Sunday, November 25, 2012

Twelfth Night: Identity Crisis in an Insecure Society

Brenda Lopez


Professor Flack
AE Project First Draft
Eng. 6

 In Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, characters Viola and Antonio are reasonably two of the most controversial characters throughout the play as they exemplify: social disorder, gender identity, and social class. Shakespeare portrayed such themes in this play to highlight the essence of breaking through his reserved society. Not only are such themes repeated in his other works, but are also important because modern society can connect with the issues that he mentions in his work. Viola, the protagonist, disguises herself as Cesario, a male who serves the Duke of Illyeria, in order to get closer to a powerful woman Olivia who is rather similar to her. Antonio, a banned and wanted pirate in Illyeria, saves Viola’s twin brother Sebastian, whom he also has homosexual feeling for. Although Viola disguises her gender identity, and Antonio explores his, they are both imperative examples of confident identity, which can be defined as being exceptive of any identity. In other words, those that fear going against social order and the typical norm, are ones that can be easily influenced by societal rules. Essentially, Shakespeare wrote about such opposing themes to expose his world as one full of contradiction, and those people in the high social order hide their true intentions because opposition represents the false society in which they reside in. Overall, people that defy the normal society are ones that are emotionally and mentally capable of surpassing the stereotypes of rebels.

To begin with, character’s Viola and Antonio in Twelfth Night are presented in a contentious matter, which of course leads us to believe that Shakespeare’s intentions were to get the audience to critically think of the impact society has on one’s beliefs and actions. Viola’s purpose at first was to get closer to Olivia, but she ends up being Orsino’s counter partner as she tries to show him a different perspective on women. In this attempt, she tries to reason with him and his anti-feminist views. For example, Orsino tells viola, “Alas, their love may be called appetite / No motion of the liver, but the palate” (2.4. 96-97). Orsino insults the way in which women love, and compares it to an appetite, as it is empty and does not move. Cesario quickly rebuttals his claim, by declares, “We men may say more, swear more, but indeed / Our shows are more than will; for still we prove / Much in our vows but little in our love” (2.4. 116-118). Cesario replies with creating a clever story of a woman that she knew and how she was able of loving. In saying this, Cesario has put himself at risk because men during this time believed that women were the ones whom were inept of loving. Although, Cesario/Viola has herself in a precarious situation, she says that men are better at displaying their interest of love instead of expressing their true feelings. The significance of this is that regardless of Viola’s disguise, she is still more confident with her identity as she can act bravely and portray her thoughts of women, while Orsino has difficulty showing Olivia  how he truly feels, therefore has an identity that is focused too much on perception.
Body Paragraph 2: Discuss the difference between Viola and Olivia as far as their intentions. Olivia does not want society to know that she is using her brother’s death as a scapegoat because she does not want to commit herself to a man.
Body Paragraph 3: Discuss Antonio and why Shakespeare included him in Twelfth Night. Antonoio is open about his attraction towards Sebastian and this shows how his confidence in his identity can overcome societal norms, while other characters are insecure of their identities. People in society are afraid of being themselves because opposition is all around and most people do not adapt to change well.  


Tuesday, November 20, 2012

Paradise Lost book Seven Group Presentation



Book 7
By Brenda Lopez and Emma Pacheco
Summary of Fredson Bowers "Adam, Eve and the Fall in "Paradise Lost"
Characters:
  • Urania- Muse of Astronomy used to describe "heavenly" theme of the story.

  • Raphael- is the messenger and was invited to eat with Adam and Eve but he was also there to describe the creation of the world.

  • Adam - Asking questions on how man and the world were created.

  • The Son- Messenger and actually is the human extension of God who is given the task of creating the world in six days. The Son basically shapes the world. (Change up from the biblical story of Genesis)

  • God- Commands The Son on how to create the world.

