Stereotypes in Much Ado About Nothing

In the play Much Ado About Nothing Shakespeare presents stereotypes that fit with the times, not necessarily to teach a lesson or prove a point. The main stereotype he develops is that women are inferior to men. Throughout the entire play, we see the women being taken advantage of and pushed around. Hero, for example, hardly tries to stand up for herself when Claudio shames her publicly. She just spits out denials at all of his claims but it doesn't get her anywhere. After Claudio accuses her, her own father, who supposedly cared about her more than himself, yells at her like she is nothing. He tells her that she has shamed him. And he never even asked her what really happened! He just went off of Claudio's (practically a stranger) harsh words and assumed they were true without question. This shows women as fragile and and weak, with Hero as a perfect example. Another woman in the play who displays this is Margaret who gets pursued by Borachio. She is taken advantage of and used without even knowing it. Borachio and Don John take advantage of her affections and use her to ruin Claudio and Hero's wedding day. She doesn't realize something is wrong until later, and then Leonato once again assumes that she knew about it the whole time when really she didn't. Everyone assures Leonato that she wasn't involved, but he wouldn't have believed solely Margaret if they hadn't stepped in to confirm her validity. Margaret is one character who shows that women can step up and defend themselves. She is the only woman in the play who talks back to men and stands up for Hero when no one else would. Her character and personality show off a more powerful woman that is not shown elsewhere in the play. She reminds us that women aren't weaker than men, and that they have strength too. Shakespeare tells us how the times were, and stereotypes about women being inferior to men were very common.

Lies. For good or for evil?

In the play, "Much Ado About Nothing" lying is often seen. However, are the characters' lies justified? Sometimes lying is used for ethical reasons, like trying to protect a friend. But lying is also used to make other people feel bad or to make themselves superior to another. One example of someone lying for good reasons is when Claudio, Leonato and Don Pedro talk about Beatrice while pretending that Benedick can't hear a thing, even though he's right around the corner, listening in. Claudio says, "Hero thinks surely she will die; for she says she/ will die, if he love her not, and she will die, ere/ she make her love known," (II.iii). Claudio does not honestly know at this point whether or not Hero knows this. He does not know if Beatrice feels this either. Yet he still says it aloud, because he wants his friend to find love in Beatrice. His little white lie worked, for later in the scene Benedick proclaims, "They have the truth of/ this from Hero." (II.iii). Benedick believed his friend was telling the truth because he had supposedly heard it from someone close to Beatrice. This lie helped him realize that he may love Beatrice back. This is obviously not a bad thing, so in this case the liar's intentions were good and the lie was an ethically and morally justified one.

Nonetheless, there are several occasions of unjustified lying throughout the play. Don John is the main man in the unethical lying department. Don John comes up with many a plan to destroy Claudio and Hero's love. He and Borachio decide that it would cause some disruption if Hero was suspected to be unfaithful and in love with another. Borachio states, "Not honestly, my lord; but so covertly that no/ dishonesty shall appear in me." (II.ii). He will lie, but he will do so as to not show any sign that he is lying. This lie is benefiting no one except Don John. He is tearing Claudio and Hero's love to shreds because he wants to marry Hero himself. Perhaps if he were a little more honest, he could get a wife of his own, instead of instilling a lie into Claudio and Hero's love. This lying is done for the wrong reasons, and is completely unethical.

Lying can be found in many forms. Little white lies, done solely to protect another, are justified. They are told to make others happy, and sometimes give them self-esteem. But other kinds of lies, done in the favor of oneself, are unjust. They are unethical and immoral. In my own personal experience, I've learned that little white lies aren't always bad. One year, I was invited to a birthday party and some of my friends weren't invited. The person who invited me asked me not to tell them about it so they wouldn't feel bad. I agreed and tried not to tell them. A few days later, my friends had turned into detectives and pulled it out of me unwillingly. Although it seems that a birthday party wouldn't cause any problems, teenage melodrama kicked in as always. My friends were upset, and I knew that my other friend would be upset too for telling them. Luckily it ended up perfectly alright. Under the right circumstances, white lies are okay but telling the truth is also a good choice. In conclusion, people lie. The only difference is whether or not it's for the right reasons.

Poetry!

Here is the poem that I picked:

"Making a Fist" by Naomi Shihab Nye

For the first time, on the road north of Tampico,
I felt the life sliding out of me,
a drum in the desert, harder and harder to hear.
I was seven, I lay in the car
watching palm trees swirl a sickening pattern past the glass.
My stomach was a melon split wide inside my skin.

