Fifth Business

Setting – Deptford, a small town “lacking the dignity of outskirts” in Canada

             WWI trenches and a French hospital

             University of Toronto

             Colborne College

             Various locations in Europe and Central America

Author – Robertson Davies

Characters

         Dunstan/Dunstable Ramsay…the narrator, a retired history teacher in his sixties.

         Boy…Dunstan’s childhood bully, the son of a rich father, and a very successful business man. He uses Dunstan as a confidante.

         Mary Dempster…an eccentric and eventually insane woman, “simple” by small town standards, whom Dunstan believes to be a saint.

         Paul Dempster…Mary’s son, born very very very early. He is taught magic by Dunstable and goes on to become a mysterious illusionist known as Magnus Eisengrim.

         Liesl…described as the most hideous looking thing, but is very intellectual. She is the leader of Eisengrim’s production and is a close friend of Dunstan. She is the one to call him “Fifth Business.”

Plot Summary –

The entire novel is written as one long letter/autobiography to the Headmaster of Colborne College from which Dunstan Ramsay has retired.

Ten year-old Dunstable Ramsay walks home from an afternoon of sledding with his lifelong frenemy Percy Boyd Staunton, who is upset because his new, expensive sled does not go as fast as Dunstable’s old one. Percy walks behind Dunstable, throwing snowballs at him occasionally. Dunstable sees the local Baptist Reverend, Amasa Dempster, walking with his pregnant wife, Mary. Percy throws his next snowball. Dunstable dodges the snowball. Instead of hitting its intended target, the snowball hits Mary. She falls. Amasa and Mary do not see who threw the snowball, but Amasa asks Dunstable to help him transport Mary home in his sled.

         When Dunstable gets home, he explains to his mother why he missed dinner. She goes to check on the Dempsters and ends up assisting in the very premature birth of Paul Dempster. Over the next few years, Mrs. Ramsay takes care of the Dempsters, trying to teach Mary “the ropes,” or how to properly be a wife. Mary never “learns” and is deemed “simple” by the town. Dunstable is put in charge of various chores at the Dempsters’ house, so he sees Paul and Mary often. Dunstable becomes fascinated with magic and illusions. He tries to teach himself tricks and uses little Paul as an audience. Paul shows more talent than Dunstable, but when Amasa finds out about the use of playing cards, he bands Dunstable from interacting with the Dempsters.

         Mary goes missing and Dunstable and Mr. Ramsay are recruited in the search party headed out to scan a gravel pit known to be full of tramps. Dunstable is the one to come upon Mary with a Tramp, but the search party is surprised to find the situation to have been consensual. Mary is now the town’s black eye, hated by the town women especially. Amasa resigns as Reverend, and they move to a cottage. Mary is very rarely seen outside of the house again. Dunstable starts to secretly visit her and Paul, learning that she is tied up.

         Dunstable’s older brother, Willie, suffers from chronic illness. Dunstable is left to sit with him one afternoon, and Willie dies. In shock, Dunstable runs to Mrs. Dempster, cuts her rope, and runs back home with her. She speaks softly to Willie’s body, and he wakes up. No one believes Dunstable, and the presence of Mary strains Dunstable’s already unstable relationship with Mrs. Ramsay. Willie dies less than a year later after enlisting.

         Against the wishes of his parents, Dunstable enlists. Life in the trenches is gruesome. One night, Dunstable takes out a German machine gun nest, but his left leg is wounded beyond recovery in his escape. While crawling through the mud, a flare makes visible a stature of Mary with the face of Mary Dempster. He passes out.

         Dunstable wakes up in a French hospital several months later. He recovers and learns to handle a fake leg with the support of a nurse named Diana. Dunstable learns that his parents dies of the flu outbreak and that he was awarded the VC. He and Diana grow close, and though they decide to not get married, Diana renames Dunstable Dunstan.

         Dunstan is welcomed back in Deptford, finding Percy an army major and engaged to Leola Cruikshank. He also learns that Paul ran away with the circus, Amasa died, and mary went insane and was sent to live with a relative.

         Dunstan gets his masters in History of the U of Toronto. Percy changes his name to Boy and idolizes prince Edward. Boy becomes rich off the stock market and offers advice to Dunstan in exchange for Dunstan being his rant-ee.

Dunstan starts teaching at Colborne College. Leola and Boy marry. Both parties travel to Europe. There, Dunstan looks for the Madonna statue he saw in WWI and becomes fascinated with hagiology.

Dunstan recognizes a speaker that comes to Colborne to be the tramp he saw with Mary. The tramp claims that it was because of Mary that he is reformed. Dunstan sees this as another of Mary’s miracles. Dunstan goes back to Deptford to find out where Mary is. He speaks with the Catholic priest there, who warms him that Mary is, if anything, a fool saint.

Dunstan finds Mary with her Aunt. Dunstan is only allowed to see Mary if he meets her as someone new and doesn’t remind her of the past. When her Aunt dies, she leaves the care of Mary to Dunstan. At that time, Dunstan can only afford to place Mary in a public hospital at which she is miserable.

Dunstan searches to learn more about saints. While in Austria, he goes to the circus and sees Paul Dempster acting as a magician of the name Faustus Legrand. Paul does not particularly welcome Dunstan, and Dunstan leaves missing his wallet. Eventually, Dunstan’s expertise in hagiology gets him published by the Bollandists. He is welcomed by them and befriends an eccentric priest who tells him that Mary Dempster’s life is not his doing. Dunstan goes on to publish a book about saints.

