I've had a very difficult time keeping up with my blogs in this class. This has been an interesting semester for me. I wouldn't necessarily say that it has been a dry spell, but it has been a time when I've been absorbing a lot of information from a lot of different places and I've had a lot of trouble coming up with things to say on my own. I've also been having troubles with reading my secondary criticism. Shakespeare After All is an interesting book, but I've gotten so much more enjoyment just from reading the bard himself. I'm one of those people who is very convinced that the meaning of the story is the story, and I hate when everything has to have a moral. I don't like the way literary criticism tries to find a meaning in everything. I prefer to read the story just to find out what happens, and not to think about how it teaches us about what we should do. And I hate stories that blatantly tell you the moral at the end. That's dogma, not writing. Don't get me wrong. I don't mind if a story teaches me something. I think that's essential. I just don't like when the cute fluffy moral gets shoved down my throat. It gets stuck and then I choke. That's never fun.
And besides, Shakespeare does not tell us anything in any of his stories. It is the characters that speak, and not out of a desire to teach us, to inspire us, or even (for most of them) to entertain us, as they do not know that we watch from the other side of the curtain. Likewise, we go about our own daily tasks, and only the most moon-struck (some might use the word crazy here) think that anyone is watching us. And yet who can say that they are not? Who dares say that we are not the rude mechanicals, poorly acting out a role put on for the amusement of others, and yet pretending that we are the most important thing in the world?
Maybe this is just me being sad again. The worst part of that is, as sad as I am, I don't think that I fully understand the tragic sense of life yet. I've been trying. It is definitely a struggle. There are so many sad things that go on every day, and I know that I only hear a tenth of a millionth of them. Even in reading Shakespeare I feel I have only tasted the foam from the top of a glass frothing over with tragedy. I'm slowly being wooed to the place where I should be. And yet I find myself running to embrace the comedic side of life as Shakespeare sees it, the continuity and continuation of the social realm. But then I do so love reading a good tragedy! I think the problem is that people are so afraid of getting hurt that they only want to see bad things happen to other people.
Then again, I've always been the kind of person who hates seeing other people get hurt (the ones I care about, at least). The best way for me, then, to embrace this tragedy is by reading and writing these sorts of terrible things, because I don't want to see it in real life. It's a bit of a conundrum and it's been hard for me to figure out even what it means to embrace the tragic. I don't even know whether I will really know if the tragic sense if life embraces me; perhaps it will be a moment of epiphany, but perhaps, as has happened so often in my life, the realization will sneak up on me before I even know that it is there, and I will just wake up one morning and see things differently.
As difficult as this semester has been for me (in general), I have still learned a lot. Right now I feel as though I am a sponge, soaking up as much brilliance as I can until I am over-saturated with it and cannot help but spill words onto the page. Someday I will find the words to express just how much Shakespeare has changed me, but for now I am but tongue-tied at his brilliance and am left as lost for words as Lavinia. So I will leave you, once again, with a quote, this one from C.S. Lewis' The Last Battle.
"The term is over: the holidays have begun. The dream is ended: this is the morning."
May 1, 2011
Apr 29, 2011
Tragedy Again.
I have a lot of catching up to do, I'll admit. It's somewhat overwhelming when I think of all the things that I have wanted to say but haven't had a chance to yet. This has been a hectic semester for me. In fact, I just dropped off my portfolio this afternoon for review (to determine whether I get to continue on into upper-level classes). Hopefully, with only one project remaining not outside of Shakespeare, I'll have a chance to post more of my thoughts in a way that actually makes sense, unlike I have been doing the past few months. This class has really been inspirational for me. I feel like I understand the world more completely now. I'm learning more about just how sad it is, too. I guess I'm kind of a sucker for sad stories. I don't like happily ever after, because I know that it doesn't happen in real life. We cannot remember anything about life if we do not write it down. Words chosen of desire.
I found a poem the other day while proofreading a friend's story and it was so beautiful it almost made me cry. I think it speaks to a lot of Shakespeare, and in just those few lines I think I cam just a little bit closer to understanding the tragic sense of life and I thought it would be a shame not to share it here.
