Victorian women Essay Example for Free

Victorian women Essay How does Thomas Hardy portray Bathsheba Everdene And Fanny Robin as typical representatives of Victorian women? Hardy uses this novel to express his prolific writing style, which involves introducing his characters slowly as the play goes on. He explores the characters and their influences and participation in the plot with intense detail. Far from the madding crowd is written in a Victorian pastoral setting, hence the way he portrays the characters as typically Victorian with powerful detail especially the women in particularly Bathsheba Everdene and Fanny Robin. Hardy can be seen in this novel to be recreating a local, ageless atmosphere often of a period before his birth or his early years and this sensitive, detailed, vivid breathing of life into a rural setting seems to be an essential factor in his thoughts and feelings when writing. Bathsheba Everdene is a beautiful woman who seems to control and dominate large parts of the play but at times being particularly arrogant and impetuous towards other characters and as the central role in the play, Hardy has manipulated her around the other characters very well. Bathshebas interaction with the other characters seems to have an effect on Fanny Robins participation in the play because of Hardys attempt to portray them both as typical representatives of Victorian women. She quickly becomes the central character by inheriting and learning to run a farm in Weatherbury where the play is situated. Hardy early on begins to introduce Bathshebas awareness and possibly fear of marriage and what that could do to affect Bathshebas status and profile within the village. Gabriel Oaks conversation with Bathsheba shows her to be perhaps an unpredictable, spirted young woman who has never been in love. The two discuss marriage with remarkable frankness. Bathshebas egocentric personality is exposed when she admits that she would delight in the prospect of having all the trappings of marriage such as a piano, pets and her own carriage and a spectacular ceremony however, she objects to having a long life husband and losing her freedom. Gabriels proposal to her of marriage is an emotionally intense conversation, which is why Hardys attempt to portray Bathsheba as typically Victorian was directed away exposing a different side to Bathshebas character. Gabriel: I can make you happy. You shall have a piano in a year or two, farmers wives are getting to have pianos now, Ill practice my flute right well to play with you in the evenings. Bathsheba: Yes, I should like that Gabriels hopes are built up as Bathsheba unveils her excitement at the prospect of marriage however; the realisation that this will never happen sets in. No, tis no use, I dont want to marry you. For a marriage would be very nice in one sense. People would talk about me and think I had won my battle and I should feel triumphant and all that. Her battle is one that she feels she needs to win to maintain her high profile status and leading female role within the village. She feels that to win her battle against society she needs to get married and therefore she can be triumphant once again. She explains that since a woman cannot win her battle by showing off the delights of a marriage and a wedding without having a husband then she cannot be triumphant by getting married, except not yet. While Bathsheba seems a bit shallow, her self-determination and powerful quest for success are commendable, and she remains a sympathetic yet surreal character. Hardy has manipulated Bathsheba so much that she has unusually selective characteristics whilst simultaneously attempting to convincingly portray her as typically Victorian without hindering Fanny Robins character so much as to effectively ruin it. Fanny Robin is a young orphaned servant girl at the farm who runs away the night Gabriel arrives in the village. With Fannys character, Hardy has chosen to use her to such an extent that she has become what is perhaps the most emotionally unstable character in the entire story and by doing this, he has attempted to manipulate her along with Bathsheba to portray them as typical Victorian representatives. She has an interesting but bleak role in the story but has a surprisingly significant effect on some of the major scenes without exposing her self as a particularly dominant or socially intractable character. She attempts to marry sergeant troy early on in the play and then ends her participation in the play by tragically dying whilst giving birth to his child. She is a foil to Bathsheba, showing the fate of women who are not well cared for in this society. Fanny robin is linked instantly with troy, has been helped kindly farmer Boldwood and has been the youngest maid in Bathsheba newly taken household, yet has a surprisingly unconvincing character compared with Bathshebas powerful dominance throughout the story. Fannys initial radiant excitement, her recent dejection, her memorable conversation with troy and her fatal error of mistaking the church for her marriage with troy all form a pathetic, wretched background to her unmistakably emotional and fragile character.

