The Final Discussion

I know that I've gained a deeper appreciation for Shakespeare this semester. All the lessons that I've learned from it can't have been learned another way. Whether it combating jealousy or analyzing the change of heart a fool can cause, I've learned valuable life lessons from what I've read. I've talked with my high school friends about it and pumped them up for reading more Shakespeare in class because in high school it certainly isn't the most interesting thing. I definitely think of Shakespeare more critically than I did at the beginning of the semester. Words are the motive of understanding a character's true intentions and loyalties, as seen with Iago and Othello. Also, I feel out music video raised interest in the various issues that Shakespeare discussed besides love.

There was a discussion during the Engaging Shakespeare night about how Shakespeare phrases things in such a way that they are universal truths and can connect with anyone. I now really do believe that. I've recommended so many people to the class, and every one of them seemed genuinely interested after I've talked about these truths and what we did with the music video.

I'm very glad that I took this class. It's been an awesome semester, and I've fallen truly in love with Shakespeare. I hope that as I get older, I can help people to understand it and appreciate it better than they would have. Sometimes all you need is a little push.

Othello 1995 Act V

ACT V


scene i and ii


Note that this is the last posting about Othello that I will do. Othello definitely should have drowned Iago as he almost did earlier in the movie. That would have prevented all of this from happening. You know Iago doesn't feel guilt, and you know that he'll never disclose his reason why. It's crazy that Emilia didn't find anything suspicious in Iago wanting that handkerchief that badly. It's crazy that Othello didn't just talk to the people he had problems with.

Problems, big or small, can almost always be solved when you talk directly to the person you are having a conflict with. Jealousy, I feel, can only be solved this way. This place is a great reminder of the dangers of not taking such actions when the offenses are small, and instead waiting until they rage inside of you and cannot be quenched.

Awesome Iago symbolism scene:

As Iago is running from the men that are trying to apprehend him after he's been exposed as the liar and evil man he is, he bursts into the room where Roderigo is supposedly laying dead.

Roderigo's eye's flicker open and see Iago, then he rolls over and points to him accusingly. As Iago backs away in fear, the next door opens and the men take hold of him.

I love the image that the dead speak against him. Even Lodovico, in the final lines of the play, says this.

"O Spartan dog,
More fell than anguish, hunger, or the sea!
Look on the tragic loading of this bed;
This is thy work: the object poisons sight;
Let it be hid."

Othello 1995 Act IV

ACT IV


scenes i-iii

The breaks between scenes go so fast here, that they are neatly sown together. Iago's black magic of jealousy is on full swing and is let loose with very little of his persuasion. Othello does not even question Iago's judgement anymore. Roderigo, however, when finally he realized that Iago has wronged him the whole time, Iago tricks him again with false hopes of Desdemona.

A questions for you guys to answer:

If you were jealous, would you be so angry as to kill someone? What if it was your wife or husband?

Do you think Desdemona should have stood up for herself more?

Awesome Iago symbolism scene:

After convincing Othello that he truly has been wronged, he places the same two chess pieces of the black king and the white queen on the side of a well, them swipes them off into the water, showing that he's finished with them and they're beyond any hope of escaping their fates.

Othello 1995 Act III

ACT III


scene iii


The first two scenes were skipped, as the version is focusing mainly on the relationship between Iago and Othello. You can see Othello's real trust for Iago, when blows up in his face just as Iago said it would.

Iago knows the true nature of jealousy, mostly because he was bit by it himself. "The green-eyed monster" roots itself in your mind, and with so much 'proof' that Iago produces, sprouts there into a horrible death-plant. Sometimes the image of evil in your mind casts that shadow upon everything you see, making you unable see see it another way. Suspicion breeds suspicion. It's nearly inescapable unless you "do away at once with love or jealousy."

Awesome Iago symbolism scene:


As Emilia states,

"'Tis not a year or two shows us a man:
They are all but stomachs, and we all but food;
To eat us hungerly, and when they are full,
They belch us."

