Girl with the Pearl Earrings Essay Example for Free

Girl with the Pearl Earrings Essay There could be many different interpretations of the ending scene when the pearl earrings are returned to Griet. The look on Griet’s face is a look of shock, some anger, and recollection. Catharina gave Griet the pearl earrings because she cannot bear to wear them, nor stand the sight of them since the day she saw the painting. Vermeer betrayed Catharina and the earrings are the biggest reminder of the betrayal, so to move on from the time Griet spent as their maid and rid all those memories from her mind she needed to give away the earrings. Catharina could have given them to anyone, sold them, or even just threw them away; instead she chose to give them to Griet. She gave them to Griet, to let Griet know that she is not mad at her and she understands Griet did nothing wrong. Catharina shows that her anger and hurt comes from Vermeer’s betrayal when she, with tears in her eyes, looks at Vermeer and asks â€Å"Why don’t you paint me? † In which Vermeer replies that she doesn’t understand. Catharina then in a rage tries to slash the painting, but Vermeer stops her. She then shifts her anger to the only thing she can do, which is make Griet leave. Catharina making Griet leave was misplaced anger, it was anger she wanted to take out on her husband and the painting but couldn’t. Therefore to make it up to Griet for making her leave, she sent her the pearl earrings. She was an emotional wreck in tears and screaming, outranged by her husband’s actions and Griet was a weak young girl she could at the time let her anger out on. After a few days of thinking she realized she was wrong and had Tanneke take the gift to Griet. Vermeer not only betrayed his wife but he also betrayed Griet at the end. When Catharina tells Griet to leave Griet looks at Vermeer to say something, to let Catharina know she has done nothing wrong. Vermeer says nothing though and just lets her leave, which is devastating to her. Griet then even tries one more time to go to talk to him before she leaves to give it one more chance, but he just lets her leave. Vermeer is to blame for all that happened, but lets his wife take the blame out on Griet and then lets Griet take the blame that should be his. He hurts everyone in this story, instead of being a man and taking up for his wrong actions, he is childlike. The sudden music that plays in the movie when Griet opens the earrings is a shocking sound, in disbelief that Catharina has given them to her and is not mad. Griet at first is shocked, and you can see it all over her face. Then she clutches them in her hand as to say thank you and looks off in the other direction as thinking â€Å"What should I do now? † I did not think I would enjoy this novel because I’m not very into historical fiction but I actually enjoyed the novel and movie very much. It was extremely interesting to me, kept me constantly thinking about what each character was thinking. I do however wish the ending had a little more, like maybe letting us know where Griet ended up but I guess we are just supposed to figure that out our selves.

Early Western Civilization in the 18th century :: European History

Early western civilization just following the feudal period was a very interesting time in Europe. There were many new innovations and problems in the way of life of the people of that time. Agriculture was still the main occupation of the time for most people. Two big problems that the people faced were those of war and poor harvest. It was said that perhaps the largest problem was the problem with poor grain. For the majority of people there was also the problem of land. For these people they either had no land of their own or insufficient amounts of it to support a family even when times were good. Poor harvests also had an effect on government as well. Bad harvests tended to cause the taxes to fall and couldn’t provide sufficient provisions for the army. One thing that did seem certain, however, was that monarchs didn’t help much with their pursuits of glory by means of war and food consumption. Serfs were the main labor forces in the feudal period. However in the â€Å"legal† sense there were really no serfs in Germany. That could be why the freeing of the serfs made minimal progress in Germany. The state needed the flourishing peasants for recruits for the army and for their houses and barns for lodging for the soldiers. For the peasants there were really no luxuries in their lives. They had little furniture and clothing and basically survived on what they or their neighbors could grow. Also what little money they had could only have been spent on items that they could not be dispensed with. Most of their dwellings were also not as clean as those of other areas since the women worked more in the fields. The schools for the common people were very poor. Most of the teachers were not competent enough to teach, the school houses were in disrepair, often the teachers would have to live in the school houses, there were often no separate classes, and the curricu lum was extremely narrow. Transportation was also a big issue of that time. Things moved very slowly at this time, especially goods. Canals and achievements in roads only provided moderate improvements. The real â€Å"Revolution† in transportation did not come until the invention of the railroad. The busiest and most used roads of the time were the footpaths, mule path and local roads of which the best credited to the Romans.

