Reading Journal, Act 2, 'Dr Faustus'

Scene 1:

• The good angel and bad angel appear again – symmetry of their appearance; they only appear when Faustus is wavering.
• Their role could be to keep the audience’s moral perspective clear.
• Faustus often begins his scenes alone on stage – emphasis on his loneliness – possible reason for selling his soul to the devil? Later in the play, he tends to enter the scene with Mephistopheles – the devil is his only company.
• ‘O, something soundeth in mine ears’ – Faustus knows he is wavering, proves he has a conscience. Why doesn’t he use it?
• ‘And offer lukewarm blood of new-born babes.’ Imagery of children shows innocence, but in Faustus’s context it shows the corruption of innocence.
• Mephistopheles tells Faustus he must sign the deed with his blood – ‘My blood congeals’. This is a chance for Faustus to escape, but he does not take it – is it desperation, or fascination?
• ‘Here’s fire’ – Mephistopheles gives Faustus his first taste of hell.
• Mephistopheles talks ‘aside’ to the audience. This creates a ‘new’ character; he is plotting and reveals his motives.
• ‘Whither should I fly?’ – this is interesting as Icarus has been mentioned before. We know Faustus wants to achieve the ultimate greatness, yet, if he takes the warning of the blood congealing, he could still achieve something great.
• ‘I think hell’s a fable.’ – reason for signing the contract, almost seems childish and too naïve to come from a scholar.
• Faustus asks for a wife. This could be him testing Mephistopheles – it would be easier to retrieve a woman or a mistress and asking for a wife is more difficult; this could show that Faustus doesn’t quite trust Mephistopheles yet.

Scene 2:

• Another comedic scene – could be Marlowe making a societal comment. Robin and Rafe are both base stock characters as Faustus was, yet they do not share the same characteristics of ambition to become a scholar. Yet, Marlowe could be arguing that being of a higher status doesn’t always bring about good – results in greed, as Faustus shows.
• It could also show the naivety of the whole of mankind. Faustus is well educated, but makes the same mistake as people of the lower class. ‘Low’ and ‘high’ people share the same unity.
• This scene is smutty. Could be foreshadowing the parallels between Faustus and Helen of Troy.
• Robin is similar to Faustus – he also wants pleasures. However, he is ‘brought down a level’.

Scene 3:

• ‘Wicked Mephistopheles’ – contrast to previous times when Faustus refers to him as ‘sweet’. What has changed his mind? Is this another realisation that he then ignores?
• Conscience appears and Faustus could be showing evidence of an epiphany: ‘Faustus thou art damned!’ Still, it is a nihilistic epiphany as Faustus ‘cannot repent’.
• Faustus asks many questions in this speech (page 49, lines 19 – 38). Shows his insecurity.
• The seven deadly sins all appear – makes it real for Faustus. Also highlights Lucifer’s great powers – there really is no way out for Faustus.
• Ends with Faustus referring to Lucifer as ‘great’. Chilling remark as this is the devil that drags people to hell. I still question whether or not Faustus truly understands his fate when he says this.

Reading Journal, Act 1, 'Dr Faustus'

Prologue:

• The chorus is generally an actor outside of the drama who is there to inform the audience about the play, characters and the plot.
• Here, the prologue introduces Faustus, describing that Faustus became a great scholar, but brought about his own destruction after practising necromancy.
• ‘Not’ and ‘nor’ – the Chorus tells us that the play is not a play about love, war or politics. Immediately brings questions to the audience’s mind about what the play will be about.
• Faustus isn’t introduced immediately, but as he is named, we know he will be a main character.
• ‘His waxen wings’ – reference to Greek mythology. Parallels Icarus who flew too close to the sun with Faustus who reaches too far and ends in his comeuppance.
• First introduction of the word ‘glutted’ which will be repeated many times in the play. Instantly showing greed.
• I admire Faustus from the Chorus’ description – it mentions how he came from ‘base stock’, yet, through his own perseverance, he still managed to become a great scholar.

