Macbeth ~ Overview

I genuinely enjoyed reading Macbeth, this being my sixth Shakespeare play. Though I prefer comedies to tragedies and Macbeth is an extremely dark work, I discovered a theme that really stood out to me. Because at the time of Shakespeare's play productions a powerful and theatre-loving queen was on the throne, Shakespeare worked to incorporate significant female characters in his plays. In Macbeth, especially, a female played a very import role in keeping the play both interesting and memorable. There are only two female characters in the entire work, the most important being Lady Macbeth, wife of Macbeth. She represents the power of women all throughout the play, moving within her emotional margin without changing her mindset.
Lady Macbeth, for the most part, is an overall stronger character than her power-granted husband. She serves as his advisor, cheerleader and humbler. She pushes him to constantly raise his status in society, like in the beginning when she convinces him to be better than Thane of Cawdor, his current position at the time. Furthermore, she divides a plan for the pair of them to kill King Duncan in order to make Macbeth king of Scotland. The only thing that holds her back from carrying out the dirty deed herself is the fact that emotions overcame her when Duncan's sleeping figure resemble her father. This goes to show that personal emotions are her only obstacle in her goal to "unsex" herself in the sight of men.
Lady Macbeth proves her determination once again when convincing her husband to send murderers to kill Banquo, a man she sees as the only other man who can hold her husband back from being his best. By this action, we can see that she is doing anything she can to give her husband power because she herself, being a woman, has no chance if being as powerful as any man. Other characters such as the three hags stress the weakness of women through the quote "no man born of woman shell defeat you", meaning that anyone who has been associated with a woman and has been touched by the emotions of females is ultimately a weakling. Lady Macbeth is aware if this view of gender-determined weakness, doing anything she can to be the strong, masculine person that she wishes to be, achieving this goal through her own unstable husband.
Though Lady Macbeth's determination and keen mind are admirable, her goal proves harmful to more than just her enemies in the end. The guilt that she suppressed in daylight shone brightest at night, as her acquaintances continuously witnessed her sleepwalking and ringing her hands, the motion of trying to wash blood off if her guilty palms. Not long after her sleepwalking sessions, Lady Macbeth committed suicide not in her sleep, but in broad daylight. To be honest, it was not all that surprising, considering most sane human beings would have done the same FAR before she chose to do so after the terrible crimes she committed alongside her husband.
Overall, Shakespeare did an excellent job presenting the audience with a powerful female character through Lady Macbeth.

The Night Thoreau Spent in Jail ~ Week 2

It was difficult to recognize ironic conversations or situations in the play because Thoreau is such an ironic person in general.  They irony was practically right under my nose; I just had to "hunt for the huckleberries." ;) Anyway, one ironic conversation was when Lydian and Henry were discussing Henry's possible marriage to a woman.  He continuously refused the very thought of living with another person.  I found this very strange because the one who is very alone in life, Henry, wishes to forever be left to himself, while the one with seemingly everything, Lydian, does not feel loved by anyone.  This is the opposite mindset from what we expect from certain types of people.  Another ironic conversation in the play is between Waldo and Henry.  Henry seems to be the one preaching ideas that are worth hearing to Waldo, while lecturing and philosophising is Waldo's job, not Henry's.
I would not sat that Henry's protest proved successful because of the fact that the map changed course and still did not reach its exact destination.  It's one thing if you reach the same goal but take a different path to get there, but Thoreau did not do so.  His ultimate goal was to make a difference by protesting the law, which did not happen at the time.  He may have changed the ideas of a small few, but his point of view was not seen from until many many years later.  He did not stop the war with his protest, which may not have been his ultimate goal.  But he barely made a scratch on the surface of change in the government with his actions (and non-actions) during his lifetime.  Therefore, I would say that the protests of Thoreau did not prove successful in the end.
This should be very fun, since I love the entertainment business.  The actors I have chosen for each role and my reasoning for each are as follows:

