstein is set in the Eighteenth century in the following locations: Geneva, the Swiss Alps, Ingolstadt, England, Scotland, and the northern ice. Frankenstein, written around 1818, obviously reflected the interests of the culture of the Nineteenth and Eighteenth century because the author, Mary Shelley, had to make the novel interesting to read. With that being said a couple of movements and interesting periods congruent to the time that helped shape the story as is are the following: The Gothic Period, The Enlightenment, and the Romantic Period. With so much material to draw from, the author obviously did a very good job combining all the elements of the period since Frankenstein was such a successful hit. Basically, the history implemented in the writing around that time really formed the perfect book. For example, the Romantic period and the Gothic Period both produced three main ideas that were implemented in Frankenstein. Firstly, there was the notion that the sleep of reason produces monsters, secondly, “reason” in its own definition is a kind of sleep breeding an addiction to reason limiting realistic/moral thoughts, and thirdly, the idea that “sinners are in the hands of an angry God”. All the ideas from the Romantic and Gothic Period are implemented in the novel obviously through Victor’s “reasonable” but not moral creation of the monster and through the guilt he feels regarding all of the murders caused by the monster. In addition, the Enlightenment had a marvelous and significant effect on the novel by the implementation of the popular principle of causality.
Types of Conflicts
Man vs. Self- In Frankenstein, the conflicts are between Victor Frankenstein (a man) and his creation (a monster). Therefore, since Victor created the monster, it seems as though part of the conflict in the book can be labeled as Man vs. Self since he is warring against his own creation.
Man vs. Technology- This is really the main conflict and is almost identical to the Man vs. Self side of the conflict. Because Victor created the monster through his own use of technology, the conflict can be attributed to Man vs. Technology.
Major Themes
Monstrosity- This theme lies at the center of the novel because the entire plot is about the monster that Frankenstein created. Eight feet tall and obviously ugly, the monster is completely rejected by society. The monster however, is only the most literal interpretation of the theme. Other monstrosities within the novel are Dangerous Knowledge, Secrecy, and Victor himself since he harbors all of these qualities.
Dangerous Knowledge- A sub theme in the novel contributing to the theme of monstrosity, this theme lies at the root of all conflict in the novel. If it weren’t for Victor’s knowledge on how to create a living monster, the entire plot would have not happened and there would be no story to tell. This theme of the pursuit of dangerous knowledge is at the heart of the novel; all Victor wants in the beginning is to know the “secret of life”. This secret though is obviously not for mankind.
Secrecy- This theme is present throughout the novel brought about by Victor’s desire to not reveal the monstrosity he has created and by his desire to learn the “secret of life”. With Victor’s secrecy, comes the death of many characters since if he had alerted the authorities of the monster he had created, there would have not been nearly as many deaths in the end. Also, the fact that Victor has an extreme obsession with finding out the “secrets to life” is completely shrouded to onlookers such as Walton and all the other minor characters in the novel.
Major Symbols
Light- In Frankenstein, light symbolizes knowledge, and in the case of the book, dangerous knowledge. Moreover, it symbolizes discovery and enlightenment in a world filled with dark secrets. Victor’s main goal in the beginning of his life is to discover the secrets of life and to discover dangerous knowledge. His pursuit is shown by the quote, “What could not be expected in the country of eternal light?”
Fire- The symbolism of fire in the novel is parallel to the symbolism of light. The monster’s first experience with fire shows the most primal aesthetics of fire. Of course, fire provides light and illumination to physical situations. This symbol directly mirrors that of light however, it is present more in the situations regarding the monster than with Victor. The primal understanding of the monster limits his own intellectual pursuit of light; the author is wise in replacing the theme of illumination with something the monster can understand.
The monster- The monster symbolizes the evil creations of everyone. Every human being in the world is striving to find the “secrets to life” just as Victor was when he ended up creating the monster. The monster basically represents our sins that come back to haunt each and every one of us on earth either in the spirit realm, or physical reality.
The plot of the story begins with a certain man, Robert Walton, a captain of a ship throttling its way to the North Pole, running into the path of a man by the name of Victor Frankenstein. Both men are trapped in seas of ice and are unable to get out of their misery so Walton decides to listen to Frankenstein’s wonderfully intricate and capturing story. First, Victor begins to describe his early years and the college he went to along with what he studied then gradually starts talking about his obsession to discover the secret to life. He goes on to recount his fashioning of a dead body that would soon receive life; basically, he is telling Walton his tale of creating a zombie like monster. Apparently, one night in his apartment, he brought his monster to life only to discover later on in the night that the monster was leaning over him. This of course, scares him so much that he runs into the streets like a crazy man and begins to wander in remorse for creating such a monster. Meanwhile, once Victor returns to his apartment with a friend, he falls very ill and is sickened by his actions when he discovers his apartment vacant and without the monster. Because of this, he plans to return to his favorite place, Geneva, however right before he was going to leave, he received a letter in the mail from his father letting him know that his brother William was murdered. When he returns home, he wanders the woods where his brother was murdered and sees the monster wandering around. Obviously, he puts two and two together and deduces that the monster murdered his brother. However, arriving in Geneva, he finds out that a nice, gentle girl, Justine Moritz, who had been adopted by his family has been accused of the murder. Doing nothing to reveal the truth that the monster had killed his brother, she is sentenced to death and executed; more blood is now on his hands. One day on vacation in the mountains to get away from the horrible events at home, the monster approaches him begging persuasively for Victor to craft him a companion; another half of him that he can confide in and live his life with. Unfortunately, Victor agrees and travels to an island in the Orkneys with compiled information regarding the creation of the female and dedicates himself to fulfilling his word to craft the monster a companion. One night on the island, Victor realizes what he is doing is wrong and decides to destroy his unfinished creation and to dump the remains into the water. Victor’s actions enrage the monster who then vows to be with Victor on his wedding night to exact revenge. The next morning, Victor is arrested and charged with the murder of his friend Henry Clerval causing him to, once again, fall very ill and spend his days in prison until his recovery. He is later acquitted of the crime and released. Deciding to return to Geneva with his dad, Victor also decides to marry his lover, Elizabeth. However, he remembers the monsters vow to be there at his wedding and thinks that he will be murdered. To make sure he is safe, he sends Elizabeth away to wait for the ceremony but then hears her screams and realizes that the monster didn’t want him, but wanted him to be alone in the world just like he was. Later, his father dies and the grief causes Victor to vow to track down the monster and kill it. Staying true to his promise, he eventually tracks down the monster to the north into the ice taking chase in a dog sled to catch up, however, once the monster is in sight, the sea swells up and the ice breaks forming a great divide which Victor cannot cross. The narrative of the story shifts to the meeting of Walton on the ship and catches up to the time of Walton’s fourth letter to his sister. Walton then tells the rest of the story in more letters to his sister, but cannot help the ailing Victor who then dies not long after this. When Walton returns to Victor’s corpse, he is stunned to see the monster crying over his body. Apparently, the monster then tells Walton that because his creator has died, he can now end his own life and his suffering with it. Finally, the monster decides to depart for the barren edges of the ice to die.
Analysis of Major Characters
Victor Frankenstein- Victor Frankenstein is the main character of the story who eventually creates a zombie like creature who actually becomes his downfall. Throughout his early years, Victor Frankenstein is extremely fascinated with the “secret of life”. This drive is what ultimately brings him to bring a hideous monster to life; he finally knows what it feels like to be a creator like God. Basically, Victor Frankenstein goes through multiple phases of illness, not excluding mental possibilities, when his creation starts wreaking havoc on his life killing many of his loved ones such as his brother and his to-be-wife. The blame for the death of his brother ultimately lands on an adopted child of the family who is then executed; although Victor knows it was the monster who killed his brother, he does not say anything, concealing his secret. Essentially, Victor changes throughout the plot from an innocent youth intrigued by the secret of life to a guilty, ill-fated man who has caused the death of many. By the end of the novel, Victor had chased the monster to the edge of the North Pole eventually falling ill unable to fully catch up and ends up dying with the monster crying over his creator.
The Monster- The monster, possibly the second most important character in the novel, is Victor Frankenstein’s creation made from deceased body parts combined with unique chemicals brought to life by a mysterious spark. The monster is eight feet tall and extremely strong, possessing the mind of an infant. This of course, spells trouble down the road for everyone in his path, including Victor Frankenstein. Throughout his life, looking in the mirror, he realizes his deformities and understands that he is extremely ugly; these features cause him to take out his frustration of Victor Frankenstein by murdering many members of his family. He pursues Victor’s morals, initially convincing him to forge a companion with the same grotesqueness, however, once Victor sees the error of his ways, he dumps the uncompleted body enraging the monster. The monster decides to kill Victor’s soon to be wife at his wedding forcing Victor to pursue the monster for vengeance. However, Victor is never actually able to catch the monster and ends up dying in pursuit. At the end of the novel, the monster finds Victor’s corpse and weeping over it, decides to take his own life. The monster then walks to the furthest edge of the North Pole and then dies.
Robert Walton- Robert Walton is, without a doubt, the weakest major character in the story. He stay’s static the entire story and is, essentially, the narrator; the story is set in his letters to his sister recounting the events of Victor’s life. In the story, Walton is the captain of a ship that becomes trapped and stranded in the midst of a sea of ice. It is here, in an obsolete location he finds the ailing Victor Frankenstein and listens to his remarkable story. Throughout the novel, Walton functions as the window through which the reader sees the story play out however, he also draws many parallels to Victor. Both are explorers chasing after the “country of eternal light” while Walton also acts as a foil to Victor by not acting obsessive enough to risk death and acting courageous enough to let his passion drive him in life. In the end, Walton is a foil to Victor who is a fellow explorer recounting the story in narrative form.
Setting
The story of Frankenstein is set in the Eighteenth century in the following locations: Geneva, the Swiss Alps, Ingolstadt, England, Scotland, and the northern ice. Frankenstein, written around 1818, obviously reflected the interests of the culture of the Nineteenth and Eighteenth century because the author, Mary Shelley, had to make the novel interesting to read. With that being said a couple of movements and interesting periods congruent to the time that helped shape the story as is are the following: The Gothic Period, The Enlightenment, and the Romantic Period. With so much material to draw from, the author obviously did a very good job combining all the elements of the period since Frankenstein was such a successful hit. Basically, the history implemented in the writing around that time really formed the perfect book. For example, the Romantic period and the Gothic Period both produced three main ideas that were implemented in Frankenstein. Firstly, there was the notion that the sleep of reason produces monsters, secondly, “reason” in its own definition is a kind of sleep breeding an addiction to reason limiting realistic/moral thoughts, and thirdly, the idea that “sinners are in the hands of an angry God”. All the ideas from the Romantic and Gothic Period are implemented in the novel obviously through Victor’s “reasonable” but not moral creation of the monster and through the guilt he feels regarding all of the murders caused by the monster. In addition, the Enlightenment had a marvelous and significant effect on the novel by the implementation of the popular principle of causality.
Types of Conflicts
Man vs. Self- In Frankenstein, the conflicts are between Victor Frankenstein (a man) and his creation (a monster). Therefore, since Victor created the monster, it seems as though part of the conflict in the book can be labeled as Man vs. Self since he is warring against his own creation.
Man vs. Technology- This is really the main conflict and is almost identical to the Man vs. Self side of the conflict. Because Victor created the monster through his own use of technology, the conflict can be attributed to Man vs. Technology.
Major Themes
Monstrosity- This theme lies at the center of the novel because the entire plot is about the monster that Frankenstein created. Eight feet tall and obviously ugly, the monster is completely rejected by society. The monster however, is only the most literal interpretation of the theme. Other monstrosities within the novel are Dangerous Knowledge, Secrecy, and Victor himself since he harbors all of these qualities.
Dangerous Knowledge- A sub theme in the novel contributing to the theme of monstrosity, this theme lies at the root of all conflict in the novel. If it weren’t for Victor’s knowledge on how to create a living monster, the entire plot would have not happened and there would be no story to tell. This theme of the pursuit of dangerous knowledge is at the heart of the novel; all Victor wants in the beginning is to know the “secret of life”. This secret though is obviously not for mankind.
Secrecy- This theme is present throughout the novel brought about by Victor’s desire to not reveal the monstrosity he has created and by his desire to learn the “secret of life”. With Victor’s secrecy, comes the death of many characters since if he had alerted the authorities of the monster he had created, there would have not been nearly as many deaths in the end. Also, the fact that Victor has an extreme obsession with finding out the “secrets to life” is completely shrouded to onlookers such as Walton and all the other minor characters in the novel.
Major Symbols
Light- In Frankenstein, light symbolizes knowledge, and in the case of the book, dangerous knowledge. Moreover, it symbolizes discovery and enlightenment in a world filled with dark secrets. Victor’s main goal in the beginning of his life is to discover the secrets of life and to discover dangerous knowledge. His pursuit is shown by the quote, “What could not be expected in the country of eternal light?”
Fire- The symbolism of fire in the novel is parallel to the symbolism of light. The monster’s first experience with fire shows the most primal aesthetics of fire. Of course, fire provides light and illumination to physical situations. This symbol directly mirrors that of light however, it is present more in the situations regarding the monster than with Victor. The primal understanding of the monster limits his own intellectual pursuit of light; the author is wise in replacing the theme of illumination with something the monster can understand.
The monster- The monster symbolizes the evil creations of everyone. Every human being in the world is striving to find the “secrets to life” just as Victor was when he ended up creating the monster. The monster basically represents our sins that come back to haunt each and every one of us on earth either in the spirit realm, or physical reality.
The Piano lesson
Summary
The piano lesson is set in 1936 and is set mainly in the house of Doaker Charles. Inside the house stands a 137 year old piano inlaid and decorated with African sculpture and totems.
The play opens at dawn with Boy Willie knocking on his uncle, Doaker Charles’s door along with his pal, Lymon. Both boys have traveled far and wide from Mississippi to sell watermelons. Because Willie has been serving a sentence on the Parchman Prison Farm, he has been wholly unable to see his sister Bernice for quite a long time. With Willie asking his uncle for a drink to celebrate the death of Sutter, his ancestor’s slave master, he mentions wanting to auction off of the precious 137 year old piano that sits dormant in the house. With this money he would be able to buy Sutter’s land that holds so much of his family’s history. However, Bernice is extremely adamant about auctioning off the piano shown by her past resistance to the idea when her husband mentioned selling it. This situation sets up Willie to plan behind the family’s back to talk to the prospective buyer himself.
Later, Berniece exclaims that she has made contact with the ghost of Sutter which was calling the name of Boy Willie. Because of this, Bernice is sure that Willie was the one who pushed Sutter into the well murdering him; this causes Bernice to not want to cooperate with Willie and ends up causing problems later on.
