"Courage is measured by an individual's Willingness to continue fighting even
when the likelihood of victory is small" This quote implies that characters in
the literature act by how they have courage at a particular moment, Without a
sense of purpose, social influence or pressure from their immediate environment
I agree With this quote because courage can have a deep impact on how a
character Will act Without a pondenng. There are several plays and novels,
including Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare and Sister Came by
Theodore Dreiser , illustrate the depth of courage can affect characters'
action even though the chance of winning is small
In the drama Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare gives us a Window into the
courage of several characters. Using asides and soliloquies, the audience is able
to know exactly what the characters are thinking, and often what they are
feeling Those thought and feeling courage their action For example, we see
Romeo courageously on stage several times in the tragedy, dunng which the
audience hears of his great feeling for Juliet Romeo's great feeling for Juliet
courage himself to be not afraid of death
It is also these solilquies that Romeo shows the audience just how
profoundly these courage impact his characterization Throughout the play,
Romeo is motivated mainly by his great love for Juliet This strong courage is
most clearly illustrated in the last scene of the play when Romeo finds Juliet
"dead" (although she has only taken a poison that makes her seem that way) He
is so overcome by the apparent loss of his beloved that he takes poison and kills
himself Juliet, too, does a similiar thing Awakening shortly after Romeo dies,
Juliet is completely distraught at the death of her loved one that she also kills
herself Obviously, Both of these were not motivated by necessity, but by
courage.
In Dreiser's novel Sister Came, love is also a major courage of the
characters. The book very often descnbes the courage of its characters,
especially of its protagonist, Carne Came's dominant courage is that of love,
which she feels for both Drouet, the man she lives With, and Hurstwood, a friend
of Drouet's forwho she also has feelinge
These feelings of Cames, as well as the courages of Hurstwood, dictate the
actions of both of these charactere The plot proves that courage is measured
by one's feeling Came's love for Drouet motivates her to move in With him, and
later her feelings for Hurstwood compel her to run away With him, even though
Hurstwood is a mamed man Shortly before this flight, Hurstwood is motivated
to steal money from his company's safe Before he met Came, Hurstwood was a
completely logical and calculating man However , his newfound love for Came
caused him to take the money, even though he never would have in normal
circumstance Both Came and Hurstwood's action in Sister Came are clearly
motivated by courage, not by thought
The drama Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespear and the novel Sister
Came by Theodore Dreiser both support the quote "Courage is measured by an
individual's Willingness to continue fighting even when the likelihood of victory is
small " In both these works, characters' actions are dnven not by reason, but
by courage This shows us that nothing is stranger than the strength of the
human courage
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