I have been one acquainted with the night.
I have walked out in rain -- and back in rain.
I have outwalked the furthest city light.
I have looked down the saddest city lane.
I have passed by the watchman on his beat
And dropped my eyes, unwilling to explain.
I have stood still and stopped the sound of feet
When far away an interrupted cry
Came over houses from another street,
But not to call me back or say good-bye;
And further still at an unearthly height,
O luminary clock against the sky
Proclaimed the time was neither wrong nor right.
I have been one acquainted with the night.
I don't know if anyone else will see it the way that I do, but it took my breath away. Anyways, on a lighter note, I was watching Aladdin with some friends the other day and realized, for the first time, that the parrot's name was actually significant. Then I found these.
It made me laugh a little bit. I know it's not really that significant, but I always feel clever when I find those little connections. It's like the world is coming together again, like I've found another piece of the puzzle, or seen another ripple in the pond. I'll be trying to write more posts this weekend, but it's been a hectic week for me and I have a project due on Monday that I haven't been able to work on at all because of the craziness, so we'll see how it goes. Definitely going to do a lot of reading. I think I'll close out now with a quote from Sexson in class yesterday.
"Life is not a problem to be solved. It is a mystery to be experienced."
I found a poem the other day while proofreading a friend's story and it was so beautiful it almost made me cry. I think it speaks to a lot of Shakespeare, and in just those few lines I think I cam just a little bit closer to understanding the tragic sense of life and I thought it would be a shame not to share it here.
I have been one acquainted with the night.
I have walked out in rain -- and back in rain.
I have outwalked the furthest city light.
I have looked down the saddest city lane.
I have passed by the watchman on his beat
And dropped my eyes, unwilling to explain.
I have stood still and stopped the sound of feet
When far away an interrupted cry
Came over houses from another street,
But not to call me back or say good-bye;
And further still at an unearthly height,
O luminary clock against the sky
Proclaimed the time was neither wrong nor right.
I have been one acquainted with the night.
I don't know if anyone else will see it the way that I do, but it took my breath away. Anyways, on a lighter note, I was watching Aladdin with some friends the other day and realized, for the first time, that the parrot's name was actually significant. Then I found these.
It made me laugh a little bit. I know it's not really that significant, but I always feel clever when I find those little connections. It's like the world is coming together again, like I've found another piece of the puzzle, or seen another ripple in the pond. I'll be trying to write more posts this weekend, but it's been a hectic week for me and I have a project due on Monday that I haven't been able to work on at all because of the craziness, so we'll see how it goes. Definitely going to do a lot of reading. I think I'll close out now with a quote from Sexson in class yesterday.
"Life is not a problem to be solved. It is a mystery to be experienced."
Apr 28, 2011
Final Questions!
1.Memorize: The worst returns to laughter
2.Aaron the Moor asks for forgiveness for anything that he did that was __________.
Good
3.What does Titus feed to the Queen of the Goths?
Her children
4.What song did the group sing that matched othello?
Ring of fire
5.Which character represented othello?
Indian chief
6.Banish, John, and banish _______ _____ _____________.
All the world
7.What animal is commonly represented in Henry IV?
The Boar's Head Tavern
8.What play is the hammock of time represented in?
Much Ado About Nothing
9.In Elizabethan slang, the word nothing means what?
Female genitalia
10.What did Angelo want Isabella to give him?
Her virtue
11.The title Measure for Measure comes from where?
The Sermon on the Mount (New Testament)
12.To Be or Not To Be!
13.What creature does Coriolanus embody?
The boar
14.Antony and Cleopatra are the mature version of:
Romeo and Juliet
15.Iago is which mythological person according to Riley?
Prometheus
16.According to Spencer, if you want to change your personality:
Change your hat!
17.What was Nick's advice on the roles that you play?
Play them as best as you can.
18.What sin is most prominent in Shakespeare's play according to Taylor?
All of them
19.According to Jamie, Rosalind and Celia are like which two biblical characters?