#1- Henry David Thoreau-- Jamie Bell
I picture Thoreau as a young man who looks old from experience and wise thoughts.  Jamie Bell would be able to pull off this look quite well because he can easily transform from a youngster to a man, as Henry does quite often in the play.  I also see Thoreau as a nimble man who can almost float through the fields he studies, as well as he floats through life.  Jamie Bell used to be an avid dancer (as he showed us in Billy Elliot) and could play a frolicking teacher as well as a serious inmate (as he was in Defiance).
#2- Ralph Waldo Emerson-- Dustin Hoffman
Emerson is a brilliant theorist who never fails to express his unique ideas, whether in a lecture or in everyday life.  This characteristic fits almost PERFECTLY with Dustin Hoffman's character in the movie "Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium."  Hoffman seems to match the look of a mad scientist (or in this case, lecturer) which is a vital advantage.  Their random yet brilliant personalities and thoughts go together like a pair of my grandma's knitted socks; perfectly.
#3- Bailey-- Dax Shepard
Bailey, to me, has the look of a man that has great potential, but just needs a bath and some education to realize it.  Dax could fit this look because he has that cut-edge look of someone who just needs a shave, but you can tell that he has a great talent from the way he speaks and carries himself.  Dax could fit the part of someone who is uneducated at first, but molds into someone who begins to recognize how much they can do and strives to learn, as Bailey does.

The Night Thoreau Spent in Jail ~ Week 1

So far I am enjoying the play a lot.  My favorite character is Waldo, because he looks at everything from such a strange perspective that I cannot help but laugh at.  It is very different from any other play I have read, considering I usually only read Shakespeare plays.  This one is a bit easier to follow along with and visualize.  To be honest, I don't completely understand the idea of Transcendentalist thought.  However, many specific quotes from the play envelop the overall principle of this form of philosophy.  The quote I chose was: "Henry: Our own school, John.  No buildings.  Break out of the classroom prison.  All we need is the sky!" (24).  This quote sums up Henry's opinion on the value of knowledge and thought over the value of materialistic things.  He wishes to break free from the modern ideas about what learning should look like, as he believes the most valuable knowledge cannot be learned from other mere human beings.  Nature is the most knowledgeable teacher there is out there, and people often do not realize it.  Society feels that brick buildings that house mortal teachers who know little more than most people, if any at all.  Thoreau knew that the truest information is located outside of man-made walls, and among the beauty of nature.  In nature, everyone walks away with different information and different thoughts, which is much different from a classroom where each student learns the same thing.  Thoreau's way of expressing his opinion on the importance of Transcendentalism is by putting the power of nature into the daily lives of everyday children.
A Perfect Day for Bananafish is a very strange story.  I liked it at first, because the conversation between the mother and daughter reminded me of the random conversations I find myself in when I talk on the phone with my own mother.  I did see comparisons between characters in this short story and those of Catcher in the Rye.  Muriel, the girl at the beginning had similar qualities to Holden.  They both had a somewhat awkward and distant relationship with their parents.  They also seem to spend all of their time productively, according to their own definitions of "productive."  Sybil reminds me of Phoebe in her curiosity and affection towards people.  Muriel's mother reminds me of Holden's teacher who had him over before he left from Pencey, due to their concern for those who are close to them.  Seymour, who I had a hard time connecting to anyone on this planet, reminds me a bit of Holden's old teacher who housed him right before he decided to go home, because they both had strange affections towards children, especially.  Those are the multiple connections I made between the characters in Bananafish and those in Catcher.  That's all for this week!
Sayonara!

