"I'm like my father. The bastard son of a bastard!"
(Tom, The Glass Menagerie, pg. 1269)
Oh my says it all. I am extremely shocked right now because I thought Tom was this upstanding citizen who, no matter what, would stand by his family. Wrongo! Can I blame him? Not entirely. I'm sure his life is very stressful, being the sole provider of the family and forced to live in such rough conditions. That being said, people should almost never leave their families in the dust. Can you say rude? Because I can definately type it. Rude. I haven't finished the play yet, but when I do, I (and Tom) had better hope that he doesn't ditch his family for some unattainable dream. After all, I have pepper spray.
Monday, February 27, 2012
This ain't normal.
"Will you? Will you? Will you? Will you, dear?"
(Amanda, The Glass Menagerie, pg. 1254)
Granted, I had been warned. Mr. Costello had implied it and the character descriptions stated it, but I wasn't sure to what extent. Amanda is weird. Tom is the only mentally sane person in the apartment. The mother-son relationship seems not only very strained, but also very intricate. They love each other, and Tom does so much to keep the family going. However, Amanda still wants to be the authoritative figure and the head hauncho. She seems to have a very bad idea of what all Tom does. Laura si just strange. Who the heck skips school everyday for a semester just to walk outside. She needs to cow boy up. HALT! Amanda gets so much out of Tom and nothing out of Laura, but it's for Laura who Amanda schemes and worries. That's just ungrateful. Tom would like a little parental concern shown for him sometime, I bet!
(Amanda, The Glass Menagerie, pg. 1254)
Granted, I had been warned. Mr. Costello had implied it and the character descriptions stated it, but I wasn't sure to what extent. Amanda is weird. Tom is the only mentally sane person in the apartment. The mother-son relationship seems not only very strained, but also very intricate. They love each other, and Tom does so much to keep the family going. However, Amanda still wants to be the authoritative figure and the head hauncho. She seems to have a very bad idea of what all Tom does. Laura si just strange. Who the heck skips school everyday for a semester just to walk outside. She needs to cow boy up. HALT! Amanda gets so much out of Tom and nothing out of Laura, but it's for Laura who Amanda schemes and worries. That's just ungrateful. Tom would like a little parental concern shown for him sometime, I bet!
ENOUGH OF THE STAGE DIRECTIONS!!!
"she is like a piece of translucent glass touched by light, given a momentary radiance, not actual, not lasting."
(The Glass Menagerie, pg. 1263)
Wow. The very thought that someone might think this is as well-written as Shakespeare makes my blood curdle. If I was watching this as a play, how in the name of Sam Hill would I be able to tell that Laura's beauty is so fragile?? The author relies soo much on the stage directions! If this was a novel or short story, it'd be a different story. However, the script for this play is HORRID by itself. Shakespeare is able to convey every human emotion in the book through the lines of his characters, not his own foot notes. I just find it pathetic that people can get away with being compared to great authors even when they don't even follow the rules. PATHETIC.
(The Glass Menagerie, pg. 1263)
Wow. The very thought that someone might think this is as well-written as Shakespeare makes my blood curdle. If I was watching this as a play, how in the name of Sam Hill would I be able to tell that Laura's beauty is so fragile?? The author relies soo much on the stage directions! If this was a novel or short story, it'd be a different story. However, the script for this play is HORRID by itself. Shakespeare is able to convey every human emotion in the book through the lines of his characters, not his own foot notes. I just find it pathetic that people can get away with being compared to great authors even when they don't even follow the rules. PATHETIC.
Thursday, February 16, 2012
"And I have been all this day to avoid him. He is too disputable for my company: I think of as many matters as he; but I give heaven thanks, and make no boast of them." (Jaques, II vii 26)
You know who I really like? Jaques. I think he's painted in a bad light because he's so morose, but I think he has some very good reasons to be so! If I were stuck in a forest with a bunch of old men that loved to talk, I'd get peeved easily too! I'm sure Duke Senior is a real charmer, but I would HATE to have to listen to him talk about things that he thinks he's right about. It seems like Duke Senior likes to provoke Jaques when he's in pain, and if there's one thing that irritates me, it's people trying to fake sympathy for me when I'm sad. (Cough cough... summer field studies evening reflection... someone making a scene when my brother was talking... cough cough). It reallllly annoys me. I feel like Jaques and I would get along great! Oh, I also forgot how he talks to Orlando about scrawling his love letters everywhere. It's how I feel about PDA's. Yes, we know you;re dating. Yes, you make US feel awkward. NO, you don't look like the couple from the Notebook. Kids these days!
You know who I really like? Jaques. I think he's painted in a bad light because he's so morose, but I think he has some very good reasons to be so! If I were stuck in a forest with a bunch of old men that loved to talk, I'd get peeved easily too! I'm sure Duke Senior is a real charmer, but I would HATE to have to listen to him talk about things that he thinks he's right about. It seems like Duke Senior likes to provoke Jaques when he's in pain, and if there's one thing that irritates me, it's people trying to fake sympathy for me when I'm sad. (Cough cough... summer field studies evening reflection... someone making a scene when my brother was talking... cough cough). It reallllly annoys me. I feel like Jaques and I would get along great! Oh, I also forgot how he talks to Orlando about scrawling his love letters everywhere. It's how I feel about PDA's. Yes, we know you;re dating. Yes, you make US feel awkward. NO, you don't look like the couple from the Notebook. Kids these days!
That's the way... I like it!
"Beauty provoketh thieves sooner than gold."
