Macbeth Act 3
The scene opens with Banquo telling Macbeth that he will be traveling by the castle at midnight with his son Fleance, but says that he won't miss the grand feast later on. Macbeth secretly plots the death of Banquo at this point, because it would secure his lineage. Macbeth and Lady Macbeth, however, are both also being ravaged by guilt, but they take solace in the upcoming feast and impending death of Banquo and Fleance. Macbeth speaks to a triumvirate of murderers, setting them the task of assassination, which they perform to half effect, killing only Banquo and letting Fleance escape. At the banquet, Macbeth recurrently sees Banquo's ghost, prompting fearful reactions, much to the bewilderment of his guests. He resolves to attend the witches for further advice as to the nature of the apparition. In the next scene, Heccat, the chief witch, scolds the other witches for not included her in their machinations, and tells them to reassure Macbeth. Aside, Lennox and another Lord discuss their suspicions that Macbeth is the murderer, and talk of Malcolm's impending arrival to force a coup, with the alliance of the English king.
Friday, 31 August 2012
Macbeth Act 2
The scene opens with Macbeth and Banquo discussing the prophesy of the witches. Macbeth then discloses in soliloquy that he intends to kill Duncan. Slyly, Macbeth murders King Duncan with a dagger, to the apparent surprise of Lady Macbeth. He then places daggers in the servants' chambers, and befouls their bedclothes with blood, making them the obvious suspects. At this point, he becomes neurotic and panicked that he did not say 'amen', and worries about the consequences of his actions. His nerves have to be assuaged by Lady Macbeth, and his hands washed of the 'filthy witness'. The scene shifts to a drunken porter telling knock-knock jokes to himself (which Shakespeare coins), and the learning of Macduff, Lennox, Malcolm and Donalbain that the King is dead. Malcolm and Donalbain come to realise that they are next in line to be slain, due to their lineage and link to the throne, so vow to flee to England and Ireland respectively following the murder.
The scene opens with Macbeth and Banquo discussing the prophesy of the witches. Macbeth then discloses in soliloquy that he intends to kill Duncan. Slyly, Macbeth murders King Duncan with a dagger, to the apparent surprise of Lady Macbeth. He then places daggers in the servants' chambers, and befouls their bedclothes with blood, making them the obvious suspects. At this point, he becomes neurotic and panicked that he did not say 'amen', and worries about the consequences of his actions. His nerves have to be assuaged by Lady Macbeth, and his hands washed of the 'filthy witness'. The scene shifts to a drunken porter telling knock-knock jokes to himself (which Shakespeare coins), and the learning of Macduff, Lennox, Malcolm and Donalbain that the King is dead. Malcolm and Donalbain come to realise that they are next in line to be slain, due to their lineage and link to the throne, so vow to flee to England and Ireland respectively following the murder.
Macbeth Act 1
The play opens in a scene with the Wayward Sisters planning to visit Macbeth and bring him news. The scene shifts to Duncan and his Sons discussing the valor and bravery displayed by Macbeth and Banquo in defeating the Norwegian army, as well as lamenting the treachery of the Thane of Cawdor and deciding to award Macbeth the title in spite of aforementioned treachery. Following this, the witches predict that Macbeth will be Thane of Glamis, Cawdor and King. Macbeth is already Thane of Glamis, but he knows not about the treachery of Cawdor. The witches predict similar fortunes for Banquo - that his children will sit on thrones. The next scene involves Duncan and his Sons, as well as Macbeth and Banquo; it is where Duncan reveals that the Thane of Cawdor has been executed for treason, and that Macbeth will resume the title. At this point, Macbeth realises that the witches' prophesy is beginning to come true, and starts to contemplate kinghood. In the next few scenes, Lady Macbeth reads a letter informing her of her husband's gains, and is determined for him to be King so that she may be Queen. King Duncan is coming to their Castle in Inverness, and she attempts to persuade Macbeth to kill them at that opportunity so to claim the crown. He is initially hesitant, but following some cajoling, gives in and resolves to murder Duncan. At the end of the Act, he fully intends on it.
The play opens in a scene with the Wayward Sisters planning to visit Macbeth and bring him news. The scene shifts to Duncan and his Sons discussing the valor and bravery displayed by Macbeth and Banquo in defeating the Norwegian army, as well as lamenting the treachery of the Thane of Cawdor and deciding to award Macbeth the title in spite of aforementioned treachery. Following this, the witches predict that Macbeth will be Thane of Glamis, Cawdor and King. Macbeth is already Thane of Glamis, but he knows not about the treachery of Cawdor. The witches predict similar fortunes for Banquo - that his children will sit on thrones. The next scene involves Duncan and his Sons, as well as Macbeth and Banquo; it is where Duncan reveals that the Thane of Cawdor has been executed for treason, and that Macbeth will resume the title. At this point, Macbeth realises that the witches' prophesy is beginning to come true, and starts to contemplate kinghood. In the next few scenes, Lady Macbeth reads a letter informing her of her husband's gains, and is determined for him to be King so that she may be Queen. King Duncan is coming to their Castle in Inverness, and she attempts to persuade Macbeth to kill them at that opportunity so to claim the crown. He is initially hesitant, but following some cajoling, gives in and resolves to murder Duncan. At the end of the Act, he fully intends on it.
The rest of Frankenstein
Where did I leave of? As I'm typing this, I can't actually remember. I know it was chapter 10, but I don't remember what happened in chapter 10?
Oh wait, yes, I do. I'm going to stop verbalising my thoughts. Is it even verbalising if I'm typing it? One of the many intellectual wonders conjured by the pursuit of literature...
