There Once Was a ______ Who Was ________

Reading fairytales in this class has been such a treat. Yes, because they're much easier to swallow than Kors and Peters, sure, but also because none of them are what they seem. I've always (well, at least since I've been in school) known that they are far from innocent tales and that they typically have dark and twisted morals, but I never realized just quite how dark they truly are. The first batch of readings were mostly fairytales that I've heard of before and they only had a few bits of variation to them, but out of this group of assigned tales, I've never heard of any of them before. Contrary to the majority of people, I didn't really grow up on fairytales. My favorite books when I was younger were the watered down classics for kids, the Little House on the Prairie books and odd things like The Magic Treehouse and Secrets of Droon series. When I was even younger, I liked things like Eric Carle and love the Very Hungry Caterpillar and Papa, Please Get The Moon for Me (which is why I chose The Moon as one of my picks)

But besides the hidden innuendos, dark themes and double-meanings, the aspect of these tales that I can really appreciate are the patterns. Dr. Sandona talked about fairytales during his portion of the Approaches to Literature class when he discussed structuralism, and now that I can get past the organization and categorizing that broke the rules of Literature and drove me nuts from this school of theory, I absolutely understand what he was saying: there is only one story.

 While I hate the thought that every story can be traced back to a few different patterns, I will admit that the majority of stories and tales can be predicted to end a certain way. Once in a while, we'll get that jaw-dropping surprise ending, but after you've read enough books, you can pretty much guess the ending. With fairytales, this seems to always be the case. Maybe we didn't know that this stepmother was going to decapitate her son and let his head roll into a trunk of apples, but we knew that she didn't like him and that her jealous and disgust wasn't going to lead this boy into a happy ending.
                                   
                                      


There are distinct patterns in all of these stories, and while not all of them follow one specific pattern, there are a good two or three that we can categorize together into groups of similar stories. For example, The Three Snake Leaves, The Riddle and The Shoes That Were Danced to Pieces are three different tales that all have similar patterns. In each of these, there is one princess, or twelve princesses, who each have some sort of quirk, but the king promises that if a prince can solve this quirk or is willing to accept it, he will be able to marry the princess, and if not, he will die. It's also interesting to note that all of these princesses are beautiful. The only quality they are ever given is beauty and the only reason a prince caves to follow her's or the king's orders is because she has such great beauty. In fact, beauty seems to be their only redeeming quality. The princess in The Three Snake Leaves, grows out of love with the prince, lusts after another man and kills the prince even after he has managed to revive her life and was willing to be buried alive with her. In The Riddle, the princess doesn't know the value of all the men who have lost their lives and thinks it's laughable that they are killed if she solves their puzzle. Even when she doesn't have the answer, she will not accept defeat and take the man as her betrothed, she lies and cheats to get the answer with the hopes that this prince will die too. And the twelve princesses are so vain and self-composed that they (except the youngest) never think it would be possible for a prince to outsmart them.

In a way, this pattern can be seen as empowering because these women all believe they can outsmart men and have their own plans. However, it always takes a turn for the worst because man trumps woman each time and the princess ends up punished or married. In fact, in all of these fairytales, once a woman is beyond the age of a little girl like Gretel, she is seen as manipulative, with high orders demanded of men and selfish or she's a downright evil stepmother/mother or a witch! The only innocent females are ones who can be classified as children and anyone who is older is never as intelligent, witty or resourceful as a man. It's sad that while it appears innocent on the surface, there are certainly misogynistic undertones in fairytales. We've always known the damsel in distress pattern, but even when that is not the case on the surface, women seem to always be getting themselves into trouble, or at least, that is how it is presented. Fairytales have never quite been for children, but it's children who read them and have lessons ingrained in them from the start whether they know it or not, and it's only when we've grown out of innocence ourselves that we can see what we read as children wasn't quite as innocent as we'd thought. There is absolute comfort in a pattern and that's why we're soothed by fairytales and tell them to our children, but what are we really teaching them?

