Random collection of English notes

From KstructIB

Chronicle of a Death Foretold Breakdown of chapters:

1. Santiago Nasar- description
   Morning of the death and after-wedding celebrations
2. Background to wedding of San Roman and Vicario
3. Brothers in jail
   Reconstruction of pre-killing events
4. Aftermath of killing
   People’s various stories of events (over time)
5. Build up to killing
   The killing itself

The presentation of events in this way is effective and adds to the efforts of the direct story in engaging the reader’s attention. For a plot such as this, a mere collection of episodes and viewpoints adding to a whole event- the confusion of chronology and lack of extreme straightforwardness creates interest, and a vision of piecing together all aspects bit by bit.

Magic realism A combination of the real and the fantastic, imaginary, using image to describe things. The quasi-realistic; fictional prose which is characterised by realistic and fantastic elements. Realistic details and knowledge intertwined with image, also tangled plots and time interrupted and shifted. Fairytales, myths and superstitions etc are often incorporated into the plot (e.g. the old man in chronicle didn’t want to sell his house because he thought his dead wife lived there; Pg 36/37 “tears bubbling in widower Xeus’s heart). The technique is common of Latin American writers, especially Marquez.

Magical Realism in Chronicle:

• Plot in no chronological order
• “Tears bubbling in his heart” Pg 36/37
• Superstition about combing hair Pg 31
• Symbolism about tress in dream (superstition) Pg 99
• Negative imagery “Lagoon of lost causes” Pg 100
• “Burning with fever of literature, margins written with blood” Pg 100
• “The town was an open wound” Pg 99
• Tangled plot and dramatic time changes; very visible

Culture in Chronicle:

• Heavily Catholic
• Male dominant society; women inferior
• Set in the 1950s
• Family is very important; no divorce, marriage very important Pg 34 (Widower Xeus illustrates this)
• Women needed to be virgins at marriage Pg 30
• Tensions between S. Americans and Arabs
• Santiago was killed for pride as well as religion Pg 49
• Lots of contradictions within ideas; girl beaten for not being a virgin when her brother comes home from a brothel; double standard
• Superstitions (see overleaf)
• Women stick together; they tell Angela they’ll teach her ways to cover up her lost virginity

Detective Story likeness in Chronicle

• Getting close to the killing, the time differences get shorter and shorter to build up suspense
• Pg 61, brief overview of characters, like Colombo etc, characters are shallow, represented by their statements. Only 3 main characters
• Chronological order is messed up, many flashbacks- piecing together of a puzzle
• 1st person narration throughout, narrator himself is like a detective, exploring ideas, comments etc
• Vocabulary of vagueness and doubt- Pg 52 “Sometime later”

        Pg 49 “Seemed to be” 

Pg 49 “Wasn’t certain”

Unlike detective story:

• Pg 19 “How and why”- unanswered questions
• Book is more of a hypothesis rather than being an accurate, thorough investigation

Mrs Dalloway

Book Style-

• Shifting, fluid narration
• Metaphorical
• No story division, flows of perception and events
• Picking up observations, reflecting how we see life; thought and flashes of memories, inspiration
• No story as such, just being in people’s heads
• Syntax and rhythm are at times more like poetry than prose; e.g. with the Busker on the street being described with much beauty Pg 88
• Much prolepsis and analepsis

Modernism- Trying to present reality as it is. Like Brecht, things are forced into your attention and your need to constantly question and think. This period came between the 2 World Wars; there was lots of upheaval. There was a chance to break out of the literary boundaries that existed at the time.

Characteristics of Modernism as seen in Kew gardens; Virginia Woolf:

• Non linear structure- ‘anti-realism’; reflecting reality
• Discourse above story- scenes are presented rather than narrated
• Narrator: no authorial presence? Omniscient? (3rd person)
• Much detailed, intricate description
• Sensory images- nature
• Free indirect speech : narrator (person who speaks)

    Focalisation (person who sees)

Examples of the way in which language is given priority over the story: Pgs 7, 15, 17, `9, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 33, 43. There is much poetic language, and the senses are focused on.

Pgs 18-20 (At the flower shop) Septimus ‘interrupts’ the story, and his point of view is brought into the story. The narration completely changes. But Mrs Dalloway is still mentioned, there is a kind of ‘blending’. Septimus’s thoughts come through. The narration jumps around. The whole scene is presented from different viewpoints. It is made clear that Septimus and Rezia’s relationship is ‘on edge’.

Pgs 45-47 (Pete and Clarissa meet) Repetition of the word ‘delicious’ Pg 47; he’s satisfied, it assaults his senses to hear her say that. We are taken straight from the dialogue to their heads; it goes back and forth from their thoughts as well as their dialogue.

Prometheus

The story of Prometheus (foresight) Prometheus belonged to the Titans. When Zeus vanquished and took over on Mount Olympus, they were left with the human race in a state of ignorance. Prometheus liked them, and wanted to give them fire. Zeus forbade this, but Prometheus gave them fire; in other words, Knowledge. Zeus was very upset and sent to Epihenthius, Prometheus’s brother, a woman called Pandora Prometheus warned his brother to accept no gifts from the Gods, but Zeus made her beautiful and gave her a box containing all of the diseases in the world inside of it. She gave it to him and all of the diseases came out, except ‘hope’, which remained in the box. Zeus also punished Prometheus by condemning him to an eternity with him tied by a chain and having his guts torn out by an eagle. According to Aeschylus, the first of the Greek playwrights, Prometheus had knowledge (because he had the power of foresight) of the fact that if Zeus married a certain Goddess, their son would cause his destruction, but wouldn’t tell him who. So Zeus sent Hercules, half man, half God, to free Prometheus from his punishment in return for the knowledge of the disastrous union.

Notes:

• Indecision exists in Gods
• Adam and Eve: apple of knowledge; good and bad
• Knowledge is a catalyst; it can lead to both development and destruction, which are both aspects of humanity.
• In his Prometheus, Harisson seems to want to take us back to our roots and link that t where we are today; to counteract the threat of technology
• Greek Drama, plays evicted where telling tales of things that have already past; giving redemption. This illustrates that time changes, and it allows for a re-assessment on the nature of suffering
• The myth of Prometheus was seen as hope, but then became an actual tool for the working classes to improve their station.
• Flames represent creativity and power as well as knowledge
• Text born out of pro-Prometheus Greek tragedy- Iskalis and Shelly (Romantic poet who wrote ‘Prometheus unbound’ in which there is a negative use of the gift of knowledge and creativity, but man eventually comes to a state of harmony based on knowledge through the power of love)
• The text is built on a series of oxymorons (in form as well, as the dialogue s colloquial and yet is in metre and rhymes, illustrating that humans have the creativity but don’t use it.)
• The camera is telling the story, it is the narrator
• Man has created his being through his ignorance
• Right and wrong are created by rules, if their was nothing forbidden etc, then they would not exist (Blake).

• There is a consciousness of mortality and one’s self
• Many contradictions
• Many tensions
• A mirroring of good and bad
• Issues focus on freedom and the lack of (pre)determination; a fundamental statement of ourselves.
• Opening scene: ugliness, devastation, imposing, dominating, evil, pity, sadness, shock, cooling tower almost personified character.

How is the story told and the message conveyed: Pgs 62-66 Pg 62- speech illustrates how we are destroying ourselves anyway with diseases such as cancer and asthma which are caused by pollution, industry etc. We are abusing our own gift of knowledge. Pg 63- ‘Promethean Shrines’ are the chemical and steel works, which are both creative and destructive. Pg 64- Change of scene colour evokes a strong image of the communist era

 The raising o their fists is like following a dictator, going into war etc. 

Pg 65- Hermes is reinforcing the idea that man will cause his own destruction Pg 66- Significance of the eagle- Went to get Prometheus’s liver

    Related to death, war and destruction 

And yet, despite all of this, stands as a moment for the Hungarian people.

(Pg 50 A lot of narration is done by the camera and juxtapositioning is used.)

Post-modernism Prometheus is a post-modernist text as the reader is forced to de-construct what is being said; the camera shows us one image and we are supposed to find the one not shown. Post-modernism takes reality as it is experienced, but also draws on what is not shown. What is ‘beyond’ reality. Post-modernism puts a lot of the burden of understanding on the reader and presents images, and a style which requires that the reader sees what is not in the image.

The Rime of The Ancyent Marinere

Summary of the poem: Section One: The voyage commences AM shoots the albatross Section Two: They sail into the silent sea, where the ship stops

  AM has the albatross “hung around his neck” 

Section Three: The ghost ship arrives with its crew onboard

  AM’s crew drop down dead 

Section Four: AM is feeling the curse of the dead man

  He unconsciously blesses sea-snakes; is freed from curse 

Section Five: AM feels free/storm brews and it rains

  Crew are inspirited and ship moves without wind 
  (moved by the Spirit of Land of Mist and Snow) 
  AM lies in trance and hears 2 spirits talk about penance 

Section Six: 2nd spirit says ship will slow down when AM awakes

  Crew are re-born, die and return- he still feels their curse 
  AM reaches home

Religion in the Ancient Marinere: God/religion enforce a sense of convention, security and order, whereas the spirit world create a sense of chaos, a lack of security and disorder.

Structure, form, rhyme and rhythm:

• In Pgs 3 and 5, the rhyme scheme is abcb
• Rhythm is 4, 3,4, 3 (iambic tetrametre/triametre)
• These shorter stanzas allow the story to be easy to follow/the poem is regular and patterned, all this focuses the concentration on the narrative
• Pg 3, 2nd stanza “And Ice… Emerald” the enjambement here causes more emphasis on the narrative

Language, vocabulary choice and style Pg 3-

• ‘Storm’, ‘wind’, ‘strong’- builds up elements of violence
• ‘Crack’d’ ‘Groul’d’ – scary, cold atmosphere
• ‘Albatross’, ‘Christian Soul’, ‘God’s name’- positive words, create hope
• The environment which surrounds them, the weather, the ice etc, are menacing, totally contrasting to what’s happening on the boat
• Personification- ‘Storm’, ‘Wind’, ‘Mist’, ‘Snow’ all begin with capitals- giving these elements importance, power, majesty.

Pg 5-

• Hard, harsh sounds; ‘furrow’, ‘follow’d’ etc

Poetic language Techniques- alliteration, assonance, repetition

• Repetition of ‘Listen Stranger’, emphasising importance of tale
• Repetition of ‘Ice and Snow’, emphasising the weather.
• Internal rhymes drum and emphasise the same sounds and the point being made
• Onomatopeia- ‘Crack’d’, ‘Groul’d’ etc, makes the image stronger visually
• Harsh sounds on Pg 5 and soft sounds on Pg 3 emphasise the contrasting atmospheres

Imagery Pg 3-

• There is a constant presence of ice
• There is a transition between the melting of ice to water in Pg 5, where water is everywhere
• ‘Like Chaff’-similie emphasises how small and insignificant they are

-“Copper Sky” and “Bloody Sun”- both metaphors, with the copper in ‘Copper Sky’ indicating harshness, sharpness, heat (due to it’s being a metal), and the bloody in ‘Bloody Sun’ creating a sense of danger and being menacing

• The term ‘Painted Ship’-indicates a sense of motionlessness and un-reality

Pg 5-

• The ocean is described at the end of each stanza in different ways
• There exists an imagery of height- ‘Cliffs’, ‘Flew’ etc, and this emphasises how tiny they are amidst this vast landscape

Notes on Beloved

The issues dealt with:

Time- Their memories are unbearable and unspeakable; it is only Beloved who allows them to move in from their past, she allows them to reunite with their present and future.