"How do you know if you are going to die?"
I begged my mother.
We had been traveling for days.
With strange confidence she answered,
"When you can no longer make a fist."

Years later I smile to think of that journey,
the borders we must cross separately,
stamped with our unanswerable woes.
I who did not die, who am still living,
still lying in the backseat behind all my questions,
clenching and opening one small hand.

Naomi Shihab Nye uses a central metaphor in the Poem "Making a Fist" to compare life's journey to the little things. Although many big events occur in our lives, we often fail to see the little things that actually help. In this poem she explains that she feels as if she were dying. She said, "I felt the life sliding out of me," (2). She was clearly suffering and had the inner sense that her life might be coming to an end. When she uses the phrase "a drum in the desert, harder and harder to hear." (3), you can immediately hear a parade's loud drumming fading away as it passes farther down the street. These two lines express how she felt at that time. At the end of the poem, she has a verse filled with big things that happen in one's life. She said, "the borders we must cross separately,/ stamped with our unanswerable woes." (12-13). These are things that people accomplish over time, through a journey. Lastly, she brings up the idea of how much those small things really do help. She said, "still lying in the backseat behind all my questions,/ clenching and opening one small hand." (16-17). This was what would prevent her from dying, just assuring herself that she could still tighten her hand into a fist. This action is incomparable to death, or "unanswerable woes" (14). Through that comparison, Naomi Shihab Nye shows that by simply making a seemingly insignificant gesture, it can affect the end result in many ways.

Quarter One Debrief

I think that I did well in EE10 for first quarter. I tried to get all of my homework in on time, and I finished writing drafts and outlines for the right dates. I learned how to write analytical papers much more efficiently, although I still need some work. I learned how to analyze images and films, along with all of those spiffy terms. I learned how to write a real thesis statement and not just a list. I improved a lot on my writing in general and how I organize my thoughts. I still need to work on my writing and thesis statements. I'm still feeling a little iffy on that, but hopefully with this big research paper I will become more comfortable with the organizational things I need help with. The class environment is good!! My goals for Q2 are to concentrate on improving my writing skills, and learn to write even better thesis statements. I want to really work on getting the analytical stuff down. Can't wait for second quarter! :) 10/4

Blog #5!!

In The Probable Future written by Alice Hoffman, many significant moments in the characters' lives move them into adulthood. Even if they aren't a child or a teenager, it doesn't mean that they can't be transformed into their mature, adult-self. Will Avery is a perfect example. Unlike his brother, Matt Avery, who grew up long before he was legally an adult, Will has been immature his entire life. Matt was responsible and reasonable, while Will was a compulsive liar and unfaithful to everyone around him. Until Stella confesses her power to see how people will die, Will is still lying and sleeping around. Once he gets arrested for Stella's death prediction being reported to the police, he becomes severely depressed. He runs out of money, can't pay the bills or buy food, and drinks constantly. However, as his daughter's life becomes endangered, he immediately realizes what a fool he has been and how much his choices have affected those around him. For the first time in his life, he admits his mistake and the author describes, "the enormity of his failures crashing down on him... He could see his reflection in the glass panels on the side of the door to Cake House: he appeared to be underwater, a drowning man with nothing to hold on to but a single shred of truth. 'I made a mistake'" (199). Did this chronic liar actually just admit that he had done something wrong? He did. And it marked a complete turn around for Will. He changes his ways, he becomes happy again, he lives a life of honesty, after a lifetime of lies and mistrust. He has finally started living responsibly and maturely, something he should have done years ago. Also unlike Will, Jenny learned to live on her own as an adult in her childhood and teenage years. Her mother, Elinor, didn't have the mothering skills that most daughters needed, but Jenny found her way just fine. The author tells us, "Elinor should have built her world around Jenny when Saul died in that accident on a road outside Boston, but instead she walked into the garden and she had never come out again" (68). Even at such a young age, Jenny was forced to learn on her own, and live her own way because her mother was too caught up in her own grief to take care of her only daughter. When Jenny was sick, she was the one that called the doctor and asked him to make a house call, a traditional motherly task to accomplish. We are told by the author, "She was only in sixth grade, but she had already learned to take care of herself...Why, the girl was quite feverish, and she didn't have a glass of water on her night table or a cold cloth for her forehead" (69). Another mother-taking-care-of-sick-child task. Jenny learned quickly how to manage. Maybe her lack of a mother was the cause for her rebelling later in life? Feeling neglected by one's parents can definitely lead to rebellion and going off on one's own path. The only difference between people at this moment in their lives is when. When do they become adults? When do they learn how to live on their own? When do they learn to be responsible human beings and make good choices? Although the time may be different for each person, hopefully everyone will grow up and move away from the Neverland of carelessness and disrespect.

