Ah, it is yet another day in the world of literature, and this will be my last blog of the decade. On that exciting note, this blog will be about my most recent reading, Othello. Prior to reading this famous Shakespearean play, I knew absolutely nothing about it and had no clue what I was getting myself into. And let me tell you, the tea was hot in this one.

The play was basically about jealousy, and when I finally realized this I didn’t think much of it. Envy is a natural feeling that every person experiences, so I figured that it made sense for Shakespeare to make jealousy the heart of his play. After all, jealousy does often lead to pretty interesting drama, which is exactly what every play needs. But, Shakespeare took it to the next level. He made jealousy the root of every significant action that was taken in the play. I have to admit that although it was a bit of an intense feeling for some characters, such as Iago and Othello, it made the play much more interesting than if the characters had just brushed off the feeling. In my opinion, the character who exhibited jealousy most intensely was Iago. If he had not been so affected by his envy and jealousy, there would have not been a plot to the story at all. His rage began when he was denied a military promotion and the man who was promoted was not a great soldier, but instead “a great arithmetician,” meaning that his skills were more academic than warfare based (1.1.20). This was something that enraged Iago for very understandable reasons. I mean, obviously, it would make more sense for Othello to have chosen someone with useful experience, yet he chose Cassio, a man with only a sliver of experience. For this reason I have empathy for Iago in this situation, but what I don’t quite agree with is the way he chose to deal with his dilemma.

Instead of accepting things for what they are, Iago decided to take the situation into his own hands and do something about it. He decided to get revenge on Othello for doing him wrong, which was really a very childish thing for him to do. Iago’s plan to make Othello suspicious of his own wife by using other people to do his bidding was alike to a child throwing a tantrum just because they didn’t get what they wanted. Iago may have been denied a promotion he felt he deserved, but that didn’t mean he had to go creating chaos just for his satisfaction. It would have been the mature thing for Iago to turn the other cheek, as do many sensible adults, yet he decided to act out of anger and make questionable decisions that, ultimately, led to him being exposed and many people dying in the process.

Jealousy was the root of almost every problem that happened throughout the play. The reason for Iago wanting revenge on Othello is because he was jealous of Cassio for stealing his promotion, and also jealous that Othello had slept with his wife, Emilia, or so he thought. These reasons led to Iago using Roderigo’s jealousy of Othello and Desdemona’s marriage to convince him to help ruin the marriage completely. Moreover, Iago’s plan to make Othello suspicious of his wife and Cassio for adultery, was rooted in jealousy. I know it’s a common thing for people to believe that money is the root of all problems, but in the case of Othello, jealousy is the true source of every issue in the play.

“Oh, beware, my lord, of jealousy!

It is the green-eyed monster which doth mock

The meat it feeds on.”

– Iago

(3.3.170-172)

Work Cited

Shakespeare, William. No Fear Shakespeare: Othello. Edited by John Crowther, Spark, 2003.

Hello there! It’s another day in the world of blogging and I am here to share my thoughts on one of the most interesting of the Canterbury Tales, The Wife of Bath. Although the wife is much more interesting than the story she tells, I will start by giving my take on her story.

The story provides an insight to, what I believe, is the wife’s take on truth and power. Her story is about a knight that raped a young lady whom receives a way out of his death sentence if he can find out what a woman really wants. In the story, it is the queen who decides that the knight deserves a chance at redemption, and in doing so she enacts what she believes to be a justifiable way of dealing with a rapist. Personally, I think that he should not have had any chance to redeem himself. There is really no way he could make up for his actions because it’s not like he can undo what he did to the girl. Nonetheless, he is given the opportunity. In the end, he does find the truth about what women really want and ends up living happily ever after, which is so disappointing. I believe that the wife used this tale as a means to express how she felt about the power a woman really has. After all, it was the king who gave the queen the authority to decide what the knight’s sentence should be and the truth the knight discovered was that all woman really want is to have control over their husbands. Both of these things ultimately prove that the wife values power more than most things.