Frankenstein ventures into the mountains and is eventually confronted by the gigantic, ghastly and generally rather aesthetically unpleasing fiend. He is seized with fury at this point, and is determined (rather stupidly, considering the size difference) to annihilate this beast where it stands. Justifiably, Frankenstein is in an indignant rage about the death of Justine and blames the monster - accurately. The monster accepts responsibility with a seemingly heavy heart, but implores Frankenstein to hear his tale out so that he might empathise with him:
The monster relayed that it had quite the tumultuous conception, struggling to discern between its various senses. The form of the novel now changes to the monster's narration (although I do feel bad calling it a monster, because it's ever so eloquent. I'm calling it Steve now). Steve left Frankenstein's laboratory and went into the wilderness, foraging for edible foliage and fruit. He encountered a couple of villagers, but they were less than pleased to see him, and it engendered in him a profound self-loathing, compounded by the fact that his creator didn't care for him. Despite this, Steve survives nomadically, eventually settling upon the discovery of fire - an elusive and perplexing substance. Following this, Steve makes himself comfortable in a hovel overlooking a family home. The family comprises a blind man, called Mr DeLacey; a young man called Felix, another young woman (whose name eludes me) and at a later point, an arabian girl named Safie. Steve observes the family habitually over months, and helps them collect wood and clear their path of snow during the cover of darkness, inconspicuously. In his observation, Steve grasps the conventions of human behaviour and picks up a language - French - but Shelley would have you believe otherwise. Steve finds himself emotionally bonded to this family; after all, they are to thank for his newlywed knowledge of humanity. Eventually, Steve musters the courage to speak to the blind old man, because he can't see that he's a hideous beast. The blind man is responsive and considerate to the monster's plight, and Steve hints not too subtly that he wishes to join their community. It's all going surprisingly well until Felix returns home and kicks the bejesus out of Steve. Steve exercises impressive self control not rip his head off and retreats, desolate and lonely to a period of wanton destruction on the house when the family have left. He sets it alight and parties a bit, like a 16 year old raver girl who's had half a bottle of WKD and acts like she's done 3 lines of coke. Steve goes on to explain that he turned towards the community of man in his anger and in search of Frankenstein for retribution. He finds the child that's now dead and fucks it up.
Following Steve's cathartic exhortation, he pleas with Frankenstein to make him a female companion in exchange for his quitting the company of men and relocation to the South American jungles. Grudgingly, Frankenstein agrees to this demand, and sets about the creation of another monster. He returns to his native Geneva to meet his ailing father and harrowed cousin, Elizabeth, whose hand is promised in marriage to him. His father brings up the notion of marriage to quell the extreme strife and misfortune suffered by the Frankensteins. Impassioned by the prospect of marriage, Frankenstein negotiates with his father to leave for England, under the auspice of expanding his horizons, but in reality to concentrate on his project for Steve and study the latest philosophers. His father, however, arranges for him to meet with his friend, Henry Clerval at Strasburgh on his journeys. This is no major stumbling-block for Frankenstein, because he appreciates the company, but it does mean that he needs to be more secretive. They travel through England and are expected by a friend in the frozen, underdeveloped tundra of Scotland.
Frankenstein escapes the friendship of Clerval for a couple of months to continue his work on Mrs Monster (who will hereby be known as Petunia for the duration of his blog) on a secluded island. Here, Frankenstein braves the harsh environs and progresses, until he reaches an unfortunate epiphany. He rationalises that to give life to Petunia would be incredibly selfish. He is unleashing a creature of potentially greater malignity and evil than Steve unto the world - perhaps they will breed! - so that he might avoid an uncomfortable life. On balance, it's Frankenstein's happiness vs the potential extinction of the human race at the hands of Steve, Petunia and their gruesomely hypothetical progeny. Frankenstein resolves to abandon the project and destroys Petunia then and there - the brute! Steve pops by the say hello and is mortified (ba-dum-tsh) to learn of Petunia's sad passing. He flips his shit and threatens Frankenstein that he will be there on his wedding night, then buggers off (sorry, I've relapsed).
A bit shaken, Frankenstein returns to land on his boat, but is caught in mists and blown off-course. He eventually reaches land, but the land's inhabitants look a bit grumpy. In fitting with his usual fortune, he is accused of murder. Calmly, he goes to the Magistrate's office to clear his name. Three things are made apparent at this point: Frankenstein is in Ireland; Steve has killed Clerval; and the Magistrate is a decent fellow. Upon learning of his friend's death, Frankenstein has a bit of a fit and is ill for a few months. The magistrate stands in his defence at the trial and and clears him. Frankenstein's father visits him at this point and says hello. Long story short, there's a wedding between Frankenstein and Elizabeth, and Frankenstein stupidly assumes that Steve wants to kill him. While he's preoccupied with defending himself, Steve throttles her. Moral of the story, protect yo' bitches. Frankenstein's clearly not too pleased, and goes in search of Steve... in the north pole (as y'do).
Now, the narrative returns to the fellow on the boat writing to his wife. Frankenstein slowly dies, but not before issuing a warning about Steve and a heroic speech about pussying out on the adventure. When Frankenstein dies, he briefly laments his rage. Steve crops up, and laments his being a massive dick. There are a load of emotions and stuff, then it's over.
THE END.
Where did I leave of? As I'm typing this, I can't actually remember. I know it was chapter 10, but I don't remember what happened in chapter 10?
Oh wait, yes, I do. I'm going to stop verbalising my thoughts. Is it even verbalising if I'm typing it? One of the many intellectual wonders conjured by the pursuit of literature...
