The Infinite Urn: A Happily Morbid Sing-Songy Ode!

My question is basically what he makes of the thing--that is, does the urn triumph over "the weariness, the fever, and the fret" (as he writes in "Ode to a Nightingale") of our temporal lives, or does the "breathing human passion" of this world finally draw his sympathy?

This is a sort of infinity to this urn that I believe fascinates Keats. There are many things it cannot do ("canst thus express," "cannot shed," "never canst thous kiss") as it is an object and the only thing it is capable of doing is outlasting the author. There is this element of mystery in the urn that piques Keat's interest and imagination and he begins to go into this fabricated happy place where these characters embrace their youth and give into hedonism. Keats has these fantastical notions about the urn and uses jovial, sing-songy rhymes to express these happy men and maidens dancing around in the Spring, begging for “more happy love!” He doesn’t even mention the cremated person that could be in that urn and there is nothing at face value that could be taken morbidly.

It almost seems that Keats is manifesting his jealousy in this poem. He is human; the urn is not. He can die from pulmonary edema and consumption just like his mother and brother and he knows it; the urn cannot. He can fall in love but be forever embittered by the fact that it's not enough that you're in love with someone, it's all about money; the urn doesn't even know how to be embittered because it’s an urn. This urn in all of its artistic intricacies and mysteries is very simple and beautiful. It "dost tease us out of thought as doth eternity." The urn distracts Keats from his decadent life. This realization of simplistic beauty existing in an urn (a thing that typically houses ashes of dead things that were not so timeless) compels these joyful feelings in Keats and the poem almost becomes a "why can't life be simple?" lament.

I think the urn does triumph over "the weariness, the fever, and the fret." It has no sense of anything and in its incapability to be human about anything, nothing but peace can come of it. In relation to death, death is the ultimate peace- no one has to care about anything at that point. Associating the urn with death makes it more powerful than the living in the fact that it does not have to struggle.

In another theory, what if this was the urn holding his brother Thomas’s ashes? It could be Keats’s attempt at giving himself closure and saying that his brother need suffer no longer or worry about anything. There is liberation in knowing that there is a happy ending for his brother and not some cryptic “ he died and is now part of the universe” idea. In a sad way, it’s as if Keats wishes to be dead too to be with his brother and free of his own paranoia.

Room With A View

L.B. Jefferies, confined to his apartment by a sheath of plaster, sits at his window and watches the people in the surrounding apartments. He watches the daily activities of these people, unbeknownst to them, and even comes up with endearing nicknames for them like "Miss Lonelyhearts" and "Miss Torso." Jeffries has been watching these people in their apartments for seven straight weeks and has developed an addiction of watching them. He eventually ends up sleeping periodically at his window with his binoculars.

The complex is almost laid out like Jeffries's subconscious. Miss Torso represents Lisa, beautiful, elegant, and always attractive to other men, "juggling wolves" at social gatherings. Jeff watches her and casually remarks on her, not in a jealous way or a contrasting way but in a dazzled way, like he's amazed by her poise, beauty, and social grace. It may be too intimidating to marvel at Lisa in that way up close because he values her so highly to the point where he is undermined and therefore feels inadequate as a man deserving of her attention and love. He uses Miss Torso as a scapegoat for all his adoration for Lisa.

The presence of the newlyweds serves as comic relief and as a foreshadowing of Jeffries's future if he gives into the pressures of marriage. They arrive in their new apartment, excited and naive, and five minutes later close the window and the door. Periodically, the new husband opens the window to a brief moment of solitude only to have it interrupted by his wife calling him back every time like clockwork. Jeffries laughs at this to himself in schadenfreude and views it as an example and an excuse to not marry Lisa, ignoring the fact that their marriage may not turn out that way.

Jeffries pities Miss Lonelyhearts as she plays pretend in her small apartment all alone. He registers how unhappy she is being totally alone and I think watching her morale diminish makes him grateful for Lisa and how she makes his life better and less empty. Through his expressions towards Miss Lonelyhearts we see his compassion towards her and his desire to help her, almost paralleling how he would help himself if he were suddenly left alone.

