Tennyson, Carlyle And The Tragic Hero Essays - Odyssey, Ulysses

Tennyson, Carlyle And The Tragic Hero The Tragic Hero: Tennyson's Reinvention of the Hero as Poet I AM! yet what I am none cares or knows, My friends forsake me like a memory lost; I am the self-consumer of my woes, They rise and vanish, an oblivious host, Like shades in love and death's oblivion lost; And yet I am! and live with shadows tos't Into the nothingness of scorn and noise, Into the living sea of waking dreams, Where there is neither sense of life nor joys, But the vast shipwreck of my life's esteems; And e'en the dearest--that I loved the best-- Are strange--nay, rather stranger than the rest. - John Clare1 There is no more enduring theme in the truly Western body of literature, religion, and philosophy than that of the hero. Western thought apotheosizes the hero and the act of heroism. This practice is rooted in the heroic ages, where, as in the Iliad, the heroes of both sides have unique access to the gods and goddesses. The hero is the man who transcends with dirt under his fingernails and the dust of battle in his throat. He transcends through the savage wilds of Nature. In the West, too, the hero is known not only for physical skill or bravery, but also for inculcation of mental qualities, for cultivation of a superior sense of insight, a Higher vision and comprehension. Thomas Carlyle revives and revisits the ancient concepts of the hero and the heroic. Heroes have evolved into two hypothetically universal forms: the Hero as Man of Letters2, and the Hero as Poet 3. The Man of Letters and the Poet are closely linked in form, but exist as separate heroes. The Man of Letters transcends his socially imposed and self-imposed limitations, and the binding force of personal needs and wants. This hero is simply the best of Nature and is not thought to transcend it. The Man of Letters is genuine, and will be found discharging a function for us which is ever honourable, ever the highest;4 . The Man of Letters's purpose is to know and to teach a Divine Idea of the World5 . The Hero as Man of Letters brings its era what it requires: non religious guidance to a public whose social facets wane in spirituality. Carlyle's hero is that of National Socialism, a person of ideals who lives in transcendence, who seeks to learn, to teach, to change, not simply to exist an d know. It far from being the province only of someone in the profession of war. Alternately, The Hero as Poet is recognized as divine or as having a connection with the divine, not entirely unlike the Hero as Man of Letters, who is shaped by Nature and is innately and unconsciously sincere, incapable of being anything but unaffected. The Hero as Poet exists on a higher plane of existence, a person who belongs to all ages6 , capable of discerning the truth of existence, a truth that exists in all ages, rather than transcends with the era. Here we see a distinct split in Carlyle's Hero as Man of Letters and Hero as Poet. The Hero as Poet is demi-divine, fundamentally linked with Nature's secrets, to the gods, to the spiritual and that truth which eternally exists. He is divinely inspired. The Hero as Man of Letters, the layman, explores new truths and changes with time, bringing new ideas to society, changing it, moving it forward. The Hero as Poet exists for all time, whereas there is a Man of Letters for each time. Carlye seeks to invent heroes relevant to his era, for Victorian society. The Victorian Era wanes in ecclesiastical belief and experiences a desire to move forward rather than reflect on the past. This society suffers the death of antiquated heroes and a connection with the spiritual/supernatural. Victorians were concerned with material progress, not spiritual. Carlyle cannot overstate his certainty that each age needs a hero, someone to inspire, to lead a society to change and growth. Heroes emerge in a time of crisis, when they are needed most, and according to Carlyle, the Hero as Poet is the best suited for this age. The Victorians are separating the secular

