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Literary scrapbook. Classic English Litereture
Literary scrapbook
Classic English Literature
Literature connection
Shakespeare’s use of irony is very clear in Othello as was in his other literary works. In this particular play, Shakespeare employs the use of three kinds of irony. These include verbal, situational and dramatic irony. Verbal irony is a situation where a character says words that are in contrast to that character’s intention. Situational irony is when a given action of a character is in contrast to the characters actual intentions. Dramatic irony occurs when the audience knows something about the character that the character does not seem to know (Colebrook 45). Shakespeare has used too much of this to make Othello the tragedy it is.
An Instance of verbal irony is like when Lago incriminates Cassio of having an affair with Desdemona, the wife of Othello. Lago says “I cannot think it that he would steal away so guilty-like (Shakespeare 56).” Lago is determined to make Othello jealous by making him believe that Cassio is having an affair with Desdemona. Most of Lago’s statements are meant to have Othello believe how Cassio is evil which the exact opposite of what he is is. Lago is careful though not to mention Cassio’s name but only utters statements that Othello interprets based on his own understanding. The dramatic irony that unfolds here is that Othello is made to believe what is actually not true. The actual enemy here is Lago but Othello does not seem to see this despite Desdemona’s efforts to make him see. The main aim of Lago is to remove Cassio in his place, but instead, Cassio is promoted to a higher position sabotaging Lago’s plan (Shakespeare 78).
Modern connection
There are many instances of irony in this play, but the strongest which revolves on the main theme of jealousy is “O, beware, my lord, of jealousy! It is the green-eyed monster, which doth mock the meat it feeds on (Shakespeare 67).” This is probably the phrase that really brings out the irony in this play. The main reason why Lago was telling all those lies about Cassio and Desdemona was because of jealousy. Lago is so jealous of Cassio and so bent on getting the place in the army that Cassio holds. Lago is jealous that Othello could promote a younger man to a higher level than him. He thus plans to use Rodrigo a rich man who Desdemona, the wife of Othello had turned down his hand in marriage. Othello thinks that Lago is loyal to him but in actual sense he is not. Lago tries to cause a rift in everyone’s life while pretending to be a very royal soldier. He is only bent at achieving his own end inspite of anyone. He ends up killing his wife who she believes was against his plans. This was before Lago had used his wife to betray Desdemona, who was her friend unknowingly. He had her pick Desdemona’s handkerchief which she had received from Othello as a present. Lago later uses this handkerchief to implicate Cassio convincing Othello that Desdemona was actually having an affair. He also convinces Rodrigo to kill Cassio, but he eventually kills Rodrigo himself when the attempt to kill Cassio fails. He kills Rodrigo of who they were plotting together since Cassio discovers that it was Rodrigo who had attacked him. That could have been detrimental to Lago’s plans.
Othello’s dramatic irony can be related to Forrest Gump, an American romantic comedy that has elements of drama in it. Forrest Gump, the main character is unaware of the historical significance of the various scenarios as well as the characters (Ebert 234). The audience though knows all this and is a step ahead of him. They thus watch in anticipation to see what his moves would be.
Personal connection
In relation to Shakespeare, I have learned that irony is not only inherent in the characters utterances, but also in the very actions of the characters. The plot of a work and the relation of the characters bring out the literary style of dramatic irony. Literary dramatic irony is according to me very effective in holding on to the attention of the audience. This is evident with the success of both Othello and Forrest Gump.
Works cited
Colebrook, Claire. Irony. London: Routledge, 2004. Print.
Ebert, Roger. Roger Ebert’s Four Star Reviews—1967-2007. Kansas City: Andrews McMeel
Publishing, 2008. Print.
Shakespeare, William. Othello; The RSC Shakespeare. (Ed). Jonathan bate and Eric Rasmussen.
New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2009. Print.