Catcher in the Rye ~ Week 2

To start off, I would like to say that I can feel this book is just getting better and better as it goes along. It is impossible for me to get bored reading this, as Holden is a character that grips my attention at every moment.
Holden is a character that I am still trying to figure out as a person. I am usually quite good at being able to read people and their personalities in a matter of minutes, but I guess reading about a person is more difficult. Because of my difficulty in understanding him, it is hard to predict what he will do next. This keeps me on my toes as I read along. This also makes it very difficult to put myself in his shoes. If I were to be kicked out of school as myself, I would be too ashamed to show my face to anyone I knew. I would feel like a complete failure and beg my parents for mercy, not expecting to receive any. This is because school is very important to me, as well as my overall success in life. However, being a rich teenage boy with no real interest in school, being expelled would be the last thing I would be worried about. I would do the same thing as Holden, going off to crash on a friends couch for a few days or take a vacation before returning home. For a kid who doesn't quite have his priorities straight, home is not the top place on his list of importance, nor is school.
I would really appreciate having Jane introduced into the story sometime soon, as a real person rather than just a memory. I feel that if I met her in person, I would not be a big fan of her. She seems extremely moody and stuck-up. On the other hand, this IS a parallel to Holden's character, so I can see why he likes her. I can appreciate Holden's unannounced love for Jane. When someone goes out of their way to notice every little detail about a person and doesn't even realize the attention they are paying to that person, THAT is when you know there is love in the air. It sounds terribly cheesy, but it is absolutely true! When Holden rambled on to Stradlater about how she made certain moves in checkers and how she smiles a certain way, that is when I really knew he loved her. I hope she realized how much he felt for her, because he deserved to be loved back after all he went through to keep her in his thoughts. Even a simple action like remembering is a huge gesture of love towards another person.
When Holden states that people are always ruining things for him, I could understand why. His life as a whole has not gone so smoothly, with one brother dying and another becoming a prostitute. He had a terrible group of boys living around him, negatively influencing him all the time. The interactions he has had with people have not been necessarily successful ones, which leads to his belief that his life's falls are due to the actions if other people. I myself have to disagree with his statement that people are "always" ruining things. I choose to blame myself for the tolls taken on my happiness each day. This may be because I have been very self-judgmental since I was in lower elementary school, especially when it came to education. How you grasp the day is up to you; enjoy the decent things that happen to you or point out the bad things. Coming from a family that seemingly had everything, I can see why Holden blames others when something bad happens, because he believes he must not have had anything to do with it. In general, Holden tends to show his pessimist side to the reader.
A time when someone "ruined" something for me was when I was showing off a project that I had been working on for a long time to my friends. One of my friends pointed out a flaw I had made and that I would get marked down on my grade because of that flaw. Though it was true that I had made a small mistake that defied the grading rubric, I spent the entire day prior to handing it in only worrying about that one small problem. Instead of focusing on how great the rest if the project was and appreciating how much work I had put into it, I turned the project in angry with myself for messing up. I look back on it now and realize that I could have accepted the slightly reduced grade and been proud of my work, ignoring the pressure my friends had put on me for messing up.
That's all for this week!
Sayonara!

Catcher in the Rye ~ Week 1

From the first 6 chapters of Catcher in the Rye, I can tell that this should be a very interesting book.  I appreciate how straight forward it is, and the teenager language is one that I can understand easily, as if someone were talking to me.  Unfortunately, the rough teen dialect comes with an excess of foul language, which I hear in the house from my relatives on more than one occasion (don't tell my mother I said that).  I can, however, get over the frequent "goddam"s and whatnot.
Uniqueness is becoming a very important theme in the book, mostly because of the extreme lack of it.  Holden is surrounded by an extreme about of unintelligent jocks (from what I have observed) and seems to not be too upset about flunking out.  We can easily blame part of these stone feelings on the fact that he was expecting the grades he got, but I also believe that he strives to just get out of Pencey Prep, like any sensible young man would.  Though he may not have realized his true intentions yet, I can tell that inside he wants to go off into a world that does not have boundaries made of dorm room walls or campus sidewalks.  His head doesn't know what to think, but his heart is pulling him towards "the Jungle" of mystery, where he can find himself, his individuality.  Being unique is standing aside from others, being able to say why you can be observed as an individual. 
This quality of individuality seems to fade in the adult world.  Not disappear completely, just fade.  One could argue that people going off and finding careers of their own is an example of a person finding a job that fits them individually.  However, in our economy, choices are often reduced, and people are pushed into living a life that doesn't quite match their personality.  I have noticed that Holden has the opportunity, because he is not an adult quite yet, to find both individuality AND adulthood.  His case probably does not apply to many people his age, because he is forced to grow up in a matter of three days, or however long this book lasts.  I do believe, however, that teenagers have the opportunity to build character in their journey to adulthood, whether they take that opportunity or not. 
I would say that my favorite person (that I know) would be my best friend, Sarah.  She is always fun to be around, no matter what kind of crazy mood we are in.  She is my most loyal friend and is simply there to catch me when I fall (figuratively, of course).  She is open to my slightly insane ideas and sometimes accepts them.  For example, she has taken my love for opera and Korean pop music and made it her own.  Overall, I am thankful to have a person like her around, and I couldn't ask for a better friend. 
Holden's relationship with his little brother was one that touched my heart.  They were loyal and always picked out the best in each other.  Even after Allie was gone, Holden remembered him for the great little boy he once was.  Allie was always able to make Holden laugh, just as Sarah can send me into a giggle fit with just one facial expression.  The only thing keeping Sarah and I from having as strong a friendship as Holden does with Allie is the fact that we aren't family members and neither one of us is passed away.  We do, however, trust each other the way that the brothers did. I can only hope that Sarah and I have as strong a friendship as we do now later on in our life, when we eventually part ways.
That's all for this week,
Sayonara!

