A Jury of Her Peers

Susan Glaspell's A Jury of Her Peers is full of irony, dramatic, situational, and verbal. One of the biggest ironies lies in the title of the short story. In this setting, women are seen as slight inferior beings. In fact, there are unable to vote, or serve in a jury. However, when Mrs. Wright is accused of murdering her husband, she is indeed judged by her peers, the the form of Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters. Mrs. Hale and Peters are Mrs. Wright's peers, both are housewives, and both understand the inner workings of Mrs. Wright's mind. It is by sharing Mrs. Wright's mindset and worries that the two women stumble upon evidence to the motive of the case. This is when the judgement begins, and Mrs. Wright is found not guilty. While going through Mrs. Wright house and things, the women begin to piece together her life, and in doing so reach some empathy for the woman. When the opportunity arises for them to present their findings, Mrs. Peters "threw back the quilt pieces, got the box, tried to put it in her handbag." This act of hiding the evidence shows that the two women understood Mrs. Wright's motive, and in fact agreed with it, perhaps because they too understood oppression. 

My Mistress' Eyes

William Shakespeare's My Mistress' Eyes makes fun of more romantic sonnets. The entire poem seems to be a satire, pointing out the ridiculousness of other far-fetched declarations of love through poetry. The speaker is brutally honest in the poem. He compares his love to many typical beauties, but never favors his love over them. He points out the absurd nature of other love poems when he states "I grant I never saw a goddess go, My mistress, when she walks, treads on the ground." This means the speaker admits he does not put his lover on a pedestal or picture her as the paragon of perfection. This is what makes the poem not only funny, but truly romantic. The speaker's love is not mere infatuation over a woman that is "perfect" in his eyes. Instead he sees her faults, her pale lips, lackluster skin, and unpleasant voice. Despite this, he finds love for her anyway.

Barbie Doll

In Marge Piercy's Barbie Doll, there is a contrast of the girl and a Barbie doll. The satire of the poem is how society treats her. She is described as "healthy, tested intelligant, possessed strong arms and backs...", all qualifications of a great woman. However, she cannot be content with this, because she does not look as society wants her to. Piercy emphasizes the absordness of society's views on beauty, by telling of the advice the girl is given. The author even uses verbal irony, using the phrase "magic of puberty". This is ironic because it was with puberty that the girl became scrutinized. Eventually, she feels so judged by society that it leads to her death. The ultimate irony in the poem is the ending. For even after her death, the people judge her by her appearence in her coffin. In death, she finally gets acceptance from society.

Hunters in the Snow

The three principle characters in Wolff's Hunters in the Snow are each characterized very differently. Tub lives up to his namesake, playing perfectly the role of an obese, bullied man. Frank's dialogue seems to characterize him, his chill attitude and diction portraying a carefree, hippie-like man. Kenny, on the other hand, appears to be slightly more of a dynamic character than his two friends. His abrasive attitude and hostility towards Tub at first displays him as a bit of a buly. This continues on their hunt, with his antagonizing of the friends. He constantly teased Tub about his weight, and even turns on Frank, saying "You're so busy thinking about that little jailbait of yours you wouldn't know a deer if you saw one." However, Kenny is not completely one dimensional. His act of shooting the dog, which seemed so horrific, was shown to be an act of mercy. The dog's owner asked him to do it, for the man feared he could not do it and he did not have a gun. This act of compassion shows Kenny is a dynamic character, if however small or temporary a transformation.

Othello Act V

William Shakespeare's Othello meets a tragic end in Act V. Rodrigo, Emilia, Desdemona, and Othello do not make it out alive. One character that does live through the bloodbath? Iago. I was shocked neither Cassio nor Othello wanted to kill him in punishment for his deeds. However, Othello explains he wants Iago to live "For, in my sense, tis happiness to die" (Act V, ii, 289). Othello means that he believes death is too little a punishment for Iago, and that life would be worse. This is similar to the film The Princess Bride. When the hero Wesley beats the evil prince, he condemns him to life, because he believes that to be worse than the sweet sleep of death. Similarly, Othello wishes Iago to live with what he has done, rather than escape it in death.

Othello Act V

In the midst of many dynamic characters in William Shakespeare's Othello, Desdemona appears to be a static character. In the first Act, she is bold and loving, standing up to her father for her true love Othello. This courage and undying love does not waver, even in the face of her untimely demose. When Othello harshly rebukes her, calling her names and even slapping her, Desdemona does not react with anger. Instead, she begs to know what she has done. Never does she seem to doubt or even blame Othello, showing the same devotion she did when speaking to the Duke about their marriage in Act I. Even after Othello' murder attempt, she continues to show her faithfulness. When Emilia asks how her injuries occurred, with her dying breath Desdemona denies that it was Othello. Instead, she blamed herself, saying the cause was "Nobody, I myself" (Act V, ii, 122). This devotion to Othello is probably undeserved, as he does not show the same unwavering loyalty and trust in her. However, this attribute is what makes Desdemona one of the few static characters.

