Collection of Analyses

Here are a bunch of shorter analysis pieces that analyze various aspects within many different texts.

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Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night’s Dream

Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream falls under the category Romantic Comedy, but it doesn’t completely stick strictly to the outline for a Romantic Comedy as some other Shakespeare works do. One reason why is that it features three different potential beautiful/engaging heroines, Hermia, Helena, and Titania, as well as three different men involved with them, Lysander, Demetrius, and Oberon. All three pairs face difficulties and trials throughout the entirety of the play, but all three end in happy union. Hermia is faced with the problem that she loves Lysander, but her father wants her to be with Demetrius, whom also loves her, and thus she is given an ultimatum to decide by the day Theseus and Egeus marry to either, “…prepare to die for disobedience to [her] father’s will, or else to wed Demetrius,” but things end well despite all the following chaos the couple endures (Act 1, scene 1, page 6). Helena faces the problem of having an unrequited love for Demetrius, but this too ends with them happily married. Titania and Oberon are in a fight over a boy she has whom he wants, and despite Oberon’s odd method of revenge upon her, they too end with a happy reconciliation.

Despite it not following perfectly in this respect, it perfectly follows the movement from the normal world into that of the forest. All of the chaos, problems, and resolution occur in the forest. The prominent reason for all the chaos upon the three pairs is Oberon’s special flower juice, which is demonstrated in his plan for revenge on Titania as he says, “Having once this juice, I’ll watch Titania when she is asleep and drop the liquor of it in her eyes. The next thing then she waking looks upon…she shall pursue it with the soul of love” (Act 2, scene 2, page 23). He doesn’t only use it on her though, he has Puck go find Demetrius to use it on him, but this only ends in confusion as Puck instead uses it on Lysander. Despite the ensuing chaos, the forest is where things are made right and where things are resolved and thus is a reason that A Midsummer Night’s Dream is a Romantic Comedy.

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Doctor Faustus

Throughout Christopher Marlowe’s Doctor Faustus the symbol the good and evil angels appears almost every time Faustus is trying to make a decision that will either set him on a path to heaven or hell. They appear right at the very beginning when Faustus is preparing to start utilizing black magic. The good angel tells him,”...lay that damned book aside, and gaze not on it, lest it tempt thy soul and heap God’s heavy wrath upon thy head…” whilst the evil angel says,”Go forward...in that famous art, wherein all nature’s treasury is contained: Be thou on earth as Jove is in the sky…” (pg 1131, lines 70-76). These angels are a symbol because they represent Faustus’s own internal struggle, his own battle over whether he is doing the right thing or not. They bring his internal battle between good and evil to life.

Directly linked to the appearance of the good and evil angels is the theme of conflict within man. There is an internal struggle happening with Doctor Faustus throughout the entirety of his story over whether he should truly follow Lucifer or turn back to God and save himself before it’s too late. He is divided internally over what to do even at the very last moments of his life, and he calls to God only minutes before Fay 2 Lucifer is to come for him, begging for God to “...have mercy on [his] soul…,” but at this point, it is too late (page 1162, line 89).

Doctor Faustus is an extremely interesting character because it is his pursuit and thirst for knowledge that ultimately leads to his downfall. He has learned all he can that is considered normal, meaning law, divinity, logic, and medicine, and so he believes the only place he can turn to to quench his thirst for knowledge now is necromancy. He reasons that, “...we must sin, and so consequently die” in order to persuade himself that he likely was damned even before he decided to pursue black magic (pg 1130, lines 44-45).

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A Modest Proposal

Jonathan Swift’s A Modest Proposal is a satirical piece written to express his own disgust with the current state of Ireland and his anger at greedy English landlords. A Modest Proposal starts out in a way that makes any reader of this time kind of nod in agreement because the complaints Swift discusses were common among most people of this time. Swift discusses the streets, “crowded with beggars of the female sex, followed by three, four, or six children…” whom are contributing nothing helpful to society (2633). He then follows this with his seemingly reasonable statement that, “...whoever could find out a fair, cheap, and easy method of making these children sound, useful members of the commonwealth would deserve so well of the public as to have his statue set up for a preserver of the nation” (2633). At this point, he has readers of this time sucked in only to suddenly turn things around.

Swift likely received much indignation, contempt, and scorn for taking this subject and making it as ridiculous as he did by proposing that these children be fed a lot of food, fattened up like an animal would be, and then fed to the landlords. This piece is satire because of what he does--he takes a subject that he is upset about and makes it extremely ridiculous in order to try to shed light on the problem knowing that the responses to his ridiculous proposal would be very mixed. Swift clearly didn’t truly mean it when he said, “I am assured by a very knowing American of my acquaintance in London, that a young healthy child well nursed is at a year old a most delicious, nourishing, and wholesome food, whether stewed, roasted, baked or boiled; and I make no doubt, that it will equally serve in a fricassee or ragout,” he just wanted to try and make it known that there were problems that needed fixing (1634).

