The Canterbury Tale's Post # 2

For some reason, I really enjoyed the story The Canterbury Tales. Out of all that we read in British Literature, while it may not have been my favorite, it was definitely the most interesting. I especially enjoyed the fact that while there was a lot of different information and description of all of the characters, it was not overwhelming, like it was in The Taming of the Shrew, by William Shakespeare.

All of the characters were so different from one another, and it shows in their little bickering that they all did not get along, especially the Miller and the Reeve. I really liked the fact that everyone wasn't automatically friendly because that is honestly not the way the world works. Not everyone will like one another all the time. I sure don't, even though I try.

I really liked the assignment we were given the option of doing, with us making up our own character and the tale that they would tell if given the chance. I ended up choosing the character of a Southern farmer on his way to Disneyland, who decided to go there to show his ex-wife he could. I decided the moral of his tale would be that one "shouldn't count their chickens before they hatch." This tale was something I really enjoyed writing, because I was given the chance to look through someone's perspective that was completely different from my own.

The Beggar's Opera

While I thought The Beggar's Opera was a good play, I can honestly say that it was not my favorite story we have read in British Literature, though I am very thankful it was the last. This semester has been a busy one, that's for sure.

For some reason, I could really see this play happening today. A man marries a woman but gets his mistress pregnant, and instead of the women hating Macheath for what happened, they mostly blamed each other. That is one thing that confuses me. Why not blame the man? It was him, after all, that got them into the whole mess. But no, women always blame the other woman.

One thing I found particularly interesting was the fact that Peachum was planning to kill Macheath to get some money, even though he knew his daughter was in love with the man. I don't know about anyone else' father's, but I know for sure that my father would not kill the man I loved just because he knew it would hurt me, even if the guy was a complete sleaze like Macheath. But I guess it was different in that time.

What I do know for sure is that I'm thankful the semester is nearly over. I'll have Christmas break to relax and rejuvenate before I have to pick back up on reading literature next semester.

Paradise Lost

When I first heard that we were going to read Paradise Lost, I'll admit I was kind of nervous. After all, religion is a very big part of this story, and I am not a very religious person anymore. I expected that it would been sprouting allusions to the Bible every paragraph and that I would have to keep one beside me at all times to make sure I kept afloat with everything going on in the story. Luckily, I was wrong. Sure, there was a lot of religion in the story, as it was about the fall of man in the garden of Eden. However, it was not nearly as bad as I was thinking it was going to be. In fact, I enjoyed it.

One thing I thought was kind of weird was that while I was reading it I felt as if I was on Satan's side, instead of God's. I was constantly cheering for Satan, even though I know that he is the leader of the bad side. But I guess that's to be expected, as he was basically the protagonist of the story.

I am glad that we read this story though. I feel proud, knowing that I can say I finished it, as it was definitely not the easiest story to read through.

Taming of the Shrew

Out of everything we read in British Literature, The Taming of the Shrew was my favorite, and I'm really glad I used it for my presentation. My favorite thing about the play was Katherina's attitude. Back then, in Shakespeare's time, she would have been the complete opposite of what a girl was expected to be like, but she didn't care at all. She was who she was, even though at times she was definitely pushing it too far, such as in the scene where she struck her sister, Bianca. She knew what she wanted, and she said what she thought. While at times I disliked her in the play, I always had this small layer of respect for her. With Bianca, on the other hand, I wish she had more backbone. I know that in those times she was what a man wanted and all, but it seems to me like she would get boring pretty quick.

What I disliked the most about the play was all of the names of the characters and the fact that several of them were playing dual roles. I mean, how confusing is that? Every time I thought I had one character's roles down, it turns out I had been mistaking Grumio for Gremio or something along those lines. But I guess that's part of the beauty of Shakespeare's works. I also really didn't like the fact that the frame in the play was never finished! That still bothers me a bit. I really wanted to see Sly's reaction to finding out his "wife", who he'd been mooning over since he found out about 'her', was actually a man. But I guess I'll just have to imagine what his reaction would be.

My Everyman Thoughts

When we were first told to read Everyman by the next class period, I was nervous. We had just read The Canterbury Tales for goodness sakes. I expected Everyman was going to be the same: very, very difficult to read and understand. I was pleasantly surprised. Not only was Everyman a play, which makes it easier for me to read, it was interesting. I remember when Everyman first tried to talk Death out of coming after him I understand why he was doing it. I mean, no one really wants to die, do they? Particularly when they are not ready, and I know for sure I'm not ready. I've been spending most of my time on the things that don't really matter, such as material goods, strength, beauty, etc., when I know I should be spending more of my time on my good deeds. This play really made me think more about what's going to happen when I die, and if I am going to be proud of what I left behind.

My Thoughts About The Canterbury Tales

I read all of the Canterbury Tales twice and I read a modern translation of it on sparknotes.com, and I can still say I don't understand it completely. There was just so much to read, and when it is written in such a different language than I am used to, I easily got lost. I tried really hard though. I hope that helps me out.

