In Shakespeare’s The Tempest, Miranda is little more than an instrument. Caliban tries to rape her to populate the island and thereby take it over, and Prospero intends to marry her to Ferdinand to regain his power. Miranda even subjects herself to being an instrument for she says to Ferdinand “I am your wife, if you will marry me. / If not, I’ll die your maid” (3.1.83-84). Miranda is an interesting example of the servant in The Tempest’s prevalent power play between master and slave, server and served, because she willingly submits to her role in this form in her relationship to Ferdinand. Her willing submission seems to represent her sexuality. Upon meeting Ferdinand’s shipwrecked male companions at the end of the play, Miranda says “O wonder! / How many goodly creatures are there here! / How beauteous mankind is!” (5.1.184-186). The men she sees are “beauteous” to her, “pleasing to the sight” (oed.com), denoting her attraction to them. And because these men represent society as well, Miranda espouses her attraction to her place in this society as Ferdinand’s wife. For Miranda to equate the men that she sees with “mankind,” denoting the “human species” (oed.com), leaves women out of the picture of society, yet to do so is not far from the truth in regards to who holds the power in The Tempest.
Whitney Starks
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
"Lear's Shadow" and "Nothing"
Shakespeare's Boy World: Misogyny in King Lear and Antony and Cleopatra
“Lears shadow” (1.4.206) is a spondee with a feminine accent. The feminine ending is a signal for alarm, as Lear’s shadow follows a stressed-stressed-unstressed meter. The use of a feminine ending to signal alarm is an act of misogyny. It’s bad enough that women are represented in Shakespeare's plays only to the extent that female characters are played by male actors. So, the use of the feminine ending to evoke alarm and a sense of eeriness emphasizes that Shakespeare’s world of 16th/17th century literature is a boy world--a world in which women are not allowed to exist beyond the costumes and disguises worn by male actors who mimic femininity. Shakespeare’s boy world or the theatre, as it’s called, is a microcosm for 16th/17th century, English society. The exclusion of women from the theatre parallels the haunting presence of misogyny in 16th/17th century English culture.
Anti-woman ideals appear in the language of Shakespeare's day. “Nothing” (1.2.126) is the term that refers to female genitalia as it is used in Shakespeare’s Antony and Cleopatra. The genitals of man and woman are that which defines man from woman. The use of the word nothing to refer to female genitalia is an implication that in Shakespeare’s society women are perceived to be exactly that which defines them--nothing. In contrast, men as the victors, the dominant members of society are defined by their genitals, as are women. The difference, however, is the word used to define the male genital. This word is “cause” (1.2.127) as it too is used in Antony and Cleopatra. In contrast to the word nothing, the word cause implies existence and value. In its use in Antony and Cleopatra, the word “great” (1.2.127)precedes the word cause to signify the importance of male genitalia and--by extension--the importance of men in Shakespeare’s society.
Beata Ingabire
Section 1D Waldo
“Lears shadow” (1.4.206) is a spondee with a feminine accent. The feminine ending is a signal for alarm, as Lear’s shadow follows a stressed-stressed-unstressed meter. The use of a feminine ending to signal alarm is an act of misogyny. It’s bad enough that women are represented in Shakespeare's plays only to the extent that female characters are played by male actors. So, the use of the feminine ending to evoke alarm and a sense of eeriness emphasizes that Shakespeare’s world of 16th/17th century literature is a boy world--a world in which women are not allowed to exist beyond the costumes and disguises worn by male actors who mimic femininity. Shakespeare’s boy world or the theatre, as it’s called, is a microcosm for 16th/17th century, English society. The exclusion of women from the theatre parallels the haunting presence of misogyny in 16th/17th century English culture.
Anti-woman ideals appear in the language of Shakespeare's day. “Nothing” (1.2.126) is the term that refers to female genitalia as it is used in Shakespeare’s Antony and Cleopatra. The genitals of man and woman are that which defines man from woman. The use of the word nothing to refer to female genitalia is an implication that in Shakespeare’s society women are perceived to be exactly that which defines them--nothing. In contrast, men as the victors, the dominant members of society are defined by their genitals, as are women. The difference, however, is the word used to define the male genital. This word is “cause” (1.2.127) as it too is used in Antony and Cleopatra. In contrast to the word nothing, the word cause implies existence and value. In its use in Antony and Cleopatra, the word “great” (1.2.127)precedes the word cause to signify the importance of male genitalia and--by extension--the importance of men in Shakespeare’s society.
