Pathedy of Manners

Pathedy of Manners by Ellen Kay 

At twenty she was brilliant and adored,
Phi Beta Kappa, sought for every dance;
Captured symbolic logic and the glance
Of men whose interest was their sole reward.

She learned the cultured jargon of those bred
To antique crystal and authentic pearls,
Scorned Wagner, praised the Degas dancing girls,
And when she might have thought, conversed instead.

She hung up her diploma, went abroad,
Saw catalogues of domes and tapestry,
Rejected an impoverished marquis,
And learned to tell real Wedgwood from a fraud.

Back home her breeding led her to espouse
A bright young man whose pearl cufflinks were real.
They had an ideal marriage, and ideal
But lonely children in an ideal house.

I saw her yesterday at forty-three,
Her children gone, her husband one year dead,
Toying with plots to kill time and re-wed
Illusions of lost opportunity.

But afraid to wonder what she might have known
With all that wealth and mind had offered her,
She shuns conviction, choosing to infer
Tenets of every mind except her own.

A hundred people call, though not one friend,
To parry a hundred doubts with nimble talk.
Her meanings lost in manners, she will walk
Alone in brilliant circles to the end.

     "Pathedy of Manners" by Ellen Kay expounds on the experiences of a woman who excelled at doing what society wanted, yet in the end can't cope with the idea that she was wrong to live her life in such a submissive state. The poem has a strong underlying tone that the woman in the poem is living her life only by what society tells her, and that her life is filled with choices that are less about her than about what society finds ideal. 

     The first stanza is a great characterization of the success the woman in the poem has within society. The poem's first line is simply about how the woman was already "brilliant and adorned" by the young age of twenty. The speaker makes special note that the woman in the poem is roughly the definition of what our society thinks is popular, she fits into a cliche role of the 'prom queen'. Society's acceptance and overall approval of her is reflected especially in the words, "sought for every dance." The woman is someone that society adores and strives to be around.

     In the second stanza the speaker comments mostly on the amount of effort and work that the woman put into becoming who she is. Where the first stanza had a tone of mild admiration, this second stanza is moving more towards the idea that the woman is merely 'fitting in' rather than being an individual. The woman went far out of her way to learn the ways of "those bred/ to antique crystal and authentic pearls." In this context these people are the upperclass, the wealthy elite that the woman is pleasing. The stanza then ends significantly with the line, "And when she might have thought, conversed instead." Instead of taking an internal and individualistic role (thinking), the woman chooses to instead "converse" and take an external role that is outside of herself.

     The third stanza opens with the woman putting aside her education by symbolically hanging her diploma and leaving it behind while she goes abroad. Any person could be expected to live abroad and have worldly experiences but the speaker makes a special point of saying that she put her diploma away before she went. The woman then goes on to have, "Rejected an impoverished marquis." A marquis is a (typically French) nobleman, and in this case he is impoverished. This shows that the woman in the poem is denying the poor and downtrodden from being around her, just as Torvald in A Doll House would not accept anything morally wrong in his home because it made it no longer beautiful. The woman shies from those parts of life that are less than pretty, ignoring and rejecting them.

     The woman and the society she lives in are most easily characterized in the next, fourth, stanza. This stanza opens by saying how the woman got into her marriage, which in her case is due to her "breeding". This first line shows that the woman's marriage is mostly just due to who society wants her to be, almost like having an arranged marriage. The word "breeding" is also important here because it has a very submissive undertone, animals are bred not people but in this case the speaker says that she was bred. The man she marries is given just about the same amount of personality as the woman, neither ever gets a line about who they really are and how they feel. In fact the only thing the speaker points out about her spouse is that his "pearl cufflinks were real", obviously an allusion to the idea that this is a man of wealth whom has risen in society's ranks. The woman's marriage with the man then leads to the ideal home with an ideal family, yet the children are bored and there's nothing more to say about the home than that it is ideal. This puts a submissive tone on the stanza which points directly at the fact that the woman is establishing her life based on society's standards, and it has gotten her nothing more than a bland home life.

     After this point the woman's life declines in it's 'success' with society. Though the speaker points out that "A hundred people call," the woman is still alone because of all these callers there is "not one friend". The woman continues to live her life by ignoring what might have been, and the potential that she had in life. She is essentially suffering the consequences of living a life that satisfied society but not her. The last to lines finish the poem with the idea that she focused so much on the standards of society that she has missed everything else and finally been left to "walk/ Alone in brilliant circles to the end."

The Dead

      Through imagery and word choice Rupert Brooke is able to weave a poem of both beauty and sadness regarding death. The poem, called "The Dead", isn't even 15 lines long yet in such a short space Brooke is able to convey several emotions and talk about a subject that is so foreboding and menacing in a way that actually evokes beauty and reverence.

