Issue No.1
19/12/2012
Hubble,
Bubble,
Toil and
Inside:
Book Reviews
Analyses
Short Stories
Competitions
Trouble
Headline
Article:
Macbeth:
Shakespeare’s
greatest hero or
worst villain?
Read the first part of “The Girl
from the Tower”, the King’s
English serial story: Page 9
1
Welcome to the first edition of “King’s English”
Editor’s Introduction
Welcome to the first edition of King’s English.
Over the past few months my fellow students and I
have put together a number of articles to present to
you in the first edition of this publication, new to
the Wickson Library and English Department. We
have gathered a plethora of articles, most written
completely by students, and the quality of some of
these works is superb. From analysing
Shakespeare, to reviewing modern authors such as
Kathryn Stockett, our writers have created a great
range of articles for your enjoyment, all of which
we hope will be interesting and informative.
Through the creation of this publication, many of
us have been able to go beyond the syllabus,
exploring our personal literary interests to an
extent we may not have been able to otherwise; it
has been a very enjoyable experience and we urge
any student who wishes to get involved in the next
edition to do so.
I would like to thank everyone who helped to make
this magazine a success; thanks go first to Ann
Marie McMahon and Ros Harding, who have helped
to support the creation of this publication at every
stage of its development; thanks also to Natalie
Metcalf for the brilliant front cover she created for
us; thanks go to Ananth Ranjit for his assistance
with the formatting of the magazine, helping us to
bring it through its final stages of development.
Finally, thanks go to all the students who put in
their time and effort to create what I consider to be
some outstanding articles, pieces that reflect the
passion and energy they have for Literature,
without whom none of this would ever have been
possible.
Literature is a subject of inherent importance, for
the tales told by great literary works hold “the
mirror up to nature”, reflect the different facets of
humanity, and engage us upon the deepest emotion
level; Literature influences our lives to an extent
we cannot imagine, moving us to take action in
unforeseen ways and changing the very pillars of
our morality. It is a subject my fellow students and
I hold an immense passion for, one which we
believe requires the most earnest attention and
enjoyment. I hope you too will delight in its pages,
and enjoy the small portion of it which we present
to you here.
Christopher Robson.
Contents
1) Headline Article - page 3
Macbeth: Shakespeare’s greatest hero
or worst villain?
- Cameron Szerdy
2) Book Review – page 5
Prejudice and Heartache: A review of
Kathryn Stockett’s ‘The Help’
- Ananth Ranjit
3) The Poetry Corner- page 6
Selected Poetry for Christmas
4) Book Review – page 7
The Road Less Travelled: A review of
Cormac McCarthy’s ‘The Road’
- Chris Robson
5) King’s English Serial Story – page 9
The Girl from the Tower: Part one
A murder mystery by:
- Barnaby Rule
6) Seasonal Article – page 11
What the Dickens! An analysis of
Charles Dickens’s ‘A Christmas Carol’
- Ann Marie McMahon
7) Book Review - 14
Step into their skin: a review of Harper
Lee’s ‘To Kill a Mockingbird
- Hayley Milner
8) Play Review - 15
In Chase of Fool’s Gold: a review
of Ben Jonson’s ‘The Alchemist’
- Cameron Szerdy
9) Shakespeare Analysis – page 17
“The fool doth think he is wise...”
a critical analysis of ‘Twelfth Night’
- Chris Robson
10) Book Review – page 19
Sin and Vengeance: a review of
Stephen King’s ‘Carrie’
- Nia Hughes
11) Games and Competitions – page 20
A selection of games and competitions:
prizes are available
2
Macbeth: Shakespeare’s greatest hero or
worst villain?
Camerson Szerdy
explores virtue and evil
within Macbeth
character to understand and
gauge, his changing nature and
personality provide a much
debated question: Macbeth:
protagonist or antagonist? Good
or evil? Hero or villain?
“Despite its being
Shakespeare’s shortest
tragedy, it gave the
literary world one of the
most complex and
fascinating characters in
the eponymous Macbeth”
In 1606 William
Shakespeare, the Bard of Avon,
wrote a play which would go
down in history as cursed.
Although most would consider it
only to be coincidence when any
misfortune strikes a production,
even today actors and theatre folk
refuse to say its title while inside a
theatre, possibly referring to it as
the ‘Scottish Play’ or ‘MacBee’.
Despite that, ‘Macbeth’ is one of
Shakespeare’s most widelyperformed tragedies and
continues to be a popular text for
both study and performance in
modern times. It was written for
Shakespeare’s new patron, James I
(James VI of Scotland), following
the death of Queen Elizabeth I.
James was interested in witchcraft
and Scotland, and hence these
themes are engrained in the play.
The play itself tells the story of a
man, urged by his wife and
foretold by prophecy, who
commits regicide in order to gain
power. Despite its being
Shakespeare’s shortest tragedy, it
gave the literary world one of the
most complex and fascinating
characters in the eponymous
Macbeth. A fiendishly difficult
Macbeth is first presented
as a mature man of established
character, successful as a soldier,
and enjoying an enviable
reputation. One must not conclude
that all Macbeth's actions are
predictable. Macbeth's character
is made out of potentialities and
the environment, and no one, not
even Macbeth, can know all of his
inordinate self-love. Macbeth is
determined by a desire for
temporal and mutable gain.
in his consciousness by more
vigorous urges. Macbeth, by
nature, violently demands
rewards and fights courageously
in order to be reported as a
‘valour’s minion’ and ‘Bellona's
bridegroom.’ Macbeth values
success because it brings fame,
new titles, and royal favour, as
long as these mutable goods fulfil
his desires, which is the case: until
he covets the kingship, Macbeth is
an honourable gentleman. Once
Macbeth's self-love demands a
satisfaction that cannot be
honourably obtained, he employs
dishonourable tactics to gain his
selfish desires.
“Until he covets the
kingship, Macbeth is an
honourable gentleman.”
As Macbeth returns
victoriously from battle, his selflove demands recognition of his
greatness. The demonic forces of
evil that drive Macbeth,
symbolized by the witches,
suggest to him to obtain the
greatest mutable good he has ever
Macbeth is driven in his
conduct by an excessive desire for desired, the kingdom. The witches
observe Macbeth's expressions to
worldly honours; his self-esteem
understand the passions that are
lies in ‘buying golden opinion’s
driving the ‘black and deep
from all sorts of people. One
shouldn’t deny Macbeth a human desires’ he is so valiantly
attempting to suppress. The
complexity of motives. For
witches predict Macbeth will be
example, his fighting in Duncan's
king. The witches cannot compel
service is magnificent and
courageous, and he justly deserves Macbeth to do evil deeds, but they
can use Macbeth's desire to
the accolade of ‘brave Macbeth’,
become king to pervert his
which the Captain bestows upon
judgment of reason and to corral
him. Macbeth also rejoices in the
him to choose fluctuating profit.