Analysis of Macbeth Essay

Shakespeare uses vivid and powerful forms of imagery to let the audience visualize the setting. Lady Macbeth is portrayed as a strong woman who is attracted to power and would do anything to be in control; she is anything but an elegant and sensitive woman. After the bloodshed begins, however, Lady Macbeth falls an easy prey to insanity and guilt. Her soliloquy (5.1.24-30) shows her decline into madness when she says,â€Å"out damned spot†¦Ã¢â‚¬  There are many examples of visual and aural imagery throughout the play. The murder of Duncan is indicated by the clanging of a bell and the knocking at the gate. Though they are not described in the text, the stage directions are enough to build up the tension. The knocking occurs between each line that is spoken in a rhythmic regularity. There is a great emphasis on the knocking because it startles Macbeth and Lady Macbeth as they quickly try and cover up their involvement in the murder. To add to the intensity, the fact that the entire scene (2.2) takes place at night builds up the suspense as the darkness is used to bring up peculiar components like cruelty and the supernatural. Darkness as a thematic tool is instantly used by Shakespeare in the opening of the play. The three witches enter in â€Å"thunder and lightning† which sets the mood of the play, which becomes Shakespeare’s habitual way of introducing the witches into a scene. Introducing the supernatural and the witches to the audience at the beginning, intensifies the significance of their role. The audience can now ascertain that even when the witches do not appear directly in a scene, the progression of the plot will revolve around their prophecies. Shakespeare reminds us of the gloominess of the play by creating uncertainty in Lady Macbeth’s expectant wait for her husband, which soon becomes nervousness and excitement as he arrives. Animal imagery, a frequent motif, in this case, the shrieking of the owl is considered as an indication that â€Å"He is about it .† The owl, like a raven, is considered an ill omen; an omen of death and represents nature’s ‘messenger-’â€Å"the fatal bellman.† This line appears to minimize the enormity of Duncan’s murder and seems that Lady Macbeth is blaming the bellman. Blood is another motif throughout the play. The language used to describe Macbeth’s anguished state is extraordinarily effective in terms of imagery and detail. When Macbeth looks at his hands and thinks they are a â€Å"sorry sight† and his hand â€Å"will rather the multitudinous seas incarnadine, making the green one red† (2.2.58). Shakespeare uses personification to manipulate Macbeth’s bloody hands as witnesses to the murder when Lady Macbeth urges him to â€Å"wash this filthy witness from your hands† (2.2.50). ‘Themes are fundamental ideas explored in literary work.’ In my chosen extract, there are no specific lines that show the various themes in the play. However, the link between cruelty and masculinity is one of the first themes introduced to the audience. The murder of Duncan is the first in Macbeth’s long line of killings. It soon becomes evident to us that Lady Macbeth provides the brains and the willpower behind Macbeth’s actions. Her behavior proves that women can be as ambitious as men, as she herself wishes to be â€Å"unsexed† (1.5.40); to become more masculine than feminine. Even so, she depends on the manipulation of others, rather than using violence herself. Macbeth asks her to â€Å"bring forth men children only† (1.7.73) and she says nothing to challenge this statement. The hired murderers were also persuaded to kill Banquo by being questioned about their manhood. These acts prove that both Macbeth and Lady Macbeth associate courage or strength with violence; they think alike. The witches’ predictions also spark Macbeth’s need to continue the bloodshed as he is blinded by his overconfidence in them. When Macbeth and Lady Macbeth are first introduced, they appear to have a very strong and caring relationship that seems to be based on trust (Macbeth tells her about the three witches in his letter). However, as Macbeth’s lust for remaining King grows, the audience knows that one murder always leads to another. Because of this, his relationship with Lady Macbeth weakens and is not able to flourish. We notice that whenever they are together in a scene, they are either pretending to be innocent or planning yet another murder. The scene after the murder of Duncan, consists of a range of language techniques. The first clever part of this scene is Shakespeare’s use of a technique known as Elision. It does not allow the readers to witness the actual murder of Duncan. This is an age old tradition used by the Greek tragedians Sophocles and Aeschylus, to allow the reader’s mind to decide on the enormity of an unseen event, in this case; the murder. This diverts the audiences’ attention to the reactions caused by the murder and not the murder itself. Shakespeare uses specific words that have an impact on the reader’s mind. â€Å"It was the owl that shriek’d† (2.2.3) is a very effective sentence. Shakespeare could have substituted this word for anything that meant ‘to scream’ and it would not have had the same effect. This is because the word ‘shrieked’ not only contains plosive consonants (K & D), but also implies a high-pitched, piercing sound of terror or pain, contributing to the strength of the sentence and the recurring motif of death or blood. The order of the sentences used by Shakespeare, or the syntax, is simply changed by varying sentence length and rearranging the order of the words for effectual sentences. A variety of techniques such as ellipses and antithesis’ are frequently used by Shakespeare throughout the play. The antithesis, in this case, is Lady Macbeth. Shakespeare emphasizes her courage to admit to herself that â€Å"what hath quench’d them, hath given me fire†- which shows that she has been drinking too. Lady Macbeth: Did not you speak? Macbeth: When Lady Macbeth: Now. Macbeth: As I descended? Lady Macbeth: Ay. Macbeth: Hark! This piece of text, taken after the murder, shows how Shakespeare uses monosyllabic words to build up the tension and intensity of Lady Macbeth and Macbeth’s staccato-dialogue conversation. Shakespeare also uses a traditional kind of verse known as the Iambic Pentameter (unrhymed). It consists of a ten-syllable line with an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed one (â€Å"da DUM†). The majority of this play alternates between prose and blank verse. Blank verse resembles prose in that the last word of each sentence does not rhyme, however, there are the occasional rhyming couplets: â€Å"Hear it not, Duncan, for it is a knell†Ã¢â‚¬ ¨Ã¢â‚¬Å"That summons thee to heaven or to hell† †¨ The utilization of the iambic pentameter, gives the lines a certain rhythm, making them easier to remember when producing a play. However Shakespeare sometimes uses a style of writing called prose. Prose is a piece of written or spoken language in its ordinary form without a rhythmical pattern or any metrical structure. An example of prose can be seen from lines seventeen and onwards. The sentence structure is short, simple and smart. Sentences like â€Å"Ay† and â€Å"When?† show that the conversation between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth is fast-paced and confirms that they are nervous. Lady Macbeth: A foolish thought, to say a sorry sight Macbeth: There’s one did laugh in’s sleep, and one cried ‘Murder!’ This piece of text shows that Macbeth is affected by the murder. Shakespeare conveys this to the audience by changing the subject abruptly. Verse is much too regular and orderly for expressing madness or is simply not the natural way to speak. In my chosen extract, there are not many examples of verse as the murder has already taken place. Macbeth is in a state of shock and regret, therefore, prose seems appropriate to convey this feeling to the readers and audience. In conclusion, I believe that this scene was the most crucial part of the entire play. Shakespeare manages to build up the tension and increase it until after the murder. Shakespeare’s use of language, equivocation and tragic irony merge to build up the suspense and keep the audience on the edge of their seats. His use of personification and imagery create realistic and very believable characters, which are crucial for a successful play.

