"Death, be not proud"

“Death, be not proud” is truly intriguing due to the fact that its author, John Donne, proposes a view of death that does not typically seem to be taken in most poems. Generally, a majority of the poems that I have ever read concerning death regard death as though it were a powerful and almighty entity. Death in and of itself was so powerful that no man was capable of escaping it, regardless of race, social status, religion, etc. Because death is an inescapable experience which all humans must face, death is typically viewed and described in poems to be a very formidable and powerful reality. However, through the use of critical diction and apostrophe, Donne greatly demeans death, detracting from its glorified image as an unavoidable and fearsome experience. For starters, employing apostrophe and addressing death directly greatly takes away from the perceived greatness of death. Rather than regarding death as something so powerful (if not sacred) that it cannot be addressed, Donne confronts death with a direct attack that death has little superiority for which to be boastful. Furthermore, Donne’s utilization of critical diction provides further support for his belief that death has little to take pride in. For example, Donne refers to death as “poor” death, indicated that it is something to be pitied rather than feared. Furthermore, Donne remarks that, “Thou are slave to fate, chance, kings, and desperate men” (Donne, 971). Death is typically described in poems as a very potent entity which no man can escape, which promotes anxiety in the reader regarding death; however, by personifying death as a slave in this piece of the passage, Donne portrays death to be an entity of limited power or influence. Because slaves were seen as inferior to their owners, the fact that death would be a slave to even the most desperate of mean greatly detracts from its influence over mankind. Donne demeans death most effectively when, in the last line of the poem, he asserts, “Death, thou shalt die” (Donne, 972). The idea that death itself could actually be overcome and “die” is a mind-boggling concept which very few people have presumably considered before. However, the fact that death could actually be vanquished by dying is very significant to detracting from the perception that death is formidable. Because death is portrayed as being so weak that it could be diminished by the very thing that made it powerful, Donne effectively proves in “Death, be not proud” that death does not in fact have any logical reasons to be feared.

"That time of year"

                William Shakespeare beautifully employs imagery to characterize the progression of life into death in the short poem “That time of year.” In the first quatrain of the poem, Shakespeare describes the time of year, autumn, in which the abundance of flourishing life which is seen in summer gradually ages and begins to die. Shakespeare embodies this transformation by describing in detail a large tree. While in the summer, the branches of the tree were surely saturated with green leaves and chirping birds, Shakespeare describes a tree in autumn where the leaves are withering and the birds dispersing. Similarly, within the second quatrain of the poem, Shakespeare explains that the arrival of twilight can be seen within in him. The peak of his life, or the daytime, is apparently drawing to a close, and the darkness of night is lurking on the edges of the twilight present within him, ready to overtake the faint light of the evening. Lastly, Shakespeare compares his fading life to a glowing fire. His youthfulness and vibrant life are personified as ashes, indicating that time has forced these ideal stages of life to disintegrate, and the ashes themselves become his youth’s deathbed. By creating this very detailed and intricate imagery, Shakespeare effectively pinpoints the subtlety and beauty of the gradual progression of life from youthful bounty to age, barrenness, and eventual death. The fact that the poem is titled “That time of year” is significant in that it draws attention to the fact that Shakespeare described autumn rather than winter. The focus of Shakespeare’s poem was on the upcoming arrival of death, not death itself; therefore, he describes the withering autumn rather than winter, twilight rather than nighttime, and the glowing of a fire than a raging fire which consumes everything surrounding it.

                The most intriguing aspect of this poem, however, is the final couplet in which Shakespeare writes, “This thou perceivest, which makes thy love more strong, to love that well which thou must leave ere long” (Shakespeare, 967). Before reading this final couplet of the poem, the reader may assume the poem’s purpose is merely to discuss the withering away of vibrancy and the gradual arrival of old age and death. Nevertheless, by addressing another person in the final couplet and indicating that this person loves him, Shakespeare includes a romantic element into “That time of year.” The purpose of the final of couplet is to note that one who is willing to love another unconditionally despite the fact that he or she is nearing death is both admirable and brave. Loving something which is destined to depart from them is very difficult for many people, so with this final couplet, Shakespeare commends those who are willing to give their hearts to someone despite the fact that their death is not a long way off. In fact, Shakespeare even goes so far as to say that loving someone in spite of their upcoming death makes the love itself even stronger.

