Jane Eyre

Social class is an important theme that runs through Bronte's novel, Jane Eyre. Within the Victorian time period the social hierarchy determined where in society you moved about and also how others within society would treat you. Social standing was usually an unwavering state, but Jane blurred the lines when she accepted the governess position at Thornfield. The governess position in of itself was an awkward spot to be in and Jane being as smart and reserved as she was made the position even more uncomfortable. Jane was definitely everyone's intellectual equal, in some cases even their superior. However, her social standing kept her from flourishing and bogged her down instead. Jane had to dress appropriately and nicely because as a governess she was basically a part of the family, but she was at the same time not equal to the family. Being a governess seems to be an under appreciated position to hold. The only thing keeping governesses down is something they cannot help, because they were born into their social ranking.

Jane realizes the awkward tension that comes with being a governess, but realizes it even more so when she falls for Rochester. Her desires for him run deep but her social standing is in the way of her happiness. Jane seems to be the outlet for critique of Victorian social statuses for Charlotte Bronte within this novel. Jane becomes fed up with her situation and actually voices her concerns to Rochester, "Do you think, because I am poor, obscure, plain, and little, I am soulless and heartless? You think wrong!—I have as much soul as you—and full as much heart! And if God had gifted me with some beauty and much wealth, I should have made it as hard for you to leave me, as it is now for me to leave you"(132). Jane is saying that she is as much of a person as Rochester is and if she had been born into different circumstances and had maybe even been prettier, he would not be able to resist or leave her; he would understand how she felt at that moment, wanting someone so baldly but not being able to have them. Bronte does not stray from the social class structure and only allows Jane to marry Rochester once she inherits a great sum of money and becomes his social equal. I think that it is an important point to make that she does not stray from the social class structure just for the sake of writing an interesting story. It seems that even in her somewhat imagined world of Jane Eyre she feels restricted by social class and does not betray its strict guidelines.   

Paradise Lost Book 1

Some readers consider Lucifer to be the hero, or protagonist, of the story, because he struggles to overcome his own doubts and weaknesses and accomplishes his goal of corrupting humankind. This goal, however, is evil, and Adam and Eve are the moral heroes at the end of the story, as they help to begin humankind’s slow process of redemption and salvation. Lucifer is far cry away from being an object of admiration as most typical heroes are. It does not make sense for readers to emulate him. However, there is no denying that he is a compelling character.

                Lucifer is such a contrast to the pure and perfect characters of Adam and Eve, God the Father, and God the Son that it becomes a treat for us to read about an interesting and flawed character such as Lucifer. Milton deliberately makes Lucifer seem heroic and appealing early in the poem to draw us into sympathizing with him against our will, so that we may see how seductive evil really can be.

                In literature, when Lucifer is mentioned, he is imagined to be a very strong and powerful individual. He is thought to be an unforgiving fallen angel. This is partially due to Milton’s portrayal of him in Paradise Lost. In Book 1 Lucifer is indeed a strong and imposing figure who is also a great leader. Lucifer is also thought of as bitter about being cast down to Hell from Paradisio. He believes that he can overthrow God, which shows immense pride and confidence. This is another reason why he is viewed as being so powerful. He believes in himself so much that no one can doubt his abilities. Even though he shows great confidence in himself, he is selfish and cruel and is not to be admired

The Tempest

                                        There be some sports are painful, and their labour
                                        Delight in them sets off. Some kinds of baseness
                                        Are nobly undergone, and most poor matters
                                        Point to rich ends. This my mean task
                                        Would be as heavy to me as odious, but
                                        The mistress which I serve quickens what’s dead
                                        And makes my labours pleasures. (III.i.1-7)

     This passage is spoken by Ferdinand to MIranda. He is expressing to her how he is willing to perform the tasks that Prospero has set for him to do, for her sake. Within this passage, there is a balance of desire for balance expressed by Prospero's speech to Miranda. There are a series of antithesis's within the passage, for example: “sports . . . painful” is followed by “labour . . . delights”; “baseness” can be undergone “nobly”; “poor matters” lead to “rich ends." 