After these events, three days later, Doaker’s brother by the name of “Whining Boy” shows up to the household and recounts a shocking story. Whining boy goes on to tell the story that Willie and Lymon were on the Parchman Farm when some whites showed up trying to chase them and Berniece’s husband, Crawley. Sadly, he goes on to say that although the boys escaped, Crawley was killed however, allowing the white men to go to prison. After this story, Doaker explains the significance of the piano to the family to Lymon. He goes on to say that during the times of slavery, Robert Sutter, the grandfather of the recently killed Sutter, owned the Charles family a while back. As the owner, he wanted to put together an anniversary present with his friend’s piano and was only able to afford it after trading Doaker’s grandmother, Berniece, and Doaker’s father. Sutter’s wife loved the piano initially, but later on, while becoming deathly ill, only desired her loving slaves back. Therefore, Sutter compromised by asking Willie Boy, Doaker’s grandfather to carve the faces of his wife and child into the piano; however, Willie Boy not only carved the faces of the departed slaves, but the faces of his entire family and significant scenes pertaining to them. Because of this, obviously, Berniece and the father of Boy Willie, Boy Charles, came to obsess over the “family” piano. The belief was that as long as the Sutter family had the piano in their possession, they also held their black family hostage. Because of this, Boy Charles, Doaker, and Whining Boy, one day, stole the piano from the master’s family ending up getting caught and having the house of Boy Charles set on fire. When Boy Charles went to capture the “Yellow Dog”, a mob stopped the train and lit his boxcar on fire also, finally killing Boy Charles who later becomes the ghost of the railroad along with all the other poor men that were murdered.
With the story of the Piano over, Willie and Lymon decide to move the piano alerting Berniece, who then demands them to stop. She attacks Boy Willie, blaming him for disgracing the family and killing her husband when all of the sudden Berniece’s daughter, Maretha, sees Sutter’s ghost and screams in fear. With this situation fresh on Boy Willie’s mind, the next morning, he sells his suit that has “magical powers” on the ladies to Lymon after being unable to pawn it.
Later in the evening, Avery proposes to Berniece again, Berniece refuses and changes the subject to the ghost in the house. She goes on to ask Avery to exorcise the infected house who responds by asking Berniece to use the family piano to start a choir at his church; once again, Bernice refuses giving the excuse that she doesn’t want to awake the piano’s spirits.
Even later, Boy Willie brings his girl down to the house to make out only to be ordered out by Berniece. After they had left, Lymon arrives looking for Boy Willie with his “magic suit’ on dreaming to discover true love. Shockingly, he retrieves a bottle of perfume from his suit, giving it to Berniece inciting a kiss of love.
The next day, with the beginning of the final scene, Boy Willie ventures back to the house to move the piano with Lymon. Berniece, starts another argument complaining about disgracing the family and brings out a gun to threaten the two away. Suddenly, Whining Boy enters quite drunk dispelling the conflict with humor and sits down to play a song when Grace enters claiming to have a date with Lymon. With this said, Sutter’s ghost suddenly fills the room scaring everyone out of the house except the Charles family and Avery.
Avery, in shock, decides to do what Berniece asked earlier and begins to bless the piano. Boy Willie begins to mock the ghost and proceeds to run up the stairs only to be forced back down by an invisible force. Once again, he tries charging up the stairs, but this time, comes back down seemingly in a life or death situation with the ghost. All of the sudden, Berniece has a revelation and begins to play the piano and sing “I want you to help me” whilst calling her ancestors by name. Positively, the house becomes immediately calm.
After the end of the exorcism, Willie and Whining Boy decide to get on a train and leave the piano alone. All is right at the end when Willie and Berniece exchange feelings of love before all the characters exiting the stage.
Analysis of Major Characters
Boy Willie- Boy Willie is Berniece’s impulsive and harsh thirty-year-old brother. His role in the play is to really introduce the main conflict; that of selling the family piano for money to buy the land of his family’s old masters. Berniece is adamantly against his plan to sell the piano because the piano is very sacred to the family. He views himself as the person who knows best and not only is he very “boyish” and brash, but he holds many grudges against white people because of slavery. Because of this mentality, he feels that if he can buy Sutter’s land (the family’s past owner), he will finally raise himself and his family to the white man’s level.
Berniece- Berniece is essentially, the conflicting other half of Boy Willie. Although they are siblings, she adamantly disagrees with her brother’s plan to sell the piano to be able to buy the land their ancestors toiled upon. Her role in the play is basically to be the guarding of the family’s past. She blames Boy Willie for the death of her husband Crawley and throughout the play, remains skeptical of his “boyish” and brash methods of circumnavigating life. In the latter parts of the play, Berniece is seduced by Lymon symbolizing the recuperation of her femininity after her husband died, but decides not to do anything with him. The really creepy thing about Berniece is that she is apparently able to conjure up spirits and get rid of them all together. As a child, she channeled her father’s ghost to allow her mother to speak to her dead love. At the end of the play, Berniece once again resumes the role of Priestess as she did as a child calling the family’s ancestors out of death to fight the Sutter’s ghost about to kill her brother. Her main significance to the story is her role as the link to the family’s ancestors and past.
Whining Boy- Although this character doesn’t have as much of a spotlight in the story as Bernice and Boy Willie, he is still possibly the most memorable of the play. He is a “washed up recording star” who drifts through life coming and going to and from his brother Doaker’s house when he is bankrupt. This character’s role in the play is to primarily function as the play’s storyteller elaborating on events past and family history. He acts as a godfather to Lymon in the play selling a “magic suit” that will attract the ladies. Lastly, he is the second character in the play apparently able to communicate with the dead other than Berniece. There is a motif between the two; music allows the conjuring of spirits to be accelerated and accessed more easily.
Doaker- This character is Boy Willie’s and Berniece’s uncle. The title holder of the dwelling the play is set in, he is the main storyteller of the family’s history and the piano’s past. His role in the play is primarily to remain neutral in the conflict over the piano and to connect the family to its past in the novel. He is the one who testifies the importance of the piano to the family and who, primarily, helps the other characters realize their family history. “Retired from the world” he is the symbol of historical troubles as an African American man; through his hard work in his early years, he helps set the tone in the play for the hatred Willie Boy has toward white men. He represents the oppression the blacks and primarily his family had to go through. (This character, in my opinion, is neither a main character nor a small character, but in between. Therefore, there is not an abundance of information to recount about his roles, however, he is necessary to the plot of the story in certain specific ways.)
Setting
The play, “The Piano Lesson” is set in 1936 in Pittsburgh with all dialogue and action taking place in the home of Doaker Charles. Obviously in this time, and the years before around the turn of the 20th century, racism was extremely prominent the U.S. Not long ago, 70 years earlier at the time, was slavery abandoned in the South after the civil war. The oldest character in the family, Doaker Charles would have at least, been a child when his mama and papa were tilling the fields under the ownership of the Sutter family. The entire play is based on the racism at the time and the years before after the emancipation proclamation. The 137 year old piano, at the time, was the family treasure that Berniece guards Boy Willie from auctioning off for money. Because the piano was made for the wife of Master Sutter in remembrance of the slaves traded in exchange, Doaker’s grandfather was ordered to carve the faces of the lost slaves. However, not only were the faces of the slaves lost in auction for the piano carved into the wood, but the faces of every single family member Doaker’s grandfather could recount were carved into the wood. Moreover, the significance of the piano doesn’t stop there; significant scenes of the family’s history were also carved into the wood. The time and place this place is set in fully and wholly defines the nature and contextual attributes it has and entirely forms and affects the themes the story has to offer to the audience and/or reader.
Types of Conflicts
Man vs. Man- In the play the main conflict is, indubitably, Man vs. Man. On one side of the argument is Willie, on the other Berniece. Willie wants to sell the treasured family piano so he can buy the land his ancestors toiled over (Sutter’s land), but Berniece adamantly opposes his plan wanting to keep the heirloom and safeguard the family’s past. This is the conflict that drives the entire plot.
Man vs. Society- This sub-conflict of Man vs. Society is what drives the main conflict of Man vs. Man. This conflict is all about Boy Willie vs. Society. He is a black man still thought of in a negative way and he feels that if he is able to get the money to buy the land his ancestors worked long ago, then he will be on equal footing with the white men around him. However, the only way for him to get the money in the play is to sell the piano which Berniece simply won’t allow.
Themes
Memorial and Historical Legacy/Past: The whole issue with selling the piano is ignited by Berniece’s desire to safeguard the family’s rich past. This theme is the main core of the play and without it, there would be no plot. Basically, the play shows and teaches the audience that Historical Legacy is very important and something to be kept very dear to the heart, especially in family.
Racial Prejudice- In the play, Boy Willie seeks to sell the family piano to buy the land that his ancestor’s worked back in the days of slavery. With the recent death of the last of the Sutter family, he feels that he can exchange family history in order to buy the cursed land. He feels that if he can acquire the land, then he will have rescued the family and raised it equal with the white men around; it would signify the end of bondage.
Musical Power- The play highlights the theme of Musical Power throughout the entire plot. Since she was a child, Berniece would play the family piano for her mom to conjure up the dead spirit of her father. By the end of the play, her same musical talent is what ends the conflict and exorcises Sutter’s ghost. Basically, musical power in the play comes full circle and plays a major part in the play.
Symbols
The Piano- The piano, obviously the most major symbol, symbolizes the family’s past. Basically, the piano, in the play, incarnates the family’s rich history. Throughout its 137 years, it has symbolized many different things. In Sutter’s hands, the piano symbolized his commitment to his wife, since it was an anniversary gift, and it also symbolized the interchangeability of people and objects under slavery. In Willie Boy’s hands, however, the piano symbolizes his family’s harsh past and the power of music in the supernatural because Berniece uses it multiple times to summon spirits from the dead
Sutter’s Ghost- Sutter’s ghost symbolizes the hold that slavery still has on the family. Because he was haunting the family after his death, his spirit was still claiming ownership of them. The only thing that was able to stop it in the end was the mass of family spirits called up by Berniece through the piano.
Sutter’s Land- Similarly, to Sutter’s Ghost, Sutter’s land symbolizes the bondage of the family through slavery. Because Boy Willie believes that he needs to buy the land in order to be on equal footing with the white men, this is true. To the family, it functions as a never-ending reminder slavery and the superiority of the white man at the time.
The piano lesson is set in 1936 and is set mainly in the house of Doaker Charles. Inside the house stands a 137 year old piano inlaid and decorated with African sculpture and totems.
The play opens at dawn with Boy Willie knocking on his uncle, Doaker Charles’s door along with his pal, Lymon. Both boys have traveled far and wide from Mississippi to sell watermelons. Because Willie has been serving a sentence on the Parchman Prison Farm, he has been wholly unable to see his sister Bernice for quite a long time. With Willie asking his uncle for a drink to celebrate the death of Sutter, his ancestor’s slave master, he mentions wanting to auction off of the precious 137 year old piano that sits dormant in the house. With this money he would be able to buy Sutter’s land that holds so much of his family’s history. However, Bernice is extremely adamant about auctioning off the piano shown by her past resistance to the idea when her husband mentioned selling it. This situation sets up Willie to plan behind the family’s back to talk to the prospective buyer himself.
Later, Berniece exclaims that she has made contact with the ghost of Sutter which was calling the name of Boy Willie. Because of this, Bernice is sure that Willie was the one who pushed Sutter into the well murdering him; this causes Bernice to not want to cooperate with Willie and ends up causing problems later on.
After these events, three days later, Doaker’s brother by the name of “Whining Boy” shows up to the household and recounts a shocking story. Whining boy goes on to tell the story that Willie and Lymon were on the Parchman Farm when some whites showed up trying to chase them and Berniece’s husband, Crawley. Sadly, he goes on to say that although the boys escaped, Crawley was killed however, allowing the white men to go to prison. After this story, Doaker explains the significance of the piano to the family to Lymon. He goes on to say that during the times of slavery, Robert Sutter, the grandfather of the recently killed Sutter, owned the Charles family a while back. As the owner, he wanted to put together an anniversary present with his friend’s piano and was only able to afford it after trading Doaker’s grandmother, Berniece, and Doaker’s father. Sutter’s wife loved the piano initially, but later on, while becoming deathly ill, only desired her loving slaves back. Therefore, Sutter compromised by asking Willie Boy, Doaker’s grandfather to carve the faces of his wife and child into the piano; however, Willie Boy not only carved the faces of the departed slaves, but the faces of his entire family and significant scenes pertaining to them. Because of this, obviously, Berniece and the father of Boy Willie, Boy Charles, came to obsess over the “family” piano. The belief was that as long as the Sutter family had the piano in their possession, they also held their black family hostage. Because of this, Boy Charles, Doaker, and Whining Boy, one day, stole the piano from the master’s family ending up getting caught and having the house of Boy Charles set on fire. When Boy Charles went to capture the “Yellow Dog”, a mob stopped the train and lit his boxcar on fire also, finally killing Boy Charles who later becomes the ghost of the railroad along with all the other poor men that were murdered.
With the story of the Piano over, Willie and Lymon decide to move the piano alerting Berniece, who then demands them to stop. She attacks Boy Willie, blaming him for disgracing the family and killing her husband when all of the sudden Berniece’s daughter, Maretha, sees Sutter’s ghost and screams in fear. With this situation fresh on Boy Willie’s mind, the next morning, he sells his suit that has “magical powers” on the ladies to Lymon after being unable to pawn it.
Later in the evening, Avery proposes to Berniece again, Berniece refuses and changes the subject to the ghost in the house. She goes on to ask Avery to exorcise the infected house who responds by asking Berniece to use the family piano to start a choir at his church; once again, Bernice refuses giving the excuse that she doesn’t want to awake the piano’s spirits.
Even later, Boy Willie brings his girl down to the house to make out only to be ordered out by Berniece. After they had left, Lymon arrives looking for Boy Willie with his “magic suit’ on dreaming to discover true love. Shockingly, he retrieves a bottle of perfume from his suit, giving it to Berniece inciting a kiss of love.
The next day, with the beginning of the final scene, Boy Willie ventures back to the house to move the piano with Lymon. Berniece, starts another argument complaining about disgracing the family and brings out a gun to threaten the two away. Suddenly, Whining Boy enters quite drunk dispelling the conflict with humor and sits down to play a song when Grace enters claiming to have a date with Lymon. With this said, Sutter’s ghost suddenly fills the room scaring everyone out of the house except the Charles family and Avery.
Avery, in shock, decides to do what Berniece asked earlier and begins to bless the piano. Boy Willie begins to mock the ghost and proceeds to run up the stairs only to be forced back down by an invisible force. Once again, he tries charging up the stairs, but this time, comes back down seemingly in a life or death situation with the ghost. All of the sudden, Berniece has a revelation and begins to play the piano and sing “I want you to help me” whilst calling her ancestors by name. Positively, the house becomes immediately calm.
After the end of the exorcism, Willie and Whining Boy decide to get on a train and leave the piano alone. All is right at the end when Willie and Berniece exchange feelings of love before all the characters exiting the stage.
Analysis of Major Characters
Boy Willie- Boy Willie is Berniece’s impulsive and harsh thirty-year-old brother. His role in the play is to really introduce the main conflict; that of selling the family piano for money to buy the land of his family’s old masters. Berniece is adamantly against his plan to sell the piano because the piano is very sacred to the family. He views himself as the person who knows best and not only is he very “boyish” and brash, but he holds many grudges against white people because of slavery. Because of this mentality, he feels that if he can buy Sutter’s land (the family’s past owner), he will finally raise himself and his family to the white man’s level.
