The play starts out with Gregory and Sampson. The two of them start a fight with a gang of the Montague boys. The prince comes and breaks up the fight and tells them that the next time the peace is broken that the death penalty would be the punishment.
Then I think it switches over to Romeo and his friends. Romeo is sad because his girlfriend, Rosaline, doesn't want to be with him anymore. Romeo hears that the Capulets will be having a masked ball and he sees that Rosaline is on the list of peoplet that will attend it. He then goes to the ball looking for Rosaline and sees Juliet. He immediately loses all interest in Rosaline and falls in love with Juliet. The two of them meet and Juliet falls in love with him.
Later that night Romeo sneaks over to Juliets balcony and the two of them talk. They decide that they will get married. Romeo then meets with the nurse and she allows him to get married to Juliet. Romeo and Juliet then get married by by Friar Lawerence.
Later on the next day Tybalt slays Mercutio, one of Romeo's best friends. Romeo kill Tybalt in his rage to avenge the fallen Mercutio. Romeo is then banished from Verona by order of the Prince.
Juliet hears about this from the nurse and decides that she and Romeo must meet in secret and run off together. She meets with Friar Lawerence and he comes up with a plan. He gives her a potion that will make her fall into a deep sleep making her appear to be dead. Then Romeo will find her and they will escape.
Friar Lawerence gives Friar John a letter that he is to deliver to Romeo which will tell him the plan. Unfortuantely Friar John fails at giving Romeo the letter and Romeo is unaware of the whole plan.
Juliet had already taken the potion and was taken to the burial grounds by her mourning family. Romeo gets word that Juliet has died from his servant Balthizar and gallops to the burial grounds. He enters. It appears that Juliet is dead. It turns out Paris was in the room too and the two of them fight ending with Romeo killing Paris. Romeo then poisons himself because he can't live without her and falls to the ground dead. Friar Lawerence hears from Friar John that he failed to give Romeo the letter and rushes to the grounds. When he arrives he finds Romeo dead along with Paris. Juliet then wakes up. Friar Lawerence hears a watchman outside and tries to distract him. Juliet finds Romeo dead and can't bare to live without him and kills herself with Romeo's dagger.
After the two are found dead Friar Lawerence tells the prince the whole story. The prince forgives him but yells at the Montagues and the Capulets. The Montagues and the Capulets end the fued between their families.
One of the messages that Shakespeare was trying to put out with this play was that rushed love always ends badly. I think he also wanted to show that fighting never helps solve anything and only makes things worse.
I liked this play because I think it's plot was well made and strong. The characters were well made and had unique characteristics.
One the things I didn't like was when the characters went into a long soliliquey. It got really boring especially when Romeo started talking about Juliet.
Thursday, March 01, 2007
Tuesday, January 23, 2007
The Odyssey
1. What have you learned about Greek culture, values, and religion? Address the roles of women and men, honor and virtues, gods and goddesses, etc. (250 words)
Greek culture was a lot different than our culture. For one thing women were treated differently than men. Women were not looked at as people of strength. Their daily tasks would probably include preparing the dinner for the men, washing clothes, and other common tasks. Men on the other hand did more physical labor such as hunting or building. I also noticed that a boy is considered a man once he has a beard. In our culture you become a man depending on your educational level. Once you leave college you are pretty much considered to be a man.
Also people were thought to be nothing compared to Gods and Goddesses. In the Odyssey Poseidon made Odysseus suffer so he would realize that man is nothing without the Gods. The people of today believe in one God and the people of Greece believed in many Gods. Also many people barely even believe in God today where as it was a sin to not believe in Gods in ancient Greece.
I noticed in the Odyssey that the Greeks were really obsessed with sex. On Odysseus' journey, he made love with two different Goddesses. I found this strange considering that he was so determined to get back to his wife because he claimed he loved her so much. It makes me wonder what the people of ancient Greece thought about this. Did they still believe Odysseus to be an honorable hero even after he broke his trust with his wife?
2. What resonated with you in reading about Odysseus’ adventures? Why? (150 words)
While I was reading the Odyssey I noticed that Odysseus seemed kind of mean and strict and was not the spitting image of a hero in my mind. I think this was because Greek culture was more strict than ours and the image of a hero has changed over time. A hero of today is looked at as a peaceful person that would not kill. Like for instance Superman never killed his enemies, he always spared their lives. In the Odyssey, Odysseus did not spare a single person until his son Telemachus told him to spare two men in the end.
I also noticed that Odysseus was not afraid to kill a woman. In books and movies today women are not often killed unless it's by the villian because people are offended by it. When I read how Odysseus killed the "unfaithful" women, I was surprised. The book acted as if this was a casual and courageous act.
3. This epic poem is dated nearly 3000 years ago, why is it still relevant? (150 words)
I think the Odyssey is still relevant because many of the basic themes are still relevant today. Odysseus left Ithica not because he wanted to but because he had to. He had to fight in Troy. This is true today. Many people leave their homes because they have to fight in a war and protect their country.
I think the main reason, though, is because it is such a great story and people look at Odysseus as a man of power and honor. He is almost considered to be a god. He is wise, smart, brave, strong, and handsome. The gods themselves believed this and Zues decided that it was not Odysseus' fate to die on his journey back to Ithica.
The Odyssey also has such a mysterious background. No one knows for sure who exactly wrote it but it is believed a blind man wrote the whole poem and then recited Odysseus' journeys in the middle of town squares. I think the Odyssey is still so well known because so many people are still trying to figure out if Odysseus and if it's author, Homer, even existed.
short answers
4. How would you characterize the narrator, the fictive "Homer" whose voice we imagine as singing the verses of the Odyssey?
