The most villainous character of King Lear

     I believe Edmund is the most villainous character in King Lear. Personally, I think one of the worst and most evil things a person can do is to deceive their family. Edmund continually does this and more. He feels neglected and ostracized because of his status as an illegitimate child so I can see how one may feel empathy and sympathy for his situation, but Edmund takes it to a whole other level. He turns his father, Gloucester against Edgar, who happens to be the "legitimate" son. I definitely sense major jealousy coming from Edmund. Then, just when he has the trust and love that he always wanted from his father, he turns around and betrays his father as well. Edmund is the reason that the Duke of Cornwall and Gloucester get into an argument where they both end up scathed. If Edmund was around during the days of modern psychology, he would definitely be classified as a sociopath.
     Not only does Edmund figuratively stab his family members in the back, he interferes with relationships as well. Both Goneril and Regan are married, yet they fawn over Edmund. This causes tension between these two sisters because Regan, recently widowed, wants to already remarry Edmund. On the other hand, Goneril, with no reservations about the Duke of Albany, wishes to claim Edmund and be his mistress. This is a complete lack of respect on Edmund's behalf as well, more reinforcing his status as the most villainous character in King Lear. Edmund almost seems too smart for his own good. During these times, bastard children were probably criticized for not only being borne out of wedlock, but for their mental and physical capabilities too. Edmund clearly disproves this because of his scheming tactics that he masterminds all on his own. I am curious to see what will happen to Edmund in the last act of the play because I have a feeling that other characters will catch onto his wrongdoings and make him face some sort of repentance.

Explication of Bereft by Robert Frost

     The first thing I noticed about the poem Bereft, by Robert Frost was the rhyme scheme. It looks something like this: AAAAABBACCDDDEDDE. I don't know what poem this qualifies as but this is something unusual and interesting. Robert Frost gives the wind and it's actions animalistic qualities and even personifies. The wind blowing through a pile of leaves is compared to a snake, "Leaves got up in a coil and hissed, Blindly struck at my knee and missed". The wind is described early in the play like a lion, "Change like this to a deeper roar". This imagery can even make the reader recognize and hear the strong and vicious wind; it is not just a brisk breeze. When commenting on the auditory aspects of the wind, he says "Something sinister in the tone/Told me my secret must be known". There is personification in giving the wind a personality that is somewhat malicious.
     I looked up the word "bereft" and dictionary.com told me that it could mean "suffering the death of a loved one, bereaved". At the end of the poem Frost says, "Word I was in my life alone, Word I have no one left but God". There must have been a death and the wind is the symbolic of the messenger delivering that awfully painful message. This poem carries similarities to King Lear in the fact that both pieces of writing believe in the fact that nature carries messages. In King Lear and in this poem, the nature is not peaceful and romantic, it is vengeful and ferocious. Frost says in the first line of the poem, "Where had I heard this wind before". This implies to the reader that this is not the speaker's first time dealing with a death, which is where this somber tone begins.

Both King Lear and my relationship with nature

     King Lear and I are extremely similar in the fact that we are not exactly "one with nature". When talking to Kent, the gentlemen describes King Lear's difficult time, "Contending with the fretful elements". He also considers King Lear to be overwhelmed by the wind and rain. I'm inferring this conversation to mean that King Lear probably has not spent most of his life "roughing it" outdoors. As a royal, he probably spends a majority if not all of his time sitting upon a throne in luxury. I think it is safe to say King Lear is very stubborn because he would rather stand out in a raging storm than forgive his daughters when clearly him and nature do not go together in harmony. He almost blames nature for his daughters' wrath against him (and takes their side), and firmly believes the bad weather is just another aspect of his life that is out to get him. 

     I have always considered myself more of an indoor person rather than an outdoor person. For one thing, I have had terribly awful outdoor allergies my entire life, so the days of Spring and Fall are mostly filled with drowsiness, tissues, and Claritin. Just like King Lear, I am sure if we were ever stranded in the wilderness, we would be absolutely clueless. In scene 2 of Act 2, King Lear claims that the storms will be a good thing, bringing any enemy lurking in the dark into the light, "Let the great gods/That keep this dreadful pudder o'er our heads/Find out their enemies now". I think that during this day and age, nature had an element of revelation and had an ability that humans did not have to be able to bring truth. With my modern (but often times cynical) look on things, I just see weather as weather. I don't seem to find a redeeming quality in it to be frank. 

