Category: Character

CHARACTERS:

• ESTHER – PROTAGONIST
• JOHN AND KATE – PARENTS
• DANIEL AND MAX – SIBLINGS

Creative artists, familiar with the formal prerequisites of their art, have welcomed the opportunity of extending or violating those prerequisites. They have seemed most anxious to adopt the scientific and clinical descriptions of the unconscious to their own needs and tastes. (Page 144, Hoffman Fredrick, psychoanalysis and literary criticism, jstor)

Thus it has become an effective tool in order to understand the characteristics of any personality that has been propounded, especially in classical writings and movies. It has become what Hoffman calls ‘a necessary division of the modern intellectual’s knowledge.” This equipment, however, does not become a successful tool because of language and the style, the connotation of space and time, and culture. It loses relevance as the list of these factors continue. However, psychoanalysis as a film criticism explores characters in a new way that otherwise would be impossible.

Marianne Hirsch defines a bildungsroman as the story that arc encompasses an individual’s adverse conflicted growth through and into a social order, initiated by loss and extra familiar bonding. The protagonist of the movie, Esther is opposed by multiple social normativities that force her to regulate sexual interest in men of her mental age and other carnal pleasures from the sexuality she is interested in. The movie questions the viewer’s understanding of the genres of bildungsroman and its inability to encompass social abnormalities. It further complicates the idea of exceptions that inherently questions such genres.

The passive attention Esther receives in this scholastic arena contributes to the dynamic attention seeking personality trait that she possesses. In fact, the inability to comprehend and follow the socially normalized womanhood narratives would not allow or welcome Esther. Due to which there is a need for a rather rebellious narrative to that of the normal womanhood. In order to understand the rebelliousness, one should contrast the idea of Electra complex to that of Esther’s situation. Abnormalities like that of Esther’s, question the credibility of analysis of that of

Freud’s. To plot the desires of a 33-year-old mind present in a nine-year-old girl and other numerous situations where the validity of the analysis is being questioned. Being deprived of social personal and emotional stratification, Esther becomes a passive rebellious character, whose active rebellion can only be seen through the character she is infatuated to and of course these characters being heterosexual male individuals who are often in the closed circuit to Esther, one such character is John. The chemistry between John is purely carnal. The immense crave for a carnal satisfaction due helps Esther become a pervert and sex defining character. The psychopathic element of Esther.

The responsibility of sex defining character inherently makes space for a pathologically perverse nature in an individual. The temperance of physical attachment was one such sentiment which was need in Esther’s life. For her, the question of being accepted by the family she was adopted into had a massive impact, and for her it came as a challenge as she always tried to bring upon difference within the family. The only emotion that she lacked was the physical attraction by the male of the family, wherein she tried hard to gain it and come as a noticeable event.

The need for emotional and other non-physical validity is quite a common one. In fact, one could justify even her psycho-pathological behaviour using this argument. The argument is very simple, how can a physically dwarf looking female fulfil her normal sexual needs without enforcing oneself on men like John. There is no particular interest to be seen towards the character of John by Esther.

It is only her physical desires that she wants to fulfill, because of her physical appearance, she can only be accepted as a child who needs a parental care and love. Same for John, he never saw Esther more than a child, but still she intended to force herself on him.

Esther started to see Kate as a competition to win over John’s love. Though in the beginning the couple could not sense her indifferent behaviour. As Esther enters the house and strange things starts to happen, Kate realizes that something is wrong. Esther tries her best to bring about the differences between Kate and John as she self-harms herself to gain sympathy from John and portrait Kate as a bad mother, who is trying to hurt her whenever she gets a chance. In this case, Esther is only looking at the opportunity to get Kate out of the frame so she can get the love of John in the way of a lover and not that of a father.

Being adopted in a family, which already have two kids, came out to be a big challenge for her. Max, being the youngest siblings, who is deaf and dumb, Esther learns the sign language just to impress Max so that she can create a strong bonding with her. Whereas on the other hand, Daniel, the older son, was very rude and less welcoming towards her. Esther appeared to be very subtle, gentle and polite, who dressed up like an Old Russian women and kept herself away from other children. Kate senses that there is something strange about Esther’s behavior, because she was way too different from other kids. Kate uses the phrase “there’s something wrong with Esther”, by stating this, she wanted her family to believe that there might be some chances of Esther being violent and harmful to the family. But the family could not believe her as she was suffering from alcohol issues and was quite disturbed with the fact about her third stillborn child.

If we view Esther from Kate’s vision, even though she is a child, Kate is unable to believe that, for a nine year old it is a bit strange to act in such a manner, with total isolation with her peers, her mature way of talking and the way she represents herself in front of others. Using the kids to be a part of her plans, as she murders the people who get to know the truth about her, upon that, tries to threaten them so they do not say anything about her plans and behavior. Max being dumb and deaf is unable to communicate with her parents what she is suffering through, instead she draws all the incidences where Esther is murdering everyone who comes her way. Daniel after getting to know the truth about Esther, tries to tell his parents but Esther stops him and tells him that “I will destroy you if you say anything”, which makes him more scared of his own ‘adopted’ sister. None the less, Esther had succeeded in gaining John’s trust and made him turn against his own wife, who is only trying to tell him the reality and save her own family.

On finding the bible from Esther’s room, Kate comes under confusion as the notebook belongs to a mental hospital, where she might have been treated for some illness. She tries to gather all the information which is possible and goes into its depth. Kate finds out that she is suffering from a disorder named ‘Hypopituitarism’ (diminished hormone secretion by the pituitary gland, causing dwarfism in children and premature ageing in adults) and she is dangerously psychotic. For Kate, Esther is just a child, who is suffering from some psychological and physical problems but, she also knows that she is capable of hurting others in order to fulfill her desires. Kate realizes that Esther who appears to be a child can be seen with the traits of aggressiveness and violence as she has suppressed emotions of her sexual needs and desires as she is unable to attract any male towards her which makes her angry and agitated most of the time.

