You know when you call your parents and say "I Love You" at the end of the call? Or how they say "I Love You" and you are like:
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Well, Elizabeth Browning knows all about being on the other side of that call. Elizabeth just wants her main man (who I think is her husband Robert Browning) to tell her that he loves her. Not only that, but she wants him to mean it. When she says to her lover "Though the word repeated/ Should seem a "cuckoo song," as dost treat it" (3-4), she is saying that her lover is using the word in the same way that a person might say "Hello" or "Goodbye."
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Someone causally saying that word can be just as destructive as it is validating. When a person starts to feel doubt about if they are loved or not, this can be especially destructive. Browning says, "... amid the darkness greeted/ By a doubtful spirit-voice, in that doubt's pain/ Cry, "Speak once more--thou lovest!"" (8-10). That doubt is perfectly human and encapsulates thoughts that we all have every once in a while.
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Truly loving someone "... in silence with thy soul" (15) is a perfectly reasonable thing to want from anyone you say you love. If you don't really love someone that you say you love, then why would you say it then? wouldn't that just lessen the meaning of love? I like to think that anyone you love and will be loved by will resonate with you. Obviously Browning feels this type of love, but because she will never know the mind of her lover, she will never know what he is thinking. Even though the type of love is different, I would love (Ha!) to leave you with a final quote which says:
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Monday, March 27, 2017
Tuesday, March 21, 2017
Frankenstein: Physical Deformity vs. Monstrosity
In Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, there seems to be an unfair treatment of Frankenstein's creature because of his physical deformity. Since the creature looks scary, then he must be evil.
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Lets consider Victor Frankenstein. Victor is from a well-to-do family and has a beautiful lover in the form of Elizabeth. Victors best friend is Henry Clerval, which is told to be an honorable and decent fellow. Victors outward appearance to the world seems to be good and healthy. But when Victor goes away to school, he becomes obsessed with the teachings of professor Waldman (even though the other professors warn Victor to not do so). This leaves Victor to ponder morally unethical questions that would better be left to a God.
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While Victor believes that creating this race would help mankind, he loses sight of his attempt to play God. His ego drives him to create a creature which he then denies because of its outward appearance rather than its inward substance. Seeing for the first time what he has done, Victor decides to leave the unfortunate creature and abandon it.
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When the creature finds comfort in the DeLacey home's shed, he still had to deal with the shock of his natural deformities. Because the creature knew he scared people, he quietly learned how to read, write, speak, and love others secretly. But when the family sees the creature for the first time, they are in horror because of his appearance. The only one that does not react negatively is old man DeLacey, who is blind.
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When the creature saves a girl from drowning later on in the novel, her fathers appreciation for the creature shows when he gets shot at. All because of his appearance. Doesn't this sound a little TOO familiar?
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The funny thing is that the monster seems to have a gentle heart underneath his wretched exterior. If he could find someone to love, then he will never harm another creature again. The fact that Victor stopped creating the "bride of Frankenstein" because it might create more ugly creatures shows Victors' lack of sympathy for things that he does not deem worthy.
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Lets consider Victor Frankenstein. Victor is from a well-to-do family and has a beautiful lover in the form of Elizabeth. Victors best friend is Henry Clerval, which is told to be an honorable and decent fellow. Victors outward appearance to the world seems to be good and healthy. But when Victor goes away to school, he becomes obsessed with the teachings of professor Waldman (even though the other professors warn Victor to not do so). This leaves Victor to ponder morally unethical questions that would better be left to a God.
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While Victor believes that creating this race would help mankind, he loses sight of his attempt to play God. His ego drives him to create a creature which he then denies because of its outward appearance rather than its inward substance. Seeing for the first time what he has done, Victor decides to leave the unfortunate creature and abandon it.
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When the creature finds comfort in the DeLacey home's shed, he still had to deal with the shock of his natural deformities. Because the creature knew he scared people, he quietly learned how to read, write, speak, and love others secretly. But when the family sees the creature for the first time, they are in horror because of his appearance. The only one that does not react negatively is old man DeLacey, who is blind.
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When the creature saves a girl from drowning later on in the novel, her fathers appreciation for the creature shows when he gets shot at. All because of his appearance. Doesn't this sound a little TOO familiar?
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The funny thing is that the monster seems to have a gentle heart underneath his wretched exterior. If he could find someone to love, then he will never harm another creature again. The fact that Victor stopped creating the "bride of Frankenstein" because it might create more ugly creatures shows Victors' lack of sympathy for things that he does not deem worthy.
Wednesday, March 15, 2017
Romanticism- Not So Romantic?
Byron, Shelley, and Keats are all considered to be masters of the Romatic form. Yet, it seems like all of these authors were incredibly depressed about their position in life.
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Lord Byrons poem about his failed relationship shows no hope for a perfect one. Instead, he talks about how this relationship hurt him from any form of romantic happiness. This seems like not only an unhealthy way of thinking, but also one that does not help him strive for a more medieval form of love.