Tips from Boy save Dunstan from the Depression. As Boy gets richer and richer and loves an unfaithful life, Leola does not keep up and fails to transcend to the higher social class. There marriage crumbles in front of their two children. On Christmas, Leola unsuccessfully tries to seduce Dunstan and kill herself, only to die of pneumonia later.

Boy becomes wholly involved in the WWII effort. Dunstan is made temporary headmaster of the school, but after the war, is deemed too eccentric to be kept in that role. Years later, Boy tries running for office, but makes very little progress, and marries a strategic woman who does not approve of Dunstan.

         Dunstan goes to Mexico and watches a truly remarkable magic show. The magician is again Paul, now called Magnus Eisengram. His partner, Liesl, a manly and apparently grotesque looking woman, hire Dunstan to write Eisengram’s autobiography. Now part of the entourage, Dunstan even helps create new acts for the show. He falls in love with the show’s prettiest showgirl, Faustina, only to discover her relationship with Liesl. Liesl knows Dunstan almost walked in on her and Faustina and approaches him about it. They beat each other up physically after Liesl tries to seduce Dunstan. Liesl returns and tells Dunstan that she had intended for him to get angry. She explains to him that he has been acting as “Fifth Business” his whole life. They sleep together but become lasting friends.

         Dunstan makes the mistake of telling Mary that he found Paul. The news sends Mary into a more violent madness. However, the success of Eisengram’s autobiography allows Dunstan to move her to a more comfortable private hospital. She dies there.

         Dunstan goes to Europe again to visit the priest he’s met with the Bollandists. During this trip, he finds the Madonna statue from WWI.

         Boy is found dead in his car. A rock is found inside his mouth. Dunstan thinks the rock is the one inside the fateful snowball and Paul is the killer. When Eisengram came to Toronto, Dunstan and Boy met with him after his show. Everything hidden among the three is revealed, though Boy still denies his responsibility. When they part, Dunstan notices that the rock is missing.

         Dunstan has a heart attack at the next show after an audience member asks who killed Boy and Liesl gives him a meaningful answer. Liesl feels guilty and offers Dunstan to accompany the show.

Dunstan ends his letter to the Headmaster.

          

Theme – 
Narrative Voice/Author’s Style –

The majority of the narrative is in first person, though sometimes we are reminded that it is a letter when Dunstan briefly switches to second person. The tone is at times satirical/humorous, grave, or guilty, and Dunstan’s prose can sometimes come off as overbearing, arrogant, or pompous. He states that he will do his best not to tell his life story with an air, but fails, even in his descriptions of his mistakes/faults.

Mary Dempster is a Virgin Mary-like character, even sharing the name.

Dunstan, Boy, and Paul all change their names when they feel a new phase in their lives beginning.

The stone symbolizes the emotional burden, the guilt, Dunstan carries with him his whole life, preventing him from letting go/truly living.

Quotes –

Liesl: We all think of ourselves as stars and rarely recognize it when we are indeed mere supporting characters.
No one particularly is willing to accept that their important role may be in someone else's story, to help them come to something.

Blazon: Forgive yourself for being a human creature, Ramezay. That is the beginning of wisdom.
Dunstan has been held back by his guilt.

Liesl: You must get to know your personal devil. 
Know yourself, including/especially the darkest, worst parts of yourself, instead of living wholly for/through others. 

Hamlet

Setting – Elsinore, Kingdom of Denmark

Author ­– Shakespeare

Characters –

         Hamlet…was a student before King Hamlet died. He stays at Elsinore against his wishes, hating Denmark for its extravagance. Hamlet struggles throughout the play with whether to kill his uncle, kill himself, or do neither. Everything from Hamlet’s sanity to his love for Ophelia is uncertain. He can often be found making long soliloquies asking unanswerable questions about life, the afterlife, and fate. His foils are Laertes (son of Polonius/Ophelia’s brother/Hamlet’s friend) and Young Fortinbras (Prince of Norway)

         King Claudius…killed his brother for both the throne and Gertrude, though the extent of his care for Gertrude is questionable. Claudius knows he should feel guilty but also knows that he would not give up what he has won. His go-to guy is Polonius, though he does not feel much after Polonius’s death.

         Queen Gertrude…finds herself torn between her son and her husband, acting in one’s favor at one point and the other’s at another.

         Ophelia…is Polonius’s daughter and, at one time was, Hamlet’s fiancé. She gets caught up in Polonius’s and Claudius’s doings against Hamlet, losing his trust. In the process, she loses her sanity.

Horatio…is meant to be the play’s skeptic/scholar. He is also Hamlet’s true friend and confidante.

Plot Summary –

King Hamlet of Denmark has recently died. His brother, Claudius, who also married his wife and queen, Gertrude, took the throne. The play starts with the nightly watch. Marcellus and Bernardo bring the disbelieving Horatio to see a ghost they have seen twice before. When the ghost appears, Horatio identifies it as the ghost of King Hamlet. The ghost will not speak to them, and the three vow to tell young Prince Hamlet about what they have seen. It is also revealed that there is tension between Denmark and Norway because King Hamlet won land from Norway after killing King Fortinbras thirty years ago. Young Fortinbras is said to be on a mission of revenge.

