I really liked your lecture when you constructed the timeline of literature with romanticism to the post modern era. I like the quote you said, that literature is a product of its time period. This gave me great insight of how some poets lived back then and that some of them were way ahead of their times. This really fascinated me and I thank you for this learning experience.

Pub #5

 

In the equations of love all possibilities are endless and logical.  I choose two poems from the Love Album, “To My Dear and Loving Husband by Anne Bradstreet, and “Stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone” by W.H. Auden. Also I have two poems of my own, “The Colors of Love”, and “The Two II’s of Beauty, I will compare these four poems with each other. The theme of unconditional love is portrayed in Anne Bradstreet’s poem, To My dear and Loving Husband” and also in my poem “The Two II’s of Beauty”. The theme in my other poem, The Colors of Love, is the same as W.H Auden’s poem “Stop the clocks, cut off the telephone”, it is the loneliness.

In Anne Bradstreet’s poem unconditional love is the theme that is portrayed in this, as well as in my poem, “The Two II’s of beauty. In Bradstreet’s poem she is expressing her love, because to her it is as precious of gold and no river can quench her thirst. Her husband is not compared to anyone else, no one can replace him. In my poem, there is a girl I used to like very much, I thought I would be with her someday. This never happened, but I did have strong feelings of love towards her, I used to spend a lot of time with her in college. I described her hair, her favorite color, aspirations that could have happened if she would have taken a leap of faith with me.

The tone of the poems are gentle and smooth in nature. The mood that they create is flowing very delicately like a river that feeds an ocean. In Bradstreet’s poem she says, “The heavens reward thee manifold, I pray. Then while we live, in love let’s persevere, that when we live no more we may live ever.” (Bradstreet pg. 471)  She is showing us that love can conquer mountains and ever after death love lives on forever.

In the poem, “Stop all the clocks, cut the telephone”, and also in my poem “The Colors of Love”, the theme of loneliness is running rampart. It is like the world ended for this author when he or she wrote this piece. In the poem he wanted the dogs to stop barking, silence al the pianos, and bring out the coffin and let everyone mourn. “The stars are not wanted now, put out every one, pack up the moon and dismantle the sun.” (Auden pg. 470) This is really a depressing poem and it is showing the loneliness of this author. In my poem my heart is separated in two, because I like two different girls. In the end I don’t get to go out with either one and this made me very lonely. In my poem I say, “Without the one, my days are gray.” I am very heartbroken because I don’t have a girl to love and this caused me to be very depressed.

The tone of Auden’s poem and my poem, “The Colors of Love” was the same with depression and loneliness. I am so glad I met the right girl, because back when I wrote this poem I was lost without a paddle. My life wasn’t going anywhere, my current girlfriend turned my life around. I thank god I have her in my life. Auden has the world coming to an end in the poem, with everything be destroyed or turned off. His love is gone and never coming back, this is what I believe the author is wrote about.

“The Colors of Love”

Tasteless in a days time,

With viberance glowing shades of lime.

Once felt before, one who knows,

Can exist, but holding it back it won’t grow.

Live for the color, so bright as the sun,

Warm as fur, my heart is torn.

Two ways, on two roads separate my heart,

Which one will it be,

God’s only the one who knows.

Where to start, two tone surrounds my day.

Wishing it was forever

Without the one, my days are gray.

It can be as small as a white baby dove

Holding it close your love won’t budge,

Eventually she will show.

“The two II’s of Beauty”

Beauty is found in yellow,

Your dreams will come tomorrow.

Searching for a feeling,

True love is what your seeking,

Wishing is believing.

Shining bright your two II’s bright delight.

Red and brown brought together,

So systematic with delicate feathers.

II’s of joy, truth, and fate,

Letting go is never too late.

Follow your mind, heart , and soul,

As King and Queen we’ll make this gold.

Look at me what do you see,

My truths will set you free.