"Crossing the Bar"

“Crossing the Bar” by Alfred, Lord Tennyson utilizes a great deal of personification and symbolism in order to convey its themes of the continual, persistent journey of life and the peaceful conclusion death brings. To begin with, Lord Tennyson personifies the evening and twilight by saying, “sunset and evening star” and “twilight and evening bell” (Tennyson, 886). This ties in to the poem’s symbolism, for the constant progression from day to dusk to evening to twilight represents how each person gradually yet perpetually progresses through the stages of their life. As the poem unwinds, oncoming of the night is revealed as well. This reinforces the idea that the pace of life is unyielding, and death is always approaching. Symbolism can also be seen in the tide described by Lord Tennyson. Tennyson describes the tide as being “too full for sound and foam” (Tennyson, 886). I believe that the bountiful tide which has swollen so tremendously that it cannot even support sound or foam represents the fact that life can sometimes become overflowing with an abundance of activities and blessings. However, just as the ship turns again home atop of the smooth and graceful tide, so must one’s life eventually begin to regress somewhat. Just as tides ebb and flow, lives progress through stages which follow a pattern very similar to ebbing and flowing. Therefore, through his detailed descriptions of nature, Lord Tennyson symbolizes life itself.

                Lord Tennyson certainly seems to treat death as though it were a peaceful and pleasant end to a beautiful journey rather than as a gruesome entity to be feared. Rather than personifying death as a decomposed body as it is in Faulkner’s “A Rose for Emily,” Tennyson portrays death as a mere crossing of the bar, a ship’s return home. Rather than express fear or anxiety about the eventual end of his life, Tennyson expresses a desire for his crossing of the bar to be without moaning or the sadness of farewells with loved ones. Rather, he seems perfectly content to greet death as the appropriate conclusion to the adventure of his life, as long as he is able to me the “pilot” or God, when this death comes. In comparison to other poems in the unit, “Crossing the Bar” describes death in a much more favorable light.

I SEE DEAD PEOPLE-- A Rose for Emily

                Faulkner once comment that “A Rose for Emily” was similar to a ghost story, and, in many respects, this comparison is certainly very understandable. A mysterious and aloof woman who lives in a dilapidated house, presumably kills a man, and stores a decaying body in her bed for approximately forty years certainly reflects characters, settings, and scenarios which are may be likely to appear in ghost stories. If one is able to look past these morbid aspects, however, the fact that “A Rose for Emily” amounts to much more than a ghost story is evident. Because the central character, Emily, is dead from the very start of the story, all description of her personality comes through indirect characterization. Although the reader is forced to make several assumptions about Emily because the narrator cannot factually support any of their knowledge about Emily, one can assume that Emily was a very lonely individual. She appeared to only live with her father, who drove all gentleman callers away, and she spent a majority of her life in isolation. Furthermore, the one man who might have given her an opportunity at happiness in life, Homer Barron, was unmarriageable. However, the thought that Emily killed Barron greatly darkens her character. The climax of the story lies at the very end when the gray hair and indentation in the pillow is discovered next to Homer’s decomposed body. Wit this revelation that Emily has been laying beside the body for forty years, the reader begins to fully understand that Emily, who became delusional, attempted to preserve all aspects of her life and was incapable of grasping change. For example, Emily insisted, “’See Colonel Sartoris. I have no taxes in Jefferson’” (Faulkner, 283) despite the fact that she truly did need to pay her taxes and Colonel Sartoris had been dead for ten years. The understanding that Emily kept a decayed corpse for nearly forty years dramatizes the idea that desperately clinging to things that have past while refusing to change is both dangerous and detrimental. Therefore, by teaching this lesson, “A Rose for Emily” becomes much more than a ghost story.

