Hamlet
soliloquy
a dramatic device where a character, alone on stage, speaks their innermost thoughts, feelings, and intentions aloud
Alce Arobin
The man that Edna has a physical (but not emotional) affair with.
John Isidore
The second main character of the novel. A special. Empathizes with androids.
Bars on the window, bolted down bed
Describes the interior of the room where the narrator/Jane is staying
symbol
A literary device in which something represents something else.
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern
Hamlet's childhood friends. They spy on him for Claudius and end up dead.
Mademoiselle Reisz
A foil to Edna. An older, single woman who is greatly talented with the piano but largely shunned by society for being single and so strong-willed. She represents one of the options available to Edna.
Mercer
Christ-like figure. Represents humanity and empathy, which is the defining trait of humanity according to the novel. Ends up being revealed as a fraud: not a real person/entity, but filmed and played back.
postpartum depression
The implied issue that Jane is actually suffering from
foreshadowing
A literary device in which an author provides hints or clues to something that will happen later in the narrative.
Cause of Hamlet's anger toward Ophelia (and women)
Gertrude's betrayal (her marriage to Claudius so soon after her husband's death)
birds
A motif and symbol in the novel that represent freedom and the life that Edna would ideally like to lead. However, it's a freedom that is desired but unachievable.
Rachael Rosen
A nexus-6 android that works for the Rosen Association. She runs a con where she seduces and sleeps with bounty hunters in order to cause them to feel empathy toward androids and thus be unable to do their job. She sleeps with Rick and kills the new goat he purchased.
writing
Narrator/Jane's hobby that her husband insists she stops doing.
A literary device in which an image, symbol, sound, action, or phrase is repeated throughout a narrative
What Fortinbras' appearance at the end of the play reveals
That he never gave up on the idea of getting the land back that his father lost and he had always intended to invade/fight Denmark, but used Poland as an excuse to get closer to this goal.
ocean/sea
A symbol and motif in the novel that represents freedom and strength. The ocean is a relief and an achievable freedom.
the electric sheep
Biblical allusion: faith
Symbol: A symbol of Rick's waning faith in humanity, himself, and Mercerism.
Doctor
The profession of the narrator's (Jane's) husband
irony
a figure of speech in which words are used in such a way that their intended meaning is different from the actual meaning of the words
Significance of player's Priam monologue
Makes Hamlet realize how passive he is and makes him feel bad about his lack of action and passion, since an actor manages to muster more passion for a fictional event than he has about the real murder of his father.
the woman in black and the lovers
The woman in black is symbol of death and foreshadows the ending of the novel, particularly in her constantly following the lovers on the beach, which represnt Edna and her various romantic (physical and emotional) awakenings.
the nubian goat
Biblical allusion: the devil/evil.
Symbolic of Rick's loss of faith in himself, humanity, and Mercerism. Appears once Rick is fully immersed by his existential crisis, and reflects that crisis.
The implication at the end of the story
That the narrator has become the woman in the wallpaper (as though possessed)
figurative language
A general name for the use of words or phrases with non-literal meanings to create vivid images, comparisons, or emotional effects.