How Nadine Gordimer Ends Her Stories Essay -- Nadine Gordimer An Intru

How Nadine Gordimer Ends Her Stories Nadine Gordimers stories make enormous demands upon the reader. Mostly on the first reading it’s even hard to know what’s actually going on. But gradually a densely concentrated image or an idea will develop after reading over the story again and concentrating on some particular parts, like for example the endings. Indeed you should pay much attention to them. Even through nearly every of them are slightly different, they indicate what you should think about and leave you with a curious eagerness to find out more, to get to know what happens next. In fact I am sure that Nadine Gordimer just wants us to make our mind work and mull over the main meaning of the story, to uncover what she wants to express with it. In many cases, the conclusion of the story is what impresses you most. Some writers don’t realise this fact and they destroy the whole piece of work by an unsuitable ending. But Nadine Gordimer’s conclusions are marvelous. If you would miss it you won’t be able to get the point of the story because it encompasses much very important information. For example in the story â€Å"An Intruder† one of the main characters goes through a drastic change in last four lines. â€Å"She stood there wan, almost ugly, really like some wretched pet monkey shivering in a cold climate† (p. 374) This is a big contrary because throughout the whole story she was the described like a â€Å"frail little marmoset† (p. 367) and as â€Å"beautiful† (p.369). However she changes in the end â€Å"... she was grown-up, now, suddenly, as some people are said to turn white-haired overnight.† If the reader would miss this significant change in her life, he probably would not find out what the story is actually about... ... try to argue that the story ends in a fortunate way for Ella because she goes to Europe, and that’s what she was dreaming about for so long. But we have to become aware of what preceded the trip – a cruel murder, and we even don’t know if Ella is truly happy or if she enjoys the trip at all. A good way of making people think and wake their interests is to irritate them, exactly in that way how Gordimer irritates her readers with the endings. How could be Marie so blind and immature for ages and than grow up â€Å"in a second†? How is it possible that a system is SO unfair and unjustly like in case of Ella and Lena? And how does the narrator of â€Å"Africa Emergent† even dare to make him innocent for Elias’ death? Simply said, Nadine Gordimer is that kind of writer that can give a true picture of what’s going on, and can make it very interesting to the reader.

Poetry Project Essay

Introduction These poems are all written based off of my, Miciah’s, opinions. I have a distinct perspective on religion, therefore I chose to write a poem describing hate and love and how I thing religion is a dumb idea. My poem is titled â€Å"Hate and Love†, based off of the poem â€Å"Fire and Ice† by Robert Frost. In it I concur to what religion claims, symbolically saying that religion is wrong and not serious. I used the same exact syllables and rhyme scheme as â€Å"Fire and Ice† by Robert Frost. â€Å"Pie† is simply an original poem by me. It has no significant meaning what-so-ever. I also have a sense of humor therefore I wrote poems that are humorous yet meaningful if the reader decides to read deeper into the meaning of â€Å"Clothes†. In this poem I humanized clothes to the point where clothes are smart and can do actions. Again, if the reader reads deep into this poem, he/she can see that family is symbolized as the clothes. In the first two lines, the reader can read that â€Å"Family† (the clothes) keeps you from being embarrassed. I also wrote a short haiku titled â€Å"My Name Is†. I titled this after one of my favorite songs by one of my favorite rappers, â€Å"My Name Is† by Eminem. In this Haiku, based off of the original poem â€Å"After Basho† by Carolyn Kizer, I describe myself as a person that people who don’t know me well just see me as a kid by the name of Miciah. But for those who know me can call me â€Å"friend† whether or not they really are a good friend. This is based off of my first few weeks of high school here at Sacred Heart, a lot of people didn’t know me as a person but they knew of me/ just knew my name. I used the three unrhymed lines of five, seven and five syllables found in the haiku â€Å"After Basho† by Carolyn Kizer. â€Å"Once Called Home† is a meaningful poem that I related with my really years about my life before and during fostercare before I got adopted. This poem that I wrote is based off of â€Å"Tyger† by William Blake. I chose this poem as the model for my poem because it is a powerful poem with a rhyme and rhyme scheme that would work with the meaning of the poem. I used the imagery, pattern and rhyming in a similar manor to William Blake’s poem â€Å"Tyger†. â€Å"Poetry† is simply about how I am not meant to be a poet. It has a similar subject as â€Å"How Poetry Comes to Me† by Gary Snyder in the sense that they both are relating poetry and themselves to create a poem. Under my bed is another haiku that doesn’t have a deep meaning but is based off of Matsuo Basho’s â€Å"Under Cherry Trees†. Basho’s haiku talks about under a cherry tree whereas my poem is more humorous, and is about the underside of my bed. Clothes Clothes are debatably the smartest things ever made They keep your junk from being displayed. But not only that, They are good resting grounds for your domestic cat Clothes are clothes and will never change Unless you and a friend decide to exchange My Name Is Who am I, you ask? I am known as Miciah But to most, just â€Å"Friend† (Based on After Basho by Carolyn Kizer) Hate and Love People say the world will end in hate Some say in love But, please, let us not discriminate I think we could live without the hate For those thinking of an above Have another thing coming their way Was land in fact spotted by that dove? But neigh I say. Not the right glove (Based on Fire and Ice by Robert Frost) Pie I like pie, And you like pie. Boy! Aren’t we cool!? Once Called Home Home is to live in a place you love Home feels like a place sent from above It’s free from the hatred and disgust It clears you a nice path from the dust The dust is still in the air for me Hatred and disgust roams just freely Formerly, home was a place I cherished But, out of the blue, my home perished Everything I treasured and cared for Left me and isn’t here anymore The pain rubbed so much it left blisters. But at least I got my two sisters Being forced to leave someone named â€Å"mom† Feels like a kiloton blast from a bomb I despise what home has made of me But what I shall make of home, we’ll see (Based on Tyger by William Blake) Poetry Although fun at times, I am not much of a poet. Take this â€Å"poem† for example, It doesn’t even make sense Bananas. (Based on How Poetry Comes to Me by Gary Snyder) Under My Bed There is something there Dust bunnies, mold and all†¦ It kind of scares me (Based on Under Cherry Trees by Matsuo Basho).