Naomi and Ruth
20.What is the question?
Presentism
21.The remembrance that really counts is the one that...?
Traces back through the real to the mythological.
22.Which person in this classroom did not have a question, and became an archvillain?
Roberto
23.Who did Roberto compare Caliban to?
Smerdyakov
24.According to Lauren, what is the myth surrounding Caliban?
Andromeda
25.According to Shelby, why does Shakespeare go away from conventional plot in his last four plays?
To elevate us to the sublime.
26.Two presentations had to do with the notion of silence in these characters _______ and _________
Cordelia and Sycorax
27.What was the point of the class?
Mything the point.
2.Aaron the Moor asks for forgiveness for anything that he did that was __________.
Good
3.What does Titus feed to the Queen of the Goths?
Her children
4.What song did the group sing that matched othello?
Ring of fire
5.Which character represented othello?
Indian chief
6.Banish, John, and banish _______ _____ _____________.
All the world
7.What animal is commonly represented in Henry IV?
The Boar's Head Tavern
8.What play is the hammock of time represented in?
Much Ado About Nothing
9.In Elizabethan slang, the word nothing means what?
Female genitalia
10.What did Angelo want Isabella to give him?
Her virtue
11.The title Measure for Measure comes from where?
The Sermon on the Mount (New Testament)
12.To Be or Not To Be!
13.What creature does Coriolanus embody?
The boar
14.Antony and Cleopatra are the mature version of:
Romeo and Juliet
15.Iago is which mythological person according to Riley?
Prometheus
16.According to Spencer, if you want to change your personality:
Change your hat!
17.What was Nick's advice on the roles that you play?
Play them as best as you can.
18.What sin is most prominent in Shakespeare's play according to Taylor?
All of them
19.According to Jamie, Rosalind and Celia are like which two biblical characters?
Naomi and Ruth
20.What is the question?
Presentism
21.The remembrance that really counts is the one that...?
Traces back through the real to the mythological.
22.Which person in this classroom did not have a question, and became an archvillain?
Roberto
23.Who did Roberto compare Caliban to?
Smerdyakov
24.According to Lauren, what is the myth surrounding Caliban?
Andromeda
25.According to Shelby, why does Shakespeare go away from conventional plot in his last four plays?
To elevate us to the sublime.
26.Two presentations had to do with the notion of silence in these characters _______ and _________
Cordelia and Sycorax
27.What was the point of the class?
Mything the point.
Apr 21, 2011
Embracing Your Godhood (final paper)
When most people hear the name Shakespeare, they tend to think of sophisticated, high-brow writing. Shakespeare is indeed one of the most brilliant minds of his day—even in all of literature—but this does not mean that his writing was always classy and proper. In fact, when we actually take the time to read Shakespeare, we find the exact opposite to be true. His plays are chock-full of sexual innuendos of all different levels. Perhaps the best and most intriguing part, though, is the subtlety with which they are written, so that each person reads just as much into it as they look for. Many of Shakespeare's innuendos are not obvious at first. Although part of this is because of the changes in the English language throughout the years, another large portion is due to Shakespeare's subtle mastery of the written word. Language is its own form of art, a medium that Shakespeare was brilliantly fluent in. It takes a clever man to twist a turn of phrase, but to do as Shakespeare does and create three or even four levels of meaning in a single phrase is a form of genius rarely seen in today's pirate stories. The best part of Shakespeare's writing, though, is that it is not dirty just to be dirty. Believe it or not, the innuendo serves as more than a vehicle for sexual jollies. Shakespeare's use of sexual references in his play engages the reader, drawing them in to the mythological realm, helping them to discover who they really are.
Upon taking a closer look at Shakespeare, the sheer number of sexual references is surprising. However, they are not meant solely to please the primal aspect. Rather, they serve as a catalyst, as it were; a springboard for the escape to the mythological realm. A prime example of this is in the relationship between Titania and Bottom in A Midsummer Night's Dream. Although it was definitely a heartfelt embrace of the lower, more primal aspect of humanity, it leads up to something so much greater than that. Titania—representative of the Goddess of Complete Being—is so much more than a pretty face and a steamy evening. She can offer him the world, an escape from his normal, boring life, and she says so in Act III, Scene I, starting in line 163.
