A room of one's own

A room of one’s own by Virginia Wolf is an interesting essay in the sense that different social issues are developed in this piece of art. One of those important issues is the diferences of gender.

As it is known, since ancient times until now, society has made differences between women and men, where women are underestimated. In “A room of one’s own” which takes place in 1929, Virginia Woolf used to write her books by using another name. She invented the name Judith Shakespeare so that people think that it was Shakespeare’s sister who wrote, and in this way, she could see if society would value her works just because of the name. However, in such a chauvinist society from that time, her works did not have the same impact as Shakespeare’s.

It is hard to me to understand how an entire society can be so narrow-minded that a book written by a woman was not important as the ones written by a man, even though they had the same level of reflection. Fortunately, it has been changing over time, but we still have a lot of work to do.

Oliver Twist

The film Oliver Twist is one of the saddest movies I have ever seen in my life. In fact, I would dare to say that it is almost imposible that someone could hav such a miserable life.

In this movie, romanticism is demonstrated by features such as the setting where the story takes place and the emotions it transmits us. What is strongly shown, it is the assumptions that existed in that time when population began to expand throught the construction of cities. People used to be judged by others just for the appearance or for the place they lived in. That is why Oliver was arrested. He did never robbed however he was blamed for that because of the way he was dressed.

It is a film which clearly demonstrates how society imposes ideals and how those impositions become a part of us that is hard to control. It is a pity that something as prejudices will always be in the inner of men, because to judge others does not let this world progress.

The Signal Man

When I read the Signal Man, I felt kind of identified with his life. As he saw progress in society, he felt as he was in a box which did not allow him to do something. The setting of the story also has influence on what it wants to transmit to the readers. It occurs in a foggy atmosphere.

The box, the fog, progress shown in the trains that pass through the city; everything made me reflect on what is going on in my mind. I feel as if I were locked in a box where everything is dark and is difficult to make changes. I know that most of the people do not realize that what we are living as progress is a destruciton for our relationships as human beings. As a result of all the technology, people is forgettig the meaning of society, and it takes us to a darker atmosphere where no exit will be found.

Frankestain, love and revenge

The sad story of Frankestain is a story that involves a mixture of feelings such as curiosity, acceptance, love, anger, anxiety and revenge. That is what called my attention, because the author put an amount of different feelings in two characters.

When I read the book, I noticed that Victor was moved by his curiosity and anxiety. Those sensations made him experiment with something that men can not have control on, it is to give life to something dead which is totally against the natural process.What is shown here, it is men’s desire of controling nature, and also how our anxiety and curiosity sometimes make us do the wrong thing. In the case of Victor, his excesive anxiety to create life, caused the death of his family. Another point that was interesting for me, it is how Frankestain who is supposed to be a monster, has a strong need of spreading love and receiving it back. Unfortunately he was rejected by people because of his apparience and although he has so much love to give, the only way he found to response to that rejection, it was through killing.

I liked the story very much, and I got really interested in reading it because as I mentined in the introduction, the amount of feelings in it called my attention. But it is a pity that Frankestain did not have the opportunity to have someone who loved him as he could love so that he could stop acting by revenge against people’s rejection.

"I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud” by William Wordsworth

Regarding the poem “I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud” by William Wordsworth, I think that the daffodils he mentiones, represent the beauty of nature. That is why the author refers to them by using beautiful and precise words such as golden and wealth.

The beauty of nature, especially the daffodils come to Wordworth’s mind when he feels alone in the world or feelings of sadness come to his heart, so then is when those memories of the lake besides of all that beauty, make him feel better and accompanied. In a way those golden daffodils were like a drug for the author to overcome his sad states. In other words, to think of that just brings him joy, and that is the reason to say “ A poet could not but be gay, in such a jocund company”.

The comparison I would make between this poem and the previous ones I have read, it is the way the poets relate feelings to nature, and also how they personify and compare nature to what they feel while they write a poem.

When I have Fears that I may Cease to Be, by John Keats.

It was not easy to get the purpose of the poem at the first time I read it. But, once I went into it and I tried to feel every single word, I came up with an idea that is represents a strong and hard part of his life.

As he was raised in a humble family, I think that through this poem, he wants to share his feelings of being alone and unnoticed by the rest of people because of his social conditions. That is why he mentiones the phrase, “And think that I may never live to trace”. With this, the author also expresses that he will not be remembered after his death.

Finaly, relating the poem to romanticism, I think it is present in the passion that John Keats uses to write, and how he gives life to objects through his writing. I like the way he uses the words and how everything become alive.

Kubla Khan

After reading the poem “Kubla Khan” I related the message to what men are doing now to nature. First, the poem mentions a saint river which flows through obscures caverns unknown by men. Then it refers to a woman which certainly represents the walls and towers interrupting and surrounding the river, that river that later returns and detroyes the city in order to keep flowing just as it was at the beginning.

From my point of view, the poet is just trying to express what he feels and how he sees all the changes that are caused by men’s work. That is why I chose the first quotation which says; “Poetry is an art…of representing, in words, external nature and human thoughts and affections, both relatively to human affections, by the production of as much immediate pleasure in parts, as is compatible with the largest sum of pleasure in the whole”. To me, this quotation deals with the idea of expressing the deepest feelings of human nature on a paper and no matter how you show them through a poem but the more pleasure you put into it the more art you are doing. The author got that pleasure from drugs, that is how he got motivated to write and that was the way to relate external nature to human thoughts.