Benefits Of Marriage

Marriage characterizes the ideal life. This ideal life imposed by society consists of money, friends, and a wife. Marriage becomes a vital event in a person's life if he wants success. This doesn't differ when compared to the standards of marriage in Pride and Prejudice. Every character in the book seeks for a husband or wife, desiring marriage. No one is exempt from this standard that society imposes on them. Mr. Collins, when talking to Elizabeth, proposes the following reason for him to marry "First, I think it a right thing for every clergyman in easy circumstances to set the example of matrimony in his parish" (Austen, pg 80). Mr. Collins sees marriage as setting an example for his community. Setting an example means that a person wants to show others how things are done, but at the same time he makes himself superior to the others by making them follow his example. A way of gaining power and public respect is by marriage. In the ideal life, marriage will also bring friends along with it.

In Pride and Prejudice marriage also involves the gain of wealth. People marry for many different reasons including money. According to Mrs. Bennet: "She is a very headstrong foolish girl, and does not know her own interest; but I will make her know it" (Austen, pg 84). Mrs. Bennet wants to marry her daughter Elizabeth to Mr. Collins because of money. Mr. Collins is a wealthy and powerful man but he lacks an attitude that pleases Elizabeth. Mrs. Bennet will not make Elizabeth know her own interest but rather she will teach her the family's interest. The Bennet family will gain prestige if their daughters marry wealthy men, bringing the family name to a better status. Elizabeth doesn't like Mr. Collins but the only thing needed to wed is money. Mr. Collins's wealth has instantly won Mrs. Bennet's help

Mr. Pride

Pride, as used in Pride and Prejudice, means the self judgment of one self. The way a person thinks about himself is pride. Pride has also many levels. There are levels where the pride from a person can be tolerated but pride can reach some extents where it becomes annoying. When a person thinks that he surpasses all the rest and that others don't matter, he has reached that level of pride.

Mr. Darcy exemplifies this level of pride. His pride is too great to even talk with people of lower wealth. According to Austen: "Can such abominable pride as his have ever done him good" (pg.61)? Mr. Darcy has a pride so great that he doesn't care who he hurts and thinks himself as superior to the rest. People that have these characteristics are not normally the kindest people. They will constantly be reminding you of their superiority as well as their abundant precious possessions. Even though these kinds of people are annoying, they do posses a characteristic that many people lack. No matter what other people say or think about them, they will never change. The standards set by society will not hurt these individuals in any way because they consider themselves superior to any opinion from others.

Everyone in the book avoids being criticized. They always look to evade criticism done to them but are quick in criticizing others. It is also used as a punishment. According to Elizabeth: "This is quite shocking!- He deserves to be publicly disgraced" (pg. 60). Prejudice is how others think about you and everyone in the book is constantly avoiding bad prejudice. Elizabeth in this case thinks that Mr. Darcy should be criticized for his bad actions, but I don't think this would work. Negative criticism will only affect a person that cares about what others think about them. Elizabeth wants to criticize Mr. Darcy but Mr. Darcy has a pride so big that the criticism will not affect him in any way.

Criticizing Criticism

Criticism constantly appears in the book, making it important. Sitting in a house and criticizing persons for a whole afternoon looks like the past time. The criticizing is mostly done by the women who criticize every aspect of the other person. Man also criticize and in some way are very negative. According to Mr. Darcy: "There is, I believe, in every disposition a tendency to some particular evil, a natural defect, which not even the best education can overcome" (pg 43). I see Mr. Darcy as a very pessimist man finding a defect in every person in the world. I do agree that everyone has their own defects but I do not agree that every defect has to be criticized. Every defect found in a person shouldn't affect so much as to say that there is some evil inside every person, subject to criticism. The idea of the defect is the weak spot of the person, which people will criticize.

Austen also agrees with the idea that there is a defect for every person in the world. All her characters have at least one defect. According to Austen: "Miss de Borough is far superior to the handsomest of her sex, because there is that in her features which marks the young woman of distinguished birth. She is unfortunately of a sickly constitution" (pg 50). Even though Miss de Borough prevails in beauty over the rest, her sickness prevents her from accomplishing more. I don't really agree with Austen that for every human there has to be a defect, in fact I think that the biggest defect of all is criticizing the defects of others.