      Throughout The Tempest, the themes compromise and balance are important. It is exemplified within many relationships throughout the book. Alonso must seem to lose his son in order to be forgiven for his treachery; Ferdinand must suffer Prospero’s feigned wrath in order to truly receive and enjoy his love for Miranda; Ariel must serve Prospero in order to be set free.

Brave New World Revisited

         

         While reading Brave New World Revisited, I found some of Aldous Huxley’s ideas to be intriguing. There is no doubt that Huxley had an interesting viewpoint on the world. This passage particularly perturbed me, “Today, thanks to sanitation, modern pharmacology and the social conscience, most of the children born with hereditary defects reach maturity and multiply their kind”(Huxley 14). I think that this line comes off as slightly offensive when it describes the offspring of disabled people as "their kind"; it seems to have a negative connotation to it.  However, it was meant to be a negative statement because it is a direct link to overpopulation, which Huxley fears greatly.

           I think that Huxley brings up a good point, though. Before modern technology and medicine, people with severe medical problems could not be helped and simply passed away. It was very simple: the weak died and the strong lived. Today, we complicate this process by bringing modern medicine into the equation. Modern medicine has the ability to lengthen the lives of the disabled and even rehabilitate the dying. Now the strong are not the only ones who are allowed to prevail and prosper. The weak humans are given a chance now that they were not given in the past. Huxley realizes this and sees that it is one of the direct links to the overpopulation of the world. Huxley also finds that, “…along with a decline of average healthiness there may well go a decline in the average intelligence”(Huxley 15). He quotes a doctor who explains this idea further, “‘Under conditions that are both soft and unregulated,’ writes Dr. W. H. Sheldon, ‘our best stock tends to be outbred by stock that is inferior to it in every respect…’”(Huxley 15). It seems inhumane to refer to human beings as stock, as if we are animals or wooden crates, but when it comes down to statistics that is all each one of us are. Each one of us is just one statistic. Each one of us is just one of the billions of people on this rapidly growing Earth.

A Good Man Is Hard to Find

       Flannery O'Connor's piece, "A Good Man Is Hard to Find", was a seemingly normal story about a family vacation at first, but then it unexpectedly delves into the topic of religion and morals brought about by a convict self titled 'The Misfit'. In the story the two characters with strong moral beliefs, though they are opposite ones, are the grandmother and The Misfit. Their morals are not necessarily good, however. Their morals are just codes of conduct that they live by. The quick assumption that can be made is that the grandmother holds strong morals while the Misfit does not, only because she is an innocent old woman while The Misfit is a convict on the run. However, when analyzing further, it is shown that The MIsfit holds stronger and more steadfast morals than the grandmother. In an uncomfortable and extreme situation,which was being held captive by The Misfit, the gradmother's morals soften and she cannot even find it in herself to pray and ask Jesus to help her through her struggle. This is a contradiction to her previous boasts of devotion to the Lord earlier in the story. She also prides herslef in being a lady while at the same time she does not tell her family the truth about what startled her and what caused the accident; she did that out of pure pride. Her appearence is described extensively and reveals how much looking like a lady and looking nice matters to her, which is very vein of her. The grandmother has plainly commited two of the seven deadly sins. In contrast to the grandmother's loose morals, The Misfit lives his life by rules that he made up for himslef based on his past experiences. He beleives that the punishment never matches the crime that has been commited, so whatever crime is done does not matter because the punishment is sure to not be suitable. He also shows stronger morals by questioning religion instead of meekly accepting it as the grandmother does. The contrast between these two characters is unexpected and thought provoking.        

