"My Mistress' Eyes"-William Shakespeare

"And yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare 
As any she belied with false compare" (Shakespeare, 885).

Here, the speaker in Shakespeare appears to be claiming that the poets who describe their lover as perfect are liars.  Shakespeare presents the speaker as a realist.  The first twelve lines would be offensive to any woman who was the recipient of the poem.  Yet, the idea the speaker presents is not hard to accept; it is common sense that no one is perfect.  The speaker chooses to say this through accuses other men of lying.  The speaker switches the tone in line thirteen.  He declares even though his mistress is not perfect, she is just as rare as any other woman who was compared to perfection.  The speaker furthers this argument by referring to such comparisons as "false."  He points out the realistic idea that women cannot be perfect and presenting them as so is deceptive to the woman and to other women of society who now feel they must be the same.  In the simplest terms, the speaker is saying even though his mistress is not perfect, their love is just as good as anyone else's, and he is not lying like many others are.  

"Barbie Doll"-Marge Piercy

"To every woman a happy ending" (Piercy, 836).

The irony of the last line of the poem conveys the speaker's attitude about a woman's role in society.  Her criticisms of society's demands of women are strong.  She presents these through the use of a "girl child" who is growing up.  As she grows, she is healthy, smart, and kind.  Yet, all society and the people around her can see are "a fat nose on thick legs."  Society forced her to conform to the image of an ideal woman which eventually strips away at her mentality.  The speaker of the poem shows that she had more positive qualities than the two negative.  Still, her negative aspects were all people could see which therefore became all the girl could see.  In the end, the girl offers up her good qualities ("good nature") in order to rid of her bad qualities.  Though the speaker suggests a happy ending for all, the irony is that no one is technically happier.  The girl has diminished her sense of self, and the world is worse off not having the kind, smart girl that was originally described. 

"A Jury of Her Peers"-Susan Glaspell

Glaspell creates suspense mostly through her highlighting of the differences between men and women.  While she never explicitly discusses this topic, she approaches it through the women's thought processes and the men's actions.  The men are looking for the concrete evidence to prove Minnie's guiltiness.  On the other side, Mrs. Hale and the sheriff's wife try to get into Minnie's mind.  They deduct that she was most likely unhappy with her husband.  Mrs. Hale knew her before she got married  and talks of her lively spirit.  She then goes on to point out that Mr. Wright had a rather heavy personality and accuses him of killing Minnie's light spirit.  "'She used to sing.  He killed that too'" (Glaspell, 423).  Though the women are not even looking for evidence, they discover the proof with the bird.  However, Mrs. Hales depiction of Minnie's life and how drab it had gotten to be evokes so much sympathy for her that the women would feel guilty proving her crime.  Therefore, they hide the information from the men and offer to bring Minnie whatever she needs.

"Hunters In the Snow"-Tobias Wolff

It could be argued that Tub, on the surface, is a stock character: a cartoon-like obese man who is the butt of other people's jokes.  What characterizing details help to make Tub into a fully realized individual? 

As the story opens, the fact that Tub is ostracized by Frank and Kenny is evident.  They make constant jokes about his weight and downplay his intelligence.  The first detail that fills in his character is his getting lost in the woods.  His reaction to the separation between the other two and himself is fear.  "He quickened his pace, breasting hard into the drifts, fighting away the snow with his knees and elbows.  He heard his heart and felt the flush on his face but he never once stopped" (Wolff, 190).  This shows that he was not dumbly oblivious to the world around him.  Later in the story, he admits his lie to Frank and reveals the secret of his binge-eating.  This presents Tub as a more rounded character in that he recognized his problem and feels extremely ashamed of it.  Through this, Wolff evokes sympathy for Tub.  At the end of the story, the culprit is more Frank than it is Tub.  This is due to the sympathy that Wolff created for him earlier on.

"Othello, the Moor of Venice" Part 2

    This Shakespearean play is unique from others in that all but one single character is innocent.  Shakespeare characterizes all characters aside from Iago as being taking advantage of.  Othello has been made to believe his wife is having an affair with his dear friend causing him to feel great anger and hatred toward them both.  Through her own knowledge, Bianca concludes that Cassio is having an affair with another woman.  Though she does not necessarily like him all the time, Emilia still has a regard for her husband and is surprised to hear the rumors he has created.  She repeats the line "My husband!" (Shakespeare, 1454, Vii145) over and over again when Othello says Iago told him about Desdemona and Cassio.  Roderigo is led to believe that Iago is working diligently to get him in Desdemona's favor when, in reality, Iago has done nothing.  All of this makes Iago all the more deserving of his fate.

"Othello, the Moor of Venice" Part 2

     Though the play did not necessarily have a happy ending, Shakespeare offers a deserving resolution for Iago.  Reading Shakespeare's other works, the audience would not assume Iago to be one to survive after the others have learned of his deception.  However, Othello claims death would be too merciful for Iago: "I'd have thee live, For, in my sense, 'tis happiness to die" (Shakespeare, 1458, V.ii.288-289).  For Othello, being kept alive would be a punishment to him as well.  He now knows he has unjustly murdered his wife.  This knowledge takes every human sense from him.  Othello was innocent, and he is reinstated with honor by Cassio in the end who claims he was "great of heart."  Knowing he and Iago could share the same fate disgusted him.  Yet, Lodovico reassures that Iago will be kept on the brink of death.  In the final moments of the play, Lodovico expresses his desire to see Iago brutally tortured.

"Othello, the Moor of Venice" Part 2

    Shakespeare characterizes Desdemona as an innocent, compassionate character even though Iago forces the other character to see her as an adulterer.  Shakespeare maintains this characterization even to Desdemona's final moments.  Before Othello comes to murder Desdemona, she and Emilia foresee that murder may be Othello's plan.  Because of this, the audience perceives that Emilia was "on guard" and aware of what might happen.  Not knowing Othello was in the midst of strangling Desdemona, Emilia interrupts to tell Othello about the death of Roderigo.  In the midst of this conversation, Emilia hears her mistress and asks her who has done this to her.  As a final display of loyalty and love, she says, "Nobody, I myself" (Shakespeare, 1453, V.ii.122).  This scene remotely reminded me of the deaths of Brutus and Cassius in Caesar.  Cassius dies selfishly asking Pindarus to kill him and then covering his own eyes.  Brutus dies an honorable death by telling the person holding the sword to turn his head and then Brutus would push himself against it, causing his own death.  Like Brutus, Desdemona maintains her honest, compassionate character up to and including the moment of her death.