The Power Of Money Over Love

Love has many elements that compose it, starting with liking the other person. It is clear that there has to exist certain like between these two persons for love to exist. The desire to be with the other person has to exist. There are other components of love that don't directly affect love but have a great deal of influence in them. Money and power are things that even though people say don't matter they do. According to Austen: "But with such a father and mother, and such low connections, I am afraid there is no chance of it" (pg 26). In this case they are referring to people who have a lower level of power as well as less money than them. This fact brings up criticism from the family and friends of Mr. Bingley. I don't think that a person should be judged for their money and power in that way, but in that time it was normal to marry with a person with similar wealth and power.

People may say that today love has changed in many ways. It is true that now the strictness of marriage became more flexible but money still plays a major role. People say that the marrying for money and power doesn't exist anymore, but I am sure that a father will not let his daughter marry a man who will not be able to provide financial stability to her.

In Pride and Prejudice another kind of love appears. The love where the money matters less appears when according to Austen: "They could talk of nothing but officers; and Mr. Bingley's large fortune, the mention of which gave animation to their mother, was worthless in their eyes when opposed to the regimentals of an ensign" (pg. 20). The love expressed by Austen in this quotation differs to the other love in many ways. This love doesn't need money for it to exist. This love relies only on the want to be with another person. Money can't replace the ensigns of the soldiers in these girls' minds, showing true love.

A Party With Pride and Prejudice

Mrs. Bennet has a clear objective, marrying one of her daughters with Mr. Bingley. Mr. Bingley is as "sensible, good-humoured, lively; and I never saw such happy manners" (pg 9). According to all the girls present in the ball he was very handsome and most pleasing to everyone. Most certainly a very big competition for the liking of Mr. Bingley grew at the ball. If this situation happened in a modern day party, it would be very different. All the girls in Pride and Prejudice waited for Mr. Bingley to ask them for a dance. Today, all the girls would be dancing around Mr. Bingley without him even asking them to dance with him, trying to impress him before any other competitor does. With time the way a woman is attracts a man has changed. In Pride and Prejudice a kind and beautiful women had to wait for her turn to be taken out by Mr. Bingley, and she would be considered normal. If she had acted like a woman acts today, she would be looked at as different by not waiting for the man to engage her, but approaching the man. On the other hand, if a woman acted as women acted in Pride and Prejudice today, she would be considered strange. If a girl stays seated, waiting for a man to talk to her, and not interacting in any way with others she would be considered weird and anti social, instead of likeable as in the party of the book.

Hamlet Act V: Afterlife

Every person in the world will at one point die. People view death in different ways, some view it as a horrible thing and others are grateful of this event. Personally, I view death as a bad event but I am aware of its inevitability, in some way accepting death. After death, the afterlife starts. In the afterlife, according to the Roman Catholic religion which I am part of, one goes to heaven if one has acted accordingly to God's commandments in earth. There are many other theories of the afterlife, a very common one being that death is just the end and nothing else will follow. In Hamlet both ideals of death are presented.

Shakespeare reflects the Roman Catholic theory of afterlife by saying "Her death was doubtful,/ And, but that great command o'ersways the order,/ She should in ground unsanctified been lodged/ Till the last trumpet" (Act V sc i ln 234-237). Suicide, being the doubtful element in Ophelia's death, excluded her from entering into heaven. God decides when a person should die, making suicide an obstruction of his plans for this person's life. This obstruction in God's plans forces Ophelia's soul to lie in the tomb without being able to be sanctified and admitted into heaven, until the end of the world. The last trumpet symbolizes the apocalypse, condemning Ophelia to remain there until everything is gone. On the contrary, if murder would have ended Ophelia's life, she would go to heaven. Strictness characterizes this religion because if one commits suicide or isn't baptized in his life, no matter how good you acted in life you wouldn't be admitted into heaven because you lack the initiation in the church of God.

The other theory is the circle of life. A person is born from nature and he will end up as nature. According to Shakespeare: "Alexander died, Alexander was buried, Alex-/ ander returneth to dust; the dust is earth" (Act V sc i ln 216-217). The earth, being the one that feeds and nurtures the human, makes it inevitable for humans. At the end the human will return everything to the earth when he dies. I personally don't believe this theory because after death something must happen, but I do understand the cycle of life where everything returns to its original place. Seeing this theory in another way, our dead body and soul will serve as the food for a new body and soul. This could be the afterlife in this theory, living in another person and helping this individual survive. I think my religion has greatly shaped me in my idea of afterlife but regardless of that I firmly believe there exists something after you die.