It shoots to a scene of Iago closing the door on their conversation after just having witnessed Desdemona and Othello's argument. This, of course, shows how now that Emilia has served his purpose, he no longer has use for her, since he believes that Othello has cuckolded him.

Othello 1995 Act II

ACT II


scene i

Once again, this scene entirely skips the beginning exchanges between various characters and plunges straight into Iago's plot and Othello's arrival. Because this is a feature-length film, I can see why they focused on the big players. To the plot, Iago's scenes and words are the most important, and removes all doubt of Desdemona and Cassio having any blame on them. They are all innocent, and only work in certain ways because Iago prods them or cast certain lights on them.

I can see how persuasive Iago is when put into a movie context. While reading the book, I was struck by how dumb everybody who talks to him is. I though, surely they wouldn't trust him that much, surely they would see through him, surely they would have more trust in each other! But, their distrust does not only come from Iago's words, but from the actions or appearance of actions that were Iago's insistence. Even in Shakespeare, action speak louder than words. Seeing this played out is a great reminder to avoid the appearance of questionable acts just as much as the actual ones. This doesn't even have to be in a religious context, it could be something as simple as seen in this play.

scene iii


Well, scene two was entirely skipped.

Iago, villainous and snakey as he is, he is my favorite villain in not only Shakespeare, but literature. He doesn't suggest large actions, but instead small ones. He gives an idea, and the people he talks to runs with them.

After Othello break up Cassio and Montano's fight, Iago's words are priceless.

"Touch me not so near:
I had rather have this tongue cut from my mouth
Than it should do offence to Michael Cassio;
Yet, I persuade myself, to speak the truth
Shall nothing wrong him."

Othello's responds clearly shows how much faith that he holds in Iago, despite it being misplaced.

"I know, Iago,
Thy honesty and love doth mince this matter,
Making it light to Cassio."

And finally, the awesome Iago symbolism scene of this act: 


As he's churning over the events in his mind, he further plots his next move against Desdemona for revenge upon Othello's supposed crime.

"So will I turn her virtue into pitch,
And out of her own goodness make the net
That shall enmesh them all."

As he's saying this, he picks up a stick from the fire, and rubs ash over his hands, which show how far gone he is in his plot, and that he has nothing inside of him except revenge and hatred. How's that for symbolism?

Othello 1995 Act I

ACT I


scene i and scene ii

While it's very easy to follow in the film, it's not true to the lines. They crammed both scenes into 9 minutes and cut out everything that wasn't conducive to the plot, such as much of the discussion about whys and wherefores, as well as set up. Although it removes much character relationship development from Iago and Roderigo, you still get a sense for their relationship (at least outwardly) by the actors' portrayals of the character.

Iago, as he's yelling to Brabantio, makes sure he is not seen so that he is not blamed later. While reading the text, I never realized this. I assumed Brabantio saw both of them, and wondered why when the both of them were fighting on Othello's side during the confrontation Brabantio didn't point them out. I feel that this more accurately depicts Iago's character by showing how he is, rather than listening to him talk.

scene iii


Skipping the scene about the sailor's plight to the senators, it focuses directly on Brabantio's argument. Once their affairs are solved, it goes quickly from the next thing to the next. All text, even if it's valuable for character building, is only used when it furthers the plot. Like I said earlier, the actors make up for this by showing, not telling what they're about. This is made easier with movie magic, and would certainly be harder to pull off in this way on a low-budget stage like in Shakespeare's time.

Iago's character becomes very clear, even twenty minutes into the movie. He easily cheers up and manipulates Roderigo, then plots Othello and Cassio's demise. I particularly enjoyed seeing how swift and effortless this change is when played by Branagh. He is very much a warm, supportive friend in public, and a snake behind closed doors.

Awesome Iago symbolism scene:

An image I found awesome was when he sets on a chessboard a black king and a white queen, then places a white knight between them. Doing this, and cutting out the lines where Iago explicitly states his intentions, his plans are more artfully shown, which makes his character seem all the more devious and cunning.

