Simon Armitage And Carol Ann Duffy English Literature Essay

Simon Armitage And Carol Ann Duffy English Literature Essay This paper will deal about the Poetry of the Twentieth Century. Especially it deals about Simon Armitage and Carol Ann Duffy. The first part deals about their biographies. The second part talks about the setting of their works, a description of the era when they start working and descriptions of the main aspects of those years. In the third part of this paper there is an analysis of the style that they used in their works. Then there is an analysis of some of their poems. And in the last part as a conclusion you can find my opinions about the topic. Biographies: In this section the biography of the two of them are presented. First there is the biography of Simon Armitage and then the biography of Carol Ann Duffy. Simon Armitage: Simon Armitage was born in 1963. He was born in the village of Marsden and nowadays he lives in West Yorkshire, in England. He is a graduate in Geography at Portsmouth University and also he studied social work in the University of Manchester. In this university he also made his thesis that talked about the effects of the violence in television. He had a job as Probation Officer in the Greater Manchester until 1994. After he published his mayor works he published some limited edition pamphlets. In these pamphlets we can find, for example: Human Geography, The Distance Between Stars, The Walking Horses, Around Robinson, and Suitcase, etc. Simon Armitage was a teacher in the University of Leeds and in the University of Lowas Writers Workshop. Nowadays he is a senior lecturer at Manchester Metropolitan University. And he is also an Artist in Residence at Londons South Bank. He is Vice President of the Poetry Society. Talking about his works, he had poems, novels, radio and television works, etc. Within his poetry works we can find: Zoom! (1989), Xanadu (1992), Kid (1992), Book of Matches (1993), The Dead Sea Poems (1995), Moon Country (1996), CloudCuckooLand (1997), Killing Time (1999), Selected Poems (2001), Travelling Songs (2002), The Universal Home Doctor (2002), Tyrannosaurus Rex Versus the Corduroy Kid (2006) and Seeing Stars (2010). He has two novels: the first of them was published in 2001 and its name is Little Green Man, the second novel is The White Stuff published in 2004. He has other type of works: he writes for radio, television and film, and he is also the author of four stage plays. Carol Ann Duffy Carol Ann Duffy was born in 1955, in Glasgow, Scotland. She had four brothers. She went to St. Austin Roman Catholic Primary School, St. Josephs Convent School and Stafford Girls High School. She attended to the University of Liverpool, where she studied Philosophy. She also had a work as a freelance writer in London. She has a daughter in common with her husband, the novelist Jackie Kay, whose name is Ella. Since 2002 she is a teacher of Creative Writing in the University of Manchester, where she lives nowadays. Her works can be divided into: adult poetry collections, books for children, anthologies and plays. Within her collections of adult poetry we can find: Standing Female Nude (1985), Selling Manhattan (1987), The Other Country (1990), Mean Time (1993), The Worlds Wife (1999); Feminine Gospels (2002), and Rapture (2005). Her poems for children are collected in New Collected Poems for  Children (2009).  She also has picture books for children as: Underwater Farmyard (2002), Doris the Giant (2004), Moon Zoo (2005),  The Tear Thief (2007), and The Princesss Blankets (2009). The anthologies that were edited by Carol Ann were: Out of Fashion (2004), Answering Back (2007), and To The Moon: An Anthology of Lunar Poems (2009). She wrote four plays: Take My Husband (1982), Cavern of Dreams (1984), Little Women, Big Boys (1986) and Loss (1986). Setting These two authors stated writing more or less at the same time, in the latest eighties. The life in the Eighties in Britain as Malcolm Bradbury (1994) said: it was a time of many reappraisals and restructurings, and of rising doubts, dark prophecies and apocalyptic feelings among a good many of its artist and intellectuals. In history terms, it can be said that some important facts occurred in these years. This summary starts one year after that the first work by Carol Ann Duffy was published. 1984: Strike of the Coal Miners. Trade Union Act. The British Telecom became private. 1985: Anglo-Irish Agreement: an agreement between the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland. 1986: Riots (disturbances) in Brixton or Lambeth. The London Stock Exchange was deregulated. Also in this year the British Gas became private. 1987: Single European Act (the revision of the Treaty of Rome, 1957). The British Airways were privatized. 1988: Alliance between the SDP and the liberal party. 