King Lear Letter

                                                      His Highness, King Lear of England

The Year of our Lord 1001

Regan, of Gloucester
Gloucester

My dearest Reagan,

            Your sister is an outrageous stain upon the name of this family. She not only was an ungrateful host, but she kicked me out of her castle! For a supposed offence of having a hundred knights by me! She and her servants are ungrateful, vile beings, not fit to serve for Satan, as it were.  I am in so much shock from the transpired events; it has truly been a strike deep into my bosom. I pray YOU will be more understanding when I arrive within a few days.

            I arrived at your sister’s keep no less than a half-moon ago, and let me say that she is an excellent actor. She had my host and myself very well deceived as to her true intentions, until, of course, she chose to show her cards in the most brazen way possible. In a feat not unlike her childishness of old, she had herself and her servants refuse to converse with us. An outrage, I tell you! She is absolutely brazen in her disrespect.

            I moved to confront her after this was revealed to my by one of my fine, loyal, talkative men. Yet, once I confronted her, she quickly shifted the blame to those men of whom I travel with! My knights, my gentlemen, my loyal soldiers, held in contempt by my ungrateful daughter! Truly, this is an already outrageous disgrace on top of the disrespect she has already shown me! Your sister is an evil being, and she has her servants following her example to the letter! Oh the shame of knowing I raised one such as her!

            Oh, but the thing that truly ties my binds is the mannerism of her servants! They are ungrateful, sloth-like being who wouldn’t move with haste if their tailcoats were aflame with the righteous fires of Mt. Olympus! Even worse, one of their numbers had the gall to refer to me as my wretched daughter’s father, and only that! A gentleman of my court had the right mind to reprimand and beat the wretch, but mine honor was scarred. Such a disgrace must never go unpunished!

            So, my dear, I hope you art prepared for me. Your sister, damn her eyes, has broken my heart with her treachery! She is clearly unaware about how my word is law, turning on my men like that! And her servants, those blasted, evil wretches, why, I hope the gods smite the lot of them to the Pits! But I know dear that YOU will be more cooperative with my party. I had always loved you most, as I’m sure you know. Here’s to your health, and mine, and my hundred men at arms!

Love your dearest father,

Lear

Comments on A Moveable Feast

Comments on A Moveable Feast

a) Write a paragraph in which you comment on the character development of ONE of the following people you've met:

Scott Fitzgerald is a close friend of Hemingway throughout A Moveable Feast, and the two seem to share a very close relationship. Hemming has nothing but praise for Fitzgerald, especially in his writing. He compliments him in Hawks Do Not Share on it, stating “You’ve written a fine novel now.” (182). However, Fitzgerald is clearly kept from his true potential by Zelda, his jealous wife. Hemingway sees this, especially the joy she gets when Scott cannot write, and tries to dissuade Fitzgerald from her. However, Scott is too much in love with her, so his character remains rather steadfast throughout the novel.

b) Select three of Hemingway’s writing tips and explain why each is useful/helpful advice.

            ‘Write the best story that you can, and write it as straight as you can.” (183)

This is an excellent line, and it rings true for everyone who writes. The scourge of all literature, writers block, can be removed if you focus hard enough on writing the best of your abilities.

“It was necessary to write longer stories now as you would train for a longer race” (75)

I feel a connection to this line; as I can vouch for the trouble that you go through if you need to write longer pieces of literature. Taking it step by step really helps the process speed up.

            “What did I know best that I had not written about and lost?” (76)

This is a deep sentence. Hemingway tries to convey that the each time you write about something, you’re pouring in a bit of your own issues in there.

c) Based on Hemingway's description, what place would you like to visit in Paris? Explain why. Quote the book directly to support your opinion. Attach a relevant image.

Out of all the places Hemingway mentions, I would certainly like to visit Shakespeare and Company the most. Hemmingway describes it as “a warm, cheerful place” (35), and this is an enticing image. I am a literature boy, and I love a good bookshop. The rental system there also entices me, acting as a library as well as a store. Who knew those existed? I mean, nowadays, we can get everything we want online with the click of a mouse and a few typed keys. Books are no exception to this rule. So what’s the harm in wanting to go back tot old days, where we could sit back by a roaring fire with a good book, safe from the troubles of the world? I suppose Gill had something going on that whole nostalgia thing… (Come to think of it, can we bring back the 90’s?)

('tis a lot of books. O.o)