Frankenstein ventures into the mountains and is eventually confronted by the gigantic, ghastly and generally rather aesthetically unpleasing fiend. He is seized with fury at this point, and is determined (rather stupidly, considering the size difference) to annihilate this beast where it stands. Justifiably, Frankenstein is in an indignant rage about the death of Justine and blames the monster - accurately. The monster accepts responsibility with a seemingly heavy heart, but implores Frankenstein to hear his tale out so that he might empathise with him:
The monster relayed that it had quite the tumultuous conception, struggling to discern between its various senses. The form of the novel now changes to the monster's narration (although I do feel bad calling it a monster, because it's ever so eloquent. I'm calling it Steve now). Steve left Frankenstein's laboratory and went into the wilderness, foraging for edible foliage and fruit. He encountered a couple of villagers, but they were less than pleased to see him, and it engendered in him a profound self-loathing, compounded by the fact that his creator didn't care for him. Despite this, Steve survives nomadically, eventually settling upon the discovery of fire - an elusive and perplexing substance. Following this, Steve makes himself comfortable in a hovel overlooking a family home. The family comprises a blind man, called Mr DeLacey; a young man called Felix, another young woman (whose name eludes me) and at a later point, an arabian girl named Safie. Steve observes the family habitually over months, and helps them collect wood and clear their path of snow during the cover of darkness, inconspicuously. In his observation, Steve grasps the conventions of human behaviour and picks up a language - French - but Shelley would have you believe otherwise. Steve finds himself emotionally bonded to this family; after all, they are to thank for his newlywed knowledge of humanity. Eventually, Steve musters the courage to speak to the blind old man, because he can't see that he's a hideous beast. The blind man is responsive and considerate to the monster's plight, and Steve hints not too subtly that he wishes to join their community. It's all going surprisingly well until Felix returns home and kicks the bejesus out of Steve. Steve exercises impressive self control not rip his head off and retreats, desolate and lonely to a period of wanton destruction on the house when the family have left. He sets it alight and parties a bit, like a 16 year old raver girl who's had half a bottle of WKD and acts like she's done 3 lines of coke. Steve goes on to explain that he turned towards the community of man in his anger and in search of Frankenstein for retribution. He finds the child that's now dead and fucks it up.
Following Steve's cathartic exhortation, he pleas with Frankenstein to make him a female companion in exchange for his quitting the company of men and relocation to the South American jungles. Grudgingly, Frankenstein agrees to this demand, and sets about the creation of another monster. He returns to his native Geneva to meet his ailing father and harrowed cousin, Elizabeth, whose hand is promised in marriage to him. His father brings up the notion of marriage to quell the extreme strife and misfortune suffered by the Frankensteins. Impassioned by the prospect of marriage, Frankenstein negotiates with his father to leave for England, under the auspice of expanding his horizons, but in reality to concentrate on his project for Steve and study the latest philosophers. His father, however, arranges for him to meet with his friend, Henry Clerval at Strasburgh on his journeys. This is no major stumbling-block for Frankenstein, because he appreciates the company, but it does mean that he needs to be more secretive. They travel through England and are expected by a friend in the frozen, underdeveloped tundra of Scotland.
Frankenstein escapes the friendship of Clerval for a couple of months to continue his work on Mrs Monster (who will hereby be known as Petunia for the duration of his blog) on a secluded island. Here, Frankenstein braves the harsh environs and progresses, until he reaches an unfortunate epiphany. He rationalises that to give life to Petunia would be incredibly selfish. He is unleashing a creature of potentially greater malignity and evil than Steve unto the world - perhaps they will breed! - so that he might avoid an uncomfortable life. On balance, it's Frankenstein's happiness vs the potential extinction of the human race at the hands of Steve, Petunia and their gruesomely hypothetical progeny. Frankenstein resolves to abandon the project and destroys Petunia then and there - the brute! Steve pops by the say hello and is mortified (ba-dum-tsh) to learn of Petunia's sad passing. He flips his shit and threatens Frankenstein that he will be there on his wedding night, then buggers off (sorry, I've relapsed).
A bit shaken, Frankenstein returns to land on his boat, but is caught in mists and blown off-course. He eventually reaches land, but the land's inhabitants look a bit grumpy. In fitting with his usual fortune, he is accused of murder. Calmly, he goes to the Magistrate's office to clear his name. Three things are made apparent at this point: Frankenstein is in Ireland; Steve has killed Clerval; and the Magistrate is a decent fellow. Upon learning of his friend's death, Frankenstein has a bit of a fit and is ill for a few months. The magistrate stands in his defence at the trial and and clears him. Frankenstein's father visits him at this point and says hello. Long story short, there's a wedding between Frankenstein and Elizabeth, and Frankenstein stupidly assumes that Steve wants to kill him. While he's preoccupied with defending himself, Steve throttles her. Moral of the story, protect yo' bitches. Frankenstein's clearly not too pleased, and goes in search of Steve... in the north pole (as y'do).
Now, the narrative returns to the fellow on the boat writing to his wife. Frankenstein slowly dies, but not before issuing a warning about Steve and a heroic speech about pussying out on the adventure. When Frankenstein dies, he briefly laments his rage. Steve crops up, and laments his being a massive dick. There are a load of emotions and stuff, then it's over.
THE END.
Tuesday, 28 August 2012
Frankenstein up to chapter 10 (because I forgot that I had to write this evil blog post)
Really, the letter was not clear as to how much detail was required for this blog. That said, booklets were provided, but they were misplaced...
Shelley uses framed narration in her novel. The opening narrative perspective is in the form of letters from one intrepid explorer to his beloved. He embarks on a journey to the North Pole to broaden his horizons and generally be a bit of a hipster. He wants to be able to drone on about his gap yah in Boliviyah. On his travels northwards, he locates a willing crew to man his ship and sets sail for the tundra. During his travels, he sees an 8 foot demon on a dog-sled flying across the ice. Later, he discovers a man on the ice, and invites him on board. The two bond quite closely as friends (in a slightly homoerotic fashion, I add) and the stranded man tells the journeyer his tale, promising that it will explain his downcast and sullen countenance (Shelley likes this word. A lot.).