1989: Opening of Berlin Wall. Release of Guildford-Four. Talking about the characteristics of the poetry in the Eighties and some special features of these two authors it can be said that: The poetry of nowadays present various ethnicities, cultures or nationalities. It moved from a nationalist poetry to a more international one. It also changes from a centralist, male and academic practice poetry to a cultural entertainment for all the people and multicultural one. Old themes change to religious, cultural, sexual and ideological pluralism. We can also find the concerns of minorities, sexual orientation, origin, gender or language. Randall Stevenson (2004: 212) said that: In Poet for Our Times (1990) Carol Ann Duffy defined headlines, in 1980s, as the poems of the decade- a bottom line of art sometimes used sensationally by her contemporaries to incorporate into poetry the immediate reality of the urban life The traditional language used in the United Kingdom turned into new ways of writing, for example, the use of dialects as Gaelic or new grammar rules. New lexical items and words like languages of ancient colonies of Britain or different slang words are included in the poems of the contemporary poetry. In the poetry of the late century we can find language disruption, formal adventure and challenges to conventional facts. New types of poetry appear: national poetry, womens poetry or multicultural poetry are common in this period. Womens poetry became more popular at the end of the 1970s. The topics of the womens poetry (Randall Stevenson, 2004: 222) are: day- to-day experience, and womens feelings about experiences [à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦] work, friendship, family relationship, abortion, childbirth and sexual relationships- heterosexual and lesbian The black poetry became more popular because of the fact that black immigrants came to England and wrote their poems there. Poetry became a way of entertainment, it can be found in theatres, pubs or bars. It turns to an art only for few people to a popular art. This can be the consequence of the expansion of the publishing houses from London to many cities through England. The poetry of the late twentieth century and the twenty-first century it is more focused to be an international poetry. Style In this section the style of both authors is going to be analyzed. First of all there are features that are characteristic in both authors; this is because they belong to the same period. Then there are specific features of each of them. The used to write about issues that are relevant to todays society. They write about past experiences or characters of other lifestyles to explore them. Both of them give thoughts and feelings that we might experiences once or themes that are relevant to everybody. Talking about the structure and the style of the poems it can be said that: They have different types of poems with different structures as: narrative poems, sonnets, structured verse or free verse. Within the style, and specifically language, we can find that they use a colloquial language, but within this simple language there are complex ideas. Some examples of languages techniques that they used are: alliteration, onomatopoeia, repetition, etc. The language that they used is crucial for people to understand their works. Simon Armitage Additionally to the common characteristics, Simon Armitage has more specific characteristics. He belongs to the New Generation and as Randall Stevenson (2004: 229) quote from the Penguin Book of the Contemporary British Poetry (1982) they are distinguished by accessibility, democracy and responsiveness and by reaffirmation of the arts significance as public utterance (p.16). Armitages poems make an exploration of relationships and the impact that they have on the life of people. In his poems we can find references about North England or Yorkshire dialect. His works must be interpreted on a personal level by the reader. Ian Hamilton (1992 :16) Armitages poems are both firmly grounded in place and wide in their imaginative, emotional and technical range, moving easily between anecdote, larger narrative, art and politics Carol Ann Duffy Duffys poems reflect depressed or disturbed members of society. These characters are resent with the world in which they live. Her themes are children, women, love, etc; and she uses the point of view of a persona. These personae that she creates are usually isolated people who feel shut out from society. Although she is a woman she doesnt use the typical features of womens writing. She is less innovative than her male contemporaries and use oddly paratactic rhythms Ian Hamilton (1992: 137) says that: [] Duffy aims her poetic fire at obvious victims, easy targets, but her best work combines lyric intensity with plain-speaking Analysis. In this section you can find three poems of each author and their analysis. First you can find the poems by Simon Armitage and then the poems by Carol Ann Duffy. November (by Simon Armitage) We walk to the ward from the badly parked car with your grandma taking four short steps to our two We have brought her here to die and we know it. You check her towel, soap and family trinkets, pare her nails. Parcel her in the rough blankets and she sinks down into her incontinence. It is time John. In their pasty bloodless smiles, in their slack breasts, their stunned brains and their baldness, and in us John: we are almost these monsters Youre shattered. You give me the keys and I drive through the twilight zone, past the famous station to your house, to numb ourselves with alcohol. Inside, we feel the terror of the dusk begin. Outside we watch the