Summaries and Analyses of Lit - Pride and Prejudice

Pride and Prejudice is arguably Jane Austen's most famous novel. The story, about five sisters, is set in England - at their home, Longbourn, in Meryton, in London, at Netherfield, and at Pemberly. The protagonist, Elizabeth, is a stubborn girl who insists that she will not marry except for love. Her older sister, Jane, is the most lovely sister and is sweet to the point to wanting to please and think well of everybody. Their three younger sisters, Mary, Kitty, and Lydia are insufferably silly, as their father points out. Mary is very intellectual, although not incredibly astute or intelligent. Lydia is the silliest of all, concerned only with soldiers and dancing, and Kitty, although the older of the two, seems to follow Lydia's lead. Their mother, Mrs. Bennett, is horribly obnoxious as she cares only that her daughters are well married. Her husband, Mr. Bennett, thinks himself very much above his wife and younger daughters, greatly favoring the older two, especially Lizzy. He is a kind father, however, and thinks very much ahead of his time as he accepts Lizzy's idea of marrying for love. Their world is thrown upside down when a Mr. Charles Bingley moves into a nearby estate, Netherfield. With him, he brings his two sisters, brother-in-law, and good friend, Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy. Bingley is a charming, sweet, obliging man who falls almost immediately in love with Jane. Darcy is taken for very proud early on and earns a nasty reputation among the Bennett's acquaintances. As Mrs. Bennett tries to get Jane settled with Bingley, she is also trying to get Lizzy engaged to Mr. Collins, a cousin who will inherit Mr. Bennett's estate after he dies. When Lizzy refuses, Mr. Collins, he proposes to Charlotte Lucas, Lizzy's close friend. She marries him, not for love, but only to be well settled, even though it is with such a ridiculous man as Mr. Collins. Throughout, Lizzy has been firmly prejudiced against Darcy and his seemingly proud, disgusting manners. He, however, is more and more intrigued by her. After a shocking marriage proposal, he writes Lizzy a letter explaining his past with Mr. Wickham and why he endeavored to break up Jane and Bingley. Lydia, meanwhile, has run off with Wickham, who was originally interested in Lizzy. After Lizzy learns the truth of Wickham's involvement with the Darcy family and Darcy has saved her youngest sister from near scandal, Lizzy realizes she has been quite in love with him for some time. In the end, Lizzy and Darcy are married, as are Jane and Bingley. Austen writes in the 3rd person in the voice of narrator who knows everything that is going on and definitely provides some opinion in certain places.
QUOTES:
"It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife." This single quote, the first line of the novel, gets right down to the heart of the meaning and purpose of the story by touching on the two most important aspects: marriage and fortune. In those days, it was a woman's job to be married in order to not be a burden on her family. It follows, then, that a girl would want to be as well off as possible after marriage. This is all that Mrs. Bennett is trying to do for her girls, despite her rotten relationship with them. Lizzy, then, while being true to herself and wanting only to marry for love, a seemingly romantic and lovely idea, is, in fact, being somewhat selfish.
THEME: Elizabeth, like Darcy, has extreme pride and prejudice throughout the novel that keeps her from recognizing her love for Darcy for much of the novel. Much of this may be due to the society that she grew up in and her disgust with the norm of marriage without love. Through Elizabeth's faults and eventual realizations, Austen shows that, while remaining true to who you are, pride and prejudice will stand in the way of your happiness.
- Lizzy always herself --- ends up with best situation
- Pride in herself and prejudice against Darcy keeps her away from him
- Prejudice comes from society and class distinctions
- Will not marry without love --- burden to her family

