Character Thursday: Berowne from Love's Labor's Lost

Hey, long time no see, Character Thursday! It has been a long time since I last made one. Now I must make another, because Berowne is just a very cute character, and very funny. I think he's the core interest of Love' Labor's Lost, Shakespeare's comedy.

David Tennant as Berowne

We first meet Berowne in the very first scene of the play, when the king proposes that he and his courtiers, Berowne included, should lead a solitary and studious life for three years. All of the king's friends agree – except for Berowne. He frankly says that it's impossible, useless, and boring. Yet, he signs the pact nonetheless. I can't forget his words while doing so:

“But I believe, although I seem so loath,
I am the last that will last keep his oath.”

Is he the last who keep it? Far from it. He falls in love with Rosaline. Now, I truly love how he rails about it like a madman, complaining that he shouldn't fall in love with such a plain lady. Rosaline is not beautiful, at least from his point of view, and he hates it that he should love her so much. Even the idea that he could fall in love enrages him.

“By the Lord, this love is as mad as Ajax: it kills sheep; it kills me, I a sheep: well proved again o' my side! I will not love: if I do, hang me; i' faith, I will not. O, but her eye,--by this light, but for her eye, I would not love her; yes, for her two eyes. Well, I do nothing in the world but lie, and lie in my throat. By heaven, I do love: and it hath taught me to rhyme and to be melancholy; and here is part of my rhyme, and here my melancholy. Well, she hath one o' my sonnets already: the clown bore it, the fool sent it, and the lady hath it: sweet clown, sweeter fool, sweetest lady! By the world, I would not care a pin, if the other three were in.”

I find it very funny. Well, it doesn't matter much, though, since all his three friends fall in love with different ladies anyway. But the funny thing is how he mocks his friends (because he overhears their confessions of love while non of his friends know that he's in love as well). So below he haughtily says that all his friends have betrayed him because he is the only one that keeps his oath. 

“Not you to me, but I betray'd by you:
I, that am honest; I, that hold it sin
To break the vow I am engaged in;
I am betray'd, by keeping company
With men like men of inconstancy.
When shall you see me write a thing in rhyme?
Or groan for love? or spend a minute's time
In pruning me? When shall you hear that I
Will praise a hand, a foot, a face, an eye,
A gait, a state, a brow, a breast, a waist,
A leg, a limb?”

Overall, Berowne is a funny, witty guy. Very much a Shakespearean comic man. He reminds me of Benedick from Much Ado About Nothing, which I will feature one day without fail. He's a nice guy, but so frank and bold. Not even a king could stop him to speak his mind. That's another thing that I love from him. His excuses are infinite. Even his friends ask him to find a good excuse to betray their oath of not seeing women. He finds one, too, although for me it's still a shameful excuse. It's just a comedy anyway.

What I don't like, well. I don't like that he doesn't get his lady. :p

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Character Thursday

Adalah book blog hop di mana setiap blog memposting tokoh pilihan dalam buku yang sedang atau telah dibaca selama seminggu terakhir (judul atau genre buku bebas).

- Kalian bisa menjelaskan mengapa kalian suka/benci tokoh itu, sekilas kepribadian si tokoh, atau peranannya dalam keseluruhan kisah.

- Jangan lupa mencantumkan juga cover buku yang tokohnya kalian ambil.

- Kalau buku itu sudah difilmkan, kalian juga bisa mencantumkan foto si tokoh dalam film, atau foto aktor/aktris yang kalian anggap cocok dengan kepribadian si tokoh.

Syarat Mengikuti :

1. Follow blog Fanda Classiclit sebagai host, bisa lewat Google Friend Connect (GFC) atau sign up via e-mail (ada di sidebar paling kanan). Dengan follow blog ini, kalian akan selalu tahu setiap kali blog ini mengadakan Character Thursday Blog Hop.

2. Letakkan button Character Thursday Blog Hop di posting kalian atau di sidebar blog, supaya follower kalian juga bisa menemukan blog hop ini. Kodenya bisa diambil di kotak di button.

3. Buat posting dengan menyertakan copy-paste “Character Thursday” dan “Syarat Mengikuti” ke dalam postingmu.

3. Isikan link (URL) posting kalian ke Linky di bawah ini. Cantumkan nama dengan format: Nama blogger @ nama blog, misalnya: Fanda @ Fanda Classiclit.

4. Jangan lupa kunjungi blog-blog peserta lain, dan temukan tokoh-tokoh pilihan mereka. Dengan begini, wawasan kita akan bertambah juga dengan buku-buku baru yang menarik

Character Thursday: Amory Blaine

It has been a long time since my last Character Thursday, hasn't it? I choose Amory as my victim of character examination today. Why Amory? Well, I have quite scrutinized Richard III the other day, and I don't find anyone else as interesting as Amory for the thing.

Amory is the main character of Fitzgerald's novel, This Side of Paradise (which I have just finished several days ago). Because the novel talks mainly about the development of Amory's thoughts and character, it gives us the experience of looking into somebody's mind.

Amory is a charming, good-looking fellow, raised in a not-so-harmonious family. His mother, however, loves him dearly and they had the most charming mother-son relationship, even as Amory grew older. Also another adult with close relationship with Amory is Monsignor Darcy. He again and again convinced Amory that he was doing fine and that he was capable of good things.

Amory claims himself to be a romantic. He says that being romantic means having 'desperate confidence that things won't last.' At the end of the novel, he also claims to be an egotist and a socialist. But for me, personally, all his philosophy seems to be immature and insecure. He's not really sure about is anyway.

Amory's social life is also interesting. He has good friends, those who share his thoughts, or share his room. These friends of him influenced him sometimes in grand capacity, but sometimes only in minor matter. I especially love Tom and Burne. Tom displays intelligence and shares Amory's love for literature while Burne shows determination and strongly believes in his ideology, no matter how weird or different it is from others.

Now to his romantic life. Amory is good with women (sort of) but not good with relationship. There are girls such as Isabelle and Rosalind, but none of them sees Amory as a proper husband. Good for a boyfriend, but not for family life. Amory's life was practically over when Rosalind dumped him. He's still a young man after all.

