The Glass Menagerie- 3

"The play is a memory." 1236

Compared to the Shakespeare plays we have read recently, this play was enjoyable to read. I am a very realistic person, so the fact that everything was explicitly stated made this much easier to understand. The realism was very apperent through the dialouge. It wasn't written in proper sentences, let alone iamic pentameter, like Othello and As You Like It. Throughout this play, I noticed each family member had a complex relationship with eachother. Tom and Amanda often didn't see eye to eye. They refused to see eachothers point of view on many things. Amanda worried that Tom was going to turn out like his father, and he did. The ironic thing about that is, Amanda tried to prevent this from happening, but that is what caused him to leave. By pushing and criticizing Tom, Amanda drove him away just as she drove away her ex-husband.

The Glass Menagerie- 2

Amanda. "Overcome selfishness! Self, self, self is all that you think of!"

Tom struggles with an internal conflict when we here the story in retrospect. Tom tells us of his memory of his life with his mother and sister. Tom had to decide if he wanted to leave like his father, hurting his family, or sacrifice his freedom to support his ungrateful family. If Tom leaves, he will suffer from the guilt of leaving his helpless family. He will realize that he did exactly what his father did to him. However, Tom had to worry about his own sanity. If he stayed with his family, he would be doing the honorable thing. But, staying would mean Tom would be sacrificing his life to take care of his selfish mother. Either decision Tom made would be hard. He is facing a life of misery or a life of guilt.

The Glass Menagerie- 1

Amanda. "You can't put in a day's work on an empty stomach." pg. 1251

In my opinion, Amanda is a terrible mother. In one sense she is completely dependent on her son for financial support. But, she still thinks she has room to criticize him. I find this to be very ironic. I don't see how Amanda can yell at and lecture Tom when he basically gives up his hopes and ambitions to support her and Laura. She complains that he is selfish and doesn't work hard enough. I can't even fathom how she has the nerve to do that. If she feels like calling someone selfish she should look in the mirror. She does nothing to support her children. She is so superficial and fake that she thinks finding a husband for her daughter is more important than supporting her family. She is so lazy and selfish that she is unaware of how much tom sacrifices for her.

As You Like It- 3

"Truly, shepherd, in respect of itself, it is a good life; but in respect that it is a shepherd's life, it is naught." pg 35

Throughout Shakespeare's As You Like It, there is constant comparison between country and city life. This motif is ironic in the way that each one lends itself to the characteristics of the other. In a normal realm of thinking, the city would be thought of as hardworking and peaceful and the country as lazy and savage. However, in this play, the city is portrayed as a combative and lazy place. There are brawls in the streets, and there is entitlement in positions. In the country, people are hardworking and respectful if each other. For people that live in the city, city life is ideal, and for those that live in the country, country life is ideal. Those that prefer the city feel that country life is dirty, lonely, and improper. But, what these city people fail to realize is that the customs of the city do not fit in with the country lifestyle, and vice verse.

As You Like It-2

"Duke Frederick...Where meeting with an old religious man, After some question with him, was converted." pg. 77

This Shakespearean play is very different than Othello. I know that Othello was a tragedy and this was supposed to be a comedy, but they are still very different. Othello wasn't that horribly boring to read. I just got annoyed with how stupid Othello was. Other than that, I didn't really mind it. But this play, on the other hand, was awful. I didn't see the point to the entire play. There seemed to be so many meaningless characters like Touchstone, Audrey, and Jaques de Boys. I felt like everyone in this play was so nieve. People can not just look at someone and decide they are in love. There were four weddings in one day and each couple hardly knew each other. It was ridiculous and made me mad. There was also no meaningful explanations to significant conversions like Oliver and Duke Frederick. People can't change their entire personalities that quickly. This play just really annoyed me. I did not like it.

