In Maxine Hong - Kingston's China Men a teacher meets students who perceive Romeo and Juliet very differently than is commonly accepted. These students see it as a horror story rather than a tragic love story. What they witness in their real lives (war, death, murder, etc.) affects how they view everything they encounter. Although these students may have a "colored" view, everything that they see in Romeo and Juliet is actually there. They have not imagined anything. They have gone beyond the commonly accepted reading of the play, and have found what lies underneath the surface of all the romance and poetry. However, because they have not examined the romance and poetry in addition to seeing what lies beyond the commonly accepted reading, the story is disturbing to them.
The students read Romeo and Juliet and do not see the love story that society would have them see. Instead they examine what lies beyond this. They see a story of secrecy, sex, murder, suicide, and disease. All of these things are found within the play, but are masked by poetry and romance. For example, these students see Romeo and Juliet as a story of "whispering, tiptoeing, making love, and (children) driven mad in the dark." To the "normal" reader this is romantic. It is viewed as a story about the most amazing kind of love imaginable - true love ending in tragedy.
What happens around them certainly must affect how the students understand everything. In these students' real lives they are surrounded by war, torture, and death. Horror is a part of their every day lives, and so it becomes a part of them. It manifests itself in their thoughts and ideas. It has even affected their reading of Romeo and Juliet despite their teacher's efforts to show them the other side of the story. Another reason that this play is so disturbing to the students is that the characters in the play are approximately the same age as the students. Because of this, anything that the characters do has a greater meaning to the students. The characters are their peers.
Because of the student's everyday experiences they miss the poetry in the play. They have ignored the motive, the tremendous force that drives the characters Romeo and Juliet to do the things found within the play. This force is love. It is the main reason for all actions in the play.
Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet is a play commonly viewed and known as a true love story; however, after analyzing several hints portrayed by the protagonists, it is evident that Shakespeare did not intend to make Romeo and Juliet seem like a true love story but a criticism of how superficial society’s view on love is.
China Men - The Brother in Vietnam & nbsp; In her tale, "The Brother in Vietnam," author Maxine Hong Kingston relates the drastic misinterpretation of Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet" on the part of the "brother's" students. It is clear to the reader that their disillusioned thoughts and ideas of the world were instilled in their vulnerable minds by their own parents at young ages, an occurrence that still takes place in our society today. In his account of the situation, the brother first clearly makes a note that these confused and suspicious students comprise not one of his elementary classes, but rather his only non-remedial class. From this he is evidently implying that one would expect a heightened ability to understand and more accurately analyze the power and beauty of great literature on the part of the students. Thus from the beginning, the reader is alerted to the fact that their confusion the students perceive this Shakespearean tragedy as a horror story, the mere thought of it shadowed in their minds by fear. They see the Montagues and Capulets as families driven mad; Verona as a plague-infested country where killing and marriage take place in dark regions alike. They infer from it that young love is dangerous, and by reading of a suicide made possible by a potion that was initially intended to preserve tender love instead of stealing it, their notions that there is evil in everything seem The brother, frustrated and upset, is unable to "shift the emphasis" that the play has left on these youths, and he feels that he is to blame for "spoil[ing] the love story for a generation of students. " The reader looking on from the outside, however, is able to see that the brother could not have prevented this warped learning no matter how hard he tried. For it seems that the fault lies in the parents of these young people, who were continually planting seeds of suspicion and fear in their children's vulnerable minds. In fact, as we look back on the author's former accounts as a child, it seems that these Chinese parents told their children lies more often than the actual truth. told by her mother that their religion was Chinese. She further remembers her parents having claimed upon the birth of her younger brother, which she had secretly witnessed, that the infant had been miraculously discovered "naked under a pine tree" on Christmas Day. Still perhaps the most disturbing of all is the author's recollection of the war through the eyes of her younger self. Her memories are uncannily realistic and vivid; nevertheless, she was, on more than one occasion, told by her mother that what as a young girl. However, to any reader, it is evident that these are not, and can in no way be mere "scary movie flashbacks." As a result, we are left asking ourselves why any parent would teach their children what they know is untrue. In the case of a war, it is somewhat easier to comprehend the desperation of parents to hold their families together from the tearing claws of battle. And if it will prove to be the only glue that will preserve the family structure, such lying seems more acceptable.
Aubrey, Bryan. “Critical Essay on ‘Romeo and Juliet’.” Drama for Students. Ed. Anne Marie Hacht. Vol. 21. Detriot: Gale, 2005. Literature Resource Center. Web. 4 Dec. 2013.
Harriet is one of 9 children, having 4 brothers and 4 sisters. Her parents are Benjamin Ross and Harriet Green. (Ripley 222-3). Her childhood name was Araminta (nicknamed Minty), but she later chose her mother’s name. (Ripley 222-3). She is also known as “Aunt” Harriet. (Taylor 11). When Harriet was young, she was hit over the head with an iron weight due to an overseer trying to stop a slave from escaping. Because of this injury, she would randomly pass out during the day. She never received medical attention, but learned to live with it. (Allen 18).
