Jamie Wheeler
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About
I hold a M.A. and B.A. in literature, currently writing my Ph.D in American Literature, specifically John Steinbeck's female characters. I have been teaching both Freshman and Sophomore literature at the college level for about ten years.
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Recent Activity
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Answered a Question in To Kill a Mockingbird
His reaction is one of pain. In the beginning of this chapter, Jem is cocky (to say the least). He fully believes that Tom will be aquitted. When Reverand Sykes expresses his concern, Jem... -
Answered a Question in In the Time of the Butterflies
One of Dede's weaknesses is her capitulation to the "rule" of men. Unlike Minerva, Dede believes in the authority of patriarchy. In Chapter Five, she disapproves of Minerva's crossing the line in... -
Answered a Question in Uncle Tom's Cabin
Boy, did it ever! Robert Levine writes about the various vehement responses to the novel in his article, "Uncle Tom's Cabin in Frederick Douglass' Paper: An Analysis of Reception." Levine says that... -
Answered a Question in King Lear
The following is excerpted from the eNotes charcter analysis portion of "King Lear" which explains the inter-connection between the sub and main plot. Gloucheter's situation parallels the situation... -
Answered a Question in The Tempest
Yes. Caliban did try to rape Miranda and boasts of his deed. Prospero confronts him in 2.1.350-51. He says that while he was his guest, Caliban attempted the rape. He rails: "In mine own cell/till... -
Answered a Question in Death of a Salesman
Happy wants to stay young, virile, and fit forever. Our culture values the myth of perpetual youth. Happy knows his glory days are behind him. It is especially hard for poor Happy to let his youth... -
Answered a Question in Death of a Salesman
Willy creates an image of New England as near-heaven, full of many "fine and beautiful towns." But it not so much New England's aesthetics that make Willy long to return. It is the hope that the... -
Answered a Question in Paul's Case
There are six major themes in Willa Cather's "Paul's Case": the "American Dream", deception, choices and consequences, beauty, alienation, and limitations and opportunities. You can find out much... -
Answered a Question in Death of a Salesman
Both the boys have breezy nicknames that are ironic because their personalities are anything but easy-going. Willy hopes his boys will be "well-liked" and their names seem to indicate a familiarity... -
Answered a Question in Hamlet
Hamlet's "To be or not to be" soliloquy is found in 3.1-64.-98. Here, Hamlet is wondering both what it means to be alive, what revenge can truly accomplish, and whether or not he is brave enough to... -
Answered a Question in Romeo and Juliet
The entire line (2.1.33) reads: "If love be blind, love cannot hit the mark." Mercutio is being bawdy here. A "mark" was considered a woman who might provide sexual gratification. If one is blinded... -
Answered a Question in The Tempest
It kind of depends on your point-of-view and interpretation. Prospero is viewed by a number of critcs as flawed. He can be seen as meddling and vengeful: meddling in the affairs of his daughter,... -
Answered a Question in The Tell-Tale Heart
Well, that's a fun question! I would expect that the narrator would be in prison, trying to convince his cellmate of the evil of the old man. He would again try to justify his actions. He would not... -
Answered a Question in In the Time of the Butterflies
Minerva's chapters are as follows and here is a significant quote & analysis from each. Pages numbers will depend on whatever edition you have. (Mine is the Plume paperback edition. Those... -
Answered a Question in Hamlet
Revenge is short-lived, justice is forever. This realization does not happen until Hamlet has blown off steam and examined both his own conscience and the ramifications of swift revenge. Finally,... -
Answered a Question in The Tell-Tale Heart
The eye symbolizes the narrator's fear of death. Though the narrator claims to have no grudge against his roommate, ("He had never given me insult. For his gold I had no desire") he is disturbed to... -
Answered a Question in Death of a Salesman
There are a couple of reasons Willy's stake in his "New England-ness" are important to the American Dream. The first reason is the "up-by-your-bootstraps" mentality introduced by our Puritan... -
Answered a Question in To Kill a Mockingbird
Lee's "To Kill a Mockingbird" is at its heart a maturational novel. (You may have also heard the literary term for this, bildungsroman). As such, there are a great number of things Jem must forget... -
Answered a Question in Gilgamesh: Man's First Story
Enkidu has been created by a goddess to be a moral check on Gilgamesh. Gilgamesh is half-immortal, created by the goddess Aruru. In the beginning of the epic, Gilgamesh is acting quite badly, to... -
Answered a Question in Petals of Blood
You can find the character analysis of Wanja and other characters on the link below. Here is eNotes description of Wanja: Wanja Wanja is the central female character in the novel, a... -
Answered a Question in Antigone
In literary terms, a climax occurs when the reader knows who "wins" a conflict. In my opinion, the climax occurs in Scene VII, in which Antigone is discovered to have hanged herself. It is a grim... -
Answered a Question in The Waltz
On the surface, Parker's "The Waltz" revolves around a woman who must decide to decline or accept dances with various suitors. The dance hall is the setting. We know this from the opening lines, as... -
Answered a Question in The Great Gatsby
"My wife and I want to go west," George tells Tom as they stop for the gas. "She's been talking about it for ten years," he continues, "And she's going whether she wants to or not. I'm going to get... -
Answered a Question in Dante's Inferno
Virgil is speaking to Dante in the lines in question, 1.1.118-120. To understand these lines, it is useful to back up a bit, to the previous six lines. At the end of the first Canto, Virgil is... -
Answered a Question in The Imaginary Invalid