If we view from different prospective, apart from her disorder, her orientation has been developed in such a manner that she finds every women as a threat with an intention to win over a man but she fails to understand that men are not physically and mentally feel attracted towards her. In the bible that she carries around with her have a lot of pictures of many families that she has stayed with from past many years and also the individual pictures of male member of the family, because she tried to find that solace and sexual satisfaction or attention that she got from some of the men and with whom she was unable to make connection, she killed them and their entire family. In turn if she did not receive any response that she expected from the male of the family, her reaction to it would turn into self-harm or harm to the other person and his family.

Conclusion

The director of the movie (Jaume) has wonderfully played around with the concept of Electra complex. How? According to Freud, Electra complex means that the female child develops an attraction towards her father and hatred towards her mother, where she does not like her father being around her mother at all. But in the case of Esther, though she seems like a little girl and is also portrayed to the audience that she might be suffering from Electra complex, captures the attention and engages with the audience very well. Towards the end of the movie when the truth is revealed about her disorder and her violent behavior, it becomes alarming for Kate to save her family. For Esther, aggression was the most noticeable form of behavior which was directed outward against others, or sometimes it could be inwards which led to self-destruction. It was driven by emotional arousal which was a form of agitation. “Sigmund Freud postulated (1920) that all humans possessed an aggressive drive from birth, which, together with the sexual drive, contributed to personality development, and found expression in behavior”.

Ray Bradbury and Kurt Wimmer highlight the use of female figures to show society’s truth and Kurt Vonnegut portrays that the overuse of technology can lead to a robotic society. In Fahrenheit 451, Clarisse is a significant influence on Montag and makes him realize that books are important in the world. Similarly, in Equilibrium, Mary shows John the feeling of love and makes him realize that society needs to feel emotions. In EPICAC, the author shows that people are connected to technology without even realizing it. The use of technology controls human actions creating a robotic society, and feminine influence helps reveal the truth about society living a robotic life.

Clarisse and Mary are similar characters because they reveal the truth about society and their actions result in Montag and Cleric John coming to a realization. Clarisse in Fahrenheit 451 is one person in society to recognize the truth and grasp reality, she thinks about things and is not rushed like everyone else. One night after Montag leaves work, he meets Clarisse on the walk home. She talks to him and before she leaves, she asks him ‘Are you happy?’ and that changes him. Clarisse shows Montag that he is not happy, and people are making him think he is. Clarisse makes him see the oppression and control the government has over him and everybody else in society. She shows him what it is like to think for himself, and not the way others want him to think. After Montag meets Clarisse, he begins to recognize that the world is incomplete without books. Clarisse makes Montag realize that he is living a lie and that he is not happy, which leads to him questioning why he burns books and taking action. In addition, Montag meets the anonymous woman who burned herself in a fire with her books, he starts to question why he does what he does. He says, “There must be something in books, something we can’t imagine, to make a woman stay in a burning house; there must be something there. You don’t stay for nothing”(Bradbury 64). Montag figures out that there must be something of value in books to cause someone to make such a sacrifice, which leads to him discovering the truth about society living a robotic life. Mary in Equilibrium is a sense offender who feels emotions when no one else does. While carrying out his daily tasks John accidentally breaks a vial of his day’s dose of Prozium which is a psychotropic substance that suppresses emotions and promotes subservience. This causes John to experience a brief but powerful surges of emotions and memories suppressed by the medication. When John is interrogating Mary for being a sense offender, she asks him “why are you alive?” By doing this, Mary makes John feel emotions like love, anger, confusion and he realizes the truth, that society needs to feel. She makes him understand how important it is to be able to feel emotions and experience the freedom it brings. This leads him to taking action by taking out the founder and freeing everyone of their emotions. Clarisse and Mary represent hope in society and become inspirational figures for Montag and John. Without these women, society would be robotic, have no emotions, and not realize the truth.

In EPICAC, people are more technology-based and technology is more human. The main character uses EPICAC, a computer machine to make Pat, the woman he loves fall in love with him. This shows that people are so connected to technology that they can not solve their problems themselves. They use machines to solve all their problems, hoping they will go away. On the other hand, EPICAC just wants to be human, not a machine. The main character says, ‘You can call him a machine if you want to. He looked like a machine, but he was a lot less like a machine than plenty of people I could name'(Vonnegut). The main character is implying that EPICAC has more emotions and is more understanding than society. EPICAC does not want to think about war, he wants to love and feel emotions like humans do. He short circuits himself because he knew that machines can never be human and feel emotions. Similarly, in Fahrenheit 451 Mildred, Montag’s wife is more technology-based than human-based. Mildred always watches television in the parlor and calls the people on the tv her “family”, distancing herself away from real emotion. She replaces technology as her actual family and is a person that values technology and entertainment over her own life. This leads to Mildred and the rest of society being so robotic and having robotic actions.

Therefore, by demonetizing emotions, society disconnects from themselves and has robotic actions. The use of technology affects society, turning them robotic and technology is becoming more human because society is trying to make them think more like them. This reveals that human nature can be divorced from society and technology.

From courage, to sin, and even identity, the main character in the novel The Scarlet Letter, written by Nathaniel Hawthorne, had to face many objectifying situations from her mistakes. Although real places and possible real events occured in the novel, the genre is considered historical fiction. The time period in which the novel was told in was the 17th century, and the author described to be in the Massachusetts Bay Colony. This time period was also known as the colonial times, and the area was a fairly new settlement. The setting and area described though, was a made up and fictional town that never existed in the Massachusetts Bay Colony.

Themes are always a recurring factor in novels, especially in The Scarlet Letter, some themes even make the character who they are. The theme of courage was very important when describing the main character, Hester Prynne throughout the novel. Hester Prynne was shown to be a very prominent character, remarked and described from her symbol, the scarlet letter. This symbol shaped her character throughout the novel by changing her outlook on herself, but not changing her true strong-willed personality. Hester wore the scarlet letter not only with pride, but she upheld herself throughout the novel, making the scarlet letter seem like a positive light embarking on her life. This is proven in the text when Hester describes her letter, ‘..with the embroidered letter glimmering…’ (page 141). Hester Prynne is a very independent woman, who is not afraid to defend herself or anything she loves. Her daughter Pearl, wasn’t the best child behavior wise, and some even considered her a demon child.