Laertes, Hamlet’s friend, the son of Claudius’s closest advisor (Polonius), and Ophelia’s brother, is given the King’s blessing to return to school in France. The visibly still-upset/grieving Hamlet, however, is not to return to school in Wittenberg. Alone, Hamlet expresses his desire to die when suicide goes against the tenants of religion and remembers when his father was alive, scorning his mother for marrying so soon. Horatio walks in with Marcellus. They tell him what they have seen, and they agree to show Hamlet later that night.

Laertes says farewell to Ophelia, warning her not to sleep with Hamlet because Hamlet must eventually become King of Denmark and is subject to the nation. Ophelia calls him a hypocrite, and their conversation is interrupted by Polonius. Polonius gives Laertes conniving advice before he parts, and then proceeds to call Ophelia a ridiculous fool for thinking Hamlet would ever love her seriously (even though they’re engaged) and forbids her from contacting him.

Hamlet meets the ghost with Horatio and Marcellus, but the ghost beckons Hamlet away. Against the judgment of his friends, Hamlet follows the ghost. The ghost tells him in detail of his murder at the hand of Claudius, ordering Hamlet to seek revenge, but to leave his mother unharmed. Hamlet agrees, saying that he will be dedicated whole-heartedly to the mission. Hamlet then makes Marcellus and Horatio promise multiple times to never repeat the events of that night to anyone.

Claudius and Gertrude send Hamlet’s childhood friends Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to spy on Hamlet. Ambassadors return from Norway with the King’s word that Fortinbras will not attack Denmark. Polonius, believing he has found the reason for Hamlet’s odd behavior, announces to the King and Queen Hamlet’s love for Ophelia. He tells him of a scheme he wants to carry out and meets Hamlet alone. Hamlet acts insane. When Polonius leaves, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern enter. Hamlet sees through them, but they cover themselves by announcing the arrival of a theater troupe. Hamlet creates a plan to prove to himself whether the ghost can be trusted or not: he will have the players enact a player similar to the story the ghost told, and if Claudius is made upset by this, Hamlet will know that the ghost was honest and not a demon from hell.

Polonius and Claudius spy on an arranged meeting between Ophelia and Hamlet. Before Ophelia enters, Hamlet gives his “To be, or not to be” soliloquy, again contemplating death, this time held back by the fear of the unknown. Ophelia enters under the pretense of returning gifts Hamlet had sent her. Hamlet reacts angrily, entering into a tirade about women and ordering Ophelia to a nunnery and storming away. Polonius and Claudius come out, now believing Hamlet’s madness not to be caused by love. Claudius orders Polonius to send Hamlet to Gertrude after the play and to spy on their conversation.

Before the play, Hamlet confides in Horatio and asks him to watch Claudius with Hamlet during the performance. He also warns Horatio of his crazy-act. During the play, Hamlet makes a series of sexual references to Ophelia until Claudius reacts as Hamlet thought he might, and the play is abruptly ended.

Claudius asks R&G to accompany Hamlet to England. After a brief rendezvous with Polonius, Claudius expresses his guilt in a prayer. Hamlet sees him praying and almost enacts his revenge until the fear of sending Claudius to heaven stops him. He goes to his mother. Gertrude scolds Hamlet for upsetting Claudius, and in return, Hamlet scolds her for the death of King Hamlet. Gertrude cries out, and Polonius moves from his hiding spot only for Hamlet to mistake him for Claudius and kill him. As Hamlet and Gertrude react, the ghost appears to Hamlet, but Gertrude cannot see him. The ghost reminds Hamlet of his mission and disappears. Hamlet tries to tell Gertrude that he ahs only been acting insane, begging her to support him and not sleep with Claudius again. Hamlet recognizes that he must leave for England, and departs with Polonius’s body.

Gertrude runs to Claudius and tells him of Hamlet’s madness and murder of Polonius. Worried about how the public may view the events, Claudius decides to expedite Hamlet’s trip to England. R&G find Hamlet and ask him for Polonius’s body. They take him to Claudius, who sends them to England right away. Claudius then reveals that Hamlet is meant to be killed upon his arrival in England.

Fortinbras and his army want to pass through Denmark on their way to Poland and send a captain to ask for Claudius’s permission. The captain meets with Hamlet and tells him of the conflict between Poland and Norway. Hamlet admires Fortinbras’s action and hates himself for being too passive with his revenge, taking new initiative.

A troubled Ophelia, singing songs and wearing vines/flowers, meets Horatio and Gertrude. Claudius enters, warning of Laertes and a mob he’s raised to take over the Kingdom to avenge Polonius’s death. Laertes confronts Claudius, but Gertrude attests to Claudius’s innocence. Claudius tells Laertes that he, too, seeks revenge.

Horatio receives a letter from Hamlet that says his ship was taken over by pirates and he has returned to Denmark.

Claudius and Laertes plan Hamlet’s death until Gertrude enters, announcing that Ophelia has drowned herself (implying that she was also pregnant).

Hamlet and Horatio find two gravediggers digging in the graveyard. They ask the one who remains who is to be buried, but the information is not extracted easily. Hamlet does not find out that it’s Ophelia until he witnesses the funeral from afar. At the funeral, Laertes jumps into the grave with Ophelia and makes a scene. Hamlet reveals himself, declaring that he loved Ophelia and jumping into the grave to fight Laertes. The two are pulled apart.