success that crowns his efforts in
battle and glories in his service to Macbeth's imagination and
passions are so vivid under these
Duncan: ‘The service and the
evil impulses that ‘nothing is but
loyalty I owe,/ In doing it, pays
what is not.’ Macbeth's reason
itself.’ While Macbeth destroys
becomes so impeded that he
Duncan's enemies, such motives
judges, ‘These supernatural
work, but they become obscured
3
solicitings cannot be ill, cannot be
good.’ Still Macbeth is provided
with so much natural good that he
is able to control his imagination
and decide not to attempt any act
that involves criminal actions: ‘If
chance will have me king, why
chance may crown me /Without
my stir’. His decision to commit
murder is not based upon moral
grounds. As a friend and as a
subject, Macbeth has feelings of
loyalty towards the king. The
consequences Macbeth fears are
not completely inward and
spiritual. It is to be doubted
whether Macbeth ever considers
the effects of his crime and the evil
upon the human soul that he later
discovers. Macbeth's main
concern is the consequences of
losing the benefits he already
possesses and values. He feels it is
a risk worth taking and is cajoled
by his scheming wife.
essence he convinces himself that
by tormenting his soul to a point
past that beyond which any
spiritual pain is felt, he will satisfy
his inept needs. He imagines that
the execution of bloodier deeds
will serve his purpose. Macbeth
instigates the murder of Banquo in
the interest of personal safety – ‘to
be safely thus’ - and to destroy the
final piece of humanity in him. No
peace is gained from the murder
of Banquo. Macbeth's conscience
obliges him to see the negative
quality of evil and the barren
results of wicked action. The
individual who once prized
capricious honours in the form of
respect and admiration from those
about him, now discovers that
even such satisfactions are denied
to him:
‘And that which should accompany
old age,
As honour, love, obedience, troops
of friends,
I must not look to have; but, in their
stead,
Curses, not loud but deep, mouthhonour, breath,
Which the poor heart would fain
deny, and dare not.’
does, he does in pursuance of
meaningless accolades, and to
escape a present evil. Macbeth
never completely loses his
freedom of choice. However, since
a free act is in accordance with
reason, as his reason becomes
blinded, his actions become less
and less free. This accounts for
Macbeth's actions becoming more
externally controlled as the play
progresses, and the final feeling is
that Macbeth has lost all free will.
Macbeth violates his natural law,
and his acts establish habits of
irrational doings, resulting in the
loss of freedom of choice.
“Macbeth... has to
relinquish his soul to the
possession of the demonic
forces who are the
‘common enemy of man’.”
The substance of Macbeth's
personality is that out of which
tragic heroes are fashioned.
Endowed with potential and
under the impact of passions
constantly shifting and mounting
in intensity, the dramatic
individual grows, expands, and
develops to a point, so that, at the
Macbeth is conscious of a
end of the play, he is more
After murdering Duncan,
profound abstraction of
understanding of the world and of
Macbeth, in committing an
something far more precious than his own spirituality than at the
unnatural act, has to relinquish his any selfish rewards. Macbeth has
beginning of the play. Macbeth is
soul to the possession of the
shrunk to such a little measure
bound to his humanity, which
demonic forces who are the
that he has become numb to all
‘common enemy of man’. Macbeth sense of good and evil. The ‘peace’ compels him towards particular
actions but also his own end. This
recognizes the acts of conscience
attained from this numbness is
newfound moral virtue provides
that torture him are expressions
psychologically a callousness to
him with a will capable of free
of an outraged order of nature.
pain and spiritually a partial
choice and clears the blend of
Reduced once more to the ranks of ignorance of any moral or
good and evil in his own mind. To
a human, Macbeth becomes pale
personal being. Macbeth's peace is this extent Macbeth can be seen as
and works to impede the penalties the doubtful calm of utter
of this order, almost a natural law, negativity, where nothing matters. both good and evil; as both a hero
and a villain; and as both a
and seeks release from this
protagonist and an antagonist.
torture, ‘Come, sealing night... And After the external and internal
Does his realisation of evil push
with thy bloody and invisible
forces of evil have done their
him towards goodness or is it the
hand,/ Cancel and tear to pieces
worst, Macbeth remains human,
other way around? This and many
that great bond,/Which keeps me and he continues to witness the
other questions, I believe, are
pale.’ Macbeth then conceives that diminution of his self-being. Sin
exactly what Shakespeare wanted
a quick escape from the
does not completely deprive
us to ask.
accusations of his conscience will Macbeth of his rational nature:
serve to free him of his guilt. In
Macbeth sins because whatever he
“It is to be doubted
whether Macbeth ever
considers the effects of
his crime and the evil
upon the human soul that
he later discovers”
4
Prejudice and Heartache
Ananth Ranjit is
enthralled by Kathryn
Stockett’s The Help
obsessed southern women. In
memory of Constantine she
attempts to change the racist
attitudes of Jackson citizens. Along
with the help of two maids, she is
able to create an incredible book
which shows what it is like to be a
Maid in Jackson, a book which she
hopes will change racial attitudes
forever.
The characters “Are
poignant individuals,
whose tales of hardship
reflect the many facets of
human nature”.
Life in the Jim-Crow-ruled south is
extremely difficult, not only for
the oppressed black population,
but also for the women who try to
break the prejudicial boundaries
of society. The Help by Kathryn
Stockett tells the story of three
such women, Skeeter, Aibileen and
Minny, living in Jackson
Mississippi, and their attempts to
deal with the struggles of
Southern life; all three are
poignant individuals, whose tales
of hardship reflect the many facets
of human nature.
Skeeter soon becomes the odd one
out when she arrives in Jackson
Mississippi after finishing college;
her affection towards the black
maids runs incredibly deep, due to
her loving maid Constantine, who
stepped in as a mother figure
when her real mother was off with
all the other giggling, self-
She is helped by Aibileen, a nanny
who tries desperately to develop
confidence and racial tolerance
within the children she cares for;
meanwhile the mothers of these
children continue to lead the
lifestyle that Skeeter’s mother did,
leaving them neglected and
unloved. Perhaps one of the most
heart warming moments within
the tale is when Aibileen makes
the little girl Mae Mobley recite
the mantra ‘You is smart, you is
kind and you is important’ in an
attempt to instil a sense of
confidence within her, despite her
mother’s neglectful attitude; to
me, this highlights the constant
insecurities we face in life and
how we must overcome them.
Aibileen’s best friend Minny faces
similar insecurities, and her
troubled life with an alcoholic
husband and five children is
incredibly thought provoking,
engaging the reader in empathetic
feeling. Such a hard tale is
counterpointed brilliantly by the
incredibly funny nature of her
character, as she is constantly
sass-mouthing her white
employers.
A constant fear lies over the heads
of these three women, especially
the two maids, for if the
prejudiced people of Jackson were
to discover their actions in the
creation of Skeeter’s book, their
lives would be at stake. Therefore
they are in constant battle with
those who try to expose them,
such Hilly Holbrook the leader of
the Junior League. Her racial
prejudices are one of the reasons
the black women of Jackson want
to speak out; as an example, Ms
Holbrook believes that Black
people are filthy creatures,
therefore creating an initiative
which decrees that all white
families should have an outside
toilet for their maids.