Othello 1955 Pre-Viewing Talk

Today I'm going to attempt what a fellow classmate did before, which is writing blog posts while watching  movie version of a play. I've chosen one which I have read before, Othello. The version I picked, the 1995 Kenneth Branagh version, was referred to me by a friend who watched it while reading Othello in her high school's AP Literature class.

Instead of posting every scene, I will post every act and subdivide the post between scenes. Of course, in movies there are not certain splits between acts as there would be in a live production, but I'm sure it'll be fine.

I should have five more posts up by the end of the movie!

If everyone is ready, then now I'll begin!

RE: Truth Spoken in Jest

I'm going to respond to a fellow group member's post here.

Chris stated that the hard truth said in jest is appropriate because it allows the party in question to either change or stay as they are without much intrusion while still bringing the problem in question up for debate.

We all have those friends who say scathing things to us, and hide them behind an "Oh, I'm just kidding! Don't take things so hard!"

In the case of the Fool, I feel as though it is a little different than both that scenario and the one Chris brought up. I feel as though Lear keeps him around because he lightens the problems surrounding him, because such is the duty of a Fool. Lear feels less stress about his problems because the Fool jokes about them. It's true that sometimes the truth hits Lear a little hard, but he always pushes it away from him.

I don't think any change works within Lear until he is thrust into the wilderness and subjected to the tempestuous weather. There is where he bonds with the Fool and comes to care for him because that's what happens to people who survive horrible things together. While the Fool is the reason for his change, I don't think it was through the Fool's prophetic words. I think it's because Lear came to care for him, and so soften Lear's heart so that he could see his wrong.

Quotes for the Project

Deception:

"I follow him to serve my turn upon him."

Othello (I, i, 42)

Good name in man and woman, dear my lord,
Is the immediate jewel of their souls.
Who steals my purse steals trash; 'tis something, nothing;
'Twas mine, 'tis his, and has been slave to thousands;
But he that filches from me my good name
Robs me of that which not enriches him,
And makes me poor indeed.

Othello Act 3, scene 3, 155–161

"O, what men dare do! What men may do! What men daily
do, not knowing what they do!"

Much Ado About Nothing (IV, i, 19-21)

Acting:

If this were play'd upon a stage now, I could condemn it as an
improbable fiction.

Twelfth Night Act 3, scene 4, 118–128

Suit the action to the word, the word to the action, with this
special observance, that you o'erstep not the modesty of nature:
for any thing so o'erdone is from the purpose of playing, whose
end, both at the first and now, was and is, to hold as 'twere the
mirror up to nature: to show virtue her feature, scorn her own
image, and the very age and body of the time his form and
pressure.

Hamlet Act 3, scene 2, 17–24

O, what a rogue and peasant slave am I!
Is it not monstrous that this player here,
But in a fiction, in a dream of passion,
Could force his soul so to his own conceit
That from her working all the visage wann'd,
Tears in his eyes, distraction in his aspect,
A broken voice, an' his whole function suiting
With forms to his conceit? And all for nothing,
For Hecuba!
What's Hecuba to him, or he to Hecuba,
That he should weep for her? What would he do
Had he the motive and the cue for passion
That I have? He would drown the stage with tears,
And cleave the general ear with horrid speech,
Make mad the guilty, and appall the free,
Confound the ignorant, and amaze indeed
The very faculties of eyes and ears.

Hamlet Act 2, scene 2, 550–566

Infidelity:

"Here's ado to lock up honesty
And honor from th' access of gentle visitors."

The Winter's Tale (II, ii, 9-11)

"Is whispering nothing?"

The Winter's Tale (I, ii, 284-285)

"Let every eye negotiate for itself
And trust no agent; for beauty is a witch
Against whose charms faith melteth in blood."

Much Ado About Nothing (II, i, 178-180)

O, beware, my lord, of jealousy;
It is the green-ey'd monster, which doth mock
The meat it feeds on. That cuckold lives in bliss,
Who, certain of his fate, loves not his wronger:
But O, what damnèd minutes tells he o'er
Who dotes, yet doubts, suspects, yet strongly loves!

Othello:
O misery!

Othello Act 3, scene 3, 165–171

Midterm already?