Hamlet tells Horatio that he discovered Claudius’s plan to kill him and of how he changed to order to have R&G killed instead. The courtier Osric comes to tell Hamlet that Claudius bet that Hamlet will beat Laertes in a fencing match. Hamlet, knowing that he will die, agrees to the match. Before they start fighting, Hamlet apologizes and asks for Laertes’ forgiveness. Claudius declares that he and hamlet will drink if Hamlet strikes the first blow, which he does, but he declines the drink. Gertrude decides to drink from the cup when Hamlet next hits Laertes. The King is too late in warning her that he has poisoned the cup. Laertes hits Hamlet with his poisoned sword, but Hamlet also manages to strike Laertes with the same sword.

Gertrude falls and dies. Laertes follows not without confessing to Hamlet what has happened and making amends. Hamlet stabs Claudius and makes him drink from the cup, killing him. Hamlet says goodbye to Horatio, bidding him to tell his story and make Fortinbras, who approaches, king of Denmark. Hamlet dies. Fortinbras enters with English ambassadors who announce R&G’s deaths. Fortinbras orders Hamlet to have a soldier’s burial.

Theme – Uncertainty plagues/clouds every aspect of life, including death, ambitions, and love, and attempting to control the forces outside of one's will is futile and ruinous.
Narrative Voice/Author’s Style – Shakespeare’s lack of stage directions leaves much of the interpretation of Hamlet ambiguous, dependent on the particular performance/actors’ nuances. This, however, fits with the play’s overwhelming sense of uncertainty: just as the characters are uncertain of themselves and of each other, the audience is as well. But it can be agreed that the tone grows darker as the play progresses, opening with a tension-filled first scene and ending with a harrowing sea of death. Shakespeare often uses the body or body parts (head, ears, veins) to represent all of the state of Denmark, emphasizing that the health of many relies on the health of one. He also uses imagery and description of disease and sickness to demonstrate the behavior of corruption (it spreads like a sickness). The skull Hamlet ponders upon in the graveyard serves as a symbol that we all come to dust. Both Yorik the jester and Alexander the Great ultimately came to the same fate.

Quotes –

Horatio: This bodes some strange eruption to our state.

Hamlet: Foul deeds will rise.

Marcellus: Something is rotten in the state of Denmark.

Three characters foreshadow the tragic events of the play.

Hamlet: What’s Hecuba to him, or he to Hecuba, That he should weep for her?
Hamlet laments about his internal conflict, that he is even struggling at all to act. 

Laertes: His will is not his own. For he himself is subject to his birth…For on his choice depends the safety and health of this whole state.
Laertes expresses Hamlet's duty and obligation, identifying him as really without free will. 

Pride and Prejudice

Setting – Primarily a fictional town in 19^th century England

Author – Jane Austen, who never married and was supported by her father and brother

Characters –

         Elizabeth…is the second oldest/prettiest of the Bennet sisters. She is confidant, especially in her ability to judge people (making her “prejudice”), and only wants to marry for love, which is honestly impractical for the time in which she lives. Her number one priority is the happiness of her sister, Jane.

Darcy…initially comes off as pompous and antisocial, but we learn that he is a dedicated older brother and kind on the inside. He faces the pressures of social class that initially make his attraction to Lizzy unacceptable.

         Jane…is reserved and very pure. She is not forward, and this loses her the company of Bingley temporarily. She believes in the best in people, though not in herself. She is the oldest/prettiest of the Bennets.

         Mr. and Mrs. Bennet…are essentially opposites of each other and the parents of Jane, Elizabeth, and the rest of the Bennet sisters.

         Mr. Bingley…is Darcy’s best friend and Jane’s love interest.

         Mr. Wickham…is an officer in the militia with a complicated past with the Darcys.

         Lydia Bennet…is the youngest of the Bennet sisters and the most selfish/like her mother.

         Mr. Collins…is a cousin to the Bennets, a clergyman, and the man set to inherit the Bennet estate.

Plot Summary –

The Bennet family hears news that a wealthy gentleman of the name Bingley is moving into a nearby manor. Mrs. Bennet, determined to get one of her five unmarried daughters married off to an affluent man, insists that Mr. Bennet meet with Bingley. Mr. Bennet feigns disinterest, visiting him nonetheless. Bingley returns the visit, and later brings his sisters and friend Mr. Darcy to the manor with him.

         The Bingley party and the Bennets attend a ball at which Bingley shows interest in the oldest Bennet daughter, Jane. At this ball, Darcy acts extremely unapproachable, earning the dislike of the public. Elizabeth, the second oldest Bennet daughter, overhears Darcy insult her.

Bingley’s sisters acquaint themselves with Jane and Elizabeth, and while Jane and Bingley grow closer, Darcy finds himself curiously attracted to Elizabeth, which does not suit Bingley’s sister’s desires.

The Bingleys invite Jane over to their manor. Mrs. Bennet hatches a scheme in which Jane will get sick, and therefore will have to stay with the Bingleys for more than a day. Her plan works, and Jane falls ill. Elizabeth walks the full three miles to the manor to take care of her sister. The Bingley sisters scoff at her action while Bingley and Darcy defend her.

During Jane’s and Elizabeth’s stay, Elizabeth witnesses Miss Bingley’s affinity for Darcy and learns of his close relationship with his little sister. Darcy grows more attracted to Elizabeth, to Miss Bingley’s dismay, as Elizabeth shows more independence, but he doesn’t like this because Elizabeth is not of his social class.

