Read this excerpt from The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas: This time he fell on his knees, and, clasping his hands con
vulsively, uttered a prayer intelligible to God alone. He soon became calmer and more happy, for only now did he begin to realize his felicity. What does the word felicity mean in this context? A.) agitation
B.) confusion
C.) Happiness
D.) Anger
E.) Folly
We noticed synonyms in the passage as it calmed down, as it was not calm; convulsively - another synonym for agitation; an intelligible prayer - with a sense of agitation.
The word "felicity" refers to "happiness." In this excerpt, the author wants to show that the person in question went from a feeling of agitation and stress to one of happiness. We can also observe this in the fact that the person suddenly "became calmer and more happy" when he realized that he was actually happy, or that he was in a state of "felicity."
The name Petrarchan Sonnet comes from the fact that it was a man named Petrarchan who created this structure. The Petrarchan sonnet is divided in two parts: one is called the "octave" (of 8 lines) and the other "sestet" (of 6 lines), for a total of 14 lines. It is in the octave that a problem or theme is typically introduced.
