Honestly, just found this funny. I really hope she wasn’t serious
Shakespeare
(Something has to be wrong with this guy) In Shakespeare’s series of sonnets he loves to compare beauty to nature and by beauty I mean women. If Shakespeare had his way all women would be flowers (well hopefully not because if so they probably wouldn’t get married). But for both his sonnets and Hamlet women are definitely the clear focus. At first I would say that Shakespeare has a positive view of women after reading his sonnets, but after a closer read I wouldn’t think so. After reading I am convinced of his misogyny, granted it may not be entirely his fault but simply the result of the time. From the sonnets I read, 116,1,18, and 29 he always refers to the woman as beautiful and discusses other things such as love. All of this is fine and dandy until the shifts. Here especially in sonnet 1 it seems that he implies that a beautiful woman has to be a kind person as if to say he is stereotyping them. But still I fall to see a true connection between his sonnets and Hamlet mainly because from my interpretation AND RESEARCH the sonnets are supposed to be read as if they were a story. The story split into 3 parts the first describing the woman, possibly a mistress, who he loves but is eventually betrayed. And having only read 4 of the sonnets spaced apart very broadly it isn’t fair to fabricate the man’s views based on fragments. But if the whole sonnet story is true then I can see a connection that would explain his views on women.
Playing the Online Hero, Offline
In the spirit of competition…
1. a) By the end of Hamlet, Hamlet’s actions are not morally justified. To start off, Hamlet doomed himself from the very beginning of the play when he chose to avenge his father. By doing so he committed himself to commit a sin, in addition the very same sin that in result killed his father and the original king slain by his father. Regardless of the motive that whole royal line was built upon a sin and because of his actions was increased exponentially as though unintentionally as they were his anger (another sin wrath) lead to the direct death of Polonius and indirectly Laretes. As a result, since so much was lost as a result of a sin, one that Hamlet showed no desire to be forgiven for himself, his actions are definitely not morally justified. However, Hamlet’s love for his father is to be admired, but his lust(sin) for Ophelia/Gertrude, his hatred for Claudius(sin), and thoughts of his own suicide (thoughts of sin) make him an unlikeable character for me.
b) By the end of Hamlet,Hamlet’s actions are morally justified. To start off, Claudius so wrongfully stole the throne from King Hamlet. In addition, Claudius in his almost death scene showed no remorse, or regret for his actions and played the role of the villian who liked being a villian, which is villiany. In addition, it isn’t apparent that any other cast member was aware of King Hamlet’s murder, and at the very least showed no true emotion or emotional response for the King including his wife, but not including his only son Hamlet. Hamlet’s love for his father is very admirable, and despite his own personal problems decided to seek justice and avenge his father’s murder. Hamlet even goes as far as to eternally damn his uncle, so that he may face true punishment for his crimes by sharing the same fate as the man he killed which is for sure fair. From this the only negative thing that can be said for Hamlet, is that he never makes Claudius guilt public, but perhaps that it appeared that no one really cared.
William Blake
William Blake was quite an interesting fellow. Oddly enough, some of his poems like the chimney sweeper give the impression that Blake may have grown up poor, but no this like many of his other works was the result of things he witnessed during the industrial revolution. In addition, a lot of Blake’s works reflect a religious attitude, but like his writing style is one that was different then the norm during his time period. Blake’s Moravian background had him receive a negative outlook on organized religious institutions such as the catholic church and the church of England, attitudes again shown his chimney sweeper poems. However, a little surprisingly Blake wasn’t very popular during his time as his style of writing was one that didn’t seem to fit that era but after his life his works fitted in more with the Romanticism era which gave him his rise to fame and why this blog post was even made.
Waiting for Godot
Sadly, I hate to say it but I got to say. I like waiting for godot. (gasp) But what I didn’t like was the play. In truth I’m a very visual person, like for every song I hear there is either a story, or non existent music video in my head for each song same goes with books, and this play. I personally envisioned waiting for godot in the manner it was presented, stage setup, character design, and all. But then to the reason I don’t like the play. This is just where what I envisioned isn’t what became the play, by this I mean it didn’t sound the same to me. I read the cover before reading the play and noticed it said tragiccomedy so in my head i pictured a comedy with fast-paced witty dialogue that I found humorous (that’s probably where the problem is). The play was indeed fast paced, but in my head the speed of conversation was closer to that of a south park style kyle and cartman argument very rapid and emotionally charged, AND THOUGH THATS WHAT THE PLAY DID I personally think it was just the direction that made it seem somewhat less emotional and intense making it seem less humorous to me. Honestly, I personally enjoyed reading play more because it actually had me laughing at times versus the “play” which barely got me to smile at it. But one thing that the play did for me was make me realize somehting that i hadn’t when reading. When the live play talked about the evangelicals I got the realization of a void. Its weird because this is how i pictured it when i was reading but i dont think it hit me in the way it did when i HEARD the story again. Though some may think I’m crazy for I dont care I got a feeling i’m on to soemthing on how the evangelicals tie into the characters of the play an i dea i believe is worth investigating.
