At many times lying is ethically justified. Although it may say in the bible that you shouldn't lie, lying is neccesary in real life to protect people's feelings. It isn't right to lie to cover up something you did wrong, but if you answer a question with a lie it's alright. The main thing is that you're not trying to hurt anyone. For instance, if Margot says, "Jen do you like my sweater?", and all day long I have heard kids talking about how ugly it is, and I think it's disgusting, I might answer, "Yes I love it. In fact, will you let me borrow it?" Margot will oblige and then I would take it and throw it in the garbage, tell her I lost it, and buy her a cute sweater. That way, people won't make fun of her, she'll feel good about herself, and I won't have to look at her ugly sweater, and she'll have a pretty new one that people will compliment her on. It's a win-win-win-win situation. Everyone will be happy. If I told Margot that I disliked her sweater, she might feel bad about her clothing choices, and about herself in general. For the rest of the day she'll walk around embarrassed about her sweater.
Many characters in Much Ado About Nothing also lie. Their reasons for lying are to deliberately hurt someone and to make people happy. In one passage, Borachio and Don John try to make Claudio believe that the Prince is stealing his woman:
DON JOHN
Signor, you are very near my brother in his love. He is
enamored on Hero. I pray you, dissuade him from her. She
is no equal for his birth. You may do the part of an honest
man in it.
CLAUDIO
How know you he loves her?
DON JOHN
I heard him swear his affection.
BORACHIO
So did I too, and he swore he would marry her tonight. (II. 1. 134-140).
They are just lying to mess with Claudio, and that is not okay. In doing so, they are also making the Prince look bad. Yet in other cases, lying is perfectly okay. Don Pedro says, "Come hither, Leonato. What was it you told me of today,/ that your niece Beatrice was in love with Signor Benedick?" (II.3.72-73). Leonato told him no such thing, but Don Pedro isn't saying it to be cruel to Benedick, he is saying it to make him love her (love is never a bad thing after all). Don Pedro loves Benedick, and he wouldn't try to actually hurt him.
Monday, December 24, 2007
Sunday, December 2, 2007
Poetry
Oops sorry Ms. Froehlich I forgot the poem. Here it is.
Cap and Bells by William Butler Yeats
The jester walked into the garden:
The garden had fallen still;
He bade his soul rise upward
And stand on her window-sill.
It rose in a straight blue garment,
When owls began to call:
It had grown wise-tongued by thingking
Of a quiet and light footfall;
But the young queen would not listen;
She rose in her pale night-gown;
She drew in the heavy casement
And pushed the latches down.
He bade his heart go to her,
When the owls called out no more;
In a red quivering garment
It sang to her through the door.
It had grown sweet-tongued by dreaming
Of a flutter of flower-like hair;
But she took up her fan from the table
And waved it off on the air.
'I have cap and bells,' he pondered,
'I will send them to her and die';
And when the morning whitened
He left them where she went by.
She laid them upon her bosom,
Under a cloud of her hair,
And her red lips sang them a love-song
Till stars grew out of the air.
She opened her door and her window,
And the heart and the soul came through,
To her right hand came the red one,
To her left hand came blue.
They set up a noise like crickets,
A chattering wise and sweet,
And her hair was a folded flower
And the quiet of love in her feet.
The poem "Cap and Bells" opens:
The jester walked into the garden:
The garden had fallen still;
He bade his soul rise upward
And stand on her window-sill. (1-4)
From the beginning of the poem, the reader's attention is caught. Images of a teenage boy throwing stones into his love interest's window fill the reader's mind. How painful for the young man, when the girl "pushed the latches down" (12). Many boys can relate to being ignored by a girl they adore. But even a girl will enjoy reading this poem. William Butler Yeats uses a central metaphor of members of a medieval court in his poem, "Cap and Bells."
"Cap and Bells" goes on to say " 'I have cap and bells,' he pondered,/ 'I will send them to her and die;' " (21-22). In these lines, cap and bells means heart and soul. The jester is giving his heart and soul to the young lady, who just didn't care. The next morning, the girl receives the cap and bells, "And her red lips sang them a love-song" (27). How eloquently Yeats words his poem. Although this could simply be the story of a court jester and a young queen in midieval Europe, it could also be a metaphor for any slightly odd young man who tried his hardest to win a beauty's heart.
Cap and Bells by William Butler Yeats
The jester walked into the garden:
The garden had fallen still;
He bade his soul rise upward
And stand on her window-sill.
It rose in a straight blue garment,
When owls began to call:
It had grown wise-tongued by thingking
Of a quiet and light footfall;
But the young queen would not listen;
She rose in her pale night-gown;
She drew in the heavy casement
And pushed the latches down.
He bade his heart go to her,
When the owls called out no more;
In a red quivering garment
It sang to her through the door.
It had grown sweet-tongued by dreaming
Of a flutter of flower-like hair;
But she took up her fan from the table
And waved it off on the air.
'I have cap and bells,' he pondered,
'I will send them to her and die';
And when the morning whitened
He left them where she went by.
She laid them upon her bosom,
Under a cloud of her hair,
And her red lips sang them a love-song
Till stars grew out of the air.
She opened her door and her window,
And the heart and the soul came through,
To her right hand came the red one,
To her left hand came blue.
They set up a noise like crickets,
A chattering wise and sweet,
And her hair was a folded flower
And the quiet of love in her feet.
The poem "Cap and Bells" opens:
The jester walked into the garden:
The garden had fallen still;
He bade his soul rise upward
And stand on her window-sill. (1-4)
From the beginning of the poem, the reader's attention is caught. Images of a teenage boy throwing stones into his love interest's window fill the reader's mind. How painful for the young man, when the girl "pushed the latches down" (12). Many boys can relate to being ignored by a girl they adore. But even a girl will enjoy reading this poem. William Butler Yeats uses a central metaphor of members of a medieval court in his poem, "Cap and Bells."
"Cap and Bells" goes on to say " 'I have cap and bells,' he pondered,/ 'I will send them to her and die;' " (21-22). In these lines, cap and bells means heart and soul. The jester is giving his heart and soul to the young lady, who just didn't care. The next morning, the girl receives the cap and bells, "And her red lips sang them a love-song" (27). How eloquently Yeats words his poem. Although this could simply be the story of a court jester and a young queen in midieval Europe, it could also be a metaphor for any slightly odd young man who tried his hardest to win a beauty's heart.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)