What impression do you have of Portia and her relationship with Brutus from Act 2 of Julius Caesar?

Brutus and Portia have a strong and loving relationship.  Portia is naturally worried about Brutus, as she has observed a difference in his behavior.  He is not sleeping well, his temper is different, he is absent-minded and even when he is with her, he is not "with" her.  His mind is elsewhere and his distraction indicates to her, the observant wife, that something is wrong. 

She tries to convince him to talk with her...she even goes so far as to chide him for not sharing his internal conflicts with her.  She says she is "man" enough to handle it and that he should discuss matters with her in order to straighten them out in his head.  She tells him in 2. 1 that she is strong and loyal to him and she deserves to know the truth.  She threatens to give herself a voluntary wound in the thigh to prove that she can take the pain...both physically and emotionally...of whatever he has to say.

He responds with, "O ye gods, Render me worthy of this noble wife!"   He tells her he will share with her his problem later, and they are interrupted by a knock at the door.

Portia sends Lucius to observe Brutus at the Senate on March 15, and orders him to come back and report to her.  She is a good wife.

Strongest and weakest ponits of The Crucible? Do you recommend the Movie The Crucible? Explain.

The movie The Crucible is a pretty good one, but nothing is as good as the book or play when put on the big screen, and this is not an expception to the rule.

One of the strongest points of the movie (which is what I think you are asking about) is the character development of John Proctor. You can feel his struggle to please his wife although their relationship isn't the best because he feels guilt for cheating on her.

A weaker point of the movie and the play is what comes of Abigail. I don't like that she gets away. I want her called to account for what she's said when Hale figures things out. It's just understood that she is out of the picture as she went away.

How did this society in which books are illegal, come about, according to Beatty?This question is from Farenheit 451.

In Fahrenheit 451, Beatty's summation of how the novel's book-banning society came about is in part one, page 58 of my edition:

There was no dictum, no declaration, no censorship, to start with, no!  Technology, mass exploitation, and minority pressure carried the trick, thank God.  Today, thanks to them, you can stay happy all the time, you are allowed to read comics, the good old confessions, or trade journals.

Three things are blamed:

1. Technology:  classics were shortened so they could be read quickly; digests developed; reading had to be quick; reading books became like checking something off of a list--you read a classic summed up in a page so you can keep up with everybody else who's reading it.


2. Mass exploitation:  fun, fun, fun, in mass.  Sports on a massive scale.  Anything so you don't have to actually think.


3. Minority pressure:  every little group complained when anything in a book offended them, and led to the point at which nothing could be written.

Societal forces, then, rather than the government, initiated the world of the novel.

What does it mean to write an essay on the significance and imagery of a play?

Your teacher probably wants you to give specific examples of the imagery used in the play and then tell how the use of this imagery adds to the play. Why does the playwright use the imagery? Imagery appeals to our five senses: taste, touch, smell, sight, hearing. What does the playwright use in the play to evoke an image in our head that lets us know what something in the play looks like, tastes like, smells like, feels like, or sounds like? That's what is meant by imagery.

For example, there are many references to decay in the lives of the Hunsdorfers that represent the theme of death in the play. The setting is the front room of the Hunsdorfer home, a rundown, wooden building that used to be a vegetable shop. The clutter of the house represents the broken bits and pieces of Beatrice's dreams. Just as she's trapped in this room during the whole play, she's trapped in these circumstances of her life. Think about the marigolds--what do they represent? Only through her marigolds does Tillie experience any growth and have the courage to pursue her dreams.

Once you get your examples of imagery that are used in the play, you can then tell how these examples make the play better or how they add to the themes of the play. I hope this helps. For more information, go to the links below. Good luck! 

What accident triggers the battle between the two armies?

In Malory's Morte d'Arthur, the two opposing armies meet face to face to talk peace.  Both armies are suspicious of the other, however, and it doesn't take much to start a fight.

An adder comes out of a bush and stings a knight in his foot.  When he raises his sword to kill the snake, everyone sees it and thinks a fight is starting.  Trumpets and horns blow, announcing battle, and the battle begins.

Arthur had planned to delay the fight until Lancelot could arrive with reinforcements, but the appearance of the adder takes care of that.

Who are the characters in Canto 3 of Dante's Inferno?

The new characters are the Uncommitted Souls that Dante and Virgil see when they enter the Vestibule of Hell. These were people who were not committed to God on earth because they couldn't make a decision for good or evil. Their punishment is to be stung by wasps and hornets as they rush about, and worms feed on their blood that drips to the floor.

The next new character Dante meets is Charon, the one who ferries travelers across the Acheron River to Hell. He reminds Dante and Virgil that those who enter Hell do not return, but Virgel tells Dante that this doesn't apply to Dante since he's still alive.

What is the theme of Shakespeare's Sonnet 18?

Nature fades but art is immortal. Though beautiful at moments in time, everything in nature enjoys but a moment of perfection. In time every virtue will be destroyed, every potential beauty ravaged by the elements, and every perfection will come to contain imperfections. In art, however, the essence of perfection will be captured. Though everything in the world dies and fades, the subject of poetry enjoys eternal life.