Sin and Death in John Miltons Paradise Lost Essay

Sin and Death in Paradise Lost Abstract: Death assumes in his original argument, with most readers of Paradise Lost, that Satan is all bad, having rejected God, and presumably that his charisma is illusory. Sin assumes, with Empson, that Satans entire career, including his corruption of Eve, is the project of an all-powerful and sinister God. By the time Satan gets to Mt. Niphates in Book IV he is convinced of both; he recognizes that his misery is his own fault for rejecting God, but he knows that God is still in control of him and of his miseries even though he has brought them on himself. Essay begins below. In Jamaica Kincaids novel Lucy, the narrator remembers, as a teenager, discovering†¦show more content†¦Lucy has much to say about English poetry; she hates Wordsworth, for example, and her hatred of Wordsworth causes her to hate daffodils. But as with I wandered Lonely as a Cloud, in which ones reading of the poem inevitably depends on whether one lives in a climate that supports daffodils, Lucy recognizes that a reading of Paradise Lost begins with ones prior assumptions about it, and that those assumptions are going to be very different for a little girl in the Caribbean then for, say, F.R. Leavis. For Lucy, I believe, bad poetry is poetry that is specifically English and good poetry is poetry that is universal: universality, in other words, is a rejection of English nationality (translated in Lucy into a smug fondness for daffodils). This matters because Lucy reads Milton as rebellious before even considering Satan. Her hypothesis that the children of gods are devils is not about Miltons Satan, but about Miltons God. If the children of gods are inevitably devils, then the world is basically set up to fall. This is William Empsons argument in Miltons God, a book that has often been assumed to be about Satan despite i ts very clear title. Neither Lucy nor Empson says that Satan is the hero of Paradise Lost; what they are both saying is that for a reader with or without rebellious instincts, Satans point of view,Show MoreRelated Essay on John Milton’s Paradise Lost - Defense for the Allegory of Sin and Death1574 Words   |  7 PagesDefense for the Allegory of Sin and Death in Paradise Lost Milton claims his epic poem Paradise Lost exceeds the work of his accomplished predecessors. He argues that he tackles the most difficult task of recounting the history of not just one hero, but the entire human race. However, he does not appear to follow the conventional rules of an epic when he introduces an allegory into Paradise Lost through his portrayal of Sin and Death in Book II. Some readers denounce his work for this inconsistencyRead MoreJohn Milton : A Strong Advocate Of Political Liberty Essay1659 Words   |  7 Pagespolitical liberty, John Milton was a poet during the Renaissance (Puchner 2742). He was born on December 9, 1608 in London to a middle class family. His parents were John Milton, Sr., a professional composer, and his mother, Sara Jeffery. Milton had numerous siblings. He was only survived by three of them; however, some of them died at young ages. During Milton’s writing years, he wrote many pamphlets based on political, religious, populism, and edu cational topics. However, Milton’s main focus, thoughRead More Mary Shelleys Frankenstein and John Miltons Paradise Lost Essay1685 Words   |  7 Pagesand John Miltons Paradise Lost â€Å"Forth reaching to the Fruit, She pluck’d, she eat:/ Earth felt the wound, and Nature from her seat/ Sighing through all her Works gave signs of woe,/ That all was lost [†¦]† (PL 8. 781-784) In the gothic novel Frankenstein, Mary Shelley weaves an intricate web of allusions through her characters’ expedient desires for knowledge. Both the actions of Frankenstein, as well as his monster allude to John Milton’s Paradise Lost. BookRead MoreAllusions Vs. Mary Shelley s Frankenstein 1520 Words   |  7 PagesAllusions to Paradise Lost in Frankenstein In the classic gothic novel Frankenstein, Mary Shelley creates numerous allusions, or references to another work, to John Milton’s epic, Paradise Lost. Allusions can be interpreted differently by each individual, and do not have absolute meanings. They are indirect, which means that the author does not specifically mention the book or epic that he or she is referencing to. Though in Frankenstein, Mary Shelley directly mentions Milton’s Paradise Lost at one pointRead MoreA Discussion of Milton’s Theodicy in Paradise Lost745 Words   |  3 PagesWhat is free will? Milton explains in Paradise Lost that free will is the answer to the justification of Gods ways to man. There are three parts, or triangle, of theodicy, they are that God is all powerful, all good, yet there are still bad things that happen. Milton wrote to explain and justify why there are still bad things even though God is all good, and all powerful. Milton’s answer to this is that there is a ll good and all power, but the bad is not God’s fault. Milton has three key ideas toRead MoreEssay about Frankenstein Allusions1689 Words   |  7 Pagesmonster allude to John Milton’s Paradise Lost. Book eight of Milton’s story relates the tale of Satan’s temptation and Eve’s fateful hunger for knowledge. The infamous Fall of Adam and Eve introduced the knowledge of good and evil into a previously pristine world. With one swift motion sin was birthed, and the perfection of the earth was swept away, leaving pain and malevolence in its wake. The troubles of Victor Frankenstein begin with his quest for knowledge, and end where all end: death. The charactersRead MoreJohn Miltons Theodicy in Paradise Lost595 Words   |  2 PagesParadise Lost is an epic of John Milton, a seventeenth century English author, known for being the greatest reader in English history. The poem goes back to the beginning of time and tells of the rebellion of Satan and his followers, the war in that took place in heaven, and the defeat of Satan. The story also tells of the creation of the world, the life of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, and their loss of everything when they give into the temptations of Satan in the form of a reptile. It endsRead More Essay on Shelleys Frankenstein and Miltons Paradise Lost3164 Words   |  13 PagesShelleys Frankenstein and Miltons Paradise Lost   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Even upon first glance, Mary Shelleys Frankenstein and John Miltons Paradise Lost seem to have a complex relationship, which is discernible only in fractions at a time.   Frankenstein is Mary Shelleys reaction to John Miltons epic poem, in which he wrote the Creation myth as we perceive it today.   His characterizations of Adam and Eve and the interactions of Satan and God and the impending Fall seem to have almost taken a Biblical proportionRead MoreInnocence or Freewill? A critique of Milton’s Theodicy Using Paradise Lost)1000 Words   |  4 Pagesare ignorant to both good and bad happenings in the world, and the reasons behind it all. In Paradise Lost, by John Milton, he attempts to present the reasoning behind all the actions on Earth, positive and negative. To fully understand though, you must learn Milton’s theodicy, or the defense of Gods goodness and omnipotence in view of the existence of evil. (â€Å"Theodicy† Merriam-Webster) Part One Milton’s theodicy is his attempt to justify God’s ways to man. Not only does he reference the traditionalRead MoreThe story of Paradise Lost by John Milton details disobedience and the fall of mankind from God’s900 Words   |  4 PagesThe story of Paradise Lost by John Milton details disobedience and the fall of mankind from God’s grace. God preordained all that was and all that will be following his creation. The poems major themes are the obedience to God, the nature of the universe and ultimately the fall of mankind. These themes will be further explained thru Milton’s explanation of light and darkness. Milton’s conversations between Satan, Beelzebub, Adam and Eve illustrate the difference between their conflicting views on

