Author: phussey (Page 3 of 6)

Commonplace Entry- The Picture of Dorian Gray

March 25, 2020 / phussey

“Campbell felt dominated by him.” (203)

Dorian seems to have to show his inner evil in order to get Campell’s help. This whole time after killing Basil and coercing Campbell to help by blackmailing him just goes to show how right Basil was about not knowing who Dorian was anymore.

“‘ Let this be a warning to you not to take vengeance into your own hands'” (221)

Dorian felt as if Sibyl’s death was his fault, at first until Lord Henry poisoned his mind again. If Dorian was so broken up about Sibyl, he must have believed at one point that vengeance was justified. Not only did Dorian lie but he turned the guilt that belonged to him, on James. Is Dorian’s guilt finally catching up to him….

“‘ I always agree with Harry, Duchess,’ ‘Even when he is wrong?’ ‘Harry is never wrong, Duchess.’ (226)

I wonder where this blind allegiance can from with Dorian’s total faith in Lord Henry. Could it have been Dorian’s need for someone to tell him that he can do bad things and it is ok because he has beauty and power? Or, could it have been Dorian’s need for an excuse as to why he can do awful things to people? I wonder if he will blame Lord Henry when it all blows up in his face.

https://images.app.goo.gl/Hnk4sSUrmutxYU1Q8

Dorian wanted to change and in this desire he wanted to kill the thing that reminded him of how horrible of a person he was/is. His beauty, which was so important to him, was saved by the portrait absorbing his age. But what I think the portrait was absorbing was his inner beauty deteriorating as he became ugly on the inside.

QCQ #7 The Picture of Dorian Gray

March 20, 2020 / phussey

“But you were simple, natural, and affectionate then. You were the most unspoiled creature in the whole world. Now, I don’t know what has come over you. You talk as if you had no heart, no pity in you. It is all Harry’s influence. I see that.” (143)

Comment: Doian is described by everyone in the book as a very attractive man. Dorian seems to be modest and embarrassed by this when he first meets Harry, but as the book goes on and Dorain and Harry talk more, Dorian’s ego seems to increase. He even finds himself admiring himself in his picture until of course, it starts to appear different which is connected with how he acts. Even wanting to marry Sibyl was only due to her looks and talent but once her love for him made her talent disappear, he wanted nothing to do with her.

Question: Would Dorian have shown his selfishness eventually if he never had Harry to emphasize how much looks matter?

Hyde to Hero CPB Entry

March 11, 2020 / phussey

“These Hydes are still unpredictable and aggressive, but they use their volatility for good and maintain a moralistic agenda.” (235)

“Because the monster hero has fewer moral qualms and enhanced physical abilities, he is an effective and strong fighter.” (239)

“If the Other is accepted as being within the self, as Domsch argues, then instead of disclaiming the Other as a monster, we can accept monstrosity and redefine it and its role in society.” (241)

“He does no expect others to change their views of him, and he also does not deliberately try to change his monster status.” (242)

“The twentieth- and twenty-first-century versions of the Hyde figure demonstrate a modern belief that external destructive forces represent a greater threat to society than repressed psychological or biological evils within one’s self.” (247)

Commonplace Entry #1 (Dr.Jekyll and Mr.Hyde)

March 3, 2020 / phussey

https://images.app.goo.gl/CyJ5LJxBNBmEQwn36

“I felt younger, lighter, happier in body; within I was conscious of a heady recklessness, a current of disordered sensual images running like a mill race” “I knew myself, at the first breath of this new life, to be more wicked, tenfold more wicked, sold a slave to my original evil; and the thought, in that moment, braced and delighted me like wine.” (78)

“Men have before hired bravos to transact their crimes, while their own person and reputation sat under shelter. I was the first that ever did so for his pleasures” (80)

“He had now seen he full deformity of that creature that shared with him some of the phenomena of consciousness, and was coheir with him to death” (88)

QCQ #6 Dr.Jekyll and Mr.Hyde

February 29, 2020 / phussey

Quote: “I am quite sure of him,” replied Jekyll……”You fear, I suppose, that it might lead to his detection?” asked the lawyer. “No,” said the other. (52)

Comment: Throughout the beginning of the book I noticed when Jekyll would have conversations with others, the person responding would go from Jekyll said to the other said. This gave me the indication early on that Dr.Jekyll was not the only one in his head. It was interesting that no one caught on to his changes in tone or what he said. I think the biggest reason was the hunt for Mr.Hyde and him being the only one people cared to find or uncover. Mr.Hyde was constantly described as someone who would instantly make the hair on the back of your neck stand up or make you feel unsettled. Having Mr.Hyde being the only one that people knew was bad left room for the oversight of Dr.Jekyll being off.

Question: Was Dr.Jekyll playing everyone the whole time? He seemed to have cared for Mr.Hyde before he killed that man, so was he in control the whole time as to how he responded to Mr.Utterson and everyone that talked to him about Mr.Hyde?