Scene 1:

• Includes many Latin phrases – emphasising Faustus’ intelligence. The audience do not need to know what it means though to understand this.
• ‘Yet art thou still but Faustus, and a man’ – Faustus is not content with what he has and this is foreshadowing that he will go to great lengths to achieve the highest level of knowledge and power.
• The good angel and bad angel appear – they are the conscience of the play.
• Faustus conjures up a world of beauty: ‘I’ll have them wall all of Germany with brass’
• Valdes and Cornelius are not characters of persuasion, however, they do tempt him – ‘our experience shall make all nations to canonise us.’ This differs to the character of Lady Macbeth, who almost blackmails by insulting Macbeth’s masculinity into killing.

Scene 2:

• The scholars become worried that Faustus is dining with Valdes and Cornelius.
• When the scholars ask where Faustus is, Wagner replies ‘God in heaven knows’ – this is ironic, as we know that Faustus will never reach heaven.

Scene 3:

• Faustus calls on Mephistopheles as a friar – ironic and satirical.
• Interesting aspect of the play is that Faustus makes the demands – ‘I charge thee’.
• Mephistopheles does not have to persuade or tempt Faustus into the bargain.
• ‘This is hell’ – Mephistopheles describes even Earth as hell, as nothing will ever be as great as heaven.

Scene 4:

• This is another comic scene of the play between Wagner and Robin.
• Wagner is a comic character, yet he still remains authoritative: ‘Sirrah boy’. ‘Sirrah’ is a term to address someone inferior. Robin dislikes this and throws it back in his face – at first Robin does not approve of Wagner, but at the end of the scene Wagner then serves him. This could parallel between Faustus and Mephistopheles – at the end of their first meeting, Mephistopheles must serve Faustus anything he wants.
• It is important to focus on the staging of the scene. I believe that, as a comic scene between two people of low status, it should be over exaggerated and very visual. This will add to the comedy.
• The stage direction: ‘to the audience’ makes the play more personal.
• ‘Balioll’ – mispronunciation is comedic – provides entertainment for the audience.
• This scene could be setting up what will happen to Faustus later in the play and provide a perspective from which to view Faustus’s actions in scene 1 and scene 3.

Reading Journal, 'Frankenstein', Chapters 18 - 24

Chapter 18:

·         Victor learns that his father wants him to marry Elizabeth, but he is filled with ‘horror and dismay’. We know Victor is lonely, so it is questionable as to why he feels this way. This could be because he knows the monster may hurt Elizabeth.

·         Victor never refers to the marriage with Elizabeth as a ‘marriage’, but as a ‘union’. This emphasises his fear.

·         However, Victor does say that he loves Elizabeth that he ‘loves his cousin dearly’. Must question why Victor would accept the proposal and put her in danger. Yet this could explain the fear I mentioned above.

·         Shelley quotes Wordsworth’s ‘Tintern Abbey’ poem. The section she chooses is refers to mountains, just as Victor has done on many occasions.

·         Victor travels to England with Clerval and Victor makes it obvious that Clerval will be his next victim.

Chapter 19:

·         Victor begins to create the female monster.

·         Yet he is filled with dread as he begins: ‘it became everyday more horrible and irksome to me.’

·         There are clear differences between the creation of the female and the first monster. For one, there is much less description – there is only a page about it and also Victor shows his anxiety – ‘I grew restless and nervous’.

Chapter 20:

·         Shelley uses images of places in this chapter that reflect Victor’s state of mind, for example the image of his laboratory. Shelley then switches back to present day. This could show how Victor’s mind is uncontrollable and will not rest.

·         The significance of the moon could be important here – ‘eye of the quiet moon’. Victor personifies the monster; it is almost as if he is paranoid. 

·         There is a lot of changing between night and day. Time is clearly passing quickly, yet, for Victor it all merges into one. ‘Sun rose’ then the ‘sun descended’, Victor is lost emotionally.