Response To Prose Penelope Livelys Short Stories

Response To Prose Penelope Livelys Short Stories Free Online Research Papers Response to prose Penelope Lively’s short stories Penelope Lively has a talent for writing short stories. The three I like best are â€Å"Beyond the Blue Mountains†, â€Å"The First Wife† and â€Å"A Christmas fairy tale†. Penelope uses modern issues which can happen to any of us, with real type of people. She obviously observes human nature and this is where her ideas for the stories come from. In her stories she appeals to our sense of humour and compassion for the people in the stories. She is very critical of certain situations and people. She writes her stories in her own style by listing words and using short sentences this is very effective to the reader. The structure of her stories is to leave a lot of them open-ended so there is no closure. With the idea you can imagine a lot of different endings to the stories. She uses narrative perspective where she angles the stories from one character’s point of view into their thoughts, when she writes a story the title suggests a lot to the reader of what it is about. Then the climax is built up and the story always ends with a twist or change of narrative perspective. This is my reason for why I like the three stories I have chosen out of them all. I can relate to these more and I find them very entertaining. The First Wife The story shows us that here is a man called Clive who has been married a few times. Clive could not stand the thought of getting old so when his started to age, he left her so he could be with a younger version thus making himself look younger. He was a very arrogant man had a superior attitude towards people. He was lecherous towards women and a serial adulterer, he felt that the world should revolve around him. â€Å"Women of his own age did not appeal to him, generally speaking† His attitude in the story is that to Mary he looked pathetic a man trying not to age wearing clothes that made him look ridiculous and a young person’s hair style. His manner was still the same as when she was married to him. He was still selfish and could not believe that she did not want him again. â€Å"Must mean that she†¦..wanted to see him again?† He felt that she was waiting for him to return into her life again. The letter is used as a device at the end of the story to show us how Mary turns the story back onto Clive by showing us the type of man he was and how he treats people. It shows us that no way does she want him back after the way he treated her. She was pleased that he fancied her and wanted her back that made her feel good. She also was pleased to point out he himself was not wearing so well as he was ageing. â€Å"Look she said, so what? You’re getting older. So am I, so is everyone.† She had the last laugh in the end of the story. I think that Clive did deserve what Mary did to him he treated her really badly but I also feel sorry for Clive because Mary did not really understand him about his age worries. Maybe he was like this because of his family upbringing. He had no family life, nobody loved him for himself. â€Å"Understand his fits of terror. She had made light of is panic† Beyond The Blue Mountains Lively describes Myra and George together, next it changes to Myra’s point of view. What they are both doing and what is happening. Through the rest of the story we see her point of view of what is happening to her. â€Å"Myra listened with interest to the commentary on the coach.† We find out what she thinks and feels about the situation what is happening to her. We are also shown inside the mind of George the other character. â€Å"The coach trip was for Myra’s benefit a kindly indulgence.† We are also given an insight into the bus driver’s role into the story. He plays quite a vital role in the story for what happens to Myra. â€Å"And for the passenger who interested in the flowers it’s red flower mountain devil, we call it.† George is having an affair in the story he does not think that Myra knows about his mistress. He has taken his wife on this trip because of guilt. He does not really want to be there, he is not interested in the trip at all or the fact that it’s a luxury trip they don’t normally have. Myra does know about his mistress, she thrilled about the trip, it boosts her confidence and she feels great. â€Å"This place is doing something to me, she thought it was as though she had shed a skin, and stepped out new-minted and changed life.† With the bus driver taking an interest in her it boosts her ego a lot. She has so much confidence she challenges George about his affair. The purpose of the story is that this could be an ordinary person with the same problem. The story also entertains us. I particularly liked the conversation she had with George when she told him she knew about his mistress, he was stunned and shocked. She was so cool about the fact even enjoying her dinner. â€Å"I know I don’t really love you anymore. He shook his head `Myra, I’m finding it hard to know what to say†¦Never mind!† She said, quite kindly â€Å"you’re ha a shock† I find the language clear and to the point quite comical in places and very well written. The end of the story leaves the reader to imagine what might happen to the couple when they return to England. Loved Ones a Christmas Fairy Tale Penelope Lively is suggesting by this title that we all love to be with our families at Christmas-the ideal Christmas. But the narrower perspective is that she really means the opposite. â€Å"It is indeed a fine thing to be amid one’s loved ones at the festive season.† We dread being altogether at Christmas all the family trying to get on and feeling put upon by each other. This story is about two people Sylvia Cramp and her neighbour Sydney Tylor both in their 70’s. They both describe what is expected of them from their families at Xmas. Sylvia’s daughters expect her to cook and do everything for them and Sydney goes to his family who use him for their convenience. â€Å"Do a spot of decorating for them or I’d mind the kids for a night† was for Sydney and for Sylvia â€Å"They like a proper Christmas† or â€Å"choosy, they are my girls.† These quotations suggest that the children use the parents for free labour, to get jobs to their advantage done free for them. The daughters phone up their mum Sylvia requesting all sorts of shopping for Xmas- list upon list, no thought about her trying to get her shopping, Sylvia â€Å"toiled like a dray horse up the hill back home† or â€Å"making it all Christmas for them â€Å"smoked salmon, fruit and nuts of course† The daughters all have good jobs but say they have no time to do anything for Christmas. On the phone they try to butte their mum up, though to the reader it sounds sarcastic. â€Å"You’re such super cook, or you love doing Christmas don’t you?† During all the shopping trips Sylvia bumps into Sydney a lot and gets to know him very well. Eventually it gets too much for Sylvia. She prepares the house for her daughters on Christmas Eve. â€Å"She went upstairs and when she came down she was carrying a suitcase in her hand† she came down and left a letter on the kitchen table which said: â€Å"To make soup for many hours.† Then selecting the bott les of drink from the boxes that had been delivered, â€Å"a bottle of Moet et Chandon champagne and another La Tour-Carnet.† In these quotations Sylvia is telling her daughters that what they want her to do is hard work and that they think everything is done so easy. They are not prepared to do anything for themselves, she is telling them that it is hard work and to have a go for themselves for a change. Then she picked up her suit case and met Sydney outside in the taxi that was taking them both to Tenerife. The daughter’s attitude to their mother is patronising, they are sarcastic and do not appreciate their mother at all. Sylvia is very weak to let her daughters use her for their convenience. â€Å"We’re exhausted.† â€Å"And Collapse† Suggest to us that the children are going to come home and leave all the work to their mum. I like it when she turns; she does what she wishes to do at the end of the story. Sydney also wises up to his family and does what he wants to do. We are shown into the thoughts of Sylvia involved in the story and how they change their thoughts from one way to another. I think the daughters got all they deserved in the end, having to cope with their own Christmas for once with no help. In conclusion the stories all deal with down to earth characters in modern day situations. Research Papers on Response To Prose Penelope Lively’s Short StoriesMind TravelThe Masque of the Red Death Room meaningsThe Fifth HorsemanHip-Hop is ArtThree Concepts of PsychodynamicHonest Iagos Truth through DeceptionHarry Potter and the Deathly Hallows EssayWhere Wild and West Meet19 Century Society: A Deeply Divided EraCanaanite Influence on the Early Israelite Religion