“The honey bags steal from the humblebees,
And for night tapers crop their waxen thighs,
And light them at the fiery glowworm's eyes,
To have my love to bed and to arise;
And pluck the wings from painted butterflies
To fan the moonbeams from his sleeping eyes.”
Those are not everyday requests. You certainly cannot go to Wal-Mart and pick up a pair of butterfly wings to fan moonbeams from someone's eyes. For Titania, however, it is an everyday occurrence. She lives in a realm outside of our own, where everything is possible, and nothing is too much to ask. If Bottom only asked, Titania could give him everything that he ever wanted. He could literally hold the world in his hands, but it would not be the world that one would first expect.
The goddess also beckons in Venus and Adonis, which is a prime example of what happens when one rejects the completeness that she has to offer. It matters not why Adonis chose to deny Venus, his fate remains the same. And deny he does, with a vengeance. In the end, it is his downfall, although he does not realize it at the time. In fact, he thinks himself noble for resisting temptation.
“'If love have lent you twenty thousand tongues,
And every tongue more moving than your own,
Bewitching like the wanton mermaid's songs,
Yet from mine ear the tempting tune is blown;
For know, my heart stands armed in mine ear,
And will not let a false sound enter there...”
Lines 775-780 marks just a small portion of his foolishly eloquent rejection. The play is a beautiful display of love and lust that is chock-full of sexual innuendo as well. Even Adonis' fate of being gored in the groin by a boar is representative of sexual acts. Yet even that saving temptation is not enough to save him from his death—not “death” in the sexual sense, as Shakespeare used it, but the physical. Adonis could have achieved immortality if only he had not resisted the goddess' wiles, but as it was he lives on as a memory, an example of what can happen to us if we are not careful with how we handle our myth. You could even say that Adonis mythed the point. It wasn't about sex. Although that might have been what it seemed to be on the surface, the reality was that Venus offered so much more than that. In fact, she offered him eternity.
Another example of the goddess chasing after a foolish, disinterested man is found in All's Well That Ends Well. Perhaps the play escaped the lauding that it truly deserved, for Helena was a goddess in her own right. She may have been pushy and chased after a man who was a real boor, but if we can laugh at the innuendo flooding this play, we are most certainly boors as well. Bertram was too interested in other things, rejecting Helena because she was not “of his rank.” Although this is true, the scales are not tipped in Bertram's favor. After all, a boor can do nothing to stand beside a goddess, unless she first offers him her hand and promises him the world. But he must first be clever enough to realize that this is in his interest, and that going off hunting or fighting battles with his man-friends will not do him any good in the long run. In fact, it will most often end up getting him into a lot of trouble that he could very easily have avoided. All that he has to do is to open his arms and embrace his goddess, and the entire world can be at the tip of his fingers. Hunting with the boys simply cannot compare to ruling the world beside a woman of incomparable beauty, and yet so many boors think that it can.
One would think that this would be obvious, that we would make the connection. However, when we see the mistakes that others have made, it does not remind us that we should not follow them. Instead we rejoice at their misfortune or laugh at their stupidity, never realizing that we are doing the same thing that they did. The problem with this is that people do not like to see others get everything that their heart desires. Our jealous little hearts do not enjoy seeing other people successful and happy when we are not. This leads to a denial of the mythical realm of happiness, because we see it as something that is not attainable. People are generally uninterested in the realm of the Woode. After all, it is not actually even a part of the real world. It is merely a figment of imagination. But there are times when imagination is the only thing that keeps us alive. And sometimes, though we hate to admit it, it is escaping into a world where everything is fantastic that actually keeps us from losing our minds. We are all Persephones, separated at birth from our great mother goddess and spirited away to a place full of vile, despicable things. We delight in filth, lust, and all sorts of terrible things, and forget the goodness that we knew in another life. So Demeter calls to us through Shakespeare, drawing us in with the bawdy and obscene that we love so much, and reconnects us to herself and the world that she has to offer us. Some say that embracing this realm makes us lunatics, but in reality it is only when we lose our minds and run into the arms of the goddess that we find ourselves truly sane.