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Cordelia's traits in King Lear

Perhaps the most prominent trait that Cordelia possesses is her honesty. This trait is noticeable right from the start when, while her sisters flatter their father with loads of praise and lies in order to gain his favor and thus gain more power, Cordelia simply states “Unhappy that I am, I cannot heave my heart into my mouth. I love your majesty according to my bond, nor more nor less” (Act 1, Scene 1, Lines 91-93). Cordelia still chooses to be honest even though her father has upset her by forcing her into a marriage she does not want and her doing so could potentially affect her entire future.

Another trait Cordelia possesses is simply her virtuousness. No matter what is thrown her way, she still comes out of it holding to own beliefs and her own goodness. She is a believer that those who do good will triumph and that those who do bad deeds will eventually be exposed and shamed, illustrated by when she tells Goneril, “Time shall unfold what pleated cunning hides: who cover faults, at last shame them derides…” (Act 1, Scene 1, Lines 282-283). Despite having just been forced into a marriage she didn’t even want, Cordelia still believes what is meant to be will be and that those who do good and bad will get what they deserve, further illuminating her virtuousness.

The last trait Cordelia possesses is her lovingness. Even after her father has banished her and forced her into a marriage she didn’t want, she still forgives him and she never stopped loving him. Her first thoughts when she returns from France are to help her father and to repair the damage done to her poor father while she was gone. She says, “O my dear father! Restoration hang thy medicine on my lips; and let this kiss repair those violent harms that my two sisters have in thy reverence made” (Act 4, Scene 7, Lines 26-29). This illustrates that despite the wrongs her father did to her, she still loves him and wishes him to be well again.

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Symbols and Themes in Metaphysical Poetry

John Donne utilizes a flea in his poem The Flea as a symbol representative of the relationship between a man and his lover. The speaker is using the flea in an attempt to convince his lover to sleep with him. Because the flea has bit both of them and thus has both of their blood inside it, the speaker strives to say this is the same as if his lover decides to sleep with him. One theme in The Flea is the loss of innocence, illustrated in the quote, “A sin, or shame, or loss of maidenhood” (page 1373, line 6). The center of this poem is on the speaker's desire to take the woman's virginity, and thus for her to lose innocence.

The poem To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time by Robert Herrick utilizes flowers, rosebuds in particular, to represent virginity. Herrick also employs the theme of carpe diem in order to express that time is fleeting and these Virgins should make the most of their time while they can. He uses both the flower symbol and the carpe diem theme in the quote, “And this same flower that smiles today tomorrow will be dying” (page 1762, lines 3-4). Flowers and the theme of carpe diem tie very closely together because flowers live and die fast as time passes too quickly. Thus, both the symbol and theme point towards a message of seizing the time you have while you can.

John Donne’s poem The Apparition centers around a theme of revenge and a ghost as a symbol. The theme of revenge ties directly with the ghost because the ghost represents the speaker's desire to take revenge for the way he’s being wronged, illustrated in the quote, “I had rather thou shouldst painfully repent than by my threatenings rest still innocent” (page 1385, lines 16-17). Both the symbol and the theme help to portray the speaker's point that if the woman does not do what he wants now, there will be a disastrous wrath upon her by him in the future.

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Hamlet

The first way Hamlet fits the tragedy genre, specifically the Renaissance Tragedy genre, is it’s use of violence. An example of this is the way in which Hamlet’s father was murdered by his own brother. Claudius murdered Hamlet’s father by taking “...juice of cursed hebona in a vial” and pouring it in “the porches of” the King’s ear (Act 1, scene 5, lines 62-63). He then takes over the crown and even takes the dead King’s bride as his own not long after. Another example is Hamlet’s quick, rash murder of Polonius, which his mother responds to as “...a rash and bloody deed…” (Act 3, scene 4, line 28). Hamlet assumes that it his uncle who is eavesdropping in, but he doesn’t even check, he just “thrusts his rapier” out and kills the eavesdropper without even knowing who he is killing (Act 3, scene 4, line 26).

Another way Hamlet fits into the Renaissance Tragedy genre is it’s use of Hamlet’s dead father as a ghost. The ghost of the dead king appears in the story almost right away as Barnardo and Marcellus tell Horatio they have seen the ghost the previous nights and it materializes right after (Act 1, scene 1, lines 1-40). Following this, Horatio and the others inform Hamlet of the ghost and the rest of the events unfold specifically because of the ghost. The ghost also appears numerous more times throughout the first three acts and thus this ghost is frequently used throughout the story. Hamlet is also split up into five acts and thus it follows the five act structure sometimes seen in the Renaissance Tragedy genre as well.

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Lanval vs Morte Darthur

Both Lanval and Morte Darthur use the legend of Arthur and twist it to tell their own version of the story. Despite both of them being based on the same legend, the two tales are far more different than similar.

Both tales center around characters based off of Arthur, Guinevere, and Lancelot. They both also center around the same general idea of the Arthurian legend; Arthur and Guinevere are king and queen, Lancelot is a loyal knight under Arthur, something happens with Guinevere and Lancelot, and Arthur finds out, Arthur then feels betrayed, and chaos then ensues. However, in Lanval, the Lancelot based character, Lanval, doesn’t have any interest in Guinevere and she is the one who makes a move on him then lies to Arthur about what really happened out of embarrassment and anger. In Morte Darthur, both Lancelot and Guinevere are equal in betraying the king because they are having an affair. Thus, despite both stories having the same base, the two stories utilize and play out the Arthurian legend very differently.