Stockett is able to discuss this
important issue in a tender,
humorous style, therefore making
it a perfect book for all ages. This
wide audience ensures that all
generations are able to reflect on
their own attitudes towards those
different from themselves, thus
strengthening their acceptance of
others. This book is captivating
and takes you on an incredible
journey; an enthralling work of
historical fiction, its message
reflects the issues that were of
great concern in the sixties and
still are today. Once you read this
fine piece of literature, you will
always return to it whenever you
are feeling emotionally fragile.
5
The Poetry Corner
Christmas by John Betjeman
The bells of waiting Advent ring,
The Tortoise stove is lit again
And lamp-oil light across the night
Has caught the streaks of winter rain
In many a stained-glass window sheen
From Crimson Lake to Bookers Green.
The holly in the windy hedge
And round the Manor House the yew
Will soon be stripped to deck the ledge,
The altar, font and arch and pew,
So that the villagers can say
'The church looks nice' on Christmas Day.
Provincial Public Houses blaze,
Corporation tramcars clang,
On lighted tenements I gaze,
Where paper decorations hang,
And bunting in the red Town Hall
Says 'Merry Christmas to you all'.
The Oxen by Thomas Hardy
Christmas Eve, and twelve of the clock.
“Now they are all on their knees,”
An elder said as we sat in a flock
By the embers in hearthside ease.
We pictured the meek mild creatures where
They dwelt in their strawy pen.
Nor did it occur to one of us there
To doubt they were kneeling then.
So fair a fancy few believe
In these years! Yet, I feel,
If someone said on Christmas Eve
“Come; see the oxen kneel
“In the lonely barton by yonder comb
Our childhood used to know,”
I should go with him in the gloom,
Hoping it might be so.
And London shops on Christmas Eve
Are strung with silver bells and flowers
As hurrying clerks the City leave
To pigeon-haunted classic towers,
And marbled clouds go scudding by
The many-steepled London sky.
And girls in slacks remember Dad,
And oafish louts remember Mum,
And sleepless children's hearts are glad.
And Christmas-morning bells say 'Come!'
Even to shining ones who dwell
Safe in the Dorchester Hotel.
And is it true,
This most tremendous tale of all,
Seen in a stained-glass window's hue,
A Baby in an ox's stall ?
The Maker of the stars and sea
Become a Child on earth for me ?
And is it true ? For if it is,
No loving fingers tying strings
Around those tissued fripperies,
The sweet and silly Christmas things,
Bath salts and inexpensive scent
And hideous tie so kindly meant,
No love that in a family dwells,
No carolling in frosty air,
Nor all the steeple-shaking bells
Can with this single Truth compare That God was man in Palestine
And lives today in Bread and Wine.
Minstrels a Christmas Poem by
William Wordsworth
The minstrels played their Christmas tune
To-night beneath my cottage-eaves;
While, smitten by a lofty moon,
The encircling laurels, thick with leaves,
Gave back a rich and dazzling sheen,
That overpowered their natural green.
Through hill and valley every breeze
Had sunk to rest with folded wings:
Keen was the air, but could not freeze,
Nor check, the music of the strings;
So stout and hardy were the band
That scraped the chords with strenuous hand.
And who but listened?--till was paid
Respect to every inmate's claim,
The greeting given, the music played
In honour of each household name,
Duly pronounced with lusty call,
And "Merry Christmas" wished to all
6
The Road Less Travelled
Chris Robson is amazed
by Cormac McCarthy’s
most harrowing tale.
violent west is preferable to
this “cauterized terrain”.
A father and son, never named,
have struggled through this
barren waste since the world’s
passing. Born after the
apocalypse, the boy knows
nothing of life before; his
mother, unable to live with this
husk of a world, killed herself
shortly after the boy’s birth,
leaving father and son with
only each other. Now, while
“the banished sun circles the
earth like a grieving mother
with a lamp”, they move south,
knowing they cannot survive
Blood Meridian, a violent
another winter where they are.
exploration of man’s warlike
Living on the edge of
nature, was considered by
starvation, they subsist off the
many to be the pinnacle of
scraps which are left; with a
Cormac McCarthy’s writing
career. Yet upon the release of nuclear winter covering the
his tenth novel, most realised it skies and all of society
was simply a stepping stone to collapsed, there is no
his true masterpiece; The Road possibility of growing food, the
only thing is scavenged goods.
.One of the most important
novels of our time, it portrays
“One of the most
the harrowing tale of a father
and son as they struggle to find important novels of our
hope in the blasted wasteland
time,”
of post apocalyptic America.
With food so scarce, is it a
The Road places McCarthy’s
wonder so many have turned to
writing firmly within the
cannibalism?
existential realms of Samuel
Beckett; his western worlds of Along their journey the two are
forced to run and hide, hunted
blood and violence, those of
by blood- thirsty cannibals,
The Border Trilogy and No
death-gangs and “bloodcults”.
Country for Old Men, have
Their only defence is the pistol
dropped away, falling into
carried by the father, loaded
obscurity when faced with
nuclear apocalypse. Instead he with but two shots: one for the
boy, and one for himself, to
has moved to a place where
only the bravest of writers dare save them from a fate worse
than death. Such are the
go: where society has fallen
into dust, where even that most horrors of McCarthy’s world;
the horror of having to kill your
own son in order to save him
from the fates of so many.
This is the true struggle of the
book: not the fight for survival,
nor the journey south, simply
the desperate attempt of a
father to shield his son from the
horrors of the world. The
knowledge they will be caught,
“sooner or later”, is no help in
this; it hangs over every facet of
the story, as does the father’s
knowledge that at some point
he will have to do the
unthinkable. Yet he carries on,
striving to shield his son not
only from harm, but from the
atrocities around them, in a
primal need to save not only his
life, but so too his innocence. In
doing this, he keeps from the
boy the knowledge that he is
dying; he moves away every
night to “cough... till he could
taste the blood”, hiding the very
thing of which he himself is so
afraid: that soon he won’t be
around to help his son survive.
There’s one particularly
poignant moment, showing
how much the two rely on each
other: “Are we going to kill
them?” the boy asks, when a
stranger makes off with their
food. “I don’t know” the father
replies. It appears so when they
catch up with the thief; the
father takes his clothes, leaving
him in the cold, where he will
soon die. “I’m going to leave
you the way you left us.” He
exclaims, with a biblical
vengeance that goes far beyond
the simple protection of his
son’s life; he appears now like
the vengeful God of the Old
7
Testament
rather than
the loving
father of the
New. This is
one of the
many times
when the
father
seems no
longer to be one of the “good
guys”, but one act away from
becoming simply another
savage, preying on human life.
Pushed to his limits, such a fate
would be inevitable, if it
weren’t for the boy: “Just help
him.” the child exclaims, after
they have abandoned the thief,
“He’s so scared, Papa”. It is this
which raises events in The Road
above even the most harrowing
paternal dilemma: the pure
symbiosis of the two’s
relationship. It sometimes
appears that the father is not
the one most important to their
survival: “You’re not the one
who has to worry about
everything,” he says. “Yes I am”
is his son’s reply.