Beata Ingabire
Section 1D Waldo
Monday, December 8, 2008
Chaos in King Lear
Postlapsarian- characteristic of the time or state after the fall of human kind in the Bible
Prelapsarian- characteristic of the time or state before the fall of human kind in the Bible
after the fall the notion was that we age, we feel pain, and we die
This idea appears in the world of King Lear as it is representative of Shakes' England. The plays succession of terrible events suggests the universe does not operate in an eye for an eye manner (Lex talionis) --there is no regulation. The play being situation in the midst of a storm underscores this notion.
The fool's soliloquy at the end of act 3.2 speaks of the constant chaos in the world and the worlds inability to return to a state of tranquility.
The fact that "King Lear" is based in a time before the fall suggests that the world died a long time ago, and that great tragedy has been dead. Shakes is touching on the danger of nostalgia over the epic culture which does not exist in "King Lear" so therefore does not exist in his England.
maija sjogren
waldo
Prelapsarian- characteristic of the time or state before the fall of human kind in the Bible
after the fall the notion was that we age, we feel pain, and we die
This idea appears in the world of King Lear as it is representative of Shakes' England. The plays succession of terrible events suggests the universe does not operate in an eye for an eye manner (Lex talionis) --there is no regulation. The play being situation in the midst of a storm underscores this notion.
The fool's soliloquy at the end of act 3.2 speaks of the constant chaos in the world and the worlds inability to return to a state of tranquility.
The fact that "King Lear" is based in a time before the fall suggests that the world died a long time ago, and that great tragedy has been dead. Shakes is touching on the danger of nostalgia over the epic culture which does not exist in "King Lear" so therefore does not exist in his England.
maija sjogren
waldo
Background Behind Coriolanus
A relationship exists between James I & Coriolanus in regards to absolutism. Coriolanus acts as the pharmakos and his story happens much earlier than that of Julius Caesar. 509BC is when Truscans were in charge of Rome and it was being led by a tyrant. One of the Truscans, Tarquin, planned to rape Lucrece because she was the most beautiful woman in Rome. After Lucrece is raped, she calls men to her bedside and tells them she has been raped by Tarquin and that she plans to kill herself to prove she never wanted to be raped. They then proceed to take her body out to the public plaza to show everyone she has been raped. The rape of Lucrece is the root of the founding of the Roman Republic. Coriolanus is part of this story in that he was one of the heroes in the overthrow of the tyrant. The other reason this is brought up is because Shakespeare will continuously go back to this story. We also see this story in Julius Caesar in which all of this iconography haunts the play.
Cecilia Luppi
Waldo Section 1D
Cecilia Luppi
Waldo Section 1D
Black Friars Identification
I forgot my name:
Josephine Lee
Ian Hoch
Black Friars was a theatre in the Blackfriars district in London during the Renaissance. The name Blackfriars originated from the original owners, Dominican Friars. In 1608, Shakespeare and his company "King's Men" took ownership of the theatre. An enclosed, small theater, the theater was usually used in the winter while the Globe was used in the Summer. Unlike the public open amphitheatres theatres like the Globe, Black Friars served as a private theatre, catering to the wealthy. Shakespeare used the theatre until 1642 when all theatres closed due to the English Civil War. BY 1655, the theatre was demolished
Josephine Lee
Ian Hoch
Black Friars was a theatre in the Blackfriars district in London during the Renaissance. The name Blackfriars originated from the original owners, Dominican Friars. In 1608, Shakespeare and his company "King's Men" took ownership of the theatre. An enclosed, small theater, the theater was usually used in the winter while the Globe was used in the Summer. Unlike the public open amphitheatres theatres like the Globe, Black Friars served as a private theatre, catering to the wealthy. Shakespeare used the theatre until 1642 when all theatres closed due to the English Civil War. BY 1655, the theatre was demolished
Black Friars Identification
Black Friars was a theatre in the Blackfriars district in London during the Renaissance. The name Blackfriars originated from the original owners, Dominican Friars. In 1608, Shakespeare and his company "King's Men" took ownership of the theatre. An enclosed, small theater, the theater was usually used in the winter while the Globe was used in the Summer. Unlike the public open amphitheatres theatres like the Globe, Black Friars served as a private theatre, catering to the wealthy. Shakespeare used the theatre until 1642 when all theatres closed due to the English Civil War. BY 1655, the theatre was demolished
Metatheatre
Metatheatre illustrates some of the ways in which reality and illusion seep into both life and drama, allowing the play and world to become one. Also, metatheatre in its own artificiality prompts the audience not only to consider the various themes as they might arise in their own experience, but also to question the entire nature of reality in this world.