Elizabeth and Jane go home. The relative set to inherit the Bennet property after Mr. Bennet dies, Mr. Collins, comes to visit. He talks endlessly of his neighbor, Lady Catherine, and acts pompously. While visiting a nearby town with the Bennet sisters, they meet Mr. Wickham, a charming man there with the militia. Darcy and Bingley also pass by, and tension is obvious between Wickham and Darcy, which intrigues Elizabeth. Wickham is invited to dine with the Bennets, and he and Elizabeth talk and discuss Darcy. Elizabeth trusts Wickham and develops a crush on him while her dislike for Darcy grows.

Bingley throws a ball. Elizabeth was looking forward to dancing with Wickham, but he doesn’t show up. She instead dances with Mr. Collins twice and even with Darcy. Mr. Collins find out about Darcy’s relation to Lady Catherine and introduces/embarrasses himself, not noticing Darcy’s poor response.

Mr. Collins proposes to Elizabeth. Elizabeth denies repeatedly, but Mr. Collins foolishly thinks that she’s following some sort of custom until Mrs. Bennet tells him that she’ll force Elizabeth to marry him. Mr. Bennet allows Elizabeth to make her own decision, upsetting Mrs. Bennet. Mr. Collins proposes to their neighbor/Elizabeth’s best, pragmatic friend, Charlotte, later that week. Elizabeth is shocked by the news and doesn’t want to accept that her friend would marry such a man.

Miss Bingley sends Jane a letter saying that they have all returned to London with no plans of returning and heavily implying that Bingley will marry Darcy’s sister. Elizabeth tells Jane that Miss Bingley is only creating this situation, but Jane doesn’t believe her.

         Jane is invited to stay in London with Mrs. Bennet’s brother and sister-in-law, the Gardiners, when they come to visit. Mrs. Gardiner observes Elizabeth, too, disapproving of Wickham. From London, Jane writes to Lizzy that she called upon Miss Bingley, but that Miss Bingley was distant and cold. Jane now believes Lizzy in her assessment of why the Bingley’s left.

         Lizzy and Wickham lose interest in each other.

         Lizzy sets off to spend time with Charlotte and Mr. Collins. On her way there, she visits Jane and the Gardiners, who plan to take her on a tour later in the year. Charlotte, Mr. Collins, and Elizabeth dine with Lady Catherine, a very unpleasant and condescending woman. Her daughter is “sickly,” but Lady Catherine has already decided that she will be marrying Darcy. Darcy visits Lady Catherine with his cousin Colonel Fitzwilliam. The two also visit Elizabeth and Charlotte. Lizzy likes the colonel, and the three of them see each other often. In conversation, Fitzwilliam lets slip that Darcy prevented an imprudent marriage for Bingley, angering Lizzy. Later, to Lizzy surprise, Darcy proposes to Lizzy. In doing so, he ends up insulting her heritage. Lizzy refuses the offer and lets Darcy know exactly why she refuses.

         Darcy writes Lizzy a letter explaining, but not necessarily apologizing for, his actions concerning Jane, Bingley, and Wickham. Lizzy is conflicted after reading the letter, unsure of what she feels about Darcy. Both Lizzy and Jane return home. Lizzy tells Jane about Wickham, but they decide to keep it private. She sees Wickham one more time before the militia leaves for Brighton, but they do not act the same as they did before to each other; both have their guard up. Lydia accompanies the militia to Brighton while Elizabeth goes off with the Gardiners for the summer.

         Elizabeth agrees to tour Darcy’s estate, Pemberley, because she thinks he won’t be home. There, Darcy’s housekeeper raves about him extensively, and Mrs. Gardiner cannot see why Lizzy felt any ill will towards him. Darcy does show up, and he acts charming and polite to the Gardiners, further confusing Lizzy. He even wishes for Lizzy to meet his little sister, Georgiana. Georgiana and Lizzy get along well, but Miss Bingley is also present and openly cold to Lizzy.

         Jane sends Lizzy two letters. They are rushed and say that Lydia has run off with Wickham. Distressed, Lizzy calls for her aunt and uncle, but Darcy finds her and cannot comfort her. They both blame themselves for the situation. Lizzy and the Gardiners leave at once.

         The family waits while Mr. Gardiner meets Mr. Bennet in London to help search for Lydia and Wickham, but Mr. Bennet returns home after being unsuccessful. Mr. Gardiner writes the Bennet’s, telling them that the two were found and an arrangement made. Everyone believes that the Gardiners are paying Wickham off, but Lizzy learns that it was Darcy who saved the family’s reputation. Her opinion of him has now reversed entirely.

         Lydia is completely oblivious to the consequences of her actions, and everyone but her mother and Kitty is happy to see her leave. Mr. Bennet forbids Kitty from visiting her.

         Bingley returns from London with Darcy. Bingley returns his attentions on Jane, and the two become engaged.

Lady Catherine visits Elizabeth. She accuses Elizabeth of a relationship with Darcy, and orders her not to accept an offer of marriage from him if she has not already done so. Elizabeth, surprised that Lady Catherine has heard that Darcy still intends to marry her, does not promise her anything, and Lady Catherine is forced to leave dissatisfied.