As You Like It - 1

"And therefore look you call me Ganymede." pg. 15

The quote above is an example of dramatic irony. The audience knows that Ganymede is really Rosalind, but the characters in the play do not. Rosalind uses her disguise to manipulate Orlando. She loves Orlando but wants his to be a certain way. This is costume is advantageous when Rosalind is trying to teach Orlando the proper way to act. This is a way for her to discover if Orlando does indeed love her. By hear Orlando's love for her professed to a third party serves as assurance of his feelings. This disguise turns into a problem when Phebe falls in love with Ganymede.

Reflective Essay

In life, everyone experiences jealousy at some point. It eats away at a person leaving him or her feeling enraged and betrayed. But, after the jealousy subsides, what is left? Deep within a person, behind the superficial mask of jealousy, there is desperation. Desperation is a feeling that no one likes to admit to, however, it is timeless. It is felt by people from all time periods and in all scenarios. The mixture of these emotions leads people to perform desperate acts, often because these feelings are most prominent when dealing with relationships. In William Shakespeare’s, Othello, Roderigo is desperately in love with the betrothed Desdemona. Because he doesn’t know how to handle his helpless desire to Desdemona, he says, “I will incontinently drown myself.” (I.iii.302) Roderigo feels his life is futile because Desdemona doesn’t return his love for her. Feelings of rage and despair overwhelm his thoughts and prompt Roderigo to kill himself. That is one of the main themes in Othello. Jealousy leads to desperation and reckless acts. This theme is universal and can be found in a plethora of literary works and modern media.

            The theme of jealousy and desperation is evident through contemporary music. In Taylor Swift’s hit, You Belong with Me, she helplessly sings about a boy she wants to be with. The song title itself reflects a desperate plead for love. Even though Taylor doesn’t contemplate suicide as does Roderigo, it is evident she is anguished by her loneliness. This song embodies the idea of desperation and jealousy. In this song, Taylor Swift sings to the boy she loves, professing her love to him while also exhibiting her jealousy of the girl he is currently with. When she sings, “Standing by and waiting at your back door, All this time, how could you not know? Baby, you belong with me, you belong with me,” (Swift) she is pleading and begging him to notice her. This is her desperate attempt to gain this boy’s attention. Jealousy is conveyed through the lines, “I'm listening to the kind of music she doesn't like, and she'll never know your story like I do. But she wears short skirts, I wear T-shirts, She's Cheer Captain and I'm on the bleachers, dreaming about the day when you wake up and find that what you're looking for has been here the whole time.” (Swift) She is releasing her anger about this boy being with another girl. She wishes that she could be that girl because she is with the boy she loves. Like Roderigo, Taylor is in despair because of someone she can not have.

            Jealousy and despair is also common in literary novels. It is very evident in Nicholas Sparks’ novel, The Notebook. Noah and Allie fell in love at a young age. After a long year together, Allie’s family moved away. Noah and Allie were both distraught, so in effort to save their relationship, Noah desperately wrote Allie a letter every day for a year. (Allie never got the letters.) Years later, Allie is engaged, but has a lingering desire to visit Noah. Once Noah discovers she is engaged, he becomes jealous and wants her more desperately than he did before. After spending a few days together, they were once again madly in love. Allie realized she had to make a choice between the love of her life, Noah and her fiancé Lon. Noah pleaded to Allie, “I don’t want to live the rest of my life thinking about you and dreaming of what might have been. Stay with me Allie.” (Sparks 139) Because Noah was so jealous and helplessly in love, he attempted to evoke pity, to convince Allie to stay with him. This further proves the timelessness of jealousy and desperation in relationships. The time period, gender, and circumstance have no effect on the outcome of jealousy. These emotions encourage thoughtless acts of desperation that are life threatening, harmless, courageous, or pitiful. Whether it be a Shakespearean play, a 1930’s novel, or a modern music hit, jealousy and desperation mesh together and prompt irrational thoughts and actions.

Works Cited

Perrine, Laurence. “Othello.” Perrine’s Literature: Structure, Sound, and Sence. Fort           Worth. Harcourt College. 2002. 1361-1462. Print.

Sparks, Nicholas. The Notebook. New York: Warner, 1996. Print.

Swift, Taylor. "You Belong with Me." Fearless. Taylor Swift. Big Machine Records,     LLC, 2008. CD.