Perhaps the things I love most about Amory are these: (1) he's an omnivorous reader, (2) he reads, recites and writes poems, and good ones too, (3) immature as they may, he builds his convictions and beliefs upon what he has read/know.

That's all I want to share with you guys. Have a nice week.

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Character Thursday

Adalah book blog hop di mana setiap blog memposting tokoh pilihan dalam buku yang sedang atau telah dibaca selama seminggu terakhir (judul atau genre buku bebas).

- Kalian bisa menjelaskan mengapa kalian suka/benci tokoh itu, sekilas kepribadian si tokoh, atau peranannya dalam keseluruhan kisah.

- Jangan lupa mencantumkan juga cover buku yang tokohnya kalian ambil.

- Kalau buku itu sudah difilmkan, kalian juga bisa mencantumkan foto si tokoh dalam film, atau foto aktor/aktris yang kalian anggap cocok dengan kepribadian si tokoh.

Syarat Mengikuti :

1. Follow blog Fanda Classiclit sebagai host, bisa lewat Google Friend Connect (GFC) atau sign up via e-mail (ada di sidebar paling kanan). Dengan follow blog ini, kalian akan selalu tahu setiap kali blog ini mengadakan Character Thursday Blog Hop.

2. Letakkan button Character Thursday Blog Hop di posting kalian atau di sidebar blog, supaya follower kalian juga bisa menemukan blog hop ini. Kodenya bisa diambil di kotak di button.

3. Buat posting dengan menyertakan copy-paste “Character Thursday” dan “Syarat Mengikuti” ke dalam postingmu.

3. Isikan link (URL) posting kalian ke Linky di bawah ini. Cantumkan nama dengan format: Nama blogger @ nama blog, misalnya: Fanda @ Fanda Classiclit.

4. Jangan lupa kunjungi blog-blog peserta lain, dan temukan tokoh-tokoh pilihan mereka. Dengan begini, wawasan kita akan bertambah juga dengan buku-buku baru yang menarik

Character Thursday: Roxane

Anne Brochet as Roxane

I'm talking about Roxane in Cyrano de Bergerac. She is Cyrano's cousin and also Christian's wife. Funnily, I remember her as the only notable woman in the play.

Roxane is a good woman, actually. Firstly, she is kind. She wants to see Cyrano and Christian safe as much as they want to go to battle. She cares for her cousin, Cyrano, and loves him. But she loves Christian more – or so she thought.

Roxane is also a smart woman. She loves Christian because she thinks he's a good speaker. Meaning: She's good with words as well. At least, she has to be smart to understand Cyrano's poetry and smart insults. She also shows her cleverness and courage when she goes to soldier's camp to see Christian.

If there's any certain way to get her heart, it's poetry. Well, I don't really think it's poetry, but it certainly has something to do with words. Roxane loves words well-said better than handsome, good-looking face. Roxane loves the soul better than the body. She likes Christian for his looks at first, but it's his “soul” than gains her eternal love in the end.

So, despite the fact that she is very much insensitive when it comes to Cyrano's love, she is actually a good woman. There are times when I feel like I can understand her choices and reactions.

That's my character this Thursday. What is yours? 

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Character Thursday

Adalah book blog hop di mana setiap blog memposting tokoh pilihan dalam buku yang sedang atau telah dibaca selama seminggu terakhir (judul atau genre buku bebas).

- Kalian bisa menjelaskan mengapa kalian suka/benci tokoh itu, sekilas kepribadian si tokoh, atau peranannya dalam keseluruhan kisah.

- Jangan lupa mencantumkan juga cover buku yang tokohnya kalian ambil.

- Kalau buku itu sudah difilmkan, kalian juga bisa mencantumkan foto si tokoh dalam film, atau foto aktor/aktris yang kalian anggap cocok dengan kepribadian si tokoh.

Syarat Mengikuti :

1. Follow blog Fanda Classiclit sebagai host, bisa lewat Google Friend Connect (GFC) atau sign up via e-mail (ada di sidebar paling kanan). Dengan follow blog ini, kalian akan selalu tahu setiap kali blog ini mengadakan Character Thursday Blog Hop.

2. Letakkan button Character Thursday Blog Hop di posting kalian atau di sidebar blog, supaya follower kalian juga bisa menemukan blog hop ini. Kodenya bisa diambil di kotak di button.

3. Buat posting dengan menyertakan copy-paste “Character Thursday” dan “Syarat Mengikuti” ke dalam postingmu.

3. Isikan link (URL) posting kalian ke Linky di bawah ini. Cantumkan nama dengan format: Nama blogger @ nama blog, misalnya: Fanda @ Fanda Classiclit.

4. Jangan lupa kunjungi blog-blog peserta lain, dan temukan tokoh-tokoh pilihan mereka. Dengan begini, wawasan kita akan bertambah juga dengan buku-buku baru yang menarik

Character Thursday: Cyrano de Bergerac

Imagine D'Artagnan. Now imagine Pablo Neruda. Now imagine Japanese tengu or Petruk puppet doll. Combine them all together. That's how Edmond Rostand made his Cyrano.

Gerard Depardieu as
Cyrano de Bergerac

Cyrano is a Gascon, a brave and honourable soldier, but at the same time reckless and proud. He's as skilled in swordmanship as well as in words. Yes, this terrible soldier is also a poet. He has one weakness, however: his nose. His nose is so big that he feels very much ugly. He feels that nobody will ever be able to love him.

I have mixed feelings towards this character. I love his courage and valour. Fighting a duel while finishing a poem, fighting against outnumbering enemies, taking a scarf from the enemies. He gains praise even from D'Artagnan himself. It's something to be boast about, right?

Placido Domingo as
Cyrano de Bergerac

Yet, in the matter of love, I think I must pity him. A friend has shown him that even with his looks he can win still woman's affection. But he has so little confidence in himself. He should know that the thing within is more interesting than the outward look. He must learn it bitterly in the end, when everything is too late.

One more thing about him. When he writes those poems and letters for Roxane, borrowing Christian's name, he truly does it with all his heart. Doing that thing, he feels that at least a part of him is beloved by Roxane. Christian, however, points out to him that it's better to be loved fully for what we really are.

