The Bard's Challenge: Week Eight, Pericles, Prince of Tyre

The Bard’s Challenge: Week Eight

Pericles, Prince of Tyre

In this post:

Pericles

Sonnets 24-29

Thoughts on Pericles

Wow…Can you say fiasco?

You can say fiasco… but wait until you read Titus Andronicus.

So I just have to wonder if anyone else was having the same thoughts as me while they were reading this play. It’s completely outrageous! I’m reading and I’d just go, “Wait, hold on. The riddle just HAPPENS to reveal Antiochus’s incest? And the fishermen just happened to retrieve Pericles’ armor, and Thaisa randomly decides to join a convent instead of meeting up with Pericles in Tyre? And in addition, why the heck does Pericles leaves Marisa in Tharsus for 14 years?!” It makes absolutely no sense. And as if the complete absurdities weren’t enough, the characters seem stiff and stereotypical, and nothing really HAPPENS in the play. I mean, stuff happens, but it’s mostly Gower DESCRIBING what happens, rather than it being played out onstage.

Two explanations:
Okay, so Pericles is definitely not one of Shakespeare’s best plays. In fact, a lot of people think it’s one of his worst. But there are a couple things that must be said of the plays.

First, it’s highly unlikely that Shakespeare wrote Pericles by himself. Most scholars agree that the play was collaborated on, especially in the first two acts. If it’s true, the collaboration explains a good amount of the discrepancies, abrupt shifts, and language faults in the play that are not normal for a more mature Shakespeare. The collaboration made things uneven, stiff, and different from scene to scene. So while some passages and scenes contain beautiful imagery and verse, the play can’t hold its own as a whole.  

Second, the characters and some of the circumstances are stereotypical and unrealistic for a reason. Let’s think about some of the characters, shall we? Antiochus: stereotypical evil villain. Dionyza: stereotypical evil stepmother. Helicanus: stereotypical loyal prince. Marina: stereotypical virtuous princess. If you’re anything like me, these characters were gosh darned frustrating! I’d like to go ahead and quote Charles Boyce here: “The figures are not realistic, but this is part of their point. They are symbols of the human potential for good and evil that is so much more complex and obscure in reality, or even in realistic drama. “

Resurrection

“She sings like one immortal.” (5.Chorus.3)

Shakespeare uses the theme of resurrection quite a bit in his plays, but in Pericles he uses it about three times as much as he normally would. First, Thaisa apparently dies giving birth to Marina, then Marina apparently dies, (Marina vividly reminds me of Snow White. Did anyone else get the same feeling?) and finally, after hearing of both his wife’s and his daughter’s death, Pericles dies on the inside. He can no longer even speak or communicate with the outside world because of his grief. I think it’s a bit ironic, then, that the sight of Marina is what brings him back. To quote Pericles himself, “Thou. . . Beget’st him that did thee beget.” Or, in other words, “You have brought to life the same person that originally brought you to life.”  

Sonnets:

Sonnet 24:

This sonnet was really tough for me, and I went and looked at a couple different explanations, then read the sonnet again. Then I almost cried! Look at these lines:

That hath his windows glazed with thine eyes.

Now see what good turns eyes for eyes have done:

Mine eyes have drawn thy shape, and thine for me

Are windows to my breast

It’s very tough to get at first, but what I think Shakespeare is saying here is that when he looks with his “windows” into the youth’s eyes, the youth can see his beauty reflected in them, and Shakespeare can see into his own heart.

Sonnet 25-29:

I don’t have too much to say one these except for one thing: Sonnet 29 is probably my new favorite sonnet ever. J I had this vague memory of having read it before, and then I remembered—it was the first sonnet I ever read! (Other than the “Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day.”)

Next Week:

·         Titus Andronicus

      Very bloody, very graphic, one of Shakespeare’s first plays. It’s not going to be inspiring. ;) Have fun.

·         Sonnets 30-33

The Bard's Challenge: Week Seven, The Winter's Tale

The Bard’s Challenge: Week Seven

The Winter’s Tale

In this post:

The Winter’s Tale

Thoughts on The Winter’s Tale

Comedy or Tragedy?