AIDS Artifact

February 26, 2020 / phussey

https://wellcomelibrary.org/item/b16721949#?c=0&m=0&s=0&cv=0&z=-1.1013%2C-0.0662%2C3.1099%2C1.4622

The artifact I choose is about AIDS which many thought at the time was a disease in which you could get from touching someone. For this reason, many people feared and stayed away from those with AIDS. I picked this artifact over others primarily because I have always had a fascination with the history of AIDS and it fits well with what we are talking about in class very well. It fits well because people with AIDS were considered monsters because of the deadly disease that they had. When we talked about Frankenstein, he was treated like a monster for something he had no control over. Many people who contracted AIDS were unaware that the person they were with had it. But AIDS also had a stigma for being a disease that only homosexuals contracted and during this period in time, homosexuals were considered monsters as well. No one who contracted AIDS asked for it nor would have done what they did to contract AIDS if they knew they would get it. Frankenstein didn’t ask to be made but was hated by anyone who saw him as well as his creator. This made me think about how people with AIDS were treated.

What interested me most about this artifact was part of the title which says “a killer called AIDS” but also the picture which depicts the killer being a physical person. This made the connection in my head about the thing people feared the most having a physical form that people can see. One thing that I always questioned is to what point is someone considered a monster? Someone with AIDS is the same person that they were before they contracted AIDS. Is it the fear that makes people lash out and consider people monsters?

QCQ #5 Jane Erye

February 19, 2020 / phussey

Quote: “Divine Justice pursued its course; disaster came thick on me”

Comment: Throughout the whole time hearing about Mr.Rochester, the question constantly comes up as to whether he is a good or bad person. And from that in these last few chapters, if he was a bad person, did he get the punishment that he deserved. I did not think Mr.Rochester to be a good person but he risking his life to not only save his “crazy” wife but also the servants in the house. Doing so Mr.Rochester lost his left hand and his sight. I just wonder mostly about Bertha. I wonder if Jane had been told about her from the start if they could have become friends? I believe that Bertha was not always the way that she was portrayed. I think she may have had a mild mental illness which was intensified by being locked away. Because Bertha was nice to Grace, I think she would have warmed up to Jane.

Another question is if Jane was told about Bertha from the beginning, would she have stayed? I think she would have. Not only because Jane is tough and could handle hearing something like this, but given the torment she went through when Bertha would “visit” her occasionally, Jane would have felt safer knowing what that was.

Commonplace Book Entry 2/18

February 19, 2020 / phussey

“I care for myself. The more solitary, the more friendless, the more unsustained I am, the more I will respect myself” (408)

Jane finally let go of Rochester, even though she forgave him. She found leaving him was better for her. Now she has her own place in which she can decorate or do as she pleases and she is in control of these students at the school. She finally has the freedom to do as she pleases.

https://images.app.goo.gl/sR7PBTbmLysbbB5T7

QCQ #4 Jane Eyre

February 16, 2020 / phussey

Quote: “Love me, then, or hate me, as you will,” I said at last, “you have my full and free foregiveness: ask now for God’s; and be at peace” Poor, suffering woman! it was too late for her to make now the effort to change her habitual frame of mind: living, she had ever hated me – dying, she must hate me still” (324)

Comment: We have discussed in class many times about what makes someone or something a monster. Last week my group and I discussed how someone can be considered a monster to one person but maybe adored by another. We talked about how Mrs.Reed must have considered Jane a monster but Bessie did not. Jane had many moments in which one may look at her actions and say that she was acting monstrously. Jane had originally stated that she will not like those who treat her poorly. She had said this to Helen who had a more Christian view of that opinion but Jane stuck with her first opinion. Seeing what she went threw, I could see why Jane felt this way.

She had left Mrs. Reed and her cousins for years but in this chapter, she returns due to Mrs.Reed’s health. To my surprise, Jane actually forgives Mrs.Reed even after finding out more devastating actions that Mrs.Reed took to spit Jane. These would include withholding the letter from Jane’s uncle, telling Jane’s uncle that Jane was dead, and not apologizing for how she treated Jane. All of these awful actions would have been hard for me to forgive let alone seeing Jane forgive her. Even when Mrs.Reed dies Jane is still okay with the fact that she died still hating Jane.

Seeing this from Jane showed me that maybe what Helen said stuck with her more then she thought. Or, was it her new surroundings? Seeing that Jane is able to forgive those who wronged her, will she be able to do that again? Mr.Rochester has played her ever since she met him. She even was willing to marry him after finding out that he was lying about getting married to another and that he was actually currently married to someone who was the one tormenting Jane at Thornfield.

Question: Given what Jane previously stated about not accepting those who do wrong to her, but now seeing her forgive Mrs. Reed. Will Jane be able to forgive Mr.Rochecster for his MANY lies and, if so, does Mr. Rochester deserve to be forgiven? Also, who is the monster now in the book?

Commonplace Entry #3

February 12, 2020 / phussey

“And was Mr.Rochester now ugly in my eyes? No, reader: Gratitude, and many associations, all pleasurable and genial, made his face the object I best liked to see” “Yet I had not forgotten his faults: indeed, I could not; for he brought them frequently before me.” (220)

“my secret soul I knew that his great kindness to me was balanced by unjust severity to many others.” (220)