This book is not an easy read; it
is cold, harsh and biting,
leading you through an
emotional harrowing which
few other books can match.
McCarthy’s prose is bleak as
the land it is set in; masterfully
constructed, it hounds at the
reader with a hacking
determination that drags them
into his world.
that defies the events which
they’ve seen. The sheer
devotion which the characters
show for one another, even in
times of such despair, is
overwhelming; their love
prevails to the bitter end,
culminating in one of the most
cathartic moments of modern
literature. It’s a challenge to
read the works of an author
who writes of events like these,
but any reader who does will
be glad they made the effort.
In a land where even the barest
of hopes are lost, what place is
there for love? Many writers
have speculated about the
nature of a post-apocalyptic
world, many have tackled the
issue with abandon, but few
have managed to address such
a difficult question as that
answered by McCarthy, and
even fewer have been able to
create such a true masterpiece
in doing so.
“This book is not an easy
read,”
Yet for all its blackness, for all
the despair held in these pages,
The Road leaves its readers
profoundly changed by the
time they reach the end, with
an inexplicable sense of hope
8
The Girl from the Tower: Part 1
A murder mystery by Barnaby Rule
I smelled the bitter air and surveyed the quadrangle in front of me. A small cobbled square, enclosed
by gothic school buildings, each with a black slate roof, and a reputation for being dull and
merciless; at least for the children that is. On the other side of this imposing clearing stood a tower
even more reminiscent of the castles of Transylvania than the buildings either side of it; a crooked,
bent structure with arrow slit windows and walls bruised by wind. Naturally, a building of such
atmosphere evoked legends: the ghosts of headmasters past and so on. All of them ridiculous of
course.
Sleet stung my face, a relentless winter sludge spat out from the sky that caked every surface in
brown mire, and signalled the unavoidable arrival of winter. I turned my face away, and made my
way across the quad. Trying to control my nerves, I wound my way through the cobbles, my brow
furrowed and my fists clenched. I was never good at remaining calm, even as a child, and how I
suffered for it; “highly strung” they called me, “OCD”. What did they know though, the snot-nosed,
muttering, gossiping harpies that are children, constantly sucking, parasites of the grown? I had
always hated them, and still do.
I approached the door to the tower, a large slab of oak, studded with iron, and engraved with all the
rumours a teenager could ever hope to come up with: Liv “hearts” Tom; Andy loves Hattie and so
on. I refrained from spitting on the graffiti and having unclenched my fist, wrenched the door
towards me and began to work my way up the spiral staircase ahead. The clumsy flapping of birds’
wings echoed around the tower and gloom filled every crevice, and for a split second, I could relate
to the fear that the girls of this tower felt, and how so many myths had spawned from it. I shook my
head. It would be pointless to give oneself over to the mindless fluttering of the teenage brain. One
must keep a clear head for what is to come.
9
I reached the top of the staircase, facing yet another studded door, behind which I knew were the
people I wanted. The tittering and gossiping of school girls could never be mistaken, the comparing
of lipsticks, the giggling over boys, all of it felt like broken glass scratching at the film of my ears. I
braced myself, and pounded at the door with white knuckles. My heart trembled with fear as it beat,
and, I felt the first bead of cold sweat, fall past my temple; suddenly, all in the room was hushed
down to a whisper, before the door was opened by a sheepish looking girl with strawberry blonde
hair. The dormitory I now stood outside was a basic affair, with Tudor beams across the roof, and
twelve beds either side of the long, dingy hall. On each bed sat a girl, fiddling with her hair or a
phone.
I took a breath, and with the voice of a repressed and broken man, said: “Jennifer, a word please.”
***
“Helen, for heaven’s sake have one,” said Nigella Thompson, deputy head of Saint Vincent
boarding school, offering her secretary a mince pie. Looking down her nose at the plate, the
evidently self-conscious blonde-bombshell politely refused, and returned to her computer screen.
With a sigh, Nigella returned to her desk, humming the best Christmas tune Radio 2 currently had to
offer. Only ten more days she thought. Ten more days until the end of this godforsaken term and the
start of her Christmas. She came into the academic year - like the rest of the staff at the school with good intentions, and a painfully sunny disposition, but as the nights drew in, and weather grew
worse, this slowly faded, and at this point, she would give anything to get away from the children
she was surrounded by. Naturally, it was easier for her superior, the supercilious head master,
nothing more than a professional stationery collector who left to her the running of the entire school.
Sighing once again, she took another bite of her pie. She looked at her calendar, and imagined the
state some of the staff would be getting in at tonight’s Christmas party; she’d known for some time
of Mr. Pendrew’s issues with drink and the hidden mini fridge in the history office that he referred
to in times of stress. Secretly, Nigella envied this luxury. But still, within two weeks, she would be
sipping mulled wine, and opening some poorly knitted jumper from a relative, with a cat like grin
on her face, not cooped up in this office, opposite her stunning and hateful secretary.
It was as she lifted a half-eaten mince pie to her mouth though, that the average day was brought to
a crushing end. Her door was flung open, and staggering through came the red-nosed Pendrew,
sweat gushing from his greasy face, as he panted desperately for air.
“For God sake Andrew have you never heard of knocking?” Nigella said, while Helen swivelled on
her chair for a better view of the unfurling drama.
“My G-God” He stuttered, hand running across his trembling face. “It’s Jennifer, Jennifer
Lowland.”
“What about her damn it?” She growled, slamming her fist on the desk and dropping her pie into her
lap.
“She’s... She’s dead.”
10
What the Dickens!
Ann Marie McMahon
explores the connection
between Dickens and
Christmas.
the Zeitgeist and was, at the
very least, its poster boy par
excellence - and indisputably
the best-known and best-loved
of his Christmas works was his
1843 contribution to the
English Christmas ghost story
tradition, A Christmas Carol.
And the tradition stretches
back a long way: the distinctly
‘supernatural solicitings’ of Sir
Gawain and the Green Knight
are set when ‘Þis kyng lay at
Christmas was dead to begin
Camylot vpon Krystmasse,’ and
with! Well, at least that’s how
‘a sad tale’s best for winter,’ as
Cromwell and the Puritans
the young Mamilius reminds us
wanted it – but they reckoned
without the crying human need in Shakespeare’s The Winter’s
for a little Saturnalian feasting Tale.
to cheer up the ‘bleak
midwinter’, without the British “Dickens certainly tapped
into the Zeitgeist and
talent for the ancient art of
misrule and, crucially, without was, at the very least, its
Charles Dickens!
poster boy par
Jerome could write, ‘It was
Christmas Eve. Of course, as a
mere matter of information it is
quite unnecessary to mention
the date at all. The experienced
reader knows it was Christmas
Eve, without my telling him. It
always is Christmas Eve in a
ghost story.’ Indeed so – as, to
quote a modern instance, the
phenomenal success on page,
stage and screen of Susan Hill’s
‘modern classic’ The Woman in
Black – a work also set at
Christmas – can attest.