·         When Victor meets the monster in this chapter, there is a major difference from when they previously met. Here, the monster is in control, rather than Victor: ‘I am your master’ and ‘obey’.

·         In chapter 17, we could sympathise with the monster, yet here I can sympathise with Victor more. The monster is applying the typical ‘monstrous’ traits by making threats: ‘I will be with you on your wedding night’.

·         There is reference to bonds between people in chapter 20. For the monster and Victor it is almost like a parent to child bond that has been broken. Some psychologists would suggest that this would be the cause of the monster’s horrific actions.

Chapter 21:

·         A body is found on the shore and Victor learns it is Clerval.

·         Victor is arrested and then released, but he is still stricken with guilt.

·         Clerval’s death could make prominent the corruption of innocence, as well as the monster’s being.

·         ‘A gloom and black melancholy…Clerval was forever before me.’ – links with Macbeth seeing Banquo’s ghost.

·         ‘Dream’ is repeated – confused state of mind?

·         The nightmares that haunt Victor suggest the horror is in his psyche.

Chapter 22:

·         Frankenstein returns to Geneva and marries Elizabeth.

·         ‘But the apple was already eaten’ – foreshadowing. Victor knows Elizabeth’s fate. This is also a biblical reference in the Garden of Eden.

·         It could be argued that the foreshadowing reveals too much so that readers guess quickly what will happen. This results in the fact that Elizabeth’s death is not as shocking.

·         Reference to ‘paradisiacal dreams’: this indicates that Victor sees himself as Adam and Elizabeth as his Paradise. But because Victor has already eaten apple, his paradise is lost to him.

Chapter 23:

·         Elizabeth is murdered and Victor is determined on revenge.

·         Shelley describes a storm. This pathetic fallacy predicts the monster’s arrival.

·         Can we sympathise with Victor?

·         Yes – all his loved ones are dead and he is in turmoil.

·         No – he left and abandoned the monster (and created it in the first place).

Chapter 24:

·         Victor tells Walton of his pursuit. He sees the monster in a graveyard and Victor tells Walton to kill the monster if he fails to do so himself.

·         Significance of sleep – Victor can only be with his family when he sleeps; he dreams of Elizabeth.

·         Victor travels far, however, nature only marks these travels, not his emotion.

·         Less references to nature as a whole, Victor is solely focussed on revenge. Changes the novel to more Gothic than Romantic.

·         ‘If you have known me as I once was you would not recognise me in this state of degradation.’ – Victor is sorrowful and it is clear he is full of regret.

·         ‘Seek happiness in tranquillity and avoid ambition’ – before Victor dies, he warns Walton of the destruction of ambition. He cannot die in peace.

·         When the monster realises Victor is dead, he finds that despite their hate for each other, they only had each other. For the monster, Victor was hope – the chance of a companion.

·         Walton is the only person who actually speak to the monster and does not try to kill him.

·         ‘I was the slave’ – the monster takes no responsibility for his actions, unlike Victor. We feel less sympathy towards him.

Reading Journal, 'Frankenstein', Chapters 9 - 17

Chapter 9:

·         Victor is obviously guilty for his actions, yet instead of taking action to put things right, he wallows in self-pity – ‘I was seized by remorse and the sense of guilt’

·         He does not appear to try and ‘solve’ the problem, because Victor considers suicide – is this cowardly, or is he just out of his depth?

·         Victor has shown solitude in nature and even when considering suicide, nature is a part of it – ‘I was tempted to plunge into the silent lake that the waters might close over me and my calamities forever’. Nature gives Victor peace, yet could also end all his suffering.

·         ‘But now misery has come and men appear to me as monstrous thirsting for each other’s blood’ – this quote interests me, as I interpret this as Shelley making a social comment about social injustice – there is a blur between the boundaries between men and monsters. Are we all just the same? Why do some have more power in society over others, just because of their appearance, gender, status and financial situation? (Shelley was brought up as a feminist so this could be her way of speaking out about the inequality between men and women).