The Virtue Of Forgetting Of The Digital Age - Viktor Mayer...

Delete The Virtue of Forgetting in the Digital Age - Viktor Mayer-Schonberger Chapter one is entitled â€Å" Failing to Forget the Drunken Pirate.† This chapter starts off giving examples of real people that have professional jobs that posted something online that later on came back and ruined their lives in some way. One person was a woman by the name of Stacey Snyder who was a 25 year old aspiring teacher. After completing all the coursework needed to become an educator, university officials denied her of her certificate because of a picture that she posted on her private Myspace account. The picture was captioned â€Å"drunken pirate† and she was holding a red cup, the university officials claimed her behavior was â€Å"unbecoming.† Although her page was private, it was still easy for the officials to find this one image that ruined Stacey’s career. In this chapter it is stressed how easy it is to find information on anyone. Google actually keeps individual records of people s search history, web pages browsed, and keywords that they often search. Google used to keep these records forever, but as of recently that changed and they are only kept for a short period of time. Also in this chapter it is stated that there is no more privacy. Cell phones have GPS receivers which allows our location to be tracked all day everyday. Because of this you can now even track someone through GPS from a photo they’ve take. In chapter two â€Å"Importance of Remembering†, The main points that SchonbergerShow MoreRelatedThe Impact of Social Media Upon Self Esteem2506 Words   |  11 Pagesavailable on the Internet also adds another layer of social pressures. Because of digitization, the Internet has a perfect memory; when something is posted online, it remains in cyberspace, easily accessible by almost anyone with Internet access (Mayer-Schonberger, 2009). This means that we can easily recall any past mistakes, embarrassing moments, or posts that did not receive a significant amount of positive feedback. By combining all of these factors, the social media scene has effectively created