Summaries and Analyses of Lit - Hamlet

Hamlet  was written by William Shakespeare, one of his most famous tragedies. The play is set at Elsinore Castle in Denmark where the old King Hamlet has just passed away. His brother, Claudius, has taken the throne and married his widow, Gertrude. Old Hamlet's ghost appears to his son, also called Hamlet, and tells him that he was murdered by Claudius and instructs young Hamlet to take revenge on his uncle. The play then follows Hamlet's struggle as he decides whether or not to kill his uncle. In the meantime, Denmark is paranoid of the threat of an attack from young Fortinbras whose father, king of Norway, lost some land and his life in a duel with old Hamlet. Other important characters include Ophelia, Polonius, Laertes, and Horatio. Horatio is Hamlet's best friend and ends up being the only person that Hamlet truly trusts. He is a skeptic and eventually carries out Hamlet's last wishes. Polonius is an adviser to the king. His son, Laertes, goes to school in France but returns after his father is killed by Hamlet to enact revenge. His daughter, Ophelia, goes quite mad and ends up drowning. She was in love with Hamlet and he with her, although he broke off their relationship in the play. There is some evidence to suggest she kills herself because she was pregnant, although that is never said outright. In the end, Claudius, Gertrude, Laertes, Polonius, Ophelia, and Hamlet are all dead. In other words, there is no one left with a claim to the throne of Denmark. Hamlet's dying wish is that Fortinbras, an outsider, will take the throne. Shakespeare, of course, is known for his eloquent language. He uses iambic pentameter, switching out of it only when speaking of a vile, base, offensive subject or when a particularly uneducated character speaks. There are many allusions in Hamlet to the Bible including references to the story of Adam and Eve and to Peter, who denied Jesus three times before the rooster crowed.
QUOTES:
"There is a certain providence in the fall of a sparrow." This, of course, is a reference to the Bible. The quote demonstrates that Hamlet knows that he will probably die when he goes to meet Laertes but accepts it.
"There is something rotten in the state of Denmark." This quote is a pretty clear foreshadowing of the coming action. It implies all the corruption of the royal family of Denmark and foreshadows the coming action.
THEME: Hamlet recognizes the corruption of the royal family of Denmark and has been instructed by his father's ghost to kill his uncle. Throughout the play, he struggles with his obligations as ruler and son. In the end, after all other have died, he meets his own death willingly and requests that an outsider, Fortinbras, take the throne. His tragic end shows that he realized Shakespeare's message that you must often sacrifice yourself for the greater good.
- Corruption - Gertrude and Claudius, murder, Hamlet's inaction, Polonius and Claudius's plotting
- Ghost scene, tells him to kill Claudius
- Has opportunity to kill uncle, does not
- "... fall of a sparrow." quote

