Goodnight, Sweet World.

So I'm in Act III of Cymbeline right now and I've reached a point where I've been awake for so long my eyes can't focus on the page, so I figured I would come and blog a little bit and post my favorite line. As usual, I've touched on all the naughty bits, and I've come to find that I genuinely enjoy this play. In fact, it might be my favorite that we've touched on so far this year. The plot so far seems to make sense, as far as Shakespeare goes, and the characters are entertaining. We'll see if this good luck holds up or if it's just a fluke.

Oh, and, the favorite line. Made particularly amusing by the notations presented with it, which basically explain each of the terms by saying it's a sexual reference. As if we didn't know that already.

If you can penetrate her with your fingering, so; we'll try with tongue too.

In Her Strong Toil Of Grace

I have killed Antony and Cleopatra! It didn't take as long to finish as I thought it would. It helps when you don't try to read another play in the middle of it. These people are ridiculous and they overreact to everything. Ever. I was entranced, too, by Caesar's words of Cleopatra. They don't strike me as something that he should say. They're too poetic. Maybe it's just because I've had some bad experiences with Italians, but I don't think of Romans as poetic. In fact, it might be interesting to note that the Romans that I know are still logical and orderly, and they clash quite often with my whimsy and lack of structure. But anyways.

The fact that Caesar is so touched by her beauty, even in death, is somewhat of a mystery to me. Any yet how could one not be touched by her marvelous performance? She acted it perfectly, and the ending turned out just the way she had planned. Maybe her memory will not be as perfect as she was hoping that it would be, but nevertheless she did better than her best. And the show must go on. But class is in a few minutes and I should really get my things packed up just in case. So it's time for me to say goodbye again.

Flyting!

So I feel bad that it took me so long to post this...but I actually saw this the day before we talked about flyting and then I just had to post it. Yes, there are quite a bit of curse words in it, so it's not for those with tender ears.

Shakespeare Ate Me

Anthony and Cleopatra have killed me. The play simply goes on too long. If it is truly supposed to be this tedious, it does a commendable job. It reminds me a little bit, indeed, of the monologue of some old person who's seen better days and now, deaf to the pained cries of his listeners, blathers on for hours and ends up saying very little indeed. I wonder how audiences managed to sit through it without simply getting up and walking off. Honestly, I wouldn't blame them at all if they did.

In the beginning I was excited, for I felt that I understood Cleopatra, and I was glad to pick it up again, to go back and reread the first two acts. Certainly it was a welcome change from the ten papers and counting that I've had to write this week. But it's been over and hour and I've barely gotten further than I did last time. Now I just beat myself over the head with Act III and hope that the torture will end soon.

But should I play the fool or what? I just went to open my book again and found that somehow the last 10 pages I'd read were actually in Coriolanus...I was wondering why everyone had suddenly decided to burn down the village...or something like that? I'm not sure whether to be amused or ashamed.

There were a couple of things, though, that drew my attention this time(yes, to AAC). I have to admit that I didn't notice them on the first go-round, but I've been reading and looking for Cleopatra's becoming and I found one instance that I thought was a very good explanation of why, in fact, she is so obsessed with her image:

Since my becomings kill me when they do not
Eye well to you.

I had to read this two or three times before I got some sense out of it, but then it hit me. Cleopatra puts on this whole show for Antony. She wants him to see her as mysterious, desirable, and beautiful. There is a sort of selfishness, I've found, in love. It makes you do silly things in order to get the attention of the object of your affections. I know I'm particularly guilty of that. And it's crazy the sorts of lengths that even a "normal" person will go to. This next line, too, was one of my favorites, and anyone who's ever - hell, anyone can identify with this.

Give me some music: music, moody food
Of us that trade in love.

Jesters Do Oft Prove Prophets

I was really worried about reading King Lear. I tried reading it for fun in high school (who read King Lear for fun, anyways) and found myself horribly, horribly confused. I have to admit that it didn't make any more sense to me this time, even though I did read all the way to the end. I feel as though I missed something vital: one moment King Lear was out in the rain, the next he was insane and two of his daughters were dead. What on earth happened? I'm going to sit down soon (after I get something to eat) and read my commentary. Hopefully that will help me figure out what happened. But I do so love the big towards the start of the play with the bastardization and the "tribe of fops got t'ween sleep and wake." This was another one of my favorite bits.

Love cools, friendship falls off, brothers divide.In cities, mutinies; in countries, discord; in palaces, treason; and the bond cracked 'twixt son and father.

At any rate, I'll edit and add more to the post later but it's lunch time =]