Harriet Tubman was born in Maryland in 1820. She was born under the name Araminta Ross but then later changed her name when she got married to John Tubman in 1844. Being one of nine children in her family, she didn’t get very much attention as a child. Harriet experienced a lot of physical violence in her childhood also. When she was 12 years old she was hit with a 2 pound iron weight in the head. This caused her to have periodic seizures for her whole life. In 1849, Harriet was going to be sold from the plantation, but she escaped before anyone saw her. She walked miles in the darkness by herself and finally arrived in Philadelphia. In Philadelphia, Harriet worked and saved her money to help free slaves. In 1850, she came back to Maryland and led her sister and her sisters’ two children to freedom and soon after that she went back for her brother and two other men. When she came back for her...
Throughout the course of Romeo and Juliet’s relationship, they are constantly faced with trials and tribulations. Every time they overcome an obstacle, they are met with another issue, one after the other. Because they are so overcome with the kind of desperation and impulsivity that love produces, they are willing to risk disownment by their polarized families, disobey the wishes of their parents, and even put their lives on the line for one another. All of these risky and dangerous situations that Romeo and Juliet decide to place themselves in are taken without the concrete knowledge that the outcomes of their actions will successfully aid them in their goal of being together in the end. To showcase this underlying theme of love as a dangerous
Harriet made her way ninety miles from Maryland to Philadelphia. There she began to work and make a living for herself. She decided that she was going to free other slaves so she began to make her journey back to the Southern states twice a year to free as many slaves as she could (Bentley 47-49).
Harriet Tubman was closely associated with Abolitionist John Brown and was well acquainted with other abolitionists, including Frederick Douglas, Jermain Loguen, and Gerrit Smith. After freeing herself from slavery, Tubman worked at various activities to save to finance her activities as a Conductor of the Underground Railroad. She is believed to have conducted approximately 300 persons to freedom in the North. The tales of her exploits reveal her highly spiritual nature, as well as a grim determination to protect her charges and those who aided t...
Harriet Tubman was more than an ex-slave turned abolitionist. She was also a nurse and a spy for the Union Army. Always one to turn dreams into action, she joined the war effort in 1861. Harriet was probably the first women, black or white, to go to the battle front. 9 The army used her as a spy, liaison, and a nurse. So even when she wasn¹t taking groups of slaves up north, she was still helping others.
At the time, that was the scariest thing anyone could even think about. But if she had never had to put up with all of that torture, and never had the strength and determination to escape and save others, slavery might still exist to this day. Harriet and her brothers escaped but her brothers got really nervous and started feeling too guilty and scared, so they decided to turn back. Harriet had to return with them or else her owner would know she was missing after her brothers were there and she wasn’t. She didn’t want to risk them coming after her and killing her because then she wouldn’t be able to save other slaves, so she went back. A couple years later, she decided to escape again to the free state of Philadelphia. To get there, she went on the underground railroad and traveled 90 miles. After she was free, she started feeling guilty for being selfish, even though nobody expected her to save others, for only saving herself so decided to return to Maryland to help save other slaves. At the same time, there was a law made saying that free slaves could not help other slaves escape. This was called the fugitive slave act but she went anyway and made 13 trips on the underground railroad until all of her family and friends were safe and sound in Philadelphia. The north started becoming dangerous for slaves, too, so when a
Romeo and Juliet is a timeless tale of lovers who's misfortune and immaturity was a cause of their own destruction. The characters individually show immaturity and together demonstrate how ignorance of the world effects more than just their own lives. Romeo and Juliet, as expressed in the succeeding examples, fall in love quickly as a result of their naivety.
Love is a wonderful curse that forces us to do unexplainable things. Romeo and Juliet is a famous play written by William Shakespeare, who does an exceptional job in showing the readers what hate, mercy, death, courage, and most importantly, what love looks like. This play is about two star-crossed lovers who are both willing to sacrifice their lives just to be with one another. Unfortunately tragedy falls upon the unconditional love Romeo and Juliet have for each other, but along the way they experience immeasurable forgiveness and extraordinary bravery just to be with one another. Sadly enough, love is a cause of violence in the end.
“Oh yes, I see you have an appointment about a job here,” said the lady at the receptionist desk.
'Romeo and Juliet' is a play written by William Shakespeare that teaches current and future generations important lessons about love and vengeance. Hatred and revenge is a key theme throughout the play as everyone is blinded by pessimistic opinions and ideas about their enemies. Although their pride and passion for violence is extremely overpowering and demeaning, there is a small seed of hope and love (Romeo and Juliet) beginning to grow in the immense darkness. By analysing these themes, it helps to enlighten and strengthen your knowledge of the consequences of forbidden love and assists the reader in becoming more optimistic.
Romeo and Juliet is a romantic love story about a young lad named Romeo who has fallen in love with Lady Juliet, but is unable to marry her because of a long-lasting family feud. The play ends in the death of both these characters and the reunion of the friendship between the families. Romeo is in love with Juliet, and this is a true, passionate love (unlike the love Paris has for her or the love Romeo had for Rosaline) that nothing can overcome, not even the hatred between their two families that is the reason for the death of their two children. Throughout the play, Shakespeare thoroughly explores the themes of both true love and false love and hatred. Without either of these themes, the play would loose its romantic touch and probably would not be as famous as it is today.