The wife herself uses her own “powers” to get what she wants in life. She takes charge of her spouses by using her sexuality, and by doing so, makes them her slave. I admire the way that she was not afraid to express herself, as well as her opinions on sexuality. Moreover, she did more than just say what she thought, she also used the scripture to provide evidence that supports her beliefs. She was determined, intelligent, and very ahead of her time. Although she was strong-willed and did as she pleased, she was not at all independent. In fact, she had five husbands, all of which she depended on to give her money. But, of course, it is important to acknowledge that during her time, it was rare for a woman to support themselves or have their own jobs and such. So, it is safe to say that the wife was about as close to being independent as she could get. She used her wits and her body to survive, and that I can respect.

Hello everybody! It is yet another day in the land of British Literature in which we will be discussing the novel Grendel by John Gardner. Now before we jump in, yes, Grendel is one of the monsters that Beowulf so generously killed on behalf of the Danes. But, for the sake of this blog, let’s try to keep an open mind about the cynical monster we all know and don’t very much love. 

While reading Grendel, one of the things that immediately caught my attention was how much he reminded me of the Grinch. They are both said to be filthy, miserable, people-hating creatures that no one seems to enjoy being around. Honestly, Grendel is just the Grinch, but in grey fur. The Grinch may have stolen Christmas, but Grendel stole Herot, and unlike the Grinch, did not intend to give it back. His heart did not grow three times larger, but his belly did (if you know what I mean).

Now onto the more pressing aspect of Grendel: his encounter with Unferth, which was one of the only parts of Grendel that made me laugh. Grendel’s run-in with Unferth was one of the most interesting scenes in the book. It showed that Grendel was both mischievous and merciful. Grendel met Unferth when he had just begun wreaking havoc in Herot, so it was interesting when Unferth confronted Grendel so confidently, not knowing Grendel’s intent was to kill, yet Unferth was one of the few people that Grendel encountered and didn’t kill. When Unferth first approached Grendel with the intention of killing him in hopes to become some great hero, Grendel could not help but laugh at Unferth’s foolish attempt (keep in mind that Grendel knew he was invincible to weapons). So, in the midst of Unferth’s heroic speech, “An evil idea came over [Grendel]–so evil it made [him] shiver as [he] smiled,” leaving me to wonder, what could Grendel be up to now (Gardner 83-84)? Instead of grabbing Unferth and ripping him apart like he did with his other victims, Grendel decided it would be a good idea to throw apples at him. APPLES! Of all of the possible ways Grendel could have gone about hurting Unferth, he chose apples.

The surprising thing about this idea was that Grendel did not intend to kill Unferth with apples, or even at all, he simply threw them for his own amusement. Throughout the book Grendel continuously pokes fun at Unferth for being both pathetic and ugly, calling him a “poor miserable virgin” or saying that “he had a nose like a black, deformed potato,” overall Unferth brought out the more witty side of Grendel versus the murderous beast side that we usually see (Gardner 85 & 160). At some point, Grendel decided that Unferth was not worth killing. He gave the boy mercy, while giving me a good laugh. (478)

Work Cited

Gardner, John. Grendel . Alfred A. Knopf, 1971.

Hello everybody! It’s your friendly neighborhood chicken nugget here. I am back and better this semester taking British Literature. So, these next few blogs will be about the books, poems, and stories I read in this class. Starting with the epic poem, Beowulf.

While reading Beowulf, the thing that stood out to me the most was the way Beowulf went into each battle. He was always prepared for the worst and would tell Hrothgar his wishes upon his death if he were to die in battle. Although he was aware of his strength and nobility, he was also humble. His ultimate goal was to create a legacy, but along the way he grew to be an honorable man who just wanted to protect his people. When beowulf finally passed, his fellow warrior and friend Wiglaf said, “Everyone knows the treasure his life bought: but Beowulf was worth more than this gold,” referring to the dragon’s treasure the Geats claimed when Beowulf slayed the dragon (Beowulf lines 3084-86). Wiglaf’s words make it obvious that even though Beowulf was their greatest victor, he was also a king they valued more than treasure. Which I believe to be a great honor, considering that treasure was among the most valued things in Beowulf’s time.