Gender roles in the two stories vary greatly when it comes to the female characters. In Lanval, the female character who Lanval loves is the center of the story and the center of the turmoil. After Lanval realizes he’s messed up in speaking of his secret love to the queen, he becomes consumed with sorrow, saying that, “...they could have killed him, for all he cared” (page 161, line 358). All he cares about is his true love and without her he doesn’t want or care for anything else. In Morte Darthur, it seems like Arthur doesn’t care as much about losing his queen as he does losing his bond with Lancelot and the knights whom chose Lancelot over him. This is illustrated in the quote, “And much more I am sorrier for my good knights’ loss than for the loss of my fair queen; for queens I might have enough but such a fellowship of good knights shall never be together in no company” (page 489).

When it comes to the lord-retainer relationship, the two tales couldn’t be more different. In Lanval, when the Guinevere based character tries to make a move on him, Lanval rejects her right away saying, “I don’t want to betray my faith to him. Never, for you or for your love, will I do anything to harm my lord” (page 159, lines 271-274). Lanval says he would never do anything that would betray his King and this exemplifies that Lanval respects the lord-retainer relationship and understands that Arthur has done much for him and having an affair with his queen would be a violation of their relationship. In contrast, Lancelot in Morte Darthur goes against King Arthur despite all Arthur has done for him. Arthur seems regretful and sorrowful at the fact that he must fight against Lancelot, yet Lancelot never really seems to show much remorse or regret until after Arthur has died. Because Arthur was his Lord and Lancelot went against his wishes by having an affair with Arthur’s queen and then stealing her away after, Lancelot violated the lord-retainer relationship.

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Sir Gawain and the Green Knight

“May the High King of Heaven repay your honor. Your requests are now this knight’s commands. I am bound by your bidding, no boon is too high to say” (page 207, lines 1038-1040). This quote from Gawain occurs after the lord of a castle that Gawain had taken refuge at. It is basically Gawain saying that the kindness and hospitality he has been shown has been remarkable and his gratitude is so extreme that there isn’t a thing he wouldn’t do to repay the lord of the castle. In this quote Gawain is exemplifying the lord-retainer relationship, which is an important theme we have seen in almost every piece of this time. Abiding to the lord-retainer relationship was extremely important because it was important to repay those who paid you, whether it was in services, in treasure, or in something else altogether.

“…he approached those ladies saluting the elder with a long, low bow, holding the other for a moment in his arms, kissing her respectfully and speaking with courtesy. They request his acquaintance, and quickly he offers to serve them unswervingly should they say the word” (page 206, lines 971-974). In this quote Gawain has just met two ladies whom he promises to help should they ask. This is important because it is representative of the way men treated women during this time. Men served women loyally, with no questions asked, and always were there to help if they were in need.

“Such terrible mistakes, and I shall bear the blame. But tell me what it takes to clear my clouded name” (page 235, lines 2385-2388). In this quote Gawain is admitting to his mistakes and faults and then inquiring on how he can keep his reputation clean. This was very important to almost every character of this time period—they were all very concerned with their pride and their image. Their reputation was everything to them. Thus, while this quote is specifically said by Gawain, it really is representative of all male characters written around this time.

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Gender Roles in The Canterbury Tales

In many of the tales within The Canterbury Tales, Chaucer has female characters who are fairly powerful despite the time they are living in and male characters who seem to be less memorable and powerful in comparison. Two tales that feature some prominent women include The Tale of the Wife of Bath and The Miller’s Tale.

The Tale of the Wife of Bath features an especially powerful, cunning, sneaky woman. The Wife of Bath recounts how “In wifehood [she] will use [her] instrument as freely as [her] Maker has it sent…[Her] husband he shall have it, eve and morrow, when he’s pleased to come forth and pay his debt.” (page 106-107). She is basically saying that she uses her body in order to get what she wants and that she will not yield until she is given what she desires. Her character is so notable because she is living in a time where women don’t have power yet she has found a way to give herself some control and power by utilizing her body in order to get what she wants.

In The Miller’s Tale the female character in his story is definitely not as sneaky as the Wife of Bath, but she still goes behind her husbands back to be with another man. The female character, Alison, tells Nicholas “that she would be at his command, content, as soon as opportunity she could spy” (page 88-89). The pair then devise a plan to trick her husband in order to sneak a night together. In contrast, most of the main male characters in the tales we read, meaning Nicholas, Alison’s husband, King Arthur, and the knight in The Wife of Bath’s story seem to be ruled, governed, and persuaded primarily by a woman in one way or another. The mighty King Arthur himself changes his mind about sparing the knights life when “...the other ladies and the queen so long prayed the king to show him grace, he granted life, at last, in the law’s place, and gave him to the queen…” (page 126). Because his queen asked, Arthur obeyed.