Upon taking a closer look at Shakespeare, the sheer number of sexual references is surprising. However, they are not meant solely to please the primal aspect. Rather, they serve as a catalyst, as it were; a springboard for the escape to the mythological realm. A prime example of this is in the relationship between Titania and Bottom in A Midsummer Night's Dream. Although it was definitely a heartfelt embrace of the lower, more primal aspect of humanity, it leads up to something so much greater than that. Titania—representative of the Goddess of Complete Being—is so much more than a pretty face and a steamy evening. She can offer him the world, an escape from his normal, boring life, and she says so in Act III, Scene I, starting in line 163.
“The honey bags steal from the humblebees,
And for night tapers crop their waxen thighs,
And light them at the fiery glowworm's eyes,
To have my love to bed and to arise;
And pluck the wings from painted butterflies
To fan the moonbeams from his sleeping eyes.”
Those are not everyday requests. You certainly cannot go to Wal-Mart and pick up a pair of butterfly wings to fan moonbeams from someone's eyes. For Titania, however, it is an everyday occurrence. She lives in a realm outside of our own, where everything is possible, and nothing is too much to ask. If Bottom only asked, Titania could give him everything that he ever wanted. He could literally hold the world in his hands, but it would not be the world that one would first expect.
The goddess also beckons in Venus and Adonis, which is a prime example of what happens when one rejects the completeness that she has to offer. It matters not why Adonis chose to deny Venus, his fate remains the same. And deny he does, with a vengeance. In the end, it is his downfall, although he does not realize it at the time. In fact, he thinks himself noble for resisting temptation.
“'If love have lent you twenty thousand tongues,
And every tongue more moving than your own,
Bewitching like the wanton mermaid's songs,
Yet from mine ear the tempting tune is blown;
For know, my heart stands armed in mine ear,
And will not let a false sound enter there...”
Lines 775-780 marks just a small portion of his foolishly eloquent rejection. The play is a beautiful display of love and lust that is chock-full of sexual innuendo as well. Even Adonis' fate of being gored in the groin by a boar is representative of sexual acts. Yet even that saving temptation is not enough to save him from his death—not “death” in the sexual sense, as Shakespeare used it, but the physical. Adonis could have achieved immortality if only he had not resisted the goddess' wiles, but as it was he lives on as a memory, an example of what can happen to us if we are not careful with how we handle our myth. You could even say that Adonis mythed the point. It wasn't about sex. Although that might have been what it seemed to be on the surface, the reality was that Venus offered so much more than that. In fact, she offered him eternity.
Another example of the goddess chasing after a foolish, disinterested man is found in All's Well That Ends Well. Perhaps the play escaped the lauding that it truly deserved, for Helena was a goddess in her own right. She may have been pushy and chased after a man who was a real boor, but if we can laugh at the innuendo flooding this play, we are most certainly boors as well. Bertram was too interested in other things, rejecting Helena because she was not “of his rank.” Although this is true, the scales are not tipped in Bertram's favor. After all, a boor can do nothing to stand beside a goddess, unless she first offers him her hand and promises him the world. But he must first be clever enough to realize that this is in his interest, and that going off hunting or fighting battles with his man-friends will not do him any good in the long run. In fact, it will most often end up getting him into a lot of trouble that he could very easily have avoided. All that he has to do is to open his arms and embrace his goddess, and the entire world can be at the tip of his fingers. Hunting with the boys simply cannot compare to ruling the world beside a woman of incomparable beauty, and yet so many boors think that it can.
