's
and Sir Philip Sidney's Astrophil and Stella are both
sonnet collections written in the Renaissance. The main difference between the themes of the two
collections stems from the authors' own experiences with love. Spenser's sonnets are written to
his wife, while Sidney's are written to and about a woman to whom he was previously engaged but
who married another man. Therefore, Spenser's poems celebrate the love he feels for his wife,
while Sidney's poems exude much more complex emotions that fit more easily into the traditional
sonnet traditions begun by Petrarch during the Italian Renaissance.

Spenser's
Amoretti are dedicated to his wife, and we see in the poems his love and
devotion to her. A representative poem is Sonnet 75, "One Day I Wrote Her Name Upon the
Strand." In the poem, Spenser describes a scenario wherein he writes his lover's name on
the beach, but the tide washes it away. His beloved says it's foolish to attempt to make
immortal something that is inherently mortal; since they are human, they will inevitably die,
and their love with them. Spenser begs to differ, though, asserting that he will immortalize his
wife and their love through his poetry. The final section of the poem reads as
follows:

"Not so," (quod I) "let baser
things devise

To die in dust, but you shall live by fame:

My verse your vertues rare shall eternize,

And in the heavens
write your glorious name:

Where whenas death shall all the world
subdue,

Our love shall live, and later life renew."
(9€“14)

He tells his lover that "baser
things" can fade away, but she, her beauty, and their love are not "baser
things." They are higher, and they will be "eternize[d]" in his
"verse." While mortal things die all around them, their love will live on through the
immortal words of the poet.

Sidney's poems
feature a much different tone, as his speaker is a man tortured by love. Like Petrarch in the
original sonnets about Laura, Sidney feels pleasure from love and from his beloved's beauty.
However, her rejection of him and/or his inability to be with her creates great pain that he
also expresses in his poems. One representative poem is the sonnet addressed to sleep, Sonnet 39
in the sonnet sequence, "Come Sleep, O Sleep, thy certain knot of peace." In this
poem, Sidney addresses sleep in apostrophe and personifies it as a person who can help assuage
his pain. He wants sleep to come to him and to wrap him in darkness and silence, so he can have
some respite from thinking about Stella. He warns sleep at the end of the poem that if sleep
does not aid him,

thou shalt in me,

Livelier than elsewhere, Stella's image see. (13€“14)

Not being allowed to sleep and escape Stella will result in greater pain, as his
wakefulness will only exacerbate his thoughts and his pain. This is much different from the
sentiment we see in Spenser's Sonnet 75. He wants his love to be remembered forever, while
Sidney hopes to shut out any thought of his beloved.

Chapters 16-20 in The Scarlet Letter reveal the nature of the encounter in the forest between Hester, Arthur, and Pearl. What are 2 or 3 imagery...

The most
obvious complexand issues that spring to mind regarding  are the issues of
identity, sin, and the nature of evil. 

Images regarding the nature of evil
from these chapters include the fact that the sun itself, indicative of light and goodness, does
not seem to shine on .notices this and says, "The sunshine does not love you. It runs away
and hides itself, because it is afraid of something on your bosom." With the optimism of
youth, Pearl offers to catch it, which she does, but when Hester draws near and reaches out her
hand to "grasp some of it," the sunshine vanishes. "Or," adds Hawthorne,
"to judge from the bright expression that was dancing on Pearl's features, her mother could
have fancied that the child had absorbed it into herself, and would give it forth again, with a
gleam about her path, as they should plunge into some gloomier shade." Hester thinks of the
darkness of the forest as representative of her own "moral wilderness"--presumably
fitting considering her moral shortcomings. 

The child, being the product of
sin, is shunned with her mother, but is shown through thisto be innocent. Moreover, the light
imagery suggests she herself is a source of goodness and joy, since she is presumably capable of
absorbing the light and using it again later should they enter "some gloomier
shade." 

Sin is, of course, a major theme of this Puritan-themed novel,
as well. The "Black Man," who Pearl believes is ugly, "haunts this forest, and
carries with him a big, heavy book, with iron clasps." He forces people he meets to write
their names in blood in his book after which he "sets his mark upon their bosoms," a
superstitious embodiment of this evil. This is an interesting image as evil itself is an idea,
formed and maintained in the mind, but is not embodied in any concrete form. When Pearl asks her
mother if she'd ever seen the Black Man, Hester (surprisingly) says yes. She declares that the
scarlet letter she wears is his mark; she speaks not literally, but Pearl is too young to
understand this. 