Mr. Collins sends a letter to Mr. Bennet also warning of Lizzy’s and Darcy’s engagement, and Mr. Bennet, who still thinks Lizzy loathes Darcy, brushes the idea off with a laugh. But Darcy does return and asks Mr. Bennet for permission to marry Lizzy. Mr. Bennet only requires that Lizzy is sure that she loves Darcy. She is, and the two become engaged.

Lizzy and Darcy and Jane and Bingley marry. Bingley buys an estate near Darcy’s. And they live happily ever after, etc.

Theme –Societal pressures and expectations create potentially damaging/blinding pride and prejudice and should not be put before/motivate the individual's sense of self.
Narrative Voice/Author’s Style – P&P is written in the third person, limited point of view. We see and experience most things as Elizabeth does, often with direct access to her thoughts, and therefore we tend to share her opinions, too. The tone is comedic, often mocking the attitudes of Mrs. Bennet and the pompousness of Mr. Collins. Both characters are very focused on social class and connections.

Quotes –

“It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.”

“Without thinking highly either of men or matrimony, marriage had always been her object; it was the only provision for well-educated young women of small fortune.”

         These two quotes establish the society’s expectations

Elizabeth, to Mr. Collins: You could not make me happy, and I am convinced that I am the last woman in the world to make you so. 
This quote demonstrates Elizabeth's priorities and strong sense of self as well as her prejudice, though if there's one character who's earned her prejudice, it's Mr. Collins.

Elizabeth: I have courted prepossession and ignorance, and driven reason away, where either were concerned. Till this moment, I never knew myself.
Elizabeth has reached her moment of self-knowledge, realizing that she had been closed-minded, blinded by her own faults.

American Dream

Setting – The living room of an apartment

Author – American playwright Edward Albee, who once said, “Writing should be useful. If it can't instruct people a little bit more about the responsibilities of consciousness, there's no point in doing it.”

Characters –

         Mommy…clearly wears the pants in her and Daddy’s relationship, emasculating him at every opportunity. She uses shopping to satisfy the needs not met by her marriage and lacks tact. She married Daddy for his money and thinks she’s entitled to it. Grandma’s presence annoys her, and she seeks to put Grandma in a home.

         Daddy…is obedient to Mommy. To escape her, he says he goes to the men’s club. But around Mommy, Daddy often repeats what she says. He also has to have his masculinity validated by her (“Was I firm?” “Oh, very firm.”) He is more sympathetic towards Grandma, acting more like she’s his mother than Mommy’s. Grandma warned him not to marry Mommy.

         Grandma…is a “meta” character–she seems to know what’s going on and even breaks the fourth wall at the play’s end. She often laments on what happens, or how one is treated, after they’ve grown old. Her behavior and what she says around Mommy and Daddy cannot always be trusted, however. She puts on an act in front of them.

         Mrs. Barker…is often referred to in the plural. She is the “they,” but even calls herself “we.” She literally works for Bye-Bye Adoption Service and also serves as head of the woman’s club. Her husband is in a wheelchair.

         Young Man…takes the form of a handsome Midwestern boy. Grandma right-out dubs him the “American Dream,” but he feels a perpetual sense of incompleteness. His fortune was the result of the murder of a twin (a “bumble” originally adopted by Mommy and Daddy). He recognizes that he has no talents and is in desperate want of money.

Plot Summary –

Mommy and Daddy are sitting on opposite sides of the living room, complaining about the lateness of an unknown “they.” Mommy begins to tell Daddy about going to buy a new hat, repeatedly pausing to make sure Daddy is paying attention by asking him to repeat her last remark. Mommy had bought a hat another “they” had told her was of the color beige. Coming out of whatever shop, Mommy passed by the “dreadful” chairman of her woman’s club, who told Mommy that her hat was not beige; it was wheat. Mommy returned to the shop, threw a tantrum, and the employees took that hat back and presented her with an identical, wheat-colored hat. Mommy and Daddy then complain about the lack of satisfaction “these days,” with a few interjected complaints about “they’re” continuing tardiness.

Grandma enters with nicely wrapped boxes in her arms. She won’t tell Mommy and Daddy for what they are, eventually dumping them around Daddy’s feet. Daddy addresses Grandma’s whimpering in the bathroom, for which Mommy makes him apologize. Grandma talks about how one is treated differently with old age, and exits. Mommy tells Daddy about how when she was young and poor, Grandma would wrap her a nice box for lunch, which Mommy would not eat, so that when she returned home from school, Grandma could. They talk about putting Grandma in a nursing home and about how Mommy is entitled to living off of Daddy because she married him.

Grandma returns with more boxes and again dumps them at Daddy’s feet. Grandma snaps at Daddy for having married Mommy when she had warned him not to. Mommy and Daddy complain more about “they’re” lateness, and Grandma repeatedly asks “who?” without receiving an answer. Grandma wants to stay and watch, but Mommy tells her to go to bed…at noon. She stays.

The doorbell rings, and all of a sudden, Daddy is hesitant to continue. Mommy says what Daddy wants to hear just to get him to open the door. Mrs. Barker, whom M&D continue to refer to in the plural, enters, and M&D are very blunt in telling her that she was late. Grandma cannot see her (at first?) To make her more comfortable, M&D continue to request that she remove clothing until she’s down to her knickers. M&D ask Mrs. Barker why she’s there, and the three of them speculate if it’s because of Grandma’s boxes.