The Struggle is Real
One thing that I’ve found challenging very recently in fact was the song “Radioactive” Imagine Dragons. But, don’t get me wrong my problem isn’t with the song (entirely) but more of its Grammy winning and nominations for best rock song.LIKE WHAT!!? What I fail to understand or comprehend about the fact that this song won a Grammy at all is beyond comprehension. I personally, like the beat, and the song as a whole is okay, BUT THAT’S THE PROBLEM ITS ONLY OKAY. Like if you’ve ever listened to it the entire song is about 3-4 minutes of a chorus on repeat. Lets take away my opinion out of this, but it really is the chorus on repeat, just how is it this song made it so far, when its lyrics seem to like almost any depth, or true meaning. Like the fact that this song received the Grammy nominations it did has to reflect the widespread generic music funded to play on radio stations. I still do not understand how or why this song was nominated, like it is honestly a very challenging subject for me that I intend to research, but otherwise all i can do is just vent my frustration silently (except for this post).
Samuel Beckett and the Theater of the Absurd
The Theater of the Absurd happens to refer to group of plays written during the 1950’s to my surprise wasn’t an actually play itself. But what is interesting about this group of plays is that they generally give the idea that human existence has no meaning (ain’t that enough to brighten your day), to add on to that, these plays are usually in an illogical, nonsensical pattern of dialogue that eventually concludes with silence (definitely something I’d pay to see, no seriously I probably would) On top of that from what I’ve learned these plays seem somewhat enjoyable, full of cliches, pointless plots, dark humor, cyclical patterns and just oodles of fun. But something cool about this is Samuel Beckett’s involvement in it all. (For now you only need to know he writes plays) He is considered one of the last modernists and is one of the key writers involved with the Theater of the Absurd. Seems rather fitting considering alot of his work matches this style with his dark humor (oh so dark it is) probably the result of his time in World War II (I think there’s a patter with dark humor and WW2) But overall definitely something you should spend your time researching over a snow day.
A Bareboned Review of the Film “Winter’s Bone”
In an isolated town in the Ozark Mountains lives a girl, Ree, who in order to save her family’s home must uncover the mystery surrounding her father’s disappearance while facing the hostility of her environment. Sadly, as interesting as the synopsis of Winter’s Bone may sound the movie itself isn’t praise worthy. Perhaps one of the films problems is in the entertainment department. Though the films plot is introduced the direction of it seems very bland. It appears as if the film just doesn’t try to use any other tools to draw the viewer in besides a mystery that is never truly elaborated on, introduction of characters that apparently have no past or occupation in the world of the Ozarks, and the absence of any music (if you don’t count the very briefs scenes of country music bands). The film itself asks the viewer to imply so many things while leaving out so much and doesn’t even really try to make itself an interesting film, unless you happen to like mysteries that are never solved you will most likely enjoy this film. However, if you are not one of these people, and need some explanations for your movies’ characters and a little more background overall I’d advise you most definitely spend your time and money somewhere else.
Overall Rating: D- (only reason this didn’t get an F is because there is a plot)
A Hero’s Journey…So general it will work for nearly any story
A mapping of the Monomyth that is Winter’s Bone.
1. Le World of Common Day: So we have this girl, Ree, (Le Hero) who is poor and lives in the very cold winter wonderland that is the Ozark Mountains with her two brothers and insane mother. Her father sells meth (a wanna be Heisenberg) and so does nearly everyone else in her town.
2. Le Call to Adventure: Well turns out that Ree’s papa, Jessup, was arrested (for I think you can guess what). Jessup apparently put the house and Ree’s land for bond, and is now missing.
3. Le Refusal of the Call: Honestly, I don’t know what goes here considering Ree wasn’t really hesitant to go find her Dad, but since the monomyth is very general I will say that her “refusal” is that Ree has a desire to be in the military instead of becoming the next Jesse Pinkman.
4.Le Meeting With the Mentor: Ree meets her uncle Teardrop, who is very wise and warns Ree to not go poking about in the dangerous world of the meth dealing Ozarks. (Better sit down before you get laid down he says) But he still ends up helping her, more on that later.
5.Le Crossing the Threshold: Ree travels to Hawkfall (the darkside of the force) where the big bad boss of the meth world Thump MIlton and kin live
6. Le Tests Allies and Enemies: In short Ree discovers her enemies, pretty much anyone with the last name milton, and her allies Gail and her Uncle. Ree’s will and cunningness needed to find her father are tested by Blonde Milton who tries to convince Ree that her father died in a meth lab explosion (no0bs). Ree sees through Blonde’s trickery and is more determined than before to find Jessup.
7. Le Approach to the Inmost Cave: A little out of sync with the story here, but since the monomyth is so general the corresponding part of the novel to the inmost cave would be when Ree goes to Thump Milton’s house: very dangerous since the Milton’s don’t like the Dolly’s and Thump in addition is a (wanna be Gus) drug lord.
8.Le Supreme Ordeal: This is where Ree gets laid down by the Thump Sisters since she wouldn’t sit down. (She get’s beat up is what that means)
9. Le Reward – Seizing the Prize: Ree is able to locate her Dad’s remains (like honestly you could see that one coming) and must remove his hands to prove he is dead so she can save the house and her land.
10. Le Road Back: Well once again I feel this is out of order and I would say this part would be Ree’s recovery after getting the biggest smackdown of her life (Good thing its winter, cold helps with the swelling)
11 Le Threshold Crossing: This would be when Ree gives her Dad’s hands to Baskin (Le Cop) to prove that her father is dead.
12. Le Return With the Elixir: Jessup’s hands are enough to prove his death (like how could they not) so she can keep the house. In addition she receives money from the bond as well (supposedly from her dad’s killer, I heard). And hopefully, Ree and her kin live happily ever after.
Le End…. (Praise Le Rap God)
geekboiiswag 