The stranded fellow goes by the name Victor Frankenstein. He was raised in a loving family of an adopted sister (or two, I don't remember) and dedicated parents. Shelley basically emphasises that his upbringing was pretty much stellar, and all the messed up shit he does later can't be justified by that. He becomes interested in natural philosophy; specifically, a couple of outdated philosophers who believed in some nonsense that I forget. The point is, he mentions this to his Dad, and his Dad waives the idea without explaining why they're a load of nonsense. Naturally, the adolescent Frankenstein is urged out of teen spirit (or something that smells like it) to disobey authority and dedicate a large portion of his time to revering these books like the gospels. The product of this is that he is firmly entrenched in anachronistic ideas about life and humanity and stuff. Eventually, he gets sent to university, but not before his mother (or perhaps after - I forget) dies. He's a bit gutted that his mam's dead, but he moves on. At university, he is ridiculed for his outdated beliefs, but is set on the path to enlightenment by one of his tutors. His thoughts develop and Shelley alludes to the creation of the monster, noting that it is made from dead bodies. Frankenstein becomes isolated and alienated from his family, and there are attempts from his sister, Elizabeth, to reconnect him. Additionally, his close school friend, Clerval, does similar. However, it is not until one of his brother's (or cousins or something. The Frankensteins reproduced like rabbits) mysteriously is murdered, that he returns to the Frankenstein abode in Geneva. It is concluded that another member of the family (SEE) killed the relation, but the evidence is incredibly tenuous, and the guilty verdict appears to be Shelley's indictment of the stupidity of humanity (or mine...). Despite the verdict, Victor Frankenstein is insistent that it was the monster that killed the boy, and seeks the monster out in the mountains.
That's as far as I've got. It's actually not that bad a read. Shelley's language is WAY less ridiculous than Carter's. Who's ever heard of the word chthonic? Really. It actually predates Jesus. What up wid dat?
Really, the letter was not clear as to how much detail was required for this blog. That said, booklets were provided, but they were misplaced...
Shelley uses framed narration in her novel. The opening narrative perspective is in the form of letters from one intrepid explorer to his beloved. He embarks on a journey to the North Pole to broaden his horizons and generally be a bit of a hipster. He wants to be able to drone on about his gap yah in Boliviyah. On his travels northwards, he locates a willing crew to man his ship and sets sail for the tundra. During his travels, he sees an 8 foot demon on a dog-sled flying across the ice. Later, he discovers a man on the ice, and invites him on board. The two bond quite closely as friends (in a slightly homoerotic fashion, I add) and the stranded man tells the journeyer his tale, promising that it will explain his downcast and sullen countenance (Shelley likes this word. A lot.).
The stranded fellow goes by the name Victor Frankenstein. He was raised in a loving family of an adopted sister (or two, I don't remember) and dedicated parents. Shelley basically emphasises that his upbringing was pretty much stellar, and all the messed up shit he does later can't be justified by that. He becomes interested in natural philosophy; specifically, a couple of outdated philosophers who believed in some nonsense that I forget. The point is, he mentions this to his Dad, and his Dad waives the idea without explaining why they're a load of nonsense. Naturally, the adolescent Frankenstein is urged out of teen spirit (or something that smells like it) to disobey authority and dedicate a large portion of his time to revering these books like the gospels. The product of this is that he is firmly entrenched in anachronistic ideas about life and humanity and stuff. Eventually, he gets sent to university, but not before his mother (or perhaps after - I forget) dies. He's a bit gutted that his mam's dead, but he moves on. At university, he is ridiculed for his outdated beliefs, but is set on the path to enlightenment by one of his tutors. His thoughts develop and Shelley alludes to the creation of the monster, noting that it is made from dead bodies. Frankenstein becomes isolated and alienated from his family, and there are attempts from his sister, Elizabeth, to reconnect him. Additionally, his close school friend, Clerval, does similar. However, it is not until one of his brother's (or cousins or something. The Frankensteins reproduced like rabbits) mysteriously is murdered, that he returns to the Frankenstein abode in Geneva. It is concluded that another member of the family (SEE) killed the relation, but the evidence is incredibly tenuous, and the guilty verdict appears to be Shelley's indictment of the stupidity of humanity (or mine...). Despite the verdict, Victor Frankenstein is insistent that it was the monster that killed the boy, and seeks the monster out in the mountains.
That's as far as I've got. It's actually not that bad a read. Shelley's language is WAY less ridiculous than Carter's. Who's ever heard of the word chthonic? Really. It actually predates Jesus. What up wid dat?
Sunday, 19 August 2012
Wolf Alice
Alice is a girl raised by wolves to pick up their habits. A load of religious folk take her to a nunnery, where they attempt to curtail her wild antics, but it proves largely ineffective. Carter describes Alice's journey through puberty and self-awareness as a wolf-child. She later moves in with a Duke, who is also a werewolf. They live completely separate lives, until the Duke is captured by the village people and tried for witchcraft or some such similar thing that religious folk like to persecute people for. Maybe he was gay. Anyway, he gets battered by the village people, and Alice licks his wounds clean.
That's about it. Why are we reading this? This is incredibly inappropriate and I feel like reading this has violated the inner sanctity of my soul.
Alice is a girl raised by wolves to pick up their habits. A load of religious folk take her to a nunnery, where they attempt to curtail her wild antics, but it proves largely ineffective. Carter describes Alice's journey through puberty and self-awareness as a wolf-child. She later moves in with a Duke, who is also a werewolf. They live completely separate lives, until the Duke is captured by the village people and tried for witchcraft or some such similar thing that religious folk like to persecute people for. Maybe he was gay. Anyway, he gets battered by the village people, and Alice licks his wounds clean.
