My Favorite Lectures

1)      The lecture introducing the play, “Antigone” by Sophocles was very intriguing because it not only gave the background of the play but also allowed us as a class to incorporate our life views as well. In order to truly understand how selfless Antigone’s priorities were, this lecture allowed us as a class to decide how important certain aspects of our lives were to us. For example, we were required to order: loyalty or obligation to family, obedience to civil law, observance to civil law, protection of personal dignity, freedom, and protection of community or nation from most important to least important. This exercise allowed us to understand our own priorities in life as well as each other’s and ultimately compare them to Antigone’s in order to get a deeper understanding of the play.

 

2)      The lecture about perception and desire in terms of the play, “A Streetcar Named Desire” by Tennessee Williams was very insightful because it gave me a better understanding of why Blanche had such a false perception of herself. Instead of accepting herself and her life as it was, Blanche would always create imaginary stories and fantasies about her life based on her desires as a coping mechanism. This lecture explained that Blanche created these fantasies in order to escape the realities of the truth which in her case was loneliness, misfortune, imperfection, and despair. Unfortunately, almost everyone in our society has the same mindset as Blanche. We are constantly comparing ourselves to the people around us and striving to impress others rather than focusing on being happy for who we are as individuals.

 

3)      The fishbowl lecture on perfection and obtaining the elixir of life in terms of the short story, “The Birthmark” by Nathaniel Hawthorne was very interesting and relatable. In this short story, Aylmer is fixated on his wife Georgiana’s birthmark which he sees as an imperfection rather than an aspect of natural beauty. Similarly, in the real world many people are obsessed with striving to achieve physical perfection and neglect to realize how important and present their natural beauty is. According to this fishbowl lecture, perfection is a very dangerous title to aim for because it is impossible to reach and will always result in disappointment. This is a very crucial statement that everyone should remember because constantly striving for perfection can result in a very unfulfilling life.