Journal Series 2 - Professor John Brinegar PDF

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Professor John Brinegar...

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Anna Chen ENGL 326 Journal Series 2

As we are reading Othello as a class, I can’t help but notice how hypocritical he is. In the beginning of the play, Othello says he would never use magical sorcery on his wife but right when Othello believes that his wife has been unfaithful to him, he suddenly believes magic. It was put into his mind that Desdamona was cheating on him and instead of just asking her straight up, he plays these mind games and then claims that his handkerchief has magical powers. He says that his mother gave him that handkerchief telling him that if she has misplaced it with another man then it means that she is cheating because it was the only way it could get her husband to stay with her. It may have worked for Othello’s mother but it does not mean it would work for Othello and his marriage. He tells Desdemona about the magical powers the handkerchief has and all of a sudden he’s playing magica sorcery on her, when he specifically said that he never would. When he gets desperate he does use it on his wife. I find that so hypocritical and it is enraging to be honest that he has sunk that low to find out if his wife was cheating or not, which she was not. I guess it just goes to show that he is not the bright young man I took him for in the beginning act and it shows his character. I was impressed at first but not anymore, even in the end when he finds the handkerchief with another man, he does not even give her time to explain before making his mind up to think that she cheated. Only in the end when Emilia tells him that she was not cheating and that Desdemona loved him, he believes his wife and weeps over her dead body. He didn’t believe his wife but he believed her servant over her herself. It is just too bad that he realized too late and already smothered her to death.

Anna Chen ENGL 326 Journal Series 2

When I look back at Othello, I realize his rage and anger drives him to do insane things. He was so angry about the hunch of his wife cheating on him, he wanted to get revenge on everyone involved. It is insane to see the lengths he will go to because of how angry he got. Not only did he want to kill his wife’s supposed mister, he also planned to kill his own wife. Death is by far the worst punishment someone can receive and Othello believed that both deserved to be put to death for having an alleged affair. He had Iago kill Cassio for him and he wanted to personally put his wife to death, and the worst part was that Desdemona knew her death was coming soon by her husband. I honestly feel so bad for her because she deserved so much better. The events leading up to her death, Othello treated her so poorly, he treated her like a whore even though she never slept with anybody else but him. She was chaste according to Emilia and she loved him wholeheartedly. Yet the sight of her became so infatuated to Othello, he slapped her across the face and she did not even want to divorce him, she still wanted to work through things. If it were me I would want to divorce him right away. The way he reacts when he is angry is unacceptable. In act 5, he smothers his wife to death because he was angry at her for supposedly cheating, she did not die until later but still she loved him until her last breath. When Emilia came in and asked if Desdamona was still alive, she covered for her murderous husband and said that she smothered herself instead of the other way around. Othello’s anger consumed him that he could not even think outside of it. He was not able to put his emotions aside or in check long enough to rationally think and speak with his wife about whether she committed adultery or not.

Anna Chen ENGL 326 Journal Series 2

As I was reading Macbeth, I was very surprised by how willing Lady Macbeth was to kill King Duncan and her reaction after it. As soon as she heard the prophecies that the witches told Macbeth, she seemed to have a plan devised right away like it was no big deal. She acted like killing the king was like taking candy from a baby while Macbeth was completely stressed. Lady Macbeth even went as far as mocking her husband and whining about how she married such a weak man. It seriously was as if murder was nothing to her. When Macbeth wanted to back out, Lady Macbeth was infuriated and she said that it was such an easy plan that she would do it herself if Macbeth was not going to do it. When Macbeth agreed and then carried out the murder, he felt even more stressed and worried while Lady Macbeth did not seem to stressed at all. It was not until after the murder Lady Macbeth started being overcome with guilt. When the murder was discovered, she fainted and I will admit I was pretty shocked, at first I thought she was such a good actor but turns out the guilt was overwhelming her and she could not handle it anymore. It suddenly went from her mocking her husband to it driving her insane. She went angry and berserk. She started talking in her sleep and she would sleepwalk down the halls mumbling about the murder of Duncan. It even went as far as her committing suicide because she could not handle the immense guilt on her conscience anymore. It shocks me how okay she was with it and she did not seem to care about it at all, but suddenly it was literally eating her alive. This sudden insanity seemed to take her over and she could not control it. I can’t believe that she made this 180 when before she was annoyed at her husband for being a wuss about murdering Duncan.

Anna Chen ENGL 326 Journal Series 2

I want to analyze Lady Macbeth’s greed for power and how she’d commit the ultimate crime to achieve power and status within the court. When Macbeth tells Lady Macbeth about the witches’ prophecy that Macbeth would become king, she immediately thinks to murder King Duncan. Lady Macbeth knows that in time the prophecy will be fulfilled and in time, Macbeth will become king but she believes that they should not wait. She thinks that if Macbeth will become king soon then why wait longer. Lady Macbeth’s greed drives her decision making and takes over her. She has no mercy as she hungers for more power than what she already has right now. She will do anything for Macbeth to be king, she manipulates him into killing the king but she does not convince him to become king for his sake. She manipulates her husband into killing King Duncan because she wants to be queen, which is the highest honor she would be able to achieve. Her greed and thirst for power costs her everything ultimately, but all she can think about at the time is her lust for power. She’d go so far to killing the king herself if it came down to it. Lady Macbeth even promised to murder her own son if it to prevent the prophecy that a man born from a woman can slain Macbeth in a bid to become king. She did not do it out of love for her husband, Lady Macbeth did it because she lusted after the power she would attain from being queen. If she did it out of love, she would have thought twice before devising the plan, or thought twice about their future children and the possibility of having a son instead of swearing to kill her son if she were to give birth to one....