                                                                 
Paradise Lost Book 7 Summary
·         In the beginning, John Milton makes another reference to a Greek mythologist named Urania.  The narrator uses her in order to have her help him return to heaven.
·         The narrator, Milton, is asking Urania to protect him even though he knows that they are both surrounded by evil. He mainly asked his muse to protect him from being killed like Orpheus (the "Thracian bard"), who was torn to pieces.  Similar to the song, Milton “fears that a similar “barbarous dissonance” unleashed by the Restoration will drown out his voice and threaten his life” (Footnote 7). The importance of this is that Milton, although extremely republican, he admits his fear of being afraid of the change that will possibly impact his opinion about religion.
·         Milton also references Beelerophon, angered the gods and he fell due to Zeus’s orders where he “wandered alone and blind until his death”(7.18 also see footnote 4)
·         Raphael, whom I now think is the narrator tells Adam and Eve all of this, but they want to know more about how earth was created, why God created it and more history about it because curiosity influences him to know. Adam “led on, yet sinless, with desire to know / what nearer might concern him” (7. 61-62). Adam’s interest shows his innocence because he wanted to know every aspect to human and earth life, but of course once he learned more, his interest lead to his so called sinful action.
·         So basically Raphael tells Adam that God knows of Satan’s fall and plan so he will have his Son create another universe.
·         Interestingly, Adam’s “question about God’s actions before the Creation was often cited as an example of presumptuous and dangerous speculation, especially when, as here, it implies mutability in God. But in Milton’s Eden, error that is not deliberate is not sinful” (Footnote 9 pg2065). Raphael goes on to tell Adam what Jesus constructed and on what days.
·         All of which is referenced in the bible in the book of Genesis, but the differences are keen to show Milton’s connection with nature and Greek mythology.
  • First day: God divides night and day, “Again th’ Almighty spake: ‘Let there be light / High in th’ expanse of heaven to divide / the day from night” (7.339-341).
·         Second day: he creates the "firmament,"(which is like the atmosphere that acts as a buffer between the waters on the surface of the earth and the heavens).
  • Third day: creates dry land; mountains emerge as various forms of water (streams, etc.) make their way to the sea. God names the huge bodies of water "seas" and orders that grass, trees, and vegetation come forth.
  • Fourth day: he creates the sun, moon, and stars to make the divisions between night, day, and the seasons clear.
  • Fifth day: he creates reptiles, birds, and whales; the animals multiply by reproducing offspring.
  • Sixth day: He creates the "beasts" of the earth, such as cattle, lions, tigers, and others. Seventh Day: Jesus rests and blesses the seventh day as holy.
  • In Milton’s version of the seven days, he has Raphael, the “affable Archangel” explain it to Adam and Eve,  while in the bible God is the one who talks about the seven days of creation. The reason Milton used Raphael to explain the creation of the seven days is to make him more relatable to people.
  • Also, in Milton’s version, he seems to have had Jesus, God’s son, create everything, but God received the credit, while in the Book of Genesis, God was the one to create everything.
  • Interestingly, in Milton’s version, Jesus speaks for God because he was not there at that moment. With this, Milton exemplifies God’s hierarchal status quo as he has his son speak for him, while in the bible, God speaks for himself.
  • Something else that is noteworthy is the fact that Besides the fundamental order of the days and what was made in each day, I noticed that Milton references the earth as a female, “her universal face with pleasant green, / […] her blossom smelling sweet” (7.316- 319).
  • The fact that he does that connects his ideas of the Greeks.

Book 7: Quote Analysis
1.) “This  garden, planted with the trees of God, / Delectable both to behold and taste; And freely all their pleasant fruit or food / […] but of the tree / Which tasted works knowledge of good and evil, / Thou may’st not; in the day thou eat’st, thou di’st; / Death is the penalty imposed, beware” (7.538-545).
-Here God warns Adam and Eve about the forbidden fruit and be says they have all this food to eat, but they cannot eat fruit from that tree because if they do then they will be punished; this threat brings up the idea of free will, and whether it existed for Adam and Eve and whether it exists for humankind. I would say that it can exist as long as one does not allow religion to influence one’s freedom because one can be as free as one can be.

2). "The earth was formed, but in the womb as yet / Of waters, embryon immature involved / Appeared not: over all the face of earth" (7. 276-78).
-This quote also connects with Greek myth characters, Gaea(earth), and Uranus(ruler of heaven and sky) and how they had sexual relations. Also, how the earth is viewed as something where new life can be born.


3). “Thou with eternal Wisdom  didst converse, / Wisdom thy sister, and with her didst play". - According  to the footnote, Milton “describes “eternal Wisdom” as a daughter of  God (personification of his wisdom) and devises a myth in which the Muse  of divine poetry […] originating from God (7. 9-10).  
-According to the footnote, Milton “describes “eternal Wisdom” as a daughter of God (personification of his wisdom) and devises a myth in which the Muse of divine poetry […] originating from God (7. 9-10). To an extent, this can be seen as sexism where the stem of God is wisdom, but also contradictive because women where personified with passion rather than intellect.

