John Donne and "The Flea"

John Donne

John Donne was born in London, England on January 1572. He was born into a Roman Catholic family at a time when that religion was illegal in England. John Donne was an English poet, preacher, and one of the first metaphysical poets of his period. His poems were known for their realistic and sensual style. His works, included sonnets, love poetry, religious poems, elegies, songs and sermons.

www.luminarium.org/sevenlit/donne/


"The Flea"

The man in this poem is trying to tell the woman he is with the flea that has bitten both of them now has both of their blood inside of it. He tries to tell her that they are as one inside the flea since both of their blood is in it. He tells her the flea has joined them together like they are married. When the woman tries to kill the flea he tells her not to that she would be killing what they have. I think this poem tells a story of a man's desperate attempt to get the woman he is with to sleep with him. He is going at any length to accomplish what he wants and I don't think the woman is buying any of what he is saying.

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight

I think what makes this story so interesting is the whole mystery behind the Green Knight. The mystery keeps you reading so you can find out who the Green Knight really is. The quest that Sir Gawain goes on to find the Green Knight leads you to think he is searching for the Green Knight so he can keep his end of the deal of letting the Green Knight chop his head off. Sir Gawain is really being tested on his faith and honesty. He failed this test when he lied about getting the girdle from the Green Knight's wife. This makes you wonder if Sir Gawain would have been honest when the Green Knight came back from hunting and told the Green Knight about getting the girdle from his wife would the story have ended differently? Sir Gawain was ashamed and wore the girdle to remind himself of the lie he told.

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight was written during the Crusades where a knight was expected to have strong Christian morals. Knights were expected to have a strong attachment to the military and put their faith in God. Knights also had a strong loyalty to their kings and this was shown when Sir Gawain took the deal from the Green Knight instead of letting King Arthur do it.

Sophocles

Sophocles

Sophocles was born in 495 B.C. about a mile northwest of Athens. Sophocles was the son of a wealthy merchant. Sophocles studied all the arts and by the age of sixteen he was chosen to lead a choir of boys at a celebration of the victory of Salamis. After Sophocles completed his studies he went to compete in the City Dionysa where new plays were presented and he won first place. Sophocles even performed in many of his own plays. Sophocles also served for many years as an ordained priest. Sophocles wrote 120 plays but only 7 survived. Oedipus the King is considered his greatest work. Other well known plays he wrote were Antigone and The Women of Trachis. Shortly after the production of Oedipus in 405 Sophocles passed away.

www.sophocles.net

Antigone

In the play Antigone the main problem is the clash between state and personal beliefs. Antigone loves her family and of course she will not sit back and let her brother lay and rot before everyone's eyes. Anyone that respects and loves their family I am sure would do the same thing. Antigone believes what she is doing is the right thing regardless of the consequences and the laws she is breaking. Creon being the king is for the laws of the state. He begs Antigone to rethink and don't act irrationally but Antigone stands for what she believes. Antigone is a brave woman who will sacrifice her own life for the love of her family. She gave up everything so that her brother could have a proper burial.

Romeo and Juliet

My Reflection of the Modernized Romeo and Juliet

Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet was directed in 1996 by Baz Luhrmann and stars Leonardo Dicaprio as Romeo and Claire Danes as Juliet. This film was based on the orginal Romeo and Juliet but modernized to appeal to younger audiences. I feel like a film like this is a good thing because a lot of the younger generation will not watch older movies. This might give the younger generation a chance to open up their minds and explore more into Shakespeare.

If I had too choose the modernized version from the original version I think I would have to watch the modernized version. I find it fascinating that the director kept the same story line using guns instead of swords and having car chases instead of horses. I feel this is a good movie for someone who maybe can't understand Shakespeare's original writing. This movie keeps the same story line but it is just easier to follow. I think Shakespeare would be proud of this modernized version of his original work.

Othello

My Reflection of Shakespeare's Othello

Othello is a Shakespeare play that is full of lies and deceit. The three men that are the most important in the play are Othello, Iago, and Cassio. The main character of the play is Othello. At the beginning of the play he just made Cassio his Lieutenant and this makes Iago furious. Iago already has bad feelings towards Othello because Iago believes Othello has slept with his wife and the fact Cassio got Lieutenant over him just makes things worse. Iago is a very powerful and deceitful character and he will do anything and hurt whoever to get what he wants.

