Is McMurphy Crazy?

I looked up the trailer for the One Flew Over the Cuckoo's nest movie (which I decided not to share as it was a bit of a spoiler for the end of the novel) and I noticed that Jack Nicholson, the actor who plays the crazy man in "The Shining" was cast as McMurphy in the movie. From what I have seen of the film, Nicholson portrays McMurphy to be a bit crazier than I imagined the character to be based on the text; though this may be partially due my bias as an avid "Shining" fan. I looked up the dates and saw that the Cuckoo's Nest movie was made after "The Shining" so the directors must have known what they were doing in casting Nicholson as McMurphy. This leads me to believe that they viewed McMurphy as crazier than I did based on the novel. What do you think? Is McMurphy crazy?
-Becca

inhuman(e)

So at the beginning of the book I saw Nurse Ratched as a horrible person and the ward as a torture facility. I thought about how inhuman the nurse was because of what she does to the patients and how she lets the Black Boys treat them. Because of her cruel treatment I thought the patients lived in fear of the authority. The patients' unideal way of living shows how inhumane the facility is. The hospital is supposed to help patients go back Outside to their normal lives, but it is preparing them through torture instead of help and learning. If the hospital is actually helping the patients, it is understandable to treat them rough at first, but I do not believe the cruel treatment is necessary.

So my questions for you guys are:
What causes what? Is Nurse Ratched's inhuman way of treating her patients causing the ward to be inhumane? Or, does the ward have to be inhumane (in order to help the patients) and that is what makes Nurse Ratched's actions inhuman?

Ken Kesey doppelgänger

This man....

And this man



















are possibly twins/brothers/father and son??????




That is all.

Contemporary Combine?

Macbeth in real life?

Shakespeare was well known for borrowing ideas from history and mythology so I didn't find it surprising that Macbeth was based on stories from the Holinshed's Chronicles, which is a history of the British Isles. In Holinshed's, Macbeth, King of the Scots, although the play exaggerates and makes parts up about the play. In some ways, Shakespeare invented the genre of historical fiction.

Shakespeare Humor

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-17476117

Here's an interesting article about Shakespeare's use of "fools" in his works and how they would relate to the modern world/who they would be.

Thoughts?

Side note: I also found it amusing that his wife's name was Anne Hathaway (some more interesting facts under the Shakespeare facts section). Maybe her parents were avid Shakespeare readers or historians. Maybe it's just a coincidence. Probably the latter.

Animated Macbeth: Foreshadowing of Deaths?

Aside from this being funny, it does take some important lines from the book to form a summary. I also noticed that around the 3 minute mark, the bones of the witches' hands form the amulet that gives Macbeth his new title. I thought this could symbolize how Macbeth's power will be built from the death of others by his own hands, or that his murders will start because of that initial title of Thane.

My Inner Monologue

This is honestly my inner monologue while reading Macbeth.

Shakespeare's opinion on war

When I finished reading Macbeth, one thing that immediately stood out at me was that this tragedy, both begins and ends with war and bloodshed.  I think Shakespeare intentionally did this because as we've learned from the last books we've read, authors often try to impose their own beliefs and bring attention to problems within modern society.  I think that Macbeth is trying to really highlight the negative impact war has on not only the people directly involved in it, but others as well (evident by Lady Macduff's murder).  I would assume that everyone is against war, but few convey this idea more elaborately and revealing as Shakespeare.  As i started to look into this even more, I discovered that Shakespeare also questions the morals, ethics, justifications, etc. of war through other plays and I think this central theme was really highlighted by the beginning and end of Macbeth.

Another thing that i hate to admit it was that Lina was actually right and that the whole thing about Lord of the Rings was accurate therefore i owe you an apology.... but don't expect another one anytime in the near future.

