World War I- The Great War, as it was known at the time, since they didn't know about World War II, and probably hoped that it would never happen again, forever changed the modern world. Not only in terms of warfare used, such as tear gas and trench warfare, but also in the all-encompassing scope of the people affected. Because Britain was so involved in the war, members of all classes were brought in to fight. Specifically, upper classes that had never before seen battle. But what really impacted life on the Western Front was a uniting culture of literature, a shared interest in the great writers of the time, that made communicating and expressing themselves easier. It is hard to imagine this as the United States doesn't really have the same shared literary interest as Britain had at any point, but the point is that this shared culture made communicating their experiences easier, and inspired a great many writers and poets to record their thoughts about the war as they sat in the trenches, preserving their perspectives for generations to come.
The Great War brought an irony and cynicism to modern life that had been missing before. The enemy had been effigied and exaggerated to the point where they became caricatures of themselves. This was to demonize the opponent and make the soldiers feel ok, morally speaking, about killing men who had hopes and dreams and families. There became a greater widespread belief in fate and destiny, as it was hard to think that life was under control on the front lines, when it could so easily be taken away by a stray bullet or piece of shrapnel.
Sunday, June 22, 2008
Blog 19- Elizabeth Barrett Browning
Number 43 of Sonnets from the Portuguese is very familiar. "How do I love thee? Let me count the ways..." is perhaps one of the most famous lines from a sonnet ever. But less well known is the rest of the poem, which is beautiful in its own right. It talks about loving, "thee to the depth and breadth and height My soul can reach," this is a love so compete and consuming that rarely is it experienced. In fact, I would say that Browning was lucky to have been so inspired by love that she needed to record it forever in a sonnet that would be endlessly quoted by those trying to emulate the same feeling of love, but without the eloquence and originality she possessed.
Number 21 also has a theme of love, though its message is more clear and common. Browning says, "Say over again, and yet once over again, That thou dost love me. Though the word repeated should seem "a cuckoo song," as thou dost treat it," which really conveys the fact that the more something is said, the less meaning it has. It makes sense to me, because while the love talked about in Number 43 is true and rare, the problems with love talked about in Number 21 is more common, flawed, and something that probably a lot more people experience. It seems that people either love you more than you love them, or they try and be earnest, but end up saying the words so frequently that they lose all meaning.
Number 21 also has a theme of love, though its message is more clear and common. Browning says, "Say over again, and yet once over again, That thou dost love me. Though the word repeated should seem "a cuckoo song," as thou dost treat it," which really conveys the fact that the more something is said, the less meaning it has. It makes sense to me, because while the love talked about in Number 43 is true and rare, the problems with love talked about in Number 21 is more common, flawed, and something that probably a lot more people experience. It seems that people either love you more than you love them, or they try and be earnest, but end up saying the words so frequently that they lose all meaning.
Saturday, June 21, 2008
Blog 18- Virginia Woolf
Woolf was one of the foremost female writers of the 20th century. She managed to transform the modern English literature. Woolf wrote a magazine article called The Lady in the Looking-Glass: A Reflection. "One could not help looking" This makes it sound like if you hang a mirror somewhere where there is a lot of foot-traffic, people would of course look into it. It seems like people only care about their outside appearances and that they are always fussing about their look. If we keep just focusing about the way we look, we will miss part of the important things in life and no gain any morals. However, the social and psychological conditions make life bearable. Without our looks and friends and the drama, life would be boring.
A Room of One's Own talked of women and fiction and what that means. Woolf came up with possible explanations: "women and what they are like...the fiction they write...the fiction written about them...or all three inextricably mixed together" Woolf goes on to explain that she could not come up with a answer because it would be more of an opinion than a fact. The title of the essay comes from the line "a woman must have money and a room of her own if she is to write fiction" I didn't really understand this essay, it was about women and how they live, I think but I'm not too sure about it. It was just confusing to me.
A Room of One's Own talked of women and fiction and what that means. Woolf came up with possible explanations: "women and what they are like...the fiction they write...the fiction written about them...or all three inextricably mixed together" Woolf goes on to explain that she could not come up with a answer because it would be more of an opinion than a fact. The title of the essay comes from the line "a woman must have money and a room of her own if she is to write fiction" I didn't really understand this essay, it was about women and how they live, I think but I'm not too sure about it. It was just confusing to me.
Blog 17- T.S. Eliot
His biography says that Eliot was one of the dominant forces in English poetry of the 20th century. It was like if you got a good review from him, you must be really good. His presence was enough to make him a cultural icon and be a role model for the younger poets.