         Grandma makes it clear that Mrs. Barker is not there for the boxes; Daddy consistently has to ask Mrs. Barker to repeat her name. Grandma, Mommy, and Daddy clash throughout. Mommy insists Daddy take away Grandma’s TV. M&D& Mrs. Barker brainstorm as to why Mrs. Barker is there and are unsuccessful.

Daddy exits, and Mrs. Barker feigns severe thirst to get Mommy to exit, too. Alone with Mrs. Barker, Grandma tells her the story of when she last came to see Mommy and Daddy (or, someone very much like Mrs. Barker and people very much like M&D). Mommy hadn’t been able to bear a bumble of joy, so M&D adopted/bought one–one they did not like and ended up killing.

As they talk, Daddy yells from offstage that he cannot find the TV or anything else, and Mommy cannot find the water. Mrs. Barker exits. The doorbell rings, and Grandma greets the Young Man warmly…inappropriately. They discuss his clean-cut Midwestern looks and acting career. He’s looking for work/money. Grandma tells him about how she won a bunch of money in a baking contest with a store-bought, day-old cake, and is therefore able to pay him. The Young Man tells her that he’s incomplete, that his mother died giving birth to him and his twin, and that he lost his twin, too.

Grandma senses M&D&Barker returning, telling the Young Man to go along with her act. She tells Mrs. Barker, the first to come in, that he’s the van man, and she sends the YM to put her boxes in the van. She then tells Mrs. Barker of a plan, tells the returned YM that he will soon understand, and exits the apartment with him. M&D return, and Mrs. Barker presents them with the “van man” in the doorway, their new bumble.

Theme – The American Dream has deteriorated into a superficial framework, devoid of humanity and meaning.
Narrative Voice/Author’s Style – Albee uses the Theater of the Absurd to be very direct, sardonic, and harsh in his criticisms of society. The tone is simultaneously humorous and dark because the subject matter is grim and unhappy. Imagery of the mutilation of Mommy’s and Daddy’s first adopted child is particularly gruesome and unforgiving.

In addition, absurdity allows for the effective use of shock.

He uses the Young Man to show how much the idea of the American Dream has become meaninglessly superficial over time–all glamorous on the outside without any depth on the inside and only able to succeed at the expense of others. Grandma’s boxes also help represent this idea. Mommy and Daddy comment many times on their wrapping but do not investigate their contents. Their contents, however, make up Grandma’s life.

Mrs. Barker’s existence shows how impersonal society and corporate institutions have become. Daddy repeatedly forgets her name, Mommy had forgotten who she was, and she is referred to in the plural.

Albee is very light on stage direction, making the few comments he injects very important.

Quotes –

Mommy: We were very poor! But then I married you, Daddy, and now we’re very rich.

Showing that Mommy was a gold-digger and the priorities of the culture are superficial

Young Man: I’ll do almost anything for money

Another way of pointing out the superficial priorities of the culture, now with an added drug-addict connotation

Young Man: I no longer have the capacity to feel anything. I have no emotions.

Shows how humanity has been lost in the superficiality

Mommy: You can’t get satisfaction.

Shows how pointless the new American Dream is. Once, hard work and perseverance lead to something–happiness. But this new, commercial, corporate, superficial dream gives back as much as is put into it–nothing.

Theme –

Death of a Salesman

Setting – 1940s Brooklyn

Author – American playwright Arthur Miller, wrote ACT I in a day and has said that nothing is wrong with Willy’s mental health

Characters –

Willy…is a 60 year-old salesman, husband, and father. His out-of-whack grasp on time sends him back and forth between memories and the present. He struggles with accepting responsibility for his sons’ failures and false ideas of what life’s priorities should be, believing not in hard work, but in connection, personality, and being well-liked, though he was never good at any of them himself.

Biff…was praised for his sportsmanship in his young years and was brought up on the ideals of his father, whom he idolized. After high school, he is left lost and confused and angry.

Linda…is wholly devoted to Willy and no one else. In her eyes, he does no wrong. She lives to please and protect him even though he is often rude to her.

Happy…never won recognition. As a teen, he strived for the attentions of Biff and Willy. As an adult, he’s a creep and a liar, placating Willy with dishonesty and presenting himself as someone with more of a stake in the company for which he works than is true. He bought into Willy’s ideals, but now is embarrassed by him in social settings.

Plot Summary –          

ACT I:

Sixty year-old Willy Loman returns home in the middle of the night after having had difficulty driving. His wife, Linda, suggests that he ask his boss for a job in their city instead of Willy’s job on the road.

While they talk in the kitchen (with Willy constantly contradicting himself), their grown sons, Biff and Happy, overhear them. Biff is visiting from “out West.” The two talk about the past–about scoring girls–and Happy stresses to Biff the faltering mental capacity of their father. They both complain about their work: Happy about having to obey his bosses (while having affairs with their significant others) and Biff about being seen as a failure and being pulled back to his parents’ home repeatedly.

They hear Willy talking to himself downstairs. Willy is in a memory. In this memory, Willy has just returned from the road, Biff has stolen a football, his schoolmate Bernard warns that Biff is in danger of not graduating, and Willy’s lack of financial success and affairs (which he has with secretaries to gain access to buyers) are revealed.

While lost in this memory, Willy starts shouting, and Happy comes downstairs to quiet him. Happy is unsuccessful, but their neighbor, Charley, comes in and plays cards with Willy. Willy hallucinates that his recently deceased brother Ben is standing by them. Ben talks to Willy about the opportunity in Alaska. Willy yells at Charley, slamming the door in his face, and loses himself in the memory of when Ben came to visit.

