Pride and Prejudice

Author: Jane Austen

Setting: Various estates in England

Plot:
Bingley, a wealthy single man, has just moved in to a nearby estate to the Bennet household, and Mrs. Bennet is determined that one of her daughters marry him. A ball is held, and Bingley is appraised to be friendly and desirable, while his even wealthier friend Darcy is seen as arrogant and unlikable. Jane and Bingley hit it off, and Darcy finds that despite his wishes he is falling for Elizabeth. Mr. Collins, a somewhat wealthy but utterly idiotic suitor, comes to call on the Bennets an is eventually and begrudgingly snapped up by Charlotte, a friend of Lizzie's. Darcy proposes to Elizabeth and she refuses. Wickham, a handsome and friendly man, meets the girls and tells them that his inheritance was stolen by Darcy. This turns out to be false, and Darcy turns out to be a good guy while Wickham was lying and runs off with Lydia. Darcy and Lizzie marry, and Bingley and Jane marry.

Main Characters:

Elizabeth - She is independent and witty, but somewhat judgmental. It is only by overcoming her prejudice against Darcy that she can find happiness.

Jane - The most beautiful of the daughters, but one who hesitates to see faults in others. She ends up with Bingley.


Lydia - The rebel of the group, she selfishly runs off with Wickham after he tricks her into liking him.


Mrs. Bennet - Her sole  purpose is to marry her daughters. She doesn't understand her husband and is very one-dimensional, but acts out of love for her children.


Mr. Bennet - Sarcastic and witty, he sometimes neglects his parental duties on the notion that it's all just too silly for him. Initially refreshingly sensible, but in the end he fails to take sufficient interest in his children.


Darcy - Initially looked down upon for being aloof, his greatest fault is his pride. Once he lets go of it to marry Liz, he is seen to be the truly well-intentioned man that he is.


Bingley - A kind-hearted wealthy gentleman who moves into the new estate. Friends with Darcy, but kiner and more persuasive, he is also easily influenced.


Charlotte - She is the one who settles. Seeing marriage as a great crap shoot, she cuts her losses and marries Mr. Collins before becoming "unmarriageable".

Point of View: Third person, primarily from Elizabeth's perspective.

Tone: The entire novel is told rather light-heartedly, lingering on mannerisms and images. The childlike nature of most of the characters is revealed as their petty intentions are easily discerned. 

Imagery: The setting is described in great detail. Austen creates vivid images to capture the various estates and locations in the book. New characters are also thoroughly depicted.

Symbolism:


Most of the truly revealing and enlightening moments take place in nature; Darcy's initial proposal and exchange with Lizzie, and the expedition through the rain to reach Netherfield.

Quotes:

"It is a truth universal acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife."

This broad generalization embodies the fixation of the novel's society upon marriage. It is quite prejudice to assume that all wealthy men need wives and proud to assume that this is a universal truth. This sarcastic opening sets the tone of the novel.

"They are young in the ways of the world, and not yet open to the mortifying conviction that handsome men must have something to live on, as well as the plain." -Mrs. Gardiner


Here she shatters the illusion that marriage is perfect; she acknowledges that in fact it will not always work out, but that one must nonetheless embrace the institution of marriage.

Theme: 

Only by letting go of pride and prejudice can happiness be found.


This is evident in Darcy and Liz's relationship, but also in many others; Charlotte bottles up her prejudice and rejects her pride rather than dealing with either in settling for Collins. Jane and Bingley are threatened by Darcy's pride as he tries initially to break them up. Even Mr. Bennet's pride keeps him from being as good a father as he could be, and Lydia is blinded by prejudice against anyone who tries to break her perfect vision of Wickham.

Hamlet

Author: William Shakespeare

Setting: Denmark

Plot:

Hamlet, the son of the late King Hamlet, is visited by his father's ghost who tells him that he was murdered by Claudius, his brother, and that Hamlet must kill Claudius, now king, to avenge his death.  Hamlet grapples with the idea and seems to descend into madness in his contemplation, but not action, of this act. This descent costs him his girlfriend, Ophelia, as her father Polonious is distrustful of the restitution of his intentions in the face of his potential responsibilities as King. Meanwhile Laertes, Ophelia's brother, wishes to go to France and asks leave of the king, which is granted. As Claudius grows suspicious of Hamlet's madness, he resolves to send him to England to be killed. However, his plans are foiled when pirates attack Hamlet's ship and he escapes, leaving his escorts Rozencrantz and Guildenstern to be killed in his place. Upon his return, Claudius and Laertes, angered by Hamlet's driving Ophelia to suicide, plan to kill him in a duel by poisoning Laertes' blade. In the fight, Hamlet is stabbed by the poisoned blade, after which he obtains it and stabs both Laertes and the king. Hamlet's mother, Gertrude, drinks the "backup plan": a poisoned wine goblet. As everybody dies, Hamlet proclaims that the throne of Denmark should go to Fortinbras of Norway, a seemingly bold and competent leader. 

Main Characters:

Hamlet - Plagued by inaction and long soliloquies, one of his major faults is an inability to act upon his feelings.

Claudius - Motivated by fear and lust for power and possibly love for Gertrude, this antagonist holds the throne of Denmark 

after killing his brother the king.

Laertes - A foil to Hamlet; he acts, but often doesn't think. He is impulsive and vengeful after hearing of the death of his sister, though his relationship with her is seen to be good and pure.