Although Beowulf is a great warrior who is loved by many, it is important to acknowledge his enemies because if it weren’t for them, Beowulf wouldn’t be considered so noble. Throughout the poem, Beowulf faced three main enemies: Grendel, Grendel’s Mother, and the dragon. Just as Beowulf has the power of strength, these villains each have their own powers. Grendel has skin that couldn’t be penetrated by any weapon, his mother is extremely strong and could somehow stay alive underwater, and the dragon can, obviously, spit fire and fly. Because Beowulf wasn’t as ordinary as the simple man, he had an upper hand in defeating these monsters. But where does Beowulf get this super strength? Could it have been a curse that he put to good use? Was it a gift from the God he praises so often? And if Grendel couldn’t be penetrated by any weapon, wouldn’t that lead us to believe that Beowulf’s strength was greater than even the most powerful weapon? And if so, how? These are the questions I will always have, but will never get a straight answer for. Nevertheless, the puzzling origin of Beowulf’s strength only made the poem more intriguing.

Aloha! Because this is both hello and goodbye. It has been a lovely semester of reading and analyzing literature, but sadly, it has come to an end. This last blog will be all about love. Sappy, I know, but I’ll try my best to keep it interesting. My good friend, Nugget, would be delighted to narrate this blog, but he has no experience with love so he’s not fit to properly speak on the subject. So, he just wanted you all to know that he had a good time writing on my behalf. Now, let’s dive right into the sea of love.

If you remember, back in the blog about gender conflicts we examined the differences between both genders and how it affects their relationships. We’re gonna go back to that idea in relation to the topic of love. Dorothy Parker’s poem “General Review of the Sex Situation” speaks on the fundamental differences among men and women, as well as how they contrast with each other so significantly that no good will come out of a relationship between the two. In the lines “Love is a woman’s moon and sun; / Man has other forms of fun,” the idea that each gender’s view on the concept of love is further proven (Parker). I believe that in these lines, Parker is trying to elucidate the idea that for a woman, love is everything. It is what grounds them and keeps them whole. In other words, it is their world. Contrastingly, man views love in a much more casual way. They do not believe it is as important as many other things they consider fun. These substantial differences in the way each gender perceives love causes a significant complication within their relationships. Although love may be a powerful feeling that every individual, no matter their gender, will endure during their lifetime, it is the differences in perspective that will ultimately cause problems between them.

There are countless songs about love, heartbreak, and the whole shebang. Music is one of the best ways to cope with the many feelings we have as humans, and it is one of the easiest ways to describe the indescribable feeling of love. The poem “Love and Other Catastrophes: A Mix Tape” by Amanda Brown gives a unique perspective on modern relationships through various songs about love. What I found the most intriguing about this poem is the way Brown uses songs to describe the cycle of love. I also enjoy the idea she conveys that love is, in fact, a cycle. Every individual has multiple lovers throughout their life, and if they didn’t then the concept of having a first love would be non-existent. The poem starts and ends with the song “All By Myself” by Eric Carmen, which essentially conveys the theory that love is a cycle because you start and end at the same place, alone (Brown). Although some people might view ending up alone as something sad and depressing, I think that being alone is one of the many ways to be happy because a person must love themself before loving another individual. If a person cannot be content with themself, then how could they be content with anyone else? At the end of the day, you are all you have, therefore it is important to love who you are. Eric Carmen’s song might sound depressing, but being alone is anything but. So, don’t forget to love not only others but yourself, too! (578)

Hello lovely readers! I’m going to try and keep an upbeat and positive attitude during this blog in an attempt to stray from the more grim side of this topic, which is Death. Now, please don’t start shivering in your seat as you read the topic because, again, I’ll try to not be as depressing as possible. So, sit back, relax, and enjoy the read.