An example Professor Little provided:
When we are born we cry because we have come to this grand stage/world of fools
Robert Lopez
Amanda Waldo 1A
An example Professor Little provided:
When we are born we cry because we have come to this grand stage/world of fools
Robert Lopez
Amanda Waldo 1A
Machiavel
In the English theater, the figure of the Machiavel is primarily a person who puts his own personal survival and aspirations for power above any traditional ethical restraints. He is a person who believes that the assertion of his individual desires is more important than observing any prescribed ways of dealing with people, and who is prepared to do whatever it takes to achieve his own personal ambitions. He is, thus, a self-interested individualist with no traditional scruples about communal responsibilities and morality and is commonly an inherent source of social disorder.
Examples for the Machiavel include Iago from Othello and Edmund from King Lear.
Brian Dowler
Amanda Waldo 1A
Examples for the Machiavel include Iago from Othello and Edmund from King Lear.
Brian Dowler
Amanda Waldo 1A
The term Gorboduc describes a father dividing his kingdom among sons. King Lear goes against this tradition by dividing it among his daughters, and also does so prematurely. Lear makes the mistake of thinking he can still maintain his central role as monarch because he believes he will still have the “spiritual body” and his honors and titles.
-Vanessa Labi
-Vanessa Labi
Spontaneous Generation
A spontaneous generation occurs when a species does not need the opposite sex to reproduce. The need for reproduction enables the species to get pregnant solely. Coupled with the idea of a Dead Zone, a place where life can not logically reproduce due to lack of both sexes, such a concept can offer an idealogical answer to sexual reproduction. According to Professor Little, "Coriolanus's embodies tragedy comes from him thinking he could birth himself." He believes he can achieve a spontaneous generation by solely achieving his overly-masculine murderous intentions while neglecting the feminine qualities that enable life.
Other concepts that fit into this idea of masculine sterility are the root meaning of the word nothing which originally referred to a "woman's reproductive organs" and the original meaning of orgasm which mean "death." Both these concepts attribute sexuality with producing death implying a perversion of reproduction.
Heather Farley-Rushworth
Section 1A
Other concepts that fit into this idea of masculine sterility are the root meaning of the word nothing which originally referred to a "woman's reproductive organs" and the original meaning of orgasm which mean "death." Both these concepts attribute sexuality with producing death implying a perversion of reproduction.
Heather Farley-Rushworth
Section 1A
"Ekphrasis"
Ekphrasis refers to the idea of “painting a picture within a picture” or describing a picture within a narrative. In Antony and Cleopatra, Shakespeare refrains from showing the “barge” scene, and instead, has Enobarbus vividly describe it. By not showing the “barge” scene, Shakespeare further emphasizes the meaning of words and the play as an auditory medium. This also evokes a sense of detachment, or feeling of being let down from the audience.
Sunday, December 7, 2008
the 2 bodies of King Lear
In lecture Prof. Little made a statement about King Lear having 2 bodies.
-spiritual body: which comes from God
-physical body
With both of his bodies King Lear is dying before his time, because he is giving away his kingdom before his death.
M.Sandoval
section 1d
-spiritual body: which comes from God
-physical body
With both of his bodies King Lear is dying before his time, because he is giving away his kingdom before his death.
M.Sandoval
section 1d
Absolutism and the Idea of a Family Unit in King Lear
Professor Little explained that the play King Lear not only underscores the notion of absolutism but also criticizes its implications that lead to Lear's destruction and the divisions of the nation. However, there is another way to read the role of absolutism in King Lear. The play seems to suggest that although the idea of absolutism may be problematic, it is a necessary requirement to uphold the unity of a family and the unity of a nation. Before Lear distributes his nation into equal amounts to his daughters and sons-in-law, they remain the subjects of Lear's control, regardless whether their submissions to this absolute king are willing or not. The idea of absolutism that Lear embodies, though may repress individual self-interests among his daughters (except Cordelia), maintains the family as one unit and becomes a core ideal that emphasizes the unity of family. But with the intention to disseminate his absolute authority and eliminate the key "cement" (i.e. absolutism) that glues the family together, Lear inevitably destroys the family unit. With the clash in the aristocratic family leads to a catastrophic consequence-the disunity of the nation. Without the idea of absolutism in Lear's family suggests the absence of absolutism ultimately creates chaos in the domestic sphere of the royalty, which the disorder in Lear's private domain results in disharmony in the public realm. Although Shakespeare may use the play to denounce James I' support for absolutism, the notion of absolutism, indeed, sustain the unity in the family and in the nation. Does the collapse of absolutism give us the answer to govern the nation or keep the family as a unit more successfully?