·         ‘He walks about the world free, and perhaps respected’ – questioning whether it is Frankenstein or the monster who is more atrocious.

·         Many more references to finding peace in nature – emphasises the Romantic elements of the novel. Is the novel more Romantic than Gothic? At this point in the novel, I believe it is Romantic with elements of the Gothic within.

·         ‘For a short space of time I remained at the window, watching the pallid lightnings that played about Mont Blanc.’ – Victor is almost expecting the monster to visit him, he just doesn’t know when – foreshadowing.

Chapter 10:

·         ‘Valley’, ‘summit’, ‘vast mountains’ – description of immense size. Shows how overwhelmed Victor is. He went against the laws of nature, yet it is the only consolation.

·         ‘Dark melancholy clouded every thought’ – Victor cannot rest physically or mentally, the monster is not with him, but still tortures him. (links to Macbeth’s sleep deprivation).

·         Can be compared to Wordsworth’s letters to Coleridge – Wordsworth found his peace, but for Victor, is it merely a temporary distraction.

·         ‘Causing me to forget the passing cares of life’ – Romantic elements change. As it is so fleeting, it cannot be truly Romantic.

·         ‘Thick mists’ – emphasise the barrier between man and divinity. Victor tried to create something, but it can never be perfect.

·         Victor describes beauty, but his descriptions make it sound painful: ‘ragged bare ravine’.

·         ‘Sublime’  is repeated many times, showing that Victor has a desperation, a want and a need for nature or anything else to have the effect he wants (to be relieved of the guilt), but because it is said so many times, it loses its effect and becomes meaningless.

·         Victor meets the monster – he calls him a ‘wretched devil’ and ‘abhorred monster’, yet the monster speaks with formality. Role reversal? Who is the real ‘monster’? We can sympathise with the monster, who is dignified, more than Victor.

Chapter 11:

·         The monster begins his tale, yet, in my opinion, I do not believe there is a big enough character difference between Victor and the monster in the way they communicate to the reader. I think that this is a huge flaw in the novel that Shelley could have completed a lot better. Without Victor introducing the monster’s story, it would have been difficult at the start to realise who was narrating. It could easily be a flashback by Victor.

·         The monster describes how he begins to question the world –he discovers pain and pleasure: ‘I thrust my hand into the live embers, but quickly drew it out again with a cry of pain’.

·         By meeting the De Lacey family, the monster learns about love. Through his descriptions of his learning experience, we understand how lonely and confused the monster is. Because of this we can sympathise with him. 

Chapter 12:

·         ‘I lay on my straw, but I could not sleep’ – we already know that Victor is having problems with his sleep, so this connects the creator and the creation. Possibly could argue that the monster is Victor’s alter ego.

·         The monster learns language through listening to the De Lacey family – the monster is a capable being – more human than we first are led to believe?

·         ‘The pleasant showers and genial warmth of spring greatly altered the aspect of the earth’ – Shelley’s use of pathetic fallacy emphasises that both Victor and the monster are coming to terms with their place in society.

Chapter 13:

·         Through Felix’s lessons to Safie about English, history, politics and religion, the monster learns more.

·         He wonders at the dual nature of man – ‘at once so powerful, so virtuous and magnificent, yet so vicious and base.’ Yet, this could also be Victor’s own view of the monster.

·         ‘What was I?...and I saw and heard of none like me’ – the monster realises he is completely alone and there is no one like him. With his exterior appearance, he knows he can never fit in with humanity as a whole. Could be foreshadowing the monster’s request to Victor to create another monster.

Chapter 15:

·         The monster learns the identity of his creator and approaches the blind father – his appearance will not interfere with the man’s judgement. However, when the rest of the family come home, Felix beats the monster with a stick.

·         Shelley could be here making another societal comment – that even the idyllic nature of the cottage is sustained by the only idea that nothing will threaten it from the outside.