Out of the characters we got to know pretty well, I can say my least favorite was the Pardoner. Cheating people like that, while pretending it was going to help them get to Heaven was just plain wrong. Nothing could excuse that. Sure, his tale had a good moral, but that just made me dislike him even more. It is bad enough when someone does something bad, but when they continue doing something bad when they are well aware that what they are doing is wrong...that's just inexcusable. Then he had the nerve at the end of his story to try and cheat the fellow travelers! That part was when I really liked the Host. At times in the story he was kind of crude, but right then he was good in my book.

My favorite character was the Wife of Bath. Yeah, she may be considered a whore by some people, but I really admire her. In that time period, women were supposed to be subservient to their husbands, and bend down to their will, but she refused to. She knew what she wanted, and she went after it! I liked that. She wouldn't even take her fifth husband's constant insults to the female gender, and even tore pages from his book to prove her point. I didn't much enjoy her story, though. While it was not bad, I thought her prologue was much more interesting.

I really liked the Priest's tale. The one with the rooster Chauntecleer and his seven wives, including his favorite, Pertelote. It had a good moral, as well: "Never trust a flatterer." I understood that one completely. I mean, just look at politics! I was surprised Chauntecleer got away from the fox Russel in the end! I fully expected him to die, even though it made me sad. But the Host did ask the Priest for an uplifting story....so that might be why. 

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight

Yeah, this post is a little bit [a lot] late. Oh well, I got to it eventually! So I finished Sir Gawain and the Green Knight a few days ago, and I just have to say that I liked it so much better than I liked Beowulf. While Beowulf was cocky, arrogant, and just overall annoying, Sir Gawain was actually pretty humble. Like in the beginning of the story when he offered to take Arthur's place in the game against the Green Knight, because he was the weakest of the knights? Yeah, right. He was definitely not the weakest. I like how he said he was, though.

I also really liked how he did not sleep with his host's wife. Honestly, most men would have slept with her. Heck, even Lancelot slept with Guinevere. It was nice that he was able to refrain from the temptation. Although the biggest reason he didn't sleep with her was probably so he would not have to sleep with the host.... Um, yeah. I really did like the game though. That was when I started to suspect that the host was the Green Knight, when he told Sir Gawain about the game. The way he repeated his instructions was very similar to the night when him and Sir Gawain first met. I knew for a fact that the host was the Green Knight when his wife handed Sir Gawain the green rope thing. I mean, hello? Can you get anymore obvious? That was probably the point....

I hope the other stories are more like Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. It wasn't that difficult to read, unlike Beowulf. :)

My Thoughts So Far x]

Honestly, I'm really enjoying this class so far. I expected to have to read stories I could barely understand with a teacher who tried to force them down my throat without explaining them to me at all...

...but I was wrong. It is still true that I'm not understanding the stories fully when I first read them but when we watch and participate in the oral presentations in class, I've noticed that they are helping me a lot. For example, I got the gist of what Beowulf was about, but there were certain parts that confused me. When we were placed into groups and told to choose a section of the poem to convert into a more modern language and act it out, I was forced to understand it because if I didn't I'd probably look kind of dumb. I'm really glad Mrs. Watson thought of the presentations. :]

I had also been nervous about doing my own presentation. Even though I knew I would have another person up there in front of the class with me, I hate speaking in front of large groups filled with people I barely know. But now I'm a little excited about it! I keep thinking of all the different things I could do that are related to the Shakespeare play I chose, like show a movie or something.  :) I just hope that it will be as fun as I'm imagining it to be!

My Thoughts About Beowulf.

I just finished reading Beowulf, and I must say that I am really surprised! When I first started reading about how it was written hundreds of years ago by some unknown author in an ancient language and all that, I just knew that it would be boring beyond belief. After about four hours of watching television with the British Literature book sitting open in front of me, so I could at least pretend I was doing something academic, I forced my self to read the poem...and I liked it! 

It was not nearly as difficult to read as I had been expecting, though in some parts I did get a bit confused, like after Beowulf and his companions got back home to their kingdom and all of that fighting happened. And the part with the dragon? It took me a couple different reads to understand what was going on with that...

The main thing I did not like about Beowulf was that he was so arrogant! Honestly, he was so into himself! Especially when he was talking to Unferth,and bragging about him and the man named Breca having a swimming competition and how he, Beowulf, was so powerful and killed nine sea-monsters in the middle of a storm. Was that story really necessary? Sure, he may have had a reason so brag, but the fact that he did annoys me. It didn't bother me enough to put me off of him at the time, but looking back, he really was conceited. He's still awesome though. I'm far too much of a sissy to ever even consider fighting something like Grendel. :] 

I think I'll stop my little rant here though. That was much more than I had planned to say! 

First Post! :D

I'm going to start this by saying that I am kind of nervous about this course. Weird, right? Don't get me wrong, I think Mrs. Watson seems really cool and funny, but old literature has never been my thing. At all. I love reading books written within the last two centuries, but books from before that don't interest me. I am trying to change that, though.

I read the introduction in the book and started to read Beowulf today! Well, I read the first two lines. Then I had to leave for class. But the first two lines didn't seem that bad!

I'll end this post here. Until next time!