That's about it. Why are we reading this? This is incredibly inappropriate and I feel like reading this has violated the inner sanctity of my soul.
The Company of Wolves
It's late. Please accept a mediocre summary - I was hoping to fail English so I wouldn't have to rush this awful work.
Another little girl (I detect a pattern...) goes off into the woods, adorned in a red hood to visit her grandmother. She's been warned about the dangers of beasts and werewolves and naked fellas and stuff. Anyway, off she trots, when she hears a howling noise. Fortunately, it's not a howling noise, but a young bloke with a rifle. He escorts her through the woods and takes hold of her basket in a gentlemanly manner; it contains her weapon. At one point, he claims that he can take a shortcut with the help of his trusty compass. Although dubious, the girl goes with him. In the end, he gets there early and eats her grandma. He's about to eat her, but she strips and seduces his wolfy self. There's an emphasis on genitalia. I don't know why. Happy 12:30.
It's late. Please accept a mediocre summary - I was hoping to fail English so I wouldn't have to rush this awful work.
Another little girl (I detect a pattern...) goes off into the woods, adorned in a red hood to visit her grandmother. She's been warned about the dangers of beasts and werewolves and naked fellas and stuff. Anyway, off she trots, when she hears a howling noise. Fortunately, it's not a howling noise, but a young bloke with a rifle. He escorts her through the woods and takes hold of her basket in a gentlemanly manner; it contains her weapon. At one point, he claims that he can take a shortcut with the help of his trusty compass. Although dubious, the girl goes with him. In the end, he gets there early and eats her grandma. He's about to eat her, but she strips and seduces his wolfy self. There's an emphasis on genitalia. I don't know why. Happy 12:30.
The Werewolf
A little girl is sent on her merry way, through a Germanic forest to deliver food to her ailing grandmother. On the way there, a wolf attacks her, but she cuts its paw off and keeps it - for banter. When she gets to her grandmother's house, she's terribly ill and in bed. Investigating, the little girl discovers that the paw she kept has turned into a human hand, and her grandmother is bereft of said hand. Shock horror, the grandma's a witch with an extra nipple. Sad times.
A little girl is sent on her merry way, through a Germanic forest to deliver food to her ailing grandmother. On the way there, a wolf attacks her, but she cuts its paw off and keeps it - for banter. When she gets to her grandmother's house, she's terribly ill and in bed. Investigating, the little girl discovers that the paw she kept has turned into a human hand, and her grandmother is bereft of said hand. Shock horror, the grandma's a witch with an extra nipple. Sad times.
The Lady of the House of Love
In a traditionally Gothic castle, somewhere in the depths of rural Romania, bears setting to the convergence of two characters: the Queen of the vampires and an innocent, virgin Englishman on bicycle. The Queen of the vampires laments her vampirism, but is compelled by necessity - and with the aid of her mute crone - to seduce young men to her boudoir and suck their blood (amongst other things). The young Englishman is destined for a life of trenches, but for now, is traveling through Europe; he embodies virtue and wholesomeness.
Prior to their collision, the vampire reads her Tarot cards and predicts love, instead of death, which she considers unorthodox. Upon meeting, the Englishman is well fed and watered by the mute crone, but does not regard the vampires attempts at seduction as particularly sexy. He mistakes her supernatural talons and pallid hue for sickness and poor hygiene, and contemplates helping her to a doctor. His genuine concern and lack of lust makes him inadvertently impervious to her advances. She drops her glasses (that shield her eyes from the harsh sun) and cuts her finger on a shard. He attempts to stem the flow of blood by kissing her finger, and in doing so, returns her to humanity. Unfortunately, she dies.
When the Englishman is posted out to France, he finds one of her morbidly turgid roses in his breast pocket, and places it in a vase. When he returns from the mess, the overpowering aroma of red roses catches his attention, symbolising her immortality through love, or some soppy shit like that.
In a traditionally Gothic castle, somewhere in the depths of rural Romania, bears setting to the convergence of two characters: the Queen of the vampires and an innocent, virgin Englishman on bicycle. The Queen of the vampires laments her vampirism, but is compelled by necessity - and with the aid of her mute crone - to seduce young men to her boudoir and suck their blood (amongst other things). The young Englishman is destined for a life of trenches, but for now, is traveling through Europe; he embodies virtue and wholesomeness.
Prior to their collision, the vampire reads her Tarot cards and predicts love, instead of death, which she considers unorthodox. Upon meeting, the Englishman is well fed and watered by the mute crone, but does not regard the vampires attempts at seduction as particularly sexy. He mistakes her supernatural talons and pallid hue for sickness and poor hygiene, and contemplates helping her to a doctor. His genuine concern and lack of lust makes him inadvertently impervious to her advances. She drops her glasses (that shield her eyes from the harsh sun) and cuts her finger on a shard. He attempts to stem the flow of blood by kissing her finger, and in doing so, returns her to humanity. Unfortunately, she dies.
When the Englishman is posted out to France, he finds one of her morbidly turgid roses in his breast pocket, and places it in a vase. When he returns from the mess, the overpowering aroma of red roses catches his attention, symbolising her immortality through love, or some soppy shit like that.
Precursor: I am becoming increasingly terrified by these stories. Please make them stop.
The Erl-King
The Erl-King is (I think) a goblin, who lives in a cottage, in the middle of a dark forest that is teeming with life. He has a deep affinity with nature and seems to coexist quite well with the plethora of animals. A girl finds her way to his cottage and notes how he keeps birds in cages - he laughs off her accusations of animal cruelty (the RSPCA should have been called...) - and they have some rather intimate relations. At one point, the Erl-King bites the girl's neck (as y'do in Carter's sadomasochistic world) and she decides that she'd quite like to be a bird in a cage too. Eventually, she realises that the birds are all the Erl-King's past sexual playthings, and conspires to murder him in his sleep, thus freeing the birds. Then, I forget, but it's pretty much over at that point.