A Midwife Tale, A Book By Laurel Thatcher Ulrich
A Midwife Tale, A Book By Laurel Thatcher Ulrich
A Midwife Tale, a book by Laurel Thatcher Ulrich revolves around the life of Martha Ballard; a midwife in the Northern New England. In this book, Laurel examines the early American republic and the ordinary life of people living there. Moreover, she reminds us of the women role in households and society. On the other hand, New York Burning by Jill Lepore, recounts and recreates the budding New York City of the late seventeenth century. She shows and explores the political and social life of people living in the region at that particular time. This essay seeks to compare the different methodologies used by Laurel Thatcher in A Midwife Tale and by Jill Lepore in New York Burning.
A Midwife Tale utilizes the qualitative research methodologies to exemplify the eighteenth and nineteenth History and Culture in the American Human societies. Significant events have been shown either by the use of written and even oral histories as acknowledged by citizens living within a given era and society. Oral histories are usually in the form of legends, songs and myths delivered orally. Written histories on the other hand, often take the form of recorded journals, diaries, written narratives and official documents retrieved from a particular period in history.
More often than not, written histories are utilized because they provide more of the physical evidence required to substantiate the events in a given story. Laurel Ulrich has utilized the written histories to analyze the lives of women in the seventeenth and nineteenth centuries. Particularly, she has based most of her work on the Diary of Martha Ballard. Through this diary, Laurel reveals the experience and lifestyle in the eighteenth century from Ballard’s and society perspective. Ulrich puts more emphasis on Ballard’s accounts of life and their importance because she considers Ballard’s diary as monument to an extraordinary life and evidence to the fragile network that links one generation to others. Additionally, the diary also makes it possible for readers to see the image and personality of Ballard as knowledgeable and science oriented lady.
Though New York Burning utilizes the qualitative methodologies, Lepore’s work is based on a journal. By necessity, she draws most of her research work from a journal written by Justice Daniel Horsmanden; a New York Supreme Court Judge. The document was written in the year seventeen forty four and it described as the most shocking and annoying documents in the early history of the American people. By adding political and cultural context to the journal, Lepore raises questions on whether conspiracy really existed or it was the blind fear that resulted in guilty verdicts for very many American slaves. Using the journal, Lepore not only confronts us with an awful conclusion, but also provides us with some background on the origin of attitudes of the whites living in New York towards all their slaves.
All in all, this essay has focused on two books; A Midwife Tale and New York Burning which remind us of the History of the American people. They remind us on the value of humanity to human lives and the importance of women to the society therefore the need to uphold and respect them.
Bell Hooks Response Understanding Patriarchy by Bell Hook
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Bell Hooks Response
Understanding Patriarchy by Bell Hook is an article that sheds light on the system that was institutionalized in our lives that assign males and females their gender roles while emphasizing what is expected of us according to our gender. While this article foundation is from the author’s experience in the fifties these dominant roles are still existing in our society. According to the author, patriarchy is a political-social system that enforces the dominance of men who are supposedly superior to women (pg. 10). The discussion below will focus on my view about various issues discussed in the article while evaluating whether they are evident in our society today and what can be done.
To begin with, I agree with most of the ideas that the author presents in this article. Firstly, the fact that it is believed that men should be the head of the household while the women only serve as their helper (pg. 1) is a sickening issue since it has led to not only most of the violence that is experienced in the marital households but that women continue staying in those marriages since that is the order of things. In addition, the author talks of what the therapist son who loved to play with the Barbie dolls until his brother’s friend gave him a look that suggested others, (pg. 2) the gender reveal we have today reinforce this as we have already picked that a girl color to be pink and a boys’ blue. What happens when the girl tends to be more masculine than she is feminine and vice versa? The author’s childhood story of the beating she experienced by showing interest in a game that was considered to be for boys is what is happening today, we have very many teens who are going to depression and even suicide when they feel like an outcast for not conforming to the society ideals (pg. 2). These ideals have been set by this patriarchal system that tends to assign roles based on our gender. Also, the fact that the mother aligned with the father’s action and never questioned the use of violence spirals to why most children from such family setup are either prone to withstand such violence in their marriages or they believe that such violence is the way to go.