Frankenstein ~ Week 4

It is honestly quite difficult to sum up my feelings on the last part of the book. I was shocked as to how much emotion the monster shows In the end. He goes on a wild killing spree due to Victor's refusal to make a female version of the monster. First, Clerval is killed. Then Elizabeth is killed on their wedding day; it's terribly sad. Worst of all, the monster regrets killing those closest to Victor only AFTER Victor has died, eliminating the chance for anyone to apologize. I wish Victor had done one of two things when he had the opportunity to: kill the monster, or follow through with female monster. This way, there would be some peace when there was able to be.
Another moment of emotion that shook me was when the monster appeared on Victor's deathbed with tears spilling from his eyes. This made me wonder, was the monster really running away from his creator, or was it leading him on? If it were truly running away, you would thing he would not dare to return to his master's whereabouts. This could be observed more closely, but that is not entirely what I was focusing on. I was honestly (and still am) disturbed by the rampage of death that the monster went on, taking no consideration of the emotions of others, only the pain of his creator. And what was all if this murdering for? Victor's dropping if a promise to make the monster a female counterpart. How foolish. I understand, a creature so lonesome and original in the world longs only for someone to be able to connect with. But such a creation requires years and years of work, a research that might last longer than Victor's own life. A punishment involving the murder of a lore and a best friend is far more painful than any such punishment should be.
The actions if both the monster and Victor have unfailingly upset me, and I am not quite happy with the book's ending, which continues to resemble "Hamlet" immensely. In the well-known Shakespeare play, the final scene is a fantastic performance of revenge and squalor which ends in a flourish of death. By the very end, every major character in the play is dead, except for Hamlet's servant and Prince Fortinbras. it us quite an unfortunate ending, but an unforgettable one, no less.
These are my feelings about the end if Mary Shelley's "Frankenstein".
Sayonara!

Frankenstein ~ Week 3

Though these next few chapters began quite uneventfully, I continue to be surprised by the monster's intelligence.  He admits that he learned to read, which in such a short amount of time is quite shocking.  I was amazed to see him talking about his self-discovery of becoming a monster, and how he now sees him self as an isolated creature in society.  It is quite sad, as the monster has so much potential that is now lost to his truthful sorrow.  This tells me that humans often let themselves down and ignore their own potential due to appearance and social status. 
I see Mary Shelley's over all story as both interesting and unrealistic.  I admit, it is hard to make a story that IS realistic while attention-grabbing, but I had higher expectations for this book.  It is the same with the scene of the monster rising from the dead; the scene was literally approximately five sentences in length.  I was thinking the whole time, how blunt. 
The monster's human-like features continue to support the idea of "nature vs. nurture" through his learning process.  He simply observes the villagers and learns about emotions like joy and despair.  I found it almost humorous when he read Paradise Lost in belief that it was a historical record.  I am impressed that he could comprehend such a work of literature, as I am working up the courage to attack the exact same work.
I took some time to reflect on the event of the monster finding Victor's journal papers and reading his thoughts on his creation.  It made me think about the pain he must have felt from this, learning that your own maker despises the very thought of you.  That would be like my mother wrinkling her nose up in disgust every time I approached her being or her mind.  How awful.  But then I saw it from Victor's perspective, as the creator.  My thoughts on this are that one thing is worse than having a deep hate for something or someone.  And that thing is the pain you feel when the person or thing finds out about the hate you have for it.  I have experienced this pain before, I'm sorry to say.  This happens to be the part of the book that I have connected the most with so far, and it is a wonderful part, despite its sadness.
Well, those are all of my feelings so far on Mary Shelley's Frankenstein.
Sayonara!