Many people create bucket lists of activities they’d like to do and the goals they want to achieve before they die. But, if your main motivation to do things in life is death, then are you really living? I believe that people misconstrue the truth about death, which is that it is simply an event that happens at the end of everyone’s life. Therefore, there is no point in focusing so heavily on the fact that you must do certain things before reaching the end of your life because no one ever knows when that will be. Point is, it is better to live without the stress of dying than to base your life on the fact that you will die. In the poem “Elegy for my Father, Who is Not Dead” by Andrew Hudgins, a son contemplates the thought of death and afterlife in relation to his father’s beliefs. The poem centers on a father with an optimistic view of life after death versus his son’s doubtful and cautious outlook on death. The son in the poem mentions, “I think he wants to go, / a little bit – a new desire / to travel building up, an itch / to see fresh worlds,” explaining how his father is not consumed with the thought of death, but content with the idea that when he does die there will be a new journey awaiting him. The father is not stressed about death or even afraid of it, instead, he welcomes the idea of a new, meaningful experience, which I feel is the best way to identify death.

It is common knowledge that children are the future, which is why getting a good education and being an intelligent individual are qualities that are greatly valued in today’s society. Schools put stress on teachers to adequately and thoroughly teach students important subjects such as science and English, yet no one puts any stress on parents to do a thorough job in raising their children to be well-rounded people. Children may be the future, but it is parents who are raising and shaping that future. Parenting is difficult, yes. But, that does not mean that it is okay to parent however you please and then use the excuse that you are doing what you think is best for the child. Parents need to realize that a child’s best interest is a two-way street, meaning that a child is more knowledgeable than their parents, in some cases, about what is genuinely best for them. In “Suicide Note,” a poem by Janice Mirikitani, the idea of parental pressure and expectations are portrayed through the suicide note of an Asian American college student. The strain created by parents persistent need for their daughter to be perfect caused her to feel less than she was and kill herself. A recurring line in the poem reads, “not good enough   not strong enough not smart enough,” essentially proving the idea that she felt inadequate as a result of her parents’ opinions on who she should be. Being a parent is one of the noblest tasks a person can participate in, but being a good parent is the most honorable and brave a person can be. It is important to raise children in relation to the way we want our future to turn out. (615)

Today’s blog is going to be about gender conflicts. Although I’ve written most of these blogs from my own perspective, in order to be as unbiased as possible, I’m going to have my good friend, Nugget, write this one. The relationships and standards between the genders can be a very gray area, so Nugget is best suited to talk about the works of literature about this topic.

Hey everyone it’s Kaelyn’s friend, Nugget, here! Now, I know I’m not a man or a woman, but I have been around enough to know the habits, values, and differences between each. The division between the genders lies within their differences, but beyond that, differences are what create growth, knowledge, and change. What I’ve noticed is that relationships often create the most problems between the two genders. The poem “You Fit Into Me” by Margaret Atwood sums up the essence of a romantic relationship. The line from the poem, “like a hook into an eye,” represents both connection as well as pain, which is what a relationship is composed of (Atwood). It’s not rare for a couple to have their differences and maybe argue about them every now and then, but what is rare is a perfectly happy relationship. You know why? Because that is not realistic. Since every individual is different, it is almost impossible for two people to completely get along and never argue. And honestly, how could there be any growth in a relationship if nobody ever speaks up and communicates their issues? The truth is that relationships are a mixture of love, communication, differences, and problems. But, it is the communication that allows for every relationship to grow and prosper. (271)

Hello My fellow bloggers! Today’s entry is all about Power as you can probably tell by the title. But, more than that it is about our society, as well as the things around us that affect our perspectives on what power is and how it should be used. I will be using a couple literary pieces to examine this idea. Now, without further ado, I’ll get right to it.