Xian Yan Liu, Section 1D Amanda Waldo
Xian Yan Liu, Section 1D Amanda Waldo
Blood Tragedy
The "Blood Tragedy" is a play-form made popular in the Elizabethan era that exploited on-stage deaths and appealed the audience’s desire for “spectacle”. Professor Little likened the format to that of a modern slasher-film due the excessive gore. This topic was brought up in relation to the lack of spectacle in Coriolanus. The play rejects the popular format of the blood tragedy because main battle happens out of the audience’s view.
Jennifer Barnum
Jennifer Barnum
"Peace, Peace. Dost Thou not see my baby ..."
Act.5.2
Cleopatra: "Peace, peace. // Dost thou not see my baby at my breast,//That sucks the nurse asleep?"
Very grotesque imagery.
-Andres Barajas
discussion 1b
Cleopatra: "Peace, peace. // Dost thou not see my baby at my breast,//That sucks the nurse asleep?"
Very grotesque imagery.
-Andres Barajas
discussion 1b
Civitas vs. Virtus
In lecture Professor Little highlighted the importance of the terms civitas and virtus as they related to Antony and Cleopatra.
Virtus was related to the masculine ideals of manliness/war and courage which Antony is idealized for. This is also a reflection upon Rome itself.
The philosphy of civitas relateds to peaceful civility (behaving civilized) and is associated with Egypt and also Cleopatra.
Cesar believes that Antony originally had too much Virtus to be beneficial for Rome, but after going to Egypt he believes that he has developed too much civitas.
In lecture Prof. Little said that these differences lead to 2 problems
1. A problem develops for Cesar and Philo. because Egypt has too much civitas. He is hoping to overtake the Egyptians but this is complicated if his culture is one of virtus and the other is the civilized, peaceful state.
2. There are two Romes depicted one Rome, as represented by Antony and the other represented by Cesar. Cesar believes that Rome wants to exist in one extreme of virtus or civitas, but he believes that the best nation will develop as a balance of these two characteristics. As such Antony and Cleopatra both represent a threat to the nation he hopes to create.
Virtus was related to the masculine ideals of manliness/war and courage which Antony is idealized for. This is also a reflection upon Rome itself.
The philosphy of civitas relateds to peaceful civility (behaving civilized) and is associated with Egypt and also Cleopatra.
Cesar believes that Antony originally had too much Virtus to be beneficial for Rome, but after going to Egypt he believes that he has developed too much civitas.
In lecture Prof. Little said that these differences lead to 2 problems
1. A problem develops for Cesar and Philo. because Egypt has too much civitas. He is hoping to overtake the Egyptians but this is complicated if his culture is one of virtus and the other is the civilized, peaceful state.
2. There are two Romes depicted one Rome, as represented by Antony and the other represented by Cesar. Cesar believes that Rome wants to exist in one extreme of virtus or civitas, but he believes that the best nation will develop as a balance of these two characteristics. As such Antony and Cleopatra both represent a threat to the nation he hopes to create.
Cleopatra and Elizabeth
Shakespeare was smart—he knew writing Antony and Cleopatra during the first half of his career would have been interpreted as critical of Elizabeth’s rule. The number of similarities between the two monarchs is almost staggering: both were rulers, both spoke many, many languages, both were intelligent writers, both fought in the military, and both used their sexuality for the benefit of their nation. Cleopatra used sex (and marriage) to form an alliance with Rome to maintain Egypt’s freedom, while Elizabeth used her virginity to compare herself to the Virgin Mary and England itself.
The correlation could be seen as unfavorable because of Shakespeare’s stance on Egypt as a whole: Cleopatra represents Egypt, and Egypt represents the epitome of civitas. Egypt is the home of excess materialism, of partying on Cleopatra’s barge, and feasting and drinking all night. Had the play been written while Elizabeth ruled, the obvious (though not necessarily correct) assumption would have been that England was the new home of civitas. Shakespeare would have had to write the play differently had he written it earlier, but the fact that he steered clear of Cleopatra altogether speaks volumes of his sense of timing.
