ENGLAND YOU SUCK!!!

I like that we are dealing with someone that is outspoken. Even though she is using a story, fictional or not, she is telling it how she sees the world around her. I can tell that she has standards when it comes to people. She seems to respect those who work hard and live their lives in a moral manner .the strong leadership and cohesiveness of the natives is what attracts her. On page 2187, she is telling us what a leader should be. “I have often conversed with this great man, and been witness to many of his mighty actions, and do assure my reader the most illustrious courts could not have produced a braver man.” The description of Oroonoko sounds almost divine. These mighty qualities and strong characteristics places him on a pedestal above the base men of her time. She is in awe over him.  I looked into her and she made some remarks about the Kings son that got her arrested.  I like her boldness. “Religion would here but destroy that tranquility they possess by ignorance, and laws would but teach em to know offense, of which now they have no notion.” I like the fact that she is honest. The corruption that is around her is too much to handle. I like that she is saying the English are terrible people. I like how Adam and Eve are the muses for Milton and Behn. The idea of everyone being this innocent bystander of the evils of one entity. The English must be a giant Anaconda instead of a small snake wrapped around a tree, because they have spread their evils almost all over the world. The descriptions of the natives and the way they live tells me that she would rather have a simple life. Living in a community that is more collective than individualistic. This story is almost tragic. The way the new circumstances changed the character of a great man into the very people that captured him. The character shift of Oroonoko is not as divine as Behn wanted us to believe. I think this story was written not only to represent the horrors of slavery, but to show how good people can change as the circumstances do. Also we change and become the worst part of ourselves. I enjoy reading about this era, because it is good to receive different opinions and different experiences. I know this is fictional, but it happened to someone and I glad someone like Behn wrote on the subject.   

Is Hell Paradise?

Moloch desire for war is impressive. After losing to God he wants to keep going. He says let those who want to stay and accept the situation rest while the ones who want to fight, fight. I feel like Moloch is taking on the leadership qualities, Lucifer should have. Back in Book 1, Lucifer was almost regretting what he had done. While he is on a pilgrimage to earth, the devils are free to do what they like. The feeling of having nothing to lose, so why not fight. Moloch wants to finish what they started. He has nothing good to say about God. To me his language suggested that he was a manipulator. He told his followers but he wanted them to hear and exploited them. The criticism of Gods leadership is a large subject in paradise lost. It makes you think of how Milton perceived God. What I am reading in this story is that God is a liar. When we get descriptions of him, they are not very flattering. “He seemed for dignity composed and high exploit, but all was false and hollow though his tongue dropped manna and could make the worse appear the better reason to perplex and dash matures counsels.” I was taught that God is just and to always out your faith in him. I have questions for Milton. The way God is described by the fallen angles, the way he sees them? Or is he describing Him this way because they oppose one another?  There is some hateful language in this poem.  It also brings into question was free will only given to Adam and Eve? Moloch is war bound, he seems to live for the fight and has some heated animosity towards God. Sounds like daddy issues to me. Belial speaks with reason. He knows there is no going back. This makes me think of the Colonies revolting against the British. The fight for independence from an oppressive entity. Could their cause be justified? If God was this way, why do we see the angels that fell as the ones who did wrong? I like the line “this deep world of darkness do we dread? How oft admist thick clouds and dark doth Heav’n resembles Hell? The idea of Heaven being a hell in its own way. so does that mean, Hell, the place they are in now is their paradise? I don’t know.

These two are suppose to be Siblings?