The Pamplona Bull Run Danger Bull’s Eye! Free Essays

Bull’s Eye! Each year from the 7th to the 14th of July, people gather from all around the world in Pamplona, Spain for an appalling event- the Pamplona Bull Run, I think this event Is truly awful because every year, lives are taken from not only the experienced older runners, but also from the inexperienced young teenagers. As you will have guessed by now, the Pamplona Bull Run is indeed a dangerous event with many injuries and even deaths every single year. The most dangerous element for the runners are the slippery cobbles (besides the bulls of course). We will write a custom essay sample on The Pamplona Bull Run: Danger Bull’s Eye! or any similar topic only for you Order Now These can cause pile ups being the ultimate death trap for the runner since everybody is hysterically trying to squeeze past. Surely there are ‘policemen and nurses present but once the race has begun, they’re unable to help out because they’re mainly behind the unstable barricades, controlling the chaotic masses. Their presence does not mean safety, it’s Just to show that they are there and to make everything seem safe, when actually, nothing Is safe. Could you imagine that anybody is allowed to Join this event? Even the young and Immature college kids who have been ‘drinking all night-they’re basically dead meat. You couldn’t possibly succeed running against a bull for the first time, it’s like throwing a 2 year old baby into a pool without floaties. The experienced runners should still be scared though. They are ‘armed’ with rolled up newspapers to stop the angry, charging bulls when in danger, because that is just the ultimate weapon when you’re trying to save your own life! That is Just absolutely ridiculous, because your life depends on a newspaper- nothing else. If gladiatorial fights were stopped hundreds of years ago, then why does the battle between man and bull still exist today? It’s basically the same concept – killing Is illing. Is there a difference between man and bull? Why would the life of a human have a higher value than the life of a bull? I dont understand. The Pamplona Bull Run is still said to be a very cultured event since its ‘in honor of Saint Fermin’. However, is this still the reason nowadays why people are running from bulls? I don’t think so. Nowadays, In my opinion, culture Is not as important as It once was. People are using this event to show off their manliness, bravery and skill – not for the history, which lies in this place. The media has been too open about this event; they milk this event for views, eplying some of the most disturbing parts when runners are trampled on and so on † you get the Idea. Especially to little children who grow up watching this, how will this influence them? The event might event demonstrate that such animal cruelty and violence Is okay! Anotner negative Tactor 0T tnls event Is tne costs 0T damage ana repalr (as well as medical supply etc. ). ‘Tons and tons of glass has been collected from the streets’. It gets to the point, where normal people who actually live in the bull-run area, have to put up protection for their own houses, so they don’t get absolutely trashed. That’s just outrageous if you ask me. You either put up protection for your house, or there are high chances of it getting destroyed – unbelievable. But after all, the amount of damage caused, isn’t hard to believe since there’s angry bulls running amok in narrow pathways. I hope, in the future, the Pamplona Bull Run will be extinguished, because it’s Just naturally wrong. Do you find this fun or entertaining, to watch a bull slowly and painfully die? I hope that there will be an immediate end to this festival’. Sadly, too many people celebrate this, so trying to put an end to an event this big, would be like waiting for rain in a drought – hopeless and disappointing. How to cite The Pamplona Bull Run: Danger Bull’s Eye!, Papers

