Aspect of a fairy tale: Once upon a time

The aspect I have decided to focus on is the 'once upon a time' concept. I find this particularly intriguing about fairy tales as this opening does not specify a place, time or era. This seems to add to the mysterious and magical themes in a fairy tale- something that is vital for a story.
Every original fairy tale begins with 'once upon a time' which is a comfort for listeners, as it assures them (usually young children) that the demons and witches within the tales are no where near them so cannot harm them, yet they are close enough to learn the stories morals. The distance set between the children and the tales is important as if it were too realistic, or set in current times, the story would have less magical value and therefore be less entertaining.
The opening adds ambiguity to the fairy tale, which helps create suspense and tension within the story. This is important because like any story, a fairy tale needs a good plot.

Bluebeard

Bluebeard is wealthy, however feared because of his ugly, blue beard. He's been married several times, but no one knows what became of his wives. Therefore he's avoided by the local girls. Eventually he persuades the youngest of a friends family to marry him. After the wedding ceremony she lives with him in his grande château. 

Bluebeard announces that he must leave the country for a while, so leaves all the keys of their house to his wife, telling her they open the doors to rooms which contain his treasures. He gives her the key to one small room beneath the castle, stressing to her that she must not enter this room. She vows she will never enter. He then goes away and leaves the house in her hands. Immediately she is overcome with the desire to see what the forbidden room holds, and takes the key to the room.

Its floor is awash with blood, and the murdered bodies of her husband's former wives hang from hooks on the walls. She drops the key into the pool of blood and flees the room, but the blood staining the key will not wash off. She reveals her husband's secret to her sister Anne, and both plan to flee the castle the next day. But Bluebeard returns home the next morning, and, noticing the blood on the key, immediately knows his wife has broken her vow. He threatens to behead her on the spot, but allows her 45 minutes to say her prayers. She locks herself in the tower with Anne. While Bluebeard, tries to break down the door, the sisters wait for their two brothers to arrive. At the last moment, the brothers break into the castle, and as he attempts to flee, they kill him. He leaves no heirs but his wife, who inherits all his great fortune. She uses it for good. 

The Bloody Chamber

After reading the bloody chamber, I thought...

This is a great website. http://www.gradesaver.com/the-bloody-chamber/study-guide/major-themes/

Pope vs Bishop

Protestants believed that the Church as an institution could not grant salvation- only through a direct personal relationship with God (achieved by reading the Bible) could the believer be granted such. Many scholars argue that this emphasis on a personal, individual connection with God spawned the modern emphasis on individualism in those cultures affected by Protestantism. On the other hand, some Protestants also believed that after the Fall of Adam in Eden, human nature was totally corrupted as far as human spiritual capabilities were concerned. (Early Protestantism's emphasis on human depravity distinguishes it sharply from Renaissance Humanism.) Humans therefore are incapable of contributing to their salvation, for instance through good deeds- it could only be achieved through faith in God's grace. Overall, there is a good deal of ambivalence regarding many of the Protestant positions, and in fact the disagreement among the many Christian sects may be precisely what distinguishes Renaissance from Medieval religion.

What is the audience supposed to think of Faustus?

DO NOT CRITICISE THE SPELLING. MY KEYBOARD IS WONKY.

The chorus creates a non-judgmentally basis for the audience as throughout the opening, it says "to patient judgements" and insinuates that there may be an unexpected ending, and to hold off on making judgements until that pouint. Towards the end of the opening, the chorus removes the inevitability of Faustus' judgement, which makes the audience wonder about Faustus and believe rthat he has an air of mystery about him. The chorus also makes the audience reserve judgement by not telling them the ending of the play- something that would usually be done in an opening. This creates suspense and furthers the audiences uncertainty around Faustus.

Secondly, the audience is supposed to believe that Faustus has sinned "falling to a devilish exercise" but mustn't be judged because there is a possibility that the reason for that sin "glutted now with learnings golden gifts" is not his fault. This makes them sympathise with Faustus, but also makes them doubt him, as during the time that this play was written, religion and sinning was a serious matter. However, Marlowe suggests that the sinning was not due to Faustus' negligence, but rather due to the Gods in heaven "heavens conspir'd his overthrow" which throws the audience as before Marlowe, no one really questioned the authority and goodness of the heavens. This all adds up to make the audience concerned for Faustus, but also wary of him.

Cleverly, the chorus says "Now is he born" which creates an automatic bond between the audience and Faustus, as when an audience can imagine knowing a character since he or she were born, they are more likely to empathise with them. Telling the detaikls of Faustus' personal life, "In Germany, within a town called Rhodes" helps create a companionship between the audience and Faustus, which makes the audience innately assume that whatever Faustus has done should not be worth exiling him for. Also, having the details of his social class spoken about "his parents, base of stock", helps the audience to relate to Faustus, as the majority of the audience would have been in the lower class. This, undoubtedly makes the audiences' opinion of Faustus grow higher, as they are connected further.