One would think that this would be obvious, that we would make the connection. However, when we see the mistakes that others have made, it does not remind us that we should not follow them. Instead we rejoice at their misfortune or laugh at their stupidity, never realizing that we are doing the same thing that they did. The problem with this is that people do not like to see others get everything that their heart desires. Our jealous little hearts do not enjoy seeing other people successful and happy when we are not. This leads to a denial of the mythical realm of happiness, because we see it as something that is not attainable. People are generally uninterested in the realm of the Woode. After all, it is not actually even a part of the real world. It is merely a figment of imagination. But there are times when imagination is the only thing that keeps us alive. And sometimes, though we hate to admit it, it is escaping into a world where everything is fantastic that actually keeps us from losing our minds. We are all Persephones, separated at birth from our great mother goddess and spirited away to a place full of vile, despicable things. We delight in filth, lust, and all sorts of terrible things, and forget the goodness that we knew in another life. So Demeter calls to us through Shakespeare, drawing us in with the bawdy and obscene that we love so much, and reconnects us to herself and the world that she has to offer us. Some say that embracing this realm makes us lunatics, but in reality it is only when we lose our minds and run into the arms of the goddess that we find ourselves truly sane.
Apr 7, 2011
Test Questions #2
1.What obsessive question does Prospero ask Ariel?
What time it is
2.how many times does Prospero use the word now?
79 times
3.what game are Miranda and Ferdinand playing?
Chess
4.what chore do both Ferdinand and Caliban have to do?
Carry wood
5.what are the three things raised to the level of the sacramental?
Seeing, doing, speaking
6.how is Antony like Prospero?
The conquer of the feminine
7.which persona did your instructor not associate with Prospero?
Hobbit
8.what does the name Sycorax represent?
Sow or boar
9.what is curious about all of the scenes with Antony and cleopatra?
They are never alone
10.entrapping someone in fantasy...
11.what is the consuming myth of pericles?
Demeter and persephone
12.why is the handkerchief in othello important?
Cowslip pattern, mole on the breast of imogen
13.the answer is everything. It's all an echo
14.who is the most important female magical figure?
Paulina, the old turtle
15.what does Paulina do to wake hermione?
Plays music
16.what poem does MSU's motto come from?
No worst, there is none – Gerard Manly Hopkins
17.what killed Cleopatra?
An asp
18.who always shows up in Shakespeare's romances?
Pirates
19.what word is mentioned prolifically in a Winter's Tale?
Issue
20.when Antony mentions the Shirt of Nessus, what myth is he referencing?
Hercules and the shirt of flame
21.why does Alonzo believe that he will not die in the shipwreck?
Because Gonzalo knew that the mariner didn't have the “drowning mark” on him
22.what is Shakespeare's most famous stage directions?
Exit, pursued by a bear (winter's tale)
23.what does Imogen change her name to when she is in disguise?
Fidel, meaning faithful
24.Maximallius tells the story of a man in the church yard who represents whom?
Leontes
25.what three words did Frye say prepares you for the reading of King Lear?
Nothing, nature, fool
26.in the beginning of King Lear, who offends him the most?
Cordelia (my heart)
27.what is Lady Gaga swimming in?
A vat of cottage cheese
28.of you will weep my my fortune, _______________
take mine eyes
29.the longest recognition scene?
Pericles and Imogen
30.what seest thou else in the dark ________ and ________ of time?
Backward; abysm
31.which play has a Scooby-Doo ending?
Cymbeline
32.what happens to Guiderius in Cymbeline just before he is revealed as Cymbeline's son?
He is exiled
33.what are the three goddesses revealed at the end of the Winter's Tale in Paulina, Hermione, and Perdita?
The maiden, the mother, and the crone
34.what is the answer to the riddle in Act I in Pericles?
incest
What time it is
2.how many times does Prospero use the word now?
79 times
3.what game are Miranda and Ferdinand playing?
Chess
4.what chore do both Ferdinand and Caliban have to do?
Carry wood
5.what are the three things raised to the level of the sacramental?
Seeing, doing, speaking
6.how is Antony like Prospero?
The conquer of the feminine
7.which persona did your instructor not associate with Prospero?
Hobbit
8.what does the name Sycorax represent?
Sow or boar
9.what is curious about all of the scenes with Antony and cleopatra?