Cyrano's story really reminds me of Placido Domingo's video clip, Paloma Querida. When you watch it, you will understand what the drama is all about. It actually resembles the play so much I start to think that Domingo borrowed the concept from thence. Enjoy.

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Character Thursday

Adalah book blog hop di mana setiap blog memposting tokoh pilihan dalam buku yang sedang atau telah dibaca selama seminggu terakhir (judul atau genre buku bebas).

- Kalian bisa menjelaskan mengapa kalian suka/benci tokoh itu, sekilas kepribadian si tokoh, atau peranannya dalam keseluruhan kisah.

- Jangan lupa mencantumkan juga cover buku yang tokohnya kalian ambil.

- Kalau buku itu sudah difilmkan, kalian juga bisa mencantumkan foto si tokoh dalam film, atau foto aktor/aktris yang kalian anggap cocok dengan kepribadian si tokoh.

Syarat Mengikuti :

1. Follow blog Fanda Classiclit sebagai host, bisa lewat Google Friend Connect (GFC) atau sign up via e-mail (ada di sidebar paling kanan). Dengan follow blog ini, kalian akan selalu tahu setiap kali blog ini mengadakan Character Thursday Blog Hop.

2. Letakkan button Character Thursday Blog Hop di posting kalian atau di sidebar blog, supaya follower kalian juga bisa menemukan blog hop ini. Kodenya bisa diambil di kotak di button.

3. Buat posting dengan menyertakan copy-paste “Character Thursday” dan “Syarat Mengikuti” ke dalam postingmu.

3. Isikan link (URL) posting kalian ke Linky di bawah ini. Cantumkan nama dengan format: Nama blogger @ nama blog, misalnya: Fanda @ Fanda Classiclit.

4. Jangan lupa kunjungi blog-blog peserta lain, dan temukan tokoh-tokoh pilihan mereka. Dengan begini, wawasan kita akan bertambah juga dengan buku-buku baru yang menarik

Character Thursday: Silvia

Another strong woman character from Shakespeare's Two Gentlemen of Verona. (I start wondering what kind of women Shakespeare knew or liked while he lived.)

Silvia is the daughter of Duke of Milan. She is beautiful and virtuous, but her father wants to marry her to Thurio, a man she doesn't like. Meanwhile, another boy, Valentine, that is, loves her as well, and she returns that love. But the father doesn't approve. Learning that Valentine is going to take Silvia away, the enraged Duke banishes Valentine.

Alfred Elmore, Scene from "The Two Gentlemen of Verona" (1857)

Proteus, Valentine's friend who is equally in love with Silvia, tells her that Valentine is dead. But the girl doesn't believe a bit of it, and decides to follow her beloved no matter what.

What I love from Silvia is her constancy and loyalty to Valentine. It's good to read about a girl whose “No” means “No” and not “try to get me” sort-of stuff. The way she reacts to Proteus' flirtatious comments is also very much to my liking. She makes it clear that she doesn't like him and that she abhors his infidelity towards his lover, Julia.

“You have your wish; my will is even this:
That presently you hie you home to bed.
Thou subtle, perjured, false, disloyal man!
Think'st thou I am so shallow, so conceitless,
To be seduced by thy flattery,
That hast deceived so many with thy vows?
Return, return, and make thy love amends.
For me, by this pale queen of night I swear,
I am so far from granting thy request
That I despise thee for thy wrongful suit,
And by and by intend to chide myself
Even for this time I spend in talking to thee.”

I like Silvia better than Julia. She is like a marble pillar to me. A little proud, perhaps, but she proves herself worthy of praise.

That's my character for this Thursday.

Character Thursday: Jean Valjean

Alfie Boe as Jean Valjean (Les Miserables musical)

At first I didn't want to choose him at all. He's a complex character, and I always feel that I won't be able to fully describe or express my thoughts and feelings about him. There's no other way to know him except by reading all volumes of Les Miserables. It's a long story about change in a man's life.

Jean Valjean is an ex-convict who tries to find a new life – an honest life – despite being widely misjudged by people. When he went out of jail for the first time, he had great hatred for the world, thinking that the world hates him as well. But Myriel opens his eyes and makes him see that there is still a chance for him to have a good and respectable life just as any other people. Jean then chooses to lead a good life from that moment, although doing such thing is never easy, especially for him.

If there's something that makes me love him so it is that he's a normal human being, just like Javert. There are battles inside his heart, especially when things are not to his advantage. I remember muttering, “Jean, please do what is right,” when he must choose between revealing or not revealing his identity. When he actually does, I'm so proud of him.

Guillaume Depardieu (as Jean Valjean)

His acts of kindness always touches my heart. Even the way he deals with little Cosette warms my bosom. Has he ever taken care of a child before, perhaps his sister's? Perhaps. But it's his promise to Fantine that makes him very tender and kind to Cosette. The way he cares for Marius, whom he doesn't really like, by the way (fathers always see young men as threats to their daughters), makes me think, “Jean, you don't have to do it this far.”

There's something interesting about it, actually. In his mind, Jean thinks that it'd be good for Marius to die. Well, he's going to England with Cosette anyway. But somehow he ends up being there in the barricade, 'just to see how things are going'. The results: he settles things up with Javert, and he saves Marius in order to assure Cosette's future. What a man!

I also love how he follows his conscience, no matter how hard it is for him. Again, the Chmpmathieu incident would be a good example. Also when he has the chance to kill Javert, and he doesn't is touching for me. This man makes me think of Myriel's word:

“To be a saint is the exception; to be an upright man is the rule. Err, fall, sin if you will, but be upright... The least possible sin is the law of man. No sin at all is the dream of the angel. All which is terrestrial is subject to sin. Sin is a gravitation.”

Well, Jean tries his best to be upright.

The bad things about him, the things that annoy me are these: First, he doesn't speak much. I feel like Hugo doesn't give him a chance to express himself fully to people around him. Even the musical gives him more dialogues. It makes me sad to see how people do good things, but others are ignorant of that.

