Revised Paragraph

The symbol of water changes throughout the story as her decision changes from a positive symbol to a negative symbol. As she thinks of the positives of going away with Frank, she thinks how “She was to go away with him by the night-boat to be his wife and to live with him in Buenos Ayres”(Joyce 21). Later on, she says how he would “save her” (Joyce 23). Joyce uses the water and the boat symbolize how she would leave overseas and escape from her home. The boat and the water would save her from her father’s wrath, and she would find a better home in Buenos Ayres. At the end of the story when the time comes to go away with Frank, she cannot go and suddenly changes her mind to think that Frank “would drown her” (Joyce 23), instead of saving her. The water suddenly changes from symbolizing a way to escape and get saved to what would make her make the wrong decision. Frank changes from a way to escape and take her away from home into the new world into to someone who will take her away from her home, which would be making the wrong decision at the end. From the beginning until the end of the story, she is never confident with her decision, which is shown through how much she changes her mind on whether she will go or not. Joyce uses the symbol of water to represent the changes in her decisions and how unconfident she is about staying or leaving. People should be confident with their decisions and make sure that they don’t let objects change drastically to change their decisions.

Joyce uses the symbol of water as a way of escaping from her home to then a way that will kill her. As she thinks of the advantages of going away with Frank, she thinks how “She was to go away with him by the night-boat to be his wife and to live with him in Buenos Ayres”(Joyce 21). Later on, she says how he would “save her” (Joyce 23). Joyce uses the water and the boat symbolize how she would leave overseas and escape from her home. The boat and the water would save her from her father’s wrath, and she would find a better home in Buenos Ayres. At the end of the story when the time comes to go away with Frank, she cannot go and suddenly changes her mind to think that Frank “would drown her” (Joyce 23), instead of saving her. The water suddenly changes from symbolizing an escape to symbolizing confinement. Joyce uses this water symbol to show how she is never confident in her decision. The drastic change from escape to confinement proves her little confidence. 

Ophelia Portrayals

In "Hamlet" by Shakespeare, in the third scene of act one, Ophelia is portrayed as a sassy sister and daughter. She seems like the stereotypical girl teenager. She dates this guy and her brother and dad try to stop her from dating him because they think he will break her heart and he is not right for her. When they try to tell her, she just listens and says that she understands, but really she will just keep dating him and doing the same thing. Ophelia seems to match this category perfectly to me. Her sass shows when she says "do not, as some ungracious pastors do,/ show me the steep and thorny way to heaven,/whiles, like a puffed and reckless libertine,/ himself the primrose path of dalliance treads,/ and recks not his own read" (1.3.51-55). Ophelia is being sassy when she comments how he should do as he preaches. She says don't go to France and go crazy while you tell me not to go crazy and be cautious with Hamlet.

In the first video, the actress portrays Ophelia very accurately to me. she seems sassy to her brother, in a friendly way. She listens to him, but doesn't believe him and thinks in the mindset of "I'll do what I want, you don't know what's best for me." She seems like an older teenager and like her and her brother can have an actual talk. But we see from her actions how they interact well, but she doesn't want to act as he says she should. She listens, but she doesn't show she is at all interested in acting how he says. When Polonius comes in, she gets more defensive. She says how Hamlet says he loves her and means it. She is loud and tries to defend her loving Hamlet. 

In the second video, the actress portrays Ophelia much differently. She looks much younger and much more innocent. She seems more helpless. She seems like the type of girl who you could affect her opinions and ideas very easily. She acts innocent and looks up to her brother and father. She also gets distracted easily, making her seem younger as well. The two actresses clearly portray Ophelia differently, one portraying her as older and able to make her own decisions and stuck in her ways. The other portrays her as mindful and actually listening. She is young and innocent and easily able to have her opinions changed. 

Hamlet First Impression

After reading scene 1 and 2 of the first act of "Hamlet," I just feel bad for Hamlet. He has clearly lost someone he cares deeply about. You can tell he feels shaken up. He seems kind of out-of-it and not all there.

Towards his mother and uncle, he acts rather peculiar. He acts as if he doesn't respect them, but he acts polite and as if he respects them to not be rude. He seems to be almost over them because he is angry that they aren't mourning over his father's death and how they are blowing it off as no big deal. Hamlet tells Horatio how "the funeral baked meats/ did coldly furnish forth the marriage tables"(1.2.179-180). He is mad how they moved on so quickly and didn't even take the time to mourn and remember his father. They just blew it off as no big deal and how "Thou know’st ’tis common. All that lives must die/
Passing through nature to eternity" (1.2.72-73). She says how death is common, and it happens all the time. He wants to mourn about his father with his widow mother who should be crying her eyes about. But, for some reason, she isn't. Hamlet doesn't understand it, and therefore it angers him that his deserving father is not getting the recollection and mourning. It also bothers Hamlet how his mother would just remarry right after the death of her husband. She acts as if he wasn't special to her, but Hamlet knows he was.

To his new parents, Hamlet acts very nonchalant, not too caring, and willing to obey. For example, when they tell Hamlet not to leave, but to instead stay with here with them, he does not fight it. He just simply says"I shall in all my best obey you, madam" (1.2.120).Although it seems like he lost some respect for them, he still acts polite and obeys their orders as his parents. Overall, my first impression of Hamlet is a person who really loved his father and is very sad about his loss. He seems like a grudge may come to form against his parents who didn't mourn over their loss and remarried right away without shedding one tear about Hamlet's father dying.

