Sarah Beier – Addendum

Gulliver’s Travels

For my post, I chose to watch the Jack Black interpretation of Gulliver’s Travels. Overall, I was very unimpressed with this movie. I have always preferred the books to the movies. This holds true when it comes to this version of Gulliver’s Travels. While the characters and very basic plot was the same, this movie was completely different than Jonathan Swift’s novel we read for class.

The movie starts off with Gulliver working in a mail room for a company trying to impress a girl. He tells her he is a journalist who would be willing to travel to the Bermuda Triangle and write a story about his experience. She allows him to go on behalf of her company, and the tale begins. This is very different from the novel as Gulliver, in the novel, is a trained surgeon who goes on these adventures for fun.

Like the book, there is a storm at sea which causes Gulliver to be shipwrecked. A difference in the movie version is Gulliver begins this journey alone. In the book, Gulliver goes to sea on a ship with multiple crew members. A similarity between the book and the movie is how Gulliver discovers the citizens of Lilliput. After being shipwrecked by the storm, Gulliver wakes up confused and realizes he is tied down. He then notices there are miniature sized humans all over his body and panics. I thought this scene was portrayed well in the movie. The way the movie shows this scene is exactly how I pictured it playing out in my head as I read the book.

The director of this movie needed to add certain elements to make it more appealing to a wider audience; however, I feel he should have stayed true to the book. I did not find the added humor funny, nor did I like the changes that were made to the story. The only new plotline which I enjoyed was the added romance between the princess of Lilliput and Horatio. I enjoyed Gulliver attempting to give Horatio relationship advice despite being unable to win the heart of his own crush. The main element added to the movie which I did not like was how Gulliver caused the Lilliputians to become a technologically advanced people. I understand it added humor to the movie, but it was not realistic. I also did not like the added battle between Gulliver and the General Edward character.

One element I thought the movie did well was portraying the size difference between Gulliver and the Lilliputians. They rarely showed the Lilliputians in the same frame along with Gulliver. When Gulliver spoke, the camera angle was an upshot of his face making him seem very tall. When the camera focused on the Lilliputians, the camera was above them causing their characters to appear small.

Overall, there were some funny parts which made this movie appealing to a broader audience. However, I will never watch this movie again. I much preferred reading the book and would not recommend this movie to anyone wanting to know the story of Jonathan Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels.

Is William Shakespeare Truly Great?

William Shakespeare is one of the most well-known English poets and playwrights of the seventeenth century. Most people have heard of William Shakespeare and are familiar with at least one of his works. To this day, his influence is still seen in the themes of many popular movies and stories. The works of Shakespeare are commonly taught in the English classroom; however, was he truly as talented as everyone says?

Students are taught from a young age that Shakespeare is the best British author, and his works far surpass those of any other poet. Is this true? According to Wikipedia, Shakespeare is “widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world’s pre-eminent dramatist.” However, in the work of Samuel Johnson entitled The Preface to Shakespeare, many of Shakespeare’s writing flaws are addressed.

Johnson writes, “He (Shakespeare) sacrifices virtue to convenience, and is so much more careful to please than to instruct that he seems to write without any moral purpose” (Johnson 2940). He continues to argue that Shakespeare does not provide justice for his characters who are good while not punishing those characters who are innately bad. Johnson mentions he leaves the fate of his characters “up to chance” (Johnson 2940). At the end of this paragraph, Johnson informs the reader that it was Shakespeare’s duty to add to the good of the world. By not providing appropriate justice, or lack thereof, Shakespeare is cheating his readers.

Johnson mentions another failure of Shakespeare regarding the plots of his plays. Johnson describes, “the plots are often so loosely formed that a very slight consideration may improve them, and so carelessly pursue that he seems not always fully to comprehend his own designs” (Johnson 2490). By saying this, Johnson means Shakespeare did not take the time to carefully plan his works prior to performing them. It is inferred that Johnson means Shakespeare did not carefully think out his plays and simply wrote down the first thoughts which came to his mind.

The harshest criticism of William Shakespeare comes in the next paragraph. Here Johnson states, “It may be observed that in many of his plays the latter part is evidently neglected. When he found himself near the end of his works, and in view of his reward, he shortened the labor to snatch the profit” (Johnson 2490). Here, Johnson accuses Shakespeare of not caring enough about his pieces to spend a sufficient amount of time on the conclusions. Johnson says Shakespeare is more focused on the monetary gain his plays provide rather than providing his audiences with a good story.

Personally, I love the work of Shakespeare. I find his plays fascinating and always enjoy reading them in class. However, I do question whether Shakespeare truly is the greatest playwright. After reading the work of Samuel Johnson, I question this even more. Are Shakespeare’s works as amazing as everyone says, or are they overhyped purely because of the name William Shakespeare?

Paradise Lost Book 3

I thoroughly enjoyed reading Book 3 of Paradise Lost. It was interesting to read about the fall of man as an epic poem. I have read about this topic in my Bible; however, I found it fascinating to read it from Milton’s perspective. I found it intriguing to read about the original sin as seen through the eyes of God in Milton’s interpretation. I also found it interesting to get Milton’s perspective on why Jesus volunteered himself as a ransom for mankind.

A passage that stood out to me is where God speaks to Jesus about what he understands is going to happen on Earth. In lines ninety-eight through ninety-nine, God says, “I made him just and right, sufficient to have stood, though free to fall” (Milton 1989). Here, we can infer God blames himself for the corruption of mankind by his adversary, the Devil. God says he is to blame since he gave mankind the power of free will. He gave man the option to choose to stand with God, however, he does not force them. These lines stood out to me because I do not feel God is to blame. He gave his creation the gift of free will meaning he does not force people to obey him. If God had not given man freedom of choice, he would be forcing his creation to do behave like a programmed robot which is not what a loving God would do.

Another passage that stood out to me is where God answers Jesus’ plea to have mercy on mankind. Lines 191 through 193 say “To prayer, repentance, and obedience due, though but endeavored with sincere intent, mine ear shall not be slow, mine eye not shut” (Milton 1991). God is telling Jesus if man is sincere in his prayers for forgiveness, he will never ignore them. This spoke to me because I grew up believing this. I think Milton’s word choice is a beautiful way to express the love God has for his creation.

Finally, a section of Book 3 I found thought-provoking is when God asks for one of his angels to give himself as a ransom for the sins of man in order to receive salvation. (Milton 1991) Lines 217 and 218 state, “He asked, but all the heav’nly choir stood mute, and silence was in Heav’n; on man’s behalf” (Milton 1991). These lines caused me to pause and think about the scene in heaven when God made his request. I have grown up learning about the original sin of man. In my head, I pictured the angels fighting over who would save mankind willingly from death. In Milton’s interpretation, the angels were not eager to sacrifice themselves. Milton mentions the ransom had been set, yet without salvation mankind would be given over to death and lost forever. Finally, the Son of God speaks up in man’s behalf. (Milton 1991) Before Jesus speaks up, reading this made me anxious because if he had not volunteered, man would be unable to receive God’s forgiveness.