History- Shapes who you are, always ‘popping up’ ‘Stream-of-consciousness’ novel The past creates the present, they intertwine. Both Blacks and Whites are victims of their history.

Family relations- Sethe would rather kill her children than have them die (love). Nothing stands in the way of Sethe’s motherhood. Beloved always wants more, manipulates Sethe to keep her to herself.

Supernatural Issues- Beloved transcends the restriction of time, evoking the supernatural as both a figurative and actual means to reunion with the past.

Black culture- Water is seen as a life force, a form of purification and cleansing, and freedom (associated with the Mississippi River)- this is where Beloved came from. Book told through circular narrative; ‘rememories’ and oral history.

Race- The only way to survive the white man’s world is to be cut off from it. They are haunted, both physically and spiritually, by the legacies that slavery has bequeathed to them. The freedom that Sethe has gives her the power to kill her child out of love.

The growth process- Beloved starts as a baby, but goes through the growth process. This growth process mirrors the situation of the black people.

Baby: Total dependence Infant: Demanding, blind, utter love Child: Imitating Teenager: Rebellious Youth: Independence, contempt, anger

Various Notes:

• The freedom that Sethe has gives her the power to kill her child out of love.

• Paul D’s tobacco tin is a metaphor for his past; it breaks open when Beloved seduces him- he can’t keep his past locked up. Beloved forces him to address it, re-live it.

• The ways Baby Suggs dies in bed thinking of colours is a form of escape. She can choose at last, even if it is only the colours she wants to think about. Also, she looks at what the Black/White problem is- she is reinventing the system of colour.

• Beloved seduces Paul D because she is jealous of her mother, and also wants Paul D and her mum to break up so that her mother will be all hers.

• The book is about how the past creates the present. We are all victims of our history, black and white.

• Water is ever-present. Denver is born in water. Beloved always needs water, comes out of the water, goes back to the water.

• The ways in which the book is written carries the meaning just as much as what is said; “What you were is what you are”.

• What Paul D likes about Sethe is that she sees past his neck brace etc, he does not feel like an animal and reduced in her presence.

• The Garner slaves were all given the same name; Paul D, Paul A etc, like animals. They have no real identity.

• Morrison is saying “This is how it is for you, this is how you feel it, this is why you feel it, this is then human nature. It exists in the most basic human relationships (e.g. mother-child). This is mankind”

• The writing appeals to all; it is universal

• The purpose of this book is for the Black audience to see it, know it, understand it, change it.

• In her writing, she redefines by leaving the definitions open and fluid. Everybody can be seen to be something else (e.g. mother/daughter).

• How good are the Garners really? Halle had to work for 5 years to free Suggs. Mrs Garner, too, wouldn’t let Sethe have a wedding.

• Slaves know nothing else but to collude with the system- as Beloved adores Sethe despite being killed by her (children enslaved by parents).

• The tree on Sethe’s back symbolizes life, growth, Christ (crucification, he hung on a tree), roots. There is a string image of Sethe walking around with a cross on her back; Martyrdom. Like Christ, she sacrificed her motherhood out of love for Beloved.

Page Notes

• Pg 4/5. Shift from narrator’s to Sethe’s account of what happened. We are taken into her head, her ‘rememories’

• Pgs 5/6. In this book, the present and past intertwine; they are one. They continue to collide.

• Pg 9. Paul D is reunited with his past, he sees and remembers Sethe when she told him she was leaving all those years ago.

• Pg 11. We learn that Halle worked on his day off for 5 years to free his mother.

• Pg 12. Sethe is so broken by her experiences that these things don’t give rise to ‘normal’ emotions and reactions, because she has seen it all before. She is dead in the soul. She is on the edge of insanity, or is she? For her state of mind would be defined as insane by us, but not by one who can understand her.

• Pg 75. Beloved is both dead and about to be born. An allusion is made to the bridge. Beloved represents the bridge between black and white and the bridge between life and death, bridge between the past and the future.

• Pg 93. Expresses intensely and gloriously Sethe’s love for her children and especially Beloved. Key emblem- gives Beloved her milk (Sethe kept traveling in pain just to bring Beloved her milk.) Morrison addresses the issue of blacks having no capacity for emotion.

• Pg 125. Paul D believing that they’re men. (definition of manhood belongs to this definition).

• Pg 190. (Underlined quote) We all create our own reality

Notes on Reification essay

Morrison renders whiteness as it is in the American psychology.

There are two elements to consider; both reification and vilification.

Morrison lets history speak for itself- but HOW?- she produces a black symbol (i.e. Beloved): she is a baby, grows through the text, and, as she progresses, she follows the growth process psychologically (& relationship with mother)

Reification- giving substance to a concept of whiteness, giving it its rightful place in the culture in which it is an issue.

Looking at it and its effect on culture.

Coming to an understanding.

All white people in the book are distanced from the foreground: we see what they did through a complex narrative; it’s difficult to be there.

All we know if suckling is its effect on Sethe, we don’t know how they felt about it, for instance. All we really see is the murder of Beloved, the only time we get inside a white person’s head (nephew): shocked.

We have to understand the reason for killing; that’s why the white people are there.

Whites are a part of history, and are seen as such.

Discuss the book’s style

The characters are interchangeable, not black or white. Human psychology (see Beloved and Sethe)

It isn’t that whites’ reaction is exclusively white- it’s human nature. The white descendants are not cruel but still affected by it, can afford a reaction of guilt (Sethe reflects that).

Sethe and the whites are both guilty of a hideous act, both need to explain it, both believed in the justice of this act.

Sethe and Beloved reflect black/white in initial reaction and the process of changing attitudes.

Beloved is not rational, just a metaphor. Novel works as a metaphor, though style is highly real.

Pg 251: Denver realizes the explanation for the incident.

Whites now are also victims

Sethe’s killing- her one act of power (same as whites); she couldn’t kill her other children.

Explore how Morrison does NOT vilify

Oral Presentations

Page 35 ”I was talking about time ….. no matter what.”

-Time is not very important- memories keep things alive

• Sethe lives in the past
• What Sethe is saying is that slavery was there, and will always be there, as it creates the present. You can see the past in other people’s memories, as they have

been through that which you have been through. Rememories come without notice, and it is important to acknowledge them, but not to go back there- Sethe needs to move on.

Pg 125 ”He thought what… 124- shame.”

• ‘Watchdogs without teeth’ describes animals who have stopped serving a purpose.
• Rag Doll symbolizes weakness, no emotion, no life.
• “Shame”- it is not only Paul D who feels this, but the entire Black community.
• He’s looking at what makes a man, what a man really is.
• He is defining his manhood against his own ability to be a man. He is now having to interact, and put his self-defined manhood against womanhood.

Pg 78, ”Denver was seeing it … tenderhearted mouth”

• Beloved wants to know all about Sethe; her trials and tribulations, she’s not interested in Denver.
• The interaction of the 2 people helps Denver what it was like- they feed of each other.
• Culture. The quilt represents the culture as a whole- quilt is very American.
• The quilt itself has been there through Sethe’s existence, and Beloved can feel it, she feels the hands that sewed it.
• A lot of description, vivid pictures in the passage, like African culture.
• “Recklessness”; it’s dangerous to talk to white people, but Sethe is allowed to due to her desperation
• Oral storytelling: Black culture.
• Amy too was a slave, a white slave.

Pg 21 ”Sethe lay …. Giving him advice”

• Reality hits Paul D after desperation leaves him and he sees the ugliness of Sethe’s tree.
• The tree on her back is a horrible thing, but can symbolise and bring back happy memories from Sweet Home.

“Indigo with a flame-red tongue”- vivid, passionate memory.

• We see that the 2-sidedness of the tree also shows the 2-sidedness of Sweet Home in that it was also a place where happy memories were. Beloved is also 2-sided, allowing them to forget their past but also causing grief to Sethe.
• Paul D has been waiting for Sethe for decades; the anticlimax after they sleep with each other. She reminds him of Sweet Home because she is Sweet Home.
• It isn’t important how things happened, but how we remember them, and why we remember them as they were.

Pg 61 ”I never found out….. small girl Sethe’

• She’s remembering her mother; Beloved is asking her questions
• Shifting time always apparent
• We learn that ‘Nan’ became her new mother, and was also a mother to many others.
• We learn that the crew on the ship had slept with Sethe’s mother but that she had thrown away all of their babies. The only one she kept was Sethe, and named her after he father. The babies from the white men had no names and therefore no identity, no significance in her mother’s eyes. By naming Sethe, she was given importance. She knows her mother loved her, especially since she was given her father’s name. Beloved’s name changed after she was buried, and this, in fact, changes who she is. It was motherhood which gave Sethe the power to name, to define.
• Sethe’s mother exercised her hate, Sethe exercises her love.
• Beloved’s new name holds a lot more meaning. It refers to many more situations. ‘Beloved’ will be eternally loved, as she is someone, just like Sethe is someone. With so little to claim as their own, an identity was an extremely important thing to people like Sethe who had to work as slaves. You could distinguish who really cared about you by what they called you- as if they called you by your name that meant that they acknowledged the fact that you were someone. Sethe’s mother gave her that identity, gave her that importance.
• By remembering Nan’s name, we are shown her importance, she remembers the mother figure that Nan was to her.
• Just like naming Denver after Amy’s going to Denver, and how Beloved’s name ends up ‘Aime’- names link emotions to people, give them a history, an importance.
• Sethe’s mother defines Sethe; she is giving value to the colour Black by naming this child of two black people.

Othello Notes

Iago- - creates a stereotypical image of blacks

• manipulates, racism played on, black magic (handkerchief represents superstition)
• is evil, has every evil characteristic

Othello- - lack of self-trust

• blackness irrelevant?
• Officer
• does not question

Desdemona- - bimbo, gullible, naïve

Relationships in Othello

Othello & Desdemona = Passionate love Iago & Emilia = Indifference, lust Cassio & Bianca = Passionate lust Desdemona & Brabantio = Dutiful Rodrigo & Desdmona = Idolatory, unrequited Iago & Desdemona = lust Cassio & Desdemona = resepectful courtesy

Othello has a genuine, powerful, sincere, rich emotion (i.e. love) for Desdemona unlike the emotions everyone else has.

