In everyday life, people are put under many pressures and are expected to be perfect to society. In Edith Wharton’s, best-known and most popular novel, Ethan Frome, this idea is highlighted, showing the protagonist’s breakdown. Ethan Frome struggles against the customs and rules of society, fighting a battle within himself between what he wants in order to be happy and what he feels he must do to satisfy his family and society. Frome struggles between his desire for Mattie and his sense of duty toward Zeena, his wife. The pressures that come from the responsibilities in the Frome household lead to Ethan Frome’s emotional breakdown, showing how societal pressures can lead to harmful self-doubt.…
Many people in society can be considered by outsiders by society. These sorts of characters, along with being found in modern day society, are also found in all forms of media such as Scott Pilgrim in Scott Pilgrim Versus the World, Colonel Aureliano Buendia from One Hundred Years of Solitude, and even Doctor Gregory House from acclaimed television series House. These characters provide us with a fascinating viewpoint on how they view society and how they are able to interact with society as a result of this isolation and ostracism from society. Arguably one of the greatest examples of this isolated character challenged by society’s very moral center is the character of Meursault of Albert Camus’ The Stranger. Camus throughout The Stranger…
The primary purpose of Shakespeare’s “King Lear”is the tragedy and focus of the fall of a noble character due to a tragic flaw. Shakespeare’s main purpose was perhaps to emphasize on the idea that tragedies intend to show how our very own human nature can turn out to be our worst enemy. In “King Lear,” the reader gets to see how Lear suffers from his tragic flaw, which includes of arrogance and misjudgements. Because of his tragic flaw, King Lear makes bad decisions. When he announces his plan in dividing the kingdom between his three daughters he orders them to speak up and say which daughter loves him the most. He does this not thinking about the consequences; he expects Cordelia, his favorite daughter, to speak up instead Goneril and Regan…
The book The Penderwicks, by Jeanne Birdsall, tells the story of four sisters on summer vacation and the adventures they embark on.…
Have you ever read Cyrano de Bergerac a seen how the sacrifice in the play shows what the character’s belief in. This is shown by how most of the major sacrifices in the story are in love like Cyrano, who gives up the love of his life because of his nose or how Christian was not able to show the woman he loves his real thoughts and personality. Then there's a Character like Roxane that has so many people giving things up for her, but she gives very little back for what she has received. Sacrifices like these and Roxane self-importance show what the Characters in this play value.…
Have you ever been wrongly accused of something? Perhaps a dear friend blames you for taking a hairbrush that they merely misplaced, or a family member yells at you for letting the house pet out, even though you were in another room completely. Usually we get upset with this person, and should the charge have large enough consequences, we begin to harbor a desire for revenge. This is what became of the lead character in the film The Count of Monte Cristo. The Count of Monte Cristo, released in 2002, was a film adaptation of a novel by the same name, written by author Alexandre Dumas. Within the span of the two hour long film, the audience views the tragic betrayal and false imprisonment of a young French sailor, by the name of Edmond Dantes,…
Throughout the novella I Am Legend by Richard Matheson, Robert Neville, the last human who is immune to this disease, is an anti-hero. For instance, towards the end of the story, during his state of confusion after he woke up, he felt pain that he had not ever felt before and thought that it must mean it was the end and said to himself ‘’I am going to die’’ (p.164). This statement shows that he accepts that his life will end here and he will not try to fight it in any way in order to continue surviving. In addition to this, after he realizes where he is and what happened, Ruth came to check on him and asks him why he did not leave beforehand like she told him to in the letter she left him. Robert explained to her ‘’I…couldn’t […] I almost…
Dante was born in Florence in 1265 and his family was said to come from the ancient seed of the Romans, founders of Florence (Inf. XV, 73-78). According to Dante, his great-grandfather Cacciaguida (Par. XV, 130-148) was knighted by the Emperor Conrad III, dying subsequently in the Holy Land during the Second Crusade. Dante was known as one of the most famous authors of the Middle Ages, whose relevant works are still today studied by many scholars, members of various societies of Dante that are located in all place of the world. As already underlined by the works of Dante's interpreters, his works show how deeply the poet felt the social role of the artist and how deeply he was involved in the political-philosophical debate of his century,…