Hester still loved her child and raised her child by herself, ignoring the hate and shame she got because she had committed a major sin, adultery. The letter did cause hardship on Hester’s life and difficulties when raising her child, whom was made from her mistake. Her daughter, Pearl, was her constant reminder of her mistakes, but she learned to not find shame from both the letter and her daughter because they both made her the person she was, no matter if she was a sinner. This is proven on page 92 when Hawthorn writes, “after frowning, stamping her foot, and shaking her little hand with a variety of threatening gestures, suddenly made a rush at the knot of her enemies and put them all to fight”. Courage is shown from actions, and Hester had both perceived and acted in a way to make her a very courageous character.

Reputation is who you are known to be from the public eye. Hester’s reputation wasn’t one to be proud of since she had committed the sin of adultery and was reprimanded by having to broadcast her scarlet letter to the world. Her sin was what made her, and that’s all anyone could see when they looked at her. The citizens of her own town did not accept her because of a sin she made willingly for the betterment of herself. After all the harsh ridicule Hester received from the public, it made her realize that her sin was a constant reminder of the responsibility she had to take up for her wrongdoings. In chapter 14, the author wrote “The scarlet letter burned on Hester Prynne’s bosom. Here was another ruin, the responsibility of which came partly home to her”. WIth this, the reason behind her sin was a liable alibi for her defense, but the public couldn’t see past the fact that a sin was a sin. Hester never loved Chillingsworth. She did marry Chillingsworth, but it wasn’t true love, which brought them apart. Chillingsworth was constantly shown as a cold, vengeful man, which was someone Hester could not get herself to love. True love isn’t forced, and both Chillingsworth and Hester did not love each other. Hester’s unhappiness, due to a mismatched matrimony, leads her to become an adulteress. Hester was caught for her crime, but many crimes are left to be untouched or reprimanded. So, while Hester had to deal with the justice of her crime, her fellow adulter, Dimmesdale, was left unknown to the public. This is shown when the novel states, ‘If thou feelest it to be for thy soul’s peace, and that thy earthly punishment will thereby be made more effectual to salvation, I charge thee to speak out the name of thy fellow-sinner and fellow-sufferer!’ (page 77).

Throughout her long journey of adjustment to her new life of being a target to the public eye, Hester learned her true identity. From the start, Hester and her original lover, Dimmesdale, did not have a secure and strong relationship from the start. Their weak relationship also shows how Hester and Dimmesdale are weak individuals since they rapidly fell into temptation. This also affected their response to sin, since both reacted similarly to the cause it had on their future life. As the days went on, Dimmesdale got weaker since his mistake always lingered over his head, which ends up being the end of him. Dimmesdale lost who he was and slowly started losing his life, ‘leaning on a staff which he had cut by the wayside. He looked haggard and feeble’ (page 197). Hester, on the other hand, grew and found her self worth. Hester Prynne’s appearance was changed throughout the novel, symbolizing what sin can do to a person’s identity. In the beginning of the novel, she was constantly reminded of her sins because of the letter A on her chest, which made her appearance very weary and uptight. Towards the end when she was reunited with the person whom she loves, she let her hair down and freed herself of stress to make herself happy for that moment, which was discussed in chapter 18.

Since written and published in 1850, the language used in the novel was archaic and hard to read for any modern day readers. To describe these problems, or shortcomings, there are many factors that made this novel have many shortcomings. The main, being the understanding of the events happening difficult at times to decipher. Words like “nay” and “thou” were used as shown on page 246, which aren’t words that are typically used in today’s English language. Also, many sentences were structured very oddly that hindered the real meaning, making it difficult to depict what was truly occurring in the novel. For example, chapter 3 discussed, “Be not silent from any mistaken pity and tenderness for him; for, believe me, Hester, though he were to step down from a high place, and stand there beside thee, on the pedestal of shame, yet better were it so, than to hide a guilty heart through life. What can thy silence do for him, except it tempt him–yea, compel him, as it were–to add hypocrisy to sin?’ This quote was extremely wordy and makes the meaning behind it hard to understand due to the extra words and archaic language.

With the novel bring about 272 pages long, many events being discussed were dragged on and had too many details, making it a very big chief objection. A pure example of this would be chapter 6, which had an exploit amount of details only discussing Hester Prynne’s daughter, Pearl. The author would ramble on with details that all mean the same thing. For example, “…that little creature, whose innocent life had sprung, by an inscrutable decree of Providence, a lovely and immortal flower” (page 98). With this, the chapters seem never ending and drag on because of the never ending details that don’t need to be used in order to get the point across.

With all the negativity in the novel, especially towards characters like Hester, the bad times and hardship they went through was worth it as they continued to live their lives. Although the letter A on Hester’s chest obliterated her reputation, it led her on the path for the betterment of herself. Hester Prynne was said to be a very beautiful woman. Her beauty was compared to her strength throughout the novel being strong and confident. This really showed her true self throughout the novel because even though she was judged and brought down by multiple characters, her character remained always the same strong woman she was and was able to deal with the shunning and denouncing she faced. This is proven in the novel when the author writes ““The scarlet letter was her passport into regions where other women dared not tread. Shame, Despair, Solitude! These had been her teachers, —stern and wild ones, —and they had made her strong, but taught her much amiss.“ (chapter 18). So although Hester went through difficult situations, she evolved from the bad times for the better.

Although long and dangerous, the novel did set across a very significant storyline for a lost character looking to change herself. Since being a historical fictional novel, the author portrayed the town and characters appropriately to the time period in order to convey both entertaining and informational novel. Using relating themes, the author was able to make the characters also realistic and relatable to keep the storyline interesting. These all are the main factors that contribute to a novel in order to make it a proper work of literature.

The “Death of a Salesman” by Arthur Miller tells a sad story of Willy Loman and his family. Throughout the story the family live in denial. The denial of some serious matters erodes the foundation of the family. The family is unable to truly communicate and support one another. This is unfortunate because Willy needs help as he is losing his grip on reality as he toggles between fond memories of the past and the bleak reality of his present life. He becomes so frustrated with his life that he commits suicide in hopes that the $20,000 of insurance money he leaves behind will solve the family’s problems and he will be a hero in their eyes.