evening, failing again, and we let it happen. We can say nothing. Sometimes the sun spangles and we feel alive One thing we have to get, John, is out of this life. Form: The poem is divided in five three lines stanzas and in the last part of the poem there is a couplet which give the impression that the poem is not finished or that have a sudden end. The eleven lines have a regular rhythm. Symbols: In my opinion the title of the poem, November has a symbolic meaning. I think that because it is the penultimate it can refers to the end of the year and maybe to the end of the life, maybe it refers to the third age, when people are older. Also the night can have the same meaning as the title. In the third stanza we can find that Armitage describes the old people as if they were monsters. In the last part of the poem the poet dont end the poem with a conclusion maybe he want the readers to reflect about the poem and the topic that it deals about, or he wants to represent the surprise of death. Language: The poem is narrated in first person but with a reference to a person called John. Simon Armitage use words that include the reader in the poem and present a situation that we all will face someday. He uses pronouns as we, you, her or their, and that could have the function of include the reader in the poem. Themes: The themes of this poem are the relationship with the family and also the inevitable passing of time. Kid (by Simon Armitage) Batman, big shot, when you gave the order to grow up, then let me loose to wander leeward, freely through the wild blue yonder as you liked to say, or ditched me, rather in the gutter . . . well, I turned the corner. Now Ive scotched that he was like a father to me rumour, sacked it, blown the cover on that he was like an elder brother story, let the cat out on that caper with the married woman, how you took her downtown on expenses in the motor. Holy robin-redbreast-nest-egg-shocker! Holy roll-me-over-in-the-clover, Im not playing ball boy any longer Batman, now Ive doffed that off-the-shoulder Sherwood-Forest-green and scarlet number for a pair of jeans and crew neck jumper; now Im taller, harder, stronger, older. Batman, it makes a marvellous picture; you without a shadow, stewing over chicken giblets in the pressure cooker, next to nothing in the walk-in larder, punching the palm of your hand all winter, you baby, now Im a real boy wonder. Poems background: In this poem Armitage talks about Batman, that is a comic hero who was popular in TV and films. The poem shows a battle of Batman and his criminal of Gotham City. Form: The poem has a ten syllable lines and all of them end with the sound -er. The language used can remember the language of television shows and also it has some sense of humor. Symbols: The symbol that I find in the poem is that Armitage make a joke about Batman and I think that this means that super heroes are not perfect and also have their bad days, or maybe that super heroes dont exist. Language: The language in the poem is idiomatic and also it has expressions of Batman. This type of language is sometimes used to reflect a ridiculous expression. Themes: In my opinion the main theme of the poem is the growing and the independence. The other theme that I found is that our imagination or our perfect believes are not true. When we are kids we think that the super heroes exist but then when we grow up we realized that it wasnt true. He also do humorous commentaries about famous people. Homecoming (by Simon Armitage) Think, two things on their own and both at once. The first, that exercise in trust, where those in front stand with their rams spread wide and free-fall backwards, blind and those behind take all the weight. The second, one canary-yellow cotton jacket on a cloakroom floor, uncoupled from its hook, becoming scuffed and blackened underfoot. Back home the very model of a model of a mother, yours, puts two and two together, makes a proper fist of it and points the finger. Temper, temper. Question in the house. You seeing red. Blue murder. Bed. Then midnight when you slip the latch and sneak no further than the call-box at the corner of the street; Im waiting by the phone, although it doesnt ring because its sixteen years or so before well meet. Retrace that walk towards the garden gate; in silhouette a father figure waits there, wants to set things straight. These ribs are pleats or seams. These arms are sleeves. These fingertips are buttons, or these hands can fold into a clasp, or else these fingers make a zip or buckle, you say which. Step backwards into it and try the same canary-yellow cotton jacket, there like this, for size again. It still fits. Form: The structure of this poem is simple and regular but in my opinion is difficult to understand. It is divided in four stanzas of different lengths but almost all have the same rhythm. Symbols: Maybe the yellow jacket can represent the past and how easy is to remember it. Also it can mean that the past is always in our mind or that it is easy to have in mind our past memories. Language: The language that Armitage uses is easy, simple and familiar, and sometimes idiomatic. It also has a change of time there is a change between the past and the present for example in stanza three. He