Another reason for having high thoughts of Faustus is that the chorus tell them that he is an educated man, in the subject that they would all have praised him for- Theology. The script reads "profits in divinity" whivh insists that Faustus worked hard during school, and so is admirable to the audience. He also is told to be "grac'd with a doctors name" which was quite an accomplishment at that time, and that he was so brilliantly intelligent that he even got a "scholarism grac'd". This makes the audience respect him and understand that he is a knowledgeable man, surely unworthy of committing such a great sin. As well as that, the fact that he has a doctorate in theology suggests to the audience that he is a superb believer in the heavens and so would do well not to disturb them.

HOWEVER, the audience may doubt Faustus because he is noted to have a connection with hell, as further down the opening, it says "Nothing so sweet as magic to him" which, at the time, was an unthinkable thing. It meant that he was into witchcraft and other unrespectable things, so in that case the audience were best to be wary of him.

Song meaning. What do YOU think?

(What? Who me? What?)

Feet, don't fail me now
Take me to the finish line
Oh, my heart it breaks
Every step that I take,
But I'm hoping at the gates,
They'll tell me that you're mine

Walking through the city streets,
Is it by mistake or design?
I feel so alone on the Friday nights
Can you make it feel like home,
If I tell you you're mine?

It's like I told you, honey

Don't make me sad,
Don't make me cry
Sometimes love is not enough,
And the road gets tough, I don't know why
Keep making me laugh,
Let's go get high-
The road is long,
We carry on,
Try to have fun in the meantime

Come and take a walk on the wild side,
Let me kiss you hard in the pouring rain,
You like your girls insane

So, choose your last words
This is the last time
'Cause you and I,
We were born to die

Lost but now I am found,
I can see but once I was blind
I was so confused as a little child
Tryin' to take what I could get,
Scared that I couldn't find

All the answers, honey

Don't make me sad,
Don't make me cry
Sometimes love is not enough,
And the road gets tough, I don't know why
Keep making me laugh,
Let's go get high-
The road is long,
We carry on,
Try to have fun in the meantime

Come and take a walk on the wild side,
Let me kiss you hard in the pouring rain,
You like your girls insane

So, choose your last words
This is the last time
'Cause you and I,
We were born to die

We were born to die,
We were born to die

Come and take a walk on the wild side,
Let me kiss you hard in the pouring rain,
You like your girls insane

So, don't make me sad,
Don't make me cry
Sometimes love is not enough,
And the road gets tough, I don't know why
Keep making me laugh,
Let's go get high-
The road is long,
We carry on,
Try to have fun in the meantime

Come and take a walk on the wild side,
Let me kiss you hard in the pouring rain,
You like your girls insane

So, choose your last words
This is the last time
'Cause you and I,
We were born to die,
We were born to die

I've tried to work out what these lyrics mean. In the music video, it ends with Lana dying in her boyfriends arms, but I think they were both trying to die. From my own knowledge I know that she had drink and drug problems, so maybe this has some contribution to the meaning of the song. I do think there is something to the religious references in the song, but I think they are meant to be a product of her turning to her faith when contemplating this doomed relationship. I think, like others, that "born to die," is meant to mean that their relationship was doomed from the beginning. I think she has realized what she wanted from a relationship, and it's not this guy (hence the "lost but now I am found" verse). But it is hard for her to accept it, perhaps because of all the fun times they've had, and so the whole song is coming from a very contemplative standpoint.

In the chorus, I think she's asking him not to talk seriously with her about their relationship because it's too depressing (don't make me sad, don't make me cry). She wants it to stay simple, she doesn't want to think about the fact that it probably won't work out (keep making me laugh, let's go get high). I think the "love is not enough" line suggests what she's realized, that no matter how strongly they feel about each other it just won't work out.

This is just an idea of mine but I'm curious of what ideas you have too :)

How Austen creates her characters in chapter 11.

Throughout chapter 11, Austen uses a variety of techniques in order to create her characters. For example, Mr Collins is portrayed as a silly individual, who appears quite boring and stupid, because Austen doesn't allow him to narrate any part of the book. However, she allows the character Elizabeth to have a shared position of narrator, as she is the main character, and her thoughts and feelings are similar to Austens. They are often on the same side, and in the right, which shows the reader how important Elizabeth is, and what type of character she is.
Mr Darcy is shown to be controlled by Elizabeth, as he "unconsciously closes his book" and looks up at her as she walks by. This demonstrates how powerful a character Elizabeth is, and how responsive to love Mr Darcy is. Austen also allows Mr Darcy to have long talks with Elizabeth and the readers, which shows he is of some intelligence.
Austen also b