Satire's Comments on Social Expectations

   

     What exactly is satire? Satire is a literary device that uses humor and sarcasm to point out the absurdity of certain parts of life. Satire often points out flaws in society's expectations by creating characters who fit into a social stereotype and who the audience finds ridiculous. In Pride and Prejudice, Austen uses satire to make these points. One major theme in the book that requires Austen's use of satire is the focus on the silliness of the expectation of women and marriage in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. Women were expected by society to want to find a wealthy and powerful man to marry, and to give birth to and raise children who they hoped would be boys. Women often did not expect much of themselves except to live this lifestyle where they upheld their duty to these expectations.

      Just like I mentioned in my last blog (If you haven’t checked it out, you should!), the opening line of the novel, “It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife” lends itself to sketch out the plot and theme of the novel which has to do not only the expectation of women to marry the perfect guy but also with single men wanting a female (wife) so that they could have a good fortune. The opening line of the work indicates how Austen pictures the idea of social conventions having a role in how individuals are "supposed" to act. This line indicates the idea that it’s a single man’s duty to get married. This social expectation is also placed upon women. Women are expected to compete for a man's affection.  The fact that Austen uses the words "universally" and "truth" to describe this condition indicates that social conventions are something that are meant to be upheld under all circumstances, such as universal truths are supposed to be upheld in all circumstances.

       In this particular work Austen attacks the society’s condoning of marriage for money and social standing. Austen does this by magnifying the irrationality of their attitude towards marriage and the customs they practice. When she sets up the gathering scene in the novel, Austen got the chance to demonstrate some of the foolishness of the characters. This first scene is when a ball is held and all the young eligible bachelors and young unmarried ladies are given the opportunity to interact with one another and perhaps even find their future wife or husband.

     In this scene, Mr. Darcy’s pride and views of social superiority are clearly revealed. He refuses to dance with anyone who’s socially inferior to him, and rejects Mr. Bingley’s suggestion to dance with Elizabeth, because he believes she isn’t good enough to tempt him. Mr. Darcy’s views of social superiority that are presented in the ball scene contribute to the novel as a whole because even though Mr. Darcy begins to fall in love with Elizabeth throughout the novel, he fights against his feelings because of how strong his values of social superiority are.

Power Within The First Line

Pride and Prejudice is a novel by Jane Austen which was first published in 1813. The story follows the main character Elizabeth Bennet as she deals with issues of manners, upbringing, morality, education and marriage in the society of early 19th-century England. Elizabeth is the second of five daughters of a country gentleman, living near the fictional town of Meryton in Hertfordshire, near London. The opening line of the novel, “It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife” lends itself to many purposes. One of the more obvious purposes of this quotation is to introduce Mr. Bingley’s entrance to Netherfield.  Another purpose of this line is to sketch out the plot and theme of the novel which has to do with single men wanting a female (wife) so that they could have a good fortune.

The opening line of the work indicates how Austen pictures the idea of social conventions having a role in how individuals are "supposed" to act. This line indicates the idea that it’s a single man’s duty to get married. This social expectation is also placed upon women. Women are expected to compete for a man's affection.  The fact that Austen uses the words "universally" and "truth" to describe this condition indicates that social conventions are something that are meant to be upheld under all circumstances, such as universal truths are supposed to be upheld in all circumstances.

This first line of the novel also exemplifies satire. It sets the mood of how the rest of the novel is presented. As you continue to read, you start to take notice that it’s not the men’s objective to get married but instead the young women’s intent of assuming these objectives for these men. This presents this sort of irony that it is less the ‘want’ of a man for this sort of fortune and more the ‘want’ of a girl to become married to a single man. Verbal irony is presented through the opposite literal meaning of the line which is the fact that quite a number of women would like to trap a single man in possession of a good fortune for a husband.

