How long will this all last?

What I found interesting in this book was how everyone mentioned in importance was described in the color of their skin (at least in the beginning stages of the story). Was anyone else thrown by this? I just found that part significant because this is the first time that descriptions of people went beyond their personality and their general physique. "His face was not of that brown, rusty, black which most of that nation are, but a perfect ebony or polished jet.... his nose was rising and Roman, instead of African and flat", describing Oroonoko here I just wondered if the author was trying to give us a better understanding about the differences that were present in this time of slavery and judgement upon race (Behn, 2187).

Also the love story between Oroonoko and Imoinda struck me as almost too easy, and as most of you have mentioned in a tragedy like this, I believe to have been too good to be true. The way he spoke to her so passionately "he made her vows she should be the only woman he would possess while he lived", which showed how the idea of love was viewed as in this time, "that no age or wrinkles should incline him to change, for her soul would be always fine and always young, and he should have and eternal idea in his mind of the charms she now bore, ad should look into his heart for that idea when he could find it no longer in her face" (Behn, 2189). I know some of you mentioned this already but this brought to mind the story of Romeo and Juliet and we all know how that turned out.

It seems to me in the midst of battle or conflict Oroonoko is one to leap without looking kind of attitude which in the long run might cause him or those he cares about harm. Kind of like Beowulf I believe he thrives in the thought that everyone looks to his guidance in battle but his modesty and naivety may be the cause of his downfall. He is too trusting for a tragic hero. What do you guys think about Oroonoko?

Paradise and I are Lost

Honestly I cannot wait for our next class so we can discuss because I am quite lost. I am not one to say to myself "Religion?! I have opinions about that!!" because I am not one of a religious background and nor do I have much knowledge of religion which can also be a bummer. However, for the first time I think it is not the poetry that is throwing me off, but more so Milton's style which is also difficult for me to comment on because I do not have a firm grasp on that either. But that is the beauty of this class!!

What I did find interesting was the very beginning talking about Adam and Eve and the forbidden tree when they took the fruit and ate it even though that was the one thing that they were not supposed to do.

What I did understand here was the basic temptation of humanity and how that can bring out the worst in humans whether we like it or not, and sometimes the consequences follow us for however amount of time afterwards. Unfortunately this just happened to be "Man's first disobedience" so that's a real bummer.
The footnotes were somewhat helpful, however what was difficult was when there was something I personally needed a footnote explanation and there was none, I had to go off of context or Google!
The main theme I am gathering from Paradise Lost is that once we do lose ourselves and our good nature there is an endless misery among mankind because we tend (as imperfect humans) to give into the Serpent (Satan) and that downfall just continues to snowball and add upon itself. But we can thank Satan for that.

Hopefully in class today I can get more guidance, and maybe Paradise and I can find a way out!

Hypocrisy, the Love-Hate Relationship

Hypocrisy, the Love-Hate Relationship

                So, I personally am not the biggest fan of anyone in this play to be honest with you. The very concept that we have to be talking about Claudio being sentenced to death for the same thing that Angelo is now trying to get from his sister is simply outrageous to me. However, as much as we hate hypocrisy, it is what keeps us reading. Do you guys agree? Give me your thoughts! Also, in a sense I feel like the person that is watching creepily in the bushes, as we have seen by a couple of characters in this play as well. And no matter what I do obviously I cannot leap out of the bushes and tell these people how idiotic they all are, Angelo especially.

                Anyway, back to the play, as some of you posted about already (I got myself behind because I misread the schedule) the entire issue of Claudio  asking Isabella to give herself up to let him live, especially when he knows how meaningful of a "sin" in this manner affects her and her "purity" I believe is fairly selfish. Asking Isabella to give up her body to some creep that is trying to corrupt the very structure as to why you are in jail from the start just seems ridiculous to me. If I were you I would be asking her to simply start going around telling everybody you know what Angelo is doing. I feel like that is far less of a sin to tell someone Angelo is trying to just use you than to consider backing away from everything you believe in and have worked this hard for. And I do feel for Isabella because she has just been thrown into this lose-lose situation because a couple of guys can't seem to hold their horniness to themselves. And one just happened to be her brother so she HAD to care. I hate this situation because I know for a fact that if I were in Claudio's position I could never ask for my sister to do such a thing, and maybe just maybe I would have not had sex RIGHT before I was going to get married anyway, knowing that if I did that I would have gotten in trouble. Who do you guys think was in the right here? Who was in the wrong? Do you see an escape from this? Let me know what you think!

Am I supposed to cheer for this guy or...?

            So Faustus, Mr. High and Mighty, Mr. Hey You Get Off Of My Cloud. So far I am not the biggest fan of this novel to be honest. It is not that I cannot follow what is going on, it is the long speeches that are not dumbed down enough for ol' simpleton me that even re-reading, then re-reading again does not really help. I had the same problem with Shakespeare too, and I made it through that so I am giving it my best shot!

