The next two are totally opposite. “Bisclavret” shows an adulterous relationship in a very negative way. In this lai, there is a happy couple that seem to enjoy each other but end up as enemies. The man is a werewolf but does not immediately share this information with his wife until she keeps bugging him and he feels guilty about not letting her know. After the wife learns of his secret, she refuses to sleep with him anymore and becomes the lover of another man. She then knows that all she has to do is hide his clothes when he is a werewolf and he will then stay as a werewolf. This is where the reader starts to feel true hatred toward this woman because she planned this betrayal on her husband only after he shared all his secrets with her. This lai is different because it is the woman who is being terrible to her husband. He told her all his secrets and instead of trusting him, she ultimately betrayed his trust. Bisclavret does get his revenge though. The King takes him in as a pet until he sees his wife and her new lover and bites her nose off. He gets his clothes back so he is human again, and the greatest revenge that Bisclavret gets is that his former wife’s children are all born without noses. The reader never feels any pity toward the woman even though she does get hurt by her husband because she had nothing but malicious intent against Bisclavret through the entire story. The ending is also like a moral to a fable to show that this behavior is not something anyone should ever…
The word melancholy rarely comes out of people’s mouths, or people are too afraid to admit that there is sadness that goes around them. Society makes sure that this “life” is so happy like tv shows and movies that we don’t face reality. No one wants to face the reality that sadness and depression are growing more and more, but people are hiding behind meditation and antidepressants. There are some people who are starting to embrace their inner sadness. There should someone out in the world who would know you for who you are not what they think, how you appear to them, and having to pretend to feel something you can’t feel.…
Marriage is a broad concept to understand. The concept of marriage can mean different things to different people. Although many people go into a marriage with hopes high, things can still go awry. Even though marriage is a supposed bond for eternity, people can go into a marriage unprepared for what comes with the eternal bond. When one goes into a marriage unready, regret can fill the relationship fast and cause a drastic turn of events. A Secret Sorrow and A Sorrowful Woman are two totally different stories; The former encourages marriage while the latter makes the reader question marriage.…
Gertrude “Ma” Rainey, when described in Blue Legacies and Black Feminism, was seen by Angela Davis as one of the greatest feminist blues musicians of her time. One view that Ma Rainey presented in her songs was her ideas on marriage. Specifically, Rainey feels that getting married shouldn’t be valued over “non or extramarital relationships (pg 16- 20). She feels that, while marriage isn’t a bad thing, overvaluing it to the point of presenting it as a need for women to have is a bad thing (pg 16- 20). She presents this theme in many of her works, but presents it most clearly in her work “Misery Blues”, in which, she presents a women truly oppressed by marriage to the point that she was falsely led to a man who promised her marriage, only to renege on his promise (pg 16). Another reason for her devalued…
In the short story “From a Secret Sorrow” by Karen Van Der Zee a woman who struggles to tell her fiancé a truth that is killing her inside. The story focuses on two main characters, Faye and Kai. Faye is a woman who thought that the world was over for her after finding out she was infertile. Faye had no idea on how to communicate such horrendous news to Kai, her fiancé. She was afraid that her Kai was going to leave her and find someone else. She then started acting weird, nervous, and distanced herself from him. Her fiancé questioned her about a note he found, Faye immediately recognized that it was the note the doctor gave her and with a terrified voice asked “How did you get that?” (31). Finding out that she was infertile made her felt sorrow and like she was the only one who had the right to be upset. She thought that Kai was not going to love her anymore but it was the other way around. Kai seemed like he was really in love with her and cared about her. He wanted to let her know that whatever the problem was she was not alone, that it was not only her problem and that they will work together, then eventually get married. But Faye would not listen, she also loved him so much that she would have rather let him go instead of ruining his life with her knowing she is infertile. She knew he would be extremely disappointed and she told Kai that he had the choice to leave her and marry someone else.…
In Gail Godwin's short story, "A Sorrowful Woman", we are introduced to a woman who just as said in the title, is a sorrowful woman. She is described this way because she has some sort of problem mentally and quite often emotionally. She has a three year old son who, just like any other three year old, wants and needs the attention of its mother. She also has a husband, who is loving and very much devoted to her, her needs, and of course, the needs of their child. His undying loyalty towards her says a lot about marriage. When a married couple takes those vowels "Till death do us part", they should really mean it. Those are the words that people in today's society say too often without enough thought. In the story the husband makes a number of efforts to please his wife. He understands that she is sick and needs help. One evening while she was looking at her husband and child she got sick, sad and for some reason after that she didn't want to see them anymore. She told the husband that she didn't want to see them ever again and he, being the understanding spouse that he was, just asked what she wanted him to do. The author, Gail Godwin, is trying to give examples of how a good marriage should work. The wife was usually grumpy and always wanted something and the husband was always willing to help her and make her feel better. Marriage in a real life situation should be the same way. Just as a couple takes those vowels "Till death do us part", they should be willing to do anything to fulfill those words. The husband in this story probably wouldn't have married the sorrowful woman, had he known that she was going to be like that. But he did, and he kept those words because he did whatever he could to please her. The author just wants the readers to see that marriage is a big step and that no one knows what the future holds. If the marriage doesn't go as expected, you must still keep your words and do right by your spouse, even if it is a sorrowful…