Moreover, the idea that even for families who try to raise their children with no patriarchal ideals are bound to stumble upon these ideals in other institutions and tend to either try to conform is being experienced in today’s society. Today we have various families that are supporting their children who identify themselves with LGBT community but when they are out of the home setup they are bound to encounter resistance that in some case lead to some trying to conform. The ones who even end up getting married are bound to experience scrutiny since the male figure should be the dominating one yet what should happen in a gay union? Additionally, the author talks of the assumption about the children brought up in female-headed households either in gay or single-parent situation that they tend to lack various patriarchal ideals (pg. 3). These assumptions I believe are the cause of various marital issues where one partner tends to think that their partner is lacking since he lacked this figure while growing, it is wrong and until we realize that society cannot set up the expectation for us will still remain as victims of the system.
The author goes ahead and talks of the various impacts of the patriarchy system on our lives with the dominant one being the violence not only against partners but also the children. The patriarchy system believes that men should exercise their dominance by any means necessary (pg. 3), this in most cases have resulted in violence both physical and sexual which affects the victims in the long run if not the short run. The mere notion that this dominance can only be achieved by submission and subordination enforces that this system is harmful than it is beneficial and sadly it still today in the society because we do not share on how we as individuals suffer at its hands. Evidently, women are the most treated people with mental illness than men, this is from the patriarchy notion that men are to remain emotional cripples as claimed by the author (pg. 4). The system requires that not only are men to be dominant but also that they have to not show any signs of weakness, this has led to many men’s mental illness going undiagnosed leading to them seeking comfort from substance abuse escalating the even worse situation. In addition, the need for acceptance and respect is in no way related to the need for the patriarchal system, hence it is time that men know that they can be taken seriously without showing their dominance over the others either from their background with patriarchal approving fathers.
As a daughter from a Mexican household that holds masculinity at a high level, I agree in all ways with all the author’s ideas. I am the only daughter in a household of two siblings, the other one being an older male and despite him being older he was allowed to go out while I was expected to do all the house chores if this is not the real depiction of masculinity in the 20th century am not sure what is. Unfortunately, this is an issue that goes across people of different cultures and regions where however young the male siblings are they are expected to take care of the households in the event the father is not around and the ladies they are expected that once they get married they should take care of the families while men are being the provider. While this may seem as men taking responsibility it reflects what the society expects of women; it is time we looked beyond such expectations.
Moreover, the author claims that the activists of feminist contribute to the patriarchal issues we are having today since in their movements they affirm their traits and make them believe that their domination of women is beneficial while in most cases that is not the case (pg.3)Bell also insist that the fact that patriarchal would be beneficial if the addiction and violence we see in most households was not evident, he is backed up by both Terkel and Faludi’s work but he criticizes Faludi’s work since nothing in her works does she try to challenge patriarchy.
Frankly, I could not agree more with the author’s idea that the patriarchy system is one that we should all work towards abolishing and that until we recognize and openly talk about it can we achieve it. Just as the author states that way of solving this will be the recognition that patriarchy is not only a problem for the men but also the female and that it should be seen that it is not only a threat to masculinity but a manifestation of their qualities in a better way. Additionally, the author believes that ones we make the distinction between patriarchal masculinity and masculinity will be one step closer to ending this cycle. Terrence one of the author’s supporters claims that the patriarchy affecting the society is embedded in our psyches and that it tortured both males and females. He adds that this type of patriarchy is what is between what people deem as masculine compared to what people deem as feminine and that entered the western civilization hence, destroying our notion on the various sexes. and our sexes.
In conclusion, most scholars while they continue about this system and its effects in the society it is up to us as individuals to stand up for what is right and destroy this system that while giving men what they think they deserve has led to violence, substance abuse that destroys the same system. Lastly, just like what a favorite cast from the New Amsterdam series states that if we can name it then we can treat, it is time we all openly addresses the patriarchy system by evaluating its impact to the today’s society and the ramifications in the coming years if we let it continue.
Works Sited
Hooks, Bell. Understanding patriarchy. Louisville Anarchist Federation Federation, 2010.