At one time, Willy was very proud of his sons, especially Biff. He compares his sons to Adonis and Hercules.(Act 1). He says his sons have “personal attractiveness.”(Act 1). Willy believes because his sons are physically attractive, and they are well liked that they are powerful so they will ultimately be successful in life. However, Willy fails to deal with Biff’s issues of stealing, being rough with the neighborhood girls and failing Math. (Act 1).Willy does not deal with these serious issues in Biff’s life because he believes that Biff will be successful because he is “very well liked” (Act 1) and has a promising football career ahead of him. About this same time, Biff discovers his father is having an affair while he is out of town on long business trips. Again, Willy refuses to deal with the seriousness of the situation and plays off the affair as if it is no big deal. Willy does not acknowledge that he has betrayed his marriage vows and the trust of his wife and kids. Biff also does not deal with his father’s affair. He keeps it to himself instead of telling the rest of the family. He calls his father a “phony little fake.” (Act 2). Because he is angry with his father, he does not attend summer school so that he can pass math. Biff ends up not going to college to play football. Biff then spends his life bouncing around from job to job. Biff continues to steal and even goes to jail for three months for stealing a suit. Biff and Willy continue to be angry with one another and spend most of their conversations yelling not enjoying each other’s company as fathers and sons should.

Willy also spends his entire sales career avoiding dealing with his shortcomings as a salesman. Rather than admitting that he is not a top salesman with great influence, he inflates the stories of his business success to his family. He tells them he can park wherever he wants, and he does not have to wait to see anyone and that when he dies so many people will come to his funeral because he is so well liked. (Act 1 and 2). None of this is true. He embellishes his life so that his family will think that he is well liked because for Willy that is how you measure a man’s success in life. He barely brings home enough money to pay the bills. In fact, near the end of the story he must go to his neighbor, Charlie, every Friday to borrow money. (Act 2). Charlie has offered Willy a job many times, but Willy’s continued denial of his unsuccessful life forces him to always turn Charlie’s offer down. In his denial he allows himself to pretend that he earned that money through his sales. His denial and inability to face his problems with work lead to his current financial troubles and ultimately to him being fired because mentally he can not keep it together. Willy continues to relive the past to lament, question, and justify why he did not follow his brother Ben to Africa and become rich. Willy is haunted by his brother’s words “I went into the jungle at 17 and came out at 21 a rich man.” (Act 1). Willy , now 60, has nothing but broken-down appliances, an old car, and an old empty house that is not yet paid off as material evidence of the hard work he put into sales for all his adult life.

Willy’s wife Linda also denies the serious problems that her husband is facing. She knows that Willy has tried to kill himself in the past by wrecking his car. She knows this because the insurance adjuster puts that in the reports of his accidents. (Act 2). Linda has further evidence of his suicidal tendencies because she has found a hose hidden in the cellar that he could use to kill himself with carbon monoxide from the exhaust of the car. Yet she does not confront Willy or try to get him help because she feels like it will humiliate him and does not deserve to be humiliated. She also knows that he does not exceed at sales. She allows him to give inflated earnings but then finally gets him to give an accurate account. But they never discuss his lack of success. She simply goes along with everything he says. She believes that he is a good man and he does not deserve to be treated so unfairly by his sons and his boss. She continually defends her husband to the point that she calls her sons names tells her sons to get out and not come back.

In the end it is Biff who finally has the courage to say that “we never told the truth for ten minutes in this house” and “we were all full of it”. (Act 2) The whole family finally has it out one last time in the kitchen when confronts his father with the rubber hose from the basement. He reminds his brother Happy and his mother that they are just as guilty because they went along with this charade for their entire lives never facing the truth about the family and its problems. Biff declares that he is going to go his own way and find happiness doing what he loves which is not being a salesman. Happy on the other hand feels sorry for his dad and says that he will stay here , become a great salesman and get married because he thinks that will please his father and make everything better. With the sons having made their decisions for their future the family goes to bed except for Willy. The rest of the family seems to be at peace. Unfortunately, Willy has already made up his mind to kill himself. He believes that the only way he can rectify the situation is to kill himself for the insurance money. In his mind if he does this, he will die a noble death which will erase all his past failures with his family because they will see that he was really something.

In the final scene, Willy’s real-life success is exposed. The only people at his funeral are his wife, two sons, and Charlie and Bernard. No great crowds as he had imagined. His death was anything but noble. Biff states that his father had the “wrong dreams” and the “he did not know who haw was. I know who I am.” (Requiem). Happy, in denial, defends his father and says “I am staying in the city and I am going to beat this racket. I am going to show you and everybody else that Willy Loman did not die in vain.” (Requiem). Finally, his wife, also in denial, can not understand why Willy did this to himself when she just made the final payment on the house. Her final words are “we were free and clear.” (Requiem). It seems that only Biff has broken the cycle of denial and Linda and Happy will remain living their lives as usual, denial and all.

Romeo is one of the main protagonists of William Shakespeare’s romantic tragedy, Romeo and Juliet. Romeo, a descendant of Lord and Lady Montague, falls in love and secretly marries a young girl called Juliet, a descendant of Lord and Lady Capulet, who of which happen to be the rival family.

Throughout the duration of the play, both Romeo and Juliet make the journey from childhood to adulthood in result of their love for each other. Romeo’s character didn’t change significantly after he met Juliet. The main differences that can be seen are he doesn’t show any interest or have any second thoughts about Rosaline, and his language becomes very powerful to help reflect his love and desire for Juliet. However, this is the opposite with Juliet as her character changes drastically. She begins to talk in sentences with hidden meanings. “I’ll look to like, if looking liking move”. Throughout the play, she is forever maturing, becoming a strong-minded, loyal and capable woman every man needs.

Romeo is a well-respected young man in Verona. At the start of the play he is portrayed as a love-struck comic lover. Romeo is about 16 years of age, he’s intelligent, handsome and very in touch with his feelings. However, Romeo can be seen as weak, as every situation he is faced with, he cries. For example, when his banishment was issued, he made a poor attempt to kill himself. “Stand up, stand up, stand, and you be a man;” (Nurse) Or when he ignored the note telling him that Juliet’s death was a hoax and ended up killing himself. Whereas Juliet is the opposite, she is an innocent, naïve teenager who has never given love a thought, “It is an honour I dream not of.” Juliet is presented as submissive and soft, though she harnesses a secret inner strength that even she does not know of which allows her to have maturity beyond her years, despite being only 13 years of age.