4). "Fermented the great mother to conceive / Satiate with genial moisture" (7. 281-82).
-By describing the mother Earth in such a sensual manner, Milton draws parallels to the pagan beliefs, such as Gaea (Mother Earth) and how she is the embodiment of fertility she is the mother of all creation. Using this description not only gives us the description of the "firmament of the waters," but also the expectation her duty to be fruitful and uphold her purpose in the universe.

5.) "In Chaos, and the work begun, how soon / Absolved, if unforbid thou may'st unfold / What we, not to explore the secrets ask / Of his eternal empire, but the more / To magnify his works, the more we know" (7.93-97)
-This parallels the way that pagan beliefs of the creation occurred. For instance in Greek mythology, Earth was bred out of Chaos which was very similar to the way that God created the earth which was out the Chaos that was below the Heavens. Therefore, this shows the relation between the old pagan beliefs and new Christian ideologies.

6.) "That earth now seemed like Heav'n, a seat where gods might dwell, / Or wander with delight, and love to haunt / Her sacred shades" (7.328-331).
-The main point of this quote is to show how heaven may seem perfect, but it is only as perfect as God wants it to be, and since there are no temptations for the Gods in heaven, then they dwell in their so called free will”.

7.) During the sixth day and the creation of Adam and Eve "When God said, / 'Let th' earth bring forth soul living in her kind, / [...] / The earth obeyed, and straight / Op'ning her fertile womb teemed at a birth / Innumerous living creatures" (7.450-455).
-The theme of obedience and reproduction in most cases is used with the detailed description of the Earth as the fertile being that gives birth to all the living creatures on earth. In addition, Mother Earth is parallel to Eve by also having to show her submissiveness by obeying the word of God and following the rules to her purpose.

8.) "'Let us make now man in our image, man / In our similtude, and let them rule / [...] / and over all the earth, / And every creeping thing that creeps the ground'" (7.519-523).
-The significance of this quote is that it shows how God wanted mankind to be, which is like him, but the irony is that one cannot be as perfect as God because he pre destines ones fate.
9.) "thee that day / Thy thunders magnified; but to create / Is greater than created to destroy"(7.606-607).
-In other words, this quote exemplifies the nature aspect of God’s creation, but also shows how it is better to create something than to destroy.

10.) Who seeks / To lessen thee, against his purpose serves / To manifest the more thy might his evil / Thou usest, and from thence creat'st more good" (7.613-616).
-The importance of this is that one cannot change what ones purpose is because God has already decided what will happen. Also, in the attempt to do something evil, good will come from it because it is all a part of God’s plan.


               Critical Article: Fredson Bowers "Adam, Eve and the Fall in "Paradise Lost"

Article summary

  • Fredson Bowers analyzes John Milton's description of the fall and how is made believable by using detailed description of the fall of Satan, Adam, and Eve
  •  He explores the question "What cause led Adam and Eve to the Fall?" which he describes that is more than just Satan, but that the Fall could have been predestined by God based his decision and their lack of free will (264). 
  • Bowers explores the difference in gender roles of the perfect marriage by showing that Eve is the epitome of "passion," while Adam is supposed to be the act of "reason" and is seen as the superior one in the relationship (Bowers 265).
  • He goes on to analyze the influences of the old myth of creation based on the Gods and the universe by stating that "creation of mankind as perfect globes or spheres, which were split apart to form man and woman" (Bowers 265).Basically they both need each other in order to survive and one has to be the "Giver and receiver, receiver and giver, male and female, join to form the circle of perfection in obedience to universal laws, neither complete in itself but together forming a unified whole" (Bowers 265).  This shows the parallels between the Greek myths towards the Christians view that Milton seems to be greatly influenced by. 
  • Bower describes Milton's description of the fall and the pride that Eve has as she awoke from her slumber.
  • Describing the concern that Adam has of Eve's dreams begins to foreshadow the independence that Eve is growing as well as her distance to Adam's control. As Adam begins to question his purpose and his own creation in the Garden of Eden he begins to lose sight of his responsibility that was bestowed up him which was being Eve's guide in the garden. Bower illustrates the difference of their purpose and their own creation set up a hierarchical chain which sees the woman below the man.
  • As Adam begins to describe Eve's beauty to Raphael, feeding into her vanity; Raphael began to warn Adam of the dangers of pride/vanity: "She will not respect his values if he himself does not respect them. If he will not lead, she cannot follow" (Bowers 266).  Basically there is this expectation that the woman is inferior and if the man is not strong enough hold onto his values, they cannot expect for the woman to stay under his control.
  • Bower puts emphasis on the seven deadly sins; however, Pride was seen as the worst one and if someone gave in to pride "all the other sins would inevitably follow" (267). Unfortunately, since Eve gave in to her pride because of the persuasive words of Satan during her dreams she eventually was tempted to eat from the Tree of Knowledge.
  • Adam has a misconception of their "perfect creation" thinking they are invincible to evil and Bower analyzes the reason for Raphael's visit to "warn Adam that though he is created perfect, he was not created immutable" (268). Basically showing that we still have our flaws even though we are born as the perfect being, but as we learn about the world and there is a freedom of choice then we will never always remain perfect because by influence we have the opportunity to change. This opens Adam's mind to the possibility of falling because just as Satan was created perfect and was able to fall from paradise, so can they.
  • Eve eventually realizes the structure of their relationship as she listens more to Satan and Adam gets scolded by Christ and the Archangel. Bower points out that after their communication was affected and "the moment after [Adam]  demands her obedience he proceeds to make Eve a free agent and reverses their hierarchical order by allowing her to make the crucial decision on which the fate of mankind is to depend on" (270). By not following reason and making the decision for herself whether she was considered to have the "pants” in the relationship
  • Overall, Bower analyzes both characters contribution to the Fall, but mostly puts the majority of the blame on Adam by stating that "Adam is more guilty than Eve because he fails in his divinely appointed task as her protector, head, and guide. Under the stress of personal emotion [...] he turns his back on what he knows to be right judgment" (273). Although Milton's Adam wasn't the Satan's object to deceive like Eve was, however he fails as her protector which led to the seduction or temptation of Satan leading to the Fall. Adam not being able to keep her in line and being overcome by her beauty and passion made him fall from his line of superiority, taking them out of their paradise. 