I picture him as an old blind man with ragged clothes and a powerful voice. People probably saw him as a crazy blind man yelling the verses in the streets, but I'm sure he was wise.
5. What kinds of behavior are treated as contemptible in the Odyssey?
A comtemptible act was when the suitors come to Odysseus' palace and take over. They treat his home and all that live in it horribly. Also the cyclops eats Odysseus' men and also acts like a bratty little kid.
6. How does the poem represent mortal women? Since Penelope is the most important woman in the Odyssey, what qualities does she possess, and how does she respond to the troubles she faces? (Some of the other women are of note, too-Eurycleia the serving woman, the faithless maidservants, Nausicaa the Phaeacian princess, and Helen of Sparta, Menelaus' queen, whose elopement with Prince Paris sparked the Trojan War.)
The mortal women in the odyssey don't seem to have much power over the men.The women seem to be betrayed as weaker than the men and are only there for the men's pleasure.
7.How do Homer's gods think and behave? How do their actions and motivations differ from the conception of god in other religions of which you have knowledge? What role do the Homeric gods play in human affairs, and what is the responsibility of humans with respect to those gods?
The gods have complete control over the mortals. The gods believe that men are nothing without them and punish those who do not respect them. Where as our god is believed to be a peaceful being who forgives all.
Greek culture was a lot different than our culture. For one thing women were treated differently than men. Women were not looked at as people of strength. Their daily tasks would probably include preparing the dinner for the men, washing clothes, and other common tasks. Men on the other hand did more physical labor such as hunting or building. I also noticed that a boy is considered a man once he has a beard. In our culture you become a man depending on your educational level. Once you leave college you are pretty much considered to be a man.
Also people were thought to be nothing compared to Gods and Goddesses. In the Odyssey Poseidon made Odysseus suffer so he would realize that man is nothing without the Gods. The people of today believe in one God and the people of Greece believed in many Gods. Also many people barely even believe in God today where as it was a sin to not believe in Gods in ancient Greece.
I noticed in the Odyssey that the Greeks were really obsessed with sex. On Odysseus' journey, he made love with two different Goddesses. I found this strange considering that he was so determined to get back to his wife because he claimed he loved her so much. It makes me wonder what the people of ancient Greece thought about this. Did they still believe Odysseus to be an honorable hero even after he broke his trust with his wife?
2. What resonated with you in reading about Odysseus’ adventures? Why? (150 words)
While I was reading the Odyssey I noticed that Odysseus seemed kind of mean and strict and was not the spitting image of a hero in my mind. I think this was because Greek culture was more strict than ours and the image of a hero has changed over time. A hero of today is looked at as a peaceful person that would not kill. Like for instance Superman never killed his enemies, he always spared their lives. In the Odyssey, Odysseus did not spare a single person until his son Telemachus told him to spare two men in the end.
I also noticed that Odysseus was not afraid to kill a woman. In books and movies today women are not often killed unless it's by the villian because people are offended by it. When I read how Odysseus killed the "unfaithful" women, I was surprised. The book acted as if this was a casual and courageous act.
3. This epic poem is dated nearly 3000 years ago, why is it still relevant? (150 words)
I think the Odyssey is still relevant because many of the basic themes are still relevant today. Odysseus left Ithica not because he wanted to but because he had to. He had to fight in Troy. This is true today. Many people leave their homes because they have to fight in a war and protect their country.
I think the main reason, though, is because it is such a great story and people look at Odysseus as a man of power and honor. He is almost considered to be a god. He is wise, smart, brave, strong, and handsome. The gods themselves believed this and Zues decided that it was not Odysseus' fate to die on his journey back to Ithica.
The Odyssey also has such a mysterious background. No one knows for sure who exactly wrote it but it is believed a blind man wrote the whole poem and then recited Odysseus' journeys in the middle of town squares. I think the Odyssey is still so well known because so many people are still trying to figure out if Odysseus and if it's author, Homer, even existed.
short answers
4. How would you characterize the narrator, the fictive "Homer" whose voice we imagine as singing the verses of the Odyssey?
I picture him as an old blind man with ragged clothes and a powerful voice. People probably saw him as a crazy blind man yelling the verses in the streets, but I'm sure he was wise.
5. What kinds of behavior are treated as contemptible in the Odyssey?
A comtemptible act was when the suitors come to Odysseus' palace and take over. They treat his home and all that live in it horribly. Also the cyclops eats Odysseus' men and also acts like a bratty little kid.
6. How does the poem represent mortal women? Since Penelope is the most important woman in the Odyssey, what qualities does she possess, and how does she respond to the troubles she faces? (Some of the other women are of note, too-Eurycleia the serving woman, the faithless maidservants, Nausicaa the Phaeacian princess, and Helen of Sparta, Menelaus' queen, whose elopement with Prince Paris sparked the Trojan War.)
The mortal women in the odyssey don't seem to have much power over the men.The women seem to be betrayed as weaker than the men and are only there for the men's pleasure.
7.How do Homer's gods think and behave? How do their actions and motivations differ from the conception of god in other religions of which you have knowledge? What role do the Homeric gods play in human affairs, and what is the responsibility of humans with respect to those gods?
The gods have complete control over the mortals. The gods believe that men are nothing without them and punish those who do not respect them. Where as our god is believed to be a peaceful being who forgives all.
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