The pit and the pendulum summary. "The Pit and the Pendulum" 2022-10-26

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Love is a central theme in Shakespeare's play "As You Like It." It is depicted in various forms and through a variety of characters, and it plays a significant role in the development of the plot and the resolution of conflicts.

One prominent example of love in the play is the love between Rosalind and Orlando. Despite the societal barriers that stand in their way, they are drawn to each other and their love grows stronger as the play progresses. Orlando is initially infatuated with Rosalind and writes love poems to her, but it is only when they are exiled to the forest of Arden and have the opportunity to spend time together that their love truly blossoms. Through their conversations and interactions, they come to understand and appreciate each other more fully, and their love becomes more genuine and enduring.

Another example of love in the play is the love between Touchstone and Audrey. Touchstone, a fool, falls in love with Audrey, a simple country girl, and their relationship serves as a contrast to the more refined and sophisticated love between Rosalind and Orlando. Touchstone's love for Audrey is genuine and heartfelt, and he is willing to marry her and make a life with her in the forest, despite the fact that she is not as educated or refined as he is.

The theme of love is also present in the relationships between other characters in the play. Duke Senior and his followers find love and acceptance in the forest of Arden, and the characters of Celia and Oliver also undergo a transformation as they learn to love and accept each other.

Overall, the theme of love in "As You Like It" is one of the play's most enduring and universal themes. It is depicted in various forms and through a range of characters, and it plays a key role in the resolution of conflicts and the development of the plot. Love is shown to be a powerful force that can bring people together, overcome obstacles, and bring joy and fulfillment to those who experience it.

The Pit and the Pendulum Themes

the pit and the pendulum summary

The Spanish Inquisition began in the fifteenth century when Catholic monarchs attempted to identify and eradicate heresy. His worst fear is realized — he can see nothing when he opens his eyes, everything is pitch black. Ripping off a piece of the hem from his robe, he places it against the wall so that he can count the number of steps required to walk the perimeter of the cell. The atmosphere is quite unreal. Something unusual — some change which, at first, I could not appreciate distinctly — it was obvious, had taken place in the apartment.

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The Pit and the Pendulum Summary

the pit and the pendulum summary

But it is unlikely that he confessed, or he would not be undergoing the tribulations Poe describes in the story. There had been a second change in the cell — and now the change was obviously in the form. See eNotes Ad-Free Start your 48-hour free trial to get access to more than 30,000 additional guides and more than 350,000 Homework Help questions answered by our experts. It was, as I say, a half-formed thought — man has many such, which are never completed. What's more, each time he awakens, it is to a slightly different nightmarish scenario.

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The Pit and the Pendulum Plot Summary

the pit and the pendulum summary

In his weakened condition, however, he is unable to complete this exercise. Suddenly, the walls stop moving, and the heat subsides. It begins with the narrator being sentenced to death by a judge for what seem to be crimes related to the Spanish Inquisition. Narrative Structure "The Pit and the Pendulum" is thought to be one of Poe's most successful suspense stories, and the structure of the story is carefully crafted to build that suspense. The rule of three is based on the principle that a progression of three events or items is more memorable than a lower or higher number and builds emotional impact, with the third element packing the most punch.

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The Pit and the Pendulum Summary

the pit and the pendulum summary

I grew frantically mad, and struggled to force myself upwards against the sweep of the fearful scimitar. For the moment, at least I WAS FREE. I longed, yet dared not, to employ my vision. He tears off a piece of his robe in order to mark his starting point so that he will know when he has made a full circuit. Dreading to find my faint, and, as it seemed, my last hope frustrated, I so far elevated my head as to obtain a distinct view of my breast.

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"The Pit and the Pendulum"

the pit and the pendulum summary

What surprised him was that his head did not hit the ground but floated above an opening that emitted a strong odor. I knew that in more than one place it must be already severed. New York: Checkmark Books, 2001. He knows he will die, but the question of when and how torments him. It was hope that prompted the nerve to quiver — the frame to shrink. Rats chew through the straps, and he escapes just before the pendulum slashes his chest. I now observed — with what horror it is needless to say — that its nether extremity was formed of a crescent of glittering steel, about a foot in length from horn to horn; the horns upward, and the under edge evidently as keen as that of a razor.

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The Pit and the Pendulum (1961)

the pit and the pendulum summary

The arm belongs to the French General Lasalle. When he looks back to the ceiling, he is shocked to find that the pendulum has descended. There could be no doubt of the design of my tormentors—oh most unrelenting! Then a rushing revival of soul and a successful effort to move. When there remains not even an inch foothold for the narrator, the walls suddenly retract and cool down. He reached out and felt something damp and hard, which made him wonder where he could be. He is received by Nicholas' sister Catherine Medina that invites Francis to have dinner with her brother and her.

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Poe’s Short Stories “The Pit and the Pendulum” (1843) Summary & Analysis

the pit and the pendulum summary

The circuit of the room was less than twenty-five yards around with many angles and irregularities along the way which made it more of a square than he had realized. Logically, he tries to determine how he originally made such an error. The fiery walls rushed back! The ground was moist and slippery. He is, in fact, a victim of the Spanish Inquisition in Toledo, accused of some unidentified implicitly heretical crime, and has been bound for sentencing. At first I proceeded with extreme caution, for the floor, although seemingly of solid material, was treacherous with slime. It conveyed to my soul the idea of REVOLUTION, perhaps from its association in fancy with the burr of a mill-wheel. They shrank alarmedly back; many sought the well.

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The Pit and The Pendulum by Edgar Allan Poe

the pit and the pendulum summary

By a wild sulphurous lustre, the origin of which I could not at first determine, I was enabled to see the extent and aspect of the prison. The odour of the sharp steel forced itself into my nostrils. The narrator cannot approximate the depth of this pit. A deep sleep fell upon me—a sleep like that of death. Again, Poe's story has 1 an unnamed narrator, 2 is set in the distant past, 3 concentrates upon a single effect — the effect of terror or horror by means of mental suspense, and 4 is related to many other stories by Poe's concept that in sleeping, in fainting, and, ultimately, even after death, there is a "something" that still lives and is still active, some part of the human essence "even in the grave all is not lost" is a main idea of Poe's "Ligeia," "The Fall of the House of Usher," "The Premature Burial," and other stories. And now a full memory of the trial, of the judges, of the sable draperies, of the sentence, of the sickness, of the swoon. After feeling around, he determines that it is in the shape of a vault.

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