The Lottery

The “lottery” that is portrayed by Jackson in this story is certainly a gruesome and unnecessary ritual’ however, the most interesting and even most disturbing aspect of “The Lottery” is the reactions and attitudes of the villagers towards this maniacal lottery. The very establishment of an annual ritual in which a member of the town is stoned to death in the hopes that performing such a sacrifice would usher in a bountiful harvest seems inhumane. Because that the tradition has existed for at least seventy-seven years, however, one must consider that, at the time of its creation, the lottery may have seemed like a reasonable solution to the villagers’ problems. The acknowledgement of this fact perhaps yields the initiation of the practice to be justifiable. On the other hand, the fact that many surrounding towns are eradicating the lottery, and yet the town discussed in this story adamantly insists on continuing such a horrific lottery is inexcusable. The apathy with which all citizens of the town seem to meet the lottery is genuinely appalling; certainly no one wants to become a human sacrifice and endure a painful death at the hands of one’s own family and friends, yet nobody has the courage to defy such a practice. Mr. and Mrs. Adams, for example, discuss the fact that other towns have chosen to discontinue the event. Perhaps this was their timid way of subtly proposing the fact that their own town abolish the lottery; nevertheless, they fail to suggest such an idea with enough temerity to gain any attention, so the practice continues. Furthermore, some villagers even exceed the limits of indifference by supporting the ritual. For example, Old Man Warner insists, “Used to be a saying that, ‘Lottery in June, corn be heavy soon.’ Firth thing you know, we’d all be eating stewed chickweed and acorns” (Jackson, 268). Mrs. Delacroix also seems to be a proponent of the lottery, considering that she was described as selecting a stone “so large she had to pick it up with both hands” (Jackson, 271).

                The reactions of the Hutchinson family perhaps personify the strange attitudes of the villagers more adequately than anyone else. Mrs. Hutchinson seems regard the lottery with very little concern- that is, until her family was the one in danger. Regardless, she still seemed to only fear for her own life rather than that of her family; in fact, she even tried to include her married daughter in her family’s drawing so as to lessen the chances of her own death. Moreover, the Hutchison children seemed to express nothing but relief upon discovering that they were not the ones to be stoned rather than displaying fear or grief that their mother was about to be murdered in front of their very eyes. The startling apathy of all citizens towards the lottery ritual is significant, however, because it contributes to one of the major themes of the novel that traditions, if not carefully revised for their purpose, can become so distorted that they actually take away from their purpose itself. Writing the novel from Tessie’s point of view enhances this aspect as well.

Glass Menagerie Blog 5

                Similarly to A Raisin in the Sun, Tennessee Williams’ The Glass Menagerie incorporates a great deal of irony into its plot in order to enrich the drama and entertainment of the play. Perhaps the most evident example of irony which can be detected in the context of the play is the dramatic irony in the dilemma concerning the electricity bill. While Amanda is toiling away in the kitchen, Tom secretly confers with Jim and confides in him his secret that he is planning to leave his mother and sister behind in pursuit of a more adventurous lifestyle, just as his father did many years previously. Tom’s first bold step in abandoning his family was to use his paycheck from the warehouse to purchase his membership to the Union of Merchant Seaman rather than pay the electricity bill for the apartment. Because the reader has witnessed this conversation, he understands that Tom has intentionally chosen not to pay the bills in exchange for following his own dreams and desires. Dramatic irony occurs, however, because Amanda is unaware of the fact that Tom has disregarded the bill for these specific reasons and is instead under the impression that Tom simply forgot to pay the bill out of pure irresponsible negligence. This sample of dramatic irony is surprisingly significant to the play, for it illuminates characterization of both Amanda and Tom and also elicits symbolism. To begin with, the fact that Amanda was willing to believe that Tom merely forgot to pay the bill due to a distracted or whimsical mind rather than ascertain the true reason for his negligence- his selfish plans to abandon the family in a time of great need- reveals to the reader that Amanda has a genuine heart underneath her delusional and overbearing personality. While Amanda may have been somewhat uncompassionate in regard to Tom’s dreams and ambitions, and insensitive to Laura’s shyness, this dramatic irony reveals to the reader that fact that her intentions for her children genuinely were for the obtainment of their happiness. Amanda may have appeared to have been a little strict on her children, but the reader can now understands that she acted in this manner purely out of her strong desire to prevent her children from making the same mistakes that she and their father made in the past. While Amanda certainly nagged Tom about his habit of escaping to the movies on a regular basis, the dramatic irony present in this scene proves that she never truly doubted his dedication to the family of his commitment to the well-being of the family. Unfortunately, the reader understands long before Amanda does that Tom places his own selfish desires above the prosperity of his family.