Berniece- Berniece is essentially, the conflicting other half of Boy Willie. Although they are siblings, she adamantly disagrees with her brother’s plan to sell the piano to be able to buy the land their ancestors toiled upon. Her role in the play is basically to be the guarding of the family’s past. She blames Boy Willie for the death of her husband Crawley and throughout the play, remains skeptical of his “boyish” and brash methods of circumnavigating life. In the latter parts of the play, Berniece is seduced by Lymon symbolizing the recuperation of her femininity after her husband died, but decides not to do anything with him. The really creepy thing about Berniece is that she is apparently able to conjure up spirits and get rid of them all together. As a child, she channeled her father’s ghost to allow her mother to speak to her dead love. At the end of the play, Berniece once again resumes the role of Priestess as she did as a child calling the family’s ancestors out of death to fight the Sutter’s ghost about to kill her brother. Her main significance to the story is her role as the link to the family’s ancestors and past.
Whining Boy- Although this character doesn’t have as much of a spotlight in the story as Bernice and Boy Willie, he is still possibly the most memorable of the play. He is a “washed up recording star” who drifts through life coming and going to and from his brother Doaker’s house when he is bankrupt. This character’s role in the play is to primarily function as the play’s storyteller elaborating on events past and family history. He acts as a godfather to Lymon in the play selling a “magic suit” that will attract the ladies. Lastly, he is the second character in the play apparently able to communicate with the dead other than Berniece. There is a motif between the two; music allows the conjuring of spirits to be accelerated and accessed more easily.
Doaker- This character is Boy Willie’s and Berniece’s uncle. The title holder of the dwelling the play is set in, he is the main storyteller of the family’s history and the piano’s past. His role in the play is primarily to remain neutral in the conflict over the piano and to connect the family to its past in the novel. He is the one who testifies the importance of the piano to the family and who, primarily, helps the other characters realize their family history. “Retired from the world” he is the symbol of historical troubles as an African American man; through his hard work in his early years, he helps set the tone in the play for the hatred Willie Boy has toward white men. He represents the oppression the blacks and primarily his family had to go through. (This character, in my opinion, is neither a main character nor a small character, but in between. Therefore, there is not an abundance of information to recount about his roles, however, he is necessary to the plot of the story in certain specific ways.)
Setting
The play, “The Piano Lesson” is set in 1936 in Pittsburgh with all dialogue and action taking place in the home of Doaker Charles. Obviously in this time, and the years before around the turn of the 20th century, racism was extremely prominent the U.S. Not long ago, 70 years earlier at the time, was slavery abandoned in the South after the civil war. The oldest character in the family, Doaker Charles would have at least, been a child when his mama and papa were tilling the fields under the ownership of the Sutter family. The entire play is based on the racism at the time and the years before after the emancipation proclamation. The 137 year old piano, at the time, was the family treasure that Berniece guards Boy Willie from auctioning off for money. Because the piano was made for the wife of Master Sutter in remembrance of the slaves traded in exchange, Doaker’s grandfather was ordered to carve the faces of the lost slaves. However, not only were the faces of the slaves lost in auction for the piano carved into the wood, but the faces of every single family member Doaker’s grandfather could recount were carved into the wood. Moreover, the significance of the piano doesn’t stop there; significant scenes of the family’s history were also carved into the wood. The time and place this place is set in fully and wholly defines the nature and contextual attributes it has and entirely forms and affects the themes the story has to offer to the audience and/or reader.
Types of Conflicts
Man vs. Man- In the play the main conflict is, indubitably, Man vs. Man. On one side of the argument is Willie, on the other Berniece. Willie wants to sell the treasured family piano so he can buy the land his ancestors toiled over (Sutter’s land), but Berniece adamantly opposes his plan wanting to keep the heirloom and safeguard the family’s past. This is the conflict that drives the entire plot.
Man vs. Society- This sub-conflict of Man vs. Society is what drives the main conflict of Man vs. Man. This conflict is all about Boy Willie vs. Society. He is a black man still thought of in a negative way and he feels that if he is able to get the money to buy the land his ancestors worked long ago, then he will be on equal footing with the white men around him. However, the only way for him to get the money in the play is to sell the piano which Berniece simply won’t allow.
Themes
Memorial and Historical Legacy/Past: The whole issue with selling the piano is ignited by Berniece’s desire to safeguard the family’s rich past. This theme is the main core of the play and without it, there would be no plot. Basically, the play shows and teaches the audience that Historical Legacy is very important and something to be kept very dear to the heart, especially in family.
Racial Prejudice- In the play, Boy Willie seeks to sell the family piano to buy the land that his ancestor’s worked back in the days of slavery. With the recent death of the last of the Sutter family, he feels that he can exchange family history in order to buy the cursed land. He feels that if he can acquire the land, then he will have rescued the family and raised it equal with the white men around; it would signify the end of bondage.
Musical Power- The play highlights the theme of Musical Power throughout the entire plot. Since she was a child, Berniece would play the family piano for her mom to conjure up the dead spirit of her father. By the end of the play, her same musical talent is what ends the conflict and exorcises Sutter’s ghost. Basically, musical power in the play comes full circle and plays a major part in the play.
Symbols
The Piano- The piano, obviously the most major symbol, symbolizes the family’s past. Basically, the piano, in the play, incarnates the family’s rich history. Throughout its 137 years, it has symbolized many different things. In Sutter’s hands, the piano symbolized his commitment to his wife, since it was an anniversary gift, and it also symbolized the interchangeability of people and objects under slavery. In Willie Boy’s hands, however, the piano symbolizes his family’s harsh past and the power of music in the supernatural because Berniece uses it multiple times to summon spirits from the dead
Sutter’s Ghost- Sutter’s ghost symbolizes the hold that slavery still has on the family. Because he was haunting the family after his death, his spirit was still claiming ownership of them. The only thing that was able to stop it in the end was the mass of family spirits called up by Berniece through the piano.
Sutter’s Land- Similarly, to Sutter’s Ghost, Sutter’s land symbolizes the bondage of the family through slavery. Because Boy Willie believes that he needs to buy the land in order to be on equal footing with the white men, this is true. To the family, it functions as a never-ending reminder slavery and the superiority of the white man at the time.
Macbeth
Summary:
Macbeth, the Thane of Glamis, meets three witches that tell him that he will become king. Macbeth did not believe this at first but was more convinced after they told him he would become the Thane of Cawdor, and it happened. Then Macbeth and his wife, Lady Macbeth, make a plan to kill King Duncan. They then do this and blame it on the King’s guards, and get away with it.
King Duncan had two sons, Malcolm and Donalbain, and they flee once their father is killed. Hamlet then becomes King, and realizes that he still has one loose end that could ruin his whole plan. This loose end is Banquo, who is a general that knew of Macbeth plan to kill King Duncan. Macbeth send three assassins to kill Banquo, but his son, Fleance, gets away. After this, Macbeth becomes insane and goes to the witches for advice. The three witches show him three apparitions, which each tell him what he has to fear. The first says to watch out for Macduff, who is the Thane of Fife. The second apparition says that the person who is to kill him will not have been born of a woman. The third says that he has nothing to worry about until the Great Birnam forest comes to your castle. This made Macbeth feel better, but just to be safe Macbeth wanted to kill Macduff. So Macbeth has Macduff’s family killed to try and get Macduff to come to him. This then make Macduff want to kill Macbeth, so he goes to Malcolm, one of King Duncans sons, and together they create an army to attack Macbeth. Once Malcolm and Macduff’s army reached Macbeth’s, they got branches from the nearby Birnam forest to use as cover.
Once Macduff got inside the castle he began looking for Macbeth. When he finds him, they begin to fight. Macbeth then proclaims "You can't defeat me. None born of a woman can harm me." However Macduff wasn’t technically born of a woman; he was cut out of his mother’s womb early. Macbeth then knew he was doomed, and soon Macduff cut off his head. The kingdom then returned to the rightful family, and Malcolm became king.
Main Character Analysis:
Macbeth starts out the Thane of Glamis and works his way up to king through evil and despiteful acts. Macbeth kills several people, including King Duncan, Banquo, and Macduff’s family, in order to make the prophecy given to him by the three witches come true. Macbeth is a powerful man that will do anything, including murder, to get what he wants, and his only solution for every problem that is presented to him is violence and killing. At the begin of the play, we see Macbeth as a brave warrior who is a war hero, and at the end of the play the character growth of Macbeth finally comes around in a complete circle when we see him fighting until the last second of his life in yet another war. Unlike many of Shakespeare’s other tragic heroes, Macbeth never considers suicide towards the end of his life when all is going wrong. This shows that he is strong man that will fight to the end.
Setting:
Macbeth is a very dark and dreary play in which most of the main actions of the characters take place under a dark secrecy. This adds to the tone of darkness and secrecy which is prevalent in the story. There is not a lot of detail given by Shakespeare pertaining to the setting of Macbeth, but the best guess is that Macbeth is set in 11th century Europe, specifically Scotland and England. This however has some faults because this play does have several allusions to events that happen later in history after the 11th century. One example is an allusion in Act II, Scene iii to the Gunpowder Plot which happened in 1605 rather than the 11th century. One reason for Shakespeare’s lack of historical accuracy is because historical accuracy wasn’t invented or shown to be important until about two hundred years after Shakespeare wrote Macbeth. One thing that makes Macbeth different from all of Shakespeare’s other works is that it takes place in Scotland. This is most likely because at the time when Shakespeare wrote Macbeth, Queen Elizabeth I died, and King James VI of Scotland became king of England and was given the title King James I of England. Shakespeare plays were put on for the English royalties, and Shakespeare liked to add small details which would please the different kings and queens. Therefore, when King James VI of Scotland became the king of England, Shakespeare wanted to put the setting in Scotland to please the new king in order to get on his good side.
Main Conflicts:
Man Vs. Man: The main conflict of Macbeth is Macbeth’s pursuit for power and position as king. In order to become king he had to battle with many individuals including King Duncan, Banquo, Macduff, and Malcolm.
Man Vs. Self: Throughout the play, Macbeth is constantly at war with himself. He is a truly honorable man with an ambition which is causing him to do things that he would never normally do.
Major Themes:
Ambition regardless of cost: Throughout the play we see that Macbeth is willing to do whatever it takes to become King and make sure that it stays that way. He murders innocent people in secret in order to get what he wants.
Difference between Kingship and Tyranny: In Macbeth, we see the stark contrast between the way King Duncan ruled and how Macbeth ruled. King Duncan was a true king, kind and caring for his people, whereas Macbeth was a cruel and selfish tyrant.
Women and Cruelty: Macbeth is one of Shakespeare’s only plays in which the women can be just as cruel as some of the men. This is seen in how Lady Macbeth is just as ambitious to get the throne that she is the one who comes up with the plan to kill King Duncan.
Major Symbols:
Blood: Blood is a very prominent symbol in Macbeth, as could be guessed with all the killing that goes on in the play. Blood comes to symbolize the guilt which stains the consciences of both Macbeth and Lady Macbeth.
Weather: The weather that occurs in the play often coincides with the events and actions of Macbeth. For example on both occasions of the witches as well as the death of King Duncan there are terrible storms which have thunder and lightning.
Visions and Hallucinations: Macbeth has several vision and hallucination throughout the play, in which he cannot decide in they are supernatural or his guilty conscience playing tricks on him. Although it is never stated what causes these visions and hallucinations, it is a mixture of the two. This is due to the fact that Macbeth is a man at war with himself.
Macbeth, the Thane of Glamis, meets three witches that tell him that he will become king. Macbeth did not believe this at first but was more convinced after they told him he would become the Thane of Cawdor, and it happened. Then Macbeth and his wife, Lady Macbeth, make a plan to kill King Duncan. They then do this and blame it on the King’s guards, and get away with it.
King Duncan had two sons, Malcolm and Donalbain, and they flee once their father is killed. Hamlet then becomes King, and realizes that he still has one loose end that could ruin his whole plan. This loose end is Banquo, who is a general that knew of Macbeth plan to kill King Duncan. Macbeth send three assassins to kill Banquo, but his son, Fleance, gets away. After this, Macbeth becomes insane and goes to the witches for advice. The three witches show him three apparitions, which each tell him what he has to fear. The first says to watch out for Macduff, who is the Thane of Fife. The second apparition says that the person who is to kill him will not have been born of a woman. The third says that he has nothing to worry about until the Great Birnam forest comes to your castle. This made Macbeth feel better, but just to be safe Macbeth wanted to kill Macduff. So Macbeth has Macduff’s family killed to try and get Macduff to come to him. This then make Macduff want to kill Macbeth, so he goes to Malcolm, one of King Duncans sons, and together they create an army to attack Macbeth. Once Malcolm and Macduff’s army reached Macbeth’s, they got branches from the nearby Birnam forest to use as cover.
Once Macduff got inside the castle he began looking for Macbeth. When he finds him, they begin to fight. Macbeth then proclaims "You can't defeat me. None born of a woman can harm me." However Macduff wasn’t technically born of a woman; he was cut out of his mother’s womb early. Macbeth then knew he was doomed, and soon Macduff cut off his head. The kingdom then returned to the rightful family, and Malcolm became king.
Main Character Analysis:
Macbeth starts out the Thane of Glamis and works his way up to king through evil and despiteful acts. Macbeth kills several people, including King Duncan, Banquo, and Macduff’s family, in order to make the prophecy given to him by the three witches come true. Macbeth is a powerful man that will do anything, including murder, to get what he wants, and his only solution for every problem that is presented to him is violence and killing. At the begin of the play, we see Macbeth as a brave warrior who is a war hero, and at the end of the play the character growth of Macbeth finally comes around in a complete circle when we see him fighting until the last second of his life in yet another war. Unlike many of Shakespeare’s other tragic heroes, Macbeth never considers suicide towards the end of his life when all is going wrong. This shows that he is strong man that will fight to the end.
Setting:
Macbeth is a very dark and dreary play in which most of the main actions of the characters take place under a dark secrecy. This adds to the tone of darkness and secrecy which is prevalent in the story. There is not a lot of detail given by Shakespeare pertaining to the setting of Macbeth, but the best guess is that Macbeth is set in 11th century Europe, specifically Scotland and England. This however has some faults because this play does have several allusions to events that happen later in history after the 11th century. One example is an allusion in Act II, Scene iii to the Gunpowder Plot which happened in 1605 rather than the 11th century. One reason for Shakespeare’s lack of historical accuracy is because historical accuracy wasn’t invented or shown to be important until about two hundred years after Shakespeare wrote Macbeth. One thing that makes Macbeth different from all of Shakespeare’s other works is that it takes place in Scotland. This is most likely because at the time when Shakespeare wrote Macbeth, Queen Elizabeth I died, and King James VI of Scotland became king of England and was given the title King James I of England. Shakespeare plays were put on for the English royalties, and Shakespeare liked to add small details which would please the different kings and queens. Therefore, when King James VI of Scotland became the king of England, Shakespeare wanted to put the setting in Scotland to please the new king in order to get on his good side.
Main Conflicts:
Man Vs. Man: The main conflict of Macbeth is Macbeth’s pursuit for power and position as king. In order to become king he had to battle with many individuals including King Duncan, Banquo, Macduff, and Malcolm.
Man Vs. Self: Throughout the play, Macbeth is constantly at war with himself. He is a truly honorable man with an ambition which is causing him to do things that he would never normally do.
Major Themes:
Ambition regardless of cost: Throughout the play we see that Macbeth is willing to do whatever it takes to become King and make sure that it stays that way. He murders innocent people in secret in order to get what he wants.