What is "Good"

In response to Becca's post, if one can go about different ways in defining evil, then one can also do the same with good.  In terms of the general notion of good, Lady Macduff is the epitome of a good mother and wife.  She cares for her husband and son.  She isn't the murderer in the play, but rather the victim. In other cases such as Lady Macbeth, there isn't an easy answer.  She is the mastermind behind Duncan's death, but she shows remorse in her sleep.  For ones that are harder to identify as good or evil, is it better to find what true "good" is or to determine a person's nature by one sole definition of "good" that society agrees upon?

A Sequel

Shakespeare may have intended to write a sequel to Macbeth.  However, since Shakespeare never did write an official sequel, Noah Lukeman took it upon himself to publish one he himself wrote.  Interestingly enough, Lukeman titled his play as The Tragedy of Macbeth Part II: The Seed of Banquo.   I think the "seed of Banquo" part odd because Banquo isn't the one who plotted against Duncan.  He did not start the plot of Macbeth and couldn't have started the plot in the sequel as he is long gone by then.  The title may have also been referring to the witch's prophecy that Banquo's son will become king. 

What do you think?

Also, here's the cover:

Important Lines

As I've been reading Macbeth, I've underlined phrases that stuck out as particularly important or interesting. I compiled them in a list below (I attempted a wordle, but I'm apparently not as tech savvy as Luisa and Shira.) Some I find illuminating, or a turning point, or just kind of cool.

Fair is foul, and foil is fair
Thrice to thine and thrice to mine, and thrice again to make up nine
Lesser than Macbeth and greater
And nothing is but what is not
My dearest partner of greatness
Leave all the rest to me
False face must hide what the false heart doth know
Whiles I threat, he lives
Hear it not, Duncan, for it is a knell that summons thee to heaven or to hell
A dagger of the mind
To know my deed 'twere best not know myself
A farmer that hung himself on th' expectation of plenty
Banquo, thy soul's flight, if it find heaven, must find it out tonight
After life's fitful fever he sleeps well
Something wicked this way comes
But cruel are the times when we are traitors and do not know ourselves
The night is long that never receives the day
Out, damned spot, out, I say!

Do you have any favorite lines to add?

What is "Evil"

I was intrigued by the semi-debate regarding Lady Macbeth's "evil" qualities in class today so I decided to look for other opinions. I stumbled upon another blogger blog called "All About Evil" that had some interesting ideas as to what "evil"   is. In the blog itself there are many contrasting opinions, what do you think defines "evil"? I have also attached a scientific view of the actual cognitive science behind "evil" and its many analyses (this one is for Julianne). It is very cool to look at the cognitive versus abstract views of the two articles. Enjoy!
-Becca

http://allaboutevillk.blogspot.com/2009/03/what-is-evil-anyway.html

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=defining-evil

Another Macbeth Dagger Scene

         I was browsing through some Macbeth videos and found this one to be particularly interesting. The first thing I noticed, which isn't really relevant, is that Macbeth looks like a vampire. Anyways, this portrayal of Macbeth shows Macbeth as very paranoid. 

         I noticed that here, the dagger is also invisible as it was in the Goold version and that Macbeth also squeezes his eyes shut in an attempt to "unsee" it. Another aspect of the video that I found to be a nice touch was how he quickly draws his real dagger from what appears to be thin air. Just wanted to show another way that a director interpreted the scene and made it into a scene

Lady Macbeth Wordle

So I decided to take Luisa's idea and do a Lady Macbeth word cloud version. It's of what she wants, but also fears in life for her and her husband. The hands and spot part mostly show her craziness, I just couldn't imagine a wordle without them! Throne and blood should be larger, but I couldn't figure out how to edit the text again.

Just as a note, the font I used is called, "Loved by the King"...thought it was appropriate for her.

-shira

Macbeth's Word Cloud

I found a website called Wordle that can make word collages. I typed in words that I thought were important and then Wordle formatted it in a cool way. Since Shakespeare's writing recieves so much acclaim for its wording, I thought making a word cloud for Macbeth would be perfect. 

It would be really cool if someone else made a word cloud with words they think are important! 