Pub #4

Idealism is the practice of pursuing ideals that are usually unrealistic. Nathaniel Hawthorne and others saw the human spirit cannot only be filled with happiness and peace if it is very connected to nature. In the “Birthmark” is very ironic that Aylmer with all of his intellectual and spiritual qualities, he does not possess the wisdom and therefore he will die without happiness.

Hawthorne was trying to show us in the story that when you are trying to get close to perfection, you will fail at it tremendously. What is given to you from birth is beautiful and it should not be altered, but this unfortunately was ironic in the end. Aylmer was not happy with his wife Georgina because of her birthmark and he wanted it removed. He at all cost tried to find a way to get rid of it and this caused his wife to go into a state of depression. He eventually made a potion that could help remove her birthmark but as soon as she took it her health got worse. As the birthmark started to disappearance, so did her life as it began to slip away.

Perfection as the world sees it today is obscured by social media, with woman at the forefront of this idealist society. With every advertisement people are viewed as what the world is wants them to be and not what they really are. Photoshop is an example of the way models are changed to look the way magazine’s editors want them to be seen as. The ideal female is tan, slender, with no unsightly bumps, bulges or cellulite and with hours of haircare and makeup. This goes against transcendentalism because this is not true beauty through the eyes of the beholder and it is not realistic. This is degrading to woman because in return woman are trying to complete with this unrealistic image that advertisers are conveying. So low and behold this is the world we live in, and until society changes their views of what is really beautiful then we are subjected to this form of idealism.

 

 

Pub #1

In a Streetcar named Desire, delusion and reality comes full circle with Blanche losing her self-image and Stanley doing what’s best for everyone. Blanche has lost her grasp of reality and she thinks Mitch is her meal ticket. Her reputation from the past places obstacles in her way and the truth comes out through Stanley’s confession of Blanches actions. “You should just know the line she’s been feeding to Mitch. He thought she had never been more than kissed by a fellow! But sister Blanche is no lily! Ha-Ha! Some lily she is! (Williams pg. 1213) The truth always finds a way to the surface. You cannot hide behind false facades and expect people to believe a web of lies. This will not go on forever in essence life without truth is like a body without a soul.

In the field of psychology Carl Rogers has a theory that revolves around self-image. “Rogers’s theory emphasizes the self, a flexible and changing perception of personal identity. Much behavior can be understood as an attempt to maintain consistency between our self-image and our actions. Information or feeling inconsistent with the self-image are said to be incongruent. Thus a person who thinks she is kind but really isn’t is in a state of incongruence. Experiences seriously incongruent with the self-image can be threatening and are often distorted or denied conscious recognition. Blocking, denying or distorting experiences prevents the self from changing this creates the gap between the self-image and reality. (Ryckman 2013) Blanche got what she deserved in the end, which is isolation from her fantasy world. She was put into a mental facility where she cannot fool anyone with her deceitful ways.

According to Carl Rogers, incongruence occurs when there is a mismatch between ant of these three entities the ideal self (the person you would like to be); your self-image (the person you think you are) and the true self (the person you actually are). Self-esteem suffers when there is a large difference between one’s ideal self and self-image. Anxiety and defensiveness are common when the self-image does not match the true self.

I’ve been on to you from the start! Not once did you pull any wool over this boys eyes! You came in here and sprinkle the place with powder and spray perfume and cover the light bulb with a paper lantern, and lo and behold the place has turned into Egypt and you are the green of the Nile! Sitting on your thrown and swilling down my liquor! I say-Ha!-Ha! Do you hear me! Ha-Ha-Ha! (Williams pg. 1229) Stanley stayed to his true self and never let Blanche deceive him. I give Stanley a lot of credit for doing what was right for him and Stella. Placing Blanche in the mental hospital was the only way to get rid of her and to put his house back in order.  