Written between late
September and early
December, 1843, and published
on 19th December that year, A
Christmas Carol was an instant,
runaway success with the
reading public, and all six
thousand copies of the initial
excellence”
print run had sold out by
There had, of course, been
Christmas Eve. Reading the
Christmas celebrations in
Already well-established by
novella so affected the
Britain between the end of the 1843 as the author of the
historian Thomas Carlyle –
Puritan commonwealth in 1660 novels The Pickwick Papers,
rarely a man to be overcome
and Prince Albert’s importing
Oliver Twist, Nicholas Nickleby, with emotion – that he went
of spruce firs from his native
The Old Curiosity Shop, Barnaby straight out and bought himself
Coburg in 1840 – a move often Rudge and Martin Chuzzlewit,
a turkey, and fellow Victorian
regarded as having established Dickens himself regularly
novelist William Makepeace
the foundations of today’s
wrote ghost stories for the
Thackeray, not always an
Christmas traditions. Often
Christmas editions of
admirer of Dickens, called A
somewhat over-exuberantly
magazines, but 1843 brought
Christmas Carol a ‘national
credited with having singleabout the first of a series of five benefit and, to every man or
handedly invented the modern Christmas books (A Christmas
woman who reads it, a personal
Christmas – his literary
Carol, The Chimes, The Cricket
kindness,’ whilst an American
superstar predecessor Sir
on the Hearth, The Battle of Life businessman gave his
Walter Scott, after all, did much and The Haunted Man) all on
employees an extra day’s
to restore the image of a
ghostly themes, which he wrote holiday! A theatre adaptation
medieval ‘Merry England,
between 1843 and 1848. So
was produced within six weeks,
when/Old Christmas brought
successful was he in furthering and Dickens himself performed
his sports again,’ in poems such the tradition that, in his essay
in public readings to audiences
as his ‘Marmion’ of 1808 –
‘Told After Supper’ of 1891,
of working people in their
Dickens certainly tapped into
British humourist Jerome K.
thousands. With innumerable
11
theatre, radio, film and
television adaptations – to say
nothing of manga, opera,
musicals, parody in Blackadder
and the indisputable blessing of
The Muppets! – Dickens’ ‘little
Christmas book ‘stands,
however, head and shoulders,
triumphantly, above the rest in
the Christmas ghost story
tradition. Why is this?
to ‘come in and know me
better, man’; and Christmas
yet-to- come is chillingly
‘shrouded in a deep black
garment, which concealed its
head, its face, its form, and left
nothing of it visible save one
outstretched hand’.
And Dickens does comedy, too:
the very name Fezziwig is
enough to raise a smile, and the
“A Christmas Carol stands description of the ball which he
gives for his employees is rich
head and shoulders
in comic moments, as ‘In they
above the rest in the
all came, one after another;
Christmas ghost story
some shyly, some boldly, some
tradition”
gracefully, some awkwardly,
some pushing, some pulling; in
Scrooge himself, with his
they all came, anyhow and
infamous cry of ‘Bah, humbug,’ everyhow. Away they all went,
is mired in misanthropy from
twenty couple at once; hands
the start and is plainly being set half round and back again the
up to be taught a lesson. The
other way; down the middle
ghosts – the spirits of
and up again; round and round
Christmas past, present and
in various stages of affectionate
yet-to-come, along with
grouping; old top couple
Scrooge’s former business
always turning up in the wrong
partner, Jacob Marley, - are
place; new top couple starting
magnificently realised: Marley off again, as soon as they got
has his trademark chain ‘made there; all top couples at last,
(for Scrooge observed it
and not a bottom one to help
closely) of cash-boxes, keys,
them.’
padlocks, ledgers, deeds, and
heavy purses wrought in steel’. “A Christmas Carol was
an instant, runaway
success with the reading
public”
Christmas past is represented
as ‘a strange figure-like a child,
yet not so like a child as like an
old man’; Christmas present is
‘clothed in one simple green
robe, or mantle, bordered with
white fur,’ and invites Scrooge
Furthermore, even in his terror
at seeing the ghost of his
former business partner,
Scrooge essays a small jest by
observing, ‘You may be an
undigested bit of beef, a blot of
mustard, a crumb of cheese, a
fragment of an underdone
potato. There's more of gravy
than of grave about you,
whatever you are!’ And who
could forget the ‘whooping’ and
‘frisking’ of Scrooge, ‘as merry
as a schoolboy’ and ‘as giddy as
a drunken man’, when he
awakes to find that he has not
died a lonely death, unloved
and mourned by nobody, but
that, in fact, ‘I am here – the
shadows of the things that
would have been, may be
dispelled. They will be. I know
they will!’ because, ‘the Spirits
have done it all in one night.
They can do anything they like.
Of course they can.’ For all this,
however, it is, surely and
appropriately, the image of the
child which is at the heart of
the tale’s appeal. Scrooge
weeps over the ‘lonely boy,
reading by a feeble fire,’- his
young self, in fact, left behind at
school, when all others have
gone home for the Christmas
holidays – just as he presses the
spirit to ‘tell me if Tiny Tim will
live.’ Social concern beats
loudly in many parts of the
novel – in Dickens’ comments
on the workhouse, the Poor
Law and the treadmill, in his
description of the living and
working conditions of miners
and sailors, for example – but
nowhere is it more vividly
horrifying and more scathing
than in the ghost of Christmas
present’s revelation from
beneath his robe of ‘two
children – wretched, abject,
frightful, hideous, miserable,’
who, the spirit tells us, ‘are
Man's,’ and ‘cling to me,
appealing from their fathers.
This boy is Ignorance. This girl
is Want. Beware them both, and
all of their degree, but most of
all beware this boy, for on his
brow I see that written which is
Doom, unless the writing be
erased.’ In 1794, half a century
before the publication of A
Christmas Carol, the poet of
‘Jerusalem’, William Blake, had
12
written with savage anger in
his ‘Holy Thursday’ poem from
Songs of Experience:
for all primary-age children.
Not for nothing, when the ghost
of Christmas-yet-to-come visits
them, are the Cratchits reading
Is this a holy thing to see
of the episode in the gospels in
In a rich and fruitful land,—
which Jesus ‘took a child, and
Babes reduced to misery,
set him in the midst of them,’
Fed with cold and usurous
and not for nothing does the
hand?
brave, mufflered figure of Bob
Cratchit remind us that Tiny
Is that trembling cry a song?
Tim ‘was a little, little child’ –
Can it be a song of joy?
perhaps the young Charles
And so many children poor?
Dickens of the blacking factory,
It is a land of poverty!
which, recent Dickens
biographer Robert DouglasAnd their sun does never shine, Fairhurst reminds us, haunts all
And their fields are bleak and
Dickens’ portrayals of children.
bare,
And their ways are filled with
“It is, surely and
thorns,
appropriately, the image
It is eternal winter there.
novelists, whose social
conscience gives energy and
driving passion to all his
greatest works, by joining with
Tiny Tim in the toast which has
echoed down the years, ‘God
bless us, every one!’
of the child which is at the
heart of the tale’s
appeal.”