·         When the creature finds the three books, he compares himself to Adam who was thrown out of the garden of Eden.

Chapter 16:

·         We now hear of a different side of the monster – he is full of rage. However, it could be argued that before, as he had no real understanding of emotion, he has felt rage all along, he just didn’t realise it. He acts upon this rage and burns down the De Lacey’s cottage.

·         On the other hand, the contact with humanity could be the turning point for the monster’s rage – after Felix beat him, it could have sparked his anger off, and thus showing that humanity is dangerous.

·         The monster further uses his knowledge to manipulate the law into making it look like Justine is guilty of murder.  

·         This could be Shelley trying to force us to consider how our personalities are formed, and what can transform a man into a monster.       

Chapter 17:

·         Victor agrees to create a second monster and then returns to Geneva.

·         ‘I am content to reason with you’ – the monster does not threaten Victor, but uses reason.

·         Victor still resents the monster and refers to him as a: ‘filthy mass that moved and talked’. We must question why he agrees to create another monster – is it a cowardly way out so he can escape his ‘problem’, or is it the monster’s power of persuasion. (similar to Lady Macbeth).

Second Coursework Ideas

I saw 'Romeo and Juliet' at the Nuffield theatre last week, so, as I feel I know the play better, and have seen it acted, I would like to use 'The Meaning of Metaphor' section from the critical anthology and apply it to Mercutio's Queen Mab speech. Obviously, it is full of sexual innuendo's, but the effect of the metaphors used is important in altering the tone and dimension of the play and ultimately defining Mercutio's character. He twists all his comments about love into sexual metaphors and I would like to examine the importance of this. In the critical anthology it says how metaphor is important because of its functions - explaining, clarifying, describing, expressing, evaluating and entertaining. I will discuss if the metaphors used are effective in these functions, or whether or not Shakespeare goes too far. I would also like to briefly refer to the symbolism and allegory section as the whole of the speech is a symbol and allegory surrounding sex and love. I shall also consider these different aspects in relation to the acting and how it could be presented on stage.

Critical Anthology Coursework Ideas

I have decided to use 'The Meaning of Metaphor' idea from the Critical Anthology. I am considering applying this to the famous 'To be, or not to be' speech from Hamlet, as there is a lot of this speech that can be misunderstood, or just not understood at all, unless the metaphor is known. The speech is extremely famous and this is part of the reason I have chosen it - do people really know the metaphors within the speech? As it is quoted, and even applied to everyday language, many people may not grasp the true concept. I will consider this in my essay and discuss whether or not a person quoting the lines needs to understand the metaphors, or if the beauty of the words are enough. I am also going to consider whether or not the metaphors in this speech are important, whether there are too many for readers who do not normally read Shakespeare to understand the concept of the speech and whether or not it adds a new dimension to the rest of the play. Because the symbols in the speech can be interpreted many different ways, I will consider that because there is no definite idea and a lot of unsurity in some plarts if this reduces, or adds anything to the play.

However, this is not a final decision, but because there will be a lot of wider reading to do, I feel I will have a lot to write about, especially when considering the different viewpoints and if they are valid. Also, I am not sure if I should do the whole of Act III scene 1, or just this speech?

Frankenstein, Reading Journal, Volume 1, Chapters 1-8

After the letters, we begin chapter 1 with Victor’s narrative embedded within the frame narrative of Walton. We are caused to question how accurate this account is, and whether we can trust Walton’s tale of the events. Despite this, we are forced to have belief in Walton as there is no ambiguity in his story.

We are told of Frankenstein’s upbringing; an educated, yet sheltered background. For Victor, it suggests that science gives him a challenge, as before everything was given to him. Elizabeth becomes Victor’s ‘beautiful and adored companion’, however, a darker tone enters the narrative with his closing comment: ‘my more than sister, since till death she was to be mine only’. During the novel, we see a deterioration of Frankenstein’s state of mind, and this is our first introduction to seeing this descent.