Most people think of Shakespeare’s plays in four categories: Comedy, Tragedy, History, and Problem plays. However, recently scholars have created a new genre to Shakespeare’s repertory: “Tragicomic Romances.” The name says it all. In his later years Shakespeare seemed to turn over a new leaf with plays like, Cymbeline, Pericles, The Winter’s Tale, and even The Tempest. These plays generally contained elements of both comedy and tragedy. The Winter’s Tale was Shakespeare’s first big success with this new genre. In it, he managed to perfectly capture the grim worlds of Othello, Hamlet, and Lear, as well as the visionary optimism in plays like Love’s Labour’s Lost, As You Like It, and A Midsummer Night’s Dream. In The Winter’s Tale, I noticed, Shakespeare almost splits it in half. The first half of the play, up until Act four, is almost pure tragedy, (killing babies!) whereas the second half sins are forgiven, relationships built, and happiness ensues.

What’s With the Title?

Even today when we hear the word “winter” we think of two things: Christmas, and cold. Up here in Alaska, Snow and darkness is usually involved. So the title of the play, just like the comedy/tragedy plot, is a mixed matter. The first half of the play is dark, cold, and foreboding, just like winter can often seem. The second half of the play is warm, light, inviting, and full of forgiveness. Similar to the Christmas season.

“It is requir’d / you do awake your faith.”

Was anyone else struck by the huge religious themes in the play? Most obvious of all being the Christ-like sacrifice and rebirth of Hermione? Or the sin and repentance of Leontes? I think what Shakespeare does here is brilliant. Usually in the tragedies we see a figure like Leontes with a huge character flaw fall and often die because of his faults. In this play Leontes is given a second chance. He still has to live with the consequences of his actions, (his son’s death, and his wife and daughter’s apparent deaths.) but he repents and vows to do whatever he can to make amends.

Human Virtue

Although there are a large number of religious themes running throughout the play, one theme seems to rise above all others: the capacity for human virtue. Although Apollo and the Oracle provide small roles in the plays events, the happy ending is eventually achieved not because of divine intervention or chance, but because people like Paulina chose virtue over selfishness or fear, and did the right thing. I loved reading this play because I was able to relate to the characters and their struggle, and for some reason their virtue boosted my own innate need to do good. In this play, Shakespeare manages to capture not only the dark and dreary world of jealousness and fear that are most assuredly a part of our human nature, but also our innate capacity of love and kindness that, if we let it, will far outweigh our darker tendencies.

Next Week:

·         Pericles, Prince of Tyre

·         Sonnets 24-29

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!

The Bard's Challenge: Week Five

The Bards Challenge: Week Five

In this Post:

Hamlet

Sonnets 14-18

Hamlet. There’s no way I could possibly even hope to take on a hundredth of what I want to say about Hamlet in a single blog post.

Hamlet is my favorite play. Ever. It is often considered to be one of the greatest pieces of literature in the English language. Famous actors have often played the part of Hamlet simply to say they’d done it; a lot of people would say you can’t be considered a “real” actor until you’ve played Hamlet. And I haven’t played Hamlet.

Yet.

Quotes on Hamlet:

There are three immediate quotes I’d like to share with you.

 

The first, is a quote from Orson Welles, (You know, author of War of the Worlds?)

“Once Shakespeare had written him, he never wrote about a man of any genius at all again. . . Once he’d written Hamlet and discovered that there was no actor who could play him, he turned to something else.”

The second, is a quote from Isaac Asimov, (Another HUGE science fiction author that also happens to be a Shakespeare buff)

“Shakespeare has said so many things so supremely well that we are forever finding ourselves thinking in his terms. There is the story of the woman who read Hamlet for the first time and said, ‘I don’t see why people admire that play so. It is nothing but a bunch of quotations strung together.’”

And finally, one from a wonderful Shakespeare scholar, Norrie Epstein:

“There’s no character quite like Hamlet in Dramatic Literature. He’s a sensitive poet who is unable to act, yet he manages in one way or another to kill almost everyone in the play.”

The Reduced Shakespeare Company:

The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged)

This is a great video showing part of RSC’s show. It’s hysterical, and will quickly tell you all you need to know about the plot of Hamlet.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BvPdWcCHkxM

Kenneth Branagh:

In case you weren’t aware, Kenneth Branagh is my favorite actor and Director of all time. He’s really famous for his Shakespeare films, but you might recognize him as the director of Thor or as Gilderoy Lockhart in Harry Potter. ;) This is an introduction to his Hamlet, and I think it says a lot of what I feel about the play. You don't need to watch it, but it's a pretty neat video.