Zack Balthaser
Waldo, Dis 1A
The correlation could be seen as unfavorable because of Shakespeare’s stance on Egypt as a whole: Cleopatra represents Egypt, and Egypt represents the epitome of civitas. Egypt is the home of excess materialism, of partying on Cleopatra’s barge, and feasting and drinking all night. Had the play been written while Elizabeth ruled, the obvious (though not necessarily correct) assumption would have been that England was the new home of civitas. Shakespeare would have had to write the play differently had he written it earlier, but the fact that he steered clear of Cleopatra altogether speaks volumes of his sense of timing.
Zack Balthaser
Waldo, Dis 1A
Theatre of Cruelty
"King Lear"
the audience gets to the point that we think of the actors in real time, thinking about the actors as if the physicality of the theatre is real. we can feel his pain. an elderly actor is used to portray Lear. he has to memorize a lot of lines, and screams alot -- the actor is exhausted, pushing limits of theatre & actor alike
April Yuan
the audience gets to the point that we think of the actors in real time, thinking about the actors as if the physicality of the theatre is real. we can feel his pain. an elderly actor is used to portray Lear. he has to memorize a lot of lines, and screams alot -- the actor is exhausted, pushing limits of theatre & actor alike
April Yuan
utopia
Utopia - a perfect place, literally means "no place", coined in 1511 by Thomas More.
Dystopia - "Brave New Word", means nightmare place.
In the Tempest, are we talking about utopia or dystopia? One person's utopia is another's dystopia, and vice cersa.
April Yuan
Dystopia - "Brave New Word", means nightmare place.
In the Tempest, are we talking about utopia or dystopia? One person's utopia is another's dystopia, and vice cersa.
April Yuan
Dominant Female Characters
Most recently we examined Coriolanus' mother Volumnia as a strong mother figure. She wants her son to go out and fight, kill and conquer. This mentality pushes Rome into masculine overkill. Due to the help/control of his mother, Coriolanus, has become the ultimate masculine character. Rome is overly protective of its masculine identity and Volumnia threatens this identity. Rome finds itself in a state of hysteria by trying to be protective of its masculine identity. But manliness of state is ALWAYS underlined by women! Women play the role of making the state. Volumnia oversees the masculinity of Coriolanus. Volumnia wants Coriolanus to kill but no matter how much he does, this will never change the gender of Volumnia.
Lady Macbeth is another dominant character. She takes charge and manipulates Macbeth underlining her ultimate power. She wants to stop her female biology, wants to stop her blood flow. She is linked to the three witches and resides in the same standing as them. Ultimately, the lay is tragic for both Lady Macbeth & Macbeth. She realizes that her tragedy is not the guilt of murder but her "unsex" moment did not work-she thought her ultimate power would work. The blood on her hands is female blood and she realizes that she is female-her guilt comes from being a woman! Act 1. Scene 5 highlights her femininity. As she reads the letter from Macbeth, this is the first time that she speaks in the play, but she is not actually speaking her own words-they are Macbeth's words, a man, which underscores the fact that she is just a woman. Her power does not come from within, rather it is due to the male figure of Macbeth that she hides behind.
Obviously, there are more characters, like Cleopatra and the daughters of King Lear, Regan & Goneril, that can also be placed in this category but, Volumnia & Lady Macbeth are two of my favorite overly masculine women!
Danielle Moyer
Discussion 1C-Aaron Gorelik
Lady Macbeth is another dominant character. She takes charge and manipulates Macbeth underlining her ultimate power. She wants to stop her female biology, wants to stop her blood flow. She is linked to the three witches and resides in the same standing as them. Ultimately, the lay is tragic for both Lady Macbeth & Macbeth. She realizes that her tragedy is not the guilt of murder but her "unsex" moment did not work-she thought her ultimate power would work. The blood on her hands is female blood and she realizes that she is female-her guilt comes from being a woman! Act 1. Scene 5 highlights her femininity. As she reads the letter from Macbeth, this is the first time that she speaks in the play, but she is not actually speaking her own words-they are Macbeth's words, a man, which underscores the fact that she is just a woman. Her power does not come from within, rather it is due to the male figure of Macbeth that she hides behind.