Three Truths And A Lie - 975 Words

Three Truths and a Lie Brianna K. Slone’s poem â€Å"Through the Eyes of a Child† serves to convey her recollection of the divorce of her parents with the underlying question of, why? Slone employs pathos, an artistic use of language, and chronology to allow her emotions to permeate, not only to herself, but also to her audience. At the same time, the poem â€Å"Three Truths and a Lie† aims to convey the life story of an active duty Coast Guardsman who has been subjected to circumstances that mimic that of Slone’s. The author of â€Å"Three Truths and a Lie† implements many of the same rhetorical strategies as Slone; however, attempts to supplement her tactic by adding personal anecdotes and a prevalent rhyme scheme. By utilizing the same tactics as Slone, the author attempts to attain the same sincerity and impact as â€Å"Through the Eyes of a Child†. Part of what makes both of these poems so genuine, is how the authors of the two works inc orporated a timeline. These timelines highlight some of the most pivotal moments of childhood in sequence and how the respective divorces impacted them. â€Å"Through the Eyes of a Child† begins with Slone as an innocent young girl, â€Å"When I was only two year old, my daddy went away. He swore he’d always love me, but he said he couldn’t stay.† The first few years of life are when humans are most vulnerable and when they are most dependent on their parents. This introduction speaks volumes because it implies a sense of abandonment at a time when youngShow MoreRelatedThe Truth vs. the White Lie850 Words   |  4 PagesThe Truth vs. the â€Å"White Lie† Lying in a marriage is a slippery slope and trust is a delicate thing. I have told my children that a thousand truths can be destroyed by just one lie. Once those truths are destroyed, it is the lie that will typify you. The truth is extremely powerful as well, because you can try to bury it, but you cant kill it. Sooner or later someone is going to dig it up. 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