Summaries and Analyses of Lit - Ceremony

Written by Leslie Marmon Silko. The novel is set on and around the Laguna Pueblo reservation in the Southwest, although, through Tayo's flashbacks, we see the jungle in the Philippines and a sort of mythical land of the stories told to Tayo. The time is mostly after WWII, although, again, through flashbacks and stories we visit earlier times, as well. The novel is mostly told through a third person narrative but perspective switches back and forth between characters, often without warning. The poems interwoven throughout the prose sometimes switch to first person. The protagonist, Tayo, is a young Laguna boy who has recently returned from WWII. The novel deals with Tayo's struggle after the war - to find himself, to deal with the guilt of coming home without his cousin Rocky, and to understand his culture and place in the world, especially among the whites. Rocky was Tayo's best friend, like a brother, who died in the war. Tayo feels somewhat responsible for this, especially considering Rocky's mother, Tayo's Auntie, never forgives him. Auntie took Tayo in after her sister, Tayo's mother, died. They also live with Auntie's husband, Robert, and Old Grandma who understands the great connected web that Tayo is slowly coming to recognize. Josiah, Tayo's uncle, is learned of only through Tayo's memories. He was Tayo's father figure who died while Tayo was away during war due to his cattle herd. Tayo feels responsible for his death because he was not there to help with the cattle.  Emo is the antagonist. He represents witchery, the evil Gambler of some of the stories. Old Betonie, the medicine man, helps Tayo understand this witchery, in Emo and in others, white or otherwise. He helps Tayo complete the ceremony that ultimately saves Tayo and brings him to understand the interconnected nature of life. T'seh, a woman Tayo meets several times and, you might say, falls in love with. She represents the mountains and therefore the land, to which Tayo is connected. She is something more than human, a spirit who helps Tayo further along in his journey toward understanding. Other important characters include the other boys (Harley, Pinkie, Leroy) who just got home from the war like Emo and Tayo. Also, the Night Swan, who has an affair with Josiah and later, briefly, Tayo, and like T'seh, is more spirit than human. Silko employs imagery beautifully in her novel, especially in descriptions of nature. The tone of the novel is somber, certainly not happy. At times, Tayo is desperate and despairing but overall, the tone is hopeful. Motifs are used frequently. Mountains, for example, in T'seh (surname - Montaño) and in the mountain lion, who appears in several places. Colors are a very important motif, as well, especially blue (Night Swan, Josiah's truck, pollen, jewelry -- a sacred color) and yellow (corn, pollen, dirty bar walls, urine). Directions are also important in the novel. In the Laguna culture, ceremonies moved through the sunwise cycle while all witchery moved in the opposite direction. The structure of the novel is very interesting, also. There are large blank spots in the book which represent silence and thought, as if the story were being told in the oral tradition in which all the old stories were meant to be told.
QUOTES:
"It seems like I've already heard these stories before... only thing is, the names sound different." Old Grandma says this after Tayo tells her the story of Emo's death. This illustrates the idea of the web that is so important in Silko's novel and culture. Everything is connected, all the stories are just retold over and over. Grandma knows this, as many of the elders do.
"They never thought to blame the white people for any of it..."
"Nothing is that simple... You don't write off all the white people, just like you don't trust all the Indians." These quotes are very important in showing the relationship between white and native culture, which is very prominent in the novel. The first has to do with the anger of Tayo (at certain points) and of many other Native Americans at the white people who stole their land. The relationship between white and native culture is very important in the novel. The second is a quote from Betonie who tries to show Tayo that, really, we are all the same, all on this great web, all connected.
THEME: 
Silko uses many devices to show that while it is important to hold on to your culture, specifically that of the Laguna people, you must adapt to keep your culture strong.
- Betonie and his updated ceremonies
- The cycles
- Nonlinear storyline
- Use of stories throughout
- Witchery found in present day Emo

Summaries and Analyses of Lit - Death of a Salesman

This play was written by Arthur Miller in 1949. The play is set in New York. Throughout the play, we see a hotel in Boston, the Loman's house, the office of Willy's boss, and Charlie's office, although the house is most important set. Many of these settings are seen through Willy's flashbacks, which are numerous and give us a good idea of life before the play starts as well as introduces us to Willy's brother, Ben. Ben, now deceased,  supposedly got rich in Alaska and is a role model for Willy, almost a god-like figure in Willy's life. Willy Loman is the main character. He is a traveling salesman through New England. To Willy, the most important things in life are being financially secure and well-liked, a belief he imposes on his sons. His eldest son, Biff, is back at home, trying to find a job in business in the City. We learn that Biff is not meant for business as he wants to be out west.  The younger son, Happy, tries constantly to please his parents, saying "I'm getting married, Mom". Their mother, Linda, is also only trying to please Willy, despite him constantly yelling at her. The plot follows Willy's deterioration, as he loses his job and slips further and further into his flashbacks.
Symbols are important in Death of a Salesman. For example, stockings are representative of infidelity and betrayal on Willy's part as he is buying new stockings for the woman he is sleeping with, in order to make a sale, which means he cannot buy new stockings for Linda. There are important motifs in the play, as well, such as the American West, the jungle, and Alaska. These are referenced when talking about Biff or Ben. The jungle and Alaska have to do with Willy's failure where his father and brother succeeded. The American West is a part of Biff's potential, as it is the place where he feels most like himself and the happiest.
"I want you to know... that you cut down your life for spite!" Willy says this to Biff and it is a great example of Willy's selfishness. Even when he is angry at Biff for something that Biff wants, he believes it is all about him, done simply to spite him.
"Isn't that - isn't that remarkable? Biff - he likes me!" Willy says that after fighting with Biff. This shows Willy's intense need to be well-liked as well as his desire to be a good father.
THEME: Miller is telling his audience that success comes from being true to yourself, not from financial success and being well-liked, as Willy believes.
Things to support theme: 
Setting - Willy, who has worked all his life to be wealthy and well-liked, finds himself living in a dreary house with little money to speak of.
Motifs - The motifs of Alaska and the jungle help us to understand Willy's failure, especially financially. The west, on the other hand, represents Biff's potential. If he stays true to himself and what he wants, he will go west and be able to meet his full potential as a human being.