Difference between Kingship and Tyranny: In Macbeth, we see the stark contrast between the way King Duncan ruled and how Macbeth ruled. King Duncan was a true king, kind and caring for his people, whereas Macbeth was a cruel and selfish tyrant.
Women and Cruelty: Macbeth is one of Shakespeare’s only plays in which the women can be just as cruel as some of the men. This is seen in how Lady Macbeth is just as ambitious to get the throne that she is the one who comes up with the plan to kill King Duncan.
Major Symbols:
Blood: Blood is a very prominent symbol in Macbeth, as could be guessed with all the killing that goes on in the play. Blood comes to symbolize the guilt which stains the consciences of both Macbeth and Lady Macbeth.
Weather: The weather that occurs in the play often coincides with the events and actions of Macbeth. For example on both occasions of the witches as well as the death of King Duncan there are terrible storms which have thunder and lightning.
Visions and Hallucinations: Macbeth has several vision and hallucination throughout the play, in which he cannot decide in they are supernatural or his guilty conscience playing tricks on him. Although it is never stated what causes these visions and hallucinations, it is a mixture of the two. This is due to the fact that Macbeth is a man at war with himself.
Wide saragasso sea
Summary:
Antoinette is a young girl in early nineteenth-century Jamaica who is the daughter of ex-slave owners. They lived on a plantation called Coulibri Estate. Her father died 5 years earlier from too much drinking, and the freeing of the slaves has left the plantation in a downward spiral. Antoinette lives with her mother, Annette, and her sick younger brother, Pierre, and several other servants.
One day, Antoinette’s mother is called on by a group of visitors from Spanish Town. One of the men, named Mr. Mason, soon asks Annette to marry him. They get married and honeymoon in Trinidad. While they are off on their honeymoon, Antoinette and Pierre stay with their Aunt Cora in Spanish Town. During this time Mr. Mason has had the estate fixed up to its former state and has even hired new servants.
One night a group of freed slaves protests outside the house and accidently sets the estate on fire. In the fire, Pierre is badly burned and Antoinette is injured by having a rock thrown at her head. When Antoinette completely recovers six weeks later, she hears the news that her brother has died and that her mother has gone insane. When Antoinette goes to visit her mother, she is violently pushed away. Antoinette then enrolls in convent school and spend several years there learning.
When Antoinette is 17 years old, Mr. Mason comes to visit and tells her that a group of his friends will be coming soon, and he intends to find her a husband.
This is the end of part 1, and where part 2 begins. Part 2 in narrated by Antoinette’s husband, who is nameless. After Antoinette and her husband get married in Spanish Town, they honeymoon on one of the Windward Islands. The nameless husband begins having doubts about the marriage, and reveals that Mr. Wilson paid him 30,000 Euros to marry Antoinette.
Later the couple moves to Granbois where Antoinette’s inherited estate is located. The nameless husband begins to feel even more uncomfortable as hostility grows between him and Antoinette’s surrogate mother, Christophine. The husband receives a letter one day from Daniel Cosway, one of Antoinette’s father’s illegitimate children. This letter warns that Antoinette’s family in crazy and that she is too.
Antoinette soon begins to sense that her husband dislikes her, and so she asks Christophine for a magic love potion. That same night they argue, and when the husband wakes up he believes that he has been poisoned. He then sleeps with a servant girl, and Antoinette hears the whole thing.
The next day, Antoinette leaves for Christophine’s dwelling. When she returns to her husband, she is raving mad and pleads with him to stop calling her “Bertha”. She then bites her husband and causes him to bleed. She soon collapses into bed, and her husband decides to leave Jamaica with Antoinette.
Part 3 is narrated by Antoinette in England. She is locked in a garret room in her husband’s house, and is constantly watch by a servant, Grace Poole. Antoinette has no sense of time, and does not believe that she is even in England. Antoinette has a reoccurring dream in which she takes Grace’s keys and sets the house on fire with candles. One night, she wakes up after the dream, and decides she must do it. The story ends with Antoinette walking down the stair from her prison, holding a candle.
Main Character Analysis:
Antoinette is the main character in the Wide Saragossa Sea, and the conflicts that occur in the story all revolve around Antoinette. She is based off of Bertha, the madwoman character from Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre. Growing up, she didn’t have a father influence, and soon lost her mother’s influence as well. As she continued to grow, she became more and more introspective and secluded, and eventually joins a convent school. Antoinette begins to show more signs of insanity similar to her mother once she gets an arranged marriage to a mean and controlling English man, who remains nameless. Her husband cheats on her and this causes her to become violent and raving mad, even biting him. Her violent madness is grown further once she is locked away by her husband, and the story ends with Antoinette about to burn down her husband’s house. This is a character whose life was spent trying to deal with continuing tragic circumstances.
Setting:
The exact date in which the story begins is never clearly stated, but it is at some point after 1834, which is when the Emancipation Act of 1833 was put into effect. The Emancipation Act of 1833 was the law which outlawed slavery in the United Kingdom. Along with outlawing slavery, plantation owner, including people like Antoinette’s father, Mr. Cosway, were promised money to compensate for their loss of slaves. This however never happened for many families and caused many plantations to fail and the families that owned these plantations, such as Antoinette and her family, fell into poverty. In the years following the freeing of slaves, rioting of freed slaves was common, as seen when a group of angry freed slaves burns down the estate. The story first takes place in Jamaica, which was a British colony at the time and also where the family’s Coulibri Estate is located. In Part 2, the novel is now taking place at the Granbois Estate, which is outside of Massacre, Dominica. At this time, Dominica is now under the control of the French, and is a central location for the Caribs, which are a native Caribbean people. The town name “Massacre” comes from a bloody massacre of the Caribs which occurred in the region. This name adds a creepy undertone of the location and this adds to the disturbing tone of the story. Part 3 of the story take place in England. However, because this section of the story is from Antoinette’s point and she is locked away in a prison, we don’t get much description of this setting.
Main Conflict:
Man Vs. Man: The main conflict of this story is Antoinette marrying her husband, who remain nameless until the last Part of the novel where his name is revealed to be Rochester. Although this seems odd for a marriage to be considered a conflict, this marriage is different. During this time marriages were still often arranged and this led to many problems. This is because rather than being a commitment of love and companionship, it was a financial agreement.
Major Themes:
Slavery and Entrapment: This theme is seen in the newly freed slaves who cause havoc in the community. The theme of entrapment is also seen in Antoinette being put in a prison by her husband.
Racial identity: The different races of Jamaica create a social structure which determines how the characters are viewed, both in the story and by the reader. Interaction between the races reveals the racism of the time and of the people.
Madness: Madness is seen in several different characters, including Antoinette, Annette, and Mr. Cosway. In this story these character’s madness is caused by the circumstances and situations around them.
Major Symbols:
Birds: Annette’s pet parrot, Coco, symbolizes Antoinette and her downfall. When the Estate is on fire, “[Coco] made an effort to fly down but his clipped wings failed him and he fell screeching. He was all on fire.” This is similar to how Antoinette was chained up in this prison by her husband and when she escapes she sets the house on fire.
Trees and Forests: Antoinette has a reoccurring dream in which she is led into a dark forest with tall trees that are very different from the trees in Jamaica. This represents her being taken to England, where there are dark tall trees, where her downfall takes place.
Garden: The garden at Coulibri Estate symbolizes the Garden of Eden. Antoinette claims that the garden has “gone wild”, symbolizing the downfall of mankind, and even says that one orchid is “snaky looking”, which symbolizes Satan when he was a snake in the Garden of Eden.
Antoinette is a young girl in early nineteenth-century Jamaica who is the daughter of ex-slave owners. They lived on a plantation called Coulibri Estate. Her father died 5 years earlier from too much drinking, and the freeing of the slaves has left the plantation in a downward spiral. Antoinette lives with her mother, Annette, and her sick younger brother, Pierre, and several other servants.
One day, Antoinette’s mother is called on by a group of visitors from Spanish Town. One of the men, named Mr. Mason, soon asks Annette to marry him. They get married and honeymoon in Trinidad. While they are off on their honeymoon, Antoinette and Pierre stay with their Aunt Cora in Spanish Town. During this time Mr. Mason has had the estate fixed up to its former state and has even hired new servants.
One night a group of freed slaves protests outside the house and accidently sets the estate on fire. In the fire, Pierre is badly burned and Antoinette is injured by having a rock thrown at her head. When Antoinette completely recovers six weeks later, she hears the news that her brother has died and that her mother has gone insane. When Antoinette goes to visit her mother, she is violently pushed away. Antoinette then enrolls in convent school and spend several years there learning.
When Antoinette is 17 years old, Mr. Mason comes to visit and tells her that a group of his friends will be coming soon, and he intends to find her a husband.
This is the end of part 1, and where part 2 begins. Part 2 in narrated by Antoinette’s husband, who is nameless. After Antoinette and her husband get married in Spanish Town, they honeymoon on one of the Windward Islands. The nameless husband begins having doubts about the marriage, and reveals that Mr. Wilson paid him 30,000 Euros to marry Antoinette.
Later the couple moves to Granbois where Antoinette’s inherited estate is located. The nameless husband begins to feel even more uncomfortable as hostility grows between him and Antoinette’s surrogate mother, Christophine. The husband receives a letter one day from Daniel Cosway, one of Antoinette’s father’s illegitimate children. This letter warns that Antoinette’s family in crazy and that she is too.
Antoinette soon begins to sense that her husband dislikes her, and so she asks Christophine for a magic love potion. That same night they argue, and when the husband wakes up he believes that he has been poisoned. He then sleeps with a servant girl, and Antoinette hears the whole thing.
The next day, Antoinette leaves for Christophine’s dwelling. When she returns to her husband, she is raving mad and pleads with him to stop calling her “Bertha”. She then bites her husband and causes him to bleed. She soon collapses into bed, and her husband decides to leave Jamaica with Antoinette.
Part 3 is narrated by Antoinette in England. She is locked in a garret room in her husband’s house, and is constantly watch by a servant, Grace Poole. Antoinette has no sense of time, and does not believe that she is even in England. Antoinette has a reoccurring dream in which she takes Grace’s keys and sets the house on fire with candles. One night, she wakes up after the dream, and decides she must do it. The story ends with Antoinette walking down the stair from her prison, holding a candle.
Main Character Analysis:
Antoinette is the main character in the Wide Saragossa Sea, and the conflicts that occur in the story all revolve around Antoinette. She is based off of Bertha, the madwoman character from Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre. Growing up, she didn’t have a father influence, and soon lost her mother’s influence as well. As she continued to grow, she became more and more introspective and secluded, and eventually joins a convent school. Antoinette begins to show more signs of insanity similar to her mother once she gets an arranged marriage to a mean and controlling English man, who remains nameless. Her husband cheats on her and this causes her to become violent and raving mad, even biting him. Her violent madness is grown further once she is locked away by her husband, and the story ends with Antoinette about to burn down her husband’s house. This is a character whose life was spent trying to deal with continuing tragic circumstances.
Setting:
The exact date in which the story begins is never clearly stated, but it is at some point after 1834, which is when the Emancipation Act of 1833 was put into effect. The Emancipation Act of 1833 was the law which outlawed slavery in the United Kingdom. Along with outlawing slavery, plantation owner, including people like Antoinette’s father, Mr. Cosway, were promised money to compensate for their loss of slaves. This however never happened for many families and caused many plantations to fail and the families that owned these plantations, such as Antoinette and her family, fell into poverty. In the years following the freeing of slaves, rioting of freed slaves was common, as seen when a group of angry freed slaves burns down the estate. The story first takes place in Jamaica, which was a British colony at the time and also where the family’s Coulibri Estate is located. In Part 2, the novel is now taking place at the Granbois Estate, which is outside of Massacre, Dominica. At this time, Dominica is now under the control of the French, and is a central location for the Caribs, which are a native Caribbean people. The town name “Massacre” comes from a bloody massacre of the Caribs which occurred in the region. This name adds a creepy undertone of the location and this adds to the disturbing tone of the story. Part 3 of the story take place in England. However, because this section of the story is from Antoinette’s point and she is locked away in a prison, we don’t get much description of this setting.
Main Conflict:
Man Vs. Man: The main conflict of this story is Antoinette marrying her husband, who remain nameless until the last Part of the novel where his name is revealed to be Rochester. Although this seems odd for a marriage to be considered a conflict, this marriage is different. During this time marriages were still often arranged and this led to many problems. This is because rather than being a commitment of love and companionship, it was a financial agreement.
Major Themes:
Slavery and Entrapment: This theme is seen in the newly freed slaves who cause havoc in the community. The theme of entrapment is also seen in Antoinette being put in a prison by her husband.
Racial identity: The different races of Jamaica create a social structure which determines how the characters are viewed, both in the story and by the reader. Interaction between the races reveals the racism of the time and of the people.
Madness: Madness is seen in several different characters, including Antoinette, Annette, and Mr. Cosway. In this story these character’s madness is caused by the circumstances and situations around them.
Major Symbols:
Birds: Annette’s pet parrot, Coco, symbolizes Antoinette and her downfall. When the Estate is on fire, “[Coco] made an effort to fly down but his clipped wings failed him and he fell screeching. He was all on fire.” This is similar to how Antoinette was chained up in this prison by her husband and when she escapes she sets the house on fire.
Trees and Forests: Antoinette has a reoccurring dream in which she is led into a dark forest with tall trees that are very different from the trees in Jamaica. This represents her being taken to England, where there are dark tall trees, where her downfall takes place.
Garden: The garden at Coulibri Estate symbolizes the Garden of Eden. Antoinette claims that the garden has “gone wild”, symbolizing the downfall of mankind, and even says that one orchid is “snaky looking”, which symbolizes Satan when he was a snake in the Garden of Eden.
Dr. faustus
Summary:
Doctor Faustus is a play exploiting one man’s journey of theological discovery and his transformation of interest to a new field of dark magic. Doctor Faustus, known for his theological philosophies, is in search of a new area of knowledge, and he decides to have his friends, Valdes and Cornelius, to help me learn the dark arts. Many people, including two scholars, seem disappointed to see such an educated man become another student in the black arts. Doctor Faustus enters a sacred circle and denounces god and heaven while being watched by Satan and his minions. Mephastophilis, one of Satan’s demons, approaches Faustus and strikes a deal with him. Twenty years of service from the demon and Faustus will relinquish his soul to Satan. Wagner, one of Faustus’s conjurers, approaches a clown and asks him to be his servant. The clown accepts but immediately declines right after the agreement. Wagner summons two demons and threatens the clown they will drag him to hell if he does not become his servant. Faustus signs a deed to sell his soul to Lucifer in exchange for twenty years of service from Mephastophilis. Approached by both a good and bad angel, Faustus continues to choose evil as Lucifer himself presents to him all the sins he may commit while focusing on evil. Meanwhile, Robin, a stable hand, has found one of Faustus’s conjuring books begin casting spells with his friend Rafe. Robin eventually summons Mephastophilis and he threatens to turn Robin and Rafe into a dog and ape. Anyways, Faustus begins a chariot pulled by dragons as he tours the planet landing in Rome. In Rome, Faustus and Mephastophilis play tricks on the Pope and eventually travel back to Germany. Now, Faustus agreed the head of Germany and becomes trifled with Benvolio. Benvolio plots an assassination on Faustus and murders him. However, Faustus rises from the dead and summons demons to drag them through thorns and drop them off cliffs before bringing them to hell. As Faustus’s years fade, he pleases more kings and queens of nations who summon him. On his final night he repents to God and wishes he had his time in hell lessened so he may eventually be saved. However, the clock strikes midnight and demons carry him off to hell.