For where’er the sun does
shine,
And where’er the rain does fall,
So in a burst of creativity in late
Babe can never hunger there,
1843 Charles Dickens breathed
Nor poverty the mind appal.
life into a set of characters who
In A Christmas Carol Dickens, so would, over the following
clearly Blake’s spiritual heir in century and a half, go well
this respect, continues a theme beyond the confines of his redof concern for the welfare of
bound ‘little Christmas book’.
children first announced by
He would surely have approved
him in his second novel, Oliver of our contributing to the
Twist, in 1838. If, as Shelley
Trussell Trust’s foodbank
suggests, in his essay ‘A
initiative – but would have
Defence of Poetry’, writers of
been scandalised to think it
fiction are ‘the
could still be needed ‘in a rich
unacknowledged legislators of and fruitful land’. Nowadays,
the world,’ Dickens certainly
perhaps, some part of Dickens’
played his part in creating the
indefatigable energies might be
emotional and moral climate
channelled into storyboarding
which led to the passing of
the next John Lewis Christmas
legislation such as Factory Act ad – Snowman II: She Buys Him
of 1844, which reduced the
Socks? For the small
hours of work in factories for
masterpiece that is A Christmas
children between eight and
Carol we can, I think, all be
thirteen to six and a half a day, grateful to Charles Dickens –
and Forster’s Elementary
especially in this year of the
Education Act of 1870, which
bicentenary of his birth. And
made educational
surely we can also honour the
opportunities available –
memory of one of our finest
though not yet compulsory –
13
Step into their Skin
Hayley Milner praises
“Transition from
Harper Lee’s stirring
ignorance to
portrayl of racial tension understanding is a major
theme in the novel.”
"You never really understand
a person until you consider
things from his point of view until you climb into his skin
and walk around in it"
Despite a scattering of mistakenly
negative reviews from those who
studied this novel for GCSE,
Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird
is a thought-provoking and
inspirational work of fiction that
remains as prominent today as it
did in the 1960s.
“A thought-provoking
and inspirational work of
fiction”
Set in the Deep South, this stirring
portrayal of racial tension and
prejudice is told through the eyes
of Scout, a young girl whose tale
addresses issues of social
inequality, racism and sexism,
whilst demonstrating the
importance of moral education,
truth and courage. Predominantly,
To Kill a Mockingbird is a tale of
how prejudice must be
confronted, fought and overcome,
irrespective of how difficult it is to
do so.
behind Boo Radley is truly
fascinating, and demonstrates
Scout’s developing maturity and
understanding. Tom Robinson is
another of the novel’s
‘mockingbirds’, whose innocent
life is destroyed by the racial
Scout, the narrator of the tale,
lives in Maycomb, with her father, prejudices of Maycomb. He is
Atticus, her brother, Jem, and their falsely accused of raping Mayella
African-American cook, Calpurnia. Ewell; however, when against a
jury of all-white citizens, his
At the beginning of the novel,
Scout is an innocent, good-hearted attempts at proving his innocence
are futile.
five-year-old child, with a
combative streak. She is initially
naive to the evils present in
“To Kill a Mockingbird
society, however, as the novel
remains a warm and
progresses, Scout is forced to
humorous novel”
acknowledge evil’s existence as
she is confronted with evil in the
Despite concerning the serious
form of racial prejudice. Her
burdens on people’s lives, To Kill a
attributes and character develop
through such experiences, and her Mockingbird remains a warm and
humorous novel, almost
transition from ignorance to
understanding is a major theme in impossible to set down once your
fingers have brushed the pages.
the novel. Thanks to Atticus’s
The characters are captivating and
wisdom, Scout learns that
the storylines are riveting, both
although humanity has a great
capacity for evil, it also has a great intellectually and on an emotional
capacity for good, and that the evil level. If I was to create a “mustread” list of English Literature, To
can often be mitigated if one
Kill a Mockingbird would, without
considers situations from
another’s “point of view”. Though a doubt, be on it.
she is still a child at the end of the
book, Scout’s perspective on life
develops from that of an innocent
child into that of a near grown-up.
Through-out the novel, the
audience connect with the many
‘mockingbirds’ created by Harper
Lee. Boo Radley can be seen as a
symbol of goodness, who has been
trampled on by the evils of
mankind, and forced into hiding.
He dominates the imaginations of
Scout, Jem and their best friend
Dill, initially viewing him as
“malevolent”. However, the
novel’s exploration into the truth
14
In Chase of Fool’s Gold
Cameron Szedy reviews
the Liverpool Playhouse
performance of Ben
Jonson’s The Alchemist
The con, the grift, the scam.
Along with alchemy, they’re
amongst the oldest games in
town, and the Liverpool
Playhouse’s retelling of Ben
Jonson’s farce ‘The Alchemist’
is packed full of them. At its
core, this play is about greed,
and the ease with which people
are led by the nose, when the
fool’s gold of sex, riches and
power are dangled in front of
them. Of course, while it was
first written and performed in
the 17th century, those central
tenets hold very true today, and
it’s upon those foundations that
‘The Alchemist’, is able to reach
and engage a modern audience.
Director Robert Icke takes
Jonson’s original 17th century
text, and brings it kicking and
screaming into the 21st century
with modern costumes, a
fantastic, deliberately rickety
set and a number of choice
swear words, which all work
together to create an ultimately
engaging and enjoyable
performance.
When the master of a house in
London (Roger Watkins) has to
flee the city after an outbreak
of plague, it is left in the care of
his “reliable” butler, Jeremy.
Along with two other dastardly
swindlers, he sets about
exploiting the unwitting public
all for his financial gain.
“Director Robert Icke
takes Jonson’s original
17th century text, and
brings it kicking and
screaming into the 21st
century”
The three scheming fraudsters,
Subtle (Ian Bartholomew), Face
a.k.a. Jeremy (Nicolas Tennant)
and Dol (Lara Rossi) are the
bankers of today with their
17th century con tricks,
conspiring how to get money
out of the local populace with
promises of great wealth and
good fortune. Jonson’s play is a
comedy that fully encapsulates
the times of yesteryear when it
was believed that magic, wit
and rudimentary chemistry
could change base metal into
gold. Jonson had a knack for
noticing and pointing out the
flaws of mankind, and in this
play he particularly satirises
human gullibility.
