“His actions show a character who insists the soul is real, but loves the gaping chasm between the beauty of his body and the corruption of his soul” [ (Wilde 105-123) ]. Because of these factors, Dorian Gray is a morally ambiguous character. When the reader first encounters Dorian, they discover that he has such virtue and purity about him that Hallward reveres him and craves to constantly paint him. By continuously telling Gray how handsome he is, Basil has made him believe that beauty is the most essential facet to life. Dorian begins to panic when Lord Henry tells him that he will not always be
Medieval women are typically considered to be young beautiful ladies who are damsels in distress, awaiting their knight to come rescue them. “The Canterbury Tales” reveals that this notion is far from the truth. Refuting this idea in the novel is The Wife of Bath. She is overtly manipulative by using her exuding sexuality. Her husbands, all five of them were teased with sex, but they had to provide luxuries that she desperately craved for.
Mrs Bennet is a ‘woman of mean understanding, little information and uncertain temper’ compared to her husband who is ‘a mixture of quick parts, sarcastic humour, reserve and caprice’, which could be argued that they are not a good match for each other. Mr Bennet ‘with a book he is regardless of time’ but Mrs Bennet takes great pleasure in gossiping and making herself centre of attention. The opening line ‘It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife’ is rather ironic and directly focuses to Mrs Bennett’s view on marriage. At the beginning of the novel, Mr Bennet, as insisted by his wife, visits Mr Bingley who invites them to the Meryton Assembly to be formally introduced to his two sisters and good friend, Mr Darcy. The visit enables the Bennet sisters to be connected with the upper class which shows Mr Bennets significant role in uniting his daughter’s with their possible future husbands, which in fact is true for Jane and Elizabeth.
Hamartia, or tragic flaw is an essential theme of Shakespearean tragedy as it can provide contrast to a previously successful life by contributing to a drastic change of events. Chris Wilton begins a jubilant life with a high paying, success job as well as his spouse Chloe that adores him dearly. However he wants more, sometime that his wife cannot provide, but Nola Rice can. The seventh rule in the Ten Commandments in Christianity states “Thou shall not commit adultery.” The act of adultery is given a poor and immoral outlook by society, as it is believed that marriage binds two indefinitely. However it is
The desperation of the hunt is the desperation of economical survival (301). This would be the case of the Bennet family. Due to the misfortune of only having daughters, Mr. and Mrs. Bennet have to try to marry their daughters to respectable young men to survive. Elizabeth knows the importance of being married to a fortunate man, but she also wonders about the happiness the marriage will bring. She knew that if she had accepted Mr. Collins proposal it would bring unhappiness to both “you couldn’t make me happy, and I am convince that I am the last women in the world to make you so” (73).
Daisy’s voice was one of the main traits that kept her so intriguing and mysterious for Gatsby, which Nick mentions when he says, “there was an excitement in her voice that men who had cared for her found difficult to forget” (9). The excitement of her charming voice came from her affection for money, a trait of hers that Gatsby clearly dismissed until his tragic death. Daisy was most certainly a woman without mercy, which could be observed when she ran off with her husband after she professed her love for Gatsby, and shattered Gatsby’s dream of a happy future with her. Both women, Daisy and the Faery, can be symbolized as heartless demons that are in the form of temptresses, beautiful yet deadly. The main similarity and flaw that Jay Gatsby and the knight both have is their creation of a fixated, unattainable dream: a hopeful future with their idealistic lovers.
As Cordelia is sent to Duke of Burgundy as being banished from England, it is likely to say that she is banned from her father and her nation. Cordelia buys hate from Lear by having nothing more to say to him compared to Goneril and Regan. Cordelia says “respects and fortunes are his love, I shall not be his wife (pg23 lines 250-251)” in opposition of marriage to Duke of Burgundy since he mentioned about tributes that will follow with Cordelia are none. Although her virtues are about true love and good morals, Duke of Burgundy says “Most choice forsaken and most loved despised! Thee and thy virtues here I seize upon, be it lawful I take up what’s cast away (pg23 lines253-255)” which diminished all good values of Cordelia.
First examining marriage in Pride and Prejudice, the prime example of it in this novel is that surrounding the Bennett family who are not wealthy people, and there is nothing that Mrs Bennett wants more than to see her daughters get married to wealthy men. She presents this desperation at the very beginning of the book when she is eagerly mentioning the fact that Netherfield Park has been let, and she is said to be speaking “impatiently” when her husband does not return this eagerness. This is shown when she says “you do not know what I suffer”. This suffering may be as a result of her own marriage (which disappoints her) or the fact that she wants each of her five daughters to find wealthy husbands. She states in the first chapter that the “solace” of marriage is “visiting and news.” This explains why Mrs Bennett is so desperate for her husband to visit Bingley and find out more about him and to introduce him to their daughters.
The universal truth behind this story is that the innate differences between men and women coupled with lack of communication will cause a marriage to stagnate and become an uneasy compromise. Insensitive and inconsiderate of his wife's feelings, Michael openly admits his attraction to other women. Frances wants to know his true feelings and he gives them to her cold, "I got all this stuff accumulated in me because I've been thinking about it for ten years and now you've asked for it and here it is." (7) He does not acknowledge his wife's despair; he knows he is wrong and yet he feels righteous because so far it has only been a physical attraction. Michael blithely dismisses his wife's pleas for reassurance.
Women begin to think that they will find a perfect man that will hand them the world, that they should dedicate themselves to finding this man, and that they deserve an elaborate story full of passion and desire. This develops conflict with reality, because love stories like the ones we see in the movies are scarce. In the real world, love is tougher, flawed, and it might not end up the way we planned it to. In A Midsummer Night's Dream by William Shakespeare, Helena is obsessed with attaining Demetrius' love. She chases him up to the point of exhaustion, and as much as he tries to avoid her she is persistent.