Liam Neeson as Jean Valjean

Second, he has tendency to admit his guilt and conceal his virtues. This is seriously annoying. When he admits that he is Jean Valjean to save Champmathieu, for example, he doesn't bother to explain the Bishop's gift etc. When he confesses to Marius, he doesn't bother to tell him all the good things he has done for Cosette and Marius as well. He might think that people won't believe him anyway. But what I fear is that he might think that all the good things that he has done still cannot pay for his sins.

“I do not know whether the person who gave them to me is pleased with me yonder on high. ”

He is, Jean, after all that you have done, he certainly is.

It's weird how Jean has influenced me. He makes me look at people with less prejudice. He makes me cry every time I watch a new version of Les Miserables, musical or not. He reminds me that we have to try to do our best no matter what other people think or say of us. Best of all, he reminds me that there will always be a second chance for people. It's never too late to change.

Character Thursday: Javert

Another death allows me to take this character into analysis and present him as one of the Character Thursdays. The Javert I am talking about, if there any other Javert somewhere out there, is the one in Hugo's Les Miserables. He is one of the few characters that appears since the first volume of the long story.

I will make this clear first: I have never hated him, never, and never will. It's true that I really wish he would just leave Jean alone and mind his own business. But then Jean is his business. Javert is an iron bar of the prison itself, that cannot be torn apart by the filthy hands of the prisoners, that answers to neither rage nor tears. He just stands there, upholding the law.

Russell Crowe as Inspector Javert

But we all now that iron can melt.

Javert is a police officer, and a very respectable one. Among his qualities are intelligence, determination, courage, and justice. Those are good qualities in human being. But he lacks one thing – mercy. His duty makes him just as heartless as the law.

I still remember what happens in M. Madeleine's office back in the first volume. Javert comes in and admits that he has made a 'mistake' by thinking that M. Madeleine is Jean Valjean, an ex-convict (which is actually correct). He then asks to be dismissed. Thus we can see how justice takes hold of his heart. He commits a wrong, and by the law he should be punished; he doesn't run from it, in fact, he asks for it.

Jean doesn't grant Javert his desire. He asks Javert to retain his duty. Here's what the officer says:

“I have often been severe in the course of my life towards others. That is just. I have done well. Now, if I were not severe towards myself, all the justice that I have done would become injustice. Ought I to spare myself more than others? No!... Mr. Mayor, I do not desire that you should treat me kindly; your kindness roused sufficient bad blood in me when it was directed to others. I want none of it for myself. The kindness which consists in upholding a woman of the town against a citizen, the police agent against the mayor, the man who is down against the man who is up in the world, is what I call false kindness. That is the sort of kindness which disorganizes society. Good God! it is very easy to be kind; the difficulty lies in being just.”

Javert has my respect. He remains the same man during the first four volumes, unshakeable, devoted, and dutiful policeman that holds the law above all else. He hunts Jean with all his might, but fortunately, fails to capture him. He turns his face from any kindness and mercy that the ex-convict does, including saving a child from domestic slavery and dropping bread to those in need of food. But something is going to open his eyes.

In the fifth volume, Javert is captured by Enjolras and his friends. There with the barricades, he meets again his old acquaintance, Jean Valjean. Both of them exchange nothing more than a glance. Later on, Enjolras and his friends decide to kill the police officer, and Jean offers himself to do it. Javert has every reason to believe that he is going to die, but we know Jean. He releases Javert, even gives him his address.

Javert's heart melts. Later on, Javert helps Jean to save Marius. Better than that, he lets Jean 'escape'. He doesn't drag him to the jail again.

“Of course,” you may say. “Javert owes Jean his life. It's just natural that he lets him go.” The problem is, we're talking about Javert. He doesn't restrain from even punishing himself. It would take more than the simple logic of paying one's debt for him to understand it all. He experiences exactly the same thing that Jean experienced that occupies almost one book in the first volume: the battle of conscience.

“A terrible situation! to be touched. To be granite and to doubt! to be the statue of Chastisement cast in one piece in the mould of the law, and suddenly to become aware of the fact that one cherishes beneath one’s breast of bronze something absurd and disobedient which almost resembles a heart! To come to the pass of returning good for good, although one has said to oneself up to that day that that good is evil! to be the watch-dog, and to lick the intruder’s hand! to be ice and melt! To be the pincers and to turn into a hand! to suddenly feel one’s fingers opening! to relax one’s grip,—what a terrible thing!
...
What! an honest servitor of the law could suddenly find himself caught between two crimes— the
crime of allowing a man to escape and the crime of arresting him! everything was not settled in the orders given by the State to the functionary! There might be blind alleys in duty! What,— all this was real! was it true that an ex-ruffian, weighed down with convictions, could rise erect and end by being in the right? Was this credible? were there cases in which the law should retire before transfigured crime, and stammer its excuses?—Yes, that was the state of the case! and Javert saw it! and Javert had touched it! and not only could he not deny it, but he had taken part in it. These were realities.
...
He himself, Javert, the spy of order, incorruptibility in the service of the police, the bull-dog providence of society, vanquished and hurled to earth; and, erect, at the summit of all that ruin, a man with a green cap on his head and a halo round his brow; this was the astounding confusion to which he had come; this was the fearful vision which he bore within his soul.”

The light is too much for Javert. His mind cannot endure it. Javert chooses to kill himself rather than to live up to the new kind of law that he has just met in Jean.

Did I cry when I read it? No, I was enraged. I'm sick of reading people die bitterly. I was mad that Jean and Javert don't live as friends since that day on; I was mad that Javert dies, because he's not a bad guy at all. He just couldn't understand that above the law of the state, there is the law of God, which revolves around love.

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Character Thursday

Adalah book blog hop di mana setiap blog memposting tokoh pilihan dalam buku yang sedang atau telah dibaca selama seminggu terakhir (judul atau genre buku bebas).

- Kalian bisa menjelaskan mengapa kalian suka/benci tokoh itu, sekilas kepribadian si tokoh, atau peranannya dalam keseluruhan kisah.

- Jangan lupa mencantumkan juga cover buku yang tokohnya kalian ambil.