Othello Act IV

In Act IV of William Shakespeare's Othello, a new character Lodovico is introduced. The addition of Lodovico has practical reasons, he brings news of an order of departure for Othello that speeds up Iago's plans. However, Lodovico has another purpose for the audience, he is a fresh pair of eyes in this hot mess of a drama. By the final acts of this play, we as readers are beginning to become desensitized to Iago's crafty manipulations, Othello's mood swings, and the random fighting. Lodovico reminds us how crazy these characters are by giving us someone normal to compare them to. Lodovico reacts harshly when he sees Othello strike Desdemona, yelling "what, strike his wife!" when asking of Othello's typical behavior (Act IV, i, 258). The audience did not find this action as upsetting, perhaps because we are aware of what Othello believes she has done. Or perhaps we are used to this treatment of women, especially after Iago's harsh treatment of Emilia. Either way, Lodovico reminds the audience of the shocking actions of this play.

Othello Act IV

William Shakespeare's Othello has several dynamic charaters, including Othello himself. The calm, mild-mannered Othello in Acts I and II is not the jealous murderer we see at the end of the play. However, there is one aspect of Othello that does nt change theoughout the play, his unconditional love for Desdemona. Now, this may seem untrue, because he ends up murdering her for her alledged unfaithfulness. However, despite his anger towards her, he still shows he cares about her. He even is angry on her behalf when he suspects Cassio is not fully devoted to Othello's wife! Iago makes it worse as always, stating "And see how he prizes the foolish woman your wife?" (Act IV,i, 164). The idea of someone disrespecting Desdemona, even the man she is alledgedly cheating on him with, angers Othello. This is a glimpse that the old Othello, the one that loves Desdemona, is not completely gone.

Othello

A major theme is William Shakespeare's play, Othello, is marriage and the roles normally cast in it. Desdemona and Iago's discussion on the fairer sex reveals the inner feelings of Iago on the matter, and how the society of the time thought. In Iago, and it seems the women's minds, the two most important qualities of a woman is her brains and beauty. If a woman posses either trait, she is able to manipulate and gain a husbend. Even if she is not, she still "does foul pranks which fair and wise ones do" (Act II, i, 142). This accusation of Iago's that women do nothing but manipulate men is followed by a comment that their jobs are merely to care for the house and have children. Although normal sterotypes for the time period, Iago'd hostility toward women is unusual. His diadain toward women must have a more personal tie. Perhaps he was cheated by a woman he loved in the past. That would explain his anger, and even his quick accusations about the rumored affair between Othello and Iago's wife.

Othello

William Shakespeare's fight for the most evil villian of all time continues in Act III of Othello. Iago's manipulation has reached a critical point, as he has convinced Othello of his wife's affair. Iago's true gift for manipulation is his ability to remain liked, while constantly delivering bad news. He does this mainly by pretending to be reluctant Over text? Classy talk. He does this after Cassio's drunken fight. Iago told on Cassio right in front of him and got him fired! However, he does it in a way that makes him appear loyal and honest. Iago does this again in Act III when speaking to Othello about Cassio. He bounces around the subject of Cassio, appearing unwilling to share the information and hurt Cassio, while in reality making the situation worse. Othello even laments it is "as if there were some monster in his thought too hideous to be shown" (Act III, iii, 108). This ability makes Iago a dangerous and excellent villian.

Othello

William Shakespeares play Othello has many themes, including jealousy, marriage, and hatred. However, a more subtle theme in the work is racism. Although he is a well-respected, valiant, and just all-around good guy, Othello is often insulted or sterotyped due to his race. One of the biggest racists in the works appears to be Iago, who often refers to Othello as an animal or merely "the Moor". These names show Iago views Othello as less than human because of his ethnicity. However, the villian is not the only perpetrater. Even Othello's friends often give backhanded compliments to him regarding his race. The Duke, and admirer of Othello, claims he is "far more fair than black" (Act I,iii, 287). The major irony in this situation is Othello is a seemingly perfect hero, he is a good fighter, husbend, and does not even get angry at the slurs aganist him. However, most in the play are unable to see him as anything but "the Moor".

Othello

William Shakespeare's tragedy, Othello, gives a refreshing approach to the sterotypical, good guy verses bad. The play is told not from the point of view of the hero, Othello, but rather the audience is told the story through the eyes of the villian, Iago. I find this to be a welcomed change in literature. Firstly, it adds an element of humor, mainly because villians are not too concerned with social niceties. Iago is often blunt and uses dry wit and sarcasm that livens the story. For example, Iago chooses not to inform Brabantio of his daughters marriage in a soft, gentle manner like a good protagonist would do. Rather, Iago shouts to him that he "comes to tell you your daughter and the Moor are now making the beast with two backs" (Act I, i, 114-115). This comment, while not exactly polite, is hilarious and unexpected. The unpredictability of the villian keeps the audience interested.