                In addition to helping characterize Amanda as genuine and trusting and Tom as selfish, this instance of dramatic irony serves a second purpose of revealing symbolism to the audience. Tom’s choice to allow his own personal ambitions to transcend the needs of his mother and sister literally sent the family into plunging darkness; after all, his failure to pay the electricity bill resulted in the entire apartment shuddering in the darkness of the night. However, the fact that Tom’s negligence also drove Amanda and Laura into a kind of metaphorical darkness is also true. When Tom leaves his family, Amanda, who is elderly and delusional, and Laura, who is painfully shy and crippled, will be left to make money for themselves. Their ability to sustain themselves will be highly questionably, and the likelihood of Laura finding a husband to marry dramatically decreases. Consequently, Tom’s choice to pursue his own dreams essentially dooms his mother and sister to a life of poverty and unhappiness; therefore, Tom is, in a sense, sentencing his family to metaphorical darkness. As the power in the house flickers out, Amanda laments that they have been “plunged…into everlasting darkness” (Williams, 1272). While this comment may be literally somewhat melodramatic, I could not help but be struck by this comment when reading the play, for I realized that, with such a vile act, Tom genuinely had, in fact, forced his mother and sister into unending difficulty.

Glass Menagerie Blog 4

                Similarly to A Raisin in the Sun, Tennessee Williams’ The Glass Menagerie incorporates a great deal of irony into its plot in order to enrich the drama and entertainment of the play. Perhaps the most evident example of irony which can be detected in the context of the play is the dramatic irony in the dilemma concerning the electricity bill. While Amanda is toiling away in the kitchen, Tom secretly confers with Jim and confides in him his secret that he is planning to leave his mother and sister behind in pursuit of a more adventurous lifestyle, just as his father did many years previously. Tom’s first bold step in abandoning his family was to use his paycheck from the warehouse to purchase his membership to the Union of Merchant Seaman rather than pay the electricity bill for the apartment. Because the reader has witnessed this conversation, he or she understands that Tom has intentionally chosen not to pay the bills in exchange for following his own dreams and desires. Dramatic irony occurs, however, because Amanda is unaware of the fact that Tom has disregarded the bill for these specific reasons and is instead under the impression that Tom simply forgot to pay the bill out of pure irresponsible negligence. This sample of dramatic irony is surprisingly significant to the play, for it illuminates characterization of both Amanda and Tom and also elicits symbolism. To begin with, the fact that Amanda was willing to believe that Tom merely forgot to pay the bill due to a distracted or whimsical mind rather than ascertain the true reason for his negligence- his selfish plans to abandon the family in a time of great need- reveals to the reader that Amanda has a genuine heart underneath her delusional and overbearing personality. While Amanda may have been somewhat uncompassionate in regard to Tom’s dreams and ambitions, and insensitive to Laura’s shyness, this dramatic irony reveals to the reader that fact that her intentions for her children genuinely were for the obtainment of their happiness. Amanda may have appeared to have been a little strict on her children, but the reader can now understands that she acted in this manner purely out of her strong desire to prevent her children from making the same mistakes that she and their father made in the past. While Amanda certainly nagged Tom about his habit of escaping to the movies on a regular basis, the dramatic irony present in this scene proves that she never truly doubted his dedication to the family of his commitment to the well-being of the family. Unfortunately, the reader understands long before Amanda does that Tom places his own selfish desires above the prosperity of his family.

