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.