As I continue to read this novel, I think it will be interesting to see how the tone and style of Jane Austen’s narrative models after the use of satire in the first line of the novel. From the beginning, the lines give us a glimpse of her use of irony towards the mothers who are obsessed with getting their daughters married off to a rich husband. Just as Mrs. Bennet’s attempt to get one of her daughters to marry a young bachelor. Therefore, I believe as the story continues the use of satire will get even more clever which will make the book as a whole extremely fascinating. I will definitely keep you guys updated.  Bye for now.

How To Play The Game

Love, revenge, betrayal, and jealousy. This is a list of the main topics discussed throughout Othello. Othello is a tragedy of the Moor of Venice. It follows the Moor who is a general in the Venetian army and his wife Desdemona. Iago who is upset that Othello gave the position as his lieutenant to the inexperienced Cassio instead of him, seeks revenge through deception. Iago’s plan for revenge leads to a tremendous amount of tragic events. However, is he really the one to blame? The focus of blame is to find fault. In this Tragic play, Iago constantly lies in order to manipulate certain situations. As a result, Othello who trusts Iago and believes his lies acts out irrationally which cause events that are usually permanent. It’s hard to depict who is truly at fault however through long consideration I would say that Othello is the one to blame here.
One of the most negative qualities the Moor has is his impulsive nature. The Moor constantly makes decisions without considering future consequences. Also, the Moor is very gullible. Throughout the play, Othello completely trusts Iago because he believes that Iago is a honest and loyal man. Othello is oblivious to Iago’s deceitfulness. As evidence, “So please your grace, my ancient; a man he is of honesty and trust” (7). Othello has a misconception of Iago and what his true intentions are. Iago states, “Though I do hate him as I hate hell pains,yet for necessity of present life, I must show out a flag and sign of love, which is indeed but a sign” (5). Here, Iago is presenting his true intentions which is to act like he is showing Othello signs of loyalty when in reality he really despises Othello. The whole play is based on Iago’s master plan to destroy the Moor. With Othello’s full trust, Iago is easily able to manipulate him into believing that stuff were happening behind his back even though they were not.
Othello allows others to influence his judgement even if they may not have to credentials to do so. This can be seen when Iago first plants this idea in Othello’s head that Desdemona is cheating on him with Cassio. Iago says, “Look at your wife: observe her well with Cassio; Wear your eye thus, not jealous nor secure: I would not have your free and noble nature abused” (46). This phrase completely changed Othello’s outlook on his wife. Now anything that might show Desdemona's interest in Cassio, Othello would believe. Also, due to his impulsive nature Othello lashes out and makes irrational decisions instead of asking Desdemona about the situation which eventually leads to unnecessary and permanent tragic events.
Iago knew how to play the game. He made all the right moves in order to get what he desired. Knowing each person’s character traits helped Iago manipulate each situation he was in. Was this right for Iago to do? Of course not! However, the biggest reason his plan worked was because Othello fell for it. If Othello had just took the time to further investigate the situation with Desdemona and Cassio, things could have ended differently. Othello would have found out what was really going on and be enlightened of the deceitfulness that was happening right before his eyes. However, because he was so credulous, he allowed himself to be manipulated and ultimately betrayed his wife by remaining more loyal to Iago.

The Power of Outside Influences

   