I've Got It Bad For Joe Scum

              Herman Mildew. The name Herman Mildew has never concerned me and never will. I have eyes for only one man with a bacterially associated surname, and his name is Joe Scum. However, I’ll extrapolate on his dreamy assets later, for now let’s discuss Mildew. His name definitely suited him. Mildew’s enthusiasm for toenail clippings is probably what really threw me once and for all. However, my disgust towards him has never provoked me so much as to want to kill the man. Besides, the night of his murder I was too busy with my previously planned activities. For every day of the week I have a different activity that specifically targets various aspects of my love interest: Joe Scum. I know what you’re thinking, and yes, my life is quite like a movie and is definitely more interesting than yours, be jealous. Anyway, it was a Wednesday, my favorite day of the week. On Wednesdays I wear pink. I do this in honor of my favorite film, which is also a widely known classic: Mean Girls. I like to pretend that I’m a cleaner, non-ginger version of Lindsey Lohan while Joe Scum is of course Aaron, her crush throughout the film.

                Anyway, while looking dashing in my pink outfit, I proceed to “bump into” Joe at his workplace. He works at the prestigious chain restaurant, Taco Bell. Even the name alone of Taco Bell screams classy. Honestly, they should add a side of earplugs to their menu. People might go deaf because of all the class being screamed at them. Then they would sue Taco Bell and the claim of going deaf from class would just look silly on paper, let’s be real now. As I put Joe into a trance with my hair twirling and head tilting he got so lost staring into my slightly lazy eye that he started blabbering some jibberish about not being interested in me. You know it’s working when they start talking nonsense. So by that time I knew I was in. I could barely contain myself so I proceeded to leap over the freshly bleached countertops and into Joe’s arms. Unfortunately for me, Joe was so dedicated to his work that he had to dash over to the drive-thru right as I was leaping towards him, oh that Joe. So I fell onto the floor, which unlike the counters was not freshly bleached. I passed out, but was awoken a few minutes later. Apparently the manager had stuck various cleaning products under my nose in order to wake me up. Thank goodness he did that; I wouldn’t have wanted to endanger my life in any way. I mean I could have wasted away on that dirty floor among dried bits of their seasoned beef, which is the equivalent of dog food, if he hadn’t forced chemicals up my nose, what a thoughtful and resourceful man.

                  After that incident was over and I was on my feet again, I was told that Joe had to leave while I was unconscious. I decided that I should probably just head home anyway and take a shower instead of further pursuing Joe into the night. So that’s what I did. Besides, I already knew I had him wrapped around my stubby finger. I’m irresistible.

 

 

Beowulf Rection Paper

          How did I feel about Beowulf? I don’t feel much towards it, to be honest. My most prominent memory of the book is the infinite number of names that started with the letter H. Keeping all of the characters straight was the most difficult part of reading Beowulf. Even though I found the names tedious at times, I did enjoy the action that surrounded Beowulf and that was encompassed in his adventures.

           The characters that I felt was most compelling would have to be Grendel and his mother. I found them to be a quirky and dark pair. I tend to favor the misunderstood characters in novels and feel some sympathy for them. I would definitely consider those two monsters of the swamp to be misunderstood. I thought it was interesting that Grendel’s mother, who seemed so inhuman, was motivated by very human feelings: grievances about her dead son, resentment towards his killer, and an attempt at revenge. She attempted to avenge her son’s death by defeating Beowulf herself, but failed.

            My favorite scene of the book was when Beowulf was trying to slay the dragon. It actually reminds me of a scene from the Harry Potter series in the second book, The Chamber of Secrets, where Harry is stabbed by one of the Basilisk’s poisonous fangs, becomes weak, and nearly dies from the wound. The same scenario plays out in Beowulf except Beowulf ends up dying from the blow of the dragon’s fatal bite. While in The Chamber of Secrets, Harry is cured by Dumbledore’s phoenix’s healing tears. If only Wiglaf had the ability to produce tears with healing powers, then the comparison would have been close to flawless. However, Wiglaf is nothing but another noble young man with an unfortunate name; one of the many that continuously pops up in Beowulf.