Blog 4

Katerina Pappas

English 101.17

February 28, 2013

Tragedy

            “Frankenstein,” by Mary Shelly is a book about the relationship between Elizabeth and Victor, as well as Victor’s obsession with science. The poem “Theology,” by Paul Lawrence is a poem about how there is a heaven and must be hell as well. “Tableau,” by Countee Cullen is about a relationship that is not usually seen and is socially observed. The event of Titus Andronicus is a play by William Shakespeare about the fourteen deaths and the tense relationships between one another. These works all together speak about the relationships between people whether they are good or bad.

            In “Theology,” by Paul Lawrence the poem reveals the idea that there is a heaven and hell as well. He says, “there is a hell I am quite sure; For pray if there were not, where would my neighbors go?” (Lawrence, 3-4) What this says about the speaker is that he probably was not very close with his neighbors because he thinks they are going to hell where as he speaks about going to heaven. Likewise in “Titus Andronicus” by Shakespeare, there is a hostile tension between Titus and Tamara. It is seen when Titus kills her oldest son, and Tamara seeks revenge upon him. The hostile relationship is seen when she kills his sons (not all of them), sends her sons to rape his daughter Lavinia and he ends the play by getting rid of her sons and her.

            “Tableau,” by Countee Cullen is a poem that speaks about a relationship that is not seen often or not socially accepted which brings curiosity from the neighbors. “From the lowered blinds the dark folks stare/Indignant that these two should dare in unison to walk,” (Cullen, 5, 8, 9) reveal the idea that it is not acceptable. In this poem the relationship is strong, because as it says in the poem, “They pass, and see no wonder That lightning brilliant as a sword Should blaze the path of thunder.” (Cullen, 9-12) The light symbolizes strength in the poem and is being compared to a sword that in general has its own power. Like wise in “Frankenstein,” there is a relationship between Elizabeth and Victor, but not as close as the couple in Cullen’s poem. However there is also a light in “Frankenstein,” that symbolizes both good and bad. The light shows Victor’s knowledge but at the same time expresses the secrecy and how dangerous it could be. This relationship with Victor and science is an obsession and it leads him to separate himself from everyone else.

            All the works represent a different form of a relationship. In “Frankenstein” it is the science and Elizabeth. The “Theology,” and Titus Andronicus have to do with their neighbors and the tension between them. “Tableau,” and “Frankenstein” both have a light in their relationship but in Tableau the light is strong where as in “Frankenstein” it could be both good and bad.