Alec Bondi's Blog

2. "Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely." - Lord Acton To what extent would Shakespeare agree with this statement? Use the play and your own experience as your support. Throughout the play, Macbeth has become darker and darker. He has become a vile person, one who would do anything to keep his newfound power. In the beginning of the play, he was a good person who looked out for his fellow man, but after the witches implanted the idea that he would one day become king, he started doing terrible things. This idea corrupted him, turning him into a completely different person. Shakespeare uses internal conflict throughout the play to show the corruption seeping into his being. Therefore, Shakespeare would agree with that statement to a great extent. Towards the beginning of the play, Macbeth is imagined as a great and honorable hero. He fought valiantly beside Banquo, his brother in arms and a good friend, and was even the Thane of Glamis. Once they ...

This armor, by Jacob Halder, a master armorer in the royal workshops in Greenwich, England, was created for George Clifford, Third Earl of Cumberland, in 1586. It is steel, gold, leather, and textile, and is 69.5 in. tall and 60 lb. This armor was created for George Clifford, who was named the Queen's champion and Knight of the Garter in England. He decided to use the Tudor rose, French fleur-de-lis, and the cipher of Elizabeth (two E's back to back) to decorate his armor with. This armor is used for both field and tournament, which is why it has a detachable visor; it is detached for the parts of tournaments fought on foot. This armor is much more ornate than other knight armor found during this time period, which shows the prestige of Clifford. Because of his stature in this society, he is able to own and use this masterfully crafted armor which contains very expensive resources. Jacob Halder crafts the armor with more gold, it seems, than the other resources used, whi...

Question 5:  Analyze the author’s use of irony in describing Mr. Brocklehurst’s family in the second passage. How does the author contrast this description with Mr. Brocklehurst’s lecture to Miss Temple to provide social commentary on perceptions of class during this time?  Near  the beginning of the passage, Mr. Brocklehurst is characterized as rich and stuck up by describing the fancy clothes that he wears as he arrives at the school and scolds the teachers. He scolds Miss Temple for allowing two girls, who were invited to go have tea elsewhere, to get another clean set of clothes after they already got their single weekly clothes. Immediately this is ironic because of how he dresses and how he expects the young girls to dress. He is fully clothed, head to toe, in fancy clothes that aren't thin to the point that he'll freeze. The girls are given thin clothes, and have to walk through the snow in shoes that don't match the occasion. Additionally, Mr. Brocklehurst po...