Dorine in “Tartuffe” is a very independent minded character. As a servant, she should fade into the background and speak only when addressed. However, Dorine is far different from the typical servant (or woman) of her day. Mme. Pernell is the first one to point this out when she says, “Girl you talk too much and I’m afraid/You’re far too saucy for a lady’s maid” (1.1). Dorine is not afraid to express herself to any member of the family, and when she speaks, she sees through the heart of the matter to the truth. For example, when Dorine hears Orgon telling Mariane she should marry Tartuffe, she is not afraid to step in and have her say: “There’s lately been a rumor going about--/Based on some hunch or chance remark, no doubt/That you mean Mariane to wed Tartuffe/I’ve laughed it off, of course, as just a spoof.” (2.2). Unlike most of the women of her time, Dorine is not afraid to speak up against her employer. Dorine is not afraid to speak out against the tradition of arranged marriages. She is an independent, strong woman in a time when such a woman was an anomaly.
Does anybody know the etymology of the phrase "sweet dreams"? I tried googling but did not find anything satisfying. Is this a relatively new phrase of the modern world or has this been in use for some time? I think it's the latter one. Answer The OED has the interjection as "a farewell to someone going to bed" from the 20th century: 1908 Sears Roebuck Catal. 198/1 Tenor Solos..Good Bye, Sweet Dreams, Good Bye. But it goes back until at least the 19th and possibly 18th centuries. John Wolcot, writing under the pseudonym of Peter Pindar, used it in his poem "Orson and Ellen; A Legendary Tale" published in 1801: Also from 1801 in The infernal Quixote (Page 287) by Charles Lucas: In the March 1776 of The Universal Magazine was published "The Serenade. A Pastoral Tale. From the German of Gesner" , where the shepherd Daphnis watches over his beloved as she sleeps and sings: The same tale appears in 1776's as Idyl XI, " Daphnis ...
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