Skits

One scene I think would be good would be the one of pip's first visit to Jagger's house where he's accompanied by Herbert, Startop and Drummle. Specifically I think the part about Molly's wrist would be really cool because for one it was really intense and creepy the way jaggers talked about them, and secondly, it's a pretty important part in the plot foreshadowing all this stuff revealed about Estella and her parents.

Another scene I think would be cool is the one where magwich arrives at pips place and reveals himself as pips benefactor. The dialogue with which magwich revels his identity is really funny and clever and I think the contrast in attitudes (pip's and magwich's) would play out really clearly when acted out.


One more scene I think would be interesting to preform is the one at the blue bore where pip runs into Drummle on his way to visit Miss Havisham and Estella and they have a stand off regarding their space at the fire. This scene seems important because it seems to stand for more than just fire space. It ties into their pride and feeling of special connection to Estella. And the brief dialogue they do have just spells out the dislike they have for one another.

Another question about a passage

In chapter 49 on page 404 pip walks back into Miss Havishams house peeks through the door, and all of a sudden she jumps up all on fire and runs at him! there are a lot of things i don't get about this scene, for one, how does that effect the plot? why would that add anything to the plot, especially since she's all OK and everything, and secondly, how did she even catch fire? was she just too close to the hearth?

Question About a Passage

In chapter 34 on page 273 Pip mentions the way his lavish habits have affected the Pocket family, and Herbert especially, saying "My lavish habits led (Herbert's) easy nature into expenses that he could not afford, corrupted the simplicities of his life, and disturbed his peace with anxieties and regrets." But follows on the next page to say that "as an infallible way of making little ease great ease, I began to contract a quantity of dept. I could hardly begin but Herbert must begin, too, so he soon followed."

My question is why does Pip get himself and Herbert into further dept in response to realizing it's negative affects on his friend? And how is contracting more dept a way to make "little ease great ease"?

The Importance of Being Earnest paragraph

For my first point I used Algernon's quotes on the unromantic and business like qualities of marriage to show how the social standards and expectation of the time demanded so much self repression regarding love and romance, making the pursuit of pleasure a rule breaking endeavor from the start. i also took the chance to show how Wilde's life experiences provided him with the personal knowledge necessary to portray such an accurate account of Victorian marriage. For my second point i used quotes from both Miss Prism and Chasuble to not only reinforce the business like quality to marriage, but also showing how loveless marriage really is and how that's excepted, or even expected in their society. for my last point i bring up two different quotes, one from Aunt Augusta and one from a conversation between Cecily and Algernon. these quotes allude to the idea that breaking the rules, chasing your passions, and doing all those other things that are taboo, is fun and exciting. the more oppressive and strict the laws of social conduct become, the more exhilarating it is to break them. Being bad is fun. For transitioning into the next paragraph talk about the previously mentioned ways the pursuit of pleasure was portrayed, relating it back to our main overall ideas, and sum up all three point of my paragraph.

Muy importante para mi grupo!

ok so instead of me talking about both marriage and just random things other people say throughout the play, I'm thinking it can be more focused on direct opinions that the characters have, or exact things they say. that way satire of marriage and things like 'behaving well and feeling well are very different things" can go together under the same topic. yeah? good? so then because this topic is about direct quotes while both of yours are about big underlying themes, then i was wondering if i should still be in the middle? whatcha think?

The Importance of Being Ernest/Victorian Research

My research on the Victorian era regarding marriage especially, has given me a more accurate vision of Victorian social life. Far more accurate than I would have had without such prior knowledge. Knowing the extent to which women were basically bought and sold under the pretense of marriage has helped me to catch the small truths that Wilde exposes through the use of his caviler characters. In one instance Algernon expresses his thoughts on marriage by saying that "it is very romantic to be in love. But there is nothing romantic about a diffident proposal" referring to the business like aspect of marriage regarding property and money. On another occasion he actually comes out and says quite plainly that proposing is a matter of business, not of pleasure. knowing the truth behind these words makes them so much more than playful jabs at the institution of marriage, but like a political statement, addressing the flaws in the society of the time.

Likewise, the research I did on the polarized gender roles of the Victorian era gave me a very different background with which to analyze the piece. The stereotypes of women portrayed throughout Wilde's play, though very different, all share key traits that tie into the general view of women at the time. Traits such as being irrational and self absorbed. Cecily is a perfect example of the self absorbed nature I'm referring to. When Gwendolyn asks if she can view her through her glasses, Cecily replies that she wouldn't mind at all and is "very fond of being looked at. Also, Cecily's obsession with her diary and her own thoughts just accentuate how absorbed with herself she really is. on the other hand, the way both Gwendolyn and Cecily describe their fondness for the name Ernest, and how it accounts for so much of the affection they feel for the guys they like, displays how very irrational the young girls are.The same with Lady Bracknell's "suitable gentleman" list, judging how suitable a man is by not only his fortune, but also the location of his homes, his parentage and whether or not he has healthy habits like smoking. Knowing beforehand the fairly low standing of woman in society and their place in it as being one of only passion and emotion, makes understanding the construction of Wilde's characters and the weight of the stereotypes he portrays all the more interesting.

The Idea

An idea was shared
so pure and so true
Preaching with wisdom
of the life no one knew

A life of equality
Of freedom and joy
Where no one could trick you
With some sinister ploy

So accepted it was
By all those involved
Not knowing that soon
It would all be dissolved

Not knowing their ideals
So pure and so true
Would be mangled so strangely
letting havoc ensue

Seeking a leader
To guide them along
They fallowed, oblivious
To it all going wrong

And when they saw through
Disguise after disguise
Each truth was shielded
By still more lies

So though they worked harder
And ate so much less
They still didn’t see
That they’re lives were a mess

That the thoughts from before
Were far from today’s
And their lives had turned sour
In so many ways

No, they just kept working
Day after day
Believing the lies
That kept coming their way