The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock's footnote tells us that the poem references Dante's Inferno. "Let us go then, you and I, When the evening is spread out against the sky" If the evening is spread out against the sky, it might be talking about the end of life. The evening being spread against the sky would be like maybe the evening is newly happening or that the person doesn't want the day to end. "And indeed there will be time to wonder, "Do I dare?" and "Do I dare?"" The person, Eliot or someone else, is asking if he should risk doing something different. Maybe the character wants to break out of their shell or boring life and do a spectacular stunt. "Do I dare disturb the universe? In a minute there is time for decisions and revisions which a minute will reverse" The man wonders if he should do what he wants or if it will mess up the order of things. He also says that if he takes a minute to think or try it, maybe he can reverse it if it goes wrong.
The Journey of the Magi says its about the journey the Wise Men made to Jerusalem to see baby Jesus. "We had evidence and no doubt. I had seen birth and death, But had thought they were different; this Birth was hard and bitter agony for us, like Death, our death" It says that the Birth was hard and bitter agony, meaning that because they truster God so much, they knew what the child would go through throughout his life. It seems that because they knew of his greatness, their Wise Men title would be thrown out and not count for much since the Messiah was now born. So, their position would die.
The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock's footnote tells us that the poem references Dante's Inferno. "Let us go then, you and I, When the evening is spread out against the sky" If the evening is spread out against the sky, it might be talking about the end of life. The evening being spread against the sky would be like maybe the evening is newly happening or that the person doesn't want the day to end. "And indeed there will be time to wonder, "Do I dare?" and "Do I dare?"" The person, Eliot or someone else, is asking if he should risk doing something different. Maybe the character wants to break out of their shell or boring life and do a spectacular stunt. "Do I dare disturb the universe? In a minute there is time for decisions and revisions which a minute will reverse" The man wonders if he should do what he wants or if it will mess up the order of things. He also says that if he takes a minute to think or try it, maybe he can reverse it if it goes wrong.
The Journey of the Magi says its about the journey the Wise Men made to Jerusalem to see baby Jesus. "We had evidence and no doubt. I had seen birth and death, But had thought they were different; this Birth was hard and bitter agony for us, like Death, our death" It says that the Birth was hard and bitter agony, meaning that because they truster God so much, they knew what the child would go through throughout his life. It seems that because they knew of his greatness, their Wise Men title would be thrown out and not count for much since the Messiah was now born. So, their position would die.
Friday, June 20, 2008
Blog 16- William Butler Yeats
No Second Troy was about comparing a woman he knows to Helen of Troy. The lady is really beautiful but she is so pretty that she makes everyone lives miserable. "Have taught ignorant men most violent ways" She causes people to fall in love with her and they tortures them because they do not know they are being played. I think that some women feel like they have to do this to men to get their attention, however, I think that it would just make them mad. "Why should I blame her that she filled my days with misery" The guy doesn't even know she is faking her feelings. He thinks its his fault he is sad, not hers.
Who Goes With Fergus? seems like it could be about multiple topics. "Young man, lift up your russet brow, and lift your tender eyelids, maid, and brood on hopes and fear no more." To me this says that when you are in love, you stop thinking so much about your hopes and fears. You tend to think of the other person and your new future. "And no more turn aside and brood upon love's bitter mystery" This poem is trying to get us to stop worrying about finding love and just let life's destiny take its course.
The Lake Isle of Innisfree talked about the saying home is where the heart is. "I will arise and go now, and go to Innisfree...and live alone in the bee-loud glade...I hear it in the deep heart's core" Even though the main character has to live alone and do all the house chores by himself, he likes the place because it is peaceful and he loves living there. He can tell that this place is his home because his heart tells him.
Who Goes With Fergus? seems like it could be about multiple topics. "Young man, lift up your russet brow, and lift your tender eyelids, maid, and brood on hopes and fear no more." To me this says that when you are in love, you stop thinking so much about your hopes and fears. You tend to think of the other person and your new future. "And no more turn aside and brood upon love's bitter mystery" This poem is trying to get us to stop worrying about finding love and just let life's destiny take its course.
The Lake Isle of Innisfree talked about the saying home is where the heart is. "I will arise and go now, and go to Innisfree...and live alone in the bee-loud glade...I hear it in the deep heart's core" Even though the main character has to live alone and do all the house chores by himself, he likes the place because it is peaceful and he loves living there. He can tell that this place is his home because his heart tells him.