            Linda returns to Willy, who leaves to take a walk. Biff and Happy join Linda in the kitchen, and they discuss Willy. Linda tells the boys that Willy has been trying to kill himself but that she loves him too much to ruin his pride. Biff promises to “make good,” and attempt to enter the business world. Willy returns and they tell him of their plan. The next morning, Willy is to ask his boss to stay in the city, and Biff is supposed to ask an old employer for a start-up loan.

ACT II:

            In the morning, Linda serves Willy breakfast. They talk about their final mortgage and refrigerator payments, about growing something in the yard, about Biff’s quest for the day, and about meeting the boys for dinner at a restaurant.

            Willy meets with his boss, Howard, who is gushing over a recording machine. Howard denies Willy his request, and when Willy becomes upset, leaves him to compose himself. When Howard returns, he fires Willy. Willy remembers when Ben offered him a “proposition” in Alaska, but Linda had opposed moving. He also remembers the moments before Biff’s big game until he is back in the present at Charley’s place of work. He talks with Bernard, who is successful and visiting his father before he is to argue a case in front of the Supreme Court. Charley offers Willy a job so that Willy doesn’t have to keep returning to borrow $50 each week, but Willy rejects the offer angrily and leaves.

            At the restaurant, Happy picks up two girls for him and Biff, but when Biff gets there, he tries to explain to Happy his unsuccessful day and how he stole a pen. Happy orders him to hide everything from Willy. Willy arrives, and they all argue as Willy goes in and out of the present. Extremely frustrated and unable to comprehend what their father is saying, Biff and Happy leave. Willy slips into the memory of when Biff discovered his affair after failing out of math class. The discovery of the affair sucks up all of Biff’s motivation to go to summer school and graduate.

            That night, Biff and Happy return home to a very angry Linda. Willy is out planting the garden, muttering to himself/to Ben. Willy is contemplating attempting suicide, again, in order to give his family insurance money. When the four of them come together, they have their final argument. Biff confronts Willy about his suicide attempts and tries to tell Willy that they are both failures and that he will leave and never come back or trouble Willy again. It appears to be resolved, and Biff, Happy, and Linda go upstairs to bed. But Willy goes outside, and crashed his car.

            At the funeral, at which only the immediate family and Charley are present, it is implied that Willy’s plan worked, and Linda made the final house payment. 

Theme ­– The burgeoning "American Dream" is superficial, unforgiving, lonely and rewardless in essence, setting those not meant for it on a futile or destructive path.

Narrative Voice/Author’s Style – mainly told from Willy’s POV.

Miller is very specific and frequent with his stage directions. There are leaves or leafy imagery when the past is being shown. The music is also brighter/lighter in tone for the memory scenes.

Geography is important. While Willy is stuck in Brooklyn, Biff travels out West. Willy’s father found success in Alaska, and his brother found it in Africa.

Willy is always trying to plant seeds in the ground. Though he puts so much emphasis on having connections and being well liked, he strives for something tangible.

Stockings symbolize Willy’s guilt. He buys them for the secretaries with whom he has affairs, but cannot afford to also buy his wife new ones. They are a reminder of his infidelity as well as of his lack of ability to provide for as family as much as he’d like to.

Biff and Happy both steal. Biff steals material things because he, too, strives for tangible things, while Happy “steals” women, trying to prove himself. 
Willy often exclaims, "The woods are burning!" symbolizing his deteriorating life and state of mind. 

Quotes –

Willy (repeated by Biff): He’s liked, but he’s not well liked.

Willy: That’s just the way I’m bringing them up, Ben – rugged, well liked, all around.

Willy: Personality always wins the day!

Willy: That’s the wonder, the wonder of this country, that a man can end with diamonds on the basis of being liked!

            All of these quotes demonstrate Willy’s belief in the superficial American Dream gaining steam in the mid twentieth century.

Willy: Nothing’s planted. I don’t have a thing in the ground.

Willy, who’s lived off his personality his whole life, has nothing to show for it, and nothing to look forward to.

Willy: A man is not a piece of fruit!

Shows how corporations can take all that a man is worth without necessarily giving anything back. Employees are tools and not people.

Biff, in his final argument with Willy: Why am I trying to become what I don’t want to be?

Biff finally fully realizes what is truly right for his life, outright questioning why one adheres to the American Dream.

Part I: Thinking Outside of the Immediate Text

This course emphasizes the need to recall previously-read texts during analysis of another. One should (must, really) learn to be prepared to recognize allusions, parallels, similarities, and points of contrast (whether intended or not) between works, regardless of how long it's been since the other texts were read/reviewed.

The more of other texts one is able to recognize in another helps him/her identify new, more in-depth meanings and may change the perspective from which those past texts are seen.

It is also essential to maintain this sort-of mental anthology to understand different eras/schools/genres of literature and how they come to be/operate.

Part IV: Writing–The Structure, Style, and Content of an Analytical Essay

The writing aspect of the class requires us to mush all of the other aspects of the class together while communicating clearly and concisely. We learn to communicate in plain style in an essay structure that allows for the logical flow of ideas, ideas that are supported by textual evidence to which we can physically point, into a thesis.
Introductions should introduce a topic, connect the topic to the work discussed, and present the thesis. Topic sentences of each body paragraph should work together with the thesis, outside of the entire essay.