In the novel, The Count of Monte Cristo, Edmond Danteś is a very powerful figure that travels through different scenarios and troubles. It includes him escaping jail in the beginning after being framed. Secondly how he changed his identity six times through out the book in the challenges that he faces. Third is how he wanted to seek revenge against the people that had him put into jail in the revelation and actions. And finally, Edmonds final stages of his rough and traitorous journey throughout his time of trying to seek revenge.…
Edmond Dantes’ life started to become everything that he wanted it to be. He was loved by a beautiful woman, named Mercedes, to whom he was to be married. He as well became captain of a ship named The Pharaon, owned by Morrel and Son. Dantes also had many people in his life that he considered his friends. Gaspard Caderousse was Dantes’ neighbor and friend. Fernand Mondego was Dantes’ close friend and friend of Mercedes. Baron Danglars was Dantes’ fellow crew member on the Pharaon and became Dantes’ shipmate when he became captain. Gerard de Villefort was a Royal Prosecutor who became acquainted with Dantes when Villefort promised him that there would be no repercussions for his accusation of treason. In the eyes of Edmond Dantes, the future looked bright. Little did he know, he had enemies who thought otherwise.…
The implications of every word and line in a literary work such as The Inferno can, at times, be troubling to a new reader, and even to those who possess the skill of inference. However, when approached as closely and minutely as possible, it becomes somewhat simple to draw each word and line separately into something greater, giving new life and meaning to the voice of Dante. Canto XXVI begins with false praise to the city of Florence, moving to the journey of a pilgrim and his guide, during which the pilgrim encounters one who made such a journey as epic as the pilgrim’s, yet further beyond the reaches of God and His world. These two journeys detail the navigation of a somewhat unknown world. One, however, is guided by divinity, the other by way of humanity. This is a reading of the story containing divine guidance.…
In Edmond Rostand’s Cyrano de Bergerac, Roxane and Christian’s romance plays a key role in teaching us about the consequences of judging others superficially. He does this by telling a story about a love triangle comprised of Christian de Neuvillette, Roxane, and Cyrano de Bergerac. Christian and Roxane initially fall for each other due to physical attractiveness. However, Roxane only chooses to love Christian if he is eloquent. To prove his eloquence to Roxane, Christian teams up with Cyrano, and we watch as Roxane and Christian’s relationship blossoms through a series of romantic love letters. However, when the truth is revealed that it was Cyrano who truly loved Roxane, and wrote…
Ethan Frome is the protagonist of the novel. A "ruin of a man," according to The Narrator .He appears to be tall, " He has "strong shoulders" , blue eyes and brown hair . He has a "powerful look," that is "bleak". Ethan is a poor man who is simple, straightforward, and responsible. When The Narrator first gazes to Ethan's face in a moment, he sees Ethan as a man who " . . . looks as if he (is) dead and in hell. . . . "…
Eleanor Roosevelt once said, "A mature person is one who does not think only in absolutes, who is able to be objective even when deeply stirred emotionally, who has learned that there is both good and bad in all people and all things, and who walks humbly and deals charitably." The tenor of this quote relates to the behavior of a character who posses compassion, despite the hardships he or she may face. The play Cyrano de Bergerac, written by Edmond Rostand, relates to Eleanor Roosevelt's quote dealing with characters whom act modest in the hardest times. Cyrano, Edmond Rostand's main character, acquires this modest trait. Cyrano loves a beautiful woman named Roxane, which is the purest love one could have.…
In his poem, “A Sonnet,” Dante Gabriel Rossetti uses a series of paradoxical statements and concepts to establish the sonnet’s multi-faceted character and importance. Likewise, Christina Rossetti’s poem, “In an Artist’s Studio,” also uses juxtaposition, as it presents art and painting as a mirror. However, these poems interpret this binary nature of art in opposite ways; while Dante uses binaries to celebrate the depth and diversity of art, Christina ultimately uses dichotomies to establish an inherent inauthenticity about art. These different interpretations largely depend on how each poet attempts to reconcile the duality of art into one, complete concept. While Dante portrays the sonnet as a composite of two distinct characters, these two…