                In addition to helping characterize Amanda as genuine and trusting and Tom as selfish, this instance of dramatic irony serves a second purpose of revealing symbolism to the audience. Tom’s choice to allow his own personal ambitions to transcend the needs of his mother and sister literally sent the family into plunging darkness; after all, his failure to pay the electricity bill resulted in the entire apartment shuddering in the darkness of the night. However, the fact that Tom’s negligence also drove Amanda and Laura into a kind of metaphorical darkness is also true. When Tom leaves his family, Amanda, who is elderly and delusional, and Laura, who is painfully shy and crippled, will be left to make money for themselves. Their ability to sustain themselves will be highly questionably, and the likelihood of Laura finding a husband to marry dramatically decreases. Consequently, Tom’s choice to pursue his own dreams essentially dooms his mother and sister to a life of poverty and unhappiness; therefore, Tom is, in a sense, sentencing his family to metaphorical darkness. As the power in the house flickers out, Amanda laments that they have been “plunged…into everlasting darkness” (Williams, 1272). While this comment may be literally somewhat melodramatic, I could not help but be struck by this comment when reading the play, for I realized that, with such a vile act, Tom genuinely had, in fact, forced his mother and sister into unending difficulty.

Glass Menagerie Blog 3

                Tennessee Williams’ emphasis on memory throughout The Glass Menagerie not only served the purpose of examining the impact of such memories on reality, but also the purpose of observing the tendencies of humankind to dwell on the past. This concept is exhibited most prominently in the character of Amanda Wingfield. As the play progresses, the fact that Amanda desires so incurably to relive the “glory” days of her youth is manifested in her frequent flashbacks and elaborate tales. For example, when discussing the need for Laura to receive some gentleman callers, she pours out her heart recounting how popular and vibrant she was a young woman, as well as how frequently she was graced by the presence of pining gentleman callers. Amanda’s obsession with reminiscing incessantly calls to question her motives in doing so. Because Amanda chose to marry a heartless man who abandoned his family for purely selfish reasons rather than marry any of the other more respectable bachelors from Blue Mountain, one may imagine that she recalls the more pleasant aspects of her past as a mechanism to ignore the unfortunate reality of her poor choice. Regardless, Amanda’s obsession has clearly caused her to become delusional at times, permanently impacting her present life.

                Williams models through the character of Amanda how living in the past rather than the present may quickly become a harmful practice. Amanda has harbored her memories for such an extent of time that she has ripped herself out of touch with reality and sentenced herself to a life of delusion. Amanda’s loss of reality is made evident when she dresses herself in a hideous dress from her youth and claims that “styles haven’t changed so much after all” (Williams, 1263)! Despite the fact that the styles had obviously changed quite dramatically, Amanda’s perceptions of her own memories led her to ignore this fact. Amanda warns Tom not to dwell in his past, yet she becomes the worst offender of her own principles throughout the course of the play by doing the exact act she tried to protect her children from performing. Therefore, Williams establishes Amanda as a character who best embodies the unfortunate mistake of allowing the past to overtake the present.  