Jealousy/Envy in Othello

Othello = jealousy of Cassio born out of love Iago = jealous of Othello because of his position, because he has Desdemona, and because of the rumour of his sexual relations with Emilia. Jealous of Cassio because of his promotion and breeding. Bianca = jealous of Cassio’s adultery because of possessiveness and hurt pride. Rodrigo = jealous of Othello and Cassio because of Desdemona

Othello has the most ‘noble’ reason for jealousy

Naivety/Gullibility in Othello

Othello = excessive trust / cultural outsider Desdemona = Protected and young; sheltered life Rodrigo = stupidity Cassio = desperate Emilia = Dutiful

Othello’s is the most ‘noble’ form of naivety. Violence/Evil in Othello

Othello = Murder, slapping Desdemona – passionate Iago = Deceit, manipulation, theft (takes Rodrigo’s money), murder – pure evil Cassio = Brawling Rodrigo = Attempted murder- putrid jealousy, idolatry War background = justified murder- dehumanization: Human nature

Various Notes

• Tragedy is an examination of human nature
• Characters like Sophocles’ Antigone and Othello are metaphors for ourselves.
• In the main, Iago speaks in prose, Othello in poetry (he sees in images)
• Othello has all good noble qualities, but is discriminated against because he is Black.
• By the end of the book, the reader foes colour-blind. You feel bad because true love has been lost. It doesn’t matter about colour.
• Over the play, Oth goes from noble to a brute. He becomes the image which the audience was used to Blacks being perceived as. But he has been made to behave like that by a white person. Shakespear is saying that it is white people who make the unique image of Blacks.

Notes on Act 2, scene 1

Des is written about as the ‘courtly love’ female. She is an idealised version of woman. Oth projects onto Des the persona he sees her s- that’s not what she is really like. She can never live up to his expectations of her- this is why in the death scene she pleads for her life. She isn’t seen as Madonna or whore- just as a young woman.

Oral Presentations

Act 2, Scene 1, 184- 211

“How does this scene contrast with the last one?”

• The ways in which Iago and Othello view women are different.
• Othello compares Desdemona to the elements, gives her importance, shows the reader how highly she is viewed in his eyes.
• He tells us that he has never been so happy.
• Iago, on the other hand, puts women down. He does not praise Emilia but says that she complains about trivial matters
• Othello talks about all of the joy that Desdemona brings to his life. The atmosphere here is much happier, full of love. Othello worships Desdemona. Iago has never experienced such an emotion.
• Othello’s view of Desdemona is very idealized, she to him is a goddess.
• Lines 183- 187; Othello slips into strong metaphoric images which relate to his environment, his world. He has spent his life dodging the trials and tribulations which he describes- Iago never brings in such imagery although both have soldier’s experience.
• “May the winds blow ‘til they have waken’d death” powerful images, giving strength to small things.
• Reference to heaven- relates to Desdemona
• “If I were now to die”- ironic, emphasizes calm by the use of caesura
• The whole speech is mimetic of what happens in the play, after all the storm, they find peace in death.
• Lines 195 +; Syntax is full of emotion, “and this, and this”… Iago never does this.
• Line 198; Iago brings Othello’s poetry down
• Line 203; Othello organises, shows leadership, which Iago never excercises. Iago never gives a straight-forward order.

Act 2, Scene 1, 137- 166

• Takes place on the boat on the way to Turkey
• Light-hearted scene in the midst of tragedy- realistic
• Desdemona and Iago’s relationship is shown.
• Good qualities are mentioned, but evil comes through in Iago’s language.
• Desdemona’s perfection is stressed
• Cassio refers to the scholar of Iago, and says he’s not exactly intelligent
• Dialogue is about what can be expected from different types of women.
• Iago is shown to be very cynical, he can’t speak good of anything. He is malicious and evil, he is mean-minded in regards to his view of women.
• Iago is shown not to have a great wit or brain.
• This scene shows us Desdemona as a woman
• The reader is able to see what Othello can’t see, and what Iago doesn’t want to see: womanhood
• Iago always introduces the sexual into any discussion on women
• Almost everything that Iago does is instinctual and basic.

2.1.224 “Her eye must be fed….”

What does this tell us about Iago?

• His jealousy of Cassio
• Iago’s obsessed with sex- he constantly imagines Des and Oth in bed. He has an unhealthy curiosity about it. He finds their relationship an impossible matching.
• He suggests his jealousy of Cassio’s breeding. His mean-spiritedness is shown.
• Iago alludes to the fact that Cassio is young and handsome, however, we are shown that he resents this.
• Speech is delivered in prose- Iago hasn’t got the nobility of spirit or sensitivity of character to speak in poetry or imagination to create images.
• “Blessed figs end..” Iago denies any possibility of Des being a semi-goddess, nether does he put her on a pedestal.

Act 2, Scene 3, 216- 243 “Thus it is general”

How does the writing of this piece convey the easy hypocrisy of Iago?

• Iago plays a dual role- pretending to love Cassio but also making him look bad.
• Iago makes it look like he doesn’t mean to disrespect Cassio, but does so continuously.
• He’s painting himself out to be a hero in a situation which he himself planned, but makes Cassio look bad.
• He uses vocabulary of doubt and sorrow, as if he feels betrayed by Cassio and making it look like he is begging Cassio’s forgiveness. At the same time, he makes Cassio seem bad.
• The syntax of the speech is full of comas and long sentences- it’s a list, a commentary. Iago knows his story- he knows exactly what he is going to say. When you lie, you break things up, you stutter- but he lets it flow- he’s well prepared.
• Iambic pentametre. This iambic rhythm is rarely broken, which is unusual for Shakespear.

Act 3, Scene 3, 205- 249

How does Shakespear write the scene for dramatic tension?

• Iago starts to make Othello think that Des is cheating- tells him she was succesful in deceiving her father, and could also do the same to Othello.
• Use of vocab of doubt ‘seems’ to create doubt in Othello’s mind.
• Tells Othello that he does all of this because he loves him. He tries to show he has no bad intentions.
• A dramatic tension builds up due to all of these insinuations etc.
• He hints at how naïve Othello is about Desdemona.
• He tries not to point the finger at Des, but knows Othello will think of Des nonetheless.
• Shakespear rouses the audience’s hopes for Othello to not believe Iago. Iago keeps interrupting Othello, and, by doing this, builds up both what he, Iago, has said and what Othello has said. The audience’s hopes are raised and lowered.
• Iago keeps Othello looking as an outsider, not understanding the way things work in this culture etc.
• Iago tells Othello he loves him, and makes him feel as if this must be the truth.
• “I see that this has dashed your spirits”. Iago makes Oth feel as if his spirits SHOULD be dashed.
• Iago tells Oth to ‘ignore it’, but of course now Oth can’t. This makes the audience become angry.
• With each affirmation from Oth that he isn’t taking notice of Iago’s comments, Iago makes sure he does. He doesn’t allow Oth to rest on his denial.
• Iago gives Oth a reason for Des to be wayward- cause he’s black
• “Why did I marry?”- Iago’s got him.

Act 3, Scene 3, 386- 435

How is the issue of race allowed to inform this passage?

• Othello establishes himself as ‘black and begrind’ as ‘my own face’. He suggests that he is inferior, dirty and black. He’s taking on Iago’s description of him.
• Iago then asks Oth if he wants to watch her ‘topped’- he suggests that this dirty, black person would be watching this act.
• ‘hot as monkeys’ and all the other animal imagery to equate sex that Des might undertake. This is how he always talks about Des and Othello. There is a suggestion of this being how sex is for black people. When he describes Cas and Des, he makes it more romantic- “sigh, kiss etc”. Gentle lovemaking, suggesting that only Oth has animalistic sex.
• “Cursed fate that gave thee to the Moor”- this identifies Oth’s colour. This comment brings out “I’ll tear her to pieces” in Othello; barbaric, animalistic.

Act 5, Scene 2, 15-47

Track the changing attitude to each other between Oth and Des

• Oth starts with a lot of imagery (mention of a rose; symbol of perfection_
• To the sleeping body of Des, he delivers his eulogy of love, very beautifully.
• He talks about the ‘light’- reference to God. He regrets the fact that if he puts out the light, he cannot restore it.
• Oth almost enjoys the purity of the emotion of grief.
• He is intending to kill an ‘idea’ of her which she has received from Iago.
• When she wakes up, he sees her differently. “I will kill you”. He becomes increasingly cruel. “talk you of killing?” “I do”. All his beauty, tenderness has gone.
• He becomes a different person looking at a different person. From a man capable of the highest poetry etc, he becomes brutal, cruel, determined.
• Des in this scene becomes unexpectedly real, not submissive. She reverts to the Des shown to us on the boat scene. She’s real. She becomes wilder- its not normal. She should be passive.

Act 3, Scene 3, 348-376

How do we understand the nature of Othello’s anguish from this passage?

• He reminisces his past as a soldier.
• Transition from soldier to Des’s husband
• Oth is letting himself talk for a change. He dominates Iago. Such is his anguish that for the only time in the play, he overcomes Iago in his anger. Shoot the messenger syndrome. This is a demonstration of his immense passion and emotion. Its not his pride that has been hurt but his soul. He sacrificed his military life for her and it can’t therefore be his sole reason for living.
• “I had been happy… nothing known”. In the past, Oth has absorbed the information given to him. Here he gives way to it. The reality of it gets to him.
• The ‘O’ which e uses three times in his speech gives dramatic effect (allow a pause). Lots of ‘farewells’- his vocabulary is limited in his distress and it emphasises what he’s realised he’s lost. He’s lost his very being- he is now no longer a soldier, nor has he Des.

2.3. 165-174

• It shows Oth in all his dignity of command- authoritative; the leader. Tragic hero- better than average.
• He’s Christian- it shows he’s not a pagan barbarian.

2.3 200-213

• The commander at work. He is angry, and makes them aware. He’s got it under control, unlike his anger towards Desdemona. We see that he knows how to use anger, get respect and get control with controlled anger.

3.3. 60 - 74

• Not very plausible that she would beg immediately for a date and time.

3.3. 262- 283

• Agonising speech from Oth- we see full impactof his aginy and anguish. We understand how heartbroken he is. He isn’t acting out of wounded pride or hurt manhood. The speech suggests a quiet reflection of what he has lost. Deeply poetic. There’s a helplessness; we feel sorry for him.
• “I would rather be a toad”- harsher.