The couple’s relationship was first formed when they first met at the Capulets annual ball and it was love at first sight. Romeo says “Did my heart love till now? Forswear it, sight! For I ne’er saw true beauty till this night.” This represents Romeo’s understanding of love as he based his opinions off of appearances, and Juliet did the exact same thing. “My ears have yet not drunk a hundred words of thy tongue’s uttering, yet I know the sound.” This tells the reader, the two know absolutely nothing about each other, let alone that they are from opposing families, but believe they are in love.

Although they both believe they have found true love, Juliet doesn’t allow love to blind her as she is still able to stop, point out and criticize Romeo’s actions and decisions. In act two scene 2 where the famous balcony scene took place, Juliet says to Romeo “It is too rash, too unadvis’d, too sudden.” Whereas Romeo is completely blinded by love. For example, love came over him and forced him to sneak on to the grounds of a sworn enemy risking his life just to catch a glimpse of her. Juliet says this to Romeo by saying “The place death, considering who thou art… if any kinsmen find thee here.” Suggesting that Juliet is the stronger character out of the pair

In act three, after Romeo and Juliet have got married, a fight breaks out between Mercutio, Romeo’s best friend and Tybalt, Juliet’s cousin. Tybalt won by killing Mercutio catching him off guard. Romeo is described to be a character who lacks emotional restraint, so without thinking, anger compelled him to avenge Mercutio’s death by killing Tybalt, realising after the severity of his actions. Juliet’s reaction to this was “My husband lives, that Tybalt would have slain; And Tybalt’s dead, that would have slain my husband. All this is comfort.” This shows Juliet’s loyalty towards Romeo as he has just killed her cousin, yet she is still upholding her vows which shows true love. It also shows once again who is the stronger character.

Juliet’s loyalty for Romeo gets tested once again once her father forces her to marry Paris, but for the first time in her life, she speaks back to her parents causing a huge fight. Even at her worst time when she felt most isolated, after the nurse had turned her back on Juliet telling her to forget about Romeo as he is gone, but even then, she still tried her best to be with him no matter what the cost. “Romeo is banish’d, and all the world nothing That he dares ne’er come back to challenge you;” So she told the nurse that she would go to see Friar Lawrence, the man who wedded the couple, to make confession because she has caused her parents pain by disappointing them, but she was actually going to see him so they could hatch a plan so the “star crossed-lovers” could be together.

Friar Lawrence gave Juliet a potion for an ‘unnatural death’ where she would appear dead, so she could sneak off and live happily ever after with her true love. “Take thou this vial, being then in bed, And this distilling liquor drink thou off, When presently through all thy veins shall run A cold and drowsy humour; for no pulse.” However, this came with an immense price, it was that she would have to cut off all links to her prior moorings, and she did just that, leaving her mother and father, nurse, house, friends and position in Verona to be with Romeo, showing spectacular levels of strength, courage, love and loyalty. However, once again Romeo’s emotions got the best of him, as soon as he heard that Juliet’s ‘dead’, he rushed back to Verona from Mantua after his banishment risking death. Romeo made this journey knowing he would die one way or another, he would be killed by the kinsmen or suicide, and suicide it was.

Although Romeo and Juliet made sacrifices for each other with their lives, one showed more courage than the other. Romeo killed himself with a painless poison, which wasn’t hard to do as he had to just drink it. But when Juliet woke from her ‘unnatural death’ to find her husband dead, she didn’t kill herself out of feminine weakness, but out of true love. Her way of suicide took a lot more courage than Romeo’s as yes, she did try to kiss some poison off of his lips but that didn’t work as there wasn’t a sufficient amount. So, she drew his dagger and impaled it in herself. Juliet’s death was more thought out and required more strength than Romeo’s that she was clearly able to provide and he wasn’t. This once again shows the reader who was the strongest character out of the couple as she was the one who matured the most and the one that had to make the most sacrifices for their future.

The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet is a heartbreaking story that will live on for centuries. The agonizing conclusion was a result of many miscommunications and rash decisions. However, there is one person who rises above the rest when it comes to the death of Romeo and Juliet. Lord Capulet intended, like most parents, to be a loving, caring and protective father, unfortunately he unknowingly and continually makes decisions that lead to the death of his daughter. Today I will outline the five rash decisions made by Lord Capulet that resulted in this tragedy. First he is locked in a feud with the Montegues, he then lets Romeo stay at the ball, additionally he only allows Juliet to leave the Capulete house to visit Friar Lawrence, then he threatens to disown Juliet if she doesn’t marry Paris, and finally he moves the date of the wedding to Wednesday.

The first and most foolish decision that Capulet made was to continue feuding with the Montegues even though neither party could remember why. The feud had been creating several brawls, “By thee, old Capulet, and Montague, Have thrice disturbed the quiet of our streets And made Verona’s ancient citizens Cast by their grave-beseeming ornaments,” (Shakespeare ___) however the most influential fight was the one between Tybalt and Romeo. This fight ended with Tybalt’s death and Romeo’s banishment. Romeo’s banishment continues to drive the plot for the rest of the play by driving Juliet to Friar Lawrence’s cell where she receives her plan to fake death and it separates Romeo from information about Juliets’ plan. The first major effect of Romeo’s banishment is that it drives Juliet to Friar Lawrence’s cell. There Friar Lawrance devises his plan to reunite the lovers and gives Juliet the sleeping death potion. This potion is what misleads Romeo into believing that Juliet has in fact died. Additionally, if she had not met with Friar Lawrence she would have never attempted such an unsound plan. The other major effect of Romeo’s banishment is the simple geographical distance created between Romeo and the rest of Verona. This distance is what causes Friar John to fail in delivering his crucial message to Romeo.

