How Does Hagar Affect Margaret's Life

The Presentation of Miss Havisham in Chapter 8 and in Chapter 49 of Great Expectations by Charles Dickens

Faced with the reality that neither of his daughters truly love and support him as they had claimed Lear says to Regan, "No, Regan, thou shalt never have my curse."(II.iv.170) After realizing her open lack of love for him Lear pleads to Regan and himself, "Thou better knowest/ The offices of nature, bond of childhood,/ Effects of courtesy, dues of gratitude./ Thy half of the kingdom hast thou not forgot,/ Wherein I thee endowed."(II.iv.177-181) Because Lear superficially asked his daughters to profess their love, he has now been deceived by their falsely promoted emotions and is impervious to the fact that his daughters have used him to obtain their own power and possessions. In the same way that Lear is blinded to the actions of his daughters because of his flaws, Hagar is blind to her own actions because she is too prideful. When Marvin and Doris try to explain that they are no longer able to provide Hagar with the care she needs Doris mentions that Hagar has been wetting her sheets. Struck by the accusation that she could be so irresponsible and not know about it Hagar says angrily, "That's a lie. I never did any such thing."(74) Even though Doris and Marvin both know that Hagar has been wetting her sheets every night, Hagar has too much pride to admit that she may have lost control of her own body. Evidently it is because of Hagar's pride that she will not acknowledge or admit to her unflattering actions. After recognizing the flaws of both King Lear and

To consider: What Characters does she use to represent these themes? How do they contribute to the conflict of humanity and society in the novel?

Hagar after knowing that she isn't love back led her to murder Milkman. When Milkman got tired of Hagar, who was not caring about him that much till then, started to have interest in him. As soon as she realize that she couldn’t get the love back from him, she tried to kill him. She tried to attempt the murder for “six times in as many months”(130), each time with different weapons but failed, but she would not give up because she didn't want him to leave her. Murder was the way that Hagar showed her affection toward Milkman because “He’s the one who’s tryin to take himself out of her life. And she’ll kill him before she lets him do that”(139) states the nature of loving that one will kill others to get love. In this case, Hagar tried to kill him because he is the one who is trying to leave her and only way she knew how to stop it was to kill him since she can't control his feeling toward her. Her

Women in biblical times were subject to the rule of their husbands and in the event that their husband’s died, their eldest son would take charge of the household and thus take charge over their mother. As a result, the advantages and disadvantages of the son mattered to the mother, as he would be the one to care for her in her old age. The story of Sarah and Hagar demonstrates the motives and power of women in this regard. Sarah, unable to have children, tells Abraham, “The Lord has prevented me from bearing children; go to my slave girl [Hagar]; it may be that I shall obtain children by her”. As was customary during the time, Sarah could use Hagar as a surrogate so Abraham may have a son but any children would be considered Sarah’s as Hagar is considered to be her property. It is evident in this that Sarah is ensuring that the lineage of Abraham is carried on, a crucial aspect of the narrative as well as a crucial aspect of life during biblical times. If Abraham were to not have a son, there would be no one to inherit the birthright as well as no one to care for Sarah after Abraham dies. In light of this, it is evident that Sarah is seeking to insure her own future as well as the future of Abraham’s

         It was her pride that keeps her from speaking up and fighting for her brother, Matt when Jason sends her away to college to become more civilized.  Although Hagar knows Matt deserves to go more than she does, her pride prevents her from showing her true feelings to Matt:

Hagar the daughter of Reba and the granddaughter of Pilate who is in love with Milkman and eventually becomes obsessed with him. Throughout the novel Hagar relates back to the biblical origins of her name of being a servant to Milkman and letting him use her. Then after Milkmann loses interest he rejects her love and then abandons her. Even after being rejected Hagar still devotes herself to whatever Milkman needs. Hagar represents a common theme for women in this novel which is abandonment by the men that the love.The gender roles are stressed to express how men have all the power during this time period and women have little say about what goes on. Hagar not only relates to the biblical story of where her name originated, but also to the

Besides the children of Macon Dead, there are other biblical allusions in the names of people. One of these is Hagar, Pilate's son and Milkman's cousin. Though the biblical Hagar is not well known, her character in the Bible reflects, in some ways, the character in Morrison's novel. In the bible, Hagar is Sarah's handmaiden. When she bares the son

The greatest aspects of tragedy in The Stone Angel is that because of her singular tragic flaw, Hagar isolates herself and as a result, alienates those she most wishes to love. This is the case with her father, but also with her brother Matt. In particular scene which is most revealing about her character, she refuges to help comforter her dying brother by dressing up as her mother whom she viewed as weak and as a Meek Woman. She tells the reader that she felt as though she honor Dan’s desire to see his mother but,

So Abram and Sarai make plans to help God out, but they end up making a bigger mess. The problem for Hagar began when Sarah gave her to Abraham as a wife because Sarah was unable to have

The greatest aspects of tragedy in The Stone Angel is that because of her singular tragic flaw, Hagar isolates herself and

I agree with Stephanie about it being hard for Sarah during the quest, because she did not tell people that she was married to Abraham. Sarah did this because he told her that it would be better to tell them that she was his sister. This was not a lie, Sarah and Abraham were half brother and sister. Sarah did not reveal that she was married, and this was unfair of Abraham to ask her to do this. I have to disagree about Hagar being ungrateful because she did not have a choice to be a surrogate for Sarah. Sarah made the sole decision to give Hagar to her husband to produce a heir for their family. It is sad that Sarah was unable to conceive a child before making this choice to give her slave to her husband. To me it is sad that a “princess felt

Many of these themes focus on society and the roles that women used to play in society. During the time that this work was written, it was the woman’s job to take care of the children and the household. It was uncommon for women to have jobs other than a seamstress. Women did not have any social or political power. In order to do certain things, women had to have their husband’s permission.

Hagar is portrayed as an “unlikeable character” being blinded by pride, and just overly bitter. While she may not be the hero or the villain (due to this type of story not having a demand of good vs evil) it does make the story more believable. In real life, there is no black and white when I come to personalities. Her personality may well be reflected as unpleasant at times but it does not necessarily make her a “bad person.” She cannot be described as the antagonist nor protagonist. In many instances, she displays actions of disapproval towards almost everyone in her life this is frustrating to readers at times because what is leading her to her unhappiness can easily be solved by a slight change in character. Hagar is in constant denial of her actions and the consequences that come with it.

After conception, Hagar began to taunt and tease Sarah, thinking she was better than Sarah. Sarah was not prepared to take responsibility for her sin and begin to blame God and Abraham for her insecurities. Sarah was more humiliated now, then she was before she gave Hagar to Abraham, because now it appeared that even her husband, Abraham cared more for her servant girl than she, because he gave Hagar more attention. As a result, Sarah wanted to cause harm to Hagar and she eventually ran away. However, God sent an angel to bring Hagar back because it was his plan to bless all the descendants of