The Pamplona Bull Run Danger Bull’s Eye! Free Essays

Bull’s Eye! Each year from the 7th to the 14th of July, people gather from all around the world in Pamplona, Spain for an appalling event- the Pamplona Bull Run, I think this event Is truly awful because every year, lives are taken from not only the experienced older runners, but also from the inexperienced young teenagers. As you will have guessed by now, the Pamplona Bull Run is indeed a dangerous event with many injuries and even deaths every single year. The most dangerous element for the runners are the slippery cobbles (besides the bulls of course). We will write a custom essay sample on The Pamplona Bull Run: Danger Bull’s Eye! or any similar topic only for you Order Now These can cause pile ups being the ultimate death trap for the runner since everybody is hysterically trying to squeeze past. Surely there are ‘policemen and nurses present but once the race has begun, they’re unable to help out because they’re mainly behind the unstable barricades, controlling the chaotic masses. Their presence does not mean safety, it’s Just to show that they are there and to make everything seem safe, when actually, nothing Is safe. Could you imagine that anybody is allowed to Join this event? Even the young and Immature college kids who have been ‘drinking all night-they’re basically dead meat. You couldn’t possibly succeed running against a bull for the first time, it’s like throwing a 2 year old baby into a pool without floaties. The experienced runners should still be scared though. They are ‘armed’ with rolled up newspapers to stop the angry, charging bulls when in danger, because that is just the ultimate weapon when you’re trying to save your own life! That is Just absolutely ridiculous, because your life depends on a newspaper- nothing else. If gladiatorial fights were stopped hundreds of years ago, then why does the battle between man and bull still exist today? It’s basically the same concept – killing Is illing. Is there a difference between man and bull? Why would the life of a human have a higher value than the life of a bull? I dont understand. The Pamplona Bull Run is still said to be a very cultured event since its ‘in honor of Saint Fermin’. However, is this still the reason nowadays why people are running from bulls? I don’t think so. Nowadays, In my opinion, culture Is not as important as It once was. People are using this event to show off their manliness, bravery and skill – not for the history, which lies in this place. The media has been too open about this event; they milk this event for views, eplying some of the most disturbing parts when runners are trampled on and so on † you get the Idea. Especially to little children who grow up watching this, how will this influence them? The event might event demonstrate that such animal cruelty and violence Is okay! Anotner negative Tactor 0T tnls event Is tne costs 0T damage ana repalr (as well as medical supply etc. ). ‘Tons and tons of glass has been collected from the streets’. It gets to the point, where normal people who actually live in the bull-run area, have to put up protection for their own houses, so they don’t get absolutely trashed. That’s just outrageous if you ask me. You either put up protection for your house, or there are high chances of it getting destroyed – unbelievable. But after all, the amount of damage caused, isn’t hard to believe since there’s angry bulls running amok in narrow pathways. I hope, in the future, the Pamplona Bull Run will be extinguished, because it’s Just naturally wrong. Do you find this fun or entertaining, to watch a bull slowly and painfully die? I hope that there will be an immediate end to this festival’. Sadly, too many people celebrate this, so trying to put an end to an event this big, would be like waiting for rain in a drought – hopeless and disappointing. How to cite The Pamplona Bull Run: Danger Bull’s Eye!, Papers