Discuss the attitude to women revealed in this scene. What does this scene contribute to the character of Desdemona? Act 2, Scene 1 83 – 120

• Women mocked; made fun of, teased by Iago
• Establishes Desdemona as a woman; gives her personality
• Iago is viciously ‘witty’; makes fun of his own wife, saying she talks too much
• Desdemona has some independence; stands up for herself “O Fie upon thee, Slanderer”. She’s trying to take away the attention from the bickering.
• She asks Iago what he thinks of her- she’s confident, curious.
• Cassio talks of women nicely (see opening paragraph)
• Emilia relatively less defending than Desdemona “You have no right to say so”
• Iago offends Des and Emi greatly with his speech- calling them housewives and hussys
• Iago attacks Des in line 115
• Iago’s attitude to women is extremely one-sided. He sees only the flaws and makes constant sexual refernce/innuendo- shows us his purely sexual interest in Des.
• Iago’s really cocky; includes Des in his mockery of Emila- he really sees women as inferior
• Cassio almost mocks Iago.
• Cassio “riches of the ship”- he’s very nice to Des; she’s put on a pedastool.
• Iago feels Emilia is just a possession; she serves him- “go to bed to work” . She works (sexually) for Iago.
• Iago is possessive over his possession (Emilia) he is upset when Cassio kisses her.
• Mary-likeness of Des vs Whore-likeness of Desdemona.
• 2 attitudes of women summed up in Iago’s speech (line 109). In this speech, we see the double image (saintly vs. whore) to which women of the time were subjected in this period. The courtly love idealisation of Desdemona is captured in Cassio’s speech “The riches of the ship, hail to thee lady” (which resonates “Hail Maria” saintly image).
• This tiny scene captures an important underlying attribute of the play and events that take place.
• Des is quite dismissive of Cassio; she finishes his sentence before he can go on- this gives her control of the situation.
• “Alas she has no speech”. She interrupts Iago- she will not stand back and be moulded into either of the 2 images of women anymore than she will accept Othello killing her later.
• Alas she has no speech” she removes herself from the pedestal the audience has placed her upon. She is shown as something more, someone prepared to defend women.
• Cas treats women as objects just like Iago- to him she is not a woman, but an object. He apologises to Iago for kissing Emilia, but not to her- confirming her as a possession.
• Because Des is vunerable to the 2 images of women; once her and Othello marry and have sex, he can see that she is now susceptible to being the ‘whore’. She is capable of deceiving him.
• Des is at ease in male company. She is frank with Iago “Fie upon thee, Slanderer”.
• She is constantly concerned about the man she loves (Othello).

Notes on Top Girls

Aspects of Woman Brainstorming Motherhood Feminism Determined Responsibility Bitchiness On top of it all Gives up child Benign passivity All had children bar Isabella Deny motherhood Caring Emptiness Gret is a mother

   Lack of evolution

Various Notes

• Isabella is in some respects the toppest girl because she has conducted her life in a free manner, without adverse consequences.
• We learn that Marlene is really like all of the other women.
• Many decisions have been made by men, such as in Griselda’s story
• The Pope disguises herself as a boy when she is a child to pursue the area which interests her- she sacrificed her femaleness to became what she wanted.
• Nijo- sees a girl child as being inferior; a woman was not prestigious as a man.
• Dull Gret attacks evil- she fought for her motherhood, and is the only woman who does so.
• Isabella has no children, she travels, she is free, has no responsibilities but feels guilty all of the time. Sister and father are the most important people in her life. Her sister stays at home and looks after the father.
• Marlene was the only woman who had contraception available to her, but she did not use it.
• No historical feminist progress has been made.
• The play’s complication forces the audience to unravel the story and find the links.
• They think that they are on top, but Marlene works at an employment agency for secretarial jobs, which really just means ‘assistants to men’.
• They can be on top if they say no to their femaleness. Marlene opted for the easy way out by abandoning Angie.
• The world is phallocentric (i.e. centred on the penis); boom, boom, boom, everything is like that- sex, work, behaviour.
• The text is vaginal because it is unstructured and open-ended.
• It is a post-modern play
• Top Girls are neither ‘Top’ nor ‘Girls’
• Flashback quality of the last scene throws the entire play into a perspective of irony because we see that the women have developed.
• Top Girls is polemical; it debates an issue and it gets the audience thinking about the pros and cons of the situation.
• Debate: How do you match feminism with femininity?
• Structure is important- it opens with the historical women, ends with Marlene being in the same position- women have made no progress over the years.

Notes on Marlene

• Marlene has taken over the office, the traditional domain of the male.
• The modern woman is shown in TG to be living at a time of shifting perspectives and expectations as far as women are concerned.
• Marlene feels that there is no need to discuss things such as radical feminism. She believes that she is not intimidated by men. She expects to do everything that men do, and do it better.
• The formal celebration of Marlene’s promotion to the position of MD of the TG employment agency;
• MARLENE “We’ve all come a long way. To our courage and the way we changed our lives and our extraordinary achievements.”
• As the play progresses and Marlene’s history is revealed. She emerges as a particular kind of new woman- career-minded, determined and ambitious.
• All the women that Marlene celebrates with have been expected to fulfil certain roles, regardless of individual temperament, and have been excluded from other experiences and possibilities in life. The roles have been determined for the convenience of men. Nijo and Griselda were essentially slaves in their time, albeit willing in their service. Joan was forced to adopt a disguise in order to satisfy her aspiration for knowledge. She says “I shouldn’t have been a woman. Women, children and lunatics can’t be Pope.’ The irony is that she was perfectly capable as Pope before the truth was found out.
• MARLENE “Don’t you get angry? I get angry.” The modern women of the play also have to cope with being women in a society where so many standards are set by men.
• The major problem for professional women in Britain has always been he difficulty of reconciling a career with a family. Access to top jobs is easier for those women who have few or no responsibilities.
• Marlene left home without a second glance. She cut herself off from family and family responsibility. She hasn’t visited home for six years. Angie is an inconvenience to her when she comes to the office.
• Marlene is a lower-class name
• Last scene is an expression of maternal guilt.

Waiting For Godot

Beckett- Born in Dublin, Ireland 1906- 1989 Responsible for he impact on post-modernism. Wrote the play out of an existentialist viewpoint (see existentialism notes).

Existentialism came about due to a loss of faith; doubt was setting in due to things such as Darwinism. Freud, too, brought doubt. The two consecutive World Wars caused people to think about suffering, and how God could possibly allow such extremes of it. At this time, religion was more or less a given, ‘God’ was an unquestioned concept. Freud looked into the human psyche and realised that it wasn’t an external force which governed our thoughts and behaviour. These ‘elements’ caused the shattering of faith. Destiny and the will of God were no longer taken as being necessarily true. Before, people waited and saw. Nowadays, we set goals for ourselves and work towards them. Existentialism says that God has no influence on our lives. Christianity’s promise of eternal life keeps people looking forward- it denies the existence of death. Existentialism allows us to have a sense of being in control.

Book Notes

Opening line – “Nothing to be done”. There is both action and inaction in this sentence; is there ‘nothing’ to be done, or can we not do anything? This line is also re-occurring. This encapsulates the meaning of the play. If they chose to do nothing, then that is at least something positive as they have made a decision.

The play is full of cliches. “It’ll pass the time”, “He’ll be the death of me” suggesting that we deny the seriousness of death and the passage of time.

Vladmir’s obsession with his hat- ritualistic actions, This shows that some of the things we do are out of habit and do not mean anything. Also, mimetic of a clown’s behaviour.

Vladmir has a prostate problem- emphasis on bodily pain and therefore the physicality and morality of us all.

“It will pass the time”- time passes whether or not you do anything. And all time is passing until death- or the next best thing.

“Saved him from death”- For now. He didn’t save him from death eternally. The thief is going to die anyway. The implication here is that it is pointless to prolong the wait for death as we are all going to die someday. V and E are showing the same ignorance as all of us.

The play is both a mirror and a lamp. On the one side, Beckett shows us the way we live our lives and suggests how we could make this different. But the play is also saying that no matter how you live your life, it always ends in the same way.

Pozzo and Lucky represent the practice of being tied down to some notion that tomorrow something will turn up and change your life. Similar to how V and E wait for Godot. Ties in with Existentialism- Lucky casts himself in the role of a Christian – his suffering (running sore, carrying bags). He has given up his own existence in accordance with what he believes Pozzo wants from him. Pozzo doesn’t ask him to carry the bags, never whips him- Lucky believes Pozzo has power of him, but he really doesn’t. Lucky is very guilty because of his string sense of unworthiness- Christian image; how we view ourselves.

We created God and all our myths and legends; its all us.

The names in the book are not easy to pin down; universality.

“I don’t know whether this world has a meaning, but transcends it, but I know that I do not know that meaning and that it is impossible for me just now to know it. What can a meaning outside my condition mean to me? I can understand it only in human terms.” – Albert Camus (the Myth of Sisyphus)

Estragon accepts the nothingness of their being. Vladmir tries to find reasons.

The play is bout the absurdity of life. We are waiting for a meaning. Life is a ‘lump of light’; just a process- birth, growth, death. It is language that gives meaning; it’s a construct- we create ideas and share them through language. “In the beginning there was the word, and the word was God.” (The Bible) All meaning is created through language.

V and E wear many hats- relates to cliché “they wear many hats”; they are many people. Also, the passing on of hats is like the passing of generations all doing the same thing.

The cliches which are constantly used have lost their meaning. The fact that they are peppered with death illustrate that death too has lost its meaning.

E’s boots go from being too small in Act One to too big for him in Act Two. This suggests that the Est of Act One is not the same as the Est of Act Two.

Life has no meaning. By doing stuff, you CREATE meaning.

First Act is one day Second Act is the second day. Everyday is the same, but in the same way, different. This repetition serves to reinforce the structure that is in Act One.

Just as the characters are waiting for a meaning, so is the audience, because there is an expectation that plays do this. They replicate life. The audience is thus put in the position of the characters; they begin to ponder life. They work out that ‘nothing’ is the meaning; the play itself is nothing.

Beckett treats the psychology which waiting for something engenders the way we live our lives; the way we believe there is cause and effect.

What is being dealt with is the condition, but not the cause.

It is a post-modernist play, and being this, it is dismantling structure. It is important because by dismantling the structure, he is dismantling meaning (which was never there in the first place). Structure is an illusion we need.

The world against which Beckett was writing was hierarchical and structured. If you take away God, everything becomes arbitrary.

No meaning is given to the words exchanged. It is simply ping-ponging exchanges to fill time (and that in itself is the meaning).

The play imitates its message.

The boy at the end of Acts one and two recalls the Greek messengers. There’s quite a ring of Greek Tragedy. There is no Greek drama without the Gods being involved. And at the end, the Gods triumphed. Ironical allusion.

At the very end of the play, the characters are in exactly the same position as they were when they started.

Page Notes Pg 14- There is no progression, it just goes back and forth. The passage is mimetic of the infinity of waiting- back and forth, the waiting process has no resolution. They are wondering through life, like us all. Pg 15- Vladmir panics because he is left to his own thoughts. They are together so that they don’t have to think about things. They are simply there for companionship. Time is a human construct- they are not following it. Sleep an emulation of death Prolonged silences throughout the play- variety of effects and purposes, mimetic of death, accentuates time. Pgs 16 – 18- Done nothing; story: passing the time, fundamental to human nature. Storytelling from time immemorial, ritual of living.