Capulet’s next and biggest mistake was allowing Romeo to stay at the party. This created two plots that would be crucial to the death of his daughter. First, this initiated Romeo and Juliet’s first interaction and kiss. This is when their love begins to grow and this is when Romeo forgets about Rosaline, “Did my heart love till now? Forswear it, sight, For I ne’er saw true beauty till this night.” (Shakespeare __) The other ramification of allowing Romeo to stay at the party is that Tybalt’s hatred towards Romeo grows after seeing him illicitly kiss Juliet. This hatred only further drives the fight between Romeo and Tybalt which leads to Romeo’s banishment and eventually their deaths.

Another ill-advised rule that Capulet institutes is that Juliet can only leave the Capulet house without her parents to visit Friar Lawrence. This does two detrimental things, it leaves Juliet as a young girl who has no real understanding of how to act around a boy, and it means that Juliet’s only solution to a problem is one provided by Friar Lawrence. Because Juliet has only talked to men under careful supervision she has no idea what to expect when Romeo approaches her. She is immediately enchanted by his charms and falls in love with him. The other ramification of Juliet’s captivity is her reliance on Friar Lawrence. Because she has no contact with the outside world her plan must originate and be completed by Friar Lawrence. The problem with this is that while his plan is certainly creative it lacks insurance and leaves many areas to fail.

The next shortsighted decision that Capulet makes is forcing Juliet to marry Paris, “To go with Paris to Saint Peter’s Church, Or I will drag thee on a hurdle thither. Out, you green-sickness carrion! Out, you baggage! You tallow face!” (Shakespeare, ___). By threatening Juliet so harshly he makes her feel hopeless and desperate. These two emotions are not a good combination especially for Juliet and her situation. The only way at this point of the story to have a happy conclusion would be to have a carefully thought out plan by a level headed person but this is the opposite of what happens. When Juliet seeks advice from Friar Lawrence she tells him the terrible news and then immediately threatens to kill herself. This gives Friar Lawrence mere seconds to come up with a plan daring enough to assuage Juliet’s grief. As a result the plan that arises is patchy at best.

Lord Capulet’s final naive choice is to move the wedding date from Thursday to Wednesday. This rushes Friar Lawrences’s plan and causes it to fail. Because the wedding is moved and Juliet takes the potion earlier the Friars have a very short time to deliver Romeo the news about Juliet. If they had been granted the original time frame Friar John’s delay in the quarantine house, while stressful, would not have been detrimental to the plan. I think that this is the most tragic failure in this play because Juliet is just steps away from achieving her dream but her excellent performance and commitment to the plan is what ends up being the major reason for this tragedy, “Send for the County. Go tell him of this. I’ll have this knot knit up tomorrow morning.”

In conclusion Lord Capulet is the clear person of guilt in this story because he single-handedly sets countless plots in motion with his rash and foolish behavior that lead to the death of Romeo and Juliet. His five grave mistakes are: being locked in a fued with the Montegues: letting Romeo stay at the ball; only allowing Juliet to leave the Capulet house to visit Friar Lawrence; threatening to disown Juliet if she doesn’t marry Paris; and finally moving the date of the wedding to Wednesday. All of these decisions snowball to create this completely avoidable tragedy. Unfortunately despite his best efforts to be an exemplary father for Juliet he manages to make every wrong decision.

Life of the Migrant worker was a lonely one many a man would travel from farm to farm looking for work during this dock time our country workers were in constant fear of losing their job. The men lived with other strangers in bunkhouses, wary of getting too close to their bunk mates. The men felt isolated even though they were in a group of other workers. This isolation also engulfed other characters in the story that had nothing to do with the migrant workers. Take for instance Curly’s wife and Crooks. They are presented in the book for entirely different reasons. Crooks and Curly’s wife are isolated due to race and gender respectively.

Although present in all the characters to some degree, the theme of loneliness is most notably present in Crooks and Curley’s wife. They all fight against their isolation in whatever way they can. Curley’s wife was had to deal with isolationism because she was supposed to interact with Lots of people. Another reason was that Curley’s wife was lonely because there are no other women around to whom she can relate, and the ranch hands avoid any entanglement with her because she is the wife of the boss’s son. She also isolates herself by cruel remarks to others and had to deal with her not being able to become a famous actress and being stuck at the farm. This is why Curley’s wife had to deal with isolationism.

Another important character that had to face isolationism was Crook. Candy is lonely because the loss of his hand leaves him unable to work with. Also Crooks has to deal with isolationism because he is physically separated from the other men on the ranch because of his race. Another example of Crook being alone is what the book states which is “You got no right to come in my room. This here’s my room. Nobody got any right in here but me.” This is why Crook had to deal with isolationism and why it affected him so much.

These are reasons why Crook and Curley’s wife had to deal with isolationism and how it affected them. This showed how Crooks spent most of his nights reading alone because he keeps away from others because of the way he is treated because of his race. Also this showed how Curley’s wife desired to have other people to talk to than just Curley. This also showed how Curley wanted to leave the farm. These are reasons why Crook and Curley’s wife were facing problems involving being a alone.

The Hunger Games starts with an ethical dilemma in the first chapter. Katniss discusses going hunting outside the district even though if she gets caught it could result in death. I feel that she chooses to hunt despite the consequences because she didn’t want to see her little sister or mom starve. I believe she uses the virtues approach in her choice. She is demonstrating compassion, love, and generosity by being willing to risk her life to provide for her family. She chooses to provide by refusing to be like her depressed mom. She makes her choices by asking “What would happen to my family if I didn’t do this” and “Would I be just like my mother if I didn’t do this?”

Another approach she uses for this dilemma is the utilitarian approach. She makes the choice to feed her family instead of letting them starve to death. She had to choose between two options of death. At least with the choice of hunting she could provide for her family and they could survive just a little bit longer. The ethical choice being hunting because the balance of her and her family living for a little bit longer is greater than the harms of the starving to death. The choice also outweighs them being taken away from their mother to live in a group home where they would be mistreated and likely still starve to death.

The next ethical dilemma Katniss faces is volunteering for Prim or letting her sister be reaped. Katniss obviously volunteers for Prim. She uses the virtue approach once again. She shows compassion by trying to spare her sister the horrors of the hunger game. She also shows courage by volunteering for her sister as most people wouldn’t sacrifice themselves even for family. She acts in this way because they are in line with her morals. She is loyal to her family and doesn’t give that up even if it costs her own life.