Doctor Faustus: Doctor Faustus, the protagonist, has obviously thought of many things to study but has chosen the dark arts. Faustus is very witty and intelligent and his caught between good and evil. Demons persuade him to sell his soul. However, he cannot fully commit himself to the idea of eventually going to hell for eternal damnation, but he also cannot grab the guts to actually repent to God. Throughout the play his actions seem fun and confident, but he is actually secretly regretting every day that goes by. As the play goes on, you can see his attitude changing and his actions becoming worse and worse. His servant, Mephastophilis, is very loyal to him, but knows his fate is pending. As his final hour approaches, Faustus begins repenting and regretting his deals with Lucifer. This turn of events shows us his true nature and how he may have been intelligent but he lacked wisdom.
Mephastophilis: Mephastophilis, Lucifer’s demon, seems to be loyal to his new master, Doctor Faustus, but he is truly craving his soul. Mephastophilis made a deal for twenty years of service for Faustus if he signed his soul away to Lucifer. Mephastophilis granted all of Faustus’s wishes and granted all the questions he asked. Mephastophilis continuously made Faustus sign a document signing his soul repeatedly reminding him of his deal with Lucifer. Near the end of the book, he made it seem as though they were friends, but shows how he only cared for his soul in the end. This reflects how he initially fell out of heaven and how he has always been heartless as every other demon is.
Lucifer: The head angel, Lucifer, plays as Faustus’s temptation and continues to persuade him from the Holy Kingdom. Granting him the power over Mephastophilis, Faustus is continually pushed away from the good angel’s logic. Lucifer reveals all the sins to Faustus making him feel wanted, but just like Mephastophilis, he only wants Faustus’s soul.
Wagner: Although he is not as important as the two main characters, he represents a smarter version of Faustus. As Faustus’s servant, Wagner takes much enjoyment from his master. He uses Faustus’s spell books to summon demons and cast spells for pure enjoyment. He does not have to sell his soul for the same amount of enjoyment.
Setting: Although it does not give an exact time, the viewer can assume that the play takes place during the seventeenth century in Germany. Faustus lives in a small town in Germany as a well-renowned scholar. Faustus makes a huge impact with his theological and philosophical works, Faustus dreams of something more for his brain to acknowledge. Two other characters, Robin and Rafe, grab hold of a spell book and play around with demons throughout Germany. This is also the case for Wagner as he also abuses the use of dark magic in idiotic ways. Faustus uses his powers with Mephastophilis to explore the world and learn the secrets of the universe. He travels across Europe with Mephastophilis eventually traveling to Rome to play tricks on the Pope. He travels much and plays many tricks on people for his own enjoyment. Historical context is used greatly thoughout the play as Faustus travels across Europe visiting many kingdoms entertaining the royalty of Europe. One such instance was the trickery he played on the Pope in Rome as he disguised himself as a cardinal and got the cardinal thrown into the dungeon. Another such instance was when Faustus was attacked and murdered by Benvolio in the German Palace. He also visits the very gates of hell as Lucifer grants him his wish to visit it. However, as the play may take place in multiple places, it all revolves around the country of Germany. The historical references exploited throughout the play are a direct reference to the time period it took place in.
Conflicts:
Man v Man: Faustus is in constant conflict with other men such as Benvolio and the Pope as he is wanted for being a powerful conjourer. However, many men enjoy his tricks, but this eventually leads to his eternal life in hell.
Man v God: Faustus is always battling demons who try to convince him to be evil and live it up now, or angels who tell him to repent and live in heaven later. He becomes entangled with the supernatural and his soul is put in the hands of the Lucifer.
Man v Self: Faustus is in a constant battle with his own conscious to either become good or continue to learn the dark arts. He tries consistently to hide his emotions of fear as the day he goes to hell comes closer.
Themes:
Intelligence without wisdom: Faustus is a very intelligent man who is known for his philosophical views throughout Germany. However, he feels like his decisions were wise at the moment, he completely regrets them and realizes how foolish he was at the end.
There’s a greater entity: This play shows how much demons can be a real issue for people throughout the world. Even though there may be no spells, demons can still take possession of people and this is a reminder to stay careful.
Sin: this play reflects how even those who seem they know more can be so easily influenced by the simplest of sins. It also shows how even the purest of people can fall to the prince of darkness.
Symbols:
Blood: the blood symbolizes his own personal ink that he writes his soul away with.
Rejection of Ancient Authorities: Faustus disowns all ancient entities such as the Bible and other religions in favor of dark magic. This symbolizes his feelings and devotion towards his new studies and his eventual regret.
The Good and Bad Angels: Throughout the play, good and bad angels visit Faustus and convince to join whichever side they are on. This symbolizes his own internal conflict with himself and symbolizes two life-changing decisions.
Doctor Faustus is a play exploiting one man’s journey of theological discovery and his transformation of interest to a new field of dark magic. Doctor Faustus, known for his theological philosophies, is in search of a new area of knowledge, and he decides to have his friends, Valdes and Cornelius, to help me learn the dark arts. Many people, including two scholars, seem disappointed to see such an educated man become another student in the black arts. Doctor Faustus enters a sacred circle and denounces god and heaven while being watched by Satan and his minions. Mephastophilis, one of Satan’s demons, approaches Faustus and strikes a deal with him. Twenty years of service from the demon and Faustus will relinquish his soul to Satan. Wagner, one of Faustus’s conjurers, approaches a clown and asks him to be his servant. The clown accepts but immediately declines right after the agreement. Wagner summons two demons and threatens the clown they will drag him to hell if he does not become his servant. Faustus signs a deed to sell his soul to Lucifer in exchange for twenty years of service from Mephastophilis. Approached by both a good and bad angel, Faustus continues to choose evil as Lucifer himself presents to him all the sins he may commit while focusing on evil. Meanwhile, Robin, a stable hand, has found one of Faustus’s conjuring books begin casting spells with his friend Rafe. Robin eventually summons Mephastophilis and he threatens to turn Robin and Rafe into a dog and ape. Anyways, Faustus begins a chariot pulled by dragons as he tours the planet landing in Rome. In Rome, Faustus and Mephastophilis play tricks on the Pope and eventually travel back to Germany. Now, Faustus agreed the head of Germany and becomes trifled with Benvolio. Benvolio plots an assassination on Faustus and murders him. However, Faustus rises from the dead and summons demons to drag them through thorns and drop them off cliffs before bringing them to hell. As Faustus’s years fade, he pleases more kings and queens of nations who summon him. On his final night he repents to God and wishes he had his time in hell lessened so he may eventually be saved. However, the clock strikes midnight and demons carry him off to hell.
Doctor Faustus: Doctor Faustus, the protagonist, has obviously thought of many things to study but has chosen the dark arts. Faustus is very witty and intelligent and his caught between good and evil. Demons persuade him to sell his soul. However, he cannot fully commit himself to the idea of eventually going to hell for eternal damnation, but he also cannot grab the guts to actually repent to God. Throughout the play his actions seem fun and confident, but he is actually secretly regretting every day that goes by. As the play goes on, you can see his attitude changing and his actions becoming worse and worse. His servant, Mephastophilis, is very loyal to him, but knows his fate is pending. As his final hour approaches, Faustus begins repenting and regretting his deals with Lucifer. This turn of events shows us his true nature and how he may have been intelligent but he lacked wisdom.
Mephastophilis: Mephastophilis, Lucifer’s demon, seems to be loyal to his new master, Doctor Faustus, but he is truly craving his soul. Mephastophilis made a deal for twenty years of service for Faustus if he signed his soul away to Lucifer. Mephastophilis granted all of Faustus’s wishes and granted all the questions he asked. Mephastophilis continuously made Faustus sign a document signing his soul repeatedly reminding him of his deal with Lucifer. Near the end of the book, he made it seem as though they were friends, but shows how he only cared for his soul in the end. This reflects how he initially fell out of heaven and how he has always been heartless as every other demon is.
Lucifer: The head angel, Lucifer, plays as Faustus’s temptation and continues to persuade him from the Holy Kingdom. Granting him the power over Mephastophilis, Faustus is continually pushed away from the good angel’s logic. Lucifer reveals all the sins to Faustus making him feel wanted, but just like Mephastophilis, he only wants Faustus’s soul.
Wagner: Although he is not as important as the two main characters, he represents a smarter version of Faustus. As Faustus’s servant, Wagner takes much enjoyment from his master. He uses Faustus’s spell books to summon demons and cast spells for pure enjoyment. He does not have to sell his soul for the same amount of enjoyment.
Setting: Although it does not give an exact time, the viewer can assume that the play takes place during the seventeenth century in Germany. Faustus lives in a small town in Germany as a well-renowned scholar. Faustus makes a huge impact with his theological and philosophical works, Faustus dreams of something more for his brain to acknowledge. Two other characters, Robin and Rafe, grab hold of a spell book and play around with demons throughout Germany. This is also the case for Wagner as he also abuses the use of dark magic in idiotic ways. Faustus uses his powers with Mephastophilis to explore the world and learn the secrets of the universe. He travels across Europe with Mephastophilis eventually traveling to Rome to play tricks on the Pope. He travels much and plays many tricks on people for his own enjoyment. Historical context is used greatly thoughout the play as Faustus travels across Europe visiting many kingdoms entertaining the royalty of Europe. One such instance was the trickery he played on the Pope in Rome as he disguised himself as a cardinal and got the cardinal thrown into the dungeon. Another such instance was when Faustus was attacked and murdered by Benvolio in the German Palace. He also visits the very gates of hell as Lucifer grants him his wish to visit it. However, as the play may take place in multiple places, it all revolves around the country of Germany. The historical references exploited throughout the play are a direct reference to the time period it took place in.
Conflicts:
Man v Man: Faustus is in constant conflict with other men such as Benvolio and the Pope as he is wanted for being a powerful conjourer. However, many men enjoy his tricks, but this eventually leads to his eternal life in hell.
Man v God: Faustus is always battling demons who try to convince him to be evil and live it up now, or angels who tell him to repent and live in heaven later. He becomes entangled with the supernatural and his soul is put in the hands of the Lucifer.
Man v Self: Faustus is in a constant battle with his own conscious to either become good or continue to learn the dark arts. He tries consistently to hide his emotions of fear as the day he goes to hell comes closer.
Themes:
Intelligence without wisdom: Faustus is a very intelligent man who is known for his philosophical views throughout Germany. However, he feels like his decisions were wise at the moment, he completely regrets them and realizes how foolish he was at the end.
There’s a greater entity: This play shows how much demons can be a real issue for people throughout the world. Even though there may be no spells, demons can still take possession of people and this is a reminder to stay careful.
Sin: this play reflects how even those who seem they know more can be so easily influenced by the simplest of sins. It also shows how even the purest of people can fall to the prince of darkness.
Symbols:
Blood: the blood symbolizes his own personal ink that he writes his soul away with.
Rejection of Ancient Authorities: Faustus disowns all ancient entities such as the Bible and other religions in favor of dark magic. This symbolizes his feelings and devotion towards his new studies and his eventual regret.
The Good and Bad Angels: Throughout the play, good and bad angels visit Faustus and convince to join whichever side they are on. This symbolizes his own internal conflict with himself and symbolizes two life-changing decisions.
Mrs. Warren’s Profession
Summary:
Mr. Praed, a friend of Mrs. Kitty Warren's, arrives at a garden and finds Vivie Warren, Mrs. Warren's twenty two year old daughter reading books in the back. He assures her that her mom will be arriving soon with a few other friends. He finds Vivie very manlike as she shakes his hand very firmly and talks as if she was young male businessman. Vivie has been off in college for a very long time and she is waiting to see her mother whom she has never met. Mrs. Warren plans to have her marry Mr. Praed who is a very handsome and rich man. However, George Crafts is also in love with Vivie despite the massive age difference. But! Vivie is actually in a relationship with Frank Gardner who is the son of Reverend Gardner. Frank sees this relationship as his ticket to gain food and wealth as Mrs. Warren is filthy rich. Vivie tries to discover how her mother gained so much money and she realizes something very shocking. Mrs. Warren was actually a prostitute a gained all her money through sex. However, Vivie finds this very exciting but finds out that her mother actually had a sexual relationship with Reverend Gardner, Frank’s father. This makes Vivie and Frank related and upsets Vivie. She eventually disowns her mother and gains a job and lives by herself, swearing to never marry.
Vivie Warren is a young woman of high class and privilege. She is also very naïve. She has absolutely no idea where her mother's money came from. Notable playwright and author Bernard Shaw wrote Mrs. Warren's Profession as a criticism on the treatment of women in the workforce. Mrs. Warren made her fortune by starting out as a prostitute and working her way up to managing brothels. Because of her success in managing very prominent establishments, Mrs. Warren has been rewarded handsomely with money. She rarely sees her daughter, but has been able to ensure that Vivie has received the best in education and wardrobe that money can buy. However, Vivie must eventually be told what it is that her mother does.
Vivie: the daughter of Mrs. Warren, Vivie, learns of a disturbing past of her mother and is peer pressured by her peers to follow in her footsteps. She seems to be a very strong-hearted woman and she is also supposed to be very beautiful. In the opening scene, she makes the impression on Praed as being a very manly typed girl. She shows the signs of having a very free-spirited mind as she tries to break her ties with her mother after she is discover her true profession. She gets proposed to and is wanted by many, but in the end she denies her desired destiny by others and pursues her own interests. This sets off the other characters as they all seem set on marrying the daughter of the famous prostitute. In all, Vivie seems very uninterested in what her mother or any other characters do, she seems prioritized by her own dreams and pursuits.
Mrs. Warren: the mother of Vivie, Mrs. Warren, is the main character who sets off the conflict. She may not be the protagonist, but her actions have caused her daughter to undergo many problems. She shows the promise of a woman who was just thrown into what many call hell (prostitution). Mrs. Warren, also has the burden of an unknowing father, kept secret from Vivie, and realizes that Frank and Vivie are now related. Mrs. Warren also seems to want to keep Vivie from the family business, but Vivie is too independent, a characteristic she did not get from her mom. In all, Mrs. Warren, seems to be too social for comfort, growing up in a sick business, Mrs. Warren seems to be stuck in a social circle. Mrs. Warren also seems to be scared for her future, past actions indicate her fear of being poor and also exploits her dreams of living large.
Setting: the creation of this play was written on January 5th 1902 at London’s New Lyric Club. The play eventually was performed in New York and became a huge motion company. The characters within the play portray a hard time set through a young girl who never really had a good other to take care of her. The play takes place in England as the opening scene is Vivie on her hammock waiting to see her mother. Multiple characters appear as Mrs. Warren wants her daughter to marry a rich, wealthy man. The play transfers from Mrs. Warren’s home to multiple homes throughout the play. One scene at Reverend Gardner’s home invokes the shocking truth behind the relationship between Mrs. Warren and Reverend Gardner. The play spans a time of nearly a week or so as these turn of events prompt a fast and easy exit for Vivie.