“Jonson satirises human
gullibility”
We have farcical scenarios,
with the main protagonists
donning many wondrous and
ridiculous costumes to make
fools out of their many visitors,
tricking them out of their
money and goods. The rough
stage setting is appropriate to
the shoddy dealings of these
three villains, and the ending is
a brilliant statement of what
the audience has seen in the
previous hours. Ultimately the
tricksters become the tricked
as their final grand con slips off
the tracks at the last minute;
the conniving Face becomes a
plausible butler of the house
again, essentially blackmailing
his fellow charlatans, leaving
15
them empty handed while he
reaps the financial rewards
(and is pardoned by his master
for helping him obtain a rich
widow, who despite having
only two lines is played
brilliantly by Ellie Kirk);
despite this, his plea to the
audience for forgiveness leaves
a somewhat bittersweet taste, a
perfect ending to this farcical
genius.
well as the half-wit tobacco
merchant, and Dame Pliant
(Ellie Kirk) is wondrous as a
modern-day ‘wag’, blonde hair
and photo-ready smile, though
with no sense between her
ears.
There is much shouting and
banging on tables as Kastril
(Hasan Dixon) and Ananais
(John McGrillis) roar their way
through the show, perhaps
with the volume a tad too high.
“The tricksters become
the tricked as their final But what is fun are the
pantomimic antics of the cast as
grand con slips off the
they fall and jump into
tracks”
audience and run amok in the
balconies and boxes, and if you
The dialogue is fast and furious, are in the stalls you’ll be
and due to its 17th century
squirted with water and may
script sometimes the odd word find bread landing on your
can slip through your fingers.
head!
As this is written in Jacobean
language one has to
But it is the main trio who are
concentrate and listen to every the tour de force of this
line; fortunately having an
production with Bartholomew,
English teacher who can
Tennant and Rossi ably holding
understand the quick
it all together. In the end they
exchanges of old language
all have their comeuppance – as
means that the moments that
is expected. Although I have
were appropriate to laugh at
(almost) managed to refrain
were fairly obvious. I
from making any poorly
recommend anyone who is
conceived and downright
going to see a play written in
unnecessary gold-related puns
such times, to take Dr
up to this point, Ben Jonson’s
McMahon with them. The
brilliant antique language
ingenuity of Robert Icke’s
already provides for some
direction keeps you on your
comic gold with Icke’s genius
toes as the players rush in and modernization of the play
out of doors and up and down
bringing the production up to
stairs. This twelve-hander
the full carat.
leaves no time to be bored,
though at times you may be
confused! There are many
interesting characters,
including Sir Epicure Mammon
(Simon Coates) who is happy to
divest himself of his money to
gain greater riches. Coates,
dressed as a country gentleman
is engaging, whilst Abel
Drugger (Kristian Phillips) does
16
The Fool Doth Think he is Wise...
Chris Robson explores
themes of wisdom and
foolery in Twelfth Night
It need first be noted that
Twelfth Night is, by its very
nature, applicable to
Touchstone’s lines, especially
when taken in the context of
Elizabethan society. Indeed,
Twelfth Night was a name for
the festival of Epiphany
occurring on the 6th of January,
which often involved a reversal
in social order; traditionally the
king and nobles dressed as
peasants, while their subjects
pretended to be nobility.
Having taken its name from
these festivities, it makes sense
for Twelfth Night to have other
It is a recurring theme of
similarities with them, most
Shakespearian drama for the
Fool to appear wiser than those notably the reversal of social
he professes to fool for. Evoked order; mirroring the festivities
of Twelfth Night, the play’s
by the words of Touchstone,
‘noble’ characters are
from As You Like It, “The fool
portrayed as foolish (as an
doth think he is wise, but the
wise man knows himself to be a example, we have Olivia’s
foolish pursuit of Cesario,
fool”, it is a line particularly
which lead to much neglect on
applicable to Twelfth Night;
Malvolio believes himself wise her part), whereas Feste,
in pursuing Olivia, whereas he Olivia’s Fool, is portrayed as
wise. It would appear the
is in fact being foolish, and
Feste, in playing the fool, often words “The fool doth think he is
appears the wisest character of wise, but the wise man knows
himself to be a fool” follow the
all, foreseeing much of the
play’s main themes: the wise
foolishness that other
man becomes a fool, and the
characters commit. Of course
there are other examples of this Fool turns out to be a wise man.
within the play, such as
The events of Twelfth Night
Orsino’s foolish pursuit of
most overtly applicable to the
Petrarchan love or Sir Toby’s
claim, “The fool doth think he is
foolish manipulation of Sir
wise,” are those surrounding
Andrew, yet it is Malvolio and
Malvolio. Indeed Malvolio is
Feste who appear most
portrayed as thinking much of
relevant to the matter and
himself, “O you are sick of selftherefore merit further
love, Malvolio”, and from the
investigation.
way he insults the Fool’s wit, “I
marvel your ladyship takes
delight in such a barren rascal,”
it is clear he thinks himself
wiser than such characters as
Feste; ironically it is this which
leads to his later folly
concerning Olivia, supporting
the claim “The fool doth think he
is wise”. Upon finding the fake
love letter written by Maria, he
assumes “my lady (Olivia) loves
me,” and goes on to follow the
ridiculous commands within
the letter, a result of his belief
in his own wisdom. As Maria
says, “he will come before her in
yellow stockings… a colour she
abhors: and cross-gartered, a
fashion she detests; and he will
smile upon her, which will now
be so unsuitable to her
disposition, ”and hence make a
fool of himself.
“Much of the comedy…
lies in the humiliation of
one who thinks himself
better than others”
It should also be noted that
such attire is evocative of the
comical clothing worn by court
fools. Upon his meeting with
Olivia her reaction is one of
horror, “What is the matter with
thee?”,however Malvolio is
unrecognising of this, and
assumes her worried
questioning, “Wilt thou go to
bed, Malvolio?” is simply
confirmation of her love, “To
bed? Ay, sweetheart, and I’ll
come to thee.”So well has he
convinced himself of her love,
that he doesn’t recognise his
17
own folly. In fact much of the
comedy within the scene lies in
the humiliation of one who
thinks himself better than
others, as a result of his own
folly; the claim that “The fool
doth think he is wise” appears
entirely applicable.
is perhaps the only character
who avoids making a fool of
himself throughout Twelfth
Night, hence appearing much
wiser than such foolish
characters as Malvolio, who we
so often laugh at; in contrast to
these, we “never laugh at Feste”,
only at his wit or those he is
This comedy was probably
making a fool of, as is proposed
even more effective in the
by A.C Bradley. This is likely
context of Elizabethan society, due to the fact that he stands at
due to Malvolio’s portrayal as
a remove from much of the
“a kind of Puritan”, as with its
action and rarely becomes
connotations of disliking any
emotionally entangled in the
form of revelry, this satire of
events of the play; as such, he is
puritanism would have been
able to observe the other
well received by the audience.
characters from afar, providing
Furthermore, Malvolio could be a commentary upon the folly of
a direct comment by
their actions, which they
Shakespeare upon the
themselves appear unable to
puritanical movement itself,
recognise.
stating that while the puritans
might think it wise to shut
“We never laugh at Feste”
down the theatres, they are in
– A.C Bradley
fact fools for wanting to do so.