- Kalau buku itu sudah difilmkan, kalian juga bisa mencantumkan foto si tokoh dalam film, atau foto aktor/aktris yang kalian anggap cocok dengan kepribadian si tokoh.

Syarat Mengikuti :

1. Follow blog Fanda Classiclit sebagai host, bisa lewat Google Friend Connect (GFC) atau sign up via e-mail (ada di sidebar paling kanan). Dengan follow blog ini, kalian akan selalu tahu setiap kali blog ini mengadakan Character Thursday Blog Hop.

2. Letakkan button Character Thursday Blog Hop di posting kalian atau di sidebar blog, supaya follower kalian juga bisa menemukan blog hop ini. Kodenya bisa diambil di kotak di button.

3. Buat posting dengan menyertakan copy-paste “Character Thursday” dan “Syarat Mengikuti” ke dalam postingmu.

3. Isikan link (URL) posting kalian ke Linky di bawah ini. Cantumkan nama dengan format: Nama blogger @ nama blog, misalnya: Fanda @ Fanda Classiclit.

4. Jangan lupa kunjungi blog-blog peserta lain, dan temukan tokoh-tokoh pilihan mereka. Dengan begini, wawasan kita akan bertambah juga dengan buku-buku baru yang menarik

Character Thursday: Enjolras

Volume V, Book 1, Chapter 24 of Les Miserables starts with the sentence, “Marius was, in fact, a prisoner.” As I read it, I told myself, “Enjolras is dead. I care no longer about Marius.” I closed the book and slept. My eyes were red. Yes, Enjolras' death is the first thing that makes me cry in Volume V.

Who is Enjolras? He is patriotism personified.

Ramin Karimloo as Enjolras in Les Miserables

He appears first on the third Volume, when Hugo is talking about the friendship of the ABC. He is the leader of them. Enjolras is but 22, he is “angelically handsome”, but very serious. When we read about him we forget everything, including the fact that he has parents, that he is rich, that he has grand future in front of him if he just sits silently at home or satisfies himself with the pleasure so many youths occupy themselves with. We start seeing him as a single person who has nothing in the world but an idealism. The young man's mind is full with one thing only – the Republic.

Alright, my grief is still so new. I will just put some quotes from Hugo and try to show why Enjolras, despite being a minor character, wins my heart more than Marius does.

It was Combeferre, and this is what he was singing:—
“Si Cesar m’avait donne (If Caesar had given me)
La gloire et la guerre, (The glory and the war)
Et qu’ il me fallait quitter (And I am obliged to quit)
L’amour de ma mere, (The love of my mother)
Je dirais au grand Cesar: (I'd say to great Caesar)
Reprends ton sceptre et ton char, (Take back your sceptre and your chariot)
J’aime mieux ma mere, o gue! (I prefer my mother's love)
J’aime mieux ma mere!’ 

At that moment, he felt Enjolras’ hand on his shoulder.
‘Citizen,’ said Enjolras to him, ‘my mother is the Republic.’

Thus he explains to Marius why he loves the Republic and not Napoleon, great as he was. No matter how great a person is, society is still greater than him. Enjolras holds freedom of the people as something far immense than both the royalty and the empire. Yes, he prefers the Republic to Caesar.

Then the revolution begins, in the form of street war. Enjolras becomes the leader by will, and Marius somehow becomes a co-leader by chance. Enjolras fights out of love for his country, Marius out of desperation. Enjolras puts his heart in every gesture and every glance in that battle. Marius puts his heart in Cosette's dream.

In one Chapter of the first book, people start to say that Enjolras is a queer fellow, who is “as cold as ice but as bold as fire.” They say Enjolras is cold because he has no mistress (even with a mistress I don't think he could mend his coldness). And then he mutters his mistress' name – the love of his life.

Enjolras did not appear to be listening, but had any one been near him, that person would have heard him mutter in a low voice: ‘Patria.’

His mistress is his country.

Should I tell the manner of his death? The barricade falls down, he, unscratched, surrounded by the furious National Guards who want revenge for their comrades. He admits everything, and is ready for everything. Grantaire asks permission to die with him; permission granted. The two friends die together. Borrowing a phrase from Shakespeare, I would love to say, “What a fall was there, my countrymen.” Enjolras' death is a sad, but beautiful death.

It is easier, however, to be just like Grantaire, who adores the star without being part of it, who revolves around the gravity without touching the planet itself. He likes Enjolras' conviction without being convinced himself. He dies, not for the Republic, but perhaps solely for the sake of dying with his friend. Such a nice person.

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Character Thursday

Adalah book blog hop di mana setiap blog memposting tokoh pilihan dalam buku yang sedang atau telah dibaca selama seminggu terakhir (judul atau genre buku bebas).

- Kalian bisa menjelaskan mengapa kalian suka/benci tokoh itu, sekilas kepribadian si tokoh, atau peranannya dalam keseluruhan kisah.

- Jangan lupa mencantumkan juga cover buku yang tokohnya kalian ambil.

- Kalau buku itu sudah difilmkan, kalian juga bisa mencantumkan foto si tokoh dalam film, atau foto aktor/aktris yang kalian anggap cocok dengan kepribadian si tokoh.

Syarat Mengikuti :

1. Follow blog Fanda Classiclit sebagai host, bisa lewat Google Friend Connect (GFC) atau sign up via e-mail (ada di sidebar paling kanan). Dengan follow blog ini, kalian akan selalu tahu setiap kali blog ini mengadakan Character Thursday Blog Hop.

2. Letakkan button Character Thursday Blog Hop di posting kalian atau di sidebar blog, supaya follower kalian juga bisa menemukan blog hop ini. Kodenya bisa diambil di kotak di button.

3. Buat posting dengan menyertakan copy-paste “Character Thursday” dan “Syarat Mengikuti” ke dalam postingmu.

3. Isikan link (URL) posting kalian ke Linky di bawah ini. Cantumkan nama dengan format: Nama blogger @ nama blog, misalnya: Fanda @ Fanda Classiclit.