also use poetry features as alliteration, assonance or different types of rhythm Themes: In this poem is more difficult to understand the theme that Armitage talks about. There is not a clear message. The theme that I find is the concept of time and memory. The poem shows how someone remembers his/her past, and in the last part of the poem brings it to their present life with the example of the jacket. Other theme that could be found in this poem is the relationships between family and how a new life can change them. Havisham (by Carol Ann Duffy) Beloved sweetheart bastard. Not a day since then I havent wished him dead. Prayed for it so hard Ive dark green pebbles for eyes, ropes on the back of my hands I could strangle with. Spinster. I stink and remember. Whole days in bed cawing Nooooo at the wall; the dress yellowing, trembling if I open the wardrobe; the slewed mirror, full length , her, myself, who did this to me? Puce curses that are sounds not words. Some nights better, the lost body over me, my fluent tongue in its mouth in its ear then down till I suddenly bite awake. Loves hate behind a white veil; a red balloon bursting in my face. Bang. I stabbed at a wedding-cake. Give me a male corpse for a long slow honeymoon. Dont think its only the heart that b-b-b-breaks. Form: The poem is divided in four stanzas with four lines each of them. The poem doesnt have a rhyme or a regular metre. Symbol: The colors are important symbols in this poem, for example, the white reflects the wedding dress or the red the betrayal. As I said before the poem hasnt a regular metre and it can be related to the instability of the personality of the character. Language: Carol Ann Duffy writes in first person. She uses questions and exclamations and gives diversity to the lines. In the poem we can also find alliteration, for example in the last line of the poem the B. The first lines are written to make an emphasis on her frustration and also her anger. Themes: The poem talks about the betrayal or jealousy and also the damage that this can make in a relationship. The protagonist, Miss Havisham, get insane because of the betrayal. All the feelings and thoughts of Miss Havisham are presented in the poem. Anne Hathaway (by Carol Ann Duffy) Item I gyve unto my wife my second best bedà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ (from Shakespeares will) The bed we loved in was a spinning world of forests, castles, torchlight, clifftops, seas where he would dive for pearls. My lovers words were shooting stars which fell to earth as kisses on these lips; my body now a softer rhyme to his, now echo, assonance; his touch a verb dancing in the centre of a noun. Some nights, I dreamed hed written me, the bed a page beneath his writers hands. Romance and drama played by touch, by scent, by taste. In the other bed, the best, our guests dozed on, dribbling their prose. My living laughing love I hold him in the casket of my widows head as he held me upon that next bed. Background to the poem: The title of this poem refers to the wife of Shakespeare. Form: The poem is a rhyming sonnet which has fourteen lines. In my opinion she tried to follow the poem with other ending or other explanation. Symbols: Carol Ann Duffy try to rewrite a sonnet by Shakespeare but in the way his wife would do it, so she doesnt follow the rules of Shakespeares works, maybe because she wants to refer that Anne Hatheway wasnt as good as him writing poems. Language: The language that Carol Ann Duffy uses is related to things about Shakespeare. It is written in first person and with the voice of a woman. She uses different literary resources as alliteration (in line twelve) or metaphor in line fifteen, that means that she keep him in her thoughts. Themes and links: The poem is a sonnet that talks about love (sonnets normally do so) and the absence of someone that she loved, in this case Shakespeare. It is related with Shakespeares Sonnet 130 We Remember Your Childhood Well (by Carol Ann Duffy) Nobody hurt you. Nobody turned off the light and argued with somebody else all night. The bad man on the moors was only a movie you saw. Nobody locked the door. Your questions were answered fully. No. That didnt occur. You couldnt sing anyway, cared less. The moments a blur, a Film Fun laughing itself to death in the coal fire. Anyones guess. Nobody forced you. You wanted to go that day. Begged. You chose the dress. Here are the pictures, look at you. Look at us all, smiling and waving, younger. The whole thing is inside your head. What you recall are impressions; we have the facts. We called the tune. The secret police of your childhood were older and wiser than you, bigger than you. Call back the sound of their voices. Boom. Boom. Boom. Nobody sent you away. That was an extra holiday, with people you seemed to like. They were firm, there was nothing to fear. There was none but yourself to blame if it ended in tears. What does it matter now? No, no, nobody left the skidmarks of sin on your soul and laid you wide open for Hell. You were loved. Always. We did what was best. We remember your childhood well. Form: The structure of this poem is six stanzas with three lines each of them. It has rhyme and half rhyme. In the structure I have found that the