Obsession of Perfection Essay Essay Example

Obsession of Perfection Essay Paper The relentless chase of human flawlessness has ever been an intrinsic trait of human nature and scientific discipline has been a mean to accomplish it. This statement brings us to the chief thought of Hawthorne’s short narrative â€Å"The Birth-mark. † It shows the narrative of a scientist who is obsessed with the remotion of his wife’s nevus. sing it a symbol of her human imperfectness. â€Å"The Birth-mark† is perchance influenced by Hawthorne’s times where scientific discipline began to derive cognition about our universe and was well glorified. through scientific experiment. world can detect. cognize. and make merely about anything. As the storyteller explains. â€Å"In those yearss when the relatively recent find of electricity and other akin enigmas of Nature seemed to open waies into the part of miracle. [ †¦ ] in its deepness and absorbing energy† ( Hawthorne 209 ) . The author’s narrative presents some critical issues abo ut what it signifies to be human. how much scientific discipline can state us about the universe. what happens when human existences effort to overthrow nature through scientific discipline. and perchance more significantly. should we seek to â€Å"play God† in this mode. We will write a custom essay sample on Obsession of Perfection Essay specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Obsession of Perfection Essay specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Obsession of Perfection Essay specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer â€Å"The Birth-mark† like other narratives by Nathaniel Hawthorne provides us with moral fables and much of the significance is through Hawthorne’s usage of symbolism that addresses the subjects such as use of scientific discipline. humanity’s defects. and compulsion with flawlessness. Hawthorne uses an challenging secret plan and alone word picture in order to learn lessons about the imperfectability of worlds by analyzing at the abuse of scientific discipline. Since Hawthorne is involved in the relation of a moral narrative. it is appropriate to see in this essay the ways â€Å"The Birth-mark† takes the moral to warn its readers about the dangers of scientific discipline and compulsion with flawlessness. Therefore. this essay will discourse the significance of the more obvious lessons that Hawthorne’s short narrative â€Å"The Birth-mark† suggests. the imperfect nature of world. the restrictions that scientific discipline has. and the cont entment that worlds should hold on what they already possess. The chief character Aylmer. â€Å"a adult male of scientific discipline ? an high proficient in every subdivision of natural philosophy† ( Hawthorne 209 ) . suffers from a unsighted compulsion about a bantam ruddy nevus resembling the form of a manus that his gorgeous married woman Georgiana has on her cheek. As Aylmer declares: â€Å"Ah. upon another face possibly it might. † replied her hubby ; â€Å"but neer on yours. No. dearest Georgiana. you came so about perfect from the manus of Nature. that this slightest possible defect ? which we hesitate whether to term a defect or a beauty ? dazes me. as being the seeable grade of earthly imperfection† ( Hawthorne 209 ) . He seeks to take his wife’s nevus. the symbol of needfully flawed humanity. and do her perfect. Georgiana’s nevus represents man’s imperfectnesss. the very imperfectnesss that make her homo. The nevus is profoundly deep-rooted in her face. â€Å"It was the fatal defect of humanity which Nature. in one form or another. casts ineffaceably on all her productions. either to connote that they are impermanent and finite. or that their flawlessness must be wrought by labor and pain† ( Hawthorne 211 ) . We can presume that. symbolically. this transition implies that man’s imperfectnesss are profoundly embedded in his nature. â€Å"The Birthmark† illustrates the defects of world. but its most important declaration is that to be human is necessarily to be flawed. To fight for flawlessness is to deny human’s ain nature. to deny what makes us human. and to accomplish such flawlessness is basically impossible. It becomes clear when the storyteller of the narrative describes Georgiana’s decease â€Å"The fatal manus had grappled with the enig ma of life. and was the bond by which an angelic spirit kept itself in brotherhood with a mortal frame. As the last red shade of the birthmark–that sole item of homo imperfection–faded from her cheek. the separating breath of the now perfect adult female passed into the ambiance. and her psyche. lingering a minute near her hubby. took its heavenward flight† ( Hawthorne 222 ) . by extinguishing Georgiana’s imperfectness. Aylmer besides liberates her of her humanity. Once she is perfect. once she is no longer flawed. Georgiana can no longer live. Hawthorne’s message is that being imperfect is merely portion of being human. If you are non flawed. you are non human any longer. It seems so ; that the cardinal lesson and implicit in moral message behind this transition is that seeking to set a little error manner up out of proportion. in effort to make something perfect. merely destroys a good thing and leave us with the fatal effects that come with mindless compulsion of prosecuting flawlessness. Another illustration of a moral lesson that Hawthorne’s short narrative â€Å"The Birth-mark† suggests is that scientific discipline truly does hold its restrictions. There are certain things that worlds are non privileged to cognize or capable of making. It is non merely chesty. the narrative seems to implies. but perfectly unsafe to seek to play God. â€Å"Much as he had accomplished. she could non but observe that his most glorious successes were about constantly failures [ †¦ ] His brightest diamonds were the merest pebbles. and felt to be so by himself. in comparing with the incomputable treasures which lay hidden beyond his reach† ( Hawthorne 217 ) . Aylmer can non detect everything about Nature ; he has failed in his past experiments and he will neglect once more with Georgiana. One of the many ethical motives of the narrative is that Nature carefully protects her secrets and can non be overcome or even matched by adult male. As we discuss in the debut of this essay. Hawthorne wrote â€Å"The Birthmark† at a clip when the scientific method was being glorified and people were get downing to believe scientific discipline truly could take us anyplace we wanted to travel. â€Å"The Birthmark† is showing Nature as the personified Godhead of all things. as a God. There are deductions in the narrative about moral ethical issues as scientific discipline trials new drugs in human existences for case. or scientists playing to be god like in the instance of human cloning. Finally. it delivers the moral about what happens when human existences effort to dispute and change nature that can and frequently will stop in tragic effects. Aylmer’s gorgeous married woman. Georgiana is extremely desirable because of her beauty. The storyteller describes her. declaring: â€Å"Georgiana’s lovers were wont to state that some faery at her birth hr had laid her bantam manus upon the infant’s cheek. [ †¦ ] to give her such sway over all hearts† ( Hawthorne 210 ) . She is perfect in every manner. except for one bantam defect that Aylmer can’t accept. â€Å"At all the seasons which should hold been their happiest. he constantly [ †¦ ] opened his eyes upon his wife’s face and recognized the symbol of imperfection† ( Hawthorne 211 ) . Aylmer is more and more bothered by his wife’s nevus. He grows to happen it absolutely unbearable. and even depict it â€Å"as the symbol of his wife’s liability to transgress. sorrow. decay. and death† ( Hawthorne 211 ) . The compulsion with flawlessness blinds Aylmer to the true beauty and humanity of his married woman . demoing the battle between accepting her true natural beauty and man’s inability to comprehend it and appreciate what nature has bestowed upon him. As the narrative revels through this of import quotation mark â€Å"Do non repent [ †¦ ] you have rejected the best the Earth could offer† ( Hawthorne 222 ) . Hawthorne’s critical lesson is that Aylmer didn’t acknowledge how lucky he was to hold Georgiana. At the terminal of the narrative Aylmer is punished for being dissatisfied with a adult female who pledged her love and entrusted her life to him. a adult female whose inner and outer beauty he could non see and his discontentedness snap away the most perfect thing in his life. Georgiana. Contentment on what we have is the cardinal lesson of this transition when sometimes ; it is adequate to merely complete a undertaking. even if it is non perfect because endeavoring to do it hone could stop up botching many things in the procedure. At the terminal of â€Å"The Birthmark. † Aylmer both succeeds and fails. He succeeds in that he eventually free his married woman of her nevus. He fails in that†¦she is dead. Finally. this narrative affect man’s desire to prefect what is already perfect and the usage of scientific discipline as a blemished tool to achieve this flawlessness. Certain. Georgiana dies right afterwards. but the fact remains that Aylmer does so win in taking the nevus from Georgiana’s cheek. What does this state about man’s ability to suppress nature? â€Å"The terminal justifies the agencies. † You can utilize bad or immoral methods every bit long as you accomplish something â€Å"good† by utilizing them. It is acceptable to make something bad in order to obtain something good? Plants CitedHawthorne. Nathaniel. †The Birth-mark† . Pearson Custom Library Introduction to Literature. Eds. Cain. Kathleen Shine. Kathleen Fitzpatrick. JN. et. Al. Boston: Pearson Learning Solution. 2013. 209-222. Print.

