It is no wonder, that when students read literature, some are confused about the
meaning of the story or poem, know little, if anything at all, about the author,
and have trouble memorizing important points. This is not only because of the
limited time allowed, but because the student fails to associate new knowledge
with old knowledge. Making a personal connection is important whether the
instructor recommends it or not. Attention should be given to both the technical
points of the writing and the author's biography. Take, for example, F. Scott
Fitzgerald's "Babylon Revisited." At first glance, the story wasn't that hard to
understand, so it was a good opportunity to study a piece of 20th century
American literature in a deeper way.
"Babylon Revisited" is often credited for being one of Fitzgerald's greatest
short stories. As Professor Jackson Bryer states on a web site interview, "[It
combines] Fitzgerald's human themes of loss with a background of the social
times in which they take place. ...Paris in the Twenties. ...[These aspects] give
them a resonance (the personal story played within a larger picture) which many
of Fitzgerald's other stories lack" (1). Bryer also feels that "FSF should be
remembered and valued most for the 'how' of his fiction rather than the 'what'
of it, namely his style is what makes him exceptional, not his subject matter.
...he does have the ability to capture feeling and emotion brilliantly as well.
Gatsby's frustration, Charlie Wale's exasperation, ... these are palpably present
to readers."
Composed in 1931 and published in 1935, "Babylon Revisited" is "the s...
... middle of paper ...
... in Minnesota: His Homes and Haunts. St. Paul: Minnesota
Historical Society Press, 1978.
McMichael, George.
Anthology of American Literature / Volume II: Realism to the Present. (6th ed.).
New Jersey : Prentice Hall, Inc., 1997.
Miller, Larry.
"Pioneer Planet Fitzgerald Tour." 1996.
http://www.special.pioneerplanet.com/archive/fitzgerald/tour.htm. 21 May 1998.
Murphy, Gary and William C. Slattery.
"The Flawed Text of 'Babylon Revisited': A Challenge to Editors, a Warning to
Readers." Studies in Short Fiction 18.3(1981):315-318.
Page, Dave and John Koblas.
F. Scott Fitzgerald in Minnesota: Toward the Summit. St. Cloud: North Start
Press of St. Cloud, 1996.
Shain, Charles E.
"F. Scott Fitzgerald." University of Minnesota pamphlets on American Writers 15,
1961.
Mizener, Arthur, ed. F. Scott Fitzgerald: A Collection of Critical Essays. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1963.
The poem starts out with the daughter 's visit to her father and demand for money; an old memory is haunting the daughter. feeding off her anger. The daughter calls the father "a ghost [who] stood in [her] dreams," indicating that he is dead and she is now reliving an unpleasant childhood memory as she stands in front of his
The book Hamlet focuses on Prince Hamlet who is depressed. He was told to go home to Denmark from his school in Germany to be present at his father 's funeral but was shocked to find his mother Gertrude already remarried to his Uncle Claudius, the dead king 's brother. To Hamlet, the marriage is "foul incest." Worse still, Claudius has had himself crowned King despite the fact that Hamlet was his father 's heir to the throne. Various major characters such as Ophelia, King Claudius, Polonius, Prince Hamlet, Laertes, Horatio, and Gertrude, Ghost of Hamlet’s father, Fortinbras, Yorick, Guildenstern, and Rosencrants featured in the book but in this essay, I would be critically analyzing just one major character, “King Claudius”. I would analyze
The poem is written in the father’s point of view; this gives insight of the father’s character and
The poem told the story of a man who is inhibited by language, and has never quite had the ability to articulate his thoughts and feeling through words. It is said that his family members have tried
allow Fitzgerald to give more background to each character and to allow the reader to
Sutton, Brian. "Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby." Explicator 59.1 (Fall 2000): 37-39. Rpt. in Twentieth-Century Literary Criticism. Ed. Linda Pavlovski. Vol. 157. Detroit: Gale, 2005. Literature Resource Center. Web. 24 Feb. 2011.
During each of the tales, there is only one example of the common woman. Common women seem to be resigned to their fates, having similar morals and making no real effort to change the way they live. Also, they do not act upon their words, but act more as common sense.
In the governess's insane pseudo-reality and through her chilling behavior, she managed to bring downfall to Flora and Miles, the children of Bly. With compulsively obsessive actions, irrational assumptions, and demented hallucinations, the governess perceived ghosts bearing evil intentions were attempting to corrupt and destroy the children she had taken the role of care for. In reality, the governess herself brought tragedy to the children through her own selfishness and insanity.
On the surface the poem seems to be a meditation on past events and actions, a contemplative reflection about what has gone on before. Research into the poem informs us that the poem is written with a sense of irony
Both Claudius and Hamlet are similar in many ways. They both have trouble taking action and are very indecisive. This can be seen when Claudius wants to pray and repent for his sins but has trouble praying because he does not want to give up everything that he has gained from that sin. He refuses to let everyone know that it was in fact him that killed the king and deal with the consequences that would follow, like him losing the power and respect he gained from being king. This indecisiveness can also be seen in Hamlet when he has trouble deciding whether to avenge his father’s death or if Claudius even killed his father. Even though the ghost of his father came to him and told Hamlet that Claudius poisoned him to take his position as king, Hamlet has trouble acting
Although King Claudius fails in comparison to his late brother King Hamlet, he still tries to portray king like traits and exemplify king like deeds. However, we quickly find that he is weak and faulty king not truly fit to rule. His character embodies irony to the fullest. Hamlet even refers him as a joke compared to his father. Even if Claudius is ruler over Denmark, he is still a peasant compared to King Hamlet: “So excellent a king, that was to this/Hyperion to a satyr, so loving to my mother” (I.ii.139-140). Yet, King Claudius tries to his newfound power to influence others. He uses the throne as a mask to hide his true self and...
During the 1920’s, the morals of many people changed dramatically. F. Scott Fitzgerald shows this in the story he wrote in 1930 called “Babylon Revisited”. In the story Charlie, the protagonist, reflects on his old life living in the “new morality” and works hard to achieve the “old morality” to get his daughter back. Charlie has obstacles thrown at him including his old party friends and his past wife’s family. In Fitzgerald’s life, he lived the “new morality” to the fullest while partying and drinking every night. Before long, his wife was in rehab and he was writing stories to try to keep his family supported. The story reflects on his own life in many ways. The characters each stand behind either the “new morality”
I found that throughout this poem there was much symbolism within it. Identifying that it was written in first person form showed that this poem relates to the author on a personal basis, and that it was probably written to symbolize his life. But when talking about people’s lives, you can conclude that people’s lives are generally and individually very diffe...
Appearance and reality have never been portrayed with such immense differences as they are seen in Hamlet. Deceit runs about freely the entire play and affects every character, creating torment and confusion for all. Three complex characters use treachery to their advantage as they create façade in order to carry out plans, yet their shrouded minds impede them from carrying them through. All Shakespearian tragedies are filled with delusive, spurious characters, but none are as deceitful as those in Hamlet. Claudius, Polonius, and Hamlet have distorted realities and unfortunately, each has a clouded conscious that leads them to make life-changing decisions.