Bowers Quote Analysis:
1). "But, significantly, she is in the shade, not in the broad and truth-revealing sunlight" (Bowers 266).
-In my opinion, the reason why Eve wakes up in the darkness is because her purpose is not as great as Adam, which could be seen as foreshadowing since she is the one that "rebels". In other words, her actions were predestined by God; one that is born into darkness will resume/ continue to walk down a dark path metaphorically speaking.

2). "When Adam protests that an imbalance has taken place in their creation by which her beauty has been made too powerful in its effect on his intellect" (Bowers 266).
-Adam feeds into Eve's pride/vanity by protesting that he cannot think clearly enough and listen to reason because Eve is to pretty and that affects his judgment. Exploring the idea that Adam was not able to maintain control of his actions, and indirectly puts blame on God for making her to beautiful for his own well-being.

3.)"Man is created perfect, if by perfection one does not imply such enforced will to good either by external pressure or by internal composition as to remove the element of free choice from the question of obedience" (Bowers 264).
-Although man was created perfect, they are still seen as changeable due to choices or options that arise from external influences. Whether good is what is influencing the way people act, if you remove the option of free-will, man will become obedient.

4.) "Satan's evil did not originate in an imperfection of creation but was instead triggered by his acceptance, or approval, of non-good, the alternative to good" (Bowers 268).
-Satan realized that there was an opposition to good and since he was very angry with God for casting him out of Heaven, he decided to go on the side of opposition. In order to rebel against Him, Satan decides to go against anything that is good and shows the decision on how he takes his Fall from Heaven. Although we may be born perfect, because of the choices we make, we can end up straying from the path that is usually deemed acceptable in society. Sort of illustrating the idea of a "rebel without a cause."

5.) "It follows, then, that if Adam was not deceived when he ate the fruit, he was not deceived when he gave Eve permission to leave him to encounter Satan" (Bowers 273).
-Here is where Bowers seems to say that Adam was not the one to rebel first, but he still failed at his purpose, which was to be Eve's guide.

6.) "The fall occurs when reason, stronger in the person of Adam, relinquishes its sovereignty over judgment, or decision, to passion, which is stronger in the person of Eve" (Bowers 265).
-This shows the differences in roles that and offers an explanation as to why the Fall occurs when Adam puts his love for Eve over the love for God which is supposed to be absolute. By giving up his responsibility he becomes one of the main reasons that they suffer and have to leave the Garden of Eden.

7.). "The purpose of the whole dream is to engender pride, a sense of discontent with her hierarchical relation as subject to Adam" (Bowers 267).
-After Satan began to tempt Eve, she understands the structure of their relationship and as she gains more knowledge she refuses to be underneath in the relationship which shows the first rebellion against that human do against the word of God.