The Bard's Challenge: Week Six

The Bard’s Challenge: Week Six

In this post:

Romeo and Juliet

Sonnets 19-23

Thoughts on Romeo and Juliet

I vividly remember during my first year of teaching Shakespeare, a girl who absolutely detested Romeo and Juliet. A bit of the conversation I had with her went something like this:

Me: Why don’t you like Romeo and Juliet?

Her: Because Romeo is an idiot!

Me: Really? Why do you think that?

Her: Because… Because it’s really terrible what he did to her!

Me: (Extremely confused). What did he do to her?

Her: He made her fall completely in love with him and that had to go and kill himself!

I guess for her it was kind of like those horror movies where the characters do stupid things like walk into doors, go TOWARDS the creepy noises, or say “who’s there?” It just makes you want to yell at them, “DON’T GO INTO THE ROOM YOU IDIOT! HE’S GOT A KNIFE!” Unlike most of those horror movies, though, Romeo and Juliet has so much depth and lyrical quality to it that the feeling of discontent and unreality seems to linger even after the curtains have closed and the audience has left.

USF, “Romeo and Juliet” 2011:

I will probably cite my recent experiences at the Utah Shakespeare Festival copiously throughout the challenge, so forgive me. I had the opportunity of seeing Romeo and Juliet performed there this past summer, and it was AMAZING!  I think the best part had to be when Romeo killed Tybalt. There Tybalt lay, dead on the ground, with Benvolio urging Romeo to flee lest he be executed. Romeo shocked that he had murdered his new kinsmen and worried that he will never see Juliet again. And it starts to rain. (This was at an outdoor theatre modeled after the Globe). At first it was just a drizzle, but after only a few moment we heard lightning and it began to pour. In rushed the citizens, lady Capulet and the prince among them. And above the torrential downpour I heard lady Capulet shriek the words: “Tybalt my cousin! O my brother’s child! O prince! O Husband! Cousin! O the blood is spilt of my dear kinsman! (Whenever Shakespeare used the letter “O” It generally was a note to the actors that said “Your character can’t even come up with words to express their emotion, any outburst or shriek will do.”) Lady Capulet’s outburst combined with the pouring rain coming down on the actors and audience was nearly enough to make me burst into tears. But the scene finished in the gloomy rain and the lights came up for intermission.

And the rain stopped.

It was incredible.

Romeo and I, BFFs:

Coincidentally enough, Christian Barillas, who played Romeo, was my scene coach for one of my two-week classes I took while I was down there! Here’s a picture:

The Moon and the Sun:

So did you take a look at the differences between Romeo’s love for Rosaline and his love for Juliet? If you did, I hope you noticed a few things. Here’s what I gleaned:

1.      His love for Rosaline made him melancholy, while his love for Juliet made him joyous.

2.      He attempted to court Rosaline in what was considered the “proper” way in his time, whereas with Juliet he threw caution to the wind and leapt into the relationship without thought of custom.

3.      He often compared Rosaline to the moon in the first Act of the play, and then often referred to Juliet as the stars and the sun. “Arise fair sun and kill the envious moon!” (Could that mean that his love for Juliet [the sun] now had drowned out any love he harbored for Rosaline, [the moon?])

What is the “Proper Man?”

The question of what a man should be comes up constantly in this play. Mercutio constantly accuses Romeo of being too soft and lady-like. He believed that the proper man should fight when he is insulted, to be roused easily, etc. Well, look where that got Mercutio. In addition, Romeo probably isn’t the best role model for a proper man either; throwing caution to the winds and pursuing a girl in secret, murdering his new kinsmen, killing himself over a girl he met three days beforehand. So who can we find that strikes us as a “proper man?” Benvolio was amazing, but he seemed to be kind of the “Remus Lupin” character, the kind that was good himself, but never stopped his friends from doing bad things. Lady Capulet’s father is often put into a bad light for obvious reasons, we don’t see too much of Paris. Perhaps the Prince? He enters precisely three times. Each time he asserts himself and establishes justice, then leaves. Who do you think might be the best role model for what a man should be?

Sonnets:

It seems my assumptions were correct!

Sonnet 19: Shakespeare has absolutely forbidden time from ever touching his love. He seems to tell Time that it can do whatever it wants to everything else, but his love will remain young in his verse.

Sonnet 20: This is the HUGE sonnet that millions of people cite as their reasoning behind Shakespeare being gay. I must admit, it does puzzle me; but I’m going to leave it at that.

Sonnet 21: I love this sonnet. Shakespeare essentially I saying that most poets will praise their love’s beauty and compare it to the sun, moon, stars, and all sorts of other majestically things. But Shakespeare says his love is true, and so he intends to write true. His love is as beautiful as any other human, but not as bright as the stars. And since he doesn’t intend to sell his love, he won’t praise that love falsely.

It seems that Shakespeare is beginning his attempt to immortalize the youth in his verse. And boy, has he succeeded…

Your thoughts?

So I think I asked a couple of questions throughout the posts, and I’d love to hear more of your thoughts on the play and sonnets! What was your favorite part? Was there any part that touched your soul? How did you feel about sonnet 20? Anything else?

Next Week:

·         The Winter’s Tale

o   I haven’t read this one ever before, though I have read and seen a few scenes from it. It’s a tough one, so give yourself some time.

·         The Rape of Lucrece:

o   Another one I haven’t read. I think this one is a longer poem, so give yourself some time again!