Marilyn Monroe Marriage to Joe essays

Marilyn Monroe Marriage to Joe essays On January 14, 1954, Marilyn married baseball superstar Joe DiMaggio at San Francisco's City Hall. Unfortunately, Marilyn's worldwide fame and sexual image became a theme that haunted their marriage (Haberman 1). The marriage was unrelieved hell. She thought he did not care enough about her career; that he was jealous and discouraged by her willingness to play the national bimbo (Epstein 2). Nine months later on October 27, 1954, Marilyn and Joe divorced. They attributed the split to a "conflict of careers," and remained close friends. I married Joe with love. I thought I was going to have a good life. I thought we were going to have a decent marriage. I thought we were going to have a relationship as a husband and as a wife. And all the things that are entailed in a good marriage. And Ive discovered that the man is absolutely obsessed with jealousy and possessiveness. . . . He doesnt want to know about my business. He doesnt want to know about my work as an actress. He doesnt want me to associate with any of my friends. He wants to cut me off completely from my whole world of motion pictures, friends, and creative people that I know" (Oates 151) Marilyn Monroes divorce from Joe DiMaggio, there was many events that were potential threats to both her sanity and her life. After the divorce, she moved to New York City to pursue a serious career in acting. She studied under the great Lee Strasberg at his Actors' Studio. In the summer of 1956, two things happened. Marilyn married playwright Arthur Miller, and also Marilyn returned to Hollywood to film another movie, "Bus Stop." During this time in her life Marilyn was also forming her own production company with longtime friend Milton Greene. With the money she earned from previous movie roles, Marilyn started her own motion picture company, Marilyn Monroe Productions. Marilyn Monroe Productions would only make one film, 1957's "The Prince and the S...

Tarantulas Rarely Bite (And Other Facts About the Friendly Spiders)