      The first two lines of the poem have a very melancholy tone as Brooke outlines the intricacies of the heart and the ways in which it has been affected over time. He writes that, "These hearts were woven of human joys and cares, /Washed marvelously with sorrow, swift to mirth." This imagery shows the heart as being like an old worn blanket, used often through the years. These are the hearts that will be no more when death takes them but Brooke immediately sets out to show that when death comes all the subtleties of the old hearts will be gone. Like a well used shirt being thrown out, the owners of these hearts will die, but only after they have been washed with sadness and joy. Overall these first lines present imagery that is beautiful yet sad.

      The first stanza follows in a similar fashion, juxtaposing the happiness of life with sadness like, "Slumber and waking" and, "proudly friended" with, "sat alone." Brooke spares no feelings by referencing both the good and the bad parts of life, but always does it a way that can only be described as having poetic beauty. Finally the first stanza completes with, "All this is ended," a sudden shock back into the reality that death is final and that all past experiences are gone, whether they were of pleasure or pain, they are no more.

     In the second and last stanza of the work, Brooke moves into the actual death. In this poem death is represented as "Frost" and when it comes it stays the winds with only a gesture. At last in the last three lines death truly comes and leaves behind only a "white unbroken glory" and a "gathered radiance" where there was once a person. This is especially beautiful in that Brooke doesn't just say that what's left behind is the shell of what was once a person, he says that death leaves behind "a shining peace," something untainted, a final manifestation of all that is good in life.

     Brooke uses a surprisingly short amount of space to convey an image, and an emotion that death is not just a sad ending, it is a beautiful release. And while all the nuances of life may be gone, they lived through those nuances (like the used up shirt), and have come out full of memories and understanding. Death in this poem is simply beautiful.

The Meaning of Hands

     Sherwood Anderson's Winesburg, Ohio explores a great many subjects, one especially significant being hands. By describing the hands in different ways, Anderson reveals the attitudes of the characters and the emotions that they are feeling. This concept is a focal point in the chapter called "Hands".

     Anderson typically refers to hands as either hands or fists. Classically a fist represents anger and passion, while the open hands represent hospitality and understanding. This is taken to the next level in the character of Wing Biddlebaum, a schoolteacher with constantly moving hands. Instead of fists symbolizing merely anger, in Wing they represent his frustation and timidity. In his hands he feels he has the power to inspire, but because of some very unfortunate circumstances he clenches his hands into fists, trapping the dreams inside of them and cutting off their 'powers'.

     Wing is constantly in an emotional struggle to control his hands because he is worried that once again they will bring him trouble. Anderson uses Wing's hands to represent him as a whole person, for instance each time Wing thrusts his hands quickly into his pockets it shows that he is trying to hide something. The immediate action of putting his hands in his pocket is symbolic of guilt, a guilt that Wing feels over his past. Wing even shows a sort of anger at his hands, constantly beating them against stumps and doors while he talks to keep them busy. It's as if the hands must be brutalized while he talks or else they will take control of him and he will be punished because of what his hands did.

     Hands are a very important fixture in Winesburg, Ohio and reappear throughout the novel. In their own way, the hands of the characters are the physical manifestation of the characters inner state. When Wing is scared he puts his hands in his pockets and hides them, but when he is excited and talking of dreams his hands are active and alive. The way the characters use their hands in this book is incredibly important and can help to bring a new perspective to each of them.

Introduction

I'd like to use this space here to introduce this blog and and say a little about what I plan to do with it. First off I'll start by giving some explanation for the name of the blog, Straight Outta AP Lit. I wanted to put a little urban flare into into my blog, a bit of street thug if you will. I was between 'Lit Thuggin' and 'Straight Outta AP Lit', I went with the later though because I just felt that it was right. Hopefully you've already noted that this is a reference to the song Straight Outta Compton, of course I like the juxtaposition that an blog about literature analysis and AP Lit is nothing like street life or Compton. But whatever, I'm straight outta AP Lit.
The purpose of this blog will be to analyze different pieces of literature in an insightful and academic manner in order to hopefully reach a level at which this becomes easy to do and brings something interesting into my literary analysis. I've already tried to mix up the usual way in which a literary analysis is done, my first blog was about the movie World's End directed by Edgar Wright and another blog about a song called Lux Aeterna, an orchestral piece by Clint Marshall. What was interesting, at least in my opinion, was that the analysis wasn't about a novel or another piece of traditional literature. Instead my blogs were on something different and hopefully it brought a new view to how I can write a literary analysis and what it can be.
My plan is to continue this and write blogs that explore the possibilities of the literary analysis. So stay tuned for more, because these are only the first of many more to come.