Blog 15- John Stuart Mill
According to the biography, Mill was a radical advocate. He was helping get sexual equality, he right to divorce, universal suffrage, free speech, and proportional representation. He founded the Utilitarian Society to get some sort of revenge at his father for making him grow up with an absence of love and in the presence of fear. Mill had made changes to legislation in his run in Parliament, a century ahead of American Lawyers, he got the legislation to be change to nonsexist terms.
Mill wrote books and essays about his thoughts and ideas. In On Liberty, he talked of "liberty of the press". Mill wanted to make it free to talk or write what you pleased. He thought that it was fine to state your opinion or keep it to yourself. He also thought that if you were to force someone to not give their opinion, then you were not telling the full truth. In Chapter 3 of On Liberty, Mill was advocating individuality. He was trying to get people to be more unique and free to do what they pleased. He said that there were two requisites to being an individual: "freedom and a variety of situations" and those make "individual vigour and manifest diversity." We have definitely achieved diversity and originality in present time. Maybe we have gotten past just standing out and now we have moved onto being crazily different from others.
He also wrote The Subjection of Women, and in that he was volleying for equal rights. "the present system, which entirely subordinates the weaker sex to the stronger, rests upon theory only; for there never has been trial made of any other" If things had started out with the women being in place of the men and the men being the weaker sex, people would start trying to get men to be equal to women. We technically do not know if women could be the stronger sex because it hasn't been tried.
Mill wrote books and essays about his thoughts and ideas. In On Liberty, he talked of "liberty of the press". Mill wanted to make it free to talk or write what you pleased. He thought that it was fine to state your opinion or keep it to yourself. He also thought that if you were to force someone to not give their opinion, then you were not telling the full truth. In Chapter 3 of On Liberty, Mill was advocating individuality. He was trying to get people to be more unique and free to do what they pleased. He said that there were two requisites to being an individual: "freedom and a variety of situations" and those make "individual vigour and manifest diversity." We have definitely achieved diversity and originality in present time. Maybe we have gotten past just standing out and now we have moved onto being crazily different from others.
He also wrote The Subjection of Women, and in that he was volleying for equal rights. "the present system, which entirely subordinates the weaker sex to the stronger, rests upon theory only; for there never has been trial made of any other" If things had started out with the women being in place of the men and the men being the weaker sex, people would start trying to get men to be equal to women. We technically do not know if women could be the stronger sex because it hasn't been tried.
Thursday, June 19, 2008
Blog 14- Felicia Hemans
In Hemans' poem The Homes of England, she talks of how beautiful they are and how perfect they look. I don't think this shows how she truly felt about marriage and houses (families). The biography said that she thought all men were unreliable and that she didn't really do any of the household duties people thought women should do. "Where first the child's glad spirit loves its country and its God." This line made think that the first house you live in or your parents house, is your home. It doesn't matter if you have your own home or apartment. Where ever your parents live is what you love the most. Hemans makes the Homes of England seem so peaceful in this line: "Solemn, yet sweet, the church-bell's chime floats through their woods at morn"
In the poem Woman and Fame, it seems Hemans is talking of herself and what fame has done to her. "Thou hast a charmed cup, O Fame! a draught that mantles high, and seems to life this earthly frame above mortality" Actually, this could be true to all celebrities. Some people can resist the problems that fame produces. However, others just get one taste of the fame from the charmed cup, and they go crazy. People think that being famous is all fun and games and that those people lead charmed lives. Really they are just doing their jobs and trying to please us.
I happened to read the Companion Reading by Francis Jeffrey and he says "women, we fear, cannot do everything; nor even everything they attempt. But what they can do, they do, for the most part, excellently..." After reading what he had to say, I appreciate the steps that were taking to make women more equal in the world we live in today. I think he was trying to compliment Hemans, but it came out a bit harsh against women.
In the poem Woman and Fame, it seems Hemans is talking of herself and what fame has done to her. "Thou hast a charmed cup, O Fame! a draught that mantles high, and seems to life this earthly frame above mortality" Actually, this could be true to all celebrities. Some people can resist the problems that fame produces. However, others just get one taste of the fame from the charmed cup, and they go crazy. People think that being famous is all fun and games and that those people lead charmed lives. Really they are just doing their jobs and trying to please us.
I happened to read the Companion Reading by Francis Jeffrey and he says "women, we fear, cannot do everything; nor even everything they attempt. But what they can do, they do, for the most part, excellently..." After reading what he had to say, I appreciate the steps that were taking to make women more equal in the world we live in today. I think he was trying to compliment Hemans, but it came out a bit harsh against women.
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