“Man is a giddy thing”

Blog 13

In Shakespeare “Man is a giddy thing” means that a man can  change his mind about being married. It plays clearly focuses on the conflict between reason and emotion. Benedick’s character is a complete contradiction to that of Claudio.  Benedick is playful with the ladies and shows off an arrogant side.  Benedick hides most of his emotions. According to the Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary and Thesaurus “giddy” is having a whirling sensation in the head with a tendency to fall.  It is also not to be serious and frivolous. So, Benedick  had  a strong link with Beatrice, however, he didn't accept at the beginning. 

Sigh no more, ladies, sigh no more,
Men were deceivers ever,
One foot in sea and one on shore,
To one thing constant never
Then sigh not so, but let them go,
And be you blithe and bonny,
Converting all your sounds of woe
Into Hey, nonny nonny.

The lyrics of this song moves back and forth between the stories of the couples, Benedick and Beatrice, Claudio and Hero putting them into a union. Shakespeare  explores our desire to desperately search for love, along with our terror and fear from loneliness to accept that love.  

The idea of “man” as “a giddy thing” reflects the comedic spirit of the play.  Claudio,  plays as a man fell in love from a beautiful women, Hero. However, he was traitor,and he changes his feelings for Hero. At the end, Claudio becomes an in love man.  Benedick, who doesn't show any emotions, later he shows his true love for Beatrice.

Claudio and Hero

Blog 12

Much Ado About Nothing

In Much Ado About Nothing, in 4.1. Read Friar advices to Leonato and Hero to use the images of death and rebirth. So, Hero’s “death” brings to Claudio think in different way because he insulted to Hero in front of people and now he feels guilt for Hero’s death.  According to Shakespeare, Friar Frances’ advice, Hero couldn’t live with such false accusation and died.  So, Hero’s Death bring into Claudio’s love to react about values.  We don’t value the things and love we have until we lose them. However, sometimes life give us a second change, and all the virtues we were blind can recover. Hero’s “death” brings new life to her reputation after to know that adultery made against her was discovered. Don John tried to impede that Hero and Claudio get married, trying to involve to Margaret with alliance of Conrade and Borachio to damage the pure image of Hero. So, Hero’s “death” turns the tragic ending of the wedding into a happy ending when she appears as Leonato’s niece, as exact copy of her Leonato daughter, and as the same Hero forgiving Claudio’s accusations, and Claudio pricing his second change to be happy.

Men dominated Shakespeare’s society

Blog 11

Wednesday, May 23, 2012

Men dominated Shakespeare's society
From wn.com Richard III pt. 1

In Much Ado About Nothing, Shakespeare emphasizes that Claudio, Don Pedro, Benedick, and Leonato see a woman with plenty of virtues, such as purity, noble, kind, and property of them. When a woman get married, women looked to their husbands. A woman's role is to taking care her family and dedicate her time to domestic activities. A man usually brings support economic and he is the king of the house. 

In fact, Hero is inhibited by the male-dominated society in which she lives. She is treated as a toy because men do what they want.  Men take possesion of a woman at their convenience.  She is easily courted and won by Don Pedro posing as Claudio.  She is just as easily seen as a woman in adultery when Don John used Borachio and Conrade to hurt her.

 Despite the influence of the more modern Beatrice, the “merry war” with Benedick may showcase her character to best advantage, but it is clear from the first scene of the play that Beatrice does not easily submit to the commands or beliefs of any man.  She is a woman who spoke up for herself was a “curst” shrew and needed taming. At that time,  she wouldn’t able to keep on resisting men’s attempts to control all her actions because the society didn’t allow, always that men was the king and the women the queen who always was under man’s supervision.

Blog 10 Self-evaluation and Reflection

 Reflection about slavery.

Well, I liked to work doing narrative essays, especially when I learned in Kindred written by Octavia Butler about slavery in United States.  It was a very sad history where people were treated as animals just because they had different color (Black people). For some reasons, I am identified with discrimination like Black was and is.  I am Latino, and sometimes I can observe that people like us, we are not treated in the same way than others as Whites or wealthy people. However, I am proud to be what am I because in this world, still exist ignorant people that they believe than they are more important just for their color.

What I have learned about writing about narrative from the activities I have done so far. Kindred: slavery as a system of control. Whites always had laws that protect them to have slaves in their favor. As examples, slaves didn’t have any education, especially reading and writing, so they lived ignorant, and Whites also thought if they had education, slaves easily could escape because they could read and write passes or free slavers documents by themselves. Slaves were forced to work hard labor for no money, their life was the plantation, slaves work 16 hours per day, and they physically and mentally were shakiness with no money, no property, and no hope. Slaves were sold any time, because Whites broken up families. Slaves always feel alone with no freedom. Whites always treated or punishment, those who slaves loved.