4. Jangan lupa kunjungi blog-blog peserta lain, dan temukan tokoh-tokoh pilihan mereka. Dengan begini, wawasan kita akan bertambah juga dengan buku-buku baru yang menarik

Character Thursday: Portia in Shakespeare's Julius Caesar

Have I ever taken anyone from Shakespeare to be my Character Thursday? I can't remember. But the lady whose name is written clearly up there certainly deserves a place in this, or any other, blog. Portia – Cato's daughter and Brutus' beloved wife.

Portia's part is quite minor in the play. She appears after the conspirators' meeting in Brutus' house. She is anxious about the well-fare of her husband, and insists upon knowing the secret that Brutus keeps, promising that she won't leak it out.

What's interesting about Portia is the words she uses to convey her feelings to Brutus. As his wife, she demands Brutus to think of her as half himself, that she should partake in everything Brutus must face.

“Within the Bond of Marriage, tell me Brutus,
Is it excepted, I should know no Secrets
That appertaine to you? Am I your Selfe,
But as it were in sort, or limitation?
To keepe with you at Meales, comfort your Bed,
And talke to you sometimes? Dwell I but in the Suburbs
Of your good pleasure? If it be no more,
Portia is Brutus Harlot, not his Wife

In Portia's mind, marriage is more than just living together, having meals together, and have fun together. It includes being “one flesh”, not “in limitation” but in all things. Being married to someone means that you are ready to share everything – good or bad – with your spouse. And to listen to such a thing from a woman, moreover, in Shakespeare's era, is something quite modern.

Another point worth noted from Portia is her opinion about herself. She admits that although there are many “weak women”, Portia is certainly not one of them.

“I graunt I am a Woman; but withall,
A Woman that Lord Brutus tooke to Wife:
I graunt I am a Woman; but withall,
A Woman well reputed: Cato's Daughter.
Thinke you, I am no stronger then my Sex
Being so Father'd, and so Husbanded?

She says that being a daughter of Cato and the wife of Brutus, she must be a strong woman worthy of her father and husband. By saying she's “stronger than her sex,” she underlines that she can handle things other women cannot. She proves it first by deliberately wounds herself and later, by swallowing fire – committing suicide.

Brutus admits that her death is a great lost in his part, and yes, such a woman deserves not only love but also respect from her husband. She may be a minor character in this play, but not weaker in characterisation.  

Character Thursday: Telemachus

Why now? You know I have finished Odyssey last month and have also put the review somewhere in the blog. So, why now? The reason is simple. I've been very busy and it was so hard for me to find the time to write about it. So, here we go.

Telemachus is the only child of Odysseus, the main hero of the story. He was a baby when Odysseus went for the Trojan war 20 years ago, but now he has grown up – or not yet. Being the only child in the family, growing up without a father's guidance, he doesn't really know what he should do with all things that happen in his house.

The goddess Athena, for the love she has for Odysseus, takes the child on a journey to learn what a Greek prince should be like. She brings him to Phylos and Sparta to meet Nestor and Menelaus, both are great warriors who fought side by side with his father. There he learns about many things, one of them being the story of Orestes, a prince his age who acts bravely against the killer of his father.

The Farewell of Telemachus and Eucharis by Jacques Louis David

As the story develops, Telemachus becomes more and more mature. He begins to take leadership in his house, instead of just sitting idly while his mother's suitors take advantage of his father's absence. He begins to object the suitors behaviour, he begins to take initiative upon matters, and most importantly, he takes responsibility as the Prince of Ithaca by helping his father getting rid of the suitors.

Although Odyssey is mostly about the father, it's amazing to see Telemachus' character development throughout the epic.

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Character Thursday

Adalah book blog hop di mana setiap blog memposting tokoh pilihan dalam buku yang sedang atau telah dibaca selama seminggu terakhir (judul atau genre buku bebas).

- Kalian bisa menjelaskan mengapa kalian suka/benci tokoh itu, sekilas kepribadian si tokoh, atau peranannya dalam keseluruhan kisah.

- Jangan lupa mencantumkan juga cover buku yang tokohnya kalian ambil.

- Kalau buku itu sudah difilmkan, kalian juga bisa mencantumkan foto si tokoh dalam film, atau foto aktor/aktris yang kalian anggap cocok dengan kepribadian si tokoh.

Syarat Mengikuti :

1. Follow blog Fanda Classiclit sebagai host, bisa lewat Google Friend Connect (GFC) atau sign up via e-mail (ada di sidebar paling kanan). Dengan follow blog ini, kalian akan selalu tahu setiap kali blog ini mengadakan Character Thursday Blog Hop.

2. Letakkan button Character Thursday Blog Hop di posting kalian atau di sidebar blog, supaya follower kalian juga bisa menemukan blog hop ini. Kodenya bisa diambil di kotak di button.

3. Buat posting dengan menyertakan copy-paste “Character Thursday” dan “Syarat Mengikuti” ke dalam postingmu.

3. Isikan link (URL) posting kalian ke Linky di bawah ini. Cantumkan nama dengan format: Nama blogger @ nama blog, misalnya: Fanda @ Fanda Classiclit.

4. Jangan lupa kunjungi blog-blog peserta lain, dan temukan tokoh-tokoh pilihan mereka. Dengan begini, wawasan kita akan bertambah juga dengan buku-buku baru yang menarik

Character Thursday: Penelope

This week I'd like to take a figure of a great queen, the Queen of Ithaca – Penelope. She is the wife of Homer's hero Odysseus. She is perhaps the role model of women in ancient Greek – beautiful, skilful, wise, and most importantly, loyal.

Penelope was left at home with the baby Telemachus when her husband went to war. Ten years passed, and Odysseus still had not come home. Many people had, though, such as Nestor and Menelaus, safe and sound, to their own realm. Then another 10 years passed. Now Telemachus has become a good-looking youth, just like his father. But he still needs experience and also guidance to become a hero and a great king. That is one problem.

Another thing, many suitors plague the palace of Odysseus. They want Penelope to marry one of them. These shameful suitors say nothing when reproved. What should Penelope do?

“So by day she’d weave at her great and growing web—

by night, by the light of torches set beside her,

she would unravel all she’d done.”