They are never alone
10.entrapping someone in fantasy...
11.what is the consuming myth of pericles?
Demeter and persephone
12.why is the handkerchief in othello important?
Cowslip pattern, mole on the breast of imogen
13.the answer is everything. It's all an echo
14.who is the most important female magical figure?
Paulina, the old turtle
15.what does Paulina do to wake hermione?
Plays music
16.what poem does MSU's motto come from?
No worst, there is none – Gerard Manly Hopkins
17.what killed Cleopatra?
An asp
18.who always shows up in Shakespeare's romances?
Pirates
19.what word is mentioned prolifically in a Winter's Tale?
Issue
20.when Antony mentions the Shirt of Nessus, what myth is he referencing?
Hercules and the shirt of flame
21.why does Alonzo believe that he will not die in the shipwreck?
Because Gonzalo knew that the mariner didn't have the “drowning mark” on him
22.what is Shakespeare's most famous stage directions?
Exit, pursued by a bear (winter's tale)
23.what does Imogen change her name to when she is in disguise?
Fidel, meaning faithful
24.Maximallius tells the story of a man in the church yard who represents whom?
Leontes
25.what three words did Frye say prepares you for the reading of King Lear?
Nothing, nature, fool
26.in the beginning of King Lear, who offends him the most?
Cordelia (my heart)
27.what is Lady Gaga swimming in?
A vat of cottage cheese
28.of you will weep my my fortune, _______________
take mine eyes
29.the longest recognition scene?
Pericles and Imogen
30.what seest thou else in the dark ________ and ________ of time?
Backward; abysm
31.which play has a Scooby-Doo ending?
Cymbeline
32.what happens to Guiderius in Cymbeline just before he is revealed as Cymbeline's son?
He is exiled
33.what are the three goddesses revealed at the end of the Winter's Tale in Paulina, Hermione, and Perdita?
The maiden, the mother, and the crone
34.what is the answer to the riddle in Act I in Pericles?
incest
Nonsensical Notes
Once again I find that the biggest problem I have with recording my notes is that none of them make any sense. At all. But I will say that one of the things that pops up the most is that literature is nothing but displaced myth. We might try to take the mythology out of a story, but it creeps back in where we least expect it. There's also quite a bit about alchemy, which we talked about in the first test too, but the refining of the soul is what we all strive after, so why should we not include it in our further discussion? Then, of course, comes the all-important law of villainy. If you're going to be a villain, be a good one. Don't be a Cloten.
We also had a discussion, although brief, that has stuck in my mind for quite some time. It was about how entrapping someone in fantasy is sometimes the only way to save their life. This of course made me think of the movie Inception. Anyone who's seen it should have at least some idea of what I'm talking about. Perhaps the reason I'm so interested in this idea is because I've spent most of my life being "saved from fantasy." My parents are what some people call "realists." Others might refer to them as groundlings. They refuse to take part in anything that has anything to do with fantasy, and even explained that they would never take the family to Disneyland because "it's not a part of real life." For me, fantasy has always been my escape from that, and indeed, at times very well might have saved my life.
One of the things that I've done my best to be on the lookout for (though my best wasn't very good in this case) was how the characters deal with immortality. I think there are a lot of interesting points that can be brought up with this in mind. But there is an even more vital question to ask - What do the romances have to do with Shakespeare connecting with mythology? The romances are mythology. The separation from the goddess of the complete being, the rejection of her offspring, the goddess wailing and searching for her child who was lost, and at the end, the circle, made complete only through our imaginings.
I had planned to write more about the puttock, and what nasty little creatures pikes really are, and I might come back to that, but I have pages more to fill before I feel I have time to catch a breath. So I'll ask the question that all of us long to know. Why are women sacrificed? Is it because we are meant to symbol purity? After all, the virgin sacrifice is one of the most common. And we rarely see the sacrificial man. But wasn't a man's job to protect a woman? It doesn't seem to fit that the one that's supposed to be protected ends up on the altar. But then the world rarely makes sense.