            One thing that I cannot get figured out in my own mind is whether or not I'm cheering for him or if I'm supposed to be like yelling into my book "No don't do it Faustus!!!" Maybe I will find out later? Either way this who Black Magic thing seems iffy to say the least. Me personally I would take a little more time to think when it comes to selling my soul for wealth and honor, however they define honor. Also in regards to that we found ourselves back to the greedy element that "wealth and honor" will bring someone like we read in the Canterbury Tales, which I found was interesting how we made another connection within this classroom. It was almost fun how they brought the two angels into this because I feel like we all do that kind of thinking to ourselves when we have to convince ourselves to do the more complicated thing.

I know Abby brought up Kronk in her post too, but I pictured it the exact same way! Too good to pass up.

I just found this story interesting that Magic was the sign of power, I thought that in this time magic would have been more feared than desired to grant one power. Clearly Faustus had his mind pretty much made up given how passionately he disagreed with the good angel.

What do you guys think? Because I am having a very rough time figuring out what to think of this guy. Is he simply greedy? Is he power mad? Will his beef with the Bible be his motive to act rashly? Me personally I cannot get my head around it if we are supposed to cheer this guy on or simply sit back and wait for an inevitable downfall because of his greed.  

Ah, "love".

So when reading this tale about the Knight who utterly *ucked up and was sentenced to death before a random act of pity upon his life kept him alive and inevitably got him a beautiful wife and a happy life, I realized that I cannot even accidentally say the incorrect answer in my math class without the judgment from everyone around me with the expectation to leave the room immediately in shame and disgrace to my entire family's blood line. BUT THIS GUY, gets it all after raping some random girl just because he was horny. But hey that's none of my business.

            Now that I have that rant out of the way, what I truly do not understand is how this tale can possibly end with the ending that because she was beautiful, that all of a sudden it is possible to live a long, blissful life in love with someone that you had to marry because all they did was do you a favor. Granted, that favor saved the Knight's life, but that is besides the point. Also, not to mention that he is setting himself up for a life of bossy wifedom given that he knows the answer to the question; women want to control their husbands!

We know she will be loyal and beautiful and whatever, but she is still some random woman with magic powers, how does this always seem to work out with love in literature?

"I don't wanna", "But I saved your life!"

                I'm not quite sure what I am trying to get through in this post other than my own complaints about how the "punishment" never fits the crime. As far as this tale goes in my own eyes there was nothing really to learn from it other than the other tales we have read, such as Beowulf. We learned much about consequences and other types of self meaning because what Beowulf did always had reasoning and a deeper purpose in what the reader was supposed to evaluate in their own terms. I have had several months since the last time I read this tale under Dr. MB's instruction, and I can now understand that this tale in my eyes had nothing for us to take from as far as a life lesson though, other than for a man it would simply be easier to let the woman take complete control of your life, because then they will love you. Why don't we just hand over the man-card now?? The Knight did.

Beowulf; Original Hero

When reading this tale of "Beowulf", I could not help but think about how we have our own vision(s) of superheroes, both men and women figures, and how they have almost literally came from the ideals of the great Beowulf. Of course there are flaws to Beowulf and his methods, for example his lack of consideration to long term consequences of his decisions, but we got to see those sides in him that we readers and fans alike, today can appreciate in any comic book or superhero movie. Me personally I follow to the heroes that struggle the most with their own personal issues, or the ones whom kick the most ass without breaking a sweat, whichever or whomever I route for I found myself saying "Whoa, Beowulf is like all of these people, he was the first! How cool is that?!". These connections I have made really got me into my childhood and think about who I idolized for different reasons. Take the time to ask yourselves if this happened to you while you read about Beowulf, and who that other role model might have been.


The first person that came to my mind from my childhood was the hero known as Batman. The man of a thousand talents with the deepest darkest side that sometimes he could not even comprehend, also has the innate ability to leap without looking, which in a monumental way helped him keep the people around him safe, but the affect on him was much more conflicting than what met the eye. Sound familiar? Batman had his own golden rule not to kill anyone, which was a great moral for anyone who believes in one true form of justice, but what about the long term consequences? For example, when his enemies were able to escape prison and committed those same horrible crimes again and again, much like the Joker had. Beowulf too had a rule of his own making, that no one should have to fight his battles putting themselves in danger to protect him, which in the end unfortunately got him killed. A long term consequence of that was he had no heir to the thrown before he met his end. Any superhero that we can think of has his or her conflicts between right and wrong, but in these scenarios it all comes down to their decisions to put themselves and the people around them at risk because of it. But hey, Batman can do it all.

Cocky bastard.

I really appreciated the original superhero mentality brought out in Beowulf, and the thought that this is what most of us, myself in particular, look for in a superhero made the whole controversial side to him so much more enjoyable. Getting to know the hero for who they are make it harder to judge, but just appreciate what happens throughout the tale. Does Beowulf do this for you guys too? Or am I just crazy?!?!?!?!?!?

"Yeah he's crazy it's okay just go with it"