Curiosity

All I can say is Thank the Lord for Sparknotes. I have always struggled with comprehending and analyzing readings in modern day English, let alone older English. Sparknotes has been extremely helpful because next to the original text, they have the modern text, which makes it much easier to understand because when I got confused I could just slide my eyes over to the other side. The summaries at the end of each scene were also very helpful to conclude everything. I have not read many plays written by Shakespeare, only Romeo and Juliet and Macbeth. I did not enjoy Romeo and Juliet, but I did really like Macbeth so I am curious to see how I will feel about the Temptest.

Act I Scene I did not particularly interest me. Although it did remind me of Life with Pi just because it was about a ship during a storm. Though, this is the only similarity. I do think starting a story or play off with an action scene is a great way to get the reader’s attention though, just not for me personally.

Act I Scene II was much more interesting. I enjoyed hearing the different background stories. I still am a little confused about Prospero and his brother and the ship, but I am hoping after class, or as we continue to read that that will make more sense.

I have already learned to like Ariel and Miranda. I am not quite sure how I feel about Ferdinand though; I have not read enough in the play to know much about him. Prospero seems to be a cool wizard. I feel bad that he had an evil brother that usurped him.As for Caliban, I am not a fan. He does seem to have some evil in him. But why? I want to learn more about Ariel and Caliban and how they lived with the witch Sycorax. I am also looking forward to seeing how the love of Miranda and Ferdinand either blossoms or withers.

I am looking forward to read more and find out about the characters, even though it is a hard reading.

Lets Give 'em Something to Talk About

I hate to admit that I closed Kors and Peters with a satisfied smirk on my face and breathed a very deep sigh of relief. The fact that this chapter was called "Belief, Skepticism, Doubt, Disbelief" was really exciting because these were all aspects of the scare that was witchcraft, but it was also the order of the chaos throughout the years. The belief came first and spread like wildfire, with wild accusations and fingerpointing until everyone thought everyone else was a witch. The skeptics came as the knowledge grew, like people who were supposed to be trusted, like church officials, knowing a suspicious amount about witchcraft. Should we have been skeptical of witchcraft existing or should we have been skeptical about who was fighting it? Doubt came following soon after due to the sources of facts being unreliable and too convenient at times and the finally, disbelief came into play. Disbelief meaning that the belief in witchcraft was gone for the most part, but also the shock and disbelief that this had gotten so largely blown out of proportion. It went from a spark of an idea to a forest fire to nothing. But I don't understand how something like this just disappears.

I could understand if new evidence came forward that called off all inklings of witchcraft, but there never was that one end everything epiphany. It just spiraled and spiraled until a few people said, hey, that's enough. In the end, witch trials are deemed useless, and while I agree that they were and that "witches" were tried unfairly, why did nobody try to explore the issue further? Maybe they weren't witches, but something was happening or had to have happened to get these rumors started in the first place? How can a whole part of the world go from being so hellbent on murdering witches to just not caring at all? I feel like this closing should have brought about a new search or a new replacement craze. All of these leaders were on a mission to stop at nothing until they could rid the world of witches and then they just gave up? Why the loss of power and energy? There has to be something more. This chapter said that this time stood by the belief that those who deny Christ are denying God. This would make it clear that anyone who worshipped someone or something other than God was a sinner. So maybe they weren't witches, but what were they? Who or what were they following?

The craze ends with everyone quitting and shoving the issue under the rug. Let people believe what they believe and pretend to be anything they want and they'll be punished in the end. That crazy desire to end all wrongs just vanishes and I can't wrap my head around it. This isn't the conclusion that we have been waiting for. People literally burned at the stake for the craze and now it's just over. So if something could just drop and end this quickly, then why did it even last for so long? Why end now? Was this just a time waster? Now there are new issues and people disobeying God is simply a thing of the past? Was there a new craze or trend that was about to spread?

I'm glad that these trials and the craze itself came to an end, and I wasn't expecting someone to come outside and announce "all witchcraft is a lie. Go back to your lives" or anything, but I also can't fathom how something so big just disappears. Maybe everyone was just so tired of the lies stacking up and the ridiculous time it all consumed that it was deemed a waste of time, but this all seems a little suspicious to me. Like some sort of witchcraft.

Canst thou comprehend?

Literally all I could think about reading The Tempest.

Fun Fact: The song Ariel sings that starts out "Full fathom five" was sang by a group on campus.