Conflicts:
Man v Man: Vivie fights the multiple men who seem to love her and push very hard for her. The fight ends up with her ditching all her viable subjects and vowing never to marry.
Man v Self: Vivie seems content with Frank but she has been battling a tough life without a united family. After she realizes she iss related to Frank, she loses her self-conscious thought and gives up on love.
Themes:
False Love: Vivie has been lied to as she falls in love with someone she is related to. As she realizes this shock of events, she feels that love is a lie and doesn’t need to be present in her life.
Family Relationship: this play can easily reflect the repercussions of not having a united family and no father. Vivie had not seen her mother her whole life and then finds out she was a hooker who dated her past love’s father.
Prostitution: this was not just Mrs. Warren’s profession, but it also represents how she was trying to sell her daughter to a man. Mrs. Warren still continues to run her prostitution ring, and she lost the love of her daughter, just how you lose the love for someone by being paid.
Symbols:
Garden: the opening scene opens with Vivie sitting in the garden waiting to meet her mother. The garden symbolizes her flourishing dreams of meeting her mother, blooming with excitement.
Wealth: the wealth Mrs. Warren possessions symbolizes her actual emptiness inside. It hides herself from her true feelings of just wanting to be with her daughter.
Love: love can be distinguished in this play as ironic because all this family is everything but love. Love symbolizes the ironic theme that no girl in their family can ever find love, even amongst themselves.
Mr. Praed, a friend of Mrs. Kitty Warren's, arrives at a garden and finds Vivie Warren, Mrs. Warren's twenty two year old daughter reading books in the back. He assures her that her mom will be arriving soon with a few other friends. He finds Vivie very manlike as she shakes his hand very firmly and talks as if she was young male businessman. Vivie has been off in college for a very long time and she is waiting to see her mother whom she has never met. Mrs. Warren plans to have her marry Mr. Praed who is a very handsome and rich man. However, George Crafts is also in love with Vivie despite the massive age difference. But! Vivie is actually in a relationship with Frank Gardner who is the son of Reverend Gardner. Frank sees this relationship as his ticket to gain food and wealth as Mrs. Warren is filthy rich. Vivie tries to discover how her mother gained so much money and she realizes something very shocking. Mrs. Warren was actually a prostitute a gained all her money through sex. However, Vivie finds this very exciting but finds out that her mother actually had a sexual relationship with Reverend Gardner, Frank’s father. This makes Vivie and Frank related and upsets Vivie. She eventually disowns her mother and gains a job and lives by herself, swearing to never marry.
Vivie Warren is a young woman of high class and privilege. She is also very naïve. She has absolutely no idea where her mother's money came from. Notable playwright and author Bernard Shaw wrote Mrs. Warren's Profession as a criticism on the treatment of women in the workforce. Mrs. Warren made her fortune by starting out as a prostitute and working her way up to managing brothels. Because of her success in managing very prominent establishments, Mrs. Warren has been rewarded handsomely with money. She rarely sees her daughter, but has been able to ensure that Vivie has received the best in education and wardrobe that money can buy. However, Vivie must eventually be told what it is that her mother does.
Vivie: the daughter of Mrs. Warren, Vivie, learns of a disturbing past of her mother and is peer pressured by her peers to follow in her footsteps. She seems to be a very strong-hearted woman and she is also supposed to be very beautiful. In the opening scene, she makes the impression on Praed as being a very manly typed girl. She shows the signs of having a very free-spirited mind as she tries to break her ties with her mother after she is discover her true profession. She gets proposed to and is wanted by many, but in the end she denies her desired destiny by others and pursues her own interests. This sets off the other characters as they all seem set on marrying the daughter of the famous prostitute. In all, Vivie seems very uninterested in what her mother or any other characters do, she seems prioritized by her own dreams and pursuits.
Mrs. Warren: the mother of Vivie, Mrs. Warren, is the main character who sets off the conflict. She may not be the protagonist, but her actions have caused her daughter to undergo many problems. She shows the promise of a woman who was just thrown into what many call hell (prostitution). Mrs. Warren, also has the burden of an unknowing father, kept secret from Vivie, and realizes that Frank and Vivie are now related. Mrs. Warren also seems to want to keep Vivie from the family business, but Vivie is too independent, a characteristic she did not get from her mom. In all, Mrs. Warren, seems to be too social for comfort, growing up in a sick business, Mrs. Warren seems to be stuck in a social circle. Mrs. Warren also seems to be scared for her future, past actions indicate her fear of being poor and also exploits her dreams of living large.
Setting: the creation of this play was written on January 5th 1902 at London’s New Lyric Club. The play eventually was performed in New York and became a huge motion company. The characters within the play portray a hard time set through a young girl who never really had a good other to take care of her. The play takes place in England as the opening scene is Vivie on her hammock waiting to see her mother. Multiple characters appear as Mrs. Warren wants her daughter to marry a rich, wealthy man. The play transfers from Mrs. Warren’s home to multiple homes throughout the play. One scene at Reverend Gardner’s home invokes the shocking truth behind the relationship between Mrs. Warren and Reverend Gardner. The play spans a time of nearly a week or so as these turn of events prompt a fast and easy exit for Vivie.
Conflicts:
Man v Man: Vivie fights the multiple men who seem to love her and push very hard for her. The fight ends up with her ditching all her viable subjects and vowing never to marry.
Man v Self: Vivie seems content with Frank but she has been battling a tough life without a united family. After she realizes she iss related to Frank, she loses her self-conscious thought and gives up on love.
Themes:
False Love: Vivie has been lied to as she falls in love with someone she is related to. As she realizes this shock of events, she feels that love is a lie and doesn’t need to be present in her life.
Family Relationship: this play can easily reflect the repercussions of not having a united family and no father. Vivie had not seen her mother her whole life and then finds out she was a hooker who dated her past love’s father.
Prostitution: this was not just Mrs. Warren’s profession, but it also represents how she was trying to sell her daughter to a man. Mrs. Warren still continues to run her prostitution ring, and she lost the love of her daughter, just how you lose the love for someone by being paid.
Symbols:
Garden: the opening scene opens with Vivie sitting in the garden waiting to meet her mother. The garden symbolizes her flourishing dreams of meeting her mother, blooming with excitement.
Wealth: the wealth Mrs. Warren possessions symbolizes her actual emptiness inside. It hides herself from her true feelings of just wanting to be with her daughter.
Love: love can be distinguished in this play as ironic because all this family is everything but love. Love symbolizes the ironic theme that no girl in their family can ever find love, even amongst themselves.
Go Tell It on the mountain
Summary:
In Go Tell It on the Mountain talks about the role of the Christian Church and how important it is for the lives of African Americans, both as a source of repression and as a source of inspiration and community in which their is a problem the racial descrimination towards blacks. It also examines racism like I meantion in the United States seeing this being a big trouble and hard to solve. Author James Baldwin gets in his descriptions and describes the course of the fourteenth birthday of John Grimes in Harlem, 1935. Baldwin also uses extended flashback episodes towards the recount the lives of John's parents and aunt and to link this urban boy in the North to his slave grandmother in an earlier South in towards the novel. The first section follows John's thoughts, the second mostly his aunt's, the third his father's, the fourth his mother's, and the fifth again mostly John's. John doesn't understand why his father hates him so much, reserving his love for John's younger brother Roy instead. He is torn to pecases between his desire to win his father's love and his hatred for his father. The boy believes himself to have committed the first major sin of his life a belief that helps precipitate a religious crisis. Before the night is over John will undergo a religious transformation, experiencing that he will never forget.
Character:
In towards the character analyzes it is very interesting in how each character comes together in the novel, seeing John Grimes is the major character in the primary action in showing him going through a very difficult time in his life. As if adolescence alone were not traumatic enough, he is confronted by a number of other dilemmas. That's why when John turns 14 on the morning the story begins. Both attracted and repulsed by the church, his father, and everything his father represents, John is anguished and deeply confused. He longs to experience all the world has to offer, but he is terrified by sin. He does not know that Gabriel is not his biological father. But their is one more person I would like to talk about and this is Gabriel, Which is easy to dislike and easier yet to misinterpret. He is also remains unnamed through the descriptive perspectives of his children, John, Roy, and Sara, and his wife, Elizabeth. We discover that Gabriel apparently endorses the popular, biblical notion of family structure at that time which dictated that the male has the power in the family. Gabriel interprets the father's role as protector to feed, to clothe, to provide shelter, and to insure the holy status of his family's souls. But John thinks Gabriel hates him and does not like him at all.
Setting:
Looking at a setting being the importat part of the novel we see a lot in this one seeing that the novel is set in Harlem in New York City. The Grimes migrate to the North in search of new opportunities. Elizabeth bids goodbye to her aunt in Maryland and leaves with Richard. She arrives in New York with great expectations but she is sorely disappointed. "Here, in this great city where no one cared, where people might live in the same building for years and never speak to one another, she found herself, when Richard took her in his arms, on the edge of a steep place and down she rushed, on the descent uncaring, into the dreadful sea." New York is a big and bustling city.
Conflict:
This novel is a man vs man conflict and its's interesting because in how this novel gets to this conflict, towards in the begining this conflict shows up. But this confict starts to get into a big deal in towards of John and Gabriel his "father". This conflict effects John in thinking that his father doesn't like him.
Theme:
Finding acceptance – Each character in this novel has dealt with his/her own abandonment and loss issues. John is hated by his own father. His father has to deal with losing his first wife, Deborah, as well as a lover, Esther. His mother lost her first lover, Richard, in his struggle to find equality with white men. Aunt Florence was deprived of affection from her mother, who favored Gabriel over her, and married Frank, a gambling drunk who eventually died during WWI. After all they’ve been through, they seek consolation and find it in God.
Family conflicts –The Grimes family is central to this novel and the tensions between and across generations drive the past and present narratives. Violence and fear rather than love are the overriding experiences as Gabriel dominates Elizabeth and the children as the patriarch of the household. Through the tension created by Gabriel, there is a criticism of the lack of love in the family unit and in American society. This is made evident with the sympathetic characterization of John and his sense of isolation that is created ostensibly by his step-father.
Symbol
Although there are no specific symbols in Go Tell It on the Mountain, there are several allusions to different biblical stories. The title of the last part, “The Threshing Floor,” is literally a place where wheat is separate from the chaff. Chaff, symbolizing evil and worthless people, is removed from John at the end of the novel. There is also the reference to the father-son relationship between Gabriel and John and between Noah and Ham. Ham sees Noah naked and has a cursed put upon him and his children, John sees Gabriel naked in the bathroom and suffers grief from it what a discrase right.
In Go Tell It on the Mountain talks about the role of the Christian Church and how important it is for the lives of African Americans, both as a source of repression and as a source of inspiration and community in which their is a problem the racial descrimination towards blacks. It also examines racism like I meantion in the United States seeing this being a big trouble and hard to solve. Author James Baldwin gets in his descriptions and describes the course of the fourteenth birthday of John Grimes in Harlem, 1935. Baldwin also uses extended flashback episodes towards the recount the lives of John's parents and aunt and to link this urban boy in the North to his slave grandmother in an earlier South in towards the novel. The first section follows John's thoughts, the second mostly his aunt's, the third his father's, the fourth his mother's, and the fifth again mostly John's. John doesn't understand why his father hates him so much, reserving his love for John's younger brother Roy instead. He is torn to pecases between his desire to win his father's love and his hatred for his father. The boy believes himself to have committed the first major sin of his life a belief that helps precipitate a religious crisis. Before the night is over John will undergo a religious transformation, experiencing that he will never forget.
Character:
In towards the character analyzes it is very interesting in how each character comes together in the novel, seeing John Grimes is the major character in the primary action in showing him going through a very difficult time in his life. As if adolescence alone were not traumatic enough, he is confronted by a number of other dilemmas. That's why when John turns 14 on the morning the story begins. Both attracted and repulsed by the church, his father, and everything his father represents, John is anguished and deeply confused. He longs to experience all the world has to offer, but he is terrified by sin. He does not know that Gabriel is not his biological father. But their is one more person I would like to talk about and this is Gabriel, Which is easy to dislike and easier yet to misinterpret. He is also remains unnamed through the descriptive perspectives of his children, John, Roy, and Sara, and his wife, Elizabeth. We discover that Gabriel apparently endorses the popular, biblical notion of family structure at that time which dictated that the male has the power in the family. Gabriel interprets the father's role as protector to feed, to clothe, to provide shelter, and to insure the holy status of his family's souls. But John thinks Gabriel hates him and does not like him at all.
Setting:
Looking at a setting being the importat part of the novel we see a lot in this one seeing that the novel is set in Harlem in New York City. The Grimes migrate to the North in search of new opportunities. Elizabeth bids goodbye to her aunt in Maryland and leaves with Richard. She arrives in New York with great expectations but she is sorely disappointed. "Here, in this great city where no one cared, where people might live in the same building for years and never speak to one another, she found herself, when Richard took her in his arms, on the edge of a steep place and down she rushed, on the descent uncaring, into the dreadful sea." New York is a big and bustling city.
Conflict:
This novel is a man vs man conflict and its's interesting because in how this novel gets to this conflict, towards in the begining this conflict shows up. But this confict starts to get into a big deal in towards of John and Gabriel his "father". This conflict effects John in thinking that his father doesn't like him.
Theme:
Finding acceptance – Each character in this novel has dealt with his/her own abandonment and loss issues. John is hated by his own father. His father has to deal with losing his first wife, Deborah, as well as a lover, Esther. His mother lost her first lover, Richard, in his struggle to find equality with white men. Aunt Florence was deprived of affection from her mother, who favored Gabriel over her, and married Frank, a gambling drunk who eventually died during WWI. After all they’ve been through, they seek consolation and find it in God.
Family conflicts –The Grimes family is central to this novel and the tensions between and across generations drive the past and present narratives. Violence and fear rather than love are the overriding experiences as Gabriel dominates Elizabeth and the children as the patriarch of the household. Through the tension created by Gabriel, there is a criticism of the lack of love in the family unit and in American society. This is made evident with the sympathetic characterization of John and his sense of isolation that is created ostensibly by his step-father.
Symbol
Although there are no specific symbols in Go Tell It on the Mountain, there are several allusions to different biblical stories. The title of the last part, “The Threshing Floor,” is literally a place where wheat is separate from the chaff. Chaff, symbolizing evil and worthless people, is removed from John at the end of the novel. There is also the reference to the father-son relationship between Gabriel and John and between Noah and Ham. Ham sees Noah naked and has a cursed put upon him and his children, John sees Gabriel naked in the bathroom and suffers grief from it what a discrase right.
Sister Carrie
Summary:
The book Sister Carrie starts off with the narrator talking about a young girl and her American Dream. The protagonist, Sister Carrie AKA Carrie Meeber, is an 18 year old farm girl who traveled to Chicago seeking a better life pursuing fame and fortune. However, she has a price to pay for her luxury. She meets her sister and husband at the train station which they leave soon after to show Carrie their apartment. However, her new living space is actually quite small and not the desired room she was hoping for. The next day, she sets out on finding a job so she could pay rent for her room and board. Later, she finds a job but does not like it and quits. Moving on in the novel, Carrie meets George Hursdtwood, a play director, who becomes infatuated with her and her outer beauty. This, of course, opens the opportunity that Carrie has been waiting for eventually becoming a beautiful actress in one of George’s plays. Carrie and George begin to develop feeling for one another and want to take their relationship to the next level and get married, however George forgot to tell Carrie that he was married with two kids and a wife. After finding out about his atrocious cheating habits, Carrie leaves him after George and his wife go through their civil court to protect her name. After this whole ordeal, George Hursdtwood become homeless and helpless unable to care for his needs and becomes severely depressed due to his unfaithful and atrocious actions.