A. Learning Outcomes

• How have I gained Shakespeare literacy?

Over this semester so far, I have read five plays, seen two productions, watched a couple of movies, and seen a lot of bad pop culture spoofs. I feel that I've studied these plays in a shorter space of time, but in a way that focuses on the themes and overall important parts. I work generally to understand the bigger themes and relationships between characters rather than the specific meaning of a couple of lines.

• How have I analyzed Shakespeare critically?

Although I have analyzed a couple of passages critically, I tend to post on how I have analyzed the characters. I like looking at how their society differs from our own, and also how similar they are at the same time.

• How have I engaged Shakespeare creatively?

I haven't especially used Shakespeare creatively yet, but I will as the year goes on.

• How have I shared Shakespeare meaningfully?

There is more to come with this as well!

B, Self-Directed Learning

I have begun steering my own course of Shakespearean knowledge by looking into what interests me. Granted, it took a long time to find that direction, but now that I know more of what I want to look at, I can analyze it more critically in context. For the most part, I have noted in previous blog posts the relationships between characters that I find most interesting. Often enough, I won't write about something that someone else has due to a nervousness about "idea-stealing." This is probably a bad habit on my part.

C. Collaborative and Social Learning

I have been struggling more or less with working in my group so that we can all benefit. Group members, I'm sorry. I feel as though all of the good ideas to write about have already been explored, and that I cannot bring anything new and salient to the table, and so I'm always hesitant to write or speak unless I feel my ideas are original.

D. Looking Ahead

In the future, I plan to be more engaged in writing about Shakespeare and sharing my opinions more frequently with my group. I am going to post more frequently, hopefully making up what I have missed, and comment more on other people's blogs. I plan on finding a way to express myself creatively through Shakespeare (possibly the final project). I want to connect with more people about what I am learning, and have the knowledge I have gained become more important to me.

Renaissance Man

Shakespeare slumps are not a joke.

Recently, I've been running on low steam with Shakespeare, and it has been seen very clearly in the frequency on my blog posting. Also recently, in my Music Civilization class, we began learning about the Renaissance ideas of creativity and their notions of beauty and order in music, art, and literature. And how they intersect with one another. This is what has brought my interest in Shakespeare back to life.

A main idea I want to look at is the glory of the individual, and man as the maker of his own destiny. It's a little throwback from the Christian sensibilities that were seen through out the Byzantine and Medieval eras, to the Greek and Roman notions of man.

In Richard III, this aspect is very prominent in that he is trying to use every little trick he has to change his status in life and claim the throne that would never belong to him.

THE WOOING OF THE LADY ANNE


Duke of Gloucester:

"Was ever woman in this humour woo'd?
Was ever woman in this humour won?
I'll have her; but I will not keep her long.
What! I, that kill'd her husband and his father,
To take her in her heart's extremest hate,
With curses in her mouth, tears in her eyes,
The bleeding witness of her hatred by;
Having God, her conscience, and these bars
against me,
And I nothing to back my suit at all,
But the plain devil and dissembling looks,
And yet to win her, all the world to nothing!"

 In this odd turn of events, Richard had killed this woman's husband and wooed her as she followed his body in the funeral procession. Sounds familiar, right? It's Gertrude and Claudius all over again, except that this Gertrude knows that Claudius killed her husband! Although he had done it coldly, he acts and puts on a show that she was his reason for doing so, and even entreats her to kill him if it displeases her. Of course it displeases her, but she cannot kill or give the order for his death, and so gives herself up to marry him, although she bitterly hates him.

Following the theme I've discovered, he is doing this ONLY for his own gain. The ending couplet of his soliloquy in this act is hugely pointing to this theme.

"Shine out, fair sun, till I have bought a glass,
That I may see my shadow as I pass."

That is, in my opinion, the quote that defines his whole character. This idea of telling the sun to shine brighter so that he can more easily see himself (even as he walks in the darkness of his deeds) is showing the elevation of the individual that is so strong in the Renaissance arts and mindset.

Revoltingly, the Lady Anne actually marries him and then is later killed by him because she no longer suits his purposes. No surprise there, right?