After story, Est goes to Ulad gently, tries to make up with him; - feuds, rows, reconciliation, coming together- all our little daily emotions. Don’t hang themselves as one, would be left alone (like sleep and anger). Don’t want to face the angst of living alone. Like all of us. Irony: they’re going to die one day anyway. Incapable of making the decision The two are waiting, deferring responsibility of starting their lives, to Godot. Sartre’s distinction: BEing and BEcoming  ; become by making decisions. Godot is only emblematic of the waiting. Human condition: expecting SOMEthing: (never fully live.) Conversation on pg 18; developing responsibilty; mockery of. Silences: audience has to wait, in same position as character, waiting for progression (don’t know what for). Leaving theatre = suicide. Don’t, because might miss out. Might start thinking. 19- sacrificed rights (to an idea) by waiting? Had rights to decide, have life and meaning of. Pg 21/22- Lucky tied- immediately after 2 asking if they’re tied; juxtaposition, attachment. Lucky is attached to a rope; he’s tied. And this happens after Vladimir and Estragon talk about being tied. The rope illustrates the attachment between Pozzo and Lucky. They could be an ‘acting out’ of the very relationship which V and E just noted. The rope is very, very long; they have just enough freedom to think that they are free; the rope is not restricting of lucky. Pozzo- “Be careful.. he’s wicked.. with strangers”. The meaning is modified with the ‘with strangers’. There are no absolutes. Everything is re-worked- nothing is given an absolute meaning. “Wicked”- religious concept, evil. Original sin, the word is fundamental to human psyche. Beckett has no gratuitous words. Pg 22- “Does that name mean nothing to you?” Double meaning- does the name mean ‘nothing’? Pgs 22-23 Elaborate introduction. Pretending they know him. Mimicry of how we treat people we don’t know. POZZO “Made in God’s image”- religious allusions, he almost suggests they’re made in his image, he is almost a ‘God’ figure, or at least a master. “The road is free to all”- it IS, in life we have freedom of choice. All of these cliches are being thrown at the audience, we are forced to think. Pg 23- Lucky obey Pozzo not because of the constraints of the rope, but because he has chosen to. Pg 24- “It’s a long road”- long road of life. Loneliness; existentialist angst. “Autumn is coming”- discussion of meaningless shit. “Yes, gentlemen.. even when the likeness is an imperfect one”- allusion to Pozzo’s masterness. Pg 25- “inevitable”, running sore; Lucky’s suffering not necessary, he has chosen (or accepted?) master-slave relationship (nowadays, much less done). Fate, predetermination. Rope; sore inevitable, then gets more ridiculous- realise its important Pg 27- Lucky didn’t fight for bones, sacrificed them and himself; Christianity: sacrifice for the good of others. Pg 28- Pozzo doesn’t want to look weak, has to affect mood in most perfect manner (metaphor for authority?) Top Pg 29- They are as tied to Godot as Lucky to Pozzo. “Future”, but they should be concentrating on tomorrow, stop waiting. What sort of future? Depends on present? Pozzo: “no good will come of (questioning). “are we allowed to question God?” Can we question Mugabe? Hussein? Pozzo? Pg 30- Pozzo’s preparation, creating importance, replicating teachers and politicians etc Pg 31- “imagines”- What do we imagine? God. Life rim on the grounds o how you appear to be. Projecting based on who is seeing you. Suffering is self-imposed because of how we want to seem by authority figure. Pg 32- Meaningless ritual (cycle of suffering and comforting) therefore life is meaningless Pg 32- Beautiful speech by Pozzo; Lucky (man) creating the world (sense of beauty, grace) for Pozzo (god). Pg 35- “circus”, “music hall”, “circus”- what is the difference between the theatre (art) and life? In any piece of theatre, we wait for the end; the resolution. The end may bring meaning. Life is not like theatre, because there is no resolution when you die- you just die. Pg 35- “He’ll be the death of me”- usually a statement born out of frustration. Shows the number of cliches that mention death. It is as though we acknowledge death in our language but do not take it seriously. Pg 36 (middle). Meaningless ritual of asking Pozzo to sit down. Language is being used and abused. ESTRAGON “It’s absolutely certain”- NOTHING is absolutely certain. Much does not mean what it actually means. Nothing is certain but death. Pg 37- (top) Twilight- can announce your death. “You’ll catch your death”- you can’t catch death. Pg 37/38- Very poignant and beautiful. He’s talking about death. V and E don’t see this. Pg 38- Good? Fair? He’s performing- everyone is performing. Nobody is actually living for himself, no authentic lives. Pg 38- (bottom)- Life is boring. We fill it with stuff to help pass the boredom. Pg 41- “Nobody comes, nobody goes”- is nobody a somebody? Positive/negative? Pg 42- (middle) Pozzo “Stop, think, stop” etc- almost as though thinking isn’t an automatic function. We should think all the time, automatically. We ought to make it spontaneously. Lucky’s speech- it all blurts out. Beckett is trying to reproduce the way in which we think when we’re not thinking as such, but feeling. In that situation, language is an impediment, it gets in the way. One doesn’t stop in the thought process to think “where do I go from here?”- you fill in the gaps as you move on. Beckett is showing us another aspect of language. He is showing the inadequacy of language to arrive at a truth. In the opening of the speech; mockery of academics- “quaquaqua”. Lucky’s view of God is completely separate; a non-existent being insofar as man is concerned (existentialist view). Nothing is happening from above to intervene. “For reasons unknown”- mockery. We have no understanding why God suffers for the very people who he plunges into hellfire and damnation. “But time will tell”- sarcastic; eventually we will all know the reasons why we were punished. The picture of heaven which the Church gives us, is a place of beauty, and better than nothing. “Acacacaca” – mockery of academia. He goes on to lampoon. Academic, scholastic; he uses academic jargon to talk, but this doesn’t let him get anywhere. It gets in the way. It is established by all of the people that, despite alimentation, defecating, sports to keep healthy, we continue to dwindle both metaphysically and physically. As we realise the indifference of God, so the significance of man becomes less important (mental dwindling). Physical dwindling is death. Pg 44- “on the air, cold, depths” This is death. The speech is undefined by time- no punctuation, no structure. It is timeless. The continual cycle of life and death is eternal and meaningless despite all that we do and say to try and give it meaning. However, despite Lucky’s understanding, he remains dependant. We are bound to the psychology of God despite the improbability of his existence. Pg 46- Once Lucky’s Christian martyrdom is restored, they can control him again. Pg 47- Adieu = To God = to death. Death is written into our language. Adieu instead of au revoir. “Thank you, no thank you”- ritual, meaningless. “such is life”- another cliché. We are unable to move, change etc. many silences suggesting the nothingness beneath language. It is being filled all the time with meaningless stuff. Pg 50- Boy calls V and E “sir”- this is strange. Replication of master/slave relationship; the hierarchy which we establish in life. It suggests that the boy is in the same situation as Lucky. Also, it is interesting that he comes as a messenger (like in Greek Drama) and V and E see him as the messenger from God. Pg 50/51- Cycle of life (they believe it is the same child as yesterday). Reference to goats (good) and sheep (bad)- Godot beats the good and not the bad; it is the good who suffer. Pg 57- tree, symbolises life, changes in the seasons Dog’s poem - mention of death

• repetition of song, like repetition of their repetitive life; we all have meaningless cycles of life.

Pg 58- V and E live for each other, they hate to be separated. “Don’t touch me”- you want someone to be involved with you, but you like to know that someone is there. (bottom) Estragon loses balance without Vladmir; they need each other. Pg 59- (Top) Lucky wants to be Pozzo’s slave (illustrated by the suitcases full of sand). He creates Pozzo in the definition he wants to invest in him. We give God his power; we allow him to control us. Pozzo needs to be led because he is blind, and the very fact that he is blind and the Lucky is deaf shows the debilitating nature of the relationship. “You piss better… “ E is afraid of V not needing him. “beat you”- they go around in circles, repeating themselves. Their lives, like their discussions, have no meaning. “I wasn’t doing anything”- positive and negative. They may have chosen to do nothing (but they haven’t). Pg 60 – “happy”- everyday conventions. Its meaningless. (bottom) they talk about changes- this is ironic because things change but they mean nothing- they’re always waiting for something. Pg 61- E only remembers selective things due to the repetitive nature of their days. “mud”- How can I see the beauty of life when all I can see is shit? It’s a nothing existence that they have. Pg 62- Mackon/Cackon- similar because everything is the same. Nothing is absolute, no certainty. Beckett mucks around with words. Its an arbitrary way of defining a region. (bottom) They are making excuses for their not doing anything. (middle) “To every man his little cross”- death Pg 63- “To have lived is not enough”- because they DON’T live. Murmur/rustle- repetition of sound of leaves. This is the silence underneath, this is what they hear when they are silent. You can hear the silence of death underneath the dialogue. Sounds are soft here to create silence. The conversation doesn’t make any sense. It isn’t going anywhere- it mirrors their lives. (middle)- “What do we do?”. They wait for Godot. They always wait- it’s all they do. “Say anything at all”- they’re afraid of silence. They NEED something to talk about. “Yes, but you have to decide”- but they’re NOT deciding “Wait For Godot”- This is why we come to have a God. Its our need. Pg 64/65- meaningless ways of filling the time. Their rubbish is all they can do. They don’t face reality- when they talk they don’t have to face reality like silence which forces them to think. Pg 65- “The beginning of what?”- No sense of time Pg 66- “As usual”. No change. Ever. (top of) Reference to the fact that perhaps they’re not the same people. Also, leaves on trees indicate the passing of time but have they changed? No. Are they then different people who are the same? Pg 67- “Pig”. Shows how they’re the same as Pozzo and Lucky. Their roles are shown to mirror P and L. Pg 68- “Nothing to do”. Again. Mirroring of act one with the carrots. Same shit, different day. “Insignificant”. No shit, Sherlock. Pg 69- “It’d pass the time”. Again. Pg 69- “We always find something…. “ They think they’re existing but they’re not. Pg 70 – “Bye”- lullaby. Suggesting that in all phases in our lives we have a goodbye, a farewell. Pg 72- While Vladmir adjusts the hat- imitation of clowns. Same with what he does with Lucky’s hat- gives life to the play. Pg 73- Second act is paralleling the First Act. Time hasn’t passed- its all the same shit. (top of) they act out the roles of Lucky and Pozzo. (bottom) They think that Godot has come. He hasn’t. They’re all waiting. Pg 74- “I lost my head”. Another death cliché. Pg 75- Ritual of abuse. “Now let’s make it up”- rituals, all rituals. “After you”- meaningless Pg 76- “How time flies”- it doesn’t. Its all the same. Pg 77- Pozzo comes in blind when E asks whether God sees him- Existentialist viewpoint. The rope is shorter between Pozzo and Lucky so that Pozzo can follow more easily. God’s power depends on us- who is leading who? Did God create man or did man create God? Pg 78- Pozzo can’t get up by himself- suggestion that God is powerless without man, It isn’t a master-slave relationship really- it’s a dual thing; they’re both connected. The suitcases which Lucky carries are filled with sand- pointless suffering. Useless, circling dialogue that means nothing. Pg 79- “As large as life”- cliché. Always involving life and death. (bottom) “Let us not waste time”- but that’s what they’re all doing. Finally Vladmir is trying to do something. Pg 80- Imagery via the tiger; they should be doing something. Speech also mimetic of Hamlet. “We’re waiting for Godot”- but that’s nothing really. “All I know is that the hours”- reference to time. The speech shows how we fall into habits which dominate everything; they mean nothing. Pg 81- bored to death- reference to death. At the end of the passage, they finally decide to get up and go. V wants to move on a bit, but E pulls him back- “Who farted?”, E ruins the special moment. Pg 83- “We might try him with other names”- universality of characters. Cain and Abel are the names used. Sons of Adam and Eve; fathers of man; representative of mankind. EST “He’s all humanity”- double meaning. Shows how he is representative of mankind. EST “Don’t leave me”- indication of attachment “Are you sure his name is Pozzo?” Names are irrelevant. “I’m afraid he’s dying”- reference to death. Pg 84- The boy at the end of Act One and Two recalls the Greek messengers. There’s quite a ring of Greek tragedy. Pg 88- (middle) “I don’t remember having met.. enlighten me” Enlighten- relates to God. Pozzo is representing Gid saying “Listen man, I’m not involved.” (stage directions at top) Clowns on stage. (middle) “And you are Pozzo?” changing characters- nothing is certain but death. “We’re waiting for Godot”- they can’t move; they’re waiting. “What are we waiting for?” – they don’t know but wait anyway. Pg 85- “What time is it?” No-one knows- doesn’t really matter. A lot of time references, and everything is muddled but this isn’t relevant because it is all repetitive anyway. Pg 86- (top- speech) day = life end = death “sometimes I wonder….” asleep = death Pg 87- “What is he waiting for?” Talks about Lucky’s rope. Now the authority figure is stretching Lucky’s limit. Pg 89- After Pozzo’s speech, L and P have fallen. Allusion to each of them holding the other down. The master held in his image because of the slave and vice versa. “One day, one day”- the moment that you’re born, you’re waiting for death. (bottom) V shakes E- he hates being alone. Pg 90- V’s speech at the bottom sums up the existentialist view of life on a 2-way basis. “That’s passed the time” – repetition (bottom) “fall of night” = death Pg 90.91 (speech) realisation Pg 91- “The air is full of our cries”- allusion to Shakespear’s ‘Tempest’. Pointing out the nature of life. (bottom) Godot does nothing Messenger reminiscent of Greek messengers. Mimetic of Act one. Same conversation, same shit. Godot never comes. Pg 92- Vladmir’s speech in the middle. He’s desperate. If he doesn’t exist in the sight of God then why exist at all? They want to leave; nothing is happening. Pg 93- mention of rope; they’re not as tied to each other as they used to be. Pg 94- “Shall we go? Let’s go”- Referring back to the beginning.