I would like to preface this by saying I am in no way looking for your sympathy, I am writing this to educate you. To show you what it's like because it's not something that is talked about and it's something close to my heart. I have been lucky in the fact that I have a few people in my life who have gone through similar situations to tell me what is normal and what is not. As a lot of you already know this time of year is difficult for me.…
The attitudes of both main characters in the story drastically change during the birth of Lily. The husband goes from frantic and excited to annoyed and stressed while the calm wife had quickly turned into and emotional rollercoaster with an evil witch riding it. This shows through their actions, the wife starts to demand a middle name for the baby immediately while the husband did not understand why they couldn’t wait until the whole…
One of your customers has just said to you, “The service here is terrible.” You should say:…
Thousands on Bikini Island dead, injured, or infected with life changing diseases after nuclear bombing. As an Islander, learning about this event was very upsetting. Many families were forced out of their homes. President Christopher Loeak, the voice of his people demand justice. Due to the nuclear bombing many have to face the difficulties of homeliness.…
Death has been the consequent for the main characters in each of the first four novels read for the course. The protagonist in each of the first four novels; Werther, Rafael, Ivan Ilyich, and K., respectively; met their demise on the final page of their respective novels. All four directly or indirectly were the cause of their painful demise. Werther chose suicide over conforming to the ways of adulthood, and moving further away from nature. Rafael chose to live a life of possessions, and in turn, his inner-self dwindled. Ivan Ilyich alienated himself from those around him, and hid behind the aristocratic social mask. Finally, Joseph K. causes his won demise by being a puppet of society, conforming to all rules, and to his own sense of guilt. Ivan Ilyich was the only character to somewhat remedy the situation before slipping into the darkness of death. In all cases, the actions of the lives of all four protagonists very clearly displayed their weaknesses as characters.…
The Mortal Immortal was quite different than past assigned readings for several reasons. First, it was a short story rather than a long-winded, descriptive novel. This appealed to me because that, in itself, shows a turn to the modern side of literature. Gone are the days of praising the sublime and merely hinting at characters emotions. More presently, audiences want to be quickly brought into the action, and to experience a high level of energy and enjoyment throughout the entire work. The Mortal Immortal is the first story to present this emotional intensity. I believe this is correctly executed through its first person point of view. In other readings, the protagonists was often non-discript and shallow. This choice of narration allows the reader inside the protagonist's head and reveals inner thoughts and desires. In this way, it is much easier to identify and, in the case of Winzy, empathize with. I couldn't help but feel deeply sorry for Winzy and Bertha as their different circumstances caused the aging process to be so painful. In a way, this unrealistic tale does shed light on a true theme. Love is something that most people don't believe they fully understand. In Mortal Immortal, it correctly presents young love as strong infatuation where both partners will stop at nothing to obtain affection. As a married couple ages, love changes again, and in a way, this story is representing that theme. This seemed an interesting choice to me at first, but after looking at it under the gothic heading, I was able to find some gothic themes. First, and most obvious, there is a female entrapped in a castle and oppressed by some higher authority she cannot overcome. Winzy seeks out Bertha just like any hero from the typical gothic novel. Themes of supernatural are present, but seem rather unexplained. I found it interesting that up until this point, most of the assigned readings had endings that answered all previous inquires and explained any…
‘The First Sorrow” is written by Franz Kafka, one of the most influential German author of the 20th century. In this story, the trapeze artist was very childlike. This behavior is evident because he is very anti-social, the manager acted like a parent to him and he burst out in tears at the end of the passage while being comforted by the manager.…
Tragic-Comedy as its name implies is half tragedy and half comedy. The harmonious blending of Tragedy and Comedy is called Tragic Comedy. It is entirely different from Tragedy and Comedy. It is a form by itself. In a Tragedy the function of comedy is to heighten the effect of tragedy. And the tragic background in a comedy will intensify comic effect in a comedy. But a Tragic-Comedy is a separate and unique genre with its own features.…
Someone has written to ask me to contribute to an anthology of stories for children. I reply that I don’t write children’s stories; and he writes back that at a recent congress/book fair/ seminar a certain novelist said every writer ought to write at least one story for children. I think of sending a postcard saying I don’t accept that I “ought” to write anything.…