Maybe a Lady Macbeth themed cloud...

Thomas Middleton

I don't know about you guys, but when I read that Act 3 Scene 5 was most likely written by someone else (most probably Thomas Middleton), I was pretty confused. There are a few noticeable differences in the writing. For example, before 3.5, whenever the witches come into a scene, they have a conversation with one another. 3.5 has hardly any conversation, and it is monopolized by an entirely different character, Hecate, whose monologue is completely written in couplets. This contrasts with the previous depictions of the witches.

Thomas Middleton, the supposed "other" playwright, apparently adapted and revised Macbeth. He collaborated with Shakespeare a few times, including on the play "Timon of Athens." Middleton apparently was thought to be second only to Shakespeare himself by a few notable authors of the period.

Did you guys pick up on any other differences?

Shakespeare's Acting

I was interested that Shakespeare not only wrote plays but also acted in his earlier life. I did some research and learned that in 1594, Shakespeare became a leader in an acting and playing company. It was called the Lord Chamberlain's Men, and they even performed in front of Elizabeth I. Each actor got 10 pounds for their performance, so this is probably how he earned his money during his writing. It was at this time that Shakespeare wrote: Romeo and Juliet, Richard II, King John, and Love's Labour's Lost. At this time in his life Shakespeare was completely immersed with the theater world. In 1599, the Globe Theater was built which was owned by the Lord Chamberlain's Men. Many of Shakespeare's plays were performed here and the Lord Chamberlain's Men were the main actors in the plays.

Polanski's witches

Roman Polanski's witches.

Musical Chairs?: The Significance of Seating

While reading tonight's scenes, I was struck by the fact that Banquo's ghost not only appeared at the banquet, but sat in Macbeth's chair. WHen you think of a Kings seat (which I believe would be at the head of the table) it appears to be a symbol of their supremacy, a throne of sorts. The fact that Banquo, who's progeny the Weird Sisters predicted would eventually upset Macbeth's power and replace him as king, takes Macbeth's seat of power, seems to be a bit of irony, or even symbolism for that matter. It is if Banquo's ghost taking Macbeth's literal seat is foreshadowing Banquo's progeny taking his figurative seat as king.

Goold's take on Banquo's Ghost

When looking around on the internet to see if there were any videos that could illustrate Act 3 Scene 4 when Banquo's ghost strolls into the dinning room, one video kept reappearing and really popped out at me.  However, I have this strange and bizarre feeling that I have scene this somewhere...

P.S. sorry that I couldn't put this video straight on the blog without making it a hyperlink ( Its really confusing) so if anyone could teach me how to do this for future reference that would be fantastic!

~Salvo

Casting Macbeth

I was thinking about Ms. Schieffelin's post on the "cast" of Nine Stories.
I decided I would cast Macbeth since that's the book we're reading right now and I watch a lot of Netflix. I did not do the entire cast of the play... not everyone is interesting enough.

Macbeth = Tom Hanks
He can do this. He's got that deep penetrating stare that I think is important and he has pulled off interesting characters in the past. Macbeth also needs to have a certain look. Tom Hanks is perfect because he can look so innocent, but, as I said before, he has a deep (murderous?) stare.

Lady Mac = Helena Bonham Carter
This woman can pull of the creepy wife who convinces her husband to commit murder. Some might say she could also be a witch, but I think she could play a mean Lady Macbeth.

Duncan = Michael Gambon
You probably know him as the second Dumbledore in the Harry Potter movies. He has got the old man quality I need for the perfect Duncan. Father-figure, nice guy, and beard makes Gambon the perfect Duncan.

Witch 1 = Uma Thurman
Witch 2 = Salma Hayek
Witch 3 = Vanessa Williams
I chose these witches because they all have the capacity to look and act evil. Also, they are all very pretty which I think is a nice twist on the stereotype that witches are ugly.

I cannot think of a good Banquo. If you want, write a comment on who you would cast as Banquo and why.