Obviously, there are more characters, like Cleopatra and the daughters of King Lear, Regan & Goneril, that can also be placed in this category but, Volumnia & Lady Macbeth are two of my favorite overly masculine women!
Danielle Moyer
Discussion 1C-Aaron Gorelik
Saturday, December 6, 2008
Chaos and Authority in King Lear
There are many interesting things that occur in King Lear that require careful attention. For example, it seems as though there is a constant conflict between authority and chaos that recurs throughout the play. This conflict can be seen on a micro scale (which is evident in the family of Lear), and it can also be viewed on a macro scale ( which involves all of Britain.) Throughout the play, it seems as though these two scales are interchangeable and often reflect one another. When Lear gives his kingdom to his two daughters, Goneril and Regan, it seems as though he is splitting his own family up. In reaction to this decision, Cordelia is disowned and Lear’s entire life begins to fall apart. While this is a micro view, meaning that it only involves his family, at the same time, he is placing all of Britain into extreme chaos. After this decision, Britain begins to struggle in the hands of two power-hungry sisters that refuse to behave civilly. Throughout the play, it seems as though authority fails to prevail over chaos in many situations. In the end, it is difficult to distinguish which side has won, making this play interpretable in many different ways.
Deanna Ashikyan
English 142B
Aaron Gorelik (Thur 5- 5:50)
Deanna Ashikyan
English 142B
Aaron Gorelik (Thur 5- 5:50)
Blood Tragedies
Since no one seems to have covered it thus far:
Blood tragedies are a variation of the Revenge Tragedy that was popular during the Elizabethan era. These plays catered towards the more morbid infatuations of the populace, who were used to being entertained by such spectacles as bear baitings and public executions, and commonly showed the onstage 'deaths' and mutilations of obscene amounts of characters in order to satiate their audience (Little mentioned particular plays showing 200 people die during their course). Though Shakespeare had during one period written blood tragedies himself, a decent example being Titus Andronicus, King Lear can be seen as his attempt to break away from and possibly criticize that mold, as he pointedly fails to show to the audience the deaths of important characters such as Cordelia and her sisters, only to mention them after the fact.
Brian Dowler
Waldo Section 1A
Blood tragedies are a variation of the Revenge Tragedy that was popular during the Elizabethan era. These plays catered towards the more morbid infatuations of the populace, who were used to being entertained by such spectacles as bear baitings and public executions, and commonly showed the onstage 'deaths' and mutilations of obscene amounts of characters in order to satiate their audience (Little mentioned particular plays showing 200 people die during their course). Though Shakespeare had during one period written blood tragedies himself, a decent example being Titus Andronicus, King Lear can be seen as his attempt to break away from and possibly criticize that mold, as he pointedly fails to show to the audience the deaths of important characters such as Cordelia and her sisters, only to mention them after the fact.
Brian Dowler
Waldo Section 1A
Background to Coriolanus
Professor Little briefly mentioned some key facts in class about Coriolanus and I think they may show up as IDs.
Around 509 B.C., The Etruscans were in charge of Rome. At that time, Lucius Tarquinius Superbus was in power and his son Sextus Tarquinius (Tarquin) raped the Roman noblewoman Lucrece. She told her brother, Lucius Junius Brutus, who raped her and she killed herself. They put her body in display and talked about how she was raped. The Romans, led by Brutus, rose up against the tyrants and founded the Roman Republic. Coriolanus was one of the heroes that overthrew the tyrants. The Play also focuses on the forgotten story of Lucrece but Shakespeare brings it back.
Irvin Liu
Discussion 1E
Around 509 B.C., The Etruscans were in charge of Rome. At that time, Lucius Tarquinius Superbus was in power and his son Sextus Tarquinius (Tarquin) raped the Roman noblewoman Lucrece. She told her brother, Lucius Junius Brutus, who raped her and she killed herself. They put her body in display and talked about how she was raped. The Romans, led by Brutus, rose up against the tyrants and founded the Roman Republic. Coriolanus was one of the heroes that overthrew the tyrants. The Play also focuses on the forgotten story of Lucrece but Shakespeare brings it back.
Irvin Liu
Discussion 1E
Crisis of Iconography
Crisis of Iconography: term used in class to refer to the protection of Rome as a masculine space in The Tragedy of Coriolanus. There are two issues in the play that hinder masculinity. Firstly, manliness is