Almost everyone has created an account on the internet that requires a password. Actually, what type of account wouldn’t require a password? I can’t think of one, and I’m pretty sure that it’s because people value privacy. In this day and age, I’m not sure I could find an individual who would willingly give their phone password to a complete stranger. The reason being that everyone stores personal information behind these passwords that we’ve created to protect the most sacred and private parts of our life. The short story “Slide to Unlock” by Ed Park is somewhat of a reality check about how the passwords we create can only protect us to a certain extent. The story describes a man trying to remember the password to his phone while a robber holds a gun to his head. It has become so easy to believe that these combinations of numbers, letters, and sometimes symbols will protect us and our information that we have forgotten that we are only human, therefore there is not a password protecting our existence. “Slide to Unlock” is just another example of how a person’s life can be bounded to the passwords they create, but can not be saved by them. The man can no longer be protected by his password, therefore the power is not in the password but in the person holding the gun.

Growing up as a young woman in America has made me accustom to the trends that are happening around me. From time to time I choose to challenge these trends with a fashion statement here and there. No big deal for me, but what I’ve realized after reading “Persepolis” by Marjane Satrapi is that in other countries around the world a girl may not feel free to explore their individuality or make taboo fashion statements. The comic centers around a young girl who decides to do her own thing regardless if it is acceptable in her country or not. As a result of this, she faces a great deal of criticism from a lady in her community about the clothes she wears and the music she listens to, which made me realize that even a woman in my society gets criticised for what they do and wear. Even things as small as school dress code can be demeaning and unfair to girls, and it has been said time and time again that women need to be treated equal to men. But, this is not a new issue seeing as how women have been judged for centuries. There is a rising movement for equality between men and women, yet still many people and places around the globe have yet to realize that women deserve equality among men. After reading the ending of “Persepolis” when the girl finally goes home, enters her room, and proceeds to jamming out to the music that the lady would have frowned upon, I realized that it is not countries or cultures or communities that have power over an individual. Instead, every person has the power within themselves to do what they want and have no care in the world about what anyone says because at the end of the day, only you can be the one to accept yourself. (552)

Hello blogosphere, we all know what a milestone is, right? And we have all had a significant moment that has shaped our lives one way or another. But, no one ever really acknowledges the fact that these milestones and moments are technically rites of passage. They happen to most everyone, therefore no one is alone in their experience. Which leads us into today’s blog about the moments in life that affect everyone, young or old.

In the short story “Eleven,” Sandra Cisneros introduces us to the ideology of growing older, yet containing every age within yourself. The story provides the reader with an interesting insight to her perspective on growing up. In the beginning of the story, Cisneros explains how “when you’re eleven, you’re also ten, and nine, and eight, and seven, and six, and five, and four, and three, and two, and one,” meaning that you are never just one single age, instead, you are a composition of each year that you have lived (Cisneros). All my life, I would have a birthday, but I would never actually feel older. After reading this story I realized why, and the simple answer is that a person can not be defined or restricted to just one age or label. Everyone contains multitudes within them, and that is what gives everyone authenticity. Moreover, I believe that since each individual leads their own, unique life, it is impossible to confine a person to the stereotypes that society has created. Another realization I came to while reading is the fact that everyone had been a child at some point, therefore everyone is a childish at time. That doesn’t mean they are acting out of hand, just that they are channeling their inner child. It is the moments when we channel the ages and memories we have lived through that are the most important of all.

We’ve all had an experience that has altered us in ways that can not be undone. Therefore, it is important to acknowledge the mental and physical effects that are caused by those types of experiences. In the poem “Gretel in Darkness” by Louise Glück, the reader is put in the perspective of Gretel, from the well known “Hansel and Gretel” story. After having a near death experience in which she had to kill the witch in order to save her brother, Hansel, it becomes apparent that the experience affected her mental state. And in turn, her perception of the world is permanently altered. Gretel is now fearful of everything and has yet to move on from what happened. Even though she is safe and sound under her father’s care, she is still not able to move on from the trauma of the event. To make matters even worse, her brother is practically fine. It’s almost as if it never even happened, and to her, it is almost insulting, as if she did not put her life at risk to save them both. Unlike her brother, she is unable to move on from the situation, claiming that she can still, “hear the witch’s cry break in the moonlight through a sheet of sugar,” and continues to be haunted by the horrible thing she had done (Glück). As a result of this life altering moment, Gretel will never be the same innocent young girl she once was. (559)

It is another day in the world of literature and boy do I have a lot to say. Don’t worry, this blog will not be written by our nugget friend. This entry is all about the nitty gritty relationships between parents and their children, which a nugget would know nothing about.