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Percy Shelley also shows a depressing version of reality. He finds that "Intellectual Beauty," which is a spiritual being of intangible good feeling, is missing from the world. He says that his life purpose is to search for intellectual beauty. I say that without "Intellectual Beauty" being around him, he would have not been able to write "Hymn to Intellectual Beauty." I say that he feels this torment because he isn't looking at things with the Romantic light that he claims to be doing. Percy Shelley sounds entitled.
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Even thoughts all have felt that we weren't fully appreciated for our talents, Keats still sounds like the type of person that complains about their privileged, first world existence. Keats wants to get closer to the nightingale in order to get away from the worry of his own life. He laments about how he wishes he could be like the nightingale because their song is eternal. But the fact that he focuses on not being appreciated enough instead of focusing on the fact that he obtained a good education and decided on this literary life. The fact that he whines about it just makes me mad. First-World problems much?
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Every single one of these gentlemen seems like they have no serious issues. They are all well-educated, healthy, and come from good familial backgrounds. No one forced them to be cynical or make decisions that they ultimately regret or feel unappreciated for. Every bad decision was their own. I totally get why the Realists hated this movement. The life of someone who struggles was heavily romanticized.
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Lord Byrons poem about his failed relationship shows no hope for a perfect one. Instead, he talks about how this relationship hurt him from any form of romantic happiness. This seems like not only an unhealthy way of thinking, but also one that does not help him strive for a more medieval form of love.
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Percy Shelley also shows a depressing version of reality. He finds that "Intellectual Beauty," which is a spiritual being of intangible good feeling, is missing from the world. He says that his life purpose is to search for intellectual beauty. I say that without "Intellectual Beauty" being around him, he would have not been able to write "Hymn to Intellectual Beauty." I say that he feels this torment because he isn't looking at things with the Romantic light that he claims to be doing. Percy Shelley sounds entitled.
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Even thoughts all have felt that we weren't fully appreciated for our talents, Keats still sounds like the type of person that complains about their privileged, first world existence. Keats wants to get closer to the nightingale in order to get away from the worry of his own life. He laments about how he wishes he could be like the nightingale because their song is eternal. But the fact that he focuses on not being appreciated enough instead of focusing on the fact that he obtained a good education and decided on this literary life. The fact that he whines about it just makes me mad. First-World problems much?
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Every single one of these gentlemen seems like they have no serious issues. They are all well-educated, healthy, and come from good familial backgrounds. No one forced them to be cynical or make decisions that they ultimately regret or feel unappreciated for. Every bad decision was their own. I totally get why the Realists hated this movement. The life of someone who struggles was heavily romanticized.
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Monday, March 6, 2017
William Blake and the Cloud of Innocence
What a sweet and happy poem! "Introduction" from William Blake's Songs of Innocence starts with a happy man piping out songs, until a child on a cloud appears.
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The child asks the musician to "pipe a song about a Lamb" (5). A Lamb? Like capitol "L"? are we talking about Jesus here? If so, I can understand why the cloud kid would cry. Jesus did die for our sins, after all.
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Cloud child must have loved his skills because he then asked the man to compose and sing a song right then and there! Good thing that this cherub is basically a muse because no one is THAT talented (unless you were raised by elves, of course).
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So when the child tells the piper to write a book of songs and disappears, instead of having a lot of questions to ask he does this:
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What the heck? How could this piper just pick up a pen and start writing? I would have a lot of questions to ask. Where did the cloud child come from? Why should I not continue performing songs? Was I high? Did I go into a poppy field? These are all valid! Oh well. It was a really sweet and happy introduction to the class.
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The child asks the musician to "pipe a song about a Lamb" (5). A Lamb? Like capitol "L"? are we talking about Jesus here? If so, I can understand why the cloud kid would cry. Jesus did die for our sins, after all.
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Cloud child must have loved his skills because he then asked the man to compose and sing a song right then and there! Good thing that this cherub is basically a muse because no one is THAT talented (unless you were raised by elves, of course).
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So when the child tells the piper to write a book of songs and disappears, instead of having a lot of questions to ask he does this:
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What the heck? How could this piper just pick up a pen and start writing? I would have a lot of questions to ask. Where did the cloud child come from? Why should I not continue performing songs? Was I high? Did I go into a poppy field? These are all valid! Oh well. It was a really sweet and happy introduction to the class.
Sunday, March 5, 2017
Welcome to my Blog
Happy Sunday! This blog is specifically for my English Literature since 1800 class. Fair warning: I use a lot of GIFs.
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I will try my best to make this blog as insightful and interesting as I can. But I know I need to be honest with myself and my opinions, so
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No more apologies! I said all I needed to say.
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Sorry if I am universally hated for that, but I feel like it adds some personality to an otherwise boring blog. Right now that this is the first time I have ever made a blog. So...
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I will try my best to make this blog as insightful and interesting as I can. But I know I need to be honest with myself and my opinions, so
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No more apologies! I said all I needed to say.
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