Portia and her Suitors

In the novel Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare, we meet a beautiful, young, and wealthy woman who is trying to fine herself a husband. Her father, though dead, has set up a game so the suitor who guesses the correct cascket wins the girl. Though the game is set up so that the winner wins by pure luck, Portia is still very picky about her suitors. The way that Portia talks about her suitors tells us that she wants a man that might not be the normal suitor, one that is full of him self and one that she could talk to. We lean that she wants to have a nice and respectful husband.
PORTIA:
He doth nothing but frown, as who should say 'An you will
not have me, choose.' He hears merry tales and smiles not: I fear
he will prove the weeping philosopher when he grows old, being so
full of unmannerly sadness in his youth. I had rather be married
to a death's-head with a bone in his mouth than to either of
these. God defend me from these two!
(21-23)
This passage is an example on how Portia wants a husband that would treat her well and one that she would find interesting and one that would find her interesting. From what we have read about her so far tells us that none of these men are eligible for her hand and we have learned that the best man is yet to come.

Great Expectations Blog #3

Throught out chapters 38 and 39, Pip and Estella learn more about themselves and their expectations. Over the period of time that they call their lives, their expectations have changed. Now as they grow older, they see their future ahead of them, or what they want their future to be. Pip sees himself as a wealthy gentleman with Estella by his side. His expectation for that part of his future has not changed. But come chapter 39 when the convict reappears, that expectation did change. When the convict introduces himself as Pip's benefactor, Pip realizes that Ms. Havisham had nothing to do with his good fortune. "Miss Havisham's intentions towards me, all a mere dream; Estella not designed for me; I only suffered in Satis House as a convenience, a sting for the greedy relations, a model with a mechanical heart to practise on when no other practice was at hand; those were the first smarts I had." (pg 323) He realizes that all of his fantasys of him marrying Estella and inheriting the estate were all mere dreams as stated in the quote. He made all of that up, and was crushed at the realization. Pip isn't greatful for the generosity of the convict like a gentleman should be because he was in shock. This is what Pip realizes as he grows up, that childhood fantasys are not a match for real world situations.
Estella also has realized that her expectations have changed as she has grown older and matured more. She has become less of a proud and rude person but more kind hearted and caring. She realizes that she might truly like Pip as a person and might be able to see herself with him. When visiting Miss Havisham, she realizes how her expectation was to be cold and cruel hearted young woman. "'You stock and stone! You cold, cold heart!' 'What? Do you repoach me for being cold? You?' 'Are you not?' 'You should know. I am what you have made me. Take all the praise, take all the blame; take all the success, take all the failure; in short, take me.'" (pg 304) She realizes that she doesn't want to be that type of person. Her expectation for herself has changed. She does not want to take what she has endured anymore.
As these two characters become older and more mature, the realizations that they have just created may change them. They might still be drawn to each other, but they could also go their seperate ways. They are not children anymore. They have different futures and they will be happy where ever they end up. I feel that Pip will begin to work hard for his money realizing where it comes from. He was not pleased finding out that his benefactor was the convict and he may not want to accept the checks and payments anymore. I feel that this experience is going to change him because of the convict. I feel that he may go back to his old ways and turn back into the old Pip. Estella on the other hand will change too, but maybe not in the most visible ways. She will become a nicer and better person but she knows her place and will stay there. She loves and respects Ms. Havisham too much to disappoint or hurt her in anyway. She will become the young woman that everyone has expected her to be and she will make a name for herself. I feel that these two characters are going to change and will be happy with themselves and what they have become.

Great Expectations Excerpt Two

In the first volume of Great Expectations, we meet many characters. One of these characters is named Estella. Estella is the ward at the Havisham Estate. As we learn later on in the novel, she has also been adopted by Miss Havisham. She is a young, beautiful, and ambitious girl. She also has Pip's heart. Along with being pretty, she is also proud and very criticizing. At one point in the novel (chapter 8 pg 63), she makes Pip cry. "The moment they sprang there, the girl looked at me with a quick delight in having been the cause of them. This gave me power to keep them back and to look at her." Pip might think that sh is pretty, but he also thinks that she is proud and not that kind of a person.
Estella is a very pretty name. It is elegant and sophisticated. It has a ring to it as well. Plus, it's intriguing. Estella the character is all of these things as well. She is a beautiful young girl who has been raised to be an elegant young woman. She has also been raised to break hearts. Her name is very much like the person she is. Her name is proud and high class, just like her. Her name and her personality are examples on how people can act just like their names. In the first volume of Great Expectations, we meet many characters like Estella, whos name and personality match up.

Great Expectations Excerpt One

Pip

“…I felt fearfully sensible of the great convenience that the Hulks were handy for me. I was clearly on my way there. I had begun by asking questions, and I was going to rob Mrs. Joe.”

In the first five chapters of Great Expectations by Charles Dickens, we meet a young boy named Pip. He is an orphan and lives with his sister Mrs. Joe and her husband Joe. While visiting his parents' graves, he meets a runaway convict that threatens to kill him. The only way that he will not die is that if he brings him food and a file. Pip, being a young boy, is of course scared and steals the food and file out of fear. Young children tend to act out of fear. If they are threatened, even if the threaten is false, they are still scared because they have young minds and they aren't yet able to detect false threats. This is why Pip stole the food and the file becuase he was scared that he was going to have his heart and liver removed from his body. He acted out of fear, as he has in the first chapters of Charles Dickens work Great Expectations.

This quote is found right after Pip agrees to steal the food and file from his sister and husband. He is walking through the marshes when he spots the Hulks, which is a jail and where the escaped convict used to reside. He is thinking to himself that he deserves to go there becuase he is about to steal food and a file from his family. He believed that he was going to get caught and shipped away there. Pip is still scared about the task that he has in front of him, and he feels that his days as a little boy growing up with his sister and Joe are soon to be over. He knows what he is about to do is wrong, but he feels that his life is at stake and that the only way to survive is to bring him what he needs.