Othello is a strong character but his one weakness is his love for his wife Desdemona. I would think that since Othello controls a whole army he would not be so naive in believing everything that Iago tells him. Othello obviously trusts Iago which gives Iago even more control over Othello's mind. On the other hand, if Othello loves his wife as much as he says would he not question her about what Iago tells him about Desdemona sleeping with Cassio. Why is Othello so quick at calling Desdemona a whore?

Cassio also does everything Iago wants him to do without even realizing it. Cassio gets drunk being persuaded by Iago because Cassio told him he had a low tolerance for alcohol. Cassio gets his title of Lieutenant took away from him because he acts like a drunken fool. Cassio then listens to Iago when he tells him to go too Desdemona so she can talk to Othello on his behalf. When Desdemona does talk to Othello about Cassio that just makes things worse because of what Iago had already told Othello. Cassio just helped Iago with his plan and didn't even realize it.

All of this still comes back to my question that if Othello really loved Desdemona so much how did his love turn to hate so quickly. The night he went to kill Desdemona and she woke up and begged him not too he still killed her and showed no remorse. Was Othello that driven with madness of the thought Desdemona slept with Cassio that it overcame his love for her or did Othello not love Desdemona as much as he said he did. Maybe this play could teach everyone a life lesson. Don't be so quick to accuse unless you have hard facts or it might just hurt you in the long run and you might seal your own fate.

William Shakespeare Biography

William Shakespeare Biography

William Shakespeare was born in a small country town called Stratford-upon-Avon. Shakespeare was the oldest son of Mary Arden and John Shakespeare. Very little is known about Shakespeare's early life. Shakespeare was educated at Stratford Grammar School, and he may have spent the years 1580-82 as a teacher for the Roman Catholic Houghton family in Lancashire. When Shakespeare was 18 he married a local girl named Anne Hathaway who was eight years older then him. Within six months their first child Susannah was born, and twins Hamnet and Judith were born in 1585. Hamnet who was Shakespeare's only son died at the age of 11. People think that the lines from King James "Grief fills the room of my absent child", is a reflection of Shakespeare losing his son. Shakespeare left Stratford for London to avoid a charge of poaching. By 1584 he became a well known playwright in London and soon became a central figure in London's leading theater company the Lord Chamberlain's company. Shakespeare wrote many great plays for this group. In 1599 a new theater called the Globe was built.

Shakespeare's largest drama Hamlet was first printed in 1603. Shakespeare was known to be a very quick writer being described as his mind and hand working together. Shakespeare also wrote two heroic narrative poems Venus and Adonis (1593) and Lucrece (1594). Shakespeare's sonnets written in 1598 were published in 1609. Shakespeare's sonnets refer to several people such as a handsome man, a woman called the "Dark Lady", and a rival poet. A brunette who appears in some of Shakespeare's later poetry is a mystery. Some believed the brunette could have been Elizabeth's I lady in waiting, Mary Fritton. Some people think Mary Fritton was also the mother of Shakespeare's illegitimate son, Henry Davenant.

"My only love sprung from my only hate!
Too early seen unknown , and known to late!"
(Romeo and Juliet)

Romeo and Juliet was based on real lovers who lived in Verona, Italy, and died for each other in the year 1303. At that time the Capulets and the Montigues were the inhabitants of the town. Shakespeare found the tale in Arthur Brooke's poem 'The Tragical Historye of Romeus and Juliet'. Shakespeare's The Tempest was considered his farewell to theatrical art. In 1610 Shakespeare returned to his birthplace where he had a house called New Place. Shakespeare co-wrote with John Fletcher The Two Noble Kinsmen that was published in 1634. A number of Shakespeare's plays were published during his lifetime but none of the original dramatic manuscripts have survived.

Shakespeare died on April 23, 1616. Anne Hathaway died seven years later. People have said that Anne and her daughter asked to be buried in Shakespeare's grave. On Shakespeare's gravestone there are four lines of a verse that is thought to have been written by Bard of Avon. The verse says, "Good friend for Jesus sake forbeare/ To digg the dust enclosed here!/Blest be the man that spares thes stones/ And curst be he that moues my bones." In 1623 a collection of Shakespeare's works was published known as the First Folio.

http://www.william-shakespeare.info/

Art

Some of My Artwork.

Mural I did on my boy's bedroom wall.