Walt Whitman- Oak tree poem

Innuendo- rude, unbending, “it grew”, glistens, “manly love”. “the tree”.

The word “uttering” is used a lot. Not very appropriate, but it causes personification.

The tree symbolises solitude and loneliness.

Verbs- static growth; development rather than movement.

Nouns- a lot of emphasis on the tree. “live-oak”- personification the “growing”- not something one would usually think about- development. “friends, companions, love” etc – friendship; a pattern of tree and companionship and lovership.

“I” is the pronoun. Whitman uses the 1st person, and this automatically involves “you”.

Adverbs/adjectives- solitude is emphasised- “alone” / “solitude”; these link with the friendship aspect of the poem.

“Joyous” is used three times; links with growing and “rude, unbending, lusty”- the tree is self-sufficient; growing0 its not lonely, though alone. It doesn’t need what Whitman needs.

The “I” is observing, and talking to an implied “you”. There’s a distance.

“Unbending, standing, growing, uttering”- and all the “rings” illustrate a growing, a progression.

Syntax- only one full stop. Long sentences, comas, progression, a continuos movement. The thought process, the observation, too, is not stopping. The rolling syntax leaves the “I” detached from life. Nothing is final, no thought process is completed, no conclusions are reached. The poem ends on a nothingness statement.

His homosexuality would have caused him to feel detached from the world in his day anyway. There would have been a great deal of uncertainty.

“And” at the beginning of most sentences emphasises progression. “But, yet, for”- used to cut off the “ands”. Oppositional. Causes confusion. He constantly pushes himself away from that which he is observing.

Essay Structure

Intro- (answer to the question)

• Explain the question
• Defining question terms
• Define your terms
• Answer it according to your terms

Body- (prove your introduction)

• Refer to key statements/words in introduction (this will often be your introduction to your paragraph)
• Provide evidence from text for all you say
• Refer observation/textual evidence and analysis of that textual evidence back to intro.

Paragraph shape is: - Intro

  - Observation to develop intro 
  - Evidence to prove observation 
  - Analysis of evidence with reference to observation 
  - Conclusion

Conclusion- Return in general terms to the essay title

Shape of essay: HYPOTHESIS

  PROOF 
  SYNTHESIS 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

The Importance of Being Earnest

Oscar Wilde was a rebel of Victorian society. He spoke French and German.

Satire- a way of criticising without condemning. A way of commenting on your surroundings. This play goes against Victorian, ‘proper’ society. A lot of property, slum dwelli9ng. The Victorian upper classes justified the shit that was going on around them by saying it was God’s will. Very religious. Aestheticism was partly a natural literary development. The Romantic period which preceded it showed that art did not have to serve a purpose. The artist wrote out of his own personal view of the world. Poetry could be about how the poet felt about his life. The general gave way to the particular. The personal experience was part of the universal experience. Art didn’t have to teach the audience anything. Aestheticism was a belief that art existed for art’s sake, That the work of art in itself was a discreet and complete piece and didn’t have to express anything. The Pre-Raphelite movement was a part of this, and said that painting had lost itself after Raphael. The emphasis was on beauty, Wilde used this movement to say “Up yours, chaps, here am I, in your face”.

Wilde mocks the upper classes in IBE and the way they deal with the lower classes. They are too obsessed with how one should behave. People should marry for love, not wealth, status etc. Gwendolyn insists that Earnest proposes properly. She shows a lack of feeling and emotion. The upper class are completely isolated with the real issues of the world and involved in their own tiny space. The upper classes are ignorant, these are the ruling classes- heaven help us. Their position is based on nothing but their birth rights. By extension, Wilde criticises the class system as a means of organising society.

“The end of writing is to instruct. The end of poetry is to instruct by pleasing”- Samuel Johnson.

It is unlikely to change the attitude of the upper classes.

Satire is integrated into the dialogue; makes it hard t detect.

You need a contrast in satire with reality: you need a darker side.

Art existed in and of itself. Apparently, Wilde seems not to be setting out to be satirical in order to bring about change. He apparently sets out to create a piece which will stand as a perfect piece of writing in its own terms. Apparently.

There isn’t a single word wasted in the play. No statement is left unpaired. Every parcel of humour is carefully built toward another; there is a framework of humour.

It is very good at keeping the audience constantly absorbed.

• Insincerity
• Superficiality

Nature of satire: Upper class Market for superficiality of values Appearance Position in society What’s in and out Intelligence Lack of culture Ignorance They are indifferent Money Attitude to money/importance Divine indifference to money

Girls- Superficial Trivialise the important event of marriage

Had a Romanticised view of marriage 
 

The play makes a statement about England in general; shows how people depended on the upper classes.

There is a consistence of humour which causes an exaggeration of real life. This is a portrait of the upper class, no-one can take it seriously.

The play is entertaining in that it is funny, the dialogue does not drag on (because it is not developing concepts/ideas), there is a brisk pace of development, and questions are constantly being posed which maintain the interest of audience.

The message is so integrated into the dialogue that it becomes the characters themselves. The audience may not notice the satire as it becomes the reason for the play and loses its edge.

Page Notes

Pg 254- (top of; talk of marriage) Wilde is pointing out that it is the upper classes that are supposed to be setting the example, not the lower classes. Furthermore, the upper classes believed it their role to set an example. They believed they had the duty to set the moral tone. It was typical for the upper classes to say that the lower classes had no moral responsibility. There’s a biting truth is in the bottom half. And this sets the tone for the whole play- the upper class characters aren’t setting a great example.

Pg 261- mockery of the servant-master relationship- they talk about morals, but the servant is lying, even if he is loyal. Mockery of marriage- “living entirely for pleasure”. We start as we mean to go on, with a mockery of marriage.

Pg 262- Lady Bracknell “Bunbury should decide…”- shows British lack of compassion. ‘Stiff Upper Lip’.

Pg 263- Lady Bracknell (top). Keeping up appearances. Its all to do with appearance- being shocked/laughing is a show of emotion, this is vulgar. Wilde digs at people pretending to understand something which they don’t. Gwendolyn “I am quite aware of the fact”; Cecily says stuff along the same lines. (same speech- bottom) “monthly magazines”. She keeps up with what is in, fashionable. She doesn’t really love jack; she wants the name. It is not an IDEAL that she wants to marry Earnest. Wilde shows she has no real values.

Pg 266- Interview with Lady Bracknell. She turns a marriage into a business agreement. Instead of seeing whether he is a good match for her daughter, she asks trivial questions. Smoking being an ‘occupation’ is dig at the lazy, jobless upper classes. There is a gradual build up to the questions which are important to her- money, money, money. “Ignorance is like an exotic fruit…” Wilde comments on the ignorance of the British in general.

Pg 268 (bottom) Lady Bracknell “the season”- the time where women are put ‘on show’ for potential marriages.

Pg 270- see book

Pg 272- (bottom- stage directions) – carelessness with money in the upper classes.

Pg 281- (bottom- jack and Chasuble) mockery of their attitude to religion. They take it so frivolously.

Pg 285- Cecily talking about friends; bullshit. There is truth there but Cecily looks superficial. Dig at the stupidity of her saying something like this.

Pg 287- “On the 14th…. Always to wear” Cecily’ playing mummy and daddy. Reveals the trivial attitude towards marriage. She’s in love with fantasy and the idea of marriage.

Pg 288- Cecily mimics Gwendolyn “It produces vibrations”. “Bankruptcy count Algernon shit” – people in the upper classes spend money like it grows on trees, shows their passive attitude to money.

Pg 289- “Oh yes, Dr. Chasuble.. he knows”- double-edged humour- both sarcastic and yet true.

Pg 291- confusion of names.

301 – dwells on appearance; reversal of expectation

302- Permanent income of thought- values of society (materialistic)- reference to money being the over-riding factor.

304- Lady Bracknell- immediate reversal of opinion- on Cecile’s worthiness

305- Superficiality- humour in truth- excitement of marriage wears off

306- Algernon has nothing, but looks are everything

307- Womens’ importance of looks; hence lying about their ages.

312- “I never change except for in my affections.” Affections should not change.

In this act: Play begins its resolve Marriages start to become clear Earnest is made use of Nature of satire- mocks the upper classes: appearance, superficiality, intelligence, culture, indifference Especially mocks money as the benchmark of worthiness Algernon- affectation of carelessness Divine indifference- evaluation people through money Girls in the play are superficial and hypocritical Trivialise marriage Romanticised view of marriage

The Upper classes were the ruling classes in England. They created the wages. Everyone was affected by these self-indulgent, frivolous people.

Commentary and Analysis: “Lines Written in Early Spring”- Wordsworth

Contrasts establish b/w man and nature; sadness & joy (to narrator) Shown in the vocabulary of 1st stanza- “pleasant thoughts”/”sad thoughts”

Yet man shown to be part of nature- “to her fair works.. ran” Vocabulary such as ‘blended’ and ‘link’

Duality b/w unity and conflict

First line of poem holistic; already a hint to the harmony of the surroundings. Implies music. Tells of many elements working in sync with each other.

Poem told in first person in 1st person narrative of observations and emotions In contrast to Wordsworth’s other poems, doesn’t describe a single person but all mankind, through a telling of a particular moment and situation. Talks of nature as a moral guide.