      Outside influences usually hinder your identify. Outside influences can cause you to be someone you really aren’t. By having different versions of ourselves, we are able to see whether identity is merely just a product of the people we hang around or a product of certain circumstances we have to attend to. I think identity should not be a product of outside influences because you are now forced to conform to a standard that may make you lose pieces of your identity. However, if the outside influence is extremely positive and strong it can become a part of one’s identity. This concept is presented in many novels with literary merit.
      “Respectfully, I am your humble servant, A. Hebert Bledsoe”. Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison follows an anonymous narrator who is on the search to find his true identity. One of the major events that occurred during the narrator’s journey was when he got kicked out of college. The key player in this event was the president of the college, Mr. Bledsoe. Throughout the novel, Mr. Bledsoe has conflicting personas. On one end, he represents a strong individual who cannot be undermined by race and on the other end; he represents an individual who is controlled by race. This is the perfect example of essential question #4 which is how do we respond to outside influences while remaining true to ourselves? We respond to outside influences while remaining true to ourselves by having different versions of ourselves. The first version of Mr. Bledsoe occurs when he is around his own race. As evidence, “No sir, they don’t control this school, nor white folk either. True they support it but I control it…I’m still the king down here”. As Mr. Bledsoe is having this conversation with the narrator, the reader can sense some sort of confidence within the character. Mr. Bledsoe is confident in his role and despite the downfalls of his race he knows that he is on top. However in the contrary, Mr. Bledsoe has a version of himself where he lets go of this confidence to cater to the white society. This can be seen when Mr. Bledsoe signs what was supposed to be the narrator’s recommendation letter with “I am your humble servant”. Mr. Bledsoe lost all control once he began addressing a member of the white society. There is this sense of vulnerability that was present at this moment. 
      The outside influence for Mr. Bledsoe was white society. He responded to this influence by acting as a servant towards them. This hindered his identity because in order to please this outside influence he had to create a version of himself that he initially did not agree with. This just goes to show that one should only let outside influences change who they are when they are changing for a positive reason instead of changing as a way to please people. This is the ultimate way one can respond to outside influences while remaining true to his or her self.

The Great Gatsby: A Work of Literary Merit

What is literary merit? It’s okay if you don’t know the answer because before my

AP Literature and Composition teacher mentioned it, I had no idea what it was either. If I were to define literary merit, I would define it as a book that is considered quality work by professionals. Professionals include people like English professors. These types of books have a certain level of skill in them that proves their worth. They allow for further analysis that teaches some sort of insight.

One example of a work of literary merit would be my current independent reading book which is The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. Why would this book be considered of literary merit? The Great Gatsby is a book that follows Jay Gatsby, an extremely wealthy man who has all the luxuries in life but the one thing he wants he can’t have which is a lady named Daisy. This book presented the idea of the American dream which is having the opportunity to have a wealthy lifestyle where you can have whatever you want. Gatsby had this but what he really longed for was to have something money could not buy. Through this, Fitzgerald wanted to show that just because Jay Gatsby had every component that would satisfy the true American dream, he was still unhappy because he couldn’t have Daisy. This analysis lends itself to teach that money isn't everything. Just because one may be wealthy does not mean that you should forget about the simpler things in life like love, family, and friends because those are the things that will make you truly happy.

Therefore, The Great Gatsby could be considered a work of literary merit because it is quality work. This book has a strong underlying message that can be understood once the reader takes time to fully analyze the reading. Now, I want you to see whether the book you are reading would be considered a work of literary merit. If not, identify why and try to pick a book to read that would be considered quality work.

Welcome To The Start Of Rekindling Our Love For Reading!

Welcome Everyone! I know what you are thinking, why would anyone want to create a blog about reading?! Well here’s my answer and no it’s not because it was required by my English teacher even though that may actually be a little bit of the reason. However, I think this blog can help me really get back to appreciating books they way I did when I was younger and if you are having this issue as well maybe my blog can help you too. This blog will focus mainly on different works of literature and the many observations I have for each reading. Therefore, I think it’s appropriate to tell you guys about how my journey with books all started and how it has progressed over time. The first book I ever fell in love with was the Junie B. Jones series. I love these books because I was able to connect with them on a personal level. I read every single book in the series and I still remember the famous sentence that opened every book which was “My name is Junie B. Jones. The "B" stands for Beatrice. Except, I don't like Beatrice. I just like "B" and that's all.” The series starts when Junie is a little girl and in each book she talks about different events that occur in her life as she grows up. My best friend at the time and I would always challenged each other on who could finish the books first. As I started to grow up, I lost that sense of excitement to read. I began only reading books that were assigned in class and even then I didn’t enjoy the books I was reading. The hardest thing for me to do know is to connect with a book and its deeper meaning. So, my goal for this blog is to be able to get back to that enjoyment I had while reading and being able to share my experiences along the way with you guys.