Silence is not Golden

 

Silence is like a dark slow death for some people that you cannot escape like prison of the mind. How would you like to not be able to speak and to suffer silently? This is what happens to individuals who are not loved by others. Simon and Garfunkel once said in the song, the sound of silence “people talking without speaking, people hearing without listening, people writing songs that voices never shared and no one dared disturb the sound of silence.”(Simon and Garfunkel 1965) Suffering internally is like a cancer that plagues the mind and it destroys a person’s ability to grow intellectually and emotionally. Silent suffering is what occurred in the story, The Yellow Wallpaper and also in The Hills like White Elephants. Silence in itself is against what human nature and it becomes like a splinter in your mind driving you mad. Self-expression is taking in both stories and I will use the theme of silence to express this deeper.

            The woman in The Yellow Wallpaper was suffering from not being able to express herself to society, and there comes John, and I must put this away, he hates to have me write a word.” (Gillman pg. 317) This is dehumanization from silence of a person. To cut a person from human interaction is demoralizing and to me it destroys their right to be free. This is a saddening thing to do to a person because it rips apart their right to think and express themselves socially and critically. This is what happened to many women during this time when the Rest Cure was used to help woman who were suffering for nervous conditions. I feel this would not help a person by feeding them and not letting them exercise. The wallpaper is very ironic, and is used in a way to describe herself.

            John treats her like a child and not like his wife. “What is it little girl? Don’t go walking about like that you’ll get cold.” She was only to feel better by walking and she wished he would take her away. This is disrespectful to his wife, and I think he is treating her like a patient instead of his spouse. Then he says, “Bless her little heart! She shall be as sick as he pleases! But he lets improve the shining hours by going to sleep and talk about it in the morning.”(Gillman pg.) It looks like he doesn’t care if she gets better. He also thinks she is causing herself to become more ill. He is not showing any love towards her at all.

            In, the Hills Like White Elephants, the girl in the story is suffering silently. “I know you wouldn’t mind it, Jig. It’s really not anything. It’s just to let them be.”(Hemingway pg.115) This is not just a simple procedure, back then an abortion made a woman baron. Nowadays abortions don’t cause a woman to be baron and the technology was not as advanced as it is today. “Then I’ll do it because I do care about me.” (Hemingway pg 116) she is starting to feel depressed and not appreciated. She would be killing a human being by doing this and I feel she is getting second thoughts. “We can have the whole world. No we can’t it isn’t ours anymore. It’s ours. No it isn’t and once they take it away, you never get it back. But they haven’t taken it away. We’ll wait and see.” (Hemingway pg. 116) She is feeling very scared about having the abortion and when it is finished she will never be able to have a child again. “What did she say asked the girl that train is coming in five minutes? The girl smiled slightly at the woman, to thank her.” (Hemingway pg. 116)

            “Do you feel better?” he asked. I feel fine she said. There’s nothing wrong with me I feel fine.” (Hemingway pg117) In the last quote she was feeling better when they stopped talking because she was fed up with talking about the abortion. Next she is appearing to be fine, but in reality she is still suffering because she is feeling guilty about going through with the procedure she will be emotionally and physically scarred for life if she does this to herself. If the story went any further I think she would not get the abortion.

            In the Yellow Wallpaper she is not allowed to write when her husband or the housekeeper are around. “She is perfect and enthusiastic housekeeper, and hopes for no better profession. I verily believe she thinks it is the writing which made me sick! But I write when she is out, and see her along way off from there windows?” (Gillman pg. 319) Then she feels that if she was able to write freely without interruption, she would feel better because it calms her soul. “I think sometimes that if I were only well enough to write a little it would relieve the press of ideas and rest of me.” (Gillman pg. 318)

            In Hemingway’s, Hills Like White Elephants the women are starting to get aggravated because Jig won’t stop talking. I don’t feel anyway. I just know things. I don’t want you to do anything that you don’t want to do. But you’ve got to realize. Can’t we maybe stop talking? (Hemingway pg. 116) The song, the sound of silence by Simon and Garfunkel, is a scary thing that can destroy a society without intelligent activities come to the surface.