Casting Nine Stories

I came across this article on Flipboard today and thought you all might find it interesting. The writers at Word and Film have imagined casting many of the main characters in Nine Stories. What do you think they get right? What do they get wrong?

Casting Nine Stories

"The Scottish Play"

Something I found interesting about Macbeth is that it is considered to be bad luck to say "Macbeth" inside a theatre so, actors instead refer to it as "The Scottish Play" or "The Bard's Play"(the setting is Scotland and "the bard" is a nickname for Shakespeare). Macbeth, himself, is referred to as "the Scottish King" or "the Scottish lord". If you do say "Macbeth" inside a theater you are supposed to do something to reverse the bad luck like quoting a Shakespeare line or spinning around three times.

Here's a link:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Scottish_Play

Anonymous - Trailer

And here's a movie trailer that goes along my other post about Shakespeare not writing the plays.

Is Shakespeare Dead?

Last year in my English class my teacher showed us an article by Mark Twain, which question if Shakespeare wrote any of his own plays. Here is the URL   http://www.shakespeare-oxford.com/?p=119    Twain brings many interesting points to light, such as why was there no books in Shakespeare Will and as far as anyone can prove he received only one letter in his life.  And here is a BBC article with some different theories
http://www.bbcamerica.com/anglophenia/2011/10/did-shakespeare-really-write-his-plays-a-few-theories-examined/

-Greg

For a Fatherless Son
You will be aware of an absence, presently, Growing beside you, like a tree, A death tree, color gone, an Australian gum tree --- Balding, gelded by lightning--an illusion, And a sky like a pig's backside, an utter lack of attention. But right now you are dumb. And I love your stupidity, The blind mirror of it. I look in And find no face but my own, and you think that's funny. It is good for me To have you grab my nose, a ladder rung. One day you may touch what's wrong --- The small skulls, the smashed blue hills, the godawful hush. Till then your smiles are found money.
-Sylvia Plath

I though it interesting how Plath would write this poem maybe for 2 reasons. One she didn't have her own father growing up, and now she is raising her children without a father and later on without even a herself, or a mother.

Bell Jar ending

In the Bell Jar I think that the end was very lazy by Sylvia Plath. I felt as though Plath took the easy way out making what I would call a "happy ending" and a depressing book. Plath calls the book a potboiler and I agree only in the way she wrote the ending. It just seemed unlike the rest of the book to close in such a unresolved fashion. It seems like such a long shot that shock therapy would work after the first shock therapy she had. The first shock therapy leading her to not get help and then try to commit suicide. Shock therapy working is like the easy way out for Plath, and therefor the lazy ending.

Nicholas Hughes (Sylvia Plath's Son)

I found an article on the New York Times website about how Sylvia Plath's son Nicholas Hughes committed suicide a few years ago (in 2009). I would imagine that growing up without a mother and later learning that she killed herself was what fueled the depression Nicholas struggled with.

Here's the article:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/24/books/24plath.html

"A Birthday Present" for Sylvia Plath's 80th Birthday (yesterday)

Open Culture has a great article about Sylvia Plath, on what would have been her 80th birthday yesterday. 

Flavorwire, one of my favorite blogs, paired some images of Plath with excerpts from her writing (The Bell Jar and her published journals) that are well worth a look: here.

Sexuality Comparisons

As we finished The Bell Jar, I made some general connections between it and Salinger's works. The main thing that I noticed was that there were issues and confusion of sexuality in Catcher in the Rye and The Bell Jar. In Catcher in the Rye, Holden has multiple experiences in which he wants to do something sexual but then doesn't or just seems to be confused about it in general. When Holden is staying in a hotel, he notices a couple squirting water at each other in another room and kind of playing around and he also notices a guy dressing in women's clothes. He says he doesn't like that kind of stuff but ends up watching it anyways. Also, when he meets Sunny the prostitute, he doesn't want to get started right away and wants to get to know her first. In The Bell Jar, Joan is discovered to be a lesbian and Ester becomes uncomfortable at first about being around her.