In chapter 2, we hear more of Frankenstein’s passion for science and how he wants to know more, which, later, we find becomes too much. Victor describes his first rebellion to his father who tells him to ‘not waste his time on such sad trash’. We see a side to Frankenstein that shows he does not stick to the rules; a foreshadowing that he will not commit to the laws of science either. Throughout this chapter is a sense of male dominance as, for instance, Elizabeth is limited to the family circle. Victor describes himself as a Promethean ‘overreacher’, which links to the subtitle of the novel ‘The Modern Prometheus’. For Victor, this is him creating life out of death and going against the natural order.

Chapter 3 describes Victor’s experience at university. We hear that his mother died and Elizabeth falls ill from Scarlett fever. He leaves his family and continues his thirst for knowledge. He describes M. Krempe as ‘a little squat man with a gruff voice and a repulsive countenance.’ It presents to us that, for Victor, physical appearance and beauty is important; paralleling his design for his creature. ‘Thus ended a day memorable to me; it decided my future destiny’ - the last line of the chapter causes an almost chilling feeling for readers, as it is in a paragraph of its own. Victor does not explain what he means; what his future destiny is. Tension is therefore also built.

In chapter 4 we hear that Victor has already created his creature in his mind – he becomes capable of ‘bestowing animation upon lifeless matter’. ‘I am not recording the vision of a madman.’ We are reminded that Robert, the narrator is untrustworthy. This chapter is another example of crucial evidence that Victor is unwell; physically and mentally. His ambition could be argued to be heroic, yet the horrific images of his ‘secret toil’ show his work is more sordid than anything else. This links with the traditional gothic theme of pushing boundaries and going beyond the norm.

Victor is repulsed by his creation in chapter 5, by calling it a ‘wretch’. We see how far Victor is out of his depth and is caught up into something he cannot control. He tries to hide this to his friend Henry, but does not admit anything. He is extremely relieved when the monster has disappeared: ‘great fortune’.

Chapter 6 tells much of Victor’s convalescence as he can no longer bear to think of his scientific discoveries. ‘A servant in Geneva does not mean the same thing as a servant in France and England.’ Elizabeth’s description of treatment of servants could be interpreted as Shelley’s comment on social injustice; a major issue at the time it was written. This links to how the monster is enslaved by Frankenstein. ‘I bounded along with feelings of un-bridled joy and hilarity’. Unlike chapter 3, chapter 6 ends filled with hope – possibly Frankenstein’s hope that his disastrous scientific experiment will come to an end.

Chapter 7 shows repeating evidence of Frankenstein’s guilt: ‘I threw the letter on the table and covered my face with my hands’. He knows what really happened to William and feels a very human trait of remorse. We can sympathise with him. There are also many references to nature, a typical feature of Romanticism. ‘Dear mountains’: Victor further personifies nature, emphasising how alone he is. There are contrasts of feelings in this chapter. In one paragraph there are there are more positive words, such as ‘happiness’, ‘pleasure’ and ‘beloved’. But in the next immediate paragraph there are pessimistic words, such as ‘grief’, ‘fear’ and ‘gloomily’. These extreme polars of emotion prove that emotion is controlling Victor, rather than him controlling them. It could be argued this is because of the loss of William, but in my opinion, this is as a result of Victor’s obsession and creation of the monster. Furthermore, there is also evidence of Mary Shelley criticising science. The chapter describes art the ‘picture of my mother’, ‘dignity and beauty’. Some may argue this is mocking Victor – why couldn’t he do something fabulous, yet safe, instead of the dangerous experiment he achieves.

There is a very long account of the trial in chapter 8, which has the effect of incorporating the whole picture, allowing Victor to come to terms with his guilt. ‘I bore a hell within me.’ Victor echoes Satan in Paradise Lost and suggests the true horror lies inside us, in the mental agonies and torments we inflict upon ourselves.