            The theme of silence and silent suffering was shown in both short stories with both characters going through depression and being dehumanized. This is not a way to live without a voice or choice in certain situations. To be able to express yourself and to make your own choices in human right under democracy.

You’re alternate Reality

 

A person’s perception of reality depends on the way they see the world. What they see can differ from what others believe is true. Sometimes an individual can lose their grasp of what is real and what is merely an illusion. In the play “A Streetcar Named Desire” Blanche’s character lives in a dream world, and she uses illusion, false appearances to deceive others. The movie “Shutter Island” directed by Martin Scorsese has the same type of character with Teddy Daniels. Like Blanche, Edward creates an illusion to hide from the real problems his is dealing with. This façade that both characters create eventually leads to their downfall. The significance of having to create an illusion is ironic because this leads to a thin line between what is real and what is fantasy.

Early on Blanche starts to show little glimpses of her true self in the beginning of the play. After Blanche arrives at her sister’s house, she is a nervous state. It shows her wanting a drink right away, Blanche uses alcohol to drown her sorrows. “No Coke, honey not with my nerves tonight!”(Tennessee Williams’s pg. 1169) Next Blanche tries to cover up her drinking problem, by denying it and making excuses. “Blanche: Just water, to chase it! Now don’t get worried, your sister hasn’t turned into a drunkard, she just all shaken up and hot and tired and dirty!”(Tennessee Williams’s pg. 1169) Stella offers Blanche another drink and she refuses it, but in reality she wants another. “Stella: Won’t you have another? Blanche: No, one’s my limit. Stella: Sure?”(Tennessee Williams’s pg. 1170) Stella knows her sister is hiding her obsession with alcohol. This creates her illusion of being a good old fashioned girl with no problems and nothing to hide.

The light is another thing she hides from, the dark is more pleasant to her. She also uses fancy clothes to create a life style she no longer lives. “Blanche: You haven’t said anything about my appearance. Stella: You look just fine. Blanche: God love you for a liar! Daylight never exposed so total a ruin! But you- you’ve put on some weight, yes, you’re just as plump as a little partridge! And it’s so becoming of you!”(Tennessee Williams’s pg. 1170) As you see Blanche insults her sister’s appearance and this is a sign she is insincere about her own looks. This is her way of coping with her false appearance by pointing out other peoples flaws. “Blanche: Well-anyhow- I bought nice clothes and I’ll wear them. I guess you’re hoping I say I’ll put up a hotel, but I’m not going to put at a hotel. I want to be near you, got to be with somebody, I can’t be alone! Because- as you must noticed- I’m- not very well.”(Tennessee Williams’s pg. 1171) Blanche is in desperate need of belonging and she needs to dress extremely well to impress her next romantic encounter. She needs someone else to deceive so she can go on living a lie and fulfilling her fantasy.

In “Stutter Island” Teddy Daniels is the fantasy Andrew Laeddeis creates to escape the truth of what really happened to him. Andrew is a former federal marshal from Boston, he is institutionalized in Ashecliffe a mental hospital for the criminally insane for killing his wife Dolores. Andrew has been a patient at Ashecliffe for two years and he hasn’t made much progress towards rehabilitation. Every time Andrew makes a breakthrough it on lasts a short while, he later on relapses and falls victim to his own delusions. Before his current state in the movie, Andrew realized who he really was, this was nine months prior to the events that took place.