Feminism

This is one of Sylvia's poems that I heard and it reminded me of the theme in "The Bell Jar" of marriage being an enslavement for women.

Here's the text:

First, are you our sort of a person?
Do you wear
A glass eye, false teeth or a crutch,
A brace or a hook,
Rubber breasts or a rubber crotch,

Stitches to show something's missing? No, no? Then
How can we give you a thing?
Stop crying.
Open your hand.
Empty? Empty. Here is a hand

To fill it and willing
To bring teacups and roll away headaches
And do whatever you tell it.
Will you marry it?
It is guaranteed

To thumb shut your eyes at the end
And dissolve of sorrow.
We make new stock from the salt.
I notice you are stark naked.
How about this suit----

Black and stiff, but not a bad fit.
Will you marry it?
It is waterproof, shatterproof, proof
Against fire and bombs through the roof.
Believe me, they'll bury you in it.

Now your head, excuse me, is empty.
I have the ticket for that.
Come here, sweetie, out of the closet.
Well, what do you think of that ?
Naked as paper to start

But in twenty-five years she'll be silver,
In fifty, gold.
A living doll, everywhere you look.
It can sew, it can cook,
It can talk, talk , talk.

It works, there is nothing wrong with it.
You have a hole, it's a poultice.
You have an eye, it's an image.
My boy, it's your last resort.
Will you marry it, marry it, marry it.

"Sylvia"; a movie about Sylvia Plath

I seem to be becoming the blog's official video poster, but here's another one. This is the first part of the Sylvia Plath Movie. I think that the way Gwyneth Paltrow portrays Sylvia Plath is really interesting. There is also a reference to a scene in the Bell Jar when Doreen bites Lenny's ear. In this movie, Plath bites Ted Hughes on the cheek the night she meets him. I think that she might be trying to be like Doreen and look sexy and flirtatious. It's interesting because in the beginning of the Bell Jar, after the scene with Doreen and Lenny, Esther makes a firm resolution not to be like Doreen and to be more like Betsy. Any thoughts? Does the movie do a good or bad job of portraying Plath's life?

The Bell Jar Gone High School Musical

I was listening to my Pandora station when this song by the Bangles came on. I'm not sure if it was written about Sylvia Plath's book, but it really resinates with some of the depressive behaviors we have been talking about in class. The end of the song, however, does not mirror the end of the novel. The song ends with the girl in the bell jar suffocating, being choked by her own paranoia. I took Esther's entrance into the meeting at the end of the book to be a symbol of recovery. What do you think?

Here are the lyrics and a link to the song:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xrwIu3ygTyY

She walks in the room
And checks out the faces
We think she's all the seven wonders of the world
But there's a sadness
Hidden in the bizarre
Moonlight and madness
Living in a bell jar
She dresses in black
'Cause sorrow is a magnet
Everything comes to her like it was meant to be
But she's frustrated
Leaving things as they are
What she created
Living in a bell jar
She feels so at home
She's never alone
But she's oh so lonely
What is the crime
In knowing your mind
Set it free
Attached to a mirror
In her glass-sided prison
She writes the note that will excuse her from this world
It's complicated
Living in a bell jar
She suffocated
Living in a bell jar

Cadavers...

I kind of elaborated on this in class, but I found the use of "cadaver" on the first page and the last page really interesting. On the first page, the sentence is: "[The Rosenbergs] was like the first time I saw a cadaver. For weeks afterward, the cadaver's head--or what there was left of it--floated up behind my eggs...I felt as though I were carrying that cadaver's head around with me on a string." On the last page, she describes Miss Huey's face as "pocked, cadaverous." It seems that even after Esther has dropped to the lowest point of her depression and then rises up, she can't shake the cadaver from her life. Maybe the cadaver represents the death that constantly shadows her life.