A horse, a horse! My kingdom for a horse!

Spoiler:  The hunchbacked Duke becomes the King and kills everyone along the way.

Including the children.

I have just finished, in the wee hours of the night right before the library is to close, watching the BBC version of Richard III. It was very true to text, and had a very straightforward interpretation. It also took a few minutes shy of four hours. However, there were things that were unexpectedly comical due to the interpretation, such as the secret combinations between The Duke of Gloucester (Richard III) and the Duke of Buckingham  as well as the severed head of the Duke of Hastings.

My favorite scene had to have been when Buckingham is trying to convince the citizens to raise Gloucester up as their king, and so tells Gloucester (in private) to appear on the balcony between two bishops while reading the Bible, then act humbly and refusingly to the demand of ascension to the throne.

Duke of Buckingham: The mayor is here at hand: intend some fear;
Be not you spoke with, but by mighty suit:
And look you get a prayer-book in your hand,
And stand betwixt two churchmen, good my lord;
For on that ground I'll build a holy descant:
And be not easily won to our request:
Play the maid's part, still answer nay, and take it.

Of course, the citizens are egged on by his humility, and end up begging him to become their king, to which he finally accepts. Not to anybody's surprise who's seen the whole beginning of the play, he doesn't take that much coercion. Even though it's known that he's killed and given orders for other murders before, and there are many rumors surrounding him, he makes sure to make himself blameless.

Duke of Gloucester: Would you enforce me to a world of care?
Well, call them again. I am not made of stone,
But penetrable to your. kind entreats,
Albeit against my conscience and my soul.
[Re-enter BUCKINGHAM and the rest]
Cousin of Buckingham, and you sage, grave men,
Since you will buckle fortune on my back,
To bear her burthen, whether I will or no,
I must have patience to endure the load:
But if black scandal or foul-faced reproach
Attend the sequel of your imposition,
Your mere enforcement shall acquittance me
From all the impure blots and stains thereof;
For God he knows, and you may partly see,
How far I am from the desire thereof.

All in all, I though Gloucester/Richard's character was a complete slime ball. I wanted him to die the whole time. No really. Sometimes there is that one character that you want to die. Like Nurse Ratched from One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest. Or Chancellor Palpatine. Or this guy.

You want to root for him in the very beginning, because he's so cunning and amusing... but then he just does so many horrible things to people that that are completely innocent, like young children and all of the other dukes, and immediately begins suspecting people and going back on every promise as soon as he's crowned that you know he has to die soon.

Good thing he does.

Love's Labour's are indeed Lost.

Reading through this, I'm starting to realize the meaning of the title. It's about the misunderstanding of how one should treat and go about love and loving someone. In this case, the "labor of love" is completely taken in a new way. Instead of respect and other amiable qualities that lovers will work hard to possess and perfect to woo their women, they use rhetoric and wordplay as a means to the end. Of course, this is incorrect as "Love's Labour" in a romantic sense.

In this way, Love's Labour have become Lost. Not lost in that it can't be found, but lost as in misguided and confused. Abused wordplay has been confused as a way to gain love or impress lovers, but it couldn't be farther from the truth in this play.

On the topic of social outreach.

I think it's great that's we're going to expand our little Shakespeare bubble! I was actually really interested in this guy Bill Barclay and his idea of musiclarity. Yes, Professor Burton stumbled upon him in class, but I think it's just dumb luck that it's a topic that I'm interested in!

O how Fortuna smiles upon the time-, travel-, and trial-weary learner of the ancient playwright! I will in all my humility, although still owning a sonorous voice like an angel of mirth, praise and honor thy fortuitous gifts of promise!

...Well... We can't all be Armado.

Anyways, this is really encouraging to me, the fact that there are many people out there that share my interests! I've been struggling with finding a direction and consistently blogging, so this change in the scope of the class should prove beneficial to both my learning and my blog.

JK, guys. She's really alive.

For my last (hopefully) Winter's Tale post, I'd like to talk a bit about Paulina.

