Monday, November 3, 2008

The Tale of Two Cities



Charles Dicken's A Tale of Two Cities is considered by many to be one of the best novels of all times. Set in the time period of the French Revolution, it focuses on various characters and takes place primarily in Paris and London, two cities used to contrast the two very societies. Charles Darney and Sydney Carton play the major roles in the novel, both in love with Lucie Mannette, and the stage is set for a story that most likely can only end in tragety.

PART A:
Obviously, during the time of the French Revolution, the revolutionaries were not only fed up with the oppressive French monarchy, but they also were angry with the arrogant, snobby French Aristocracy, and Dickens makes this very clear in his novel. The perfect symbol for the arrogance and coldness of the aristocrats takes the form of the French Monsieur the Marquis, Darney's uncle. He is a cruel, cold man, who like most of the French aristocracy of the time period, felt nothing for the peasants and saw them as the scum of the Earth. This is absolutely clear when Marquis runs over a young child in his carriage and feels nothing for the parent's loss. Instead, he feels a few gold coins can make up for the man's loss and is disgusted when they scorn his "charity". Two lines really sum up Marquis's feelings toward those of lower social status: "Monsieur the Marquis ran his eyes over them all, as if they had been mere rats come out of their holes" (84) and "I would ride over any of you very willingly, and exterminate you from the Earth" (85). These are two very powerful statements, in that they show just how little Marquis and the rest of the aristocracy care for the poor. Later on, Dickens describes Marquis as a Gorgon. This is not what one would want to be called. A Gorgon is a mythological monster, and Medusa is the most common of them all. To first be called a monster and then be compared to Medusa does not speak highly of the character. Medusa turned everything to stone with her gaze and when Dickens describes Marquis home, the entire first paragraph of the chapter "The Gorgon's Head" describes his home as stone. The stone symbolizes how cold-hearted and, by turning everything into stone as a Gorgon, how inhuman the Marquis and the rest of the French aristocracy are.

PART B:
The following passage truly foreshadows what is to come in this novel: the French Revolution. "The time was to come, when that wine too would be spilled on the street-stones, and when the stain of it would be red upon many there" (22). This passage occurs when the peasants are drinking and fighting over the wine that has been spilled in the streets. However, upon closer examination, it is seen how the wine flows between the cracks of the street, how a man writes "BLOOD" on the wall in muddy wine, and how people are sent into a frenzy over this wine. While on the surface ridiculous that these people are all over each other to get the wine, the passage foreshadows the peasants hunger to be free, how they are hungry to be rid of the aristocracy, and how they are physically hungry in a literal sense. The frenzy that these people are in over the wine relates to the frenzy that the people of the French Revolution were sent into once blood had been spilled and was running through the cracks of the streets of Paris. People were executed left and right, people were murdered in the streets, and the Revolution became a massive free for all, with death all around and blood knee deep. This perfectly goes along with what Dickens is foreshadowing in this passage: that soon, the French people will have had enough with their monarch and the cold hearted arisocrats like Marquis, and they will rise up. Essentially, the writing was on the wall for France only it was in blood-like wine.

PART C:
Overall, this was not one of my favorite novels. The difficulty to read and decipher Dickens's style of writing made a great story one that was very hard to follow. In my opinion, there were too many characters to keep track of, and the extremely longwinded sentences were hard to understand. Many times I found myself rereading passages to try and understand the meaning of what was said. On the other side, the story underneath all the long paragraphs was great. The story of a two men who are complete foils of each other struggling through a tumultous time, and in the end one making the ultimate sacrifice to save the other, is one that would captivate me on any occasion. However, the greatness of the story was seriously lessened by the difficulty of reading. If I had to recommend this novel, I would say that unless one really does not mind the styles of writing so common to authors like Hawthorne, to try another novel that is easier to read.

Sunday, November 2, 2008

The Importance of Being Earnest


"The Importance of Being Earnest" by Oscar Wilde is a comical farce in which the characters from the Victorian era find themselves in various situations relating to marriage. However, the characters focus on various trivial details instead of the important things in life, making for a very humorous and at times, predictable, play.

PART A:
A perfect character to analyze is Lady Bracknell. Lady Bracknell is Algernon's aunt and is the prime example of the stupidity of the prim and properity of the Victorian era. Bracknell stands as the personification of the etiquette of Victorian society, and by making a fool of herself on numerous occasions, continues to be a focal point in Wilde's berating of Victorian society. Throughout the farce, it is clear that Bracknell is solely focused on appearances and decorum. Everything she does or feels has no true meaing in the work and all she strives towards is upholding her appearance as a lady of the upmost respectability and properity. However, she does not uphold her appearance by focusing on important matters that truly affect her life and the society as a whole. No, instead she focuses on trivial details that have no effect on the story itself. For example, when "interviewing" Jack to see if he would be a worthy suitor for Gwendolen, she inquires about his parents. When she learns he has none, instead of saying, "I'm sorry that's really a shame" she says, "To lose one parent, Mr. Worthing, may be regarded as a misfortune; to lose both looks like carelessness" (14). Is she serious? She speaks in the manner that it is Jack's fault that he has no parents, when in reality it is the complete opposite. This statement is just one of Lady Bracknell's many aphorisms throughout the book. While an aphorism is a concise statement of principle or precept that usually can be assumed as true, Lady Bracknell's aphorisms are completely backwards. She feels that it is good that in England education produces on effect whatsoever and that while Algernon has nothing, he looks everything and that is all that matters. Do any of these make sense? How can she say that education produces on effect when England is home to one of the world's best universities, Oxford. When she implies that having an appearance is all that matters with Algernon, she is used to further make fun of the superficial nature of Victorian society and throughout the farce, Wilde uses Bracknell to make social commentary on the stupidity of society.

PART B:
One of the most humorous lines in the play comes when Cecily and Gwendolen are enjoying an afternoon tea with each other. Both are arguing in oh so proper a manner about the serious situation of both being engaged to the same man, but in reality on being engaged to the same man. When offered tea and cake, Gwendolen wants no sugar and bread and butter. However, Cecily ignores her and gives the opposite, much to the anger of Gwendolen. "You have filled my tea with lumps of sugar , and though I asked most distinctly for bread and butter, you have given me cake. I am known for the gentleness of my disposition, and the extraordinary sweetness of my nature, but I warn you, Miss Cardew, you may go too far" (38). Come on. These to ladies are so focused on decorum and their appearance they cannot even have a real argument. In an argument over something of this importance, one would expected there would be yelling, name calling, and maybe even some punches thrown. Do any of these take place in this scene? No, instead Cecily gets at Gwendolen by giving her sugar when she asked for none and cake instead of bread and butter. Gwendolen's anger over such a trivial detail just go to compound the stupidity of Victorian society and the importance it placed on appearance and silly, trivial details.

PART C:
In my opinion, Oscar Wilde's farce is a very enjoyable play to read. What truly makes the play fun is the fact that there is little importance throughout the entire play. It is ridiculous how every, little thing is focused on maintaining the appearance of properity and formality. The characters produce various enjoyable situations where one can laugh at the stupidity of the characters and the ridiculous nature of their conversations when things of great importance are going on. They talk about the cucumber sandwiches, the proper way to eat muffins, and the how it is improper to have been found in a handbag. It is obvious throughout that Wilde is making fun of Victorian society and the farce becomes more and more enjoyable as the reader follows the predictable story that these characters place themselves in. If I had to recommend this play, I would recommend it to anyone who would like a good laugh.