I am having an issue with the relationship of Isabella and Claudio in this play. The situation Claudio is in, being put to death and all, you would think that Isabella would do almost anything to save him, but she accepts his fate because she is preoccupied with her own situation. To her, her chastity is more important than her brother.  I don’t think she knows that once you are dead there is no coming back. Remaining pure is the top priority to Isabella and this makes me  conflicted on that idea. Her virtue means everything to her and Claudio’s life means everything to him, one is not thinking of the other. I know that being a woman during this time you were a virgin, you got married, had children and lived for the rest of your days. Isabella to me is an independent female that can hold her own. She did when she approached Angelo in the garden in Act 2.  Meeting together in the prison clears up the idea of how close they are to each other and it is not close at all. She makes the decision to let her brother die than to live in shame. I think she would live in more shame that knowing she let her brother die just to keep her name clean. Claudio on the other hand is afraid to die. “Death is a fearful thing/and shameful life a hateful” (3.1.131-132). It is weird that she places the loss of her virginity on the same level as being killed. When Claudio finishes speaking be turns and tells he that giving up her virtue would be a virtue in itself. He doesn’t care about her feelings on the situation. She basically says I give up on you, you will die tomorrow and I don’t have to think about this anymore, because we're done.   As we read you can tell she loves her brother if she didn’t care she wouldn’t have made an effort to go see Angelo and beg for his life. Not see the other point of view and are not thinking clearly.  The main issue of this play is how selfish the people are in this play. The self is greater than the whole. Claudio and Isabella are better off without one another. In this play, nothing is sacred. We see how our true selves come to light when we encounter certain situations.  In addition, a relationship between siblings can become damaged and two people who are supposed to love one another turn against each other. That is the issue I have with these two “siblings”.  

The Lost Childhood of Dr. Faustus

I enjoyed reading this play. As I read it I find it difficult to sympathise with the good doctor. Is he really good? I see Faustus as a man that has accomplished so much in his life, that he has become bored with his life. As I read this play I pictured him not as a man but a young child. we know how children behave. They tend to start something then end up becoming bored with that activity, then move on to the next thing that they find interesting. This man is so unsatisfied with his life, that he calls upon demons and the devil himself. I think he took his loneliness too seriously. I can feel for the man in some ways. As a student, you will not have time for other things like, having relationships, clowning around and just having fun. Faustus was deprived of a childhood. He did not have a chance not worry about things like school and just have a natural curiosity in life. There is nothing in the play that speaks about his childhood, but we can guess that his schooling was serious enough to keep him occupied from the gifts childhood can give us. the natural curiosity of the world, experiencing love, and just relaxing.  While reading this play, I feel that Marlowe is trying to tell us that having our own mind and it is important to think things through. I can't sympathise with someone that chooses that wrong path because they feel like it. He knows that making a deal with the devil is not a right decision, but does it anyway. If I was Faustus I would have wished to become a child again because that is what he is acting like.

Chaucer and Women

The tale of The Wife of Bath is complex. A story of trying to figure out what women want is going to be a story that will end with a unsatisfying end. The part of the story that i want to focus on is the end. The Knight and his wife have my full attention. the wife just breaks the situation down to him and tells him basically that he doesn't live up to what he is suppose to be. he keeps screaming how she is ugly and all he wants is a beautiful wife. now he can have a beautiful wife but that wife would never do what his current wife is doing. She spoke her peace and gave her husband a reality check. You're suppose to be a Knight, the best of the best and all you worried about is the way your wife looks.  with the language i read it as, if you want to leave then leave i will be fine. i didn't get the sense of her begging him to stay.  I would think that a wife in this time would have took the verbal abuse and tried to please him in any way. I love this tale because it reminds me of the women in my life. To me Chaucer is not criticizing the women in the time period but how others see women. All they want is freedom and have fun. i slightly agree with this because all they do is clean, work in the house and tend to their husbands and children. I am glad he put this into the story, because he focuses on how men think and he put the female in a positive light.

Beowulf's Leadership

Beowulf to me is all about image, how  people see us. Beowulf has an image to maintain, not only to the men that came with him, but to the people he decided to help. To maintain his position above the other men, he takes risk and makes impulsive decisions. I know he is suppose to be a "superhero," but I feel that in order to continue the heroic acts and remain a hero in everyone's eyes, Beowulf has to put hi,self in danger and commit dangerous acts to keep that image he built. A leader does not always have to spring into action. He could have lead the people out of the village when the dragon attacked or he could have used his men to fight along with him. As you read the story, you can feel a sense of trust. The men do not intervene in any of Beowulf's fights because they trust him to protect them. Beowulf is an intresting character because he needs others to witness his glory, but does not need them to interfere in battles  that helped him obtain glory. He is a man of the people and they trust him with their lives.