She really does have beef with Leontes. Reading it, I though, I know it's been fifteen years, but you're still guilt tripping him. SURELY he felt bad enough, as seen in Act V? Nope. Not enough.

Leontes (V.i.2826-32)

     Whilst I remember
     Her and her virtues, I cannot forget
     My blemishes in them, and so still think of
     The wrong I did myself; which was so much,
     That heirless it hath made my kingdom and
     Destroy'd the sweet'st companion that e'er man
     Bred his hopes out of.

Doesn't sound like he's full of godly sorrow, regret, and anguish for what he's done? He sees himself as so imperfect next to her, and that he never deserved her from the beginning. But, he also destroyed her? Imagine how much horrendous guilt he felt! Paulina seems pretty heartless as she's raking and stabbing him with each little reminder that, oh by the way, you killed your perfect wife and both of your children.

But in the end... she's really been faking it? She was just hiding the queen the whole time? (By the way, wouldn't you eventually just want to escape if you were trapped in Paulina's house for fifteen years?) Did she enjoyed mentally torturing Leontes?

And, why didn't she get killed off for harassing the king? (Just a thought.)

Clearly, Paulina is NOT a Pollyanna.

Romance. Oh great.

I can't think about anything now without thinking about Professor Burton's lecture on Romance and hopeless idealism in relationships. At BYU, a girl is very in danger of getting her hopes up. VERY in danger. We've been raised up in Young Women's with this idea that when we go to college, we get find our eternal companions and live happily ever after. Being a freshman, I've just gotten thrown into this world. People get swept up and engaged in three weeks, married in the next three, and having their first child nine or ten months later! Heck, even in my group, both of the guys are married! It's a very inane process to the outside world. As I've gotten more sucked into the idea of getting, well, swept away and falling madly in love, I remember Professor Burton's stories and think to myself, "Am I living a fantasy? Am I really getting worked up over something that doesn't exist?"

I'm pretty sure that's how Perdita's mind was working as Florizel was pronouncing his true, deep, heartfelt emotions to everybody that would listen to him. She seems like a really smart, sharp girl so far. On a plus side, at least she's older than Juliet, who was 13. 15-16 is a good, ripe age to get married, right? Of course, their ideals were different than ours. We assume that by age 16, girls in Shakespeare's time can make rational decisions and are no longer prone to being swept away by huge bouts of emotion. (They're usually swept away by other things. Water, in Ophelia's case.) Compared to Florizel, she is much more grounded in reality and less likely to simply give away herself on an impluse. I think she got it from her mother.

I'm big, you're small, I'm right, you're wrong.

I'm sorry for the inconvenience of not posting this earlier. I was caught up with other assignments and it slipped my mind. Hopefully I can get the hang of this better as the semester goes on.

Anyways, to get on with it. I found Leontes very... wrong. He's okay with bashing out a newborn baby's brains? What is wrong with this man?! He's so blind to his own suspicions and viewpoint that he doesn't see that NOBODY ELSE agrees with him. Even when the Oracle gives him his prophecy, Leontes is wondering, What is this garbage? I thought I was right?

I'd like to take Kara's idea about Shakespeare being a social commentator and run with that for a bit. He must have known someone like Leontes. It's hard for us to think up someone who is so incredibly wrong all the time like he is. Even when faced with the blatant truth and a doubled forewarning that his life will be totally screwed up if he doesn't see the truth, Leontes still doesn't listen. People in Shakespeare's society may have had somewhat of the same mindset, but in terms of being intolerant to others and quick to jump to conclusions. Even in our world today, there are still people like that. People who run with the smallest grain of inconsistency and make a romance in their own mind about how they've been wronged or some other complaint. We all know those people. This is just Shakespeare's way of giving us a broader look at ourselves, by placing these people into his plays and blowing their characteristics into obviousness.

Are you my Son?