Iambic tetrametre with last line of each stanza, triameter A, b, a, b rhyme Very structured and rhythmic- melodious, lyrical Occasional enjambment contributes to light flow

Sounds lyrical and light (e.g. ‘air it breathes’). Many monosyllabic words. E.g. onomatopoeic “hopp’d and play’d”.. bouncing movements show life in surroundings

Each stanza a complete syntax: conclusion at end Fact that it’s a question- intended to provoke thought This line is repeated for emphasis

Personification- reference to nature’s fair works, “periwinkle trail’s…”, “budding twigs spread…. air” “every flower”. Calling nature “Her”. Nature is alive to narrator. Also ironic- likening the ‘beautiful’ to the ‘saddening’ (paradoxical). Also emphasises similarity and relationship b/w the two.

Beauty created in repetition of “sweet”, “thrill”, “pleasure” (three stanzas in middle) Yet worse aspect present- “griev’d”, “lament”

Structure of poem mimetic of its meaning; all elements create a beautiful entirety Characterises Wordsworth as nature provokes realisation of the wrong in man

Relate to Wordsworth’s philosophy of poetry (transcendentalism; informality- he speaks to and for humanity).

How is this poem typical of Wordsworth? Highlights harmony of nature- Transcendentalist approach. Repetition of “what man has made of man”; conflict of man vs man which doesn’t exist in nature. Unspoilt simplicity of nature explained in description of flowers, birds etc. When working with nature, we become part of it. The Convict Structure typical of Wordsworth: opposition b/w narrator & other character. The narrator interprets the character. Nature vs. confinement Beauty in sorrow and hardships Convict compared to monarch Poem ends in conversation

The Complaint of a foresaken Indian Woman Progression of feeling through poem- tracks her anguish (changes mind mid-course) Self conflates with nature (beauty in abandonment) Parent-child relationship.

Notes on the Formal Oral

Wordsworth

• Nature
• Transcendentalism- the belief that God’s presence is our natural environment. He left the world to inform man of His will. For Wordsworth, he truly believed that there was a presence in nature speaking. Moral guide / comfort / beauty; even in suffering
• “Language that men use”- reaction against formality of poetry; of Augustun period before him.
• Rhyme and Rhythm and vocabulary which are accessible.
• Accessibility of characters; oneself; old people, children, family relationships.
• Quote of Wordsworth “Poetry is the spontaneous overflow of the emotions”.

Toni Morrison’s Beloved

Time

• Conflation of time - human psyche
• consequence of trauma
• Past to be confronted and then discarded

Symbolism

• Similar to magic realism (very visual, very pictorial; communicates to black audience)
• Metaphorical view of the world
• Water: freedom/ purification / re-birth

Black culture’s presence in text

• Dialect
• Storytelling
• Respect for Elders
• Importance of names
• Animal Past
• Problems of family (legacy of slavery)

Martin Luther King

Agenda of editor

• he was Black
• He was a follower of MLK
• The book was authorised by Corretta King
• Hagiography?

The book

• The private life of MLK was excluded
• It was a biography of the movement; a chronological account

Nature of MLK’s speeches

• Black culture present in MLK’s speeches.
• Pacifism always present
• He was an educated and powerful speaker
• He emphasises the nobility of the cause rather than the degeneracy of the oppression. He dwells on the rights, rather than the wrongs.
• He transcends the reality of the life of blacks and inhabits their dreams.
• He drew on people’s experience- Imagery and Metaphor

    Religion 
    Gave them dignity 
    Master or oratorial technique

Othello

Tragedy Relates to Aristotle: - Catharsis (is it cathartic?)

  - Othello’s tragic flaw: naivety 

• Tragic hero- better than average. Especially significant bc he’s Black

Jealousy and Love

• Hierarchy of emotions handled, thus treating of the human condition.
• Jealousy present in some characters in various forms (Othello, Iago, Rodrigo, Bianca)
• Love treated in all characters.

Diction

• Othello’s powerful metaphorical language (usually to do with the Sea bc he’s a naval man). This shows Othello’s broader horizons as opposed to Iago’s inward world.
• Iago uses prose as opposed to poetry: emphasising his pettiness.
• Iambic pentametre- how it works in scenes, With Othello interrupting Desdemona and so on.

Racism

• Shakespear manipulates the audience so that we REALLY don’t want Othello to Kill Des, and that means that we transcend our own racism and side with Othello. Othello is invested with the same kind of construct that was normally attributed to whites.
• Iago forces Othello into barbarism associated with colour. Iago represents the psycholigical perceptions of the audience towards Blacks. His soliloquies communicate with the audience, as opposed to being his personal, intimate thoughts. He keeps the audience informed. By doing this, Shakespear asks the audience to question their values.

Dramatic Tension (Mock Exam) Essay

Intro- Statement not necessarily true WFG increases dramatic tension. Variety of elements allow him to do so, especially through character- tension is necessary for delivery. Antigone does half-half in order to give audience a little bit of a break, but also allows for them to experience catharsis.

The statement “the performance of a play usually offers the audience some intervals or relief from dramatic tension” is not necessarily true, as some plays rely on dramatic tension for the effective communication of the message being delivered by the author. Samuel Beckett’s “Waiting For Godot” is one such play; it maintains dramatic tension through a variety of elements such as stage directions and character behaviour. Sophocles’ Antigone however, has a different effect. The play does offer some intervals from dramatic tension through its use of characters such as the chorus and the guard, but at the same time, its structure causes it to have an underlying dramatic tension which flows throughout the play. Thus, the play allows the audience short breaks from the stressful events, but also ensures that enough dramatic tension is experienced by the audience for catharsis to occur at the end of the play.

WFG- (Intro) Dramatic tension keeps audience focused and encourages them to search for the meaning. Done especially by character and stage direction and dialogue. Pauses and Acts- increase dramatic tension by giving audience thinking time. Lucky & Pozzo- increase tension. Vladimir and Estragon acting like clowns- mirrors absurdity.

In “Waiting For Godot”, Beckett maintains the focus of the audience on the events in the play by his omission of any possible breaks from the dramatic tension which is inevitably caused. Instead, Beckett increases dramatic tension through the continual appearance of long silences and pauses which cause the audience to think about the occurring events, and thus increase tension as they mirror the audience’s lives and behaviours, and thus cause the audience to realise the truth about their lives. Vladmir and Estragon also increase tension by behaviour such as that of the mimicking of clowns, which is in fact a mirroring of the absurdity of life an increases dramatic tension even more.

Soph- (Intro) Half-half thing, so that message is delivered but the audience are given breaks. It is character and the Greek Drama style which oppose. Chorus / Guard- decrease dramatic tension / audience knew the story. Greek style of no break and no subplot- catharsis

Conc- Not necessarily true. Playwrights can use these to maintain the focus and seriousness while at the same time allowing the audience to breathe and prepare.

The Tables Turned- How Is it Typical Of Wordsworth?

Deals with nature, and its beauty and superiority to the academic education Transcendentalism Rhyme structure abab, cdcd, very simple, almost nursery-rhyme like. Rhythm varies from 7/8 syllables per line; iambic pentametre Vocabulary positive when dealing with nature; “freshening”, “sweet”, “beauteous”. Vocabulary negative when dealing with man “toil”, “trouble” “mean” Language of Man used- simple imagery: little / no simile or metaphor Many adjectives; very descriptive Soft sounds accentuate beauty of nature “A freshening lustre mellow”, even when dealing with negative issues; “endless strife” Personification of the sun “His first sweet evening” Repetitive structure of first stanza typical- simple yet reinforces the message.

Message- Nature teaches, provides us with a moral code which is more beneficial than our learning from books etc. Quote last stanza on Pg 101. Nature teaches us without stress, without “toil and trouble”- “Come forth into the light of things”.

English

Samar Alkadhi 24/01/01

Commentary and Analysis of ‘Old Man Travelling’ by Wordsworth

Wordsworth’s ‘Old man Travelling’ tells of an old man who has learned how to deal with life in a calm and composed fashion after all the hardships which he has endured throughout his long life. This man has learned to accept the difficulties of life and does not spend his time questioning them or worrying about them, and this causes him to be admired by the younger generation who are not capable of having the same viewpoint on life. This man’s approach to life gives him an air of wisdom and experience, as well as a gentle passivity towards serious issues such as the forthcoming death of his son.

The mood of this poem is calm and serene, and is created by soft sounds such as ‘bespeak’, ‘composure’ and ‘patience’, which accentuate the tranquillity of the old man’s manner. Lines such as ‘insensibly subdued to settled quiet’ and ‘peace so perfect’ make the poem smooth, and make the long waves of lines flow through the poem. Coupled with the abundance of comas and semi-colons, these sounds make lines of these poem seem even longer, and the effect of this is the communicating of the calm and relaxed nature of the old man.

The poem’s structure is quite unique in that it takes the form of one sole verse. In addition, it’s style isn’t typical of a poem as it is written in a train-of thought style, and the use of many comas and long sentences makes it seem more like prose then like poetry. Then man’s speech at the end of the poem, too, takes the form of a long sentence. These long sentences add to the mood of the poem, especially due to the frequent enjambement which occurs from line to line; “A man who does not move with pain, but moves / With thought- He is insensibly subdued”. These long sentences flow gently and smoothly through the poem just like this old man moves calmly and relaxedly through his life because he has learned through experience that there is no use worrying about much anymore.

There is no definite rhyme structure in the poem, and the rhythm is quite loose though all of the lines apart from the first one consist of ten or eleven syllables. The lack of rhyme conveys a lack of conventionality and organisation in the old man’s life: he takes life as it comes to him as patiently as possible. The loose rhythm pattern could be said to be present to show that the rhythm of life is still in this old man, though it is a rhythm which is slower and less structured than in the case of others. The rhythm follows a loose iambic structure throughout the poem, but, in the last part of the poem, where the old man talks of visiting his dead son, this changes slightly, with the endings becoming feminine endings; “A last leave of my son, a mariner, Who from a sea-fight has been brought to Falmouth,

And there is dying in an hospital” 

This makes the ending of the poem more final, more noticeable, especially due to the finality of the last line, which is sharp and quick. Also, this is the first part of the poem where the subject of death is brought up, and this makes it seem even more final.

The lack of imagery in the poem links with its vocabulary. As many of the few verbs used are physical, ‘travels’, ‘moves’, ‘feels’, going’, the lack of imagery contributes to this and makes the poem seem even more physical. This physicality is used to express the life left in this old man’s soul- a life which is never considered mortal until the mention of the dying son in the last few lines. Also, the many use of nouns describing the old man, such as ‘face’, ‘step’, ‘limb’ ‘composure’, bring the focus of the poem towards him, and the reader gets a clear image of this old man and his composed manner. Although there are very few adjectives and adverbs, those which are used describe the old man; ‘bending’, ‘insensibly’, mild’, settled’ create very powerful images and therefore do not need to be many in number to add to the image of the old man created in the poem. The man’s unnatural calm is accentuated by the constant reference made to it; ‘a man that does not move with pain, but moves / with thought’, ‘insensibly subdued to settled quiet’, ‘all effort seems forgotten’ ‘ Long patience has such composure given’, and this gives a reason for the lack of imagery; there is no need for imagery due to the descriptive nature of the poem.