Dust, Water, and Night in “Eveline”

In James Joyce’s “Eveline,” Joyce uses the symbols of dust and water to show the crucial decision[A1]  of leaving home that Eveline has to make. The symbol of dust demonstrates the time passing her by without change showing her resentment for change. The evasive night represents the decision she struggles to make, and the many factors that affect this tough decision.  The water symbolizes the changing of her decision and as the time comes to make this decision at the end, she drastically changes her mind to stay.  Joyce uses the symbols of dust, night, and water to help us understand the challenge faced by many to struggle to make an important decision and how difficult it can be to venture out and leave home.

Joyce uses the dust at Eveline’s window to symbolize her static lifestyle, which gives light on her dislike for change making her decision more difficult. At the beginning of the story, Eveline “[looks] around the room, reviewing all of its familiar objects which she had dusted once a week for so many years, wondering where on earth all the dust came from” (Joyce 20). She thinks back to the all the years she spent in this house doing the same thing, dusting. Joyce mentions all the dusting she had done once a week to symbolize how her life has been passing her by, spending her years dusting, nothing more, just dusting. The fragment about wondering where the dust came from reiterates the idea that her life has been passing her by without change for so many years. She lives the same life for countless years with the absence of change demonstrating her inner resentment to change. [A2] Her inner resentment to change affects her decision making her want to stay. Later on in the story, as the time to make her decision nears, she “[sits] by the window, leaning her head against the window curtain, inhaling the odour of dusty cretonne” (Joyce 21). She just sits at the window, wishing that the time would never come where she would have to make her decision. Normally, when people smell something bothersome such as dusty cretonne, they became irritated or get bothered by it. Joyce shows that nothing can bother her or get her mind off of this decision she must make. The odour of dusty cretonne symbolizes this idea of  how she cannot be bothered by anything else other than this life-changing decision she must make. The only thing on her mind is this tough idea of venturing out into the world without anyone to protect her.  Venturing out alone into the big world is a thing that many young adults struggle with. They are afraid because they have had the same routines and same things their whole life, but now everything is about to change as they leave. Eveline struggles with this idea as the night invades her thoughts.[A3] 

Night symbolizes invading her time left to keep things the way they are and the past that affects her decision. As her decision nears, “she [sits] at the window watching the evening invade the avenue” (Joyce 20). Figuratively, Joyce uses the evening taking over the avenue to demonstrate how, as the dreaded time nears, it tears her apart because she runs out of time. Instead of being excited or happy about the decision coming closer, it attacks her because she is torn on whether to stay or go. In her bitterness for change, she describes the night as “invading” with a negative connotation rather than something more positive, such as “filling”. In general, people see everything in a negative way when they dread something coming in the near future because time runs out. As she contemplates staying or leaving, “she [remembers] the last night of her mother’s illness” (Joyce 22). The night symbolizes her mother’s death and the thoughts that pertain to her mother. This brings back sad thoughts about mother. With these thoughts includes a promise to her mother, that she would “keep the home together as long as she could” (Joyce 22).  This promise greatly affects her decision because she does not want to be treated like her mother was, but she also wants to keep her promise and keep her life the way it was, without change. [A4] She gets influenced because she values her promise to her mother. As the story progresses, the night does not become the worst symbol affecting her decision, water does.

The symbol of water changes throughout the story as her decision changes from a positive symbol to a negative symbol. As she thinks of the positives of going away with Frank, she thinks how “She was to go away with him by the night-boat to be his wife and to live with him in Buenos Ayres”(Joyce 21). Later on, she says how he would “save her” (Joyce 23). Joyce uses the water and the boat symbolize how she would leave overseas and escape from her home. The boat and the water would save her from her father’s wrath, and she would find a better home in Buenos Ayres.  At the end of the story when the time comes to go away with Frank, she cannot go and suddenly changes her mind to think that Frank “would drown her” (Joyce 23), instead of saving her. The water suddenly changes from symbolizing a way to escape and get saved to what would make her make the wrong decision. Frank changes from a way to escape and take her away from home into the new world and changes to someone who will take her away from her home, which would be making the wrong decision at the end. [A5] From the beginning until the end of the story, she is never confident with her decision, which is shown through how much she changes her mind on whether she will go or not. Joyce uses the symbol of water to represent the changes in her decisions and how unconfident she is about staying or leaving. [A6] People should be confident with their decisions and make sure that they don’t let objects change drastically to change their decisions.  

Joyce uses symbols of dust, night, and water to demonstrate the challenge of venturing out into the world and leaving home. The reason her decision is so tough for her in the story is because she has never left home before, and she is scared to leave and go out into the world. Joyce uses these symbols to help us understand the true struggle for some to leave home for the very first time. Add personal connection, a modern perspective. Just a suggestion, the eldest kid who helps his single parent raising a family has to make the decision to go to collage or not. The “individual” struggle of the modern “Eveline” to tie the knot.  

                      

---

 [A1]Possibly what “crucial decision” ?

 [A2]Expand more on this idea, I think

 [A3]I like the transition

 [A4]How in what way is she really influenced

 [A5]Possibly make Frank’s argument stronger, like not only “take her away from her home”, but simply help her out of the fire and into the frying pan?? Or like , give it a lot more “evil and regretful” feel

 [A6]Add transition??