Leontes (I.ii.183-195)

Too hot, too hot!
To mingle friendship far is mingling bloods.
I have tremor cordis on me: my heart dances;
But not for joy; not joy. This entertainment
May a free face put on, derive a liberty
From heartiness, from bounty, fertile bosom,
And well become the agent; 't may, I grant;
But to be paddling palms and pinching fingers,
As now they are, and making practised smiles,
As in a looking-glass, and then to sigh, as 'twere
The mort o' the deer; O, that is entertainment
My bosom likes not, nor my brows! Mamillius,
Art thou my boy? 

In The Winter's Tale, we see Leontes struggling with his suspicions that his wife, Hermione, is having an affair with his childhood friend Polixenes. Like in Hamlet, Shakespeare has a tendency to have his characters act. Leontes puts a "free face ... on" so that he may observe his wife and Polixenes without them knowing. He knows that if they see his suspicions, they will shift their attitudes so that they are inconspicuous. Even now, they seem to be careful, "making practised smiles" so that they, in Leontes's mind, don't give anything away. Leontes himself is seen absorbed by this idea, much like Othello was towards Desdemona and Cassio. He claims that "To mingle friendship far is mingling bloods." Since Hermione is pregnant, it's almost a direct statement of his fears. Because Polixenes has been their for so long, he and Hermione had (presumably) had opportunities to be close and develop friendship. In Shakespeare's time, a mention of mingling bloods was an almost outright reference to sex. So if Leontes's thoughts direct their friendship to the  combination of their blood, he certainly suspects that Hermione's unborn child is Polixenes's. He even goes as far as to question Mamillius's paternity by asking "Art thou my boy?"

It will be interesting to see how this plays out with so much DRAMADRAMADRAMA already!

The Thoughts That Remain Below

Although I avidly love Shakespeare now, I never had a taste for it when I was younger. My first experience was as most, reading A Midsummer Night's Dream in the eighth grade. Naturally, I was very bewildered by it. Why were there people name after condiments and body parts and dust particles? Why are they putting things in people's eyes? Why did those guys write such a terrible play? IT DOESN'T MAKE ANY SENSE!

Nevertheless, Shakespeare kept coming back.

The next year fell prey to Romeo and Juliet. Oh yes, the one that everybody knows. Fortunately for me, this one was not fraught with LSD trips and transmogrifying spells. Just severe misunderstandings and sudden death. Much better, right? Everything is normal there!

Later that year, I was excited to see Verdi's Macbeth opera. Upon seeing it, I was rather dumbfounded. The LSD trips had returned in the form of a zombie Banquo, a child Lady Macbeth stabbing her doll, and a thick, dark liquid dripping down the walls of the set. It was all very spooky and ethereal. Oh yeah, and it was in Italian, so I couldn't understand what they were saying anyways because it actually was another language! Go figure, right?

Julius Caesar,  read my sophomore year, was my least favorite. Let's leave it at that now I'm always bewaring the ides of March.

Finally, with the addition of an AP Literature class in my senior year, I read Hamlet. That's what really got me into Shakespeare. And, it was taught much better than its predecessors. That always helps, right? At the same time, I read some of his sonnets. I loved each one I read, for one was more engaging than the one before. In my free time, I also read Othello and loved it as well. My teacher, Mrs. Fajardo, will certainly remain one of my very favorites and always has my utmost thanks for carefully cultivating a proper Shakespearean knowledge in me.

Because my voice teacher's husband was not fond of the opera, she invited me to go with her to see Charles Gounod's Roméo et Juliette. It was a fairly true reproduction, and everybody still died at the end! Tragedy struck at the opera! (Who would have ever thought?!) Of course, in the operatic world, instead of dying when you get stabbed (or after stabbing yourself in this case), you sing! The fourth and final act was set in the tomb, and was by far the longest death sequence I've ever encountered.

Coincidentally, that same year came with my high school's production of A Midsummer Night's Dream, set in a circa-1970's Central Park. Finally, I too got high with a little help from my friends. It was a fantastic production, and I finally understood the jokes that flew over my head as an eighth grader.

Ironically, my experiences with Shakespeare are almost following a chiasmus. In a way, it's cool. Realizing that, however, makes me a huge nerd. I hope, dear Reader, that you will enjoy reading my blog.

-Meg