Perhaps the most striking
example of this is when he
recognises Olivia’s foolishness
in mourning her brother’s
death: “The more fool, Madonna,
to mourn your brother’s soul,
being in heaven”, chiding her
for excessive, melodramatic
actions. It can be argued that
this insight lends him a chorus
like nature, so that he becomes
“a mirror to the other
characters” and provides
Shakespeare’s “own comment
on the story”; alongside his
prophetic songs, this might
imply he is the wisest character
in the play. It seems that “the
wise man knows himself to be a
fool”.
I conclude that Touchstones
words “The fool doth think he is
wise, but the wise man knows
himself to be a fool” are entirely
applicable to Twelfth Night.
Many of the characters within
the play appear foolish because
of a belief in their own wisdom
and the Fool himself seems to
be the wisest character of all.
Not only is this the case, but
Twelfth Night also makes direct
allusion to the words of
Touchstone; Feste notes,
“Better a witty fool than a
foolish wit” and tells Olivia “I
wear not motley in my brain”, all
but proclaiming Touchstone’s
proverb. Not only that, but it is
also mentioned by the Viola,
“This fellow is wise enough to
play the fool… for folly that he
wisely shows is fit; But wise men,
folly-fall’n, quite taint their wit.”
With such a prevalent theme
occurring covertly and being
proclaimed outright, it would
seem the fool does indeed think
himself wise, while the wise
man knows himself to be a fool.
The character of Feste would
appear to attest to the latter
half of Touchstone’s claim, that
“the wise man knows himself to Feste “provides
be a fool”, for by his very
Shakespeare’s own
profession, Feste seems to
comment on the story”
admit his foolery, whilst
appearing very wise. Indeed, he
18
Sin and Vengeance
Nia Hughes sings praise Carrie oppressed at home.
for Stephen King’s Carrie School is no better, with
thought-provoking when
considered as a whole.
ruthless bullying by her peers
on a daily basis, and little to
King “puts your logic and
look forward to in later life; this conscious into conflict”
is the sort of life many of us
would consider unbearable.
The fact that this book does get
you thinking is probably the
Ultimately, what King has
best thing about it. Not to give
created in Carrie is the classic
anything away, but Carrie has a
downtrodden character: not
lot to answer for in the end; yet
really unusual, common to
you can't help but feeling that
many books. But then he gives she’s still the main victim.
her the telekinetic powers, and Taking into account the
when she discovers these
devastation she causes, this is
powers for herself, the whole
an impressive accomplishment
town pays.
of King’s. He puts your logic
and conscious into conflict,
“Ultimately, what King
whilst also questioning the
has created in Carrie is
hypocrisy of religious fanatics,
Carrie was Stephen King’s first the classic downtrodden
and the way society treats its
published novel, and only came character”
outcasts.
to print after being rescued
from the dumpster by his wife. This book is one of my
Despite its somewhat
Carrie was inspired by two girls favourites because I have
depressing plot, this is a book I
from Stephen King’s past, both honestly never come across
found impossible to put down,
of whom had lived and died
and I would highly recommend
anything like it, even in King’s
tragically; although he had
it to anyone, whether or not
later works. The 'Chapters'
been toying with the idea of a
they already have an interest in
(for want of a better word)
book about telekinetic powers comprise of Carrie’s own
the horror genre.
for some time, these girls were outlook on life, the narrations
the true inspiration, and King
of fellow characters, police
used aspects of both when
reports, transcripts of court
creating his main protagonist,
case hearings and more; this
Carrie.
makes the book appear more
“Carrie was inspired by
two girls from Stephen
King’s past”
Like both these girls, Carrie
lives the life of a social misfit.
She's brutalised by her
religious fanatic of a mother,
whose beatings and religious
‘cupboard of punishment’ keep
real, and gives you the feeling
that you're missing something
throughout the entire book,
without giving away what it
actually is. There are also many
quotes from popular culture,
such as lyrics from John Lennon
songs, usually appearing at the
beginning of each 'Chapter';
while on the surface these don't
seem like much, they are
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Games and Competitions
Hand in a completed version of the crossword to Chris Robson by the
1st of February for the chance to win a chocolate prize!
Across
1) Pen-name of Charles-Lutwidge
Dodgson (5,7)
3) What is ‘Bilbo’ in Lord of the
Rings? (6)
4) Superlative of rude (6)
5) The name given to nonmagical humans in Harry Potter
(7)
7) The number of novels Charles
Dickens wrote (8)
8) Vicious (9)
9) The Hunger Games
protagonist, Katniss... (8)
Down
2) A word or phrase to denote
something else (8)
5) Herman Melville’s book, also
known as “The Whale” (4,4)
6) This author wrote about his
war experiences in “Memoirs of a
foxhunting man.” (7)
8) Shakespeare’s sonnets
numbered one hundred and...
(5,4)
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Picture References
Macbeth: Shakespeare’s greatest hero or worst villain?:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1570337/
Prejudice and Heartache: A review of Kathryn Stockett’s ‘The Help’:
http://thefeministwire.com/2011/08/kathryn-stockett-is-not-my-sister-and-i-am-not-her-help/
The Poetry Corner:
http://sites.duke.edu/english109s_02_s2012/2012/04/23/r12-stopping-by-woods-on-a-snowyevening/
The Road Less Travelled: A review of Cormac McCarthy’s ‘The Road’:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Cormac-McCarthy/e/B000APT0OW
http://bookcoverarchive.com/book/the_road_oprahs_book_club
The Girl from the Tower: Part one:
http://www.pxleyes.com/photography-picture/4e87e5b36ef63/Gothic-Spires.html
What the Dickens! An analysis of Charles Dickens’s ‘A Christmas Carol’:
http://chicagotheaterbeat.com/2010/12/05/a-christmas-carol-goodman-theatre-chicago-review/
http://graceuniversity.edu/iip/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/a_christmas_carol.jpeg
Step into their skin: a review of Harper Lee’s ‘To Kill a Mockingbird:
http://naturallyalise.com/blog/2012/03/belated-chats-and-other-things-of-a-belated-nature/deadmockingbird/
In Chase of Fool’s Gold: a review of Ben Jonson’s ‘The Alchemist’:
http://www.clickliverpool.com/culture/reviews/1217262-the-alchemist---rumbustious-16thcentury-comedy-fun-at-the-liverpool-playhouse.html
http://www.everymanplayhouse.com/News/Critics_heap_praise_on_Robert_Icke%E2%80%99s_%E2
%80%9Cfresh_sharp_and_very_funny%E2%80%9D_The_Alchemist/867.aspx
http://www.thedoublenegative.co.uk/2012/09/the-alchemist-reviewed/
“The fool doth think he is wise...” a critical analysis of ‘Twelfth Night’:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jester
http://shakespeare-art-museum.com/Rummy/Rummy06.html
Sin and Vengeance: a review of Stephen King’s ‘Carrie’:
http://stephenking.wikia.com/wiki/Carrie_(2013_film)
Games and Competitions:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/booksblog/2010/mar/02/best-advice-writers-read
Preview:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Frost
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Next Edition...
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Thanks for Reading!
Students who wish to write for the King’s English should
Contact Ann Marie McMahon, Ros Harding or Chris Robson
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