Summaries and Analyses of Lit - The American Dream

Written by Edward Albee, this play has qualities and characteristics of the Theatre of the Absurd. The entire play is set in a single room of a boring, drab apartment owned by Mommy and Daddy, two unhappy characters who have turned to superficiality and consumerism to make up for their unsatisfying life. Grandma also lives with them. She seems to be the wisest character, full of irony and wit, talking to the audience as if she knows it's a play. She also seems to understand what is going on with the Young Man who visits the apartment. Mrs. Barker also visits Mommy and Daddy. She is whom they have been waiting for all this time, having apparently set them up with their "bumble of joy" years earlier. The Young Man supposedly the "American Dream" and Grandma labels him as such. He is a beautiful boy but empty, due to the murder of his twin, which we understand to be the "bumble". He ends up staying with Mommy and Daddy, a replacement for their "lost" child, which is what Barker was called about. She uses "we" and "our" in referring to herself, indicating that she is an interchangeable character, as she is also the chairman of the woman's club Mommy saw earlier but didn't recognize now. Grandma tries to tell Mrs. Barker what happened to Mommy and Daddy's child but she doesn't understand.
There are many motifs in the play including the boxes, old people, emasculation, and rooms. There are also parallels. For example, Mommy is unsatisfied with her first hat but is then happy with the same hat. She was unsatisfied with her first child but is now happy with her second (the Young Man) because she is seeing him from a new perspective.
Some good quotes include "That's the way things are today, and there's nothing you can do about it." Daddy's line is a repeated idea, especially in the first play. They use other words like "naturally" which reinforce their belief that they cannot help their situation, everything is out of their control. Another good quote which demonstrates Grandma's role in the play, as well as reinforcing the theme of fleeting, artificial satisfaction is Grandma's line, "So, let's leave things as they are right now... while everybody's happy... while everybody's got what he wants... or everybody's got what he thinks he wants."
THEME: Albee shows his audience that when people become unsatisfied in their personal lives they turn to the fleeting, artificial satisfaction of consumerism. This is what Mommy and Daddy do and Albee, through Grandma, warns his audience not to be like them.
Things that support theme:
Setting - A drab apartment. Mommy and Daddy's chairs are set apart and turned towards each other which is oddly cold and formal, suggesting an unhappy marriage.
Title - Gets the audience thinking before the play even starts about the "American Dream". Helps us see that Grandma is the old, good American Dream and the Young Man, although it isn't his fault, represents the new, superficial American Dream.
Motifs - Diction and phrases like "naturally" and "can't get satisfaction". The boxes, suggesting Grandma (the old American Dream) is leaving, giving hope to that better way of living.

Revision of Open Prompt #5

1990. Choose a novel or play that depicts a conflict between a parent (or a parental figure) and a son or daughter. Write an essay in which you analyze the sources of the conflict and explain how the conflict contributes to the meaning of the work. Avoid plot summary.

Conflict between parent and child is one of the most fascinating topics for authors to explore, possibly because they have experienced it. Arthur Miller delves into this complex issue in his play, Death of a Salesman, as Willy Loman and his son Biff struggle through a tense relationship. Miller uses detail and a nonlinear timeline to create and explore the conflict between father and son which ultimately shows his audience that Willy's so-called American Dream will not bring the happiness and success that he expects it to.

Miller uses a nonlinear time line in the play to reveal to the audience some of the sources of the conflict between Willy and Biff. The play begins in present day and often flashes back in time to some memory of Willy's. In the beginning, flashbacks show us that when Biff in high school, the two had a wonderful relationship. Present day, however, the conflict and tension in their relationship is evident. Later, Willy flashes back to a memory of Biff visiting him on one of his trips to Boston to tell his father that he flunked math where he finds a young secretary in Willy's hotel room. Willy tries to talk his way around the truth but eventually just tries to justify his affair by saying repeatedly, "I'm so lonely", to his stunned, devastated son. The nonlinear way the story is told shows the audience the original source of conflict between Biff and his father. Miller also provides details that enhance the audience's understanding of this father/son conflict. Throughout the play, details reveal to the audience Willy's idea of a successful life. In other words, his American Dream includes being involved in business, being financially secure, and being "well-liked". Details also show the audience that Biff's idea of the American Dream is much different than his father's. Many times, Biff has left his home to go out west and Miller's details tell what Biff loves about being there: baby calves being born, open air, "the time to sit around and smoke". This, being contrary to Willy's idea of success and happiness, is a major source of tension between the two. 