You can find a summary of this act, as well as the prologue and Acts II & III at the link below. Here is the summary of Act I: Act 1 opens with Argan adding up his many doctor’s bills and... -
Answered a Question in Marat/Sade
The central theme of this play is class conflict. The play takes place in the aftermath of the French revolution. A little background on the French Revolution may help. In 1789, the ruling family... -
Answered a Question in Death of a Salesman
Willy's behavior toward Linda is, unfortunately, all too human. He wanted to be a great man, a successful man, a beloved father who has successful children. Linda becomes person upon whom he can... -
Answered a Question in The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber
This answer is based on your email response asking you to clarify your question. You responded, "How does the character of Francis Macomber change from beginning to end?" In the beginning of the... -
Answered a Question in The Tempest
This title can be understood on both a literal and symbolic level. First of all, the literal definition of a "tempest" is a violent disturbance, sometimes related to weather, sometimes related to... -
Answered a Question in Sonnet 29
The audience in this sonnet is the speaker's lover, though the thoughts are penned in solitude rather than spoken to the lovers' face. It is not until line 10 that we see redemption for the... -
Answered a Question in A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings
To be clear, a working definition of a "paradox" is in order. A paradox is a statement which seems on the surface to be contradictory or absurd, yet it turns out to be make good sense. In Marquez's... -
Answered a Question in Call It Courage
An omniscient third person narrator tells the story of the young Mafutu. (An ominscient narrator is one who knows the thoughts and motivations of his characters). We know that it is an omniscient... -
Answered a Question in Death of a Salesman
Linda might be viewed as what is commonly known as an "enabler." Enablers typically care about someone else very much. However, they allow the person to engage in destructive behavior rather than... -
Answered a Question in The Great Gatsby
Gatsby's parents were "shiftless and unsuccessful farm people...his imagination never realy accepted him as his parents at all." This life is not one their son can envision for himself. He longs... -
Answered a Question in A&P
In Updike's "A & P" a number of situations cause the protagonist to leave his job. First, the narrator sees his co-worker, Stoksie, who has been stuck in the same dead-end job at the... -
Answered a Question in A Jury of Her Peers
The men view themselves as "the law" and the women as their virtual prisoners. It does not matter to the men the conditions or treatment Minnie Wright endured (see the exchange between Mrs. Hale... -
Answered a Question in The Lottery
The line in question reads: "The children had stones already, and someone gave little Davy Hutchinson a few pebbles." It is significant because little Davy must take part in the stoning of his... -
Answered a Question in Twelfth Night
These lines (2.5.71-73) can be read as being bawdy. Shakespearian scholar Bruce Smith says that C's and t's are slang for the vagina. (The term was "cut" and Mavolio strings the letters out.) "P,"... -
Answered a Question in The Scarlet Letter
The allegory of Hawthorne's tale is the letter A itself, which Hester must affix to her clothing so that it is visible at all times. To be clear, an allegory is a narrative that has both literal... -
Answered a Question in Winter Dreams
In Fitzgerald's short story "Winter Dreams" Judy Jones is presented to the reader as a spoiled little brat who becomes a spoiled teenager and woman. But despite her behavior, Judy continually draws... -
Answered a Question in Grendel
In "Beowulf" there is no sympathy nor motivation for the monster's actions. Grendel is a flat (or static) character rather than a round one. He is simply an evil that the intrepid Beowulf must... -
Answered a Question in Othello
In Act One, Iago becomes enraged because Othello has selected another officer, Cassio, to be his lieutenant. This slight, along with his seeming pleasure at watching bad things happen, compels Iago... -
Answered a Question in Romeo and Juliet
I agree that you'd have an uphill battle for defending him, but there are a few defenses you might postulate. Probably the best defense would be love itself. Many perceive Romeo and Juilet as the... -
Answered a Question in The Great Gatsby
Though she is very feminine, " a slender, small-breasted girl with an erect carriage," Nick also describes Jordan Baker as being "like a cadet": "an erect carriage which she accentuated by throwing... -
Answered a Question in Hamlet
In Act 1.5.100, Marcellus makes his portentous remark, "Something is rotten in the state of Denmark." Of course, many things are "rotten" in the kingdom: the betrayal and murder of the king by his... -
Answered a Question in The Raven
Don't feel badly! This *is* a complicated poem. Perhaps having some keys to understanding it will be helpful. First, think of the poem as being written like a puzzle. As readers, we are presented... -
Answered a Question in Gulliver's Travels
I am not sure if you are speaking of Gulliver's appearance or the appearance of Lilliput, so I will speak to both. In Part One, Gulliver has become shipwrecked. He washes up on the shores of... -
Answered a Question in The Tell-Tale Heart
The story is told in first person and reads like a confession, but whether the narrator is telling it to himself, to other officers after his revelation, to the reader, or to someone else is... -
Answered a Question in I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
One of the prominent metaphors in Angelou's "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" is Maya's recollection of her personal history from "the perch of age." (See pg 5, Ch 4). This metaphor lets us know... -
Answered a Question in The Cask of Amontillado
For a more complete analysis of the characters, please follow the link at eNotes below. But here is a brief run-down: Fortunato: Fortunato is an Italian friend of Montresor's, and his sworn enemy,...
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