She promised the suitors that she would marry one of them once she has finished the garment for Laertes. But it was actually a trick. She weaves by day and unravels all by night. Thus she tricks the suitors for three years long. Then they find out.

She at last consents to marry one of them if he could bend a bow which is Odysseus'. No one, of course, can do it but Odysseus himself. It's like saying, “I would marry one of you if he could equal my late husband, which is incomparable among men.”

When her husband finally comes home, though, in all splendour and majesty that is his, she refuses to instantly believe that it is so. She is convinced that her husband is dead, and therefore, fearing that it might be a god who tries to trick her, she puts her husband to a test.

“Come, Eurycleia,

move the sturdy bedstead out of our bridal chamber—

that room the master built with his own hands.

Take it out now, sturdy bed that it is,

and spread it deep with fleece,

blankets and lustrous throws to keep him warm.”

The fact is, nobody can move that thing. It's a secret between them, that the bedstead is unmovable. Thus she proves that both of them are still loyal to each other. It's actually a grand love story inside a fierce and nasty epic.

Another thing. Homer makes a great distinction between Penelope and Helen. Penelope says herself that she puts her husband to the test because she knows what happened to Helen of Troy.

“Remember Helen of Argos, Zeus’s daughter—

would she have sported so in a stranger’s bed

if she had dreamed that Achaea’s sons were doomed

to fight and die to bring her home again?”

It is also heart-touching to read how day by day she weeps for her husband, thinking that he might be dead. Penelope, Penelope, you are indeed a great queen and a good wife.

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Character Thursday

Adalah book blog hop di mana setiap blog memposting tokoh pilihan dalam buku yang sedang atau telah dibaca selama seminggu terakhir (judul atau genre buku bebas).

- Kalian bisa menjelaskan mengapa kalian suka/benci tokoh itu, sekilas kepribadian si tokoh, atau peranannya dalam keseluruhan kisah.

- Jangan lupa mencantumkan juga cover buku yang tokohnya kalian ambil.

- Kalau buku itu sudah difilmkan, kalian juga bisa mencantumkan foto si tokoh dalam film, atau foto aktor/aktris yang kalian anggap cocok dengan kepribadian si tokoh.

Syarat Mengikuti :

1. Follow blog Fanda Classiclit sebagai host, bisa lewat Google Friend Connect (GFC) atau sign up via e-mail (ada di sidebar paling kanan). Dengan follow blog ini, kalian akan selalu tahu setiap kali blog ini mengadakan Character Thursday Blog Hop.

2. Letakkan button Character Thursday Blog Hop di posting kalian atau di sidebar blog, supaya follower kalian juga bisa menemukan blog hop ini. Kodenya bisa diambil di kotak di button.

3. Buat posting dengan menyertakan copy-paste “Character Thursday” dan “Syarat Mengikuti” ke dalam postingmu.

3. Isikan link (URL) posting kalian ke Linky di bawah ini. Cantumkan nama dengan format: Nama blogger @ nama blog, misalnya: Fanda @ Fanda Classiclit.

4. Jangan lupa kunjungi blog-blog peserta lain, dan temukan tokoh-tokoh pilihan mereka. Dengan begini, wawasan kita akan bertambah juga dengan buku-buku baru yang menarik

Character Thursday: Mr. Bienvenu Myriel

Actually it's still hard for me to write about him. Remember what I said about writing about someone you really like? When I didn't avoid writing about Athos, the blog post consumed 2 normal LibreOffice pages. So, why Mr Bienvenu?

I read Les Miserables, if you remember, after a succession of adventure novels: The Three Musketeers, Twenty Years After, Ivanhoe, and Robin Hood. In all those books, ironically, bishops and cardinals are more men of gold than men of God. Their conducts are unworthy of the title and the honour people bestow upon them. They plunder people's wealth to fill their own purse, they oppress kings and nobles by the “word from God”, they plunge themselves into political intrigue and support one side or the other.

But Mr. Myriel is different. People call him Monsieur Welcome (Bienvenu) because he welcomes anyone to his house. He lives a poor life because he spends most of his time and money for the poor. He shows extraordinary courage and too, extraordinary humbleness, and shows the world that the two don't contradict each other.

The Bishop thinks a lot, meditates on a lot of things, the least is about himself. He thinks about the people, the country, the flowers, the animals, but not about his wealth, his ambitions, his position, or his prominence. The pure soul lives happily, content with what he has. He takes money from the merciful rich for the miserable poor. He consoles and reproves gently, motivate people to do good things in their lives. He teaches that it's our responsibility to do our best, imperfect as we are.

“To be a saint is the exception; to be an upright man is the rule. Err, fall, sin if you will, but be upright...The least possible sin is the law of man. No sin at all is the dream of the angel. All which is terrestrial is subject to sin. Sin is a gravitation.”

His worst fault is, perhaps, his political view. No, not that I am against royalist or pro-anything. It's just weird to see such a man having a political view at the first place. But the difference between his and other people's view doesn't hinder him from doing kindness to his neighbours. It's still counted as something good in his part.

I have to confess, it's all my mistake. I have so many things to share about this bishop, and I have plenty of quotations from the novel itself of the grandness of his soul. But I didn't highlight the novel when I perused it, something I have to change in the future. Still, there is something I want to share, a note Mr. Myriel writes about God on the margin of his book:

“Ecclesiastes calls you the All-powerful; the Maccabees call you the Creator; the Epistle to the Ephesians calls you liberty; Baruch calls you Immensity; the Psalms call you Wisdom and Truth; John calls you Light; the Books of Kings call you Lord; Exodus calls you Providence; Leviticus, Sanctity; Esdras, Justice; the creation calls you God; man calls you Father; but Solomon calls you Compassion, and that is the most beautiful of all your names.”

And as the God he believes in, he shows compassion lavishly towards people.  

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Character Thursday

Adalah book blog hop di mana setiap blog memposting tokoh pilihan dalam buku yang sedang atau telah dibaca selama seminggu terakhir (judul atau genre buku bebas).

- Kalian bisa menjelaskan mengapa kalian suka/benci tokoh itu, sekilas kepribadian si tokoh, atau peranannya dalam keseluruhan kisah.