title is repeated at the end of the poem like an ending of the theme. Symbols: I think that the repetition of the title in the last line of the poem is like an ending of the memory, maybe like if the person doesnt want to remember it anymore. Language: It is a simple language and sometimes repetitive. The negative form is compressed. The language that she uses (you, yourself, etc) makes me think of it as a unilateral conversation, there is no one in the other side. Themes: It talks about the abuses in the relationship of an adult and a child and how the memories can be remember in different ways and they are not always true. Conclusion In this part of the paper Im going to give a brief conclusion about the authors but mainly about the poems and their style. As you can see this two authors are late authors of the twenty century so they are closed to our society because they live in our society (both of them are still alive and with not too many years). Thanks to this fact I think that the poems that they wrote are related more or less with our nowadays society, for example, the last poem by Carol Ann Duffy refers to a theme that unfortunately is occurring nowadays, the children abuse. Talking about their style and the way that they write I can say that the vast majority of their poems are easy to read because they have a simple language and also because they are related to topics that are known for all of us. I think that the majority of their poems are quite simple and what we read is what the author wants to say. Bibliographical references Books: Stevenson, R. The Oxford English Literary History. Volume 12: 1960-2000: The last of England? Oxford University Press, United States, 2006 Hamilton, I. The Oxford Companion to Twentieth-century Poetry in English. Oxford University Press, United States, 1996. Bradbury, M. The modern British novel. Penguin Books, London, 1994 Medina Casado, C. Poetas ingleses del siglo XX. Sà ­ntesis, Madrid, 2007 Electronic sources: Contemporary Writers British Council. Carol Ann Duffy (20 November, 2010): http://www.contemporarywriters.com/authors/?p=auth104 Contemporary Writers British Council. Simon Armitage. (20 November, 2010): http://www.contemporarywriters.com/authors/?p=auth165 Simon Armitages Website (20 November, 2010): Home

My medicine, work: thus credulous fools are caught Essay

How has Iago made his â€Å"medicine, work† on Othello. This essay is to discuss the tribes and tribulations of Iago; how he has brainwashed Othello and caused devastation to many people throughout the text, such as Othello, Desdemona, Cassio and Emillia. I am going to discuss points such as why Iago was so dishonest to Othello; why he caused Othello and Desdemona so much pain and why he didn’t have no love or care for any woman including his wife Emillia. Iago is a very bitter person who wants to make Othello miserable. Reasons for this are simple: Iago is a racist who dislikes black people; he wants Othello’s title/position, as Othello is a high- ranking member of the Venetian army; he loves and wants Desdemona for his wife. However, this last reason is unlikely. Throughout the play, Iago refers to women in a sexist way; at the end of the play, he stabs his wife Emilia to death. Obviously he is a man incapable of love. Throughout the play, Iago constantly refers to women in derogatory terms. For example, he says in Act two, Scene one, † †¦ you are pictures out of doors, bells in your parlours, wild-cats in your kitchens, saints in your injuries, devils being offended, players in your housewifery, and housewives in your beds.† In this quote Iago is being very prejudice and sexist towards female. He has no respect and dignity for women especially his wife Emillia. Iago intends to make Othello miserable by telling him that Desdemona is having an affair with Michael Cassio. He will, to an extent, brainwash Othello, also causing trouble for other characters, namely Cassio, Emilia, Desdemona and Roderigo. Iago doesn’t care who he hurts in the process of all this. He is there to cause pain and hurt all round so he gets his own way. There are many reasons as to why Iago is like this, such as: he has emotional feelings for Desdemona; he is jealous of Othello, etc. Iago begins to make Othello suspicious by dropping hints about Cassio, which leads Othello to find out what’s on Iago’s mind. Act two, Scene one: â€Å"That Cassio loves her, I do well believe’t â€Å" Here Iago starts to say blatantly to Othello that he is sure Cassio has feelings for Desdemona. Again Iago carries on with his poison talk to brainwash Othello. Making him into thinking such things about Cassio and Desdemona. Iago begins to start repeating what Othello says which causes Othello to convince himself that Desdemona has been unfaithful. Reasons why Iago is being like this could be that Brabantio is still angry with Othello for marrying his daughter without consent. Brabantio was then murdered. This is very unlikely though. Mainly the reason being the type of person Iago is. He is very cruel and envious person who lets his jealously overcomes him. Iago continues to seem reluctant to reveal what he claims he knows about Desdemona and Cassio. This just proves how intelligent and scheming Iago is. He strongly defends the importance of a man or woman’s reputation, and warns Othello to beware of jealously. Act two Scene one â€Å"At least into a jealousy so strong†¦judgement cannot cure† This quote is from Iago forwarding jealousy towards Othello again using his poison to brainwash Othello. Maybe Iago’s poison works so well on Othello that he actually understands and feels the feelings Iago are feeling himself. Now all of what Iago has been telling Othello has been pure lies. Iago is so corruptive and scheming that he falls into his own trap when Othello attacks him. â€Å"To say my wife is fair, feeds well, loves company, is free of speech, sings, plays, and dances well: Where virtue is, these are more virtuous.