Another major theme is identity and the most obvious image
of this is Hester's scarlet embroidered "A," which plays a curious part in these
chapters. After deciding to leave for Europe withand leave the past behind, starting anew,
Hester unpins her scarlet letter and flings it away (in ). She immediately feels "the
burden of shame and anguish [depart] from her spirit," and releases her hair. Her
transformation from the imprisoned, shamed woman to vital beauty is remarkable, and immediately,
the sun "[pours] a very flood" of light into the forest, "gladdening each green
leaf, transmuting the yellow fallen ones to gold" and "the objects that had made a
shadow hitherto, embodied"--like Pearl, earlier--"the brightness now." The
scarlet letter had determined Hester's identity as a shamed woman who had accepted her
punishment; discarding it demonstrates her emergence from her own shame, like a butterfly
emerging from a cocoon. 

However, when Pearl returns in , she refuses to
cross the stream and come to her mother because her notion of her mother's identity--of a woman
with hair tied under a bonnet wearing a scarlet A--is too different from the woman she sees
before her. Even the presence of Dimmesdale, the minister, cannot entice her to come to her
mother until her mother has retrieved her brand and assumed her former appearance. Hester's
identity is marked by this letter, but over the years, she has, by force of will, transformed
herself into an admirable woman who is humble and helps the sick, thus transforming the meaning
of the symbol itself. This doesn't change her joy upon discarding the letter, but it speaks to
Pearl's reverence for it (Pearl even kisses it after she has kissed her mother, as though the
letter is a good part of her that Pearl does not wish to lose). 

What are the treaties and alliances designed by Otto von Bismark between 1872 and 1887? Also, what were the diplomatic goals regarding France,...

It's
important to note that this question specifically begins its analysis in 1872. This is not by
coincidence: 1871 was a critical year in the nineteenth century which saw the unification of
Germany under Prussian domination.

Bismark's diplomatic and political
maneuvering were motivated out of a desire to expand Prussian power and influence, and he proved
energetic and decisive in pursuing that goal, utilizing both diplomacy and warfare to attain
those ends. These various efforts of expanding Prussian influence culminated in the
Franco-Prussian War, which saw Prussia overwhelm and humiliate one of the traditional Great
Powers of Europe, a victory which inspired the creation of the German Empire under Prussian
leadership.

The results of the Franco-Prussian War signaled throughout Europe
that the continental balance of power had shifted. Thus, the more established Great Powers would
be inclined to see Germany as an emergent threat within Europe (with France particularly
hostile, given the humiliation it had suffered). With that in mind, it became necessary for
Germany to reach out to potential allies in order to stabilize its position.

Initially, as early as 1873, Bismark attempted to form an agreement with
Austria-Hungary and Russia. (If successful, this would have stabilized the Germany's eastern
front.) However, this system was undermined by tensions between Russia and Austria-Hungary.
Germany formed the Dual Alliance with Austria-Hungary in 1879 and later, in 1882, the Triple
Alliance was formed between Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy.

These
alliance systems were primarily defensive in nature. Bismark was concerned about future wars
targeting Germany, and through these alliances, he sought to discourage attacks from Germany's
rivals (and in addition, to have allies in the event that this discouragement failed).

However, in many respects, these efforts backfired, as the growing power of Germany
(and the alliances Bismark had constructed for its defense) ultimately motivated the creation of
a competing alliance system, which would play such a key role in shaping the First World
War.

In Coelho's The Alchemist, why does the lake cry?

In Coelho's
, the lake cries when Narcissus slips while admiring his beauty on the
surface of the lake, and he drowns. The lake's tears are not so much for the sake of Narcissus
(who was wholly infatuated with his own looks) as they are for the lake's sake. For oddly enough
(and title="irony">ironically), the lake is just as
narcissistic as Narcissus was. While he wanted to look upon his own beauty,
it was in his eyes that the lake was able to see her beauty:

€¦when Narcissus died, the goddesses of the forest appeared and
found the lake, which had been fresh water, transformed into a lake of salty tears.

Why do you weep? the goddesses asked.

I weep for Narcissus, the
lake replied. [€¦] I weep for Narcissus, but I never noticed that Narcissus was beautiful.
۬I weep because, each time he knelt beside my banks, I could see, in the depths of his eyes,
my own beauty reflected.

The goddesses are certain that
the lake weeps for the loss of Narcissus because he was so handsome. The lake (personified in
the story) never noticed that Narcissus was handsome, anymore than he
noticed that the lake was beautiful. The lake surprises the goddesses by admitting she was
enamored of her own beauty reflected in his eyes, and we can infer her tears are falling because
she will never again see her own beauty. The lake is actually crying for
herself, for her own loss to see herself, and not for the lost Narcissus.