The Snow Child
There's this Count and Countess, and clearly, the Countess is a bit of a prude or has cystic ovaries or something, because the Count wants a little girl, but they don't have one. Anyway, the Count sees the snow, and wants a girl as white as snow. Then, he sees a pool of blood (because they're just dotted around everywhere...) and wants her red as blood. Then, he sees the black feathers of a raven, and wants her that black too. Now, ordinarily, there would be some ethnic mismatch here and whatever the outcome would be incredibly politically incorrect. However, Carter contrives to generate a pale skinned, red lipped, black haired girl. The Countess gets very jealous and attempts to kill her off, but the Count clearly quite likes his new girl. Some stuff happens, then the Count fucks the dead body of the girl...
At this point, I stopped reading.
The Erl-King
The Erl-King is (I think) a goblin, who lives in a cottage, in the middle of a dark forest that is teeming with life. He has a deep affinity with nature and seems to coexist quite well with the plethora of animals. A girl finds her way to his cottage and notes how he keeps birds in cages - he laughs off her accusations of animal cruelty (the RSPCA should have been called...) - and they have some rather intimate relations. At one point, the Erl-King bites the girl's neck (as y'do in Carter's sadomasochistic world) and she decides that she'd quite like to be a bird in a cage too. Eventually, she realises that the birds are all the Erl-King's past sexual playthings, and conspires to murder him in his sleep, thus freeing the birds. Then, I forget, but it's pretty much over at that point.
The Snow Child
There's this Count and Countess, and clearly, the Countess is a bit of a prude or has cystic ovaries or something, because the Count wants a little girl, but they don't have one. Anyway, the Count sees the snow, and wants a girl as white as snow. Then, he sees a pool of blood (because they're just dotted around everywhere...) and wants her red as blood. Then, he sees the black feathers of a raven, and wants her that black too. Now, ordinarily, there would be some ethnic mismatch here and whatever the outcome would be incredibly politically incorrect. However, Carter contrives to generate a pale skinned, red lipped, black haired girl. The Countess gets very jealous and attempts to kill her off, but the Count clearly quite likes his new girl. Some stuff happens, then the Count fucks the dead body of the girl...
At this point, I stopped reading.
Saturday, 18 August 2012
Puss in Boots
Figaro is a galavanting, quick witted, charming, misogynistic and faintly hispanic cat that acts as a loyal wingman to his owner. Overcoming the obstacles of marriage, a prying maid and social inferiority, Figaro dutifully facilitates intercourse between Master and Missus. This is achieved through the charade of rat catching (as suggested by an equally innovative feline - Tabs, with whom Figaro conspires and copulates) initially. Following a racy encounter, Master poses as a Doctor who pronounces the death of Missus' old husband (helped in no small part by the cats). Missus takes Master has her new husband and pays off the maid to shut up about it.
Of course, Carter does this in quite the comical fashion, and it does occupy a good 20 pages, but you may notice that I am typing this in the small hours of the morning.
Figaro is a galavanting, quick witted, charming, misogynistic and faintly hispanic cat that acts as a loyal wingman to his owner. Overcoming the obstacles of marriage, a prying maid and social inferiority, Figaro dutifully facilitates intercourse between Master and Missus. This is achieved through the charade of rat catching (as suggested by an equally innovative feline - Tabs, with whom Figaro conspires and copulates) initially. Following a racy encounter, Master poses as a Doctor who pronounces the death of Missus' old husband (helped in no small part by the cats). Missus takes Master has her new husband and pays off the maid to shut up about it.
Of course, Carter does this in quite the comical fashion, and it does occupy a good 20 pages, but you may notice that I am typing this in the small hours of the morning.
The Tiger's Bride
I will try to summarise this, but I think I might fall short. It started off making some sense, but when the beast is the tiger-man that the girl's old English nurse told her about, I came to the conclusion that Carter was on acid when she wrote this.
A gambling fellow from Russia travels to Italy to play poker, and bets his daughter, losing her to a tiger-man. The tiger-man, however, wears a human mask, but he's blatantly not human. There's some ambiguity as to what he looks like, but I'm imagining Tony the Tiger in a V for Vendetta mask, and a luxurious velvet purple robe, and a pimp cane. He tries to strike a deal, using his valet as an intermediary communicator (presumably because he can only actually growl "It's grrrrrrrreat" in response to breakfast cereal) whereby the girl gets naked in exchange for her freedom and her father's restored prosperity. She gets a bit snarky at this request, and mumbles something about locking her in a room, and creates all these stipulations about when, how and where she might get naked for him, apparently to shame him. He cries a wee bit, and she acts like a bit of a smug bitch. Then the valet produces a robotic maid for her, since there are no humans allowed in the beast's house. It does her makeup.
Following this, they go riding on horseback, and the beast gets naked. It becomes apparent that he's a tiger. Therefore, the only reasonable response to him being a tiger-man-thing is for the girl to get naked too. Then they go back, and the girl is free to leave, but the valet turns into some kind of tiger. Before she leaves, she visits the beast one last time, and he's gone feral, pissing all over the place and knocking over pots and stuff. Then I think she turns into a tiger too, but it wasn't that clear.
I reiterate, I didn't actually understand this story. Too many tigers.
I will try to summarise this, but I think I might fall short. It started off making some sense, but when the beast is the tiger-man that the girl's old English nurse told her about, I came to the conclusion that Carter was on acid when she wrote this.