Major Character Analysis:
George Hurstwood: The manager of Fitzgerald and Moy’s, a popular saloon in Chicago, George Hurstwood is very wealthy and man that holds a lot of power, that is, at the beginning. Slowly, throughout the novel, Hurstwood begins to transform into a shadow of his former self. Even though he is happily married with two kids at the beginning, he ends up falling in love with Carrie, the main character who manages to steal his heart. Obviously, Hurstwood, through his narcissistic ways, doesn't tell Carrie that he is married therefore subjecting her to an adulterous relationship that she wouldn't have wanted to pursue had she known of his marriage. Later, after all is said and done, his wife finds out and becomes ripe with anger eventually divorcing him and leaving him loveless. Carrie also leaves him and refuses to have a relationship any longer with his soulless body; she can’t believe she ripped apart a marriage. After stealing massive amounts of money, he eventually descends further and further into apathy eventually becoming severely depressed and committing suicide.
Charles Drouet: Charles Drouet is obviously very deprived of love and follows anything with beauty and two legs. Noticing Carrie twice in a short easily convinces himself to go for the gold. He ambushes her with money, food, and warmth as he pulled her off the streets of the slum. This indicates not only his own personal lust but the extent of his own wealth his willing to give away for one mere pretty girl. This shows his true emptiness as he craves the beauty and innocence of the young and beautiful Carrie. He eventually finds her an acting job in the midst of Carrie’s affair with Hurstwood. Drouet becomes infatuated with her beauty and cannot notice that the man to his left is also being seduced by her beauty. This shows that he was never really truly in love with her, but with her own beauty and talents. He could’ve been with any old gal and he would've felt the same. As Carrie leaves him, he falls under a sudden illness. Can this be related to his love for her? I do not think so.
Sister Carrie: The first and foremost eccentric protagonist of the story, Eighteen year old Carrie, was not happy with the life she was given back home at her farm house. So, she packed up and she left, moving to Chicago with her older sister’s family. Carrie was thrilled to be in Chicago as she loves, and simply yearns, to accumulate wealth and thusly spend said wealth on needles items. When she arrives in the bustling city of Chicago, she feels the desire to accomplish the self-driven and gluttonous goals she has set for herself. However, Carrie fist has to find a fairly low paying job at a factory that, just to have somewhere to start, but, her desire for wealth is very strong and it drives her to leave the company, for the pay she receives is too low. She loves the thought of having a vast quantity of money, and she will do what it takes to get. Eventually, she gets the chance to earn a big paycheck when she becomes a famous actress and is swept off of her feet by the now wealthy, Mr. George Hardwood -whom became so wealthy only by embezzling money from his company and leaving his wife.
Setting: The story of Sister Carrie takes place in the 1900’s around the time of the Great Depression. This time in U.S. history is dark one and one that sparked both nightmares and dreams, especially in big cities such as Chicago, where new opportunities still existed and organized crime ran ramped and lucrative throughout the untamed streets. That being said, it is completely understandable that the first protagonist, Carrie, moves from her small farm and her old farm town to the city of Chicago, though unfortunately, only to find herself in what seems to be a mess of human relations. Amid the hustle and bustle of the city and Family drama, Carrie does not really know what she wants from her life, but will, without hesitation, indulge in her infatuation with money and the rich desire to obtain vast quantities of the leaf-like paper and its spoils of self-lust. Though the depression makes this a hard thing for her to do, it only makes Carrie stronger as she must work in clever ways, and sometimes questionable ways, to achieve a desired amount of wealth. The second protagonist, George Hursdtwood, lives in Chicago as well, and he too is managing to come by when Carrie comes to Chicago, making a living owning and managing a saloon. A highly desired man, our second protagonist George Hursdtwood was soon corrupted by the beauty and lust of Carrie Meeber. Eventually, he resorted to stealing from his own company, running away with Carrie, and losing everything when he was exposed. In closure, the city and greed will do things to people, even ruining lives.
Conflicts:
Man v Self: Carrie realizes by the end of the book that nothing has caused her happiness or can make her happy. She is driven by wealth and power which the many men can grant her, but when they lose their valuables, she loses her interest. However, when she gains the wealth, she realizes it truly doesn't make her happy creating a conflict within herself.
Man v Man: Throughout her life, Carrie struggles with love through multiple wealthy men as she persists to find love. She goes through multiple husbands and they cause her much dismay and pleasure. However, by the end of her story, she realizes no man can make her happy as so many tried to.
Major Symbols:
Clothes: Carrie buys a lot of nice clothes after she meets Drouet and this becomes one of the main symbols in the book. These clothes symbolize Carrie’s desire to only improve her outward appearance rather than work on her character itself.
Rocking chair: The rocking chair is a symbol which is mentioned numerous times throughout the novel and it symbolizes Carrie’s frustration at her failure to make decisions. This is because just like how a rocking chair rocks back and forth and effort is put in to make it rock, but still it doesn’t move, the same is true with Carrie’s decision making.
Newspaper: Another common symbol in the novel is newspapers. These newspapers represent people who are stuck in the past and cannot move forward with their lives.
Themes:
Change and Transformation: Both Carrie and Hurstwood experience dramatic changes of character from the beginning of the story to the end. The changes are gradual, however the change induces much conflict anyway. Carrie transforms from a “redneck” girl to a famous and amazing actress, but her power comes at a cost of morality. She leaves many people in shambles throughout her journey through life. Hurstwood’s gradual transformation changes him from being a very liked and trusted businessman to a homeless adulterer on the street. This novel iterates the themes of Change and Transformation throughout the entirety of the novel.
Choices and Consequences: Hurstwood’s choice to cheat on his wife is a very big choice with massive consequences. His cheating habits eventually land him in a metaphorical pit, homeless and without love. Eventually, his choices will lead him to commit suicide after losing everything.
Sex: Sex has a major part to play in the novel because it is the only way Carrie got to where she was in her career as an actress. This theme also, in context of the time the book was written (Victorian Era), was very shocking to people obviously making it very exciting to read. This was perhaps the only reason the book got so popular at the time, because in that time period people never talked about sex; this aspect made the book very exciting and intriguing.
The book Sister Carrie starts off with the narrator talking about a young girl and her American Dream. The protagonist, Sister Carrie AKA Carrie Meeber, is an 18 year old farm girl who traveled to Chicago seeking a better life pursuing fame and fortune. However, she has a price to pay for her luxury. She meets her sister and husband at the train station which they leave soon after to show Carrie their apartment. However, her new living space is actually quite small and not the desired room she was hoping for. The next day, she sets out on finding a job so she could pay rent for her room and board. Later, she finds a job but does not like it and quits. Moving on in the novel, Carrie meets George Hursdtwood, a play director, who becomes infatuated with her and her outer beauty. This, of course, opens the opportunity that Carrie has been waiting for eventually becoming a beautiful actress in one of George’s plays. Carrie and George begin to develop feeling for one another and want to take their relationship to the next level and get married, however George forgot to tell Carrie that he was married with two kids and a wife. After finding out about his atrocious cheating habits, Carrie leaves him after George and his wife go through their civil court to protect her name. After this whole ordeal, George Hursdtwood become homeless and helpless unable to care for his needs and becomes severely depressed due to his unfaithful and atrocious actions.
Major Character Analysis:
George Hurstwood: The manager of Fitzgerald and Moy’s, a popular saloon in Chicago, George Hurstwood is very wealthy and man that holds a lot of power, that is, at the beginning. Slowly, throughout the novel, Hurstwood begins to transform into a shadow of his former self. Even though he is happily married with two kids at the beginning, he ends up falling in love with Carrie, the main character who manages to steal his heart. Obviously, Hurstwood, through his narcissistic ways, doesn't tell Carrie that he is married therefore subjecting her to an adulterous relationship that she wouldn't have wanted to pursue had she known of his marriage. Later, after all is said and done, his wife finds out and becomes ripe with anger eventually divorcing him and leaving him loveless. Carrie also leaves him and refuses to have a relationship any longer with his soulless body; she can’t believe she ripped apart a marriage. After stealing massive amounts of money, he eventually descends further and further into apathy eventually becoming severely depressed and committing suicide.
Charles Drouet: Charles Drouet is obviously very deprived of love and follows anything with beauty and two legs. Noticing Carrie twice in a short easily convinces himself to go for the gold. He ambushes her with money, food, and warmth as he pulled her off the streets of the slum. This indicates not only his own personal lust but the extent of his own wealth his willing to give away for one mere pretty girl. This shows his true emptiness as he craves the beauty and innocence of the young and beautiful Carrie. He eventually finds her an acting job in the midst of Carrie’s affair with Hurstwood. Drouet becomes infatuated with her beauty and cannot notice that the man to his left is also being seduced by her beauty. This shows that he was never really truly in love with her, but with her own beauty and talents. He could’ve been with any old gal and he would've felt the same. As Carrie leaves him, he falls under a sudden illness. Can this be related to his love for her? I do not think so.
Sister Carrie: The first and foremost eccentric protagonist of the story, Eighteen year old Carrie, was not happy with the life she was given back home at her farm house. So, she packed up and she left, moving to Chicago with her older sister’s family. Carrie was thrilled to be in Chicago as she loves, and simply yearns, to accumulate wealth and thusly spend said wealth on needles items. When she arrives in the bustling city of Chicago, she feels the desire to accomplish the self-driven and gluttonous goals she has set for herself. However, Carrie fist has to find a fairly low paying job at a factory that, just to have somewhere to start, but, her desire for wealth is very strong and it drives her to leave the company, for the pay she receives is too low. She loves the thought of having a vast quantity of money, and she will do what it takes to get. Eventually, she gets the chance to earn a big paycheck when she becomes a famous actress and is swept off of her feet by the now wealthy, Mr. George Hardwood -whom became so wealthy only by embezzling money from his company and leaving his wife.
Setting: The story of Sister Carrie takes place in the 1900’s around the time of the Great Depression. This time in U.S. history is dark one and one that sparked both nightmares and dreams, especially in big cities such as Chicago, where new opportunities still existed and organized crime ran ramped and lucrative throughout the untamed streets. That being said, it is completely understandable that the first protagonist, Carrie, moves from her small farm and her old farm town to the city of Chicago, though unfortunately, only to find herself in what seems to be a mess of human relations. Amid the hustle and bustle of the city and Family drama, Carrie does not really know what she wants from her life, but will, without hesitation, indulge in her infatuation with money and the rich desire to obtain vast quantities of the leaf-like paper and its spoils of self-lust. Though the depression makes this a hard thing for her to do, it only makes Carrie stronger as she must work in clever ways, and sometimes questionable ways, to achieve a desired amount of wealth. The second protagonist, George Hursdtwood, lives in Chicago as well, and he too is managing to come by when Carrie comes to Chicago, making a living owning and managing a saloon. A highly desired man, our second protagonist George Hursdtwood was soon corrupted by the beauty and lust of Carrie Meeber. Eventually, he resorted to stealing from his own company, running away with Carrie, and losing everything when he was exposed. In closure, the city and greed will do things to people, even ruining lives.
Conflicts:
Man v Self: Carrie realizes by the end of the book that nothing has caused her happiness or can make her happy. She is driven by wealth and power which the many men can grant her, but when they lose their valuables, she loses her interest. However, when she gains the wealth, she realizes it truly doesn't make her happy creating a conflict within herself.
Man v Man: Throughout her life, Carrie struggles with love through multiple wealthy men as she persists to find love. She goes through multiple husbands and they cause her much dismay and pleasure. However, by the end of her story, she realizes no man can make her happy as so many tried to.
Major Symbols:
Clothes: Carrie buys a lot of nice clothes after she meets Drouet and this becomes one of the main symbols in the book. These clothes symbolize Carrie’s desire to only improve her outward appearance rather than work on her character itself.
Rocking chair: The rocking chair is a symbol which is mentioned numerous times throughout the novel and it symbolizes Carrie’s frustration at her failure to make decisions. This is because just like how a rocking chair rocks back and forth and effort is put in to make it rock, but still it doesn’t move, the same is true with Carrie’s decision making.
Newspaper: Another common symbol in the novel is newspapers. These newspapers represent people who are stuck in the past and cannot move forward with their lives.
Themes:
Change and Transformation: Both Carrie and Hurstwood experience dramatic changes of character from the beginning of the story to the end. The changes are gradual, however the change induces much conflict anyway. Carrie transforms from a “redneck” girl to a famous and amazing actress, but her power comes at a cost of morality. She leaves many people in shambles throughout her journey through life. Hurstwood’s gradual transformation changes him from being a very liked and trusted businessman to a homeless adulterer on the street. This novel iterates the themes of Change and Transformation throughout the entirety of the novel.
Choices and Consequences: Hurstwood’s choice to cheat on his wife is a very big choice with massive consequences. His cheating habits eventually land him in a metaphorical pit, homeless and without love. Eventually, his choices will lead him to commit suicide after losing everything.
Sex: Sex has a major part to play in the novel because it is the only way Carrie got to where she was in her career as an actress. This theme also, in context of the time the book was written (Victorian Era), was very shocking to people obviously making it very exciting to read. This was perhaps the only reason the book got so popular at the time, because in that time period people never talked about sex; this aspect made the book very exciting and intriguing.
Sources in MLa citation
MacBeth:
Bruenger, Billy. "Macbeth; Summarized Story." Angelfire.com. Web. 31 Mar. 2013. <http://www.angelfire.com/mo/MACBETH/stor.html>.
"Macbeth; Character List." SparkNotes. SparkNotes, 2013. Web. 31 Mar. 2013. <http://www.sparknotes.com/shakespeare/macbeth/characters.html>.
"Macbeth; Analysis of Major Characters." SparkNotes. SparkNotes, 2013. Web. 31 Mar. 2013. <http://www.sparknotes.com/shakespeare/macbeth/canalysis.html>.
"Macbeth in 96 Seconds." YouTube. YouTube, 14 July 2008. Web. 31 Mar. 2013. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F5nlx2XzP-4>.
Wide Saragossa Sea:
"Wide Sargasso Sea; Plot Overview." SparkNotes. SparkNotes, 2013. Web. 31 Mar. 2013. <http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/sargasso/summary.html>.
"Wide Sargasso Sea; Analysis of Major Characters." SparkNotes. SparkNotes, 2013. Web. 31 Mar. 2013. <http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/sargasso/canalysis.html>.
"Wide Sargasso Sea; Character List." SparkNotes. SparkNotes, 2013. Web. 31 Mar. 2013. <http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/sargasso/characters.html>.
Shmoop Editorial Team. "Wide Sargasso Sea Setting" Shmoop.com. Shmoop University, Inc., 11 Dec. 2008. Web. 31 Mar. 2013. <http://www.shmoop.com/wide-sargasso-sea/setting.html>.
