The following piece was finished on April 10, 2019, as my 11-page capstone essay for AP English Literature and Composition.
Category: Literary Wisdom
“Is Thy Union Here?”: The Symbolism of the Pearl in Shakespeare’s Hamlet
A pearl, the birthstone of June, is a queer creature when compared to the remainder of what modern society deems “precious stones”. One never imagines a pearl to reflect so brilliantly the light that a ruby reflects so well and so often, nor does one imagine a pearl to be made of a pure and… Continue reading “Is Thy Union Here?”: The Symbolism of the Pearl in Shakespeare’s Hamlet
The Prince of the Black Death, Part the Second
“But Jesus said, Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me: for of such is the kingdom of heaven.” Matthew 19:14 KJV Every step up, it seemed, reminded him of some dreadful fancy. At one point in the mounting, his mind drifted to when he had first talked with Anne about his… Continue reading The Prince of the Black Death, Part the Second
The Prince of the Black Death, Part the First
"The world of Hamlet is a world where one has lost one's way....I believe that we read Hamlet's speeches with interest chiefly because they describe so well a certain spiritual region through which most of us have passed." C.S. Lewis Due to the Plague so lately fallen upon the People of England, so too doth this rever’d… Continue reading The Prince of the Black Death, Part the First
The Split-Heart Plight of Beatrice Portinari: A Sestina
If I were to select any literary couple other than Prince Hamlet and Lady Ophelia with whom to celebrate Valentine's Day, I would choose Dante Alighieri and Beatrice Portinari without question. Though their real-life romance is rather tragic—one could even see the dismal misfortune in a Wikipedia biography—their literary reconciliation is among the sweetest and most ancient epitomes of Christian romantic devotion.
The Storms of King Lear and Paradise Lost
Hello, everyone! I'm sorry I have not posted in a while. I'm working on something grand, lovely, and different, but it needs some more time till I release the first portion on the Internet. In the meantime, here's a pensive little snippet from my other writing, musing on the storms of Shakespeare's King Lear and Milton's Paradise Lost.… Continue reading The Storms of King Lear and Paradise Lost
The Burial of Ophelia: A Poem
With the completion of this Shakespearean sonnet, I sought to speculate at the symbolism of Ophelia's death in Hamlet. Previously I had rewritten a song of death and published it as a poem concerning Ophelia's burial, but only through the eyes of Hamlet's grief. Contrarily, through the shrouded eyes of Ophelia, I think we can gain… Continue reading The Burial of Ophelia: A Poem
New and Noteworthy: Santa Claus Revealed As 1984’s “Big Brother”
WASHINGTON, D.C.—In a shocking study put out by the Central Intelligence Agency today, CIA head Jack Ryan exposed Santa Claus' true identity—the "Big Brother" Orwell so often wrote about in the dystopia 1984.
Literary Wisdom: “Inferno” by Dante Alighieri
As the year began to close, I ventured into the world of epic poetry—and what a beautiful thing it has been! With many thanks to Homer's Odyssey and Milton's Paradise Lost, I finally learned what it was like to sail through the mythological, monster-ridden Mediterranean Sea and to fly on the wings of angels, whirling through space and… Continue reading Literary Wisdom: “Inferno” by Dante Alighieri
On the Death of Frankenstein
When I was first assigned Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, I couldn't think why that could be. Mind you, my teachers were and are exceptionally nice, but horror? The kind made up of nothing but virtually inaccessible laboratories covered in toxic fumes, containing nothing but the maddest and most unearthly fashion of men? Screams of "Aaaah!", "It's alive!", and… Continue reading On the Death of Frankenstein