More Verve Music

When I saw Jen's post about the Verve, it reminded me about another song by the Verve, which can also be related to Ester.  It is called "Bittersweet Symphony". To me, the lyrics seemed to fit Ester's life. I have underlined a few lines that I think can relate to Ester and the Bell Jar.

Lyrics:

'Cause it's a bittersweet symphony, this life
Try to make ends meet
You're a slave to money then you die
I'll take you down the only road I've ever been down
You know the one that takes you to the places 
where all the veins meet yeah, 

No change, I can change
I can change, I can change
But I'm here in my mold
I am here in my mold
But I'm a million different people 
from one day to the next
I can't change my mold
No, no, no, no, no

Well I never pray
But tonight I'm on my knees yeah
I need to hear some sounds that recognize the pain in me, yeah
I let the melody shine, let it cleanse my mind, I feel free now
But the airways are clean and there's nobody singing to me now

No change, I can change
I can change, I can change
But I'm here in my mold
I am here in my mold
And I'm a million different people
from one day to the next
I can't change my mold
No, no, no, no, no
I can't change
I can't change

'Cause it's a bittersweet symphony, this life
Try to make ends meet
Try to find some money then you die
I'll take you down the only road I've ever been down
You know the one that takes you to the places 
where all the things meet yeah 

You know I can change, I can change
I can change, I can change
But I'm here in my mold
I am here in my mold
And I'm a million different people
from one day to the next
I can't change my mold
No, no, no, no, no

I can't change my mold
no, no, no, no, no,
I can't change
Can't change my body,
no, no, no

I'll take you down the only road I've ever been down
I'll take you down the only road I've ever been down
Been down
Ever been down
Ever been down
Ever been down
Ever been down
Have you ever been down?
Have you've ever been down?

*Sorry about the coloring guys. I don't know why its like this or how to fix it.

Meaning behind "Greenwood"

In the middle of class today, I had this huge revelation today about Esther's last name a possibly why Plath chose it.  This also couldn't have came at a better time considering we are talking about paradoxes and as I thought about the name Greenwood I began to think about "green wood" and how the green could be the mold or moss growing along the "wood" which signifies Esther and this decay of the wood is the instability of her sanity unravels.  So, as a contradictory point that makes this whole thing a paradox is that green wood can also be considered as a freshly cut slab of wood that is still resistant to oxidation and fire.  Therefore, this new piece of green wood can symbolize the beginning of her life and how she is a totally new and different person after her experience with depression and the extents she travels in attempts to kill herself.

To sum this up for people who dont really understand what i'm talking about because a majority of the time I dont make sense, it is a paradox because her name symbolizes new life, but death at the same time (feel free to think of some play on words [Shira] kinda like some of the ones we made up in class today).

For you artists out there...

London's Mayor Gallery has a current exhibit of Sylvia Plath's collected illustrations (Evidently, she was an avid drawer). The following article gives you a glimpse of these drawings:

 Plath's Drawings

The author of the article says the following: "The astonishingly adroit drawings reveal not only the literary icon’s exceptional attention to detail, but also a kind of diverse yet introspective curiosity about the world, from nature to architecture, from intimacy to public life."

I find the drawing of the heels especially interesting, given that she titled it "The Bell Jar."

Greg: the illustration Untitled (Fruit Plate) would have served as an interesting visual epigraph for your Salinger essay. :)

The Bell Jar Themes in a Song

I heard this song this weekend called "The Drugs don't work by the Verve and it reminded me a lot of Esther and The Bell Jar.

I heard this song this weekend called "The Drugs Don't Work" by the Verve and it kind of reminded me of Esther and The Bell Jar. The part where he says "all this talk of getting old is getting me down my love" reminds me of how the idea of growing up and getting married depresses Esther. It also reminds me of Bell Jar when it talks about how the drugs aren't working because although Esther never  explicitly tells the reader, it is likely she is on psychiatric medication for her mental illness because the pills she uses to attempt suicide are "...doled...out to me, night by night..." (168).