Shmoop Editorial Team. "Wide Sargasso Sea Plot Analysis" Shmoop.com. Shmoop University, Inc., 11 Dec. 2008. Web. 31 Mar. 2013. <http://www.shmoop.com/wide-sargasso-sea/plot-analysis.html>.
"Wide Sargasso Sea; Themes, Motifs & Symbols." SparkNotes. SparkNotes, 2013. Web. 31 Mar. 2013. <http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/sargasso/themes.html>.
Picture: http://media.npr.org/assets/artslife/books/2009/09/widesargassosea_custom-8b161d7e813ec3467d0eb42825bc202e8e163cb1-s3.jpg
"Wide Sargasso Sea (1993) Trailer." YouTube. YouTube, 28 July 2009. Web. 31 Mar. 2013. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tAzC5gSKM6E>.
Go Tell it on the Mountain:
"Go Tell It on the Mountain (novel)." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 29 Mar. 2013. Web. 29 Mar. 2013.
"Go Tell It on the Mountain." SparkNotes. SparkNotes, n.d. Web. 29 Mar. 2013.
"Go Tell It on the Mountain By James Baldwin Book Summary." Go Tell It on the Mountain by James Baldwin CliffsNotes. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Mar. 2013.
"Go Tell It on the Mountain: Theme Analysis." Novelguide. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Mar. 2013.
"Go Tell It on the Mountain." Go Tell It on the Mountain. Chicken Bones, n.d. Web. 31 Mar. 2013. <http://www.nathanielturner.com/gotellitonthemountain.htm>.
"Go Tell It On The Mountain Part 1 (The Movie)." YouTube. YouTube, 20 July 2011. Web. 31 Mar. 2013. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qXkbwlzbbno>.
The Piano Lesson:
"The Piano Lesson." SparkNotes. SparkNotes, n.d. Web. 31 Mar. 2013. <http://www.sparknotes.com/drama/piano/canalysis.html>.
"The Piano Lesson." SparkNotes. SparkNotes, n.d. Web. 31 Mar. 2013. <http://www.sparknotes.com/drama/piano/themes.html>.
"The Piano Lesson." SparkNotes. SparkNotes, n.d. Web. 31 Mar. 2013. <http://www.sparknotes.com/drama/piano/context.html>.
Snow, Issabella. "Glogster Home Page." Glogster. Glogster, n.d. Web. 31 Mar. 2013. <http://www.glogster.com/isabellasnow/the-piano-lesson-by-august-wilson/g-6n8fe3hi1b0ubcq536tjca0?old_view=True>.
"The Piano Lesson." YouTube. YouTube, 03 Oct. 2011. Web. 31 Mar. 2013. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=baAWP5_0RZ0>.
Frankenstein:
"Frankenstein." SparkNotes. SparkNotes, n.d. Web. 31 Mar. 2013. <http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/frankenstein/context.html>.
"Frankenstein." SparkNotes. SparkNotes, n.d. Web. 31 Mar. 2013. <http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/frankenstein/canalysis.html>.
"Frankenstein." SparkNotes. SparkNotes, n.d. Web. 31 Mar. 2013. <http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/frankenstein/themes.html>.
"Frankenstein 70 (1958) Horror Full Movie." YouTube. YouTube, 24 Feb. 2013. Web. 31 Mar. 2013. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O9uaiX0z5p4>.
"Frankenstein." Fine Art America. Fine Art America, n.d. Web. 31 Mar. 2013. <http://fineartamerica.com/featured/frankenstein-tom-carlton.html>.
"Background to Frankenstein." Heckmondwikegrammar. N.p., n.d. Web. 31 Mar. 2013. <http://www.heckmondwikegrammar.net/index.php?p=10726>.
Hamlet:
"Gormanston English." Gormanston English RSS. N.p., n.d. Web. 31 Mar. 2013. <http://meighan.edublogs.org/tag/hamlet/>.
"Hamlet." YouTube. YouTube, 25 Aug. 2012. Web. 31 Mar. 2013. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RW_Cbopvdv4>.
Doctor Faustus:
Daryllorettecafe. N.p., n.d. Web. 31 Mar. 2013. <http://daryllorettecafe.typepad.com/.a/6a00e54f0c28b888340120a6a99d01970b-pi>.
"Doctor Faustus Trailer." YouTube. YouTube, 22 Feb. 2013. Web. 31 Mar. 2013. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r_ewDUQ79L8>.
"Doctor Faustus." SparkNotes. SparkNotes, n.d. Web. 31 Mar. 2013. <http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/doctorfaustus/summary.html>.
"Doctor Faustus." SparkNotes. SparkNotes, n.d. Web. 31 Mar. 2013. <http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/doctorfaustus/canalysis.html>.
"Doctor Faustus." SparkNotes. SparkNotes, n.d. Web. 31 Mar. 2013. <http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/doctorfaustus/themes.html>.
Mrs. Warren's Profession:
"Michael Bloom- A Director's Website." Michael Bloom- A Director's Website. N.p., n.d. Web. 31 Mar. 2013. <http://www.utexas.edu/courses/td353t/reviews.html>.
"Mrs Warrens Profession." YouTube. YouTube, 04 Feb. 2012. Web. 31 Mar. 2013. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y5cDcSVO2Ic>.
"Mrs. Warren's Profession Summary and Study Guides." Mrs. Warren's Profession Summary and Cliff Notes. N.p., n.d. Web. 31 Mar. 2013. <http://www.freebooknotes.com/summaries-analysis/mrs-warrens-profession/>.
"Mrs. Warren's Profession." Enotes.com. Enotes.com, n.d. Web. 31 Mar. 2013. <http://www.enotes.com/mrs-warrens-profession>.
Tess of the D'Urbervilles
"Contemplations and Ruminations." : Tess of The D'Urbervilles. N.p., n.d. Web. 31 Mar. 2013. <http://summer--breeze.blogspot.com/2012/11/tess-of-d.html>.
"Tess of the D’Urbervilles." SparkNotes. SparkNotes, n.d. Web. 31 Mar. 2013. <http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/tess/>.
"Tess of the D'urbervilles Trailer (2008)." YouTube. YouTube, 03 Sept. 2008. Web. 31 Mar. 2013. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=snhZ_flom1Q>.
Sister Carrie:
"HERNDONAPUSH - The Literature of Urban America." HERNDONAPUSH - The Literature of Urban America. Hernando APUSH, n.d. Web. 01 Apr. 2013. <http://herndonapush.wikispaces.com/The Literature of Urban America>.
"Carrie (1952) Trailer." YouTube. YouTube, 26 Sept. 2012. Web. 01 Apr. 2013. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-WNUzw43ffI>.
"Novel Summaries Analysis." Novel Summaries Analysis RSS. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 Apr. 2013. <http://www.novelexplorer.com/sister-carrie/themes-23/>.
"Sister Carrie." SparkNotes. SparkNotes, n.d. Web. 01 Apr. 2013. <http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/sistercarrie/>.
Bruenger, Billy. "Macbeth; Summarized Story." Angelfire.com. Web. 31 Mar. 2013. <http://www.angelfire.com/mo/MACBETH/stor.html>.
"Macbeth; Character List." SparkNotes. SparkNotes, 2013. Web. 31 Mar. 2013. <http://www.sparknotes.com/shakespeare/macbeth/characters.html>.
"Macbeth; Analysis of Major Characters." SparkNotes. SparkNotes, 2013. Web. 31 Mar. 2013. <http://www.sparknotes.com/shakespeare/macbeth/canalysis.html>.
"Macbeth in 96 Seconds." YouTube. YouTube, 14 July 2008. Web. 31 Mar. 2013. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F5nlx2XzP-4>.
Wide Saragossa Sea:
"Wide Sargasso Sea; Plot Overview." SparkNotes. SparkNotes, 2013. Web. 31 Mar. 2013. <http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/sargasso/summary.html>.
"Wide Sargasso Sea; Analysis of Major Characters." SparkNotes. SparkNotes, 2013. Web. 31 Mar. 2013. <http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/sargasso/canalysis.html>.
"Wide Sargasso Sea; Character List." SparkNotes. SparkNotes, 2013. Web. 31 Mar. 2013. <http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/sargasso/characters.html>.
Shmoop Editorial Team. "Wide Sargasso Sea Setting" Shmoop.com. Shmoop University, Inc., 11 Dec. 2008. Web. 31 Mar. 2013. <http://www.shmoop.com/wide-sargasso-sea/setting.html>.
Shmoop Editorial Team. "Wide Sargasso Sea Plot Analysis" Shmoop.com. Shmoop University, Inc., 11 Dec. 2008. Web. 31 Mar. 2013. <http://www.shmoop.com/wide-sargasso-sea/plot-analysis.html>.
"Wide Sargasso Sea; Themes, Motifs & Symbols." SparkNotes. SparkNotes, 2013. Web. 31 Mar. 2013. <http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/sargasso/themes.html>.
Picture: http://media.npr.org/assets/artslife/books/2009/09/widesargassosea_custom-8b161d7e813ec3467d0eb42825bc202e8e163cb1-s3.jpg
"Wide Sargasso Sea (1993) Trailer." YouTube. YouTube, 28 July 2009. Web. 31 Mar. 2013. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tAzC5gSKM6E>.
Go Tell it on the Mountain:
"Go Tell It on the Mountain (novel)." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 29 Mar. 2013. Web. 29 Mar. 2013.
"Go Tell It on the Mountain." SparkNotes. SparkNotes, n.d. Web. 29 Mar. 2013.
"Go Tell It on the Mountain By James Baldwin Book Summary." Go Tell It on the Mountain by James Baldwin CliffsNotes. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Mar. 2013.
"Go Tell It on the Mountain: Theme Analysis." Novelguide. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Mar. 2013.
"Go Tell It on the Mountain." Go Tell It on the Mountain. Chicken Bones, n.d. Web. 31 Mar. 2013. <http://www.nathanielturner.com/gotellitonthemountain.htm>.
"Go Tell It On The Mountain Part 1 (The Movie)." YouTube. YouTube, 20 July 2011. Web. 31 Mar. 2013. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qXkbwlzbbno>.
The Piano Lesson:
"The Piano Lesson." SparkNotes. SparkNotes, n.d. Web. 31 Mar. 2013. <http://www.sparknotes.com/drama/piano/canalysis.html>.
"The Piano Lesson." SparkNotes. SparkNotes, n.d. Web. 31 Mar. 2013. <http://www.sparknotes.com/drama/piano/themes.html>.
"The Piano Lesson." SparkNotes. SparkNotes, n.d. Web. 31 Mar. 2013. <http://www.sparknotes.com/drama/piano/context.html>.
Snow, Issabella. "Glogster Home Page." Glogster. Glogster, n.d. Web. 31 Mar. 2013. <http://www.glogster.com/isabellasnow/the-piano-lesson-by-august-wilson/g-6n8fe3hi1b0ubcq536tjca0?old_view=True>.
"The Piano Lesson." YouTube. YouTube, 03 Oct. 2011. Web. 31 Mar. 2013. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=baAWP5_0RZ0>.
Frankenstein:
"Frankenstein." SparkNotes. SparkNotes, n.d. Web. 31 Mar. 2013. <http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/frankenstein/context.html>.
"Frankenstein." SparkNotes. SparkNotes, n.d. Web. 31 Mar. 2013. <http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/frankenstein/canalysis.html>.
"Frankenstein." SparkNotes. SparkNotes, n.d. Web. 31 Mar. 2013. <http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/frankenstein/themes.html>.
"Frankenstein 70 (1958) Horror Full Movie." YouTube. YouTube, 24 Feb. 2013. Web. 31 Mar. 2013. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O9uaiX0z5p4>.
"Frankenstein." Fine Art America. Fine Art America, n.d. Web. 31 Mar. 2013. <http://fineartamerica.com/featured/frankenstein-tom-carlton.html>.
"Background to Frankenstein." Heckmondwikegrammar. N.p., n.d. Web. 31 Mar. 2013. <http://www.heckmondwikegrammar.net/index.php?p=10726>.
Hamlet:
"Gormanston English." Gormanston English RSS. N.p., n.d. Web. 31 Mar. 2013. <http://meighan.edublogs.org/tag/hamlet/>.
"Hamlet." YouTube. YouTube, 25 Aug. 2012. Web. 31 Mar. 2013. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RW_Cbopvdv4>.
Doctor Faustus:
Daryllorettecafe. N.p., n.d. Web. 31 Mar. 2013. <http://daryllorettecafe.typepad.com/.a/6a00e54f0c28b888340120a6a99d01970b-pi>.
"Doctor Faustus Trailer." YouTube. YouTube, 22 Feb. 2013. Web. 31 Mar. 2013. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r_ewDUQ79L8>.
"Doctor Faustus." SparkNotes. SparkNotes, n.d. Web. 31 Mar. 2013. <http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/doctorfaustus/summary.html>.
"Doctor Faustus." SparkNotes. SparkNotes, n.d. Web. 31 Mar. 2013. <http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/doctorfaustus/canalysis.html>.
"Doctor Faustus." SparkNotes. SparkNotes, n.d. Web. 31 Mar. 2013. <http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/doctorfaustus/themes.html>.
Mrs. Warren's Profession:
"Michael Bloom- A Director's Website." Michael Bloom- A Director's Website. N.p., n.d. Web. 31 Mar. 2013. <http://www.utexas.edu/courses/td353t/reviews.html>.
"Mrs Warrens Profession." YouTube. YouTube, 04 Feb. 2012. Web. 31 Mar. 2013. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y5cDcSVO2Ic>.
"Mrs. Warren's Profession Summary and Study Guides." Mrs. Warren's Profession Summary and Cliff Notes. N.p., n.d. Web. 31 Mar. 2013. <http://www.freebooknotes.com/summaries-analysis/mrs-warrens-profession/>.
"Mrs. Warren's Profession." Enotes.com. Enotes.com, n.d. Web. 31 Mar. 2013. <http://www.enotes.com/mrs-warrens-profession>.
Tess of the D'Urbervilles
"Contemplations and Ruminations." : Tess of The D'Urbervilles. N.p., n.d. Web. 31 Mar. 2013. <http://summer--breeze.blogspot.com/2012/11/tess-of-d.html>.
"Tess of the D’Urbervilles." SparkNotes. SparkNotes, n.d. Web. 31 Mar. 2013. <http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/tess/>.
"Tess of the D'urbervilles Trailer (2008)." YouTube. YouTube, 03 Sept. 2008. Web. 31 Mar. 2013. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=snhZ_flom1Q>.
Sister Carrie:
"HERNDONAPUSH - The Literature of Urban America." HERNDONAPUSH - The Literature of Urban America. Hernando APUSH, n.d. Web. 01 Apr. 2013. <http://herndonapush.wikispaces.com/The Literature of Urban America>.
"Carrie (1952) Trailer." YouTube. YouTube, 26 Sept. 2012. Web. 01 Apr. 2013. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-WNUzw43ffI>.
"Novel Summaries Analysis." Novel Summaries Analysis RSS. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 Apr. 2013. <http://www.novelexplorer.com/sister-carrie/themes-23/>.
"Sister Carrie." SparkNotes. SparkNotes, n.d. Web. 01 Apr. 2013. <http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/sistercarrie/>.