The Greek God Poseidon, Lord of the Sea, Neptune

The mighty Earthshaker, Poseidon ruled the waves that the ancient seafaring Greeks depended upon. Fisherman and sea captains swore fealty to him and avoided his wrath; the sea gods persecution of the hero Odysseus was well known, and few wished to wander so far and so long before finding their home port. In addition to his influence over the seas, Poseidon was responsible for earthquakes, striking the ground with his trident, a three-pronged spear, to awesomely devastating effect. Birth of Poseidon Poseidon was the son of the titan Cronos and brother to the Olympian gods Zeus and Hades. Cronos, fearful of a son who would overthrow him as he vanquished his own father Ouranos, swallowed each of his children as they were born. Like his brother Hades, he grew up inside the bowels of Cronos, until the day when Zeus tricked the titan into vomiting up his siblings. Emerging victorious after the ensuing battle, Poseidon, Zeus, and Hades drew lots to divide up the world they had gained. Poseidon won dominion over the waters and all its creatures. Alternate Greek myths suggest that Poseidons mother, Rhea, transformed him into a stallion to stymie Cronos appetite. It was in the form of a stallion that Poseidon pursued Demeter and fathered a foal, the horse Areion. Poseidon and the Horse Oddly for the god of the sea, Poseidon is deeply associated with horses. He created the first horse, introduced riding and chariot racing to mankind, and rides above the waves in a chariot drawn by horses with golden hooves. In addition, some of his many children are horses: the immortal Areion and the winged horse Pegasus, which was the son of Poseidon and the gorgon Medusa. Myths of Poseidon The brother of Zeus and Greek god of the sea figures in many myths. Perhaps the most notable are those related by Homer in the Iliad and Odyssey, where Poseidon emerges as a foe of the Trojans, champion of the Greeks and dire enemy of the hero Odysseus. The Greek gods antipathy toward the wily Odysseus is kindled by the mortal wound that the hero deals to Polyphemus the Cyclops, a son of Poseidon. Again and again, the sea god conjures winds that keep Odysseus away from his home in Ithaca. A second notable story involves the contest between Athena and Poseidon for the patronage of Athens. The goddess of wisdom made a more compelling case to the Athenians, giving them the gift of the olive tree while Poseidon created the horse. Finally, Poseidon figures prominently in the story of the Minotaur. Poseidon gave to King Minos of Crete a fantastic bull, intended for sacrifice. The king couldnt part with the beast, and in anger, Poseidon caused the princess Pasiphae to fall in love with the bull, and to birth the legendary half-bull, half-man called the Minotaur. Poseidon Fact File Occupation: God of the Sea Attributes of Poseidon: The symbol for which Poseidon is best known is the trident. Poseidon is often shown alongside his wife Amphitrite in a sea chariot drawn by sea creatures. The Inferiority of Poseidon: Poseidon asserts equality with Zeus in the Iliad, but then defers to Zeus as king. By some accounts, Poseidon is older than Zeus and the one sibling Zeus didnt have to rescue from his father (the power leverage Zeus usually used with his siblings). Even with Odysseus, who had ruined his son Polyphemus life, Poseidon behaved in a less fearsome manner than might be expected of an enraged Sturm und Drang kind of god. In the challenge for the patronage of the polis of Athens, Poseidon lost to his niece Athena but then worked cooperatively with her as in the Trojan War where they try to thwart Zeus with Heras help. Poseidon and Zeus: Poseidon may have had an equal claim to the title of King of the Gods, but Zeus is the one who took it. When the Titans made the thunderbolt for Zeus, they made the trident for Poseidon.