Edmund's Deceit

     From what we've seen of Edmund so far, he is definitely one of the most conniving characters in King Lear. Edmund is the illegitimate son of Gloucester, but in Act I has already begun to plan a conspiracy to turn his father against his brother (and Gloucester's legitimate son) Edgar, which would hand all of Gloucester's inheritance over to Edmund. I think Edmund is doing this because he is sick of all the flack that he catches for being a "bastard" child. He showed anger knowing he would ultimately receive nothing from his father's death. Not only is he tired of being ostracized, but he has a very greedy heart. I am not sure how difficult it would have been in the Neolithic time period (where King Lear takes place) to form a relationship with his father, but it almost seems like it would be an easier task for Edmund to form a sneaky venture rather than form ties and be on good terms with his father. I have no doubt that Edmund is an extremely money-hungry. I predict that his scheming tactics may catch up with him in the end, and Gloucester and Edgar could quite possibly turn on him.
     I think Edgar is much too gullible for his own good. All of a sudden, he believes these random accusations that Edmund makes up about Gloucester and switches his entire life around in such a short matter of time. I think that either Edgar will soon catch on to what Edmund is up to, or he will go mad (as do many of Shakespeare's characters usually do). Edmund really just seems to have no respect for humanity and is motivated by possessions, which is why he is so deceitful. This could be because of his upbringing, which I'm assuming was not very ideal.

Explication of A Man With Night Sweats

    Chapter 4 explains the rhetorical device of Imagery to the reader and I thought the set of poems they provided as examples was very interesting and insightful. The speaker is describing the uncomfortability and weirdness he feels by experiencing these night sweats. The narrator compares his skin breaking a sweat to a shield being cracked and broken. I did some research and the night sweats this poem describes is very similar to the symptoms of a person infected with HIV/AIDS. I see how this poem follows almost the breakdown of a person, and the suffering that comes with this illness. Not only is it physically debilitating, it is mentally debilitating, "My mind reduced to hurry, My flesh reduced and wrecked". He compares his life crumbling down on him, to an avalanche. An avalanche he wishes his hands were strong enough to hold back, yet his body is becoming weaker and weaker each night he fights through these night sweats.

Rating the characters of Hamlet by their appreciativeness

     All of the characters in the Shakespearean play Hamlet live a very privileged life. A vast majority of the characters are living under royal circumstances, with plentiful food, an abundance of liquor (especially in Claudius' case), and even a jester to amuse them from time to time! Anyone remember Yorick? (R.I.P.) Although these characters tend to have the "upper hand" in life, they spend their time being dramatic, unhappy, and unfazed by the events in their inner circle.
     The least appreciative of the characters has to Claudius. As if his life was not perfect enough living as the brother of King Hamlet, he had to go and kill his own brother. Claudius could have been a source of comfort for the people of Denmark during a time of tragedy and unrest, but selfishly assumes his own power. He consumes mass amounts of alcohol according to Hamlet, who accuses him of being an awful drunk. Claudius is even unappreciative of his wife, whom he swiped from his own brother, by ordering her around constantly.
     Next would have to be Gertrude. Although she is such a passive character, I am confused as to why she felt the need to marry her brother-in-law just a short period of time after her first husband passed. Was her prior fortune not enough? I am not sure what would happen to her if she had not re-married after King Hamlet died, but I'm sure she would not be thriving in wealth. Not only is she unappreciative of her possessions, she is unappreciative of her own son, Hamlet. He often cries out for her attention and the sympathy of his mother, yet she simply denies him and devotes her life to her sinful husband, Claudius.
     Prince Hamlet has experienced many difficult circumstances within the span of the play, but I still think he still comes off as unappreciative many times in the story. His constant anger shows the disrespect and how ungrateful he is towards the people who provide everything for him.
     Here's hoping that after all the deaths at the end of the play, Horatio becomes very appreciative of his own life!

Explication of 35/10 by Sharon Olds

     The poem, 35/10, by Sharon Olds, unveils a mother's thoughts about aging and growing up as she combs through the hair of her adolescent daughter. The speaker is the mother, who questions the aging process just as much as every woman on the planet. Instead of embracing the positive effects of growing old, the speaker chooses to highlight the most unfavorable parts, comparing them to the youthful qualities of her own daughter. I believe that while the narrator is thinking about what she has become, she is also reminiscing on the time when she was once the young girl sitting in the chair having her mother brush her hair. The speaker uses a choice of words that glorify her daughter, but downplay her own physical qualities. For example, she discusses "Brushing out our daughter's brown silken hair," but describes herself as "the silver-haired servant behind her". Yes, the mother was literally standing behind her combing her hair, but this also could have an alternate meaning about the mother always putting her child's needs before her own needs, wants, and appearances.
     I imagine that the mother must be talking to her spouse, because she uses the words "our daughter" in the first line of the poem. She asks the question, "Why is it just as we begin to go they begin to arrive?" wondering why youth is unable to be a quality that both mother and daughter could share. Although this process is fairly new for the woman to experience, it is not something unexpected or original, "It's an old story--the oldest we have on our planet".  This poem utilizes many similes and metaphors to describe humans to nature, "As my skin shows its dry pitting, she opens like a moist precise flower on the tip of a cactus".There was once a time where being able to bear a child was a woman's most prized quality. I am not sure when this was written but if this was taking place in the mid-1900's, I could imagine the mother's hidden jealousy for her daughter as she is gaining this ability, while the mother is losing it.