- Jangan lupa mencantumkan juga cover buku yang tokohnya kalian ambil.

- Kalau buku itu sudah difilmkan, kalian juga bisa mencantumkan foto si tokoh dalam film, atau foto aktor/aktris yang kalian anggap cocok dengan kepribadian si tokoh.

Syarat Mengikuti :

1. Follow blog Fanda Classiclit sebagai host, bisa lewat Google Friend Connect (GFC) atau sign up via e-mail (ada di sidebar paling kanan). Dengan follow blog ini, kalian akan selalu tahu setiap kali blog ini mengadakan Character Thursday Blog Hop.

2. Letakkan button Character Thursday Blog Hop di posting kalian atau di sidebar blog, supaya follower kalian juga bisa menemukan blog hop ini. Kodenya bisa diambil di kotak di button.

3. Buat posting dengan menyertakan copy-paste “Character Thursday” dan “Syarat Mengikuti” ke dalam postingmu.

3. Isikan link (URL) posting kalian ke Linky di bawah ini. Cantumkan nama dengan format: Nama blogger @ nama blog, misalnya: Fanda @ Fanda Classiclit.

4. Jangan lupa kunjungi blog-blog peserta lain, dan temukan tokoh-tokoh pilihan mereka. Dengan begini, wawasan kita akan bertambah juga dengan buku-buku baru yang menarik

Character Thursday: Rebecca

My reading hasn't progressed that much. And though I find a strong desire in my heart to discuss Mr. Myriel in Character Thursday, I won't, at least until I have finished the first volume of Les Miserables, and thus have more complete view on the person.

However, there are many still from the books I have finished that deserve attention for their roles in the story, or from their extraordinary characters. This week I choose a woman. I rarely choose a woman for my Character Thursday, because being a woman, men seem to be far more curious and interesting. I wrote about Haidee, because she was different from most women from the books I read. Eowyn and Arwen number among those I adore, and some Shakesperian females are also steadfast and strong that they little depict most women in their era.

Another woman worth attention is Rebecca from Ivanhoe. She is first introduced as a fair Jewess, a daughter of Isaac of York, to whom Ivanhoe owed a certain sum for his horse and other necessities as a knight. Being by nature generous, she gave the money back to Ivanhoe, as a token of her gratitude for saving her father.

Then came another deed of kindness. She attended to the wounded Ivanhoe, caring for every wound that would easily kill the man but for her medical skill. She did that even in a strange castle, when she and her travelling companions were kidnapped by the envious and greedy Normans.

As for love, she loved Ivanhoe. So, so dearly she loved him, but he couldn't love her back. How could he? So she didn't burden the young man with many pleadings or tears, but helped him without the slightest hope of reward. Her lover was far more persistent.  The Templar kidnapped her, and almost burnt her on stake, for his superiors thought the lady to be a witch. Even in this hour of desperation, Rebecca stood fast for what she believed in. She didn't give her body, nor her heart to the Templar. She didn't renounce her faith to stay alive. She trusted her soul to Providence.

“Be a man, be a Christian! If indeed thy faith recommends that mercy which rather your tongues than your actions pretend, save me from this dreadful death, without seeking a requital which would change thy magnanimity into base barter... Enough, that the power which thou mightest acquire, I will never share; nor hold I so light of country or religious faith, as to esteem him who is willing to barter these ties, and cast away the bonds of the Order of which he is a sworn member, in order to gratify an unruly passion for the daughter of another people. — Put not a price on my deliverance, Sir Knight — sell not a deed of generosity — protect the oppressed for the sake of charity, and not for a selfish advantage...I envy thee not thy faith, which is ever in thy mouth, but never in thy heart nor in thy practice.” 

Thus she reproached the Templar for loving her in words and not in deeds. The Templar was hardly a Christian, except by uniform, and the uniform itself brought disgrace to the religion, because many in the same uniform lived on the blood of others.

Rebecca ended her story by living as a woman of charity. She devoted her life to good and merciful deeds, as befits such a great and firm lady.

“Among our people, since the time of Abraham downwards, have been women who have devoted their thoughts to Heaven, and their actions to works of kindness to men, tending the sick, feeding the hungry, and relieving the distressed. Among these will Rebecca be numbered.”

She might be a Jewess, a race so hated by most people in her time. But she proved herself to be a better subject of God's law than those who publicly declared their faith in lips, but not in deeds.

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Character Thursday

Adalah book blog hop di mana setiap blog memposting tokoh pilihan dalam buku yang sedang atau telah dibaca selama seminggu terakhir (judul atau genre buku bebas).

- Kalian bisa menjelaskan mengapa kalian suka/benci tokoh itu, sekilas kepribadian si tokoh, atau peranannya dalam keseluruhan kisah.

- Jangan lupa mencantumkan juga cover buku yang tokohnya kalian ambil.

- Kalau buku itu sudah difilmkan, kalian juga bisa mencantumkan foto si tokoh dalam film, atau foto aktor/aktris yang kalian anggap cocok dengan kepribadian si tokoh.

Syarat Mengikuti :

1. Follow blog Fanda Classiclit sebagai host, bisa lewat Google Friend Connect (GFC) atau sign up via e-mail (ada di sidebar paling kanan). Dengan follow blog ini, kalian akan selalu tahu setiap kali blog ini mengadakan Character Thursday Blog Hop.

2. Letakkan button Character Thursday Blog Hop di posting kalian atau di sidebar blog, supaya follower kalian juga bisa menemukan blog hop ini. Kodenya bisa diambil di kotak di button.

3. Buat posting dengan menyertakan copy-paste “Character Thursday” dan “Syarat Mengikuti” ke dalam postingmu.

3. Isikan link (URL) posting kalian ke Linky di bawah ini. Cantumkan nama dengan format: Nama blogger @ nama blog, misalnya: Fanda @ Fanda Classiclit.

4. Jangan lupa kunjungi blog-blog peserta lain, dan temukan tokoh-tokoh pilihan mereka. Dengan begini, wawasan kita akan bertambah juga dengan buku-buku baru yang menarik