† Act three Scene three. This quote tells us Othello finds that being unfaithful to him is the worse thing she can do to him. So really this is perhaps his reason for acting the way he does. Later Othello says â€Å"No, Iago, I’ll see before I doubt; when I doubt; prove; And on the proof, there is no more but this; away at on once with love or jealously!† This quote to Iago basically is trying to tell Iago if you prove to me that Desdemona has been unfaithful then I will believe you! Why doesn’t he just ask Desdemona himself? So here Othello assures Iago he’s not a jealous man. He says he’s confident of his wife’s virtue. Iago warns him to watch Desdemona with Cassio; she is capable of deception. Iago now tells Othello that he has seen Cassio with Desdemona’s strawberry handkerchief. This was true but wasn’t intended by Cassio. It was placed on his love’s shoulder while she was asleep and then Cassio took it. Othello saw Cassio using it and thought immediately that Desdemona was being unfaithful and deceitful to him. â€Å"Have you not sometimes seen a handkerchief spotted with strawberries in your wife’s hand?† Act three Scene three. This Quote then starts to build up the tension between Iago and Othello because Iago is being honest and truthful but not for long. The significance of the handkerchief is that Othello was handed it to him form his Great Grandmother when she die. Othello then gave it to Desdemona as a token of his love for her. That is why it is so important. Next Othello says the following: â€Å"I know not that; but such a handkerchief – I am sure it was your wife’s- did I today see Cassio wipe his beard with.† Scene three Act three. This quote then suggests that Desdemona has given it to or left it in Cassio’s presence. So now Iago claims that Cassio has Desdemona’s handkerchief. Othello fills with anger and hatred as this is not what he wants or expects of Desdemona and he isn’t happy with the he has to find out. Othello is overcome with jealous grief and vows revenge. To Iago’s call of patience, Othello replies his murderous thoughts will never change. Othello is a black man who is high up in the Venetian army. At the beginning of the play we are given the impression that Othello has robbed Iago of his title. Act one Scene one â€Å"Off-capped to him; and by the faith of a man, I know my price†¦worth no worse a place† This quote shows how Iago feels like he has been robbed of his title by Othello. Iago wanted to be higher then anyone because he is a very manipulative and vindictive person. Othello marries Desdemona without Brabantio’s knowledge and consent, which causes uproar. Iago suggests a way of taking revenge against Othello. They shout in the street outside Brabantio’s house and tell him the news that he has been robbed. This then plots the play for what is going to happen. Iago will deceive Othello and do his best to cause trouble for Othello. So then he can rob him of his title. Iago is angry about failing to gain the promotion that has gone instead to Cassio. Iago, pretending to be Othello’s faithful supporter, warns Othello that Brabantio will attempt to break up the marriage. Othello is confident that his service to Venice and his noble descant will make all well. I think that Iago was a very bitter and cruel man. He had no love for no one but himself and was bitterly jealous of Othello. Othello’s behaviour towards Iago was very vulnerable. Act one Scene two â€Å"As double as the Duke’s. He will divorce you† This quote shows that Iago has to be very intentional by claiming quite blatantly that Desdemona will have nothing to do with you as you didn’t gain any consent or blessing from him to marry his daughter. Othello was also very gullible which didn’t help him disbelieve Iago. I also think that Iago’s jealousy caused so much trouble for people such as Cassio, Desdemona, Roderigo and Emilia. Othello’s behaviour couldn’t be helped because of Iago’s ways of brainwashing him. Iago’s brutal and ruthless actions throughout caused many deaths, at the end, which led to him being injured badly too. Unfortunately due to Iago’s duplicitous ways he caused no end of trouble for Othello and Desdemona’s marriage. Therefore his aggressiveness savaged the lives of Othello, Emilia, Desdemona and Cassio within the play. From this play you can see what jealousy and power can do to so many people by just one deceitful being. Iago didn’t have any emotion and love for anyone but himself. He didn’t get what he wanted so he caused a stink until he won, but in this case Iago’s scheming intentions backfired.