Rear Window is a murder mystery but it really is about this man being alone with his thoughts and worries essentially. It's more of a pseudo psychological thriller in that regard. We see the relationship of the two characters rebuild itself and manifest itself in different scenarios with different people. Sure the murder gets solved and Thorwald is hauled away in shackles; the audience wants to know what happens to Jeffries and Lisa- they're the main characters for a reason. If the murder was the main idea of the film, it would have been the catalyst for the plot, not some guy in his apartment half-clad in a cast.

Y

When I read Glengarry Glen Ross, I can honestly say I didn't question why there were no women in it. I actually didn't even notice. And I think the obvious reason is that the play was written by a man. I don't find the play to be misogynistic nor anti-feminist; I find the play to be about men in general and I don't think the addition of a woman would maintain the integrity of their characters (or lack thereof).

These men are put in this mock life or death situation and thus in the heat of the moment you see each man for what he truly is. I believe this is an analysis of the self and where Mamet might place himself amongst these sordid individuals.

At first, I felt no sympathy for these characters. I found Levine to be pathetic, begging for help from Williamson, insulting him when refused, and then going right back to kissing his ass again. Roma, albeit shrewd and smooth, was just too arrogant for me to like him. Moss was full of hot air. Aranow had no courage. And Williamson...well, I did feel bad for him because he really was just doing his job.

Roma says "What is our life? It's looking forward or it's looking back" and that encompasses all these men through stages. Perhaps they start out unassuming like Aranow, gain a little arrogance and hot air to become a Moss, become a successful Roma, and crash and burn to become a Levine. This play is about a man saying "What kind of man do I want to be?"

This existential quandary would not be solved or exacerbated by using women as any characters. Perhaps Mamet does not write women well and therefore chooses to write stories about men, a subject he is most familiar with because he is one. If anything, I don't think this play would be as cutthroat and despicable if there were women in it. It could either lean further into misogyny about getting beaten by a girl or become soft and have no compulsion to move forward. Maybe it's saying that women would have nothing to do with this environment because they're too smart to be in it.

Are You My Mother?

There is this rampant sisterly rivalry and a tragically farcical plot in King Lear that I believe definitely draws attention to being motherless. The mother as a figure in the family is crucial for nurturing and without it the children could subsequently turn out maladjusted. Lear has three daughters- Goneril and Regan I vision being the elder and more close in age with the youngest being Cordelia who must have been considerably younger. The daughters are grown and there is no mention of their mother. I could say that their mother died when the girls were young but that would not make sense if I assume that Cordelia is so much younger.

I could deduce, however, that Goneril and Regan did spend more time with their mother and that perhaps the mother died in childbirth with Cordelia. Perhaps their mother was as coniving and avaricious as the eldest daughters.

That being said, I think that Lear's feminine side might be stronger than he comes to realize. I believe he loves his daughters but because he is detached from them in a men-are-from-mars kind of way, he does not understand them fully and just loves them for being his offspring. Whether it be dementia or just sheer absentmindedness, he does not grasp his daughters' feelings and, eventually, it confounds him. I think that he resents his wife's death because perhaps with her at his side he would not have been so betrayed. He is left short-changed and that could be what makes the tragedy. Even if his wife was as evil as his eldest daughters, he might have been able to forsee mutiny.

The lack of a literal and figurative femine side put Lear at a disadvantage and it was only when all was at a loss did he realize this. Lear is but a man, human and prone to making mistakes. I don't think he was afraid to evoke his feminine side; I think he just wasn't aware that he had one.

Persepolis: A Picture Periodical of Political Pain and Perception

"Politics and sentiment do not mix"

It's difficult for me to agree with this as the memoir is written with the mix, but I can understand the concept. Politics is, in a way, derived from sentiment: how we need to control ourselves and others for the safety of us and our children. Politics and sentiment always walk alongside each other and are pulled apart and put together in many ways.