The little hedgerow birds may ‘regard him not’, but the old man described into his poem commands respect from many due to his acquired patience and calm in life. The serenity with which he approaches the hospital holding his dying son illustrates to us that this man has been through so much tragedy in his life that he is now ready to just accept all of life’s trials and tribulations without letting them affect him too greatly. The mention of his dying son reminds the reader however, that mortality affects us all, and, although it at first seemed unlikely, will in time affect the old man too.

• Use of enjambment draws away from poetic quality- typical Wordsworth
• Vocabulary is simplistic, 1st person narration
• Narrator sets up a literary tension ( a pull) b/w himself and the old Man; an imbalance is created. The narrator sees one thing and the reader sees another. The observer’s view differs from subject’s view (subject = old man)
• Blank verse style offers opportunity for reflective mode
• A detailed list of every aspect of man; offers emphasis on man’s attitude- it is his whole being.
• Syntax also mirrors how narrator sees old man
• The birds are “pecking”; they are more active than the man
• “With thought”- isolated by seizura= emphasis on narrator’s view.
• Old man has attained level of composure; insensibility; a numbness to the world- perhaps due to the weight of his pain.
• Enjambment smooths and elongates poem.
• Reader sees old man’s attitude as resignation of life, the narrator of “patience”- narrator’s words; “patience”, “composure” they are very subjective. Repetition of “patience” emphasises narrator’s views, and increases reader’s doubts.
• “many miles, mariner” – alliteration unites narrative
• Syntax pushes punchline to end of the poem- reader questions narrator’s interpretation of old man’s motives and behaviour.
• Nature conflated with person- typical of Wordsworth (Transcendentalism)- “He is by nature led to peace so perfect”. Subject matter- old people typical of Wordsworth because they evoke sympathy and offer basic, primitive, unadulterated emotions.

Exam Questions

1. Plays which succeed with audiences must communicate some aspects of the thoughts and motivations of characters. How far and by what means have dramatists in your study conveyed the interior lives of their characters?
2. The performance of a play usually offers the audience some interval(s) or relief from dramatic tension.
   Compare and contrast plays which you have studied by discussing the breaks that have been indicated in the action in each play (or the lack of them) and the dramatic effects achieved.
3. Discuss in what ways argument and persuasion are included in literary works you have studied. Compare their effects in the works you choose.
4. The best lack all conviction, while the worst are full of passionate intensity.”
   Consider works you have studied in the light of this statement.
5. “Satire is a sort of glass, wherein beholders do generally discover everybody’s face but their own”.
   How far have you found that the enjoyment of satire or satirical elements in your reading arises from such a view?
6. To what extent, and with what effect, have works in your study incorporated either conflict and/or reconciliation between the values of science and those of art.
7. ‘Plays are written to be acted on the stage, which suggests that plays are likely to be more than simple or abstract statements about issues or themes’.
   Discuss plays you have studied in the light of this view.
8. How far and in what ways do plays you have studied support the idea that communication between human beings is difficult or perhaps impossible?
9. A recent review of a new play said ‘…..it appears to be set in the mind of the characters.’
   This is a useful reminder that the setting of a play is not simple part of the drama. Compare and contrast the ‘settings’ of plays you have studied to explore some of the different uses dramatists have made of them.
10. Drama is often an expression or investigation of power: characters can, at different moments in the play, be oppressors or victims, dominant or subservient, users and used. In terms of power and its effects, discuss three or four characters from plays you have studied, and say what this power play adds to the play as a whole.
11. Compare the endings of two plays you have read and discuss their impact on the play as a whole.
12. How would you define the dramatic style of two of the plays you have studied and what is the relation between the style and the situation portrayed?

Notes on ‘My Father’

• Black culture (descriptive)
• 4th paragraph is visual, musical
• 2nd paragraph alliteration
• line 13 alliteration
• first line alliteration
• no punctuation, enjambment- prosaic. However, they are structured and always begin with ‘For’.
• Illustrates family relations in Black culture
• ‘X’ shows little education
• Contrast of strong and sweet, illustrating ambiguity of emotions
• Verbs strong and in the present tense; he is reliving his memories
• Title: as if poet is proud of his father
• Proudness leads to negativity at the end of most of the stanzas
• Nouns very descriptive, vivid.
• No rhyme/rhythm
• They’re proud but jealous
• Imposing, charismatic presence in society
• Train of thought, stream-of-consciousness
• Possible distancing of poet to father, no mentioning of ‘my father’ after title
• Ambiguity- love/hate, resentment because of the need to part from love and admire, and the potential for that
• Use of periodic sentences at the end of the stanza
• ‘He made’ can have 2 meanings: forcing / reacting…. It becomes more sinister as the poem progresses.

Essay Examples

Q) “In the modern world of disorder, the focus of 20th century is not on events, but on the states of mind of the human beings involved in these events.’

How far did plays you have studied support this statement, and how, in each case, is the focus of the play constructed?

Notes Top Girls

• State of mind of Marlene- she thinks she’s achieved
• Male, phallocentric, boom-boom-boom mentality
• Women try to be like men-trucker girl
• Women following men’s orders without questioning- Isabella
• Joyce having the opposing view, creating the dialectic
• Marlene thinking the sacrifice of her daughter in the name of her career
• No real events; all events contribute to state of mind
• The play isn’t about events, it is about the collusion of women to male-dominated society, and how many fail to realise their mistake in choosing male aspects over womanhood. Showing mindset emphasises this.
• Historical figures show how mentalities haven’t changed

Waiting For Godot

• No events whatsoever, same shit all the time
• We see the way they try to fill time with meaningless
• We see how silence scares them because it makes them think
• Their dependency on one another / Lucky and Pozzo relationship
• Realisation towards the end about absurdity of life
• Lack of events contribute to the play
• State of mind / repetitive things / cliches all emphasise Beckett’s message: “Life is absurd. ‘Tis but chance and is only what you make of it, you have to create meaning.”

Plan

Intro-

• Both Top Girls and Waiting For Godot support this statement considerably, with the main idea being to deliver the message with this
• Top Girls focuses on women’s collusion / adopting male mentality / how things haven’t changed- no real ‘events’ as such
• WFG shows states of mind, how they react to different things to mimic us, the lack of events help us see how events occur if we don’t make them.

TG-

• Women have adopted male mentality
• They follow orders (historical figures / ‘Top Girls’ agency
• They believe they have achieved
• Joyce shows opposing view
• Churchill intervenes, shows us a balance must be found
• We see the problem
• “The play isn’t about events……” etc

WFG-

• No events, just repetitive actions
• Causes them to do things like: Meaningless conversations

Silences and their effects Dependency on each other

• Lucky- Pozzo relationship: God reference
• Realisations of V and E
• Audience’s realisations
• All of this emphasises message (see notes)

Conc- In both cases, the focusing on the ‘state of mind’ allows for the message to be effectively delivered. There is no real plot in either play, no climax etc. The playwrights use the protagonists to illustrate the states of mind which are undesirable in order to show us what is desirable.

Q) A critic once wrote ‘the best way to set people thinking is not to tell them what to think.” Discuss plays in light of this remark.

Notes

TG-

• We see different sides of the dialectic through contrasting characters, e.g. Marlene and Joyce, and make up our own minds.
• Historical figures make us see Churchill’s viewpoint, as do women such as waitress / trucker girl / dependent woman. We are not told what to think, but Churchill supports her viewpoint. Bombshell in last act and powerful ending scene forces us to think to.
• Structure and ending significant
• Title insulting. They are not girls. It undermines and suggests that they have not yet risen to maturity.
• Characters adopt the make model: image

thought lifestyle attitude

• Average: daily life
• Characters: waitress

trucker girl (trying to emulate) Joyce vs Marlene (representatives of political states) the historical women (they are one-offs, the ‘average’ woman is like the waitress: subservient)

• Angie. Joyce both helps and destroys her.
• Structure: episodic / dialectic/ vaginality
• Menstrual scene: motherhood.

WFG-

• Like TG, we are shown what Beckett thinks, not told it
• V and E mimic us so that we can see the points being made, but are not told to accept them
• Endless repetition / Pozzo and Lucky show us other aspects etc
• Existentialist viewpoint- life is absurd- shown through Beckett’s eyes
• Play has no resolution, it ends on nothing after no plot, no climax, no nothing. Audience is forced to think, but not told to.

Q) Consider how playwrights make characters speak, and say how language and tone of these scripts contribute to each play as a whole.

WFG-

• Repetitive, circling language shows meaningless, how we fill our lives.
• Bullshit leads to silences
• Phatic language mocking us and the absurdity of life
• Lucky’s mockery of academia
• Cliches show presence and inevitability of death
• Shows man absurdity of his existence
• Short, under-developed exchanges, cliches and phatic language are all metaphors of death: silence / symbolic /satirical: gets the audience involved.
• Pozzo and his orders: metaphors for command
• Lucky’s long monologue- satirical and unpunctuated- death

IBE-

• Cecil repeats Gwendolyn’s words- mockery of situation
• Lady Bracknell very hoity-toity: asks trivial questions etc. Mockery: ignorance, rare fruit

Smoking, occupation

• Language contributes to satire aspect of the play
• Algernon or whatever always being stupidly witty- shows how ignorant upper classes are
• Small woman making diary of her lover etc; makes her look stupid
• Characters speak wittily / ironical / fatuously : focuses on triviality of ‘Earnest’
• Mirroring dialogue: self-mockery
• Language is stylised and this gives rise to the satire, structured ( it gives the laughs): exaggerated, mockery.

Intro- WFG: involvement of audience in meaning-making IBE: Satire of upper classes

Q) Drama is often an expression of power: characters can, at different moments in a play, be oppressors or victims, dominant or subservient, users and used.

In terms of power and its effects, discuss three / four characters from play you have studied and say what this power-play adds to the play as a whole.

    Notes

GODOT

• controls their minds but is never seen- controls them by their contrast
• mistreatment of boy (arbitrary)
• is created by their minds?
• Controls audience expectations: therefore determines shape of play

POZZO / LUCKY

• Lucky in control of Pozzo
• Pozzo in control of Lucky
• Pozzo / Lucky- tied to each other – interdependent
• Link to Godot stuff (mirrors how V and E are tied to Godot)

Intro-

• Dependency of characters on each other charges according to situation – this creates the meaning of the play.
• Pozzo and Lucky obvious starting point, examination reveals paralleling of relationship between V and E and Godot. The whole (of the above) unveils meaning of play.

Para 1-

• Nature of P and L relationship: P in control
• Length of rope
• P constant orders; L chooses to obey (suitcases of sand)
• P abusive to L
• Pozzo appears in control but, when they return, the situation is reversed.

Para 2-

• L in control
• Blind Pozzo

Para 3- Discussion of their being tied to each other

Para 4- Godot controlling their minds but is never seen. It becomes clear that Pozzo can’t exist in his dominant role without Lucky. V and E are controlled by a figment of their imaginations.

Para 5- Interpretation of Beckett’s implication

Para 6- Controls audience expectations (include examples of Boy)