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Thoughts on the Play:

Ophelia:

Despite being titled “The Tragedy of Hamlet,” most of my sympathy seems to lie with Ophelia. When I read the part where we find out she died I just want to cry. On her first appearance in the play, Ophelia is an innocent, trusting, and spirited individual. I grow to like her because of her sincere nature. I don’t know if you felt that way, but when I read Ophelia’s lines, they just rang true to me. But by the end of the play all of that innocence and spiritedness has been yanked from her and replaced with an insanity that leaves you unsure whether to be horrified or weepy.

I think what it comes down to is one of the play’s most cryptic lines, spoken by Ophelia:

“Lord, we know what we are, but know not what we may be.”

This is my second favorite line in the entire play. It’s the fundamental question everyone needs to ask themselves. “Who do I want to be?” Hopefully, once they know their answer, they can take the steps to achieve it. In a different light, I think Norrie Epstein had it right when she said, “Ophelia goes mad because she discovers what others ‘may be.’ Tragically, she never learns what she might have become.”

The Band Perry:

You might be familiar with this big new country band, “the Band Perry,” and their big hit “If I Die Young.” (You can watch the music video here). That song unceasingly reminds me of Ophelia! (Even the video seems to be modeled after her). Just look at the lyrics:

If I die young, bury me in satin

Lay me down on a bed of roses

Sink me in the river at dawn

Send me away with the words of a love song

The sharp knife of a short life, well

I've had just enough time

And I'll be wearing white, when I come into your kingdom

I'm as green as the ring on my little cold finger,

I've never known the lovin' of a man

But it sure felt nice when he was holdin' my hand.

The lyrics and tone of the song always seems to remind me of that innocent young girl who was broken by the harsh world around here until it all seemed to crumble around her ears. It also makes me think of this photo:

“There’s a divinity that shapes our ends, rough hew them how we will.”

Are you ready for my all-time favorite Shakespeare quote EVER? Drumroll please…

"There's a special providence in the fall of a sparrow. If it be now, 'tis not to come; if it be not to come, it will be now; if it be not now, yet it will come: the readiness is all."

“But wait, Andrew, that’s all just gibberish! It makes no sense!”

Oh, but it does. What Hamlet is saying, mere minutes before he takes his last breath, is that even in the death of a sparrow we can see evidence of God and his love for us. And whether we die now or in years to come, the moment when we have to face death will come. And the only thing we can do, is be ready when it does.

What this means to me is that I need to live every moment in my life in such a way that if I died tomorrow, I would be able to stand before those pearly gates and say confidently that I had lived a life that I could be proud of.

And…. I’m going to quit with Hamlet because I’ve gone on too long already. So let's continue onward!

Sonnets:

And I begin to see the light!

The first two sonnets this week were more of the usual about the youth needing to have kids, but sonnets 17 and 18 struck out to me like a doorman wearing a ten gallon hat.

Sonnet 17 expresses discontent because Shakespeare realizes that even if he could capture all the youths beauty and virtues in his verse, no one would believe him unless the youth had a child that mirrored the youth's beauty. This seems like more of what the last 16 sonnets have been about, but not when you look at sonnet 18.

Sonnet 18 is where the abrupt shift in the sonnets takes place, and, rather than pleading for the youth to have children, Shakespeare seems to fall head over heels for the youth and expresses his love for the youth's grace and beauty, etc. What it seems like to me, is that Shakespeare has now given up on the youth having kids, and has instead decided to do his best to capture the youth’s beauty and virtues in his verse like he expressed the desire to do in the previous sonnet. Fasten your seatbelts ladies and gentlemen, the next hundred and some odd sonnets are going to be quite lovey-dovey. ;)

P.S. If any of you need a good pickup line, here’s a great one:

“If I could write the beauty of your eyes

And in fresh numbers number all your graces,

The age to come would say 'This poet lies:

Such heavenly touches ne'er touch'd earthly faces.”

~Sonnet 17

Questions:

So what did you think? Was it your first time reading Hamlet? If so, how do you feel about it? You HAVE to share at least one favorite quote with me, and I’d love to know if you agree/disagree with me about Ophelia.

Next Week:

·         Romeo and Juliet, (ooh-la-la!)

o   Take a good look at how Romeo acts while “in love” with Rosalind, and then how he acts while in love with Juliet. Try to note some of the differences. (hint: there’s a lot of sun and moon imagery.)

