Melvilles Character Analysis - 1205 Words

Beyond the Middle Ages, several influential Renaissance authors find their way into Melville’s body of works. William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet plays a strong role in the character development seen in Pierre: Pierre, like Romeo, acts rather zealously. The circumstances surrounding the killing of Glen Stanly strongly resemble Romeo’s murder of Tybalt. Melville foreshadows these parallels early in the book when Pierre’s mother calls him â€Å"a Romeo,† which he finds preposterous (Bell 744). In addition to Shakespeare, Herman Melville imbeds many references to the works of John Milton. Similar to Milton’s characters in Paradise Lost, Melville incorporates the motif of angels and devils in two of his early novels, Mardi and Pierre.†¦show more content†¦However, most of which allude to certain people and events rather than directly quoted chapters and verses (Wright 185-6). One concern that Melville emphasizes through Biblica l references is the eternal struggle between good and evil. Similar to the New Testament, one theme of his novella Billy Budd is crucifixion. The conflict of good versus evil, where the Cross triumphs over sin, is seen here through Claggart and Budd. Claggart symbolizes evil, while Budd exhibits a god-like innocence. Like Jesus’ time in the desert, Budd faces a harsh temptation from Claggart when asked to join a mutiny (Wright 193). Melville carefully selects a few distinct portions of his predecessor’s writing to incorporate into his stories because of their figurative meaning beyond the literal text. A style that critics have noticed in Melville’s publications is his chaotic wording and sentence structure: with phrases such as â€Å"Ourselves is Fate,† (Melville qtd. in Kearns 50) the reader begins to clearly see Melville’s chaotic style of writing. This is his use of strings of words as complete sentences that often have errors in semantics and syntax. These mistakes are deliberate, usually for rhetorical value (Kearns 50). An example of which can be seen in the following quote: â€Å"Though in many of its aspects this visible world seems formed in love, the invisible spheres were formed in fright.† (Melville qtd. in Kearns 51). A contrast isShow MoreRelatedCharacter Analysis Of Fedallah In Melvilles Moby Dick1315 Words   |  6 PagesFedallah is one of the most important characters in Melville’s Moby-Dick. Ahab’s characteristics that create his moral tragedy are represented by different characters in the novel. In Fedallahâ€℠¢s case, he represents the pure, demonic evil that exists in Ahab. At times he seems to be supernatural and a literal extension of Ahab’s innermost being. In Chapter 73, while observing the right whales head, Fedallah’s shadow seems to blend in with Ahab’s, as if they are a single being (Melville 261). Read MoreAnalysis of Critical Essays on Benito Cereno1280 Words   |  6 Pages Analysis of Critical Essays on Benito Cereno nbsp; It is possible to divide the critics into two camps regarding Herman Melvilles purpose in writing Benito Cereno. Joseph Schiffman, Joyce Adler, and Sidney Kaplan all argue that Melville wrote the story to make a comment on slavery. On the other hand, Sandra Zagarell and Allan Emery contend that Melville goes beyond slavery and is pointing out other flaws in mid Nineteenth century American notion. nbsp; Benito Cereno tellsRead MoreHerman Melville s Moby Dick 1471 Words   |  6 PagesHerman Melville has become a well-known classic novelist in today’s society, most popularly known for his novel Moby Dick. This book, taught in many high school classrooms, has been critiqued and analyzed in several ways, the characters and story line becoming familiar throughout academia. However, what many high school classrooms do not address is the sub-textual homosexual references made throughout the book. In fact, several books authored by Melville, once viewed upon closer inspection, can beRead More Themes of Hopelessness in Herman Melville’s Bartleby the Scrivener1233 Words   |  5 Pagesvalidity of our literary analyses. This is especially the case with Herman Melville’s â€Å"Bartleby the Scrivener†. Critics have been trying for decades to make sense of the text and most will describe it as â€Å"inscrutable†. I don’t claim to know better than the critics, but instead offer my own interpretation of the work. Based on my observations and analysis, Melville’s use of many elements in his story—first and foremost the character of Bartleby, but also the dead letters, the many walls of Wall StreetRead MoreAnalysis Of Herman Melvilles Billy Budd736 Words   |  3 Pageswriting and editing process. As a result of this, no one is completely sure of Melville’s intentions with the novel, but after analysis and researching his writing styles and history, one can infer his intentions. Melville was an American romanticist, and this category of writers was influenced by religion. This influence is apparent in the selected passage. This passage is evidence for the argument that Billy Budd is a character symbolic of Jesus Christ, drawing allusions to the Biblical story of theRead MoreAnalysis Of The Book The Good And Evil 1565 Words   |  7 PagesYajaira Andraschko Professor Murray ENC 1102- 07 03 November 2014 The Good and Evil in â€Å"Benito Cereno† Benito Cereno is certainly one of the most mysterious and notorious novellas of Melville. Full in symbolism and somewhat gothic in its analysis, that it has caused a great partition among the literary critics of Melville. Various critics have argued that the text defenses the association of slavery while others have argued that it sentences it. There are those who have not taken into considerationRead More Comparing Loss of Self in Soldiers Home, Pauls Case, and Bartleby1442 Words   |  6 Pagesof Self in Hemingways Soldiers Home, Cathers Pauls Case, and Melvilles Bartleby the Scrivener  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚   Hemingways Soldiers Home, Cathers Pauls Case, and Melvilles Bartleby the Scrivener all present a loss of self. These stories prove that there is a fine line between finding ones self and losing ones self. I believe this loss can occur at any age or station of life. This idea is seen in each storys main character. Hemingways Soldiers Home depicts a young man in his earlyRead MoreThe Death Of Jean Pierre Grumbach2751 Words   |  12 PagesFrench New Wave, and Melville was the Godfather. Part of Melville’s motivation for this new style was his intense dissatisfaction with the imperious demands of the Director’s Guild as he personally defined the French New Wave as â€Å"an artisanal system, shot on location, without stars, without a standard crew, with a very fast film stock and with no distributor, without authorization or servitude to anyone† (Neupert 71). Fortunately, Melville’s films were so loved by both the critics and the film-goingRead MoreHybridizing the Social Wrongs and Destruction of Nature562 Words   |  2 PagesPauline Melville to support this reoccurring theme. An analysis of Pauline Melville’s Erzulie reveals a significant challenge that indigenous people faced, social righteousness. Melville’s story helps establish a new connection by exploring the social wrongs of the time and beauty of the Guyana country destroyed by colonialism. After researching Melville’s work in scholarly databases only a few articles on the topic were found. Other analysis of the story discussed that there is an â€Å"emotional connectionRead MoreReview Of Moby Dick 1071 Words   |  5 Pagesshabby part of a whaling voyage...yet, now that I recall all of the circumstances, I think I can see a little into the springs and motives which...induced me to set about performing the part I did† (Melville 7). Analysis (steps two and three): The author introduces the fates as characters here. By indicating that the fates have arranged this play, Melville suggests that Ishmael may have little control or influence over how events in the novel will unfold. He alludes to the idea of fate to show his