Lux Aeterna

This might seem a little out there, but I recently heard a song from the movie Requiem for a Dream called Lux Aeterna and found that it really felt like a story and so I'd like to do a literary analysis of it for this blog. The most comparable thing I can think of is an epic story, full of emotion, adventure, and suspense. It's an orchestral piece composed by Clint Mansell and while I've never seen the movie for which it was made, I'm sure that it helps drive the story. Check it out here to see what I mean. What I'd like to do is analyze how the song flows and how it connects to the idea of a stories plot. In order to do this I'll relate each part of the song with the original Star Wars film and the hero's journey that drives it.
In roughly the first 30 seconds the song presents what could be seen as an exposition, introducing the song and the tone of the piece, just as in Star Wars when we're introduced to the universe far away and Luke Skywalker. Then it slowly moves into a rising action for the next minute, like when Luke gets 2 very important droids and meets the old hermit Obi-wan. At approximately the 1:30 mark suspense breaks out for the next 20 or so seconds. This part can be related to the stormtrooper attack where Luke's aunt and uncle are both killed, the call to action. Then the piece slows down and builds up slowly; this would correspond to Luke's decision to leave his home and his emergence into a new life, his leaving of the symbolic threshold. Then the action starts again and we get into the conflict at 2:30, the Millenium Falcon has been tractor-beamed into the Death Star. From here on out the song is becomes more and more dramatic, 3:30 helps mark the adventure inside the Death Star including the freeing of Princess Leia, the escape into the trash compactor, and ending with Obi-wan's battle with Darth Vader. At 4:00 the piece slows once more, parallel to the death of Obi-wan. The song rebuilds suspense and slowly rises in tone until finally at around 4:35 the Rebel fighters make the jump to attack the Death Star. This is when the song gets intense reaching it's climax, the fighters approach the enemy, pilots get shot down, and Luke enters into the famous trench run. The emotion and tone of this part of the song work too well in unison with the climax of this movie. Then at 6:15 it's done, the Death Star explodes, the song brings everything to a head and the resolution begins as it does in Star Wars.
A song is like any other piece of art, it can be analyzed and thought over just as any novel or painting can be. Lux Aeterna is a condensed story, everything is wrapped up into 6 minutes of absolute epicness that could only really be compared to something as extraordinary and awe inspiring as the original Star Wars film.

The Confusing Case of Edgar Wright's World's End

For this first of many blogs to come I'll analyze a new movie out in theaters right now called World's End, a tale of 5 friends who set out to tackle an old high school mission of theirs, to hit 5 bars in one night. Of course the movie isn't really about the drinking capabilities of the film's main character Gary King, rather it focuses on Gary's underlying issues and what drives him to make his (mostly terrible) decisions. What's confusing about this movie is ultimately what the theme of the film is, what it all means.
[WARNING SPOILERS] Gary King is an absolute jerk to his friends, he is an all-around unlikeable person and to be frank by the end of the movie he actually causes the apocalypse. He's the sort of person who acts like nothing has changed since high school, that all the old rules still apply and he can be a kid at heart still, even referring to himself by as he did as teen (The King and also, "The once and future king.") Of course his life isn't quite so royal, in the beginning  of the movie he's introduced while sitting in a rehab meeting, his friends even allude to some sort of substance abuse. The story sees Gary drinking a serious amount of booze, but ends with him ordering a very symbolic glass of water at the bar thus 'getting clean.' On top of his success with tackling his addictions, Gary also gets all his friends back... at least to some extent. To clear that up, Gary gets back the younger and cloned version of his friends. The real ones had begun to hate him at that point, but Gary gets new friends who roam with him through the post-apocalyptic world. This then begs the question does Gary 'win?' Is the theme of the story really that 'if you hold onto the past hard enough you might get it back'. Maybe I'm missing something but out of all the characters Gary is the least deserving of such a happy ending. It could also be possible that the theme could be 'some people deserve a second chance at happiness.' But these seem wrong, the tone of the film is dark and somewhat cynical, so maybe the director meant to deliver that the theme is 'the one who doesn't deserve to win sometimes does.' Overall, I was left pondering over what the movie was really trying to tell me.
What I'm trying to say at least is that the theme is hard to derive from the film, director Edgar Wright throws the audience for plenty of loops. Even after reading several reviews and analysis I find it difficult to put into words exactly what the purpose of the story might have been. The ending didn't seem to be fair at all, the characters who appeared to deserve something were left with nothing, but Gary gets back everything he one lost, and he gets it for no apparent reason. I'll have to watch it again and see if I can derive anything new from it.