Oedipus Rex Cosmic Trial

Caitlin Lacy AP English Literature 11/12/12 Persuasive Essay Everything happens for a reason. You were born for a reason, there’s a reason you got an F on your math quiz. Everything happens for a reason. Most of the time the reason for something bad happening might not be very clear to you, but it’s there. Everything that happens to you happens because it all leads up to your ultimate fate, you can’t change your fate because for one, you probably don’t know what it is, but if you happened to know, everything you do to prevent it will eventually lead up to it.Think back to why you got an F on your math quiz, you didn’t study at all. So, you get your quiz back and your teacher asks you to stay after class, after her lecture you walk out of class late and you bump into a guy, long story short, he’s your soul mate and fifteen years later you’re happily married. Imagine if you had studied. It was fate, you weren’t supposed to study. No one is to blame for Laius’s death, not even Oedipus, it was fate, and fate can’t be avoided.Before reading the play, we’re already aware of Oedipus’s story. We know what his ultimate fate is, so we know what that all of Oedipus’s actions led up to his ultimate fate. One of the first clues we are given is also one of the biggest clues proving that fate can’t be changed. King Laius didn’t kill Oedipus himself, he ordered the shepherd to do it for him. There was no way for Laius to know whether the shepherd would kill the infant or not because he wasn’t present.Naturally, the shepherd didn’t kill Oedipus because Oedipus was just an infant, and a person with a heart probably wouldn’t kill an infant just because, the shepherd then proceeded to give Oedipus to a messenger who then took the baby to Corinth where Oedipus was adopted by the king and queen. This leads to another clue, which is the fact that Oedipus was r aised to believe that the king and queen of Corinth were his biological parents. Had he known they were his adoptive parents he most likely wouldn’t have gone to the oracle to Apollo at Delphi.The very fact that he went to see the oracle is just another example of fate prevailing. Once Oedipus learned his fate he left Corinth because he obviously didn’t want the prophecy to come true. Fate is the strongest theme in the story, another reason why fate is to blame for King Laius’s death. He had to be killed by his son no matter what; every single action in the play shows that. From the very beginning there was a way around this terrible fate, but Laius lost the chance when he ordered someone else to do his dirty work for him.Also, Oedipus was a baby at the time so he had no control over what was happening to him, and it would also be ridiculous for Oedipus to be blamed for his father’s death, because he was destined to fulfill this prophecy from before he wa s even born. If there was no prophecy, and Oedipus had killed his father, then he could be blamed, but there is too much evidence suggesting otherwise. From the way everything plays out you can see that fate is the cause of the whole ordeal. The minute Oedipus found out what he was destined for, he fled Corinth, because, as mentioned before, he believed that his adoptive parents were his biological parents.If you found out that you were destined for something as terrible was what Oedipus was destined for, you’d probably leave home too. No one who is sane wants to marry their mother and kill their father, Oedipus found out and tried to prevent this from happening, one might argue that his efforts to prevent his fate led to his fate, which is true, but he had no way of knowing that among the men he killed in the road that one of them was his father, and that the woman he married was his mother. â€Å"Now my curse on the murderer.Whoever he is, a lone man unknown in his crime o r one among many, let that man drag out his life in agony, step by painful step-â€Å" Oedipus, 280-283. Although this quote is extremely ironic, it shows that Oedipus has no idea he killed his father, and also that he believes that the act was wrong, and that the murderer needs to be punished. We also know that Oedipus murdered his father and his father’s men at a triple crossroad, there were two other roads for Oedipus to follow after killing the men, but for some reason, fate, it happened to be the road that led to Thebes.Fate, once again. Oedipus, once again, had no way of knowing that he had chosen the path to Thebes, it was just supposed to be that way. At the time of Oedipus’s arrival in Thebes, there was a sphinx keeping people out of the city, anyone who guessed the sphinx’s riddle incorrectly was devoured. Also, Oedipus had already fulfilled