New Testament 'Queer' interpretations Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

New Testament 'Queer' interpretations - Essay Example Christians regard the Bible as a record of God’s connection with mankind, written by persons who were inspired by Him. Imbedded in the Bible are teachings that show which deeds are judged as good or sinful by God. Conservative Christians consider the Bible as infallible in that it is a direct representation of God’s word, which represents their ultimate source for belief and behaviour. Eastern Orthodox Christians consider the Bible as totally originating from Jesus Christ’s apostles (without involvement of divine inspiration by God). The Christian Left considers the Bible as a fallible record that is the result of a little divine inspiration, but which is tainted by defects arising out of being recorded, reproduced, censored and updated by men other than Jesus Christ. Non-believers look upon the Bible as a collection of traditional local stories that contain a moral message; however the morality from which those messages are taken is obsolete and old fashioned.1 Jesus Christ. It contains 4 Gospels (by Matthew, Mark, Luke and John), and several Epistles by other apostles, most notably by Paul. There are several passages in the New Testament that refer to homosexuality. In the Epistle to the Romans 1: 26-27 (King James Version of the Bible {KJV}), the apostle Paul wrote: â€Å"Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones. In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed indecent acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their perversion.† This passage has been singled out as the one and only specific reference to female homosexuality or lesbianism in the New Testament, and it is the only passage where male homosexuality and female homosexuality are both denounced as deviations against the divine order [PENNA]. It is important to analyse the words of