I iii 15
My lanyard is a little bizarre. On it I have a pink floral wallet, one key, a rape whistle, and a hot-pink container of pepper spray. I'm very cautious. That's why this quote is on of my favorite in the entire play. I know paranoia isn't a theme that Shakespeare's trying to get across, but I really like knowing how timeless my personal fear of kidnapping is. There are creepy people in the world, and even in the happy forest of Arden, you've got to be on your toes! This blog entry has gotten a little off-track. My apologies. While I wouldn't go to the extreme of cross-dressing at gas stations, I can sympathize with Rosalind's preventative methods.
I iii 15
My lanyard is a little bizarre. On it I have a pink floral wallet, one key, a rape whistle, and a hot-pink container of pepper spray. I'm very cautious. That's why this quote is on of my favorite in the entire play. I know paranoia isn't a theme that Shakespeare's trying to get across, but I really like knowing how timeless my personal fear of kidnapping is. There are creepy people in the world, and even in the happy forest of Arden, you've got to be on your toes! This blog entry has gotten a little off-track. My apologies. While I wouldn't go to the extreme of cross-dressing at gas stations, I can sympathize with Rosalind's preventative methods.
I'm a barbie girl! In a Shakespeare world!
"And be not proud: though all the world could see,
None could be so abused in sight as he." III v 52-53
Wow. Tell her how you really feel, Ros! This is another of my favorite quotes because no one talks like this, but everyone thinks like it. That's something that I totally envy about the people in this play; whether it's Duke Senior pulling monologues out of thin air, or Rosalind having really great comebacks, everyone in this play is really good at expressing themselves. I can't even get an intelligent phrase out, but everyone in this play wings it and sound fluid. I wish someone would just have a really awkward moment where they look like a complete idiot because they can't talk. But then again, everyone is perfect and happy, so I'll just have to keep dreaming!
None could be so abused in sight as he." III v 52-53
Wow. Tell her how you really feel, Ros! This is another of my favorite quotes because no one talks like this, but everyone thinks like it. That's something that I totally envy about the people in this play; whether it's Duke Senior pulling monologues out of thin air, or Rosalind having really great comebacks, everyone in this play is really good at expressing themselves. I can't even get an intelligent phrase out, but everyone in this play wings it and sound fluid. I wish someone would just have a really awkward moment where they look like a complete idiot because they can't talk. But then again, everyone is perfect and happy, so I'll just have to keep dreaming!
Monday, February 13, 2012
Any paper mentioning Walt Kowalski deserves an A.
Laura Hollowell, Period 1, February 13, 2012, Reflective
Essay
Often
in today’s world, things are praised that deserve little. Drugs, violence and
pre-marital sex are often portrayed as desirable activities, while dishonesty
and lies are seen as normal. To stand up to such evil is what all are called to
do, yet few respond. There are those, however, that stare down the face of evil
and triumph for good. Emilia, Walt Kowalski and Chen Guangcheng all register
victories for justice by standing up for what they believe in.
During
the first four acts of Othello,
Emilia is seen as a common character; she is married to the villain but does
little to stand out to the audience. However, she heightens the climax by
revealing the lies and deceptions her husband has created. “Good gentlemen, let
me have leave to speak: 'Tis proper I obey him, but not now. Perchance, Iago, I
will ne'er go home” (Emilia, Othello,
V, ii, 195-197). In a time when women were to be seen and not heard, Emilia
spoke out for those who could not, eventually loosing her life. She embodies Othello’s theme of speaking up for
one’s convictions because did just that.
There
is another character that embodies Othello’s
theme of standing up for what is right. Walt Kowalski, played by Clint Eastwood
in Gran Torino, is not the typical
hero; he is violent, racist, and judgmental. However, when a gang permanently
ruins the lives of the people he loves, he offers up himself completely, taking
the wrath of evil to save those around him. He has the courage to tell the gang
what they do not want to hear, but more importantly, he has the bravery to take
their retaliation. His character mirrors Emilia’s in the sense that he does
what is right without counting the cost.
While
Walt Kowalski was not a typical hero, the final man truly highlights the
universality of the theme: Chen Guangcheng. Living in China under the “one-child” policy, Chen has
worked as a lawyer, exposing over 130,000 forced abortions and sterylizations
in his community of Linyi, China. He was sentenced by the
Chinese government to four and a half years of prison, but upon release was
placed under house arrest. He is beaten frequently, but managed to send out a
video detailing his imprisonment. By standing up to authority and exposing
other’s lies, Chen is much like Emilia; they both believe in defending the
silent and standing up for truth.
Emilia
presents Othello’s theme of standing
up with courage to defend what is right. Walt Kowalski and Chen Guangcheng are
proof of that theme’s timelessness and universality. Today, even hundreds of
years after it was written, Othello
speaks of what all humans yearn for: courage and love. While there are many
other themes in the play that are applicable to life today, this is the most important
and universal.
Works Cited
"Chen Guangcheng: Amnesty
Urgent Action." The Guardian. Guardian News and Media Limited, 12 Nov. 2011. Web. 13 Feb.
2012. <http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/nov/13/amnesty-urgent-action-chen- guangcheng>.
Gran Torino. Dir. Clint
Eastwood. Perf. Clint Eastwood and Bee Vang. Warner Brothers, 2008. Film.
Perrine,
Laurence. “Othello”. Perrine’s Literature: Structure,
Sound, and Sense. Fort Worth. Harcourt College. 2002, 1 361-462. Print.
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