Adolescence is a difficult time, filled with uncertainty about physical appearance, identity, sex... more Adolescence is a difficult time, filled with uncertainty about physical appearance, identity, sexual maturation, and the ability to 'fit-in' to a desirable community. For Calliope Stephanides, this time is especially difficult. Cal's a hermaphrodite, living in a world that has room for only two classifications of people: 'normal' and 'not.' An exploration of observable binaries in Jeffrey Eugenides's novel, Middlesex explores the formation of Cal(lie)'s identity through classical notions of identity construction and suggests the unlikelihood of his ever being able to achieve a complete understanding of self. 'To be or not to be, that is the question' (Shakespeare 995). Shakespeare's Hamletcontemplates the continuance of life in the wake of incredible difficulties. But what it means 'to be' has long been questioned in the philosophical ideas relating to man's existence. In Plato's text Theaetetus, Socrates explains: '...
Adolescence is a difficult time, filled with uncertainty about physical appearance, identity, sex... more Adolescence is a difficult time, filled with uncertainty about physical appearance, identity, sexual maturation, and the ability to 'fit-in' to a desirable community. For Calliope Stephanides, this time is especially difficult. Cal's a hermaphrodite, living in a world that has room for only two classifications of people: 'normal' and 'not.' An exploration of observable binaries in Jeffrey Eugenides's novel, Middlesex explores the formation of Cal(lie)'s identity through classical notions of identity construction and suggests the unlikelihood of his ever being able to achieve a complete understanding of self. 'To be or not to be, that is the question' (Shakespeare 995). Shakespeare's Hamletcontemplates the continuance of life in the wake of incredible difficulties. But what it means 'to be' has long been questioned in the philosophical ideas relating to man's existence. In Plato's text Theaetetus, Socrates explains: '...
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