Wit and Madness Dryden, in his essay "Absalom and Achitophel," claims, "Great wits are sure to madness near allied." Is Hamlet's wit so above...

Consider
Einstein.  Don't you have to be a little "mad" in order to be a visionary, to see
beyond the "real" world?  That said, I don't know that Hamlet falls into this
category.  The stress of grief, and of knowledge unshared, the inability to come to a decision -
these are the issues that plague him and cause such fretfulness of
feeling.

Which critical theory can be adapted to Albert Camus' The Stranger?

You could
use Colonialism as a critical theory. The novel takes place in Algeria presumably in the early
1940s since the book was published in 1942. France occupied Algeria from 1830 until
1962.

The subject of colonialism and race is often obscured by the
philosophically overwhelming themes of Absurdity and Existentialism. But the aspects of race and
colonialism play a central role in the novel. In fact, the relation between French-Algerians and
Arabs in the novel reveals a Eurocentric perspective. Meursault only associates with other
French-Algerians. The Arab he kills is never given a name. The Arab is literally some Other
person who unfortunately falls into the path of Camus Absurd hero; and here, Absurd has to
refer to the philosophy of Absurdity as well as the general concept of absurd as being
irrational and illogical.

Criticism of this novel tends to focus so much on
the philosophical aspect that it ignores the racial aspects. Meursault might have arrived at
some philosophical epiphany about existence. But his self-involved philosophical brooding should
not be an excuse for murder. Meursault is heroic in his absolute refusal to accept the beliefs
of society, but hes guilty of murder. He does what he can to mentally remove himself from this
society (and/or the world) but he still exists in it and must acknowledge that his actions will
engage others. He never really acknowledges this.

The fact that the Arab is
never given a name is really telling. I dont know if Camus was making a subtle point about
colonialism with this move, but it is there whether he intended it or not. This is a clear
example where a white Europeans racial Other plays victim to the member of the colonizing
nation. Meursault is arrested and executed but this doesn't erase the fact that a man was
killed. The novel is completely focused on Meursault's quest for meaning. The Arab simply
becomes a statistic: the "one" that has been killed.

You could
argue that Meursault's indifference is not racially motivated; he would have killed anyone of
any race that day. After all, his nonchalant attitude was the same with his mother. But you
could also argue that colonialism and race did play a role. Reacting to his mother's death and
actually killing another person are two very different things. Meursault is the narrator, so it
is he who does not give "the Arab" a name.

The court and certainly
the priest seem to be more appalled at Meursault's belief system than they are with the murder.
They are more concerned that his religious and cultural beliefs are different from theirs. Thus,
they are more unsettled that he is unlike them: an "Other." It is his difference, not
his crime, that they focus on.

The Black Death obviously had a significant role in destabilizing populations in the fourteenth century. Unfortunately for Western Europe, the Black...

The Black
Death was clearly the most destabilizing factor of the Late Middle Ages, as it reduced the
European population by at least a third, but other crises marked the period. Two were the Great
Famine of 1315€“1317 and the upsurge in peasant revolts during this period.

The Great Famine has been linked to climate changes, notably the Little Ice Age, though
some scholars debate whether the ice age had actually begun at the time. Whatever the cause,
large-scale crop failures led to widespread starvation, crime, and disease. The effects lasted
until 1322 and shook the foundations of medieval society. For example, people began questioning
the effectiveness of the Church, as prayer did not seem to protect the large numbers of people
devastated by the famine. Further, the violence that erupted as a result of hunger, including
murder, theft, infanticide, and cannibalism, showed that the decentralized governing structures
of feudalism were inadequate to protect people. This led to disillusionment with authority.
Finally, the peasantrythe majority of the population and the group which bore the brunt of the
faminebegan increasingly to question wealth inequality.

The growing concern
about wealth inequality contributed to a number of rebellions that further destabilized an
already badly shaken European society. These included, among others, the Jaquerie (a revolt in
France that took place during the Hundred Years War in the 1350s), the revolts in Transylvania
in 1437, and the English Peasants' Revolt of 1381. While the rebelling peasants were defeated in
this period, their revolts set precedents and paved the way for later underclass successes in
achieving rights. More importantly, the rebellions of the period further sapped an already
weakened continent, allowing the Ottomans to conquer Constantinople. This cut off established
trade routes to the "Orient" and led to European exploration to find alternative paths
to trading partners in Asia. European exploration had a profound impact on Europe through the
"discovery" of the North and South American continents.