Another approach to this dilemma is the fairness or justice approach. Katniss knows that there is a moral difference between her and Prim. She has tried to make Prim’s life as easy and trouble-free as she can for their situation. She has a history of doing more ambiguous things to survive like hunting outside of the district and even one time rummaging through trash for food. She volunteers because she knows that she can potentially kill someone in order to survive. She also knows that Prim would not hurt a fly and prefers to help heal. Katniss also knows that she has more survival skills because of her hunting than Prim does. It is also unfair that Katniss has her name in the drawing twenty times to Prim’s one time. She volunteers because they are not on equal grounds, Katniss has a better chance, and she couldn’t bear to watch her sister die.

The next dilemma is whether she should blow up the Careers’ food. Most of the time one of the strategies used by the Careers is to stockpile the food provided at the beginning of the game. Katniss notes the years that they have failed to protect it is usually when another district’s tribute has won. She uses the utilitarian approach to solve this dilemma. She decides to blow the food up because it will give the other tributes and her a better chance to win the game. This action can harm some of the other tributes, but she thinks that harm will be outweighed by the benefit of the non-Career tributes chances of winning increases.

The Virtues approach is also used to solve this dilemma. She also knows that this action will speed the games up. The faster the game happens then there is less time for the game makers to orchestrate a more gruesome but entertaining death. She tries to help keep things in the game interesting so the game makers don’t feel like they must interfere and nudge the contestants together so that they will fight. She is using compassion for others because she doesn’t want the game makers to unleash horrors for them to face which would result in some entertaining deaths. Compassion is also shown in how she is giving other non-Career tributes a better chance at survival.

The fictional novel, The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, is a story of adultery, guilt and sin involving a New England puritan woman and her infant daughter that was a result of an affair. The start of this American Masterpiece of literature, explains the birthing of the story told by a narrator whom was the surveyor of the customhouse in Salem, Massachusetts. This person had been in the attic of the customhouse when he had stumbled upon a manuscript dated well over 200 years before his time, along with the letter “A” embroidered on a patch of cloth. Later this narrator decided to draft his own version which became “The Scarlet Letter” story.

The towns people of the Puritan settlement in a setting of seventeenth century Boston, shout and scold a young woman and her infant daughter at the scaffolds, urging the woman to name her lover. Accused of adultery for having an affair on her husband who was lost at sea and presumed dead- Hester Prynne, while now brandishing her punishment, a scarlet letter “A” on her breast stands before her fellow community. Although Hester held hope he would return she still gave birth to a baby girl, without any indication who the child’s true father is. Repeated whispers and ongoing shaming, yet Hester still holds up her head, she never utters the name of her lover, who is also the father of her child, born out of wedlock- to anyone. One individual among the crowd taunting Hester, is a doctor by the alias name of Roger Chillingworth. This man is really Hester’s long-lost husband, angry she won’t even inform him on the child’s father- he sets on revenge to find out the identify of his wife’s lover, himself. A young minister by the name of Arthur Dimmesdale, helps the young woman and her child stay together after the Governor’s attempt to separate them, by taking Pearl. Author starts to become ill with heart problems becomes the subject of the torment by Roger Chillingworth, after a suspicious Chillingworth moves in with the young priest to care for him since he has been posing as a man of medicine. Demanding a guilt-ridden Dimmesdale tell him what he knows in connection is with his wife and her lover, Chillingworth grows more and more suspicious of him. Eventually Chillingworth becomes satisfied he has found his answer when he locates something on Arthurs chest, a mark. Not just a mark, but one quite similar to adulterer herself. Hester has always maintained she felt she committed no wrong in committing adultery and that the child was a product of two people in love. With his guilt in hand Dimmesdale is found high atop a scaffold tower by Pearl and Hester, who rush to the top to stop him from jumping off. Instead they come up with a plan to runaway to Europe together, to finally live a life of peace. The sly Chillingworth has discovered their plans and sets forth a plan of his own right with them, on the same ship. Finally, the day comes for them to set sail to their new life in Europe, yet nothing goes as planned and Hester is aware that her husband won’t just let them go without a fight. Instead Arthur, after giving his last sermon, sprints to the top of the scaffold with Hester and Pearl, while baring his branded “A” on his own chest; announces to all that he, himself has committed adultery. Before much reaction, Arthur jumps, and his life is snuffed out by the fall. After this incident Hester and Pearl take refuge away from Boston and proceed to Europe. Chillingworth still full of revenge, meets his fate and dies about a year later. After some time, still bearing the scarlet “A” on her chest, Hester, alone, returns to Boston in her old cottage, for some work. Pearl, now a woman herself, is married and has a family of her own. Hester Prynne eventually passes away and is buried next to her dear love Arthur Dimmesdale, the two sharing a single tombstone escribed with a quote “On a field sable, the letter “A” gules.” Even in death they shared their letter.

I find that the book portrays women in different aspects. At first the story portrays Hester as a horrible floozy woman, a stereo type that us women still struggle with today. She had an affair on her missing husband, and it resulted a child. A husband she believed to be deceased. They also portray little Pearl, instead of being an innocent infant whose mother did something wrong, she, even though an infant, was depicted as a result from wrong, illegal and evil. The story I found, that even though they told how Hester lived her life with her daughter and essentially life went far better for her as time went on, that because of her adultery- a women has consequences. In majority of stories, movies and everything in between we have a type of romance, two main characters in love, and then we have a villain. Once the bad guy is defeated then the main characters can all live happily ever after, the basics for every fairytale, especially in a fictional book. Yet not in this story, Hester’s husband ends up dying, her lover ends up dying, her daughter marries and remains in Europe and Hester is all alone until her death. For myself, it seems almost as if it were to tell a story that if a woman cheats, she won’t have her happily ever after, instead she has nothing.