·         Sonnets 19-23

The Bard's Challenge: Week Four

The Bards Challenge: Week Four

In this post:

Sonnets 10-13

The Merchant of Venice

Thoughts on The Merchant of Venice

Ahh, Merchant. It’s been about three years since I last read this play. Merchant is one another play that some people lump in with Shakespeare’s problems plays. Most don’t, but some do on account of the obvious issues of justice and mercy and Shylock’s unhappy ending. Merchant is clearly overshadowed and not 100% comedy. And guess what else?

I hated this play.

I don’t really hate it anymore, but it still doesn’t rank anywhere near the top of my favorite play list. I think it might have something to do with me watching the first five minutes of an old version of Merchant when I was about 11 years old, and being absolutely bored out of my mind. You see, the reason I watched the first five minutes of it then was because my father had to read it for a class he was taking, and he couldn’t get through it. That’s why I used to think Shakespeare was hard.

My “not liking” Merchant is an extremely stark contrast to the views of my aunt and old co-mentor. Both of them LOVE Merchant, and it might be interesting to think about why:

My aunt loves the Merchant of Venice because it was the first Shakespeare play she ever saw. (I THINK she saw it at the Utah Shakespeare Festival, but I can’t be sure.) The physical humor and banter were evidently hysterical in a way onstage that they really aren’t on the page. This just goes to show, Shakespeare is meant to be seen, not read.

On the other hand, my old co-mentor took the scholarly perspective and said she loves Merchant because of the themes of justice and mercy found in it. To this day I’m not sure if she said that just to make herself sound smarter or not.

Side note: Next time someone mentions a Shakespeare play to you, any play, I dare you to say something along the lines of “Oh yes, Merchant of Venice, I love that play! The underlying themes of justice and mercy and the broad perspectives and plausible understandings that can be gleaned from the problems and ambiguities of the human experience in that play absolutely fascinate me!” It will blow their minds and they will totally think you’re awesome. That, or you will be labeled a dork for the rest of you days.

All joking aside, though, we studied this play my first year of teaching Shakespeare. I still was not fond of the play at the time, but it was my co-mentors choice and I begrudgingly went along with it and began to go through the discussions and assignments with the class. Despite what it may seem, I’m really glad she chose that play. It helped me look at the play on a deeper level and realize that I DIDN’T hate it! And now, after reading it yet again, I realize it so deep I might just get lost inside of it.

Justice and Mercy:

“The quality of Mercy is not strain’d. . . It blesseth him that gives an him that takes.”

Justice and mercy is one of the most obvious themes within the play, and I’m not going to go into any depths with it. I do have one question that might be food for thought though: If Portia was so adamant about Mercy, why did she turn right around and condemn Shylock so harshly for his acts? I mean, Shylock was pretty bad, but I thought you like mercy?! What do you think?

Anti-Semitism:

Over the last century or so Shylock has become less of a villain, and more of a tragic character. A lot of plays try to put him forth in this tragic light. This is why many people think of Merchant as a Problem Play. Shylock does horrible things, but he also gets treated horribly. Do you think if he wasn’t treated so harshly that maybe he wouldn’t BE so harsh? 

Other themes/concepts I found in the play that interested me:

·         The three caskets

·         The rings

·         Money, (Shylock not willing to lend freely vs. Antonio giving everything he has)

Sonnets:

“Dear my love, you know

You had a father: let your son say so.”

~Sonnet 13

Well, not much has changed since we last checked on the fair youth. Still hasn’t had a kid, and Shakespeare still hasn’t stopped asking him to have one. I think in the next installment, (around sonnet 18) things will begin to get more interesting.

Your thoughts?

So what did you think of the play and/or sonnets? I’d really like to know what your reaction was to the play, (like it? Love it? Hate it? Undecided? )

Next Week:

·         Hamlet:

o   Give yourselves plenty of time for this one, It’s Shakespeare’s longest play and Hamlet is really long-winded. Try to put yourself in Hamlet’s shoes as you read this, ask yourself questions like: “what would I do if I found out my uncle killed my dad and married my mom less than a month later?” And then when you finish try to come up with a personal opinion of the way Hamlet acted. Do you agree with what he did?

·        Sonnets 14-18