Tarantulas Rarely Bite (And Other Facts About the Friendly Spiders) Tarantulas are the giants of the spider world, well known for their conspicuous size and their common appearance in movies as evil forces. Many people flinch in horror at the sight of them. These big, beefy spiders strike fear in the hearts of arachnophobes everywhere, but in fact, tarantulas are some of the least aggressive and dangerous spiders around. 1. Tarantulas are quite docile and rarely bite people A tarantula bite to a human is typically no worse than a bee sting in terms of toxicity. Symptoms from most species range from local pain and swelling to stiffness of joints. However, tarantula bites can be lethal to birds and some mammals. 2. Tarantulas defend themselves by throwing needle-like hairs at their attackers If a tarantula does feel threatened, it uses its hind legs to scrape barbed hairs (called urticating or stinging hairs) from its abdomen and flick them in the direction of the threat. Youll know it if they hit you, too, because they cause a nasty, irritating rash. Some people may even suffer a serious allergic reaction as a result, especially if the hairs come in contact with their eyes. The tarantula pays a price, too- it winds up with a noticeable bald spot on its belly. 3. Female tarantulas can live 30 years or longer in the wild Female tarantulas are famously long-lived. In captivity, some species have been known to live for over 30 years. Males, on the other hand, dont live very long once they reach sexual maturity, with a lifespan of just three to 10 years on average. In fact, males dont even molt once they reach maturity. 4. Tarantulas come in a wide variety of colors, shapes, and sizes Colorful tarantulas that can be kept as pets include the Mexican red knee tarantula (Brachypelma smithi), the Chilean rose tarantula (Grammastola rosea), and the pink-toed tarantula (Aricularia avicularia). The largest tarantula known on Earth is the goliath bird eater (Theraphosa blondi), which is fairly fast-growing and can reach a weight of four ounces and a leg span of nine inches. The smallest is the endangered spruce-fir moss spider (Microhexura montivaga); it grows to a maximum size of one-fifteenth of an inch, or about the size of a BB pellet. 5. Tarantulas ambush small prey at night Tarantulas dont use webs to capture prey; instead, they do it the hard way- by hunting on foot. These stealthy hunters sneak up on their prey in the dark of night. Smaller tarantulas eat insects, while some of the larger species hunt frogs, mice, and even birds. Like other spiders, tarantulas paralyze their prey with venom, then use digestive enzymes to turn their meal into a soupy liquid. Tarantula venom is made up of a species-specific mix of salts, amino acids, neurotransmitters, polyamines, peptides, proteins, and enzymes. Because these toxins are hugely varied across species, they have become a target for scientific research for potential medical uses. 6. A fall can be fatal to a tarantula Tarantulas are rather thin-skinned creatures, particularly around the abdomen. Even a fall from a height of less than a foot can cause a deadly rupture of the exoskeleton. The heaviest species are the most susceptible to damage from drops. For this reason, handling a tarantula is never recommended. Its easy for you to get spooked- or, even more likely, for the tarantula to get spooked. What would you do if a huge, hairy spider started squirming in your hand? Youd probably drop it, and quickly. If you must handle a tarantula, either let the animal walk onto your hand or pick the spider up directly with cupped hands. Never handle a tarantula during or near the time of her molt, an annual period that can last up to a month. 7. Tarantulas have retractable claws on each leg, like cats Since falls can be so dangerous for tarantulas, its important for them to get a good grip when theyre climbing. Though most tarantulas tend to stay on the ground, some species are arboreal, meaning they climb trees and other objects. By extending special claws at the end of each leg, a tarantula can get a better grasp of whatever surface it is attempting to scale. For this reason, it is best to avoid mesh tops for tarantula tanks, because the spiders claws can get caught in them. 8. Though tarantulas don't spin webs, they do use silk Like all spiders, tarantulas produce silk, and they put it to use in clever ways. Females use silk to decorate the interior of their underground burrows, and the material is thought to strengthen the earthen walls. Males weave silken mats on which to lay their sperm. Females encase their eggs in silken cocoons. Tarantulas also use silk trap lines near their burrows to alert themselves to potential prey, or to the approach of predators. Scientists have discovered that tarantulas can produce silk with their feet in addition to using spinnerets as other spiders do. 9. Most tarantulas wander around during the summer months During the warmest months of the year, sexually mature males begin their quest to find a mate. Most tarantula encounters occur during this period, as males often disregard their own safety and wander around during daylight hours. Should he find a burrowing female, a male tarantula will tap the ground with his legs, politely announcing his presence. This suitor is a good source of much-needed protein for the female, and she may try to eat him once hes presented her with his sperm. 10. Tarantulas can regenerate lost legs Because tarantulas molt throughout their lives, replacing their exoskeletons as they grow, they have the ability to repair any damage theyve sustained. Should a tarantula lose a leg, a new one will reappear the next time it molts. Depending on the tarantulas age and the length of time before its next molt, the regenerated leg may not be quite as long as the one it lost. Over successive molts, the leg will gradually get longer until it reaches its normal size again. Tarantulas will sometimes eat their detached legs as a way to recycle protein.