The definition of a romance isn't seen the same way these days. Although there are just as many pirates. People still love pirates. And pirates understand that if you want to do something right, you have to do it yourself. That and honey torture is the most terrifying thing ever. Forget waterboarding. That doesn't hold a candle to this. But class is starting soon and I need to go. So more later.
We also had a discussion, although brief, that has stuck in my mind for quite some time. It was about how entrapping someone in fantasy is sometimes the only way to save their life. This of course made me think of the movie Inception. Anyone who's seen it should have at least some idea of what I'm talking about. Perhaps the reason I'm so interested in this idea is because I've spent most of my life being "saved from fantasy." My parents are what some people call "realists." Others might refer to them as groundlings. They refuse to take part in anything that has anything to do with fantasy, and even explained that they would never take the family to Disneyland because "it's not a part of real life." For me, fantasy has always been my escape from that, and indeed, at times very well might have saved my life.
One of the things that I've done my best to be on the lookout for (though my best wasn't very good in this case) was how the characters deal with immortality. I think there are a lot of interesting points that can be brought up with this in mind. But there is an even more vital question to ask - What do the romances have to do with Shakespeare connecting with mythology? The romances are mythology. The separation from the goddess of the complete being, the rejection of her offspring, the goddess wailing and searching for her child who was lost, and at the end, the circle, made complete only through our imaginings.
I had planned to write more about the puttock, and what nasty little creatures pikes really are, and I might come back to that, but I have pages more to fill before I feel I have time to catch a breath. So I'll ask the question that all of us long to know. Why are women sacrificed? Is it because we are meant to symbol purity? After all, the virgin sacrifice is one of the most common. And we rarely see the sacrificial man. But wasn't a man's job to protect a woman? It doesn't seem to fit that the one that's supposed to be protected ends up on the altar. But then the world rarely makes sense.
The definition of a romance isn't seen the same way these days. Although there are just as many pirates. People still love pirates. And pirates understand that if you want to do something right, you have to do it yourself. That and honey torture is the most terrifying thing ever. Forget waterboarding. That doesn't hold a candle to this. But class is starting soon and I need to go. So more later.
Apr 3, 2011
Weekend's Not Over Yet!
So Cymbeline kind of petered out after a bit, but the first three acts were enough to keep me in love until the very end. And to be honest, I didn't read most of Pericles until after we talked about it. I'm not sure if it was that or whether it was the first two acts that were so very plain, but it was very easy to figure out what was going on in the play. In fact, it was almost deceptively easy. I feel as though maybe, once again, I've missed something.
Anyways, I wanted to throw out an idea for my term paper that I've had rolling around in my head for a while. It's very amusing to me the way many people say that Shakespeare was "high class" and one of the most sophisticated minds of his time. Those people are either very sheltered or have not read WS at all, because as it has been frequently observed in this class, Shakespeare's plays are chock full of innuendos and generally bawdy stuff. And that is precisely the point. I hope to illustrate that in flooding our minds with sexual references and perverse jokes, Shakespeare was subtly connecting us to the realm of the mythological, a realm with which "adults" seek to sever all ties. In doing so, he gently helps us to have a better understanding of our own world.
That was just a thought I had. It's probably just utter crap, but ideally I can shape it into something entertaining and mildly informative. I just have to go finish my readings first.
Anyways, I wanted to throw out an idea for my term paper that I've had rolling around in my head for a while. It's very amusing to me the way many people say that Shakespeare was "high class" and one of the most sophisticated minds of his time. Those people are either very sheltered or have not read WS at all, because as it has been frequently observed in this class, Shakespeare's plays are chock full of innuendos and generally bawdy stuff. And that is precisely the point. I hope to illustrate that in flooding our minds with sexual references and perverse jokes, Shakespeare was subtly connecting us to the realm of the mythological, a realm with which "adults" seek to sever all ties. In doing so, he gently helps us to have a better understanding of our own world.
That was just a thought I had. It's probably just utter crap, but ideally I can shape it into something entertaining and mildly informative. I just have to go finish my readings first.
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