This conflict contributes heavily to Miller's main point which is that the American Dream, as Willy sees it, will not bring happiness or success to one who achieves it. In the end, Willy finds himself poor and forgotten in the sales world, despite how important those things have always been to him. He still has not let go of this dream, however, and kills himself so his family can have the insurance money that his death will bring them. At his funeral, which no one but his family and two family friends attend, his wife, Linda, repeats the words, "we're free". Willy, now dead, is certainly not free, nor is Linda, nor their other son, Happy, who continues on in the business world, following in Willy's footsteps. Biff, who chooses again to go out west, is the only one who is really free. He finally realizes who he is and that happiness and success comes of that, not of being "well-liked" and rich as his father always said, which is Miller's main point.

Father/son conflict is a commonly explored theme in literature. Miller uses this theme, which he creates through detail and a nonlinear timeline, to get his message across to his audience. He shows that happiness and success comes from knowing and being true to yourself, not from the American Dream that Willy couldn't let go of, the dream of wealth and being "well-liked".

Revision of Open Prompt #4

1993. "The true test of comedy is that it shall awaken thoughtful laughter." Choose a novel, play, or long poem in which a scene or character awakens "thoughtful laughter" in the reader. Write an essay in which you show why this laughter is "thoughtful" and how it contributes to the meaning of the work.

A confused adoption lady, a crazy grandma, a day-old cake, some missing pekingese, and lots and lots of boxes. These details and many others, along with some sarcasm and irony, make Edward Albee's play, The American Dream, a funny one. Underneath the laughter, however, an audience is forced to stop and think about what Albee is trying to say. He uses details and language to, as one critic called it, "awaken thoughtful laughter" in his audience, entertaining them while, at the same time, causing them to consider that when people are dissatisfied in their personal lives, they turn to the artificial and fleeting satisfaction of consumerism. 

Albee uses language and many details to make his audience laugh. Humorous language techniques are found in many places in the play. For example, h

e uses alliteration in the phrase "a penchant for pornography" to highlight the comedy of an adoption lady who is interested in the "intimate" things her clients say. He also uses a paraprosdokian when grandma calls their era "the age of deformity", rather than the age of conformity, as one might expect. These language choices, and others, add to the humor of Albee's play. He also 

uses a plethora of details to create funny moments in the dialogue of his characters. For example, Mommy tells Daddy the story of how she went to buy a beige hat that was really wheat and then when she went to return it, they gave her back the same hat, which she then believed was beige. The story is incredibly lengthy, including details about the hat, the store, and everything that was said. The story is also constantly interrupted by Mommy's complaints and Daddy's inability to pay attention to what she says. The result is a hilarious, albeit somewhat irritating, story about a trip to a hat shop. 

All the humorous language and details found in The American Dream, while entertaining, must also be accompanied by real thought on the part of the audience. The techniques Albee uses to make the audience laugh also point to his main message: that if someone is unsatisfied and unhappy with their personal life, they will turn to consumerism to find satisfaction, although it is false and extremely temporary. The paraprosdokian used by grandma, for example, is a funny use of a common phrase, but it also forces the audience to consider how messed up and therefore unsatisfying their lives really are. The details of Mommy's hat story show that, because of her unsatisfying, "deformed" life, she has turned to consumerism to fill the void. 

Even through the lighthearted laughter Albee's humor causes, the audience is also forced to confront the sad, unhealthy aspects of the characters lives. This laughter, while serving its purpose by entertaining, fulfills another duty by making the audience think about what they are actually laughing at which is Albee's meaning that unsatisfactory personal lives will lead people to the false, fleeting satisfaction of consumerism.