Comparison of the Play to Me

In this eloquent, yet somewhat confusing play, I find myself most similar to the Prince or Mercutio. The Prince ends the fight in the beginning of the play; I feel like that is similar to me, for I do not like fighting and I usually try to keep the peace wherever I am. Mercutio is the one who sarcastically pokes fun at Romeo's exceedingly dramatic monologues. I think I am somewhat of a sarcastic person, especially towards those who seem to leave a trail of drama wherever they go; I don't see the point in it and I just think it's silly.

I really like every aspect of reading the play at home, and following it up with your knowledge of the play the next day, it really helps me to understand some scenes that are originally so confusing. At home I understand the bullk of everything happening, but then when we read it during class the next day I feel enlightened by seeing new double meanings or puns that Shakespeare so often uses; and so often that I don't catch while reading at my house. Initially, Shakespeare's writing was quite overwhelming to me, but as I've kept reading it has gotten surprisingly easier to understanding. I think I'm saying this of behalf of the class as well: Thank you for letting us read this in class, it helps so much.

Theme

     Times may come and go, but meaningful messages about life will always remain engraved in our minds. In Great Expectations, the dominating theme that money doesn't buy happiness, or love, is intertwined in the morals of many people today, as it was when Dickens wrote this novel. While this ideal is known, it is clear that not everyone takes it into account as a part of their life, both in our times and those of Dickens' lifetime. Those of "gentlemanly" stature are sometimes likely to become swayed by their portable property, loosing sight of of the important things in life. The word 'gentleman' usually comes with a positive connotation, so the irony is the behaviors and morals of these "gentlemen" are not gentlemanly at all, but rather irresponsible and immature. While money may buy materialistic items that make one happy for a temporary amount of time, it cannot buy permanent happiness in the forms of love or other major emotions.

Thoughts on Reading

1.    I thoroughly enjoyed this novel. Although quite tedious throughout the second stage, overall the story was a good one. The characters were very creative, I really liked the different personalities, and how they interacted; like Wemmick and Mr. Jaggers. My two favorite characters are by far Herbert and The Aged. Herbert is a very like-able character, he has more realistic problems that one could relate to, and he has a good personality. I like The Aged because he is so happy and content to do the simplest of tasks. One thing about Pip that is think most little children could sympathize with is wanting something, and not being "content" until you get it; however Pip's wants are much greater than this. I actually liked Dickens writing style very much, and how he used a lot of satire in sly ways. His long sentences and word choice did get confusing at many points in the novel. One mystery that I did somewhat solve concerns the benefactor of Pip. Many statements in the book led the reader to believe that Miss Havisham is the benefactor, but I never actually thought she was, I knew it was someone else. This deduction was used without aid of Sparknotes, or other students.
2. My reading habits for this book weren't all that great. I was usually able to keep up with the reading, but a lot of the time I read after doing all of my other homework, so the words in the long, seemingly never ending sentences melded together, making some scenes quite confusing to me. I was only behind on the reading for one section, when I couldn't get around to the reading due to other homework. This isn't to say that homework for other classes isn't as much of a priority to me as English homework, but I decided that I would be able to catch up the next day, which I successfully did. I didn't have an actual routine for reading, I just tried to get it done when I could. I usually read in my makeshift reading room, where nobody is, so it's very quiet. All in all, I would say that I understood most of the book, mainly the parts I didn't understand were scenes when they would go to the theatres for plays.