Glass Menagerie Blog 2

In The Glass Menagerie, Tennessee Williams employs both the literary techniques of hyperbole and simile at critical moments so as to facilitate the characterization of Laura and underscore major themes of the play. When discussing her brief enrollment at Rubicam’s business college, Laura employs a hyperbole when remarking that she was so humiliated that she wished to locate a hole in the ground and hide within it forever. Obviously Laura did not really wish to hide forever, but her overly dramatic statement conveys the notion that Laura suffered from great self-consciousness and humiliation. Furthermore, when Laura reminisces with Jim about their high school days, she admits to feeling great embarrassment at the loud noises her leg brace produced. She uses a simile when lamenting to Jim, “To me it sounded like thunder” (Williams, 1276)! Through the utilization of these hyperboles and similes, Williams effectively characterizes Laura as having an intense case of shyness and self-consciousness. Rather than having Tom simply remark during his narration that Laura developed a tendency to be humiliated very easily, Williams intentionally reveals this aspect of her personality through direct comments made by Laura herself. By enhancing her confession with dramatic literary techniques, Williams allows these attributes to become even more evident.

                Furthermore, these two hyperboles and similes aid Williams in illuminating one of the major themes of the book: the impact of memory on an individual. Although Laura recalls the thuds of her leg brace sounding as loud as thunder, Jim insists that he remembers no such noise whatsoever. He insisted that her memory of the clumping was “magnified thousands of times by imagination” (Williams, 1280). This remark brings to light the human tendency to enhance horrors within the mind when recalling particularly unpleasant memories, a theme which is fairly evident throughout the play. Moreover, Jim asserts that this amplification of terror in Laura’s mind prevented her from overcoming limitation and accomplishing her dreams. Through this realization of Jim, Williams reveals the theme of the novel that is the peculiar manner in which memories can influence an individual’s thoughts, feelings, and action in the present. Consequently, Williams’ utilization of this simile comparing Laura’s clumping to thunder proves itself to be a highly significant literary technique in the play.

Glass Menagerie Blog 1

               Tennessee Williams utilizes a plethora of complex symbols in his play The Glass Menagerie; however, Williams employs this symbolism in a slightly different manner than many other authors use the technique. Rather than leave the symbolic aspects of the play for the reader to ascertain, Williams notifies the reader directly of these symbols and their precise meanings within the context of the story. With this in mind, the analysis of Williams’ placement of these symbols within the plot becomes all the more critical to understanding their full contribution to the story.

                The fire escape by which the Wingfields enter and exit their home is certainly not the normal means by which a family gains access to their home. While a fire escape typically carries the connotation of being a lifesaving device, Williams discusses within the stage directions the fact that, in these circumstances, the fire escape actually symbolizes the means by which the characters enter the metaphorical fire of desperation flaming within their mediocre apartment. The stage directions describe the fire escape as being “a structure whose name is a touch of accidental poetic truth, for all of these huge buildings are always burning with the slow and implacable fires of human desperation” (Williams, 1235). The importance of the placement of this symbol in the story can be seen when Laura scrambles up the fire escape to retrieve butter for Amanda, slips, and quickly scampers back down the escape into the confines of the house. The fact that Laura retreated down the fire escape and back in to the metaphorical fires of desperation reflects her desire to escape the monotony of the home yet overwhelming fear of any foreign concept. Amanda was very accurate in describing Laura: “You couldn’t be satisfied with just sitting home, and yet whenever I try to arrange something for you, you seem to resist it” (Williams, 1263). Laura’s fear of adventure is therefore reflected in her feeble attempt to escape her desperation and her pathetic retreat after the smallest sign of adversity.

                The symbolism of Laura’s glass animals are also tremendously significant to the play because the fragility of the little glass ornaments reflects Laura’s immense physical fragility and emotional weakness. The unicorn in particular represents Laura, for Laura singles out the unicorn as being her favorite because its physical properties differentiate it from all the rest. The placement of this symbolism during Laura’s conversations with Jim is incredibly important in that, in the very instance that Laura finally shrugs aside her inhibitions and dances as an able-bodied woman would, the glass unicorn falls to the floor, and the horn is broken off. As Laura overcomes her inferiority complex and allows herself to be “normal,” the animal’s fragility is compromised, and it, too, becomes like all the others. In this manner, Williams again employs symbolism at the precise moment at which it will elicit the most emotion and significance.