All this talk of getting old
It's getting me down my love
Like a cat in a bag, waiting to drown
This time I'm comin' down

And I hope you're thinking of me
As you lay down on your side
Now the drugs don't work
They just make you worse
But I know I'll see your face again

Now the drugs don't work
They just make you worse
But I know I'll see your face again

But I know I'm on a losing streak
'Cause I passed down my old street
And if you wanna show, then just let me know
And I'll sing in your ear again

Now the drugs don't work
They just make you worse
But I know I'll see your face again

'Cause baby, ooh, if heaven calls, I'm coming, too
Just like you said, you leave my life, I'm better off dead

All this talk of getting old 
It's getting me down my love
Like a cat in a bag, waiting to drown
This time I'm comin' down

Now the drugs don't work
They just make you worse
But I know I'll see your face again

'Cause baby, ooh, if heaven calls, I'm coming, too
Just like you said, you leave my life, I'm better off dead

But if you wanna show, just let me know
And I'll sing in your ear again

Now the drugs don't work
They just make you worse
But I know I'll see your face again 

Yeah, I know I'll see your face again
Yeah, I know I'll see your face again
Yeah, I know I'll see your face again
Yeah, I know I'll see your face again

I'm never going down, I'm never coming down
No more, no more, no more, no more, no more
I'm never coming down, I'm never going down
No more, no more, no more, no more, no more
[Repeat and Fade Out]

Electroshock Therapy Works?

Due to reading The Bell Jar, I was talking about depression and electroshock therapy with my mom, and she said that it actually worked sometimes.  I was surprised by this, and looked it up online to see if anyone benefited from electroshock therapy.  A Youtube video titled "Sherwin Nuland: How electroshock therapy changed me" caught my eye.  The video is quite lengthy, but I was intrigued and wanted to post it on the blog since it has everything to do with Esther and her experiences with shock therapy.

NYTimes Critique

"Esther Greenwood's account of her year in the bell jar is as clear and readable as it is witty and disturbing".
This was written by Robert Scholes for the New York Times in 1971. I'm wondering if you guys agree that her year is "clear and readable" and "witty and disturbing". I agree that it is somewhat clear and readable and quite disturbing, but the I'm not sure I would describe it as witty.

"And "The Bell Jar" is not a pot-boiler, nor a series of ungrateful caricatures: it is literature. It is finding its audience, and will hold it". He also said this, which I completely agree with. Plath claimed for the book to be a pot boiler, but I think it is quite well written like what Robert said.

I think it's very interesting to see what critics think of the books we read in class.

-Shira

Water References Plath VS Salinger

When I was reading tonights assignment, I was struck by the numerous references to water. FIrst, when Esther is in the graveyard visiting her father, it begins to rain. She line tells the reader that she spent the last of her New York money on a black rain jacket. Next, when she takes the pills to kill herself (notice she chases them down with a glass of water) she says "The silence drew off baring the pebbles abd shells [which is reminiscent of the beach] and all the tatty wreckage of my life. Then, at the rim of vision, it gathered itself, and in one sweeping tide, rushed me to sleep." The tide and shell references in this passage remind me of the beach and then I remembered Esther's infatuation with the shore and how she had said earlier in the book that drowning herself in the sea would be the best way to day. There is also the almost obsessive comfort that Esther receives from taking hot baths. All of these connections to water reminded me of the discussions we had about the significance of water throughout 9 stories (innocence, knowledge etc.). What do you think water represents for Plath or Esther? Why is it that both Plath and Salinger used water as such a key symbol in their stories?

Lady Lazarus

“Lady Lazarus” by Sylvia Plath

I have done it again.

One year in every ten

I manage it--

A sort of walking miracle, my skin

Bright as a Nazi lampshade,

My right foot

A paperweight,

My face a featureless, fine

Jew linen.

Peel off the napkin

O my enemy.

Do I terrify?--

The nose, the eye pits, the full set of teeth?

The sour breath

Will vanish in a day.