Ophelia - Hamlet's lover at the start of the play; Hamlet's supposed madness and the pressure put upon her by her father drive her drown herself in the river after going mad.

Gertrude - Seems to possess a genuine love for Hamlet, and has some affection for Claudius; whether she is attracted to his person or his power is unclear. Hamlet confides in her his plot to kill Claudius, and Gertrude keeps this secret. 

Polonius - The father of Ophelia and Laertes, he wants what he thinks is best for his children and for himself. He forbids Ophelia from seeing Hamlet.

Point of View: It's a play.

Tone: Shakespeare was always good about getting us to feel how he wants us to about his characters. We never really come to trust Hamlet since we don't know if he's crazy or not, and he doesn't do a whole lot. We don't like Claudius; he doesn't care for his son and killed his brother. On the whole the play has a very tense tone as everyone is on edge and suspicious of everyone else.

Imagery: Hamlet and Ophelia are the primary culprits here. Hamlet is always constructing vivid images depicting his own uncertainty, frustration, and fear. Ophelia shows us images as she goes mad: She paints her sorrow with flowers and nature in a truly moving way, causing us to mourn her all the more.

Symbolism:

Ophilia's flowers are explicable given characteristics, though interestingly who she gives them to isn't specified in the text. 

Hamlet explores the meaning of words, which seem to represent inaction and contemplation, particularly in a scene where he talks with Polonious about a book he's reading, and the words within. He sure says a lot of them.

Quotes:

"O, what a rogue and peasant slave am I!"

-Hamlet

Hamlet here realizes that all he is is a man driven by base instincts. He is "rogue and peasant" in that he is base and savage, subject to fancy and fate. That he acknowledges that he is a "slave" is an early manifestation of his eventual realization that fate is the true master of man, not man himself. This quote marks the beginning of his acceptance of his fate, whatever it is, and his eventual action which, to some tragic extent, saves Denmark.

"Something is rotten in the state of Denmark"

-Marcellus

This sets the scene for the whole show. Though there is personal conflict, growth, and death, this is to some extent a story of the purification of Denmark. Rotten is a good word indeed - Greed and fear have festered and spread till the kingdom is nearly paralyzed by it.

Theme: 

Neither action without thought nor thought without action can restore a broken world; one must accept that, do what we will, we can't control everything.

Hamlet takes his sweet time in doing anything, and as a result most everyone dies. Laertes, however, brashly acts instinctively and nearly throws the kingdom into even more turmoil. It is only the acceptance that we aren't in utter control of our destiny that we can act thoughtfully for the betterment of the world.

Ceremony

Ceremony

According to Silko’s Ceremony, both old and new must be used to heal the world.

The book is set on a Native American reserve, but flashes back to various parts of Tayo’s life in a non-
linear fashion, breaking barriers between past and present. It is by incorporating revelations from these
various times that Tayo is able to compete the ceremony (Book title!) required to heal not only himself
but the reservation.

Tayo is the main character of the novel, at the start of which he is broken. He has returned from war
unable to distinguish past and present, and begins “becoming white smoke.” This image demonstrates
many ideas: He’s smoke, so he has no form, and is subject to the slightest breeze. Smoke also, however,
fills the space of its container, expanding and drifting to occupy each crevice. Tayo, in his amorphous
state, has a breadth of being that few possess, and this allows him to see what others can’t: Old,
new good, and bad. The white bit is interesting as well. On one level, white is associated with purity.
However, white people are on the whole the protagonists of the story, causing pain with their greed and
ignorance. Silko, however, makes it clear that there are no absolutes: There are good white people, and
there are evil Pueblo people. These inconsistencies with the color white help us see how lost Tayo is, but also how even here he has potential to heal.

"It seems like I already heard these stories before—only thing is, the names sound different."

Grandma says this at the end of the novel, and here Silko is poking a bit of fun at herself – she
understands that there is only one story, and hers is merely a retelling. This concept is prominent
throughout the novel as the cyclical, all-encompassing nature of life and literature is reinforced in
various ways: The juxtaposition of scenes separated by years but parallel in theme, such as Tayo’s curse
upon the rainforest and the draught on the reservation; Betonie’s explanations of the ceremony to Tayo,
in which he emphasizes both the new and old; and the very fact that Tayo himself is a “half-breed”.

The American Dream

Albee's The American Dream tells us that the consumerism and dependence of the American citizen will yield pain rather than progress. It is set in the home of Mommy, a demanding and forgetful woman who needs validation in everything she does, and Daddy, an indecisive and emasculate individual who is at the beck and call of Mommy. Also in the house resides Grandma, the only voice of reason in the play. She sees through Mommy and Daddy's obsession with consumerism and is trying to find a way out.

The American Dream himself joins the scene near the end of the play, wowing everyone with his looks and charm, but admitting:

"It's just that I have no talents at all, except what you see... my person, my body, my face. In every other way I am incomplete, and I must therefore... Compensate."

This speaks to the shining, yet hollow face of consumerism. The system claims to give everyone what they want but really it just takes and provides only false satisfaction. It ties to the theme and offers both a view of the American dream and a reason for why it behaves the way it does.


"You don't have any feelings, that's what's wrong with you."

Grandma here gets to the heart of what's wrong with America. It's lost its sense of romance, its sense of work, its sense of dignity. It's become this superficial, almost robotic entity of buying and selling and reputations and appearances.