It seems Hester’s character was used to show that if you commit a sin such as this, happiness is only temporary, the man you commit your sins with will suffer and die as well. So, for me it seems to portray women as a vast majority of older novels and movies has, that a man is well and fine to be unfaithful but if a woman chooses to, well this is what happens. At the same time, I find it also depicts the strength and determination of a woman who would let a single “mistake” in the eyes of the towns people define her, her whole life. She never gave in, she never backed down, she held her ground, stayed true to herself and took her punishment with pride; even to her grave. She never let it define her or ruin her.

I was surprised reading how Hester never removed her letter, stripping herself from the punishment placed on her by others. There was nothing forcing her to keep the patch on her, why not remove it and rid yourself from tall that comes with it. Why not immediately remove the scarlet letter placed upon her? Nothing forced her to keep it on. On one hand, she could have possibly stripped herself from that “adulterer” title, on the other hand, I was surprised and almost satisfied to see that she embraced it. I actually respected her far more for not removing it, not running away and not exposing her lovers’ name. The book casted her in a negative life, a married woman whose husband could potentially be dead and instead of mourning him- she’s off sleeping around and getting pregnant. Yet, the story showed an independent woman who followed her heart instead of societies rules, fell in love, defeated the villain, protected her baby and raised her beautifully. I was surprised to read how, even in a time that far back with something illegal as adultery, they still allowed the main characters good qualities to show.

Freud’s psychoanalytic theory was the idea that the mind is made of different parts that have the potential to conflict with one another. The three main parts are known as the id, ego, and superego. The id is irrational and emotional thought, while the superego is moral thought. The ego is rational thought and functions as a peacemaker between the id and the superego. Other important parts of the mind are assumptions and libido. An assumption is the part of the mind that needs energy, while libido is the energy used by the mind. Lastly, a Freudian thought known as an expression of anger is the idea that when anger isn’t expressed it builds up. The character that this psychoanalysis is going to focus on is Sirius Black from the third part of the Harry Potter series, ‘Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban’.

Sirius Black is a central character in the original ​Harry Potter ​storyline, as he is Harry’s godfather. Sirius isn’t introduced as a character until the third ​part of the Harry Potter​ series, and in this part, Sirius is introduced as an escaped murderer. As the story progresses, it is made known to Harry that there was a group of four friends that included Sirius and Harry’s father James, along with Peter Pettigrew and Remus Lupin. These four friends were known to cause lots of mischief during their time at Hogwarts, including a magical map that showed the location of everyone at Hogwarts. During Sirius’ sixth year at Hogwarts, he left home with no place to go. At this time, James Potter’s family took him in. The reason why Sirius left was because of a disagreement with his parents about the types of wizards/witches that should be allowed to practice. His family was an extremely pureblood family, which meant that they didn’t support muggles, otherwise known as humans, marrying wizards/witches. Upon graduation from Hogwarts, the four friends, along with Lily, Harry’s mother, went to join the Order to fight against Voldemort. Peter betrayed James, Lily, and little Harry and pinned it on Sirius, which was why he was labeled as an escaped criminal. Thankfully, a mother’s love is what saved Harry from being killed by Voldemort.

In the ​Harry Potter ​series, Sirius appears to be a very outright and honest person, as the first time he is seen, he is explaining to Harry what the truth was. Sirius is portrayed through all of the stories of the Mauraders in the series as extraverted. He is protective of those close to him and is loving and caring towards them. Sirius is also selfless in a way as he dies protecting Harry from Voldemort and his followers. He has a sense of wisdom every time Sirius appears in the ​Harry Potter​ series. This is seen when Sirius has to tell Harry that he cannot come and live with him, as it wasn’t safe for Harry at the time.

When Sirius left home, it was described as one of the most difficult decisions he had to make. Upon leaving his childhood home, Sirius’ face was removed from the family tree etched into the wall of his childhood home. As Freud would put it, his id, ego, and superego were in conflict. Sirius’ id would’ve encouraged him to leave in a whirlwind of emotions, for example, leaving his parents’ home solely because of the disagreement of opinions. While his superego would be more rational and perhaps an adult conversion would be in order in the example of Sirius leaving home, his ego would try to find a middle ground between the two, which is what occurred. Sirius tried to stand up for his belief that pureblood wizards/witches are just as good, if not equal, to half-blood or muggle-born wizards/witches. His parents did the same as Sirius, except they had opposing views with Sirius, which resulted in Sirius leaving and going to live with the Potters.

Another tough decision Sirius had to make was not allowing Harry to come and live with him. This really upset Harry, but Sirius knew it was the best decision with everything else that was going on at the time. Again, Sirius’ id, ego, and superego were in conflict, producing three different thoughts about the situation. Sirius’ id would’ve supported allowing Harry to come and live with him, as it is his emotional response. His superego would’ve supported Harry being as far from Sirius as he could be. Sirius’ ego compromises by allowing Harry to stay where he wants to, just not with Sirius. Sirius makes this decision by looking at the whole picture, if Harry would’ve come to live with Sirius, his life would be in danger due to Voldemort’s return.

Overall, Sirius tends to use his ego to make decisions, which is a wise decision and is typically the best decision in most circumstances. Sirius seems to have good control over his mind and how he chooses to behave. Both examples provide evidence for Sirius’ sense of control over all parts of his mind. However, Sirius’ escaping from prison probably wasn’t the best thing for his case since he was innocent. In the same breath, it could’ve been Sirius’ only choice if no one would listen to his case. This was true because no one could find Peter Pettigrew since he turned into his Animagus of a rat. So, it was assumed that Sirius had betrayed James and Lily and killed Peter.

In conclusion, Sirius Black is a complex character in ‘Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban’ and in the Harry Potter series in general. Sirius Black is portrayed as a wise father-like figure to Harry, and it is seen through his choices. Although his choices are sometimes questioned, the story of Harry Potter would’ve been extremely different had Harry moved in with Sirius, or if Sirius never moved in to live with James Potter’s family. These circumstances portray the conflict between the structures of the mind that Freud discussed. Sirius Black is an often overlooked character in the Harry Potter series, but if he wasn’t present in the storyline making the choices he did, the storyline would’ve been really different.

Reference

1. Funder, D.C., Barton, K., & Snavely, S. (Eds.). (2016). ​The Personality Puzzle​. New York, NY: W.W. Norton. (Original work published 1997).