So, The Tempest. I was able to catch the jist of it. But I am so caught up in the abbreviated 'the's and other words, and by the curse that Prospero wanted to put on Caliban when he said something that just seemed like he was complaining. Poor guy just wants his land back! Prospero is a manipulating little jerk! In the pre-reading of the play, they were talking about how the characters could be both a villain and a hero, especially talking about Prospero. I'm sorry, but this guy deserves no such title. He made me so angry. The same with the men on the boat. I think my favorite part from scene one was, "Gonzalo: Good, yet remember whom thou hast aboard. Boatswain: None that I love more than myself." BURN, GONZALO! Your Boatswain could careless what happens to you and the mighty men on board.

This is going to be a frustrating play to read. I LOVE DRAMA! .....

Is Merlin Really Dead? Dun Dun DUNNNNNNNNN!!!

Hey guys, Peter here with another episode of "Your Crazy, But Keep Talking". Okay, so I was going from underline quote to underline quote and went from space to space in between. On the very last page of the "Prose Merlin", where he is entombed in a dark, dank, hole in the ground, the story mentioned how his cries could be heard throughout the land. No they never mention if or when they go silent. So (stick with me here), what if he dug a really deep hole out the bottom and into the air letting him out? I mean he is born of a woman AND a demon. I dont think even a very large boulder could stop him from getting out. He is magically and all powerful and, with those attributes in mind, he is most likely immortal too.


But, that is not why I am writing today. Some of you folks may not know this already, but I am a bit of a conspiracy theorist (yeah, shocking isnt it?). As I sat thinking further and further about Merlin and his so called "death", it hit me. I remembered that when Merlin was born, he was gifted with quite a bit of extra hair. Later on in his life I imagined he got rid of it at least for the sake of holding up appearances or hanging out with royalty. With that hair issue he had, there is a great way he could put it to use----- as a disguise for, say, hiding in plain sight or rather somewhat hidden site in the forests and swamps of the world. after all, in the "Vita Merlini" that we read for last week, he sounded like he enjoyed hanging out in the woods with the animals, at least until he had that McMansion built for him.

That whole idea of living in the woods brings me to my next theory: Merlin is the Sasquatch! *Cue Dramatic gasps from the audience(Lisa, Jennifer thats your cue)* I mean it would explain how there are so many sasquatch, skunk apes, boogey mman, and bigfoot sightings all around the world. He is again very powerful and magical which would make it possible for him to be in two places at once or more. Maybe, he willed the hair on his body to grow thick and matted and began to use fairies as stilts to make him look taller. Or maybe, he really was that tall and thats what made people see him as magical; which makes my sputterings just sound like the insane utterings of a man who should be residing in the looney bin with all the other crazies. But, then again it is possible! so therefore I am not insane I tell you, I swear it! Thanks for listening to my ramblings for the day and goodnight FREDERICK!!
(PS I know these are wookies but I simply could not resist)

He's got the whole world, in his hands!

That's right, God holds the entire world in his hands! All we are to God is a tiny little nut. At least that is what Julian said she saw. This reading was hard to decipher for me because with her deep love and devotion to Christ, I felt I was no where near her level of biblical word use.

I have never really read the bible, my dad would be ashamed.

For this woman to come to such a deep devotion to God, she was almost dead and God came to her and saved her. If God came to me and healed me of all my earthly dilemmas, I would probably spend the rest of my life praising, worshiping, and studying for Christ.

The "let's lock myself away in a tiny box with a tiny window" thing might not have happened though. I feel as if, no matter how little there was in that room, I would still find a distraction to keep me from my goal and purpose of being in that holy cell. I know that sounds bad, but I can not just focus on one thing for more than, maybe, two hours. She did it for years! Just writing in depth about her connection with Christ and his hazelnut.

I suppose my attention span, and what I would be thinking about would  be completely different if I were in medieval times. So this modern day thinking might be making it harder to imagine being in solitude and devoting myself to something spiritual, than it has to be.

CABIN FEVER DRIVES YA CRAZY!

Hey guys, I welcome you all to the world of my mind and its nonsense. I apologize if things get graphic. If you cannot handle it, please run do not walk to your nearest exit. Anyways, I was sitting around reading the selections about Julian Norwich and something struck me as absolutely insane. This women being an anchoress would pretty much sit and rot in an itty-bitty living space not much bigger than a giants’ breadbox. Basically, after I heard about this woman and her wee living arrangements, I had no choice but to check up on how exactly these folks lived. I had to look through Google images and see for myself how unfortunate a living space these really were.