Hamlet’s Relationship With Women

 

 

 

Every story reflects the author's idea about a specific subject, being able to infer some characteristics of the author's life. In the article Hamlet and His Problems, T.S.Eliot focuses on the problems Shakespeare had, especially with making Hamlet. According to Eliot: "So far from being Shakespeare's masterpiece, the play is most certainly an artistic failure. In several ways the play is puzzling, and disquieting as is none of the others" (Hamlet and His Problems, Eliot). It is true that the rhyme and verses are not as perfect as in most of his other plays, but I don't think Shakespeare did a mistake. With this strange structure and puzzling events he created an environment of confusion in the reader, reflecting the state of Hamlet's mind. The constant confusion is present in Hamlet's mind and specifically in his relationship with women. He doesn't know whether his mother is in his side, supporting him like a mom is expected to, or in his uncle's side and being the accomplice of his father's death. If I was Hamlet in this case it would be very difficult for me to trust my mom. I know that she is my mom, but what I don't know is how much she prefers Claudius over me. It would be very confusing to be Hamlet, not being able to know who is in which side and ultimately who can he trust his secrets and be sure that they wouldn't be revealed to Claudius.

In this play there are only two women that constantly appear, Ophelia and Gertrude, and the way he interacts with them varies a lot. Hamlet when he talks to Ophelia he is in a constant tone change, talking smoothly to her about his problems and being kind to her, but rapidly shifting to an aggressive tone. While watching the documentary Discovering Hamlet,
the body language and tone the actors displayed when enacting certain roles, emphasized on their mood.

 

The way the tone changed in the scene of Hamlet's soliloquy towards Ophelia was extreme. Starting by crying about his problems to her with a soft and gentle tone and rapidly changing by pushing her to the ground and shifting into an accusing tone. I don't really think that Hamlet should have pushed Ophelia to the ground because that is definitely not the way to treat a woman, but I do understand Hamlet's feelings. He has nobody to trust and just when he thinks that he has found that person, reality shows him that Ophelia is the daughter of Polonius, one of the followers of his uncle. While facing his mother, he wields a dagger in his hand, making strong aggressive movements towards her as well as strong verbal attacks. In both occasions Hamlet has been blinded by anger and has simply forgotten that they are women, making him become more aggressive and menacing. On the other hand this could have been the natural way that Hamlet treated women, showing them his strength over them and making them obey his orders. Hamlet's actions towards women are not clear, but generally they could be described as aggressive and scarcely tolerant. If Ophelia wasn't the daughter of Polonius Hamlet's attitude towards her would be different because by the tone and corporal language he uses to talk to her, we can see that there is still some love towards her. The tone he uses towards Gertrude is very different, always aggressive and reproaching her actions.

We already know Hamlet's relationship with women, but how about Shakespeare's. If I were to predict Shakespeare's relationship with women I would say it would be troubled and a lot like Hamlet's. According to the article
The Material And Sources Of Dreams : "this as proof that he wishes any of them dead now. The theory of dreams does not go as far as to require this; it is satisfied with concluding that the dreamer has wished them dead at some time or other during his childhood" (The Material And Sources Of Dreams). According
to this theory, at any moment that one hates someone and wishes this person's death, this event could become reality but in a dream. Hamlet's relationship with death in the story is clearly directed towards Claudius. I wonder if at any moment he dreamed of his mother's death. Maybe Shakespeare had these kinds of dreams with his mother and didn't have a good relationship with women, expressing his relationship with his mother and women through Hamlet's relationship with Gertrude and Ophelia. After reading this article, there was a question that was left unanswered. Are there any cases where someone has killed a person, and prior to that dreamed about this killing? Did Claudius dream about killing his brother? The fighting of brothers is also expressed by saying "Let us first of all consider the relation of children to their brothers and sisters. I do not know why we presuppose that it must be a loving one, since examples of enmity among adult brothers and sisters are frequent in everyone's experience" (The Material And Sources Of Dreams). I think that this fact may answer my question, meaning that Claudius and Hamlet's father probably had fights in their childhood, wishing the death of the other. The difference in this case with most of the cases in the world is that Claudius did end up killing his brother. In fact I have experienced small fights with my sister when I was little, and a while ago I dreamed that one night that a tornado came destroying my house and taking my whole family with it. It is not a current wish I have but probably in my childhood I was mad one day at my whole family and that dream was born from that instant of anger.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Venturesome

 

 

 

 

 

Paranoia

 

 

Piety

 

 

Sporadic

 

 

Intractability

 

 

Bafflement