Over the past couple weeks, I’ve read various short stories, poems, and even a play in order to analyze parent-child relationships. I can admit that at times, even I was second-guessing my own relationship with my parents, wondering the things they felt while parenting me that I would never be able to know. It was the short story “I Stand Here Ironing” by Tillie Olsen that stirred up all these thoughts in my brain. After reading this story about a mother who was helpless in the face of poverty in depression, I couldn’t help but feel sad. It left me to wonder how my mom felt after having me at such a young age. Now, my childhood circumstances were nowhere near as extreme as that of the daughter, Emily, from the story. I was raised, just as Emily, by a mother who cherished and loved me. But now that I am older and somewhat wiser, it is clear to me that it must have been difficult for my mother to put so much effort into loving me when I was born. In the story, the mother adds, “I was nineteen. In the pre-relief, pre-WPA, world of the depression,” she was still a teenager just as my mom was, still learning to love herself while dealing with circumstances that made it nearly impossible. This, I think, is the struggle of parenting: not knowing if you have raised your child right or not. I know I’m not a parent so I can’t begin to understand what it is like to be one, but I’m the child of two parents. So what I can say is that as a kid all you can do is let your parents do the raising and try to guide them along the way. I think it takes two to parent, and by that, I don’t mean two parents, I’m saying that the child must be willing to be parented just as the mother or father must want to be a good parent.

I’d like to think of myself as an intellectual. Meaning that I read my fair share of poetry and analyze them for myself, looking for deeper meaning, metaphors, and sometimes even guidance. After reading the poem “My Papa’s Waltz” by Theodore Roethke, my first thought, like many others’, was child abuse. But can you blame me? The first two lines of the poem are, “The whiskey on your breath/ Could make a small boy dizzy,” doesn’t that sound somewhat incriminating? Right off the back, I assumed the father was an alcoholic, which, I admit, is where I went wrong. I had not thought to take this poem in a literal sense because I was too busy analyzing for deeper meaning. Another line of the poem goes, “You beat time on my head,” so immediately I read the word “beat” and starting connecting it with abuse. But if I had taken it in a literal sense, as my English professor explained to me, I would have recognized that the poem is titled “My Papa’s Waltz,” so it was obviously about a boy and his father dancing. And what do people do when they dance? They keep track of the time between their eight counts. For me, realizing this was one of those big “AHA!” moments. I was taught that poetry always has a deeper meaning, and maybe this poem does if you think hard enough about it, but I found it very refreshing to learn that a poem can be taken in a literal sense.

The last piece that caught my attention is “My Son, My Executioner” by Donald Hall. I feel like this poem has a lot of deeper meaning, at least for me. It also has a rhythmic pattern, which is always nice to hear in poetry. The poem is essentially about two parents giving up their lives to raise their child. A line in the poem says, “Sweet death, small son, our instrument/ Of immortality,” meaning that the parents legacy will live on through their son, even after they die. I feel like legacies are an important topic. The reason many parents hope to have a son is so that he may carry the family name and keep the legacy going because, let’s be honest, no one wants to be forgotten. It is in people’s nature to find a purpose, and more often than not people think that their purpose is to make a lasting impact on the world. The easiest way to do this is to build a legacy and pass it down through generations of family. So, that line in the poem is not meant to be taken in any type of sad way. I believe that the parents have found peace in the fact that when they pass they will live within their son, which is proven by the last two lines of the poem, “Observe enduring life in you/ And start to die together.” This is more than just a sad poem about parents accepting their death. It is a declaration of realization that all of the hard work they put into raising their son will have been worth it. (912)