If you refer to the picture to the left, these holes in the wall were literally holes in the wall. These rooms are NOT for the faint of heart or the weak minded. But if you find your only necessities are sleep, eat, defecate, and rinse and repeat, then congratulations you are ready for your life as an anchoress ----- or a teenager. See if you have ever looked up pictures of where hermits live, they have it a lot better. They get to live in a cabin in the woods all alone amongst the animals, the plants, and nature overall. Actually, that sounds like my definition of a good way of living. Easy, Relaxing, and Comforting. But then again, my definition of a good time is sleeping on the dirt in and amongst scary and sometimes unwelcoming critters.

Honestly, the one main concern id have in situations of living alone or with god? What the hell can one possibly do to keep themselves busy for years at a time without any connection to the outside world or other people (at least for the most part). I would literally lose my mind and would end up talking to the dust bunnies, bugs, or even a sports ball id call Wilson. Cabin fever would be my worst enemy in solitude. I’m sure there are people who can last exorbitantly long spans of time talking to themselves and meditating, but if the reality TV Show, Anchoress Factor, ever came on id be out by the first round. Another issue id think about in such a situation is exercise. I mean how much physical activity can you get in a box that is smaller than that woman’s shoe house in that fairytale. I mean I guess you would not live very long without exercise so it would in retrospect make your time in that box significantly shorter, but what do I know. Anyways, hope you’ve enjoyed my nonsense for this evening, seeya later on.

                                                         (Had to do it)

LOL, you're all going to die, probably

Let's face it, after the scare of witch craft was spread, if someone even thought of anything concerning witches, they were convicted as a witch. If you were a girl, you also had no chance. You were a witch if you were a woman because they are "weak" and cannot "control their emotions" as well as men. Women were also easily convinced because of their weakness and sensitivity.

Now, don't get me wrong, I love witch accusations as much as the next person, and reading about how scared that these people were, is kind of funny, but chapter six got a little personal...being a girl and all. I could only imagine how long I would have lasted in that century. Honestly, think about it, I am a girl who does not hold her tongue. I give myself until the age of 15 if I were alive then.

Money and Prestige; the bringer of things

I read through part of chapter seven until I came upon a quote that really struck me and ended up blowing my mind to billions of tiny smithereens, "Men's hearts to every ill incites Th'accursed love of gold…"(KP 233). The motives of most people in this day and age for doing better in their jobs and careers and generally most things, is money and notoriety. Up until reading this selection, I thought that was always a more modern thing to be out for money and prestige. Apparently, I am wrong. money and status has always been the defining factor in all things. prestige is how people have power over others and money is the enabler. you cant have one without the other. They make each other better. Like lewis and clark, or ice and cream, or like cookies and warm milk. Money is so important to people that sometimes people will even sellout their family or friends for it like judas did to jesus. Money can get you anything and everything. Money is the down fall of society. But it can also bring people up. It can just as much bring up a good cause as much as a good one. 

With enough money, you can bring a government crashing down. With enough money, you can bring yourself prestige and notoriety. With increased prestige and notoriety, it can bring boatloads of dough. With such influence and monetary support, you could do anything you wished. See, thats why people want money. It can level the playing field. The devil seems to be the dealer in money. so in that respect, it must be evil or an incentive to evil. Everywhere you look, people seem to be selling their souls for stockings filled with endless gold, or even better, skills that can get them as much gold as possible in the least amount of time. People have been fighting over money for years. usually, the guy with the thickest wallet won. That just seems to lead to better equipment, training, and overall, better soldiers. Money can be a blessing or a curse. too much coin in your pocket can make you sink to the bottom of a lake or it can buy you a boat in an effort to not have that happen. 

The way I look at it, I think money will always sort of be the bane of humanity. It is the reasoning behind why when societies went agricultural, the man with the biggest surplus of food, was the highest up. But, with the evolution of the food systems, as people gained more and more stuff, war and fighting would ensue. Overall, money and its equivalents might bring good tidings and high class, but its no good when your gone from this world to the next.