Soon, soon the flesh

The grave cave ate will be

At home on me

And I a smiling woman.

I am only thirty.

And like the cat I have nine times to die.

This is Number Three.

What a trash

To annihilate each decade.

What a million filaments.

The peanut-crunching crowd

Shoves in to see

Them unwrap me hand and foot--

The big strip tease.

Gentlemen, ladies

These are my hands

My knees.

I may be skin and bone,

Nevertheless, I am the same, identical woman.

The first time it happened I was ten.

It was an accident.

The second time I meant

To last it out and not come back at all.

I rocked shut

As a seashell.

They had to call and call

And pick the worms off me like sticky pearls.

Dying

Is an art, like everything else.

I do it exceptionally well.

I do it so it feels like hell.

I do it so it feels real.

I guess you could say I've a call.

It's easy enough to do it in a cell.

It's easy enough to do it and stay put.

It's the theatrical

Comeback in broad day

To the same place, the same face, the same brute

Amused shout:

'A miracle!'

That knocks me out.

There is a charge

For the eyeing of my scars, there is a charge

For the hearing of my heart--

It really goes.

And there is a charge, a very large charge

For a word or a touch

Or a bit of blood

Or a piece of my hair or my clothes.

So, so, Herr Doktor.

So, Herr Enemy.

I am your opus,

I am your valuable,

The pure gold baby

That melts to a shriek.

I turn and burn.

Do not think I underestimate your great concern.

Ash, ash--

You poke and stir.

Flesh, bone, there is nothing there--

A cake of soap, 

A wedding ring,

A gold filling.

Herr God, Herr Lucifer

Beware

Beware.

Out of the ash

I rise with my red hair

And I eat men like air.

(23-29 October 1962)

The Raising of Lazarus (Biblical Story)

The biblical narrative of the Raising of Lazarus is found in chapter 11 of the Gospel of John. Lazarus is introduced as a follower of Jesus, who lives in the village of Bethany near Jerusalem He is identified as the brother of the sisters Mary and Martha. The sisters send word to Jesus that Lazarus, "he whom thou lovest," is ill. Instead of immediately traveling to Bethany, according to the narrator, Jesus intentionally remains where he is for two more days before beginning the journey.

When Jesus arrives in Bethany, he finds that Lazarus is dead and has already been in his tomb for four days. He meets first with Martha and Mary in turn. Martha laments that Jesus did not arrive soon enough to heal her brother and Jesus replies with the well-known statement, "I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die". Next encountering Mary, Jesus is moved by her sorrow. The narrator here gives the famous simple phrase, "Jesus wept"

In the presence of a crowd of Jewish mourners, Jesus comes to the tomb. Over the objections of Martha, Jesus has them roll the stone away from the entrance to the tomb and says a prayer. He then calls Lazarus to come out and Lazarus does so, still wrapped in his grave-cloths. Jesus then calls for someone to remove the grave-cloths. The narrative ends with the statement that many of the witnesses to this event "believed in him." Others are said to report the events to the religious authorities in Jerusalem.

Plath Collaged

I made a collage! It took a lot more time than I expected, but I made it. I wanted to show how with everything we know about Sylvia Plath's life, one of the few things that sheds light on her depression is the Bell Jar. Since the Bell Jar gives us an idea of what she dealt with, I have it in the middle of the collage and in color. Some of the other images I had to make black and white so that the center image could pop.

http://www.nanogirl.com/poetry/plath.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sylvia_Plath

http://www.peter-sheppard-skaerved.com/2012/09/sylvia-plath-hans-jurgen-von-bose/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Bell_Jar

http://anneyhall.tumblr.com/post/11952538544

http://mookseandgripes.com/reviews/category/plath-sylvia/

http://forbookssake.net/2010/08/17/bookish-birthdays-ted-hughes/

http://litpresentations.pbworks.com/w/page/18059470/Discussion%20Group%20-%20%20Confessional%20Poetry%20-%20Spring%202010