I think what Satrapi's father means is that they don't mix in the way oil and water don't. There will never be some kind of utopian regime where every sentiment and opinion is shared so that society will be governed accordingly. There will always be a struggle despite any sentiments. The empowerment of one's beliefs and opinions may fuel one's desire to overcome struggle but they don't really make peace with eachother.

In a way as well saying the two do not mix could imply that in order to be a politician, you should not have any sentiment. You should not my sympathetic to your constituency. As absurd as that sounds, that really is what is happening. Their government does not care that people have lives, children, aspirations, and desire to progress as a society. Their government follows a more inhumane doctrine. This could be a sarcastic remark towards their oppressive government.

I think that it might be a bitter truth that one has to come to terms with, especially in that situation. Even though Satrapi's mother and grandmother fought actively for what they believe in, their voices were cast out and ignored.

Better Off Dead: Nick's Resolution

In Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby, Nick Carraway introduces himself and considers himself not judgemental in any way and, even when the actions and opinions of others lean towards the nefarious, he reserves his qualms and remains optimistic about their character. He forshadows that "Gatsby turned out alright at the end" but leaves little reasoning behind how he considers being murdered in a pool to be alright.

At the end of the novel, Gatsby dies in one of the most undignified ways- Wilson shoots him and he falls into the pool and dies, floating as a horrific image for all of his neighbors to attempt to forget later. With him, Nick's confusing and invigorating ride stops. The excitement in life, the wealth, the glamor, the curiosity- it all comes to a screeching halt and subsequently takes away Nick's wonderlust.

Nick's friendship with Gatsby is not so much of a friendship but rather an infatuation. He is bedazzled by his house and his very existance, refraining whatever judgement he could pass about Gatsby's shady dealings and affairs, and still captured by the "eternal reassurance" he sees in Gatsby's eyes. He ignores allegations about Gatsby, how he might have killed a man and how he made his money bootlegging. Despite the fact that he has not learned much about him through six meetings in the course of a month, Nick becomes more intrigued. Even at the end of the novel when he finds out Gatsby lied to him about his family, Nick remains subtley distraughtover his death. He loves Gatsby (platonically, for the sake of argument) and wants to be a part of his life and to be as close to him as possible.

Gatsby's death affects Nick terribly. The man he shared property, drinks, and a friendship with is killed and he is the only one who deals with it directly. Anyone else affiliated with Gatsby decides to flee or lay low, leaving his funeral with a disturbingly low attendance. We realize that Gatsby's associates were just that; they did not consider Gatsby a real friend, just a man with an unabashed display of wealth, an extravagent lifestyle, and a penchant for doting on his guests almost as if he were trying to buy love and approval. Nick is so heartbroken over his death that he strives to do anything to put his friend to rest honorably, even returning to the body to reassure his spirit. Nick makes phone calls to all the people who knew Gatsby and is given petty excuses as to why these people won't come. He becomes frustrated through each of these interrogations, almost trying to reassure himself that Gatsby was a respectable man who everyone loved and an admirable man.

But every excuse, every decline, and even the one late attendant seem to smack Nick in the face trying to give him a hint. Even Owl Eyes calls Gatsby a "poor son of a bitch."

Afterwards, Nick leaves New York to go back West, definitely jostled and affected by this entire event. It's as if the entire story serves as a frightening memoir he uses for coping with his losses. He learns that his cousin and her husband are awfully shallow and selfish people and that the man he thought was his friend really wasn't anybody's.

Perhaps how Nick determines Gatsby ends up alright is that he is dead- he doesn't have to discover that all his colleagues detested him, fess up to accusations, deal with the press. Nick has to crawl through this mess. He watches people get murdered out of vengeace and not in a war-like atmosphere. And through Gatsby's murder, Nick is stripped of all of his associations with all the people he met when he moved to New York.

In short, Nick does not turn out "all right at the end." He is obviously scarred and this does not seem like it can be overcome without psychiatric help.