What I have learned about my classmates’ blogs is that everyone for some reasons likes Kindred because they feel sadness to know how White people could be so cruelty treated other people in this case Black people, only based on race, class, and gender.

Sarah, Alice, and Dana



1830s Women slavery

Dana was segregated when she travels back of time of slavery. She was not called by her name; she was named nigger by her master and by some of her own race. According to Butler states that when Dana is seen Kevin by her employer, he makes offensive comments about the two creating “chocolate and vanilla porn!”(56). Dana is forced to suffer constant exploitation in both worlds, causing her freedom and respect.

Alice was beat, raped, and mentally and psychologically exploited and degraded by her master Rufus. Alice was willing to do anything for being her children free.  She also couldn’t stay with the man who really loved, because her master Rufus had a sickness emotional love for her. However, she couldn’t live any more these punishment and she was hanging by herself, after she tried to run away with her children, and Rufus took away her children.

Butler tells that “Weylin known just how far to push Sarah” (169). Her master Weylin had sold her three lovely children, but still Sarah has Carrie who Weylin left her.  Sarah lives for and protects Carrie. Sarah also was beat, and she was the “Mammy” of the house.

The most heroic in my view is Dana because she was discriminated based on race, class, and gender that still exist in our society today. Dana is isolate in society due to her social standing in the two time periods that she travels.  When she went back in the antebellum South, she was acting, but when she was beat, whipped, and worked hard, she discovered it was beginning to feel natural to her.  In her own time, she is degraded on the basis of her occupation as a writer, her second job as a “slave factory”, and also because she was married with white man.

“The Storm,” “The Rope,” and “Epilogue”

Kevin and Dana

 Kindred. Published in 1979.



In “Kindred” Octavia Butler states that Kevin was longer than Dana because Kevin wanted to live more real situations than Dana’s ancestors lived. It prolonged stay affects Kevin in many ways like he could't see the situations lived at that time, same as Dana saw, Kevin saw more natural when whites treated black people as slavers. Kevin acted as Dana master, Kevin sometimes was forced to treat Dana in ways he would not normally treat her because Dana's and Kevin's races was that it was illegal for them to be married in the slavery times. They usually had to hide this from whites for keeping Dana in safe.

When Kevin came back together with Dana from their travel, Dana unfortunately discovered that his lovely husband Kevin had similarities between her cruelty ancestors, Rufus.  Both of them were whites, which it was a big advantage at that time.  White’s males had power in slavery times.  Also, Kevin and Rufus spoke with strong southern accents. Both Kevin and Rufus cared for Dana in different way, Rufus’s love for Dana was expressed more after Alice’s death, but his love was only for satisfy his desires by force. Rufus always considered Dana lower class than him.  In contrast, Kevin, Dana’s husband would never attempt to force Dana into anything. According to Butler, Dana said “He was so careful, so fearful of hurting me” (190).  Dana offered, but Kevin at the beginning refused because he was scared Dana will be hurt more than she already was. Also, Kevin always considered Dana an equal of him. This alteration isn't symbol of changes because today's human being always are trying to hurt between them.  So, only people who grown up with values know how to treat and have compassion for others.

Tom Weylin and Rufus Weylin

Tom Weylin was a cruel man who punished his slaves for insignificant things, but at the same time he took care of them because slaves were a big investment for him. Tom was plenty of fairness, he was uneducated and he didn’t know what was happened outside of his plantation, so he always kept only in his world. Tom was a man who didn’t have feeling for his slaves; he beat them violently, and rape women as it was a right. He never showed love for his own son Rufus. 

whip used to punish slaves

Rufus Weylin while older he got, he was worse.  He was crueler than his father because he knows that rape a black woman was not right and he did as many times as he wanted.  He also was unhappy and drunk man who couldn’t see happy people like Alice who was married with Isaac. They were captured when they runaway.  He brought Alice, and he  paid twice that other buyers offered for her, only because he wanted her for only one purpose rape, beat, give children, and see her unhappy. Isaac was sold and was cut his ears from his own hands.

Dana’s influence on the young Rufus never was useful because Dana also was abused physically, mentally and morally. Rufus used other people to punish other slaves as he did with Dana. Dana was whipped, smacked, and insulted as other slaves were.  She was other slave more; Rufus never thanked her when she saved his life many times.