Blog-o Numero Four-o.

In the novel, The Probable Future by Alice Hoffman, one of the protagonists, Stella Sparrow, is intrigued by her family's past. Her mother, Jenny tries to "protect" her from all the history. When Stella moves in with her grandma in Unity, she says "Tell me about Rebecca Sparrow" (96). Her grandma replies "I can't tell you because your mother told me not to" (96). But, moments later, her grandma gives in to Stella's wishes, and she says, "She could not feel pain, and don't you dare let on to your mother that I told you" (97). She felt so wise and was encouraged to make a difference. At one point, she steals her uncle's thesis paper about Rebecca Sparrow. She reads the entire thing and afterwards she promises "if she reached Liza Hull's safely, she would make a sacrifice in Rebecca's name" (251). Already her ancestors have motivated and pushed her to make a difference. When she was alone that night, she made her sacrifice. She dyed her long blond hair black; losing her "best feature" according to her girlfriend (253). She then "cut it short, above the ears, exactly as they had chopped off Rebecca's hair on the morning of her drowning" (258). Stella has a very strong relationship and connection to Rebecca even though they are generations apart. By cutting off her hair, she shows that she wants people to remember Rebecca and what was done to her. She expresses that she is willing to show it and make a difference, starting with herself. That is not the sole change Stella brings upon Unity, however. As she greatly resembles Rebecca, many people mistaken her when they see her, and then suddenly realize it is Stella, especially Eli Hathaway. Lying on his deathbed, with Stella's hand in his, and Dr. Stewart along side them, Eli reveals to the "modern Rebecca" his will. His ancestors are the ones who allowed Rebecca to be drowned centuries ago. He wants to give his belongings to the town, but for Stella, a necklace that was once worn by Rebecca. Stella also chosen as the one who would decide what was to become of Eli's belongings. When Eli was about to pass away, Stella leans in and whispers, "It was all right, he could let go. He was forgiven. After all the time, he was free", (283). She was able to let this man die without this huge burden because she was motivated and driven by Rebecca's life. When she does eventually decides what to do with Eli's money and belongings, she chooses to create a tribute to Rebecca; a statute erected in the center of town, with a "bronze bell, which when rung could be heard for miles around. There would never be silence again, at least not in this town" (286). If Stella had not been so curious about her family's history, specifically Rebecca's, there would never be this tribute she deserved.

Outside reading! Cha cha cha. (#3)

Throughout the novel, The Probable Future by Alice Hoffman, the reader gets a clear perspective on mother-daughter conflict. It directs all the Sparrow womens' relationships with one another. Every reply has a hint of sarcasm, and every comment is twisted into an insult. Even Jenny proclaims, "You take everything I say and turn it around" (186). Later in the argument, Stella bites back with, "Everything was perfect until you got here, everything was absolutely fine" (187). Talk about sassy. After this spat between mother and daughter, grandmother Elinor comforts her daughter, Jenny. She evens makes her laugh a little. These small gestures are what help the three women survive together under the same roof. However, several pages later Elinor says, "Do you realize you never agree with me? If I said it was noon, you wouldn't care if the sun was in the center of the sky. You'd tell me it was nighttime. You'd want to argue no matter what" (195). How can these ladies even bear to argue and bicker over every detail? Do they have some idea in their heads that none of them could ever begin to understand the struggle of another? That mothers can never understand their daughters, and daughters their mothers? Yes...maybe that is the problem. On Stella's birthday, she declares to a close friend, "I hate my mother...She watches over me like I'm some sort of wilting flower" (37). Many daughters today fell as if their mothers hate them, even though they do not. They strive, as do the Sparrow women, for independence. Rebellion. Love. Risk. They have a thirst for it. A chronic hunger. Although they do desire all of these things, mothers will always be waiting. Always willing to forgive. As in Jenny and Elinor's case. Jenny awoke in the middle of the night and walks into her mother's bedroom like a child who had just experienced a nightmare. As she crawls into the bed, the author describes, "There was a woman beside her with black hair who appeared to be her daughter. Could that be real? Wasn't that an impossible thing, no more likely than a dish that could grow legs and run away over the moon or a roomful of straw spun into gold?" (244). Elinor already believed the impossible could never happen and just then, in that very moment, she had been proven wrong. Even though it was unspoken, both of them knew, "After all this time, they forgave each other on this morning in May when the world was green, when bees circled the laurel, when words didn't need to be spoken, when anything that had been lost could still be found" (244). What more could be given that is more valuable than forgiveness and knowing that the impossible can be achieved?