Teddy Daniels is his other personality that Andrew creates to cope with his wife murdering his three children and also his guilt of killing Dolores. Andrew in reality wishes he arrived from work sooner that day to stop his wife from drowning their three children. He also knew Dolores was losing her sense of purpose and her mind moving closer to insanity. Andrew ignored all of the signs and this lead to great tragedy. Teddy Daniels is a piece of his former self when Andrew was a marshal. Teddy is investigating the disappearance of a patient named Rachel Salando and he thinks Chuck is his partner aiding with the search. Chuck is really his psychologist Dr. Lester Sheehan and he is going along with his false persona to help guide Andrew back to reality. Dr. John Cawley is the head doctor of the facility and he is letting Andrew conduct this fake investigation in order to find the truth in his real self. Andrew is completely delusional and his still thinks his is a real federal marshal, so Teddy is his coping mechanism. When his searches the cell of Rachel Salando he finds a loose floor board behind the bed and under that he finds a piece of paper. Written on this paper is, “the law of 4, who is 67?” (Martin Scorsese) He eventually is told what this paper really means by Dr. Cawley.

As Teddy Daniels, he is given the run of the facility to uncover his theories of the doctors undergoing experiments on patients to create ghosts from altering the brain. Teddy also believes Laeddeis is the perpetrator who burned down his apartment with his wife Dolores dying from the crime. The actual event that took place was Dolores burning down the apartment where they first lived, this was her way of escaping the suburbs. This was in order to be secluded by moving to the country, by doing this Dolores feel more out of touch with her sanity. So as Teddy he believes the real reason he was sent to Ashecliffe to find Laeddeis and kill him.

This game that Andrew creates to find the patient Rachel Salando is his way of remembering why he is really on Shutter Island.  Eventually Teddy realizes he is Andrew after the scene in the lighthouse where Chuck reveals that he is Dr. Sheehan. Dr. Cawley also tells Teddy he is actually Andrew Laeddeis and Dolores Chanal is his wife. Rachel Salando and Teddy Daniels are the anagrams of their names, which is the law of four. The law of four, who is 67, is what Andrew has been trying to figure out during his investigation. Andrew is patient 67 and this eventually set off some light bulbs in his head.

The next morning Andrew wakes up with Doctors Sheehan and Cawley standing over his bed. They asked who he is, why he was there and who his wife is. The doctors also asked if he was really back to his true self and not his false appearance teddy. He admitted that he was Andrew Laeddeis, and he killed his wife Dolores. He killed her because she drowned his three children and he created Teddy to forget about his real life problems. The following day he has another relapse and his calls Dr. Sheehan his partner named Chuck. Then he asks what they are going to do next, which leads to Dr. Sheehan head motioning to Dr. Cawley that nothing has changed. After this Andrew is lead away from Dr. Sheehan by the orderly’s and Dr. Cawley to be given a lobotomy.

Blanche has similar characteristics to Teddy but on a smaller scale. Blanche needs someone to escape with so she is trying to convince Stella to leave Stanley. This is hear way of running away from her problems and living with her fantasy. “Blanche: I have a plan for both of us, to get us both-out! You take it for granted that I am in something that I want to get out of.”(Tennessee Williams’s pg. 1197) Stella couldn’t deal with Blanche anymore. “Stella: I couldn’t believe her story and go on living with Stanley.”(Tennessee Williams’s pg. 1232) In the next page she takes about the millionaire from Dallas who doesn’t really exist. She created this person to show she is wanted, but in reality she is all alone.

Stanley finds out from a good source that Blanche is not who she really is and that she was fired from her job in laurel because she slept with a student. This leads to Mitch leaving Blanche and this eventually makes her lose her full sense of hope and reality. Mitch wonders why Blanche never wants to go out in the afternoon, this is because the light is the truth and darkness is her way of hiding, by creating the illusion of glamorous façade. “Mitch: It is dark in here. Blanche: I like the dark. The dark is comforting to me.”(Tennessee Williams’s pg. 1223)

In both situations Blanche and Teddy dealt with their fantasies in a different way but they both ended up in separation from the others. Blanche ended up in the mental hospital and Andrew was given a lobotomy to end his torment. The theme of fantasy or reality was portrayed is these works of literature. Blanche and Andrew created these fantasies to cope with their true selves. What would you do in these situations, I leave that to imagination?