A gambling fellow from Russia travels to Italy to play poker, and bets his daughter, losing her to a tiger-man. The tiger-man, however, wears a human mask, but he's blatantly not human. There's some ambiguity as to what he looks like, but I'm imagining Tony the Tiger in a V for Vendetta mask, and a luxurious velvet purple robe, and a pimp cane. He tries to strike a deal, using his valet as an intermediary communicator (presumably because he can only actually growl "It's grrrrrrrreat" in response to breakfast cereal) whereby the girl gets naked in exchange for her freedom and her father's restored prosperity. She gets a bit snarky at this request, and mumbles something about locking her in a room, and creates all these stipulations about when, how and where she might get naked for him, apparently to shame him. He cries a wee bit, and she acts like a bit of a smug bitch. Then the valet produces a robotic maid for her, since there are no humans allowed in the beast's house. It does her makeup.
Following this, they go riding on horseback, and the beast gets naked. It becomes apparent that he's a tiger. Therefore, the only reasonable response to him being a tiger-man-thing is for the girl to get naked too. Then they go back, and the girl is free to leave, but the valet turns into some kind of tiger. Before she leaves, she visits the beast one last time, and he's gone feral, pissing all over the place and knocking over pots and stuff. Then I think she turns into a tiger too, but it wasn't that clear.
I reiterate, I didn't actually understand this story. Too many tigers.
Friday, 17 August 2012
The Courtship of Mr Lyon
This plays on the 'Beauty and the Beast' fairy-tale (I think). It appears that most of the short stories are perverted rehashed versions of fairy-tales in a gothic backdrop, but I'm not well enough acquainted with fairy-tales to identify them because my parents didn't love me.
An apparently impoverished gentleman is out in the snow when his car breaks down. He hasn't got the money to get his virtuous little daughter the white rose that she so craves, so he steals it from the garden of a mysterious house. He meets a cavalier King Charles spaniel and a lion-man upon his adventure, and the lion-man-thing is a bit peeved that he's been stealing from his garden. Initially, he's quite violent with the bloke, but when the bloke shows him a picture of his little girl, his hardened, beastly exterior softens, and he lets the bloke take the flower on the understanding that he brings his daughter (named Beauty) to tea. They reach a gentleman's agreement that the Beast will magically guarantee the bloke's prosperity in his legal wheelings and dealings, in exchange for chaperoning his daughter - Beauty.
Not an awful lot happens for a while. Beauty fixes up the garden. Beast drinks coffee. At one point, they have a bit of an awkward moment when they get chatting, but things settle down when Beauty's dad returns from his work, suddenly rich. He whisks Beauty away, but she promises to return before the end of the winter. Winter ends, and Beauty is still enjoying the luxuries of the evil bourgeoisie. Remember that cavalier king charles spaniel? He's back! He reminds Beauty that she's late, so she rushes back to Beast's crib. He's pretty much dying in bed because her tenderness and compassion as a child dissuaded him from hunting, and he's a lion, so he really ought to hunt. As such, he's starving to death and is now an ardent pacifist, like a hunger striker from the 60s. In the end, she starts crying, and he magically turns into a normal bloke called Mr Lyon - oh how punny - and they have breakfast.
This plays on the 'Beauty and the Beast' fairy-tale (I think). It appears that most of the short stories are perverted rehashed versions of fairy-tales in a gothic backdrop, but I'm not well enough acquainted with fairy-tales to identify them because my parents didn't love me.
An apparently impoverished gentleman is out in the snow when his car breaks down. He hasn't got the money to get his virtuous little daughter the white rose that she so craves, so he steals it from the garden of a mysterious house. He meets a cavalier King Charles spaniel and a lion-man upon his adventure, and the lion-man-thing is a bit peeved that he's been stealing from his garden. Initially, he's quite violent with the bloke, but when the bloke shows him a picture of his little girl, his hardened, beastly exterior softens, and he lets the bloke take the flower on the understanding that he brings his daughter (named Beauty) to tea. They reach a gentleman's agreement that the Beast will magically guarantee the bloke's prosperity in his legal wheelings and dealings, in exchange for chaperoning his daughter - Beauty.
Not an awful lot happens for a while. Beauty fixes up the garden. Beast drinks coffee. At one point, they have a bit of an awkward moment when they get chatting, but things settle down when Beauty's dad returns from his work, suddenly rich. He whisks Beauty away, but she promises to return before the end of the winter. Winter ends, and Beauty is still enjoying the luxuries of the evil bourgeoisie. Remember that cavalier king charles spaniel? He's back! He reminds Beauty that she's late, so she rushes back to Beast's crib. He's pretty much dying in bed because her tenderness and compassion as a child dissuaded him from hunting, and he's a lion, so he really ought to hunt. As such, he's starving to death and is now an ardent pacifist, like a hunger striker from the 60s. In the end, she starts crying, and he magically turns into a normal bloke called Mr Lyon - oh how punny - and they have breakfast.
Why are you ruining my August?
The Bloody Chamber and other stories - Angela Carter. A summary
The Bloody Chamber
The short story opens at pace, as Carter frequently employs punctuation to elongate sentences, thereby mimicking the speed at which the nameless protagonist is traveling to meet her new husband; a highborn estate owner. Carter initially focuses on marriage as a perversion of love, at least in this particular setting, but arguably in the wider context of society at large.
I'm trying to do some degree of analysis, but it's half past ten, and I've realised that summaries do not require analysis. As such, I will stop analysing these thoroughly disturbing stories and attempt to 'summarise' them as best I can. Upon reflection, I could copy and paste from sparknotes, but I'm feeling sincere, so I won't.