half of the prophecy, which meant that he was going to answer the riddle correctly because he had to get to The bes to be able to wed Jocasta.Because Oedipus saved Thebes, and because the king was mysteriously murdered, it was custom for Oedipus to marry the widowed queen, it had always been that way and there was no reason for Oedipus to reject her, he had no idea that he was about to marry and have kids with his mother. By this time, the prophecy was then fulfilled, and no one had any idea about it. The prophecy ended here. There wasn’t anything anyone could do anymore. Many years passed and Oedipus came to be one of the greatest kings Thebes had ever seen.Until the city of Thebes fell under a terrible plague, and everything Oedipus knew went downhill from there. When Oedipus was informed that finding Laius’s murderer would help bring happiness back to Thebes, he was set on it, because he was a good king. â€Å"OEDIPUS: From whom of these our townsmen, and what house? ?SHEPHERD: Forbear for God's sake, master, ask no more. ?OEDIPUS: If I must question thee again, thou'rt lost . (1164-1167)† This exchange between Oedipus and the shepherd shows that Oedipus will stop at nothing to save his people and find the murderer.It wasn’t fate that led Oedipus to the truth, it was his own determination. He was completely blind to the truth, but when he figured out that all the clues pointed to him, he did something that most people wouldn’t do, he punished himself, he kept his word that Laius’s murderer would suffer, and Laius’s murderer did suffer indeed. He begged Creon to exile him; he gouged his own eyes out. Oedipus might be the one to blame for uncovering the truth, but he definitely isn’t the one to blame for killing Laius, it was set in stone for him, and there was no way around that.

Troy and Cory Maxsons Relationship in Fences by August...

The theme of August Wilson’s play â€Å"Fences† is the coming of age in the life of a broken black man. Wilson wrote about the black experience in different decades and the struggle that many blacks faced, and that is seen in â€Å"Fences† because there are two different generations portrayed in Troy and Cory. Troy plays the part of the protagonist who has been disillusioned throughout his life by everyone he has been close to. He was forced to leave home at an early age because his father beat him so dramatically. Troy never learned how to treat people close to him and he never gave any one a chance to prove themselves because he was selfish. This makes Troy the antagonist in the story because he is not only hitting up against everyone in the play,†¦show more content†¦Cory is very aware that his father is envious of his athletic accomplishments. Troy also has no respect for Lyons and he does not support his dream to be a musician. Troy makes himself appear to be more of a suave, debonair gentlemen to Rose by fabricating events from their past. Despite Troy’s attempts of romancing her, Rose knows better than to believe Troy’s mendacity. In Act One, scene one, Troy tells the story of how he met Rose. †Baby, I don’t wanna marry, I just wanna be your man† (1333). Rose says, â€Å"Troy, you ought not talk like that. Troy ain’t doing nothing but telling a lie† (1333). Troy tries to make himself appear more engaging than he really is. Troys lying makes him seem more gallant than he really is. He also talks about how he defeated Death. In Act One, scene one, Troy says to Rose and Bono, â€Å"I wrestled with Death for three days and three nights and I’m standing here to tell you about it† (1336). Every story Troy tells, he emphasizes the fact that he is such a stout and audacious man. Troy assumes that people actually believe his over embellished stories. Throughout his childhood, Troy feared his father. Until one day, he grew up and learned how to stand up for himself. In Act One, scene four, he tells the story of how his daddy stole his girl from him. When Troy was fooling around with Joe Canewell’s daughter, his daddy walked in on them and started beating Troy with leather straps. â€Å"I was scaredShow MoreRelatedCharacter Analysis of Cory in The Play Fences by August Wilson1109 Words   |  5 Pagesfffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffd Troy Maxson’s father-son relationship is anything but desirable. The harder Cory works to better himself, the lower the moral between Cory and Troy becomes. Cory excels in football and is given the opportunity by recruits to go to college by playing football for the school. Troy refuses to sign the papers to allow Cory to be recruited because of a fear that was rooted in him nearly eight-teen years earlier. 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