The protagonist meets with her new husband and draws the reader's attention to his waxen features and gruff beard, creating a peculiar image of him. Their marriage occupies one very brief sentence, and they embark upon their honeymoon at the protagonist's spooky castle on the Atlantic coast of France (the protagonist is from Paris). Some frankly filthy scenes ensue, culminating in the eventual (albeit staggered) loss of the protagonist's virginity, and her increased unnerving. Following this, the protagonist's husband (who will be referred to as the antagonist from hereon in) mysteriously dashes away on a business trip to New York. At this point, the protagonist amuses herself at the expense of the castle's etiquette-ensnared staff; meets a blind piano tuner (whose tuning allows her to indulge in her love of music); switches all the lights in the castle on, runs around manically (which isn't very environmentally friendly. The ice caps are melting) and runs a bath. This is tempered by a hysteric phone-call to her mother.
However, prior to this, the antagonist gave the protagonist a set of keys, and prohibited her from using one particular key, muttering some inarticulate claptrap about it being his 'den' where he could 'unburden himself from married life' (as if that's ever been possible). Naturally, the protagonist eventually opens the door using the forbidden key and discovers that her new husband is a dirty liar (his underwear may potentially have become engulfed in flames; alas, there is no such narrative focus). In fact, his 'den' is a genuine BDSM torture chamber, complete with Iron Maiden. The antagonist's various ex-wives (who burden the protagonist's flimsy self-esteem from the get-go) are strewn across a cacophony of torturous devices, all, surprisingly, dead. It becomes apparent that the protagonist is next, and she buggers up her chances even more by dropping the magical BDSM key into a pool of blood, thereby staining it. She flips her shit for a while and has a chat with the blind tuning boy. At this point, Carter becomes tired of actually constructing a story-line, and makes up some contrived nonsense about the antagonist magically and prematurely returning home from his trip abroad. He notices the stained key and gets a bit wound up. Then, he mysteriously imprints the key on the forehead of the protagonist and tells her he's going to cut off her head, but she needs to have a bath first. She seems cool about that, and off she pops to the bathroom. The blind boy finds her and decides to be noble and come with her. The protagonist is about to get her head lopped off, when her mum comes out of nowhere on horseback (she's portrayed as quite the femme fatale, since she had experience killing tigers in Vietnam) and shoots the perverted rapist fellow in the head. They all live happily ever after.
My conclusion from this is that Carter got about 30 pages into what was going to be a full blown novel, but ran out of archaic and pretentious words. Due to this, she decided to terminate the story by invoking the most ridiculous circumstances that could be contrived and substituting an intelligent explanation for maternal telepathy and magic.
Of course, there are more intelligent ways to look at this, but I'm bored of writing so much about 43 pages of filth and debauchery that E.L. James would be embarrassed to show her mother.
The Bloody Chamber
The short story opens at pace, as Carter frequently employs punctuation to elongate sentences, thereby mimicking the speed at which the nameless protagonist is traveling to meet her new husband; a highborn estate owner. Carter initially focuses on marriage as a perversion of love, at least in this particular setting, but arguably in the wider context of society at large.
I'm trying to do some degree of analysis, but it's half past ten, and I've realised that summaries do not require analysis. As such, I will stop analysing these thoroughly disturbing stories and attempt to 'summarise' them as best I can. Upon reflection, I could copy and paste from sparknotes, but I'm feeling sincere, so I won't.
The protagonist meets with her new husband and draws the reader's attention to his waxen features and gruff beard, creating a peculiar image of him. Their marriage occupies one very brief sentence, and they embark upon their honeymoon at the protagonist's spooky castle on the Atlantic coast of France (the protagonist is from Paris). Some frankly filthy scenes ensue, culminating in the eventual (albeit staggered) loss of the protagonist's virginity, and her increased unnerving. Following this, the protagonist's husband (who will be referred to as the antagonist from hereon in) mysteriously dashes away on a business trip to New York. At this point, the protagonist amuses herself at the expense of the castle's etiquette-ensnared staff; meets a blind piano tuner (whose tuning allows her to indulge in her love of music); switches all the lights in the castle on, runs around manically (which isn't very environmentally friendly. The ice caps are melting) and runs a bath. This is tempered by a hysteric phone-call to her mother.
However, prior to this, the antagonist gave the protagonist a set of keys, and prohibited her from using one particular key, muttering some inarticulate claptrap about it being his 'den' where he could 'unburden himself from married life' (as if that's ever been possible). Naturally, the protagonist eventually opens the door using the forbidden key and discovers that her new husband is a dirty liar (his underwear may potentially have become engulfed in flames; alas, there is no such narrative focus). In fact, his 'den' is a genuine BDSM torture chamber, complete with Iron Maiden. The antagonist's various ex-wives (who burden the protagonist's flimsy self-esteem from the get-go) are strewn across a cacophony of torturous devices, all, surprisingly, dead. It becomes apparent that the protagonist is next, and she buggers up her chances even more by dropping the magical BDSM key into a pool of blood, thereby staining it. She flips her shit for a while and has a chat with the blind tuning boy. At this point, Carter becomes tired of actually constructing a story-line, and makes up some contrived nonsense about the antagonist magically and prematurely returning home from his trip abroad. He notices the stained key and gets a bit wound up. Then, he mysteriously imprints the key on the forehead of the protagonist and tells her he's going to cut off her head, but she needs to have a bath first. She seems cool about that, and off she pops to the bathroom. The blind boy finds her and decides to be noble and come with her. The protagonist is about to get her head lopped off, when her mum comes out of nowhere on horseback (she's portrayed as quite the femme fatale, since she had experience killing tigers in Vietnam) and shoots the perverted rapist fellow in the head. They all live happily ever after.
My conclusion from this is that Carter got about 30 pages into what was going to be a full blown novel, but ran out of archaic and pretentious words. Due to this, she decided to terminate the story by invoking the most ridiculous circumstances that could be contrived and substituting an intelligent explanation for maternal telepathy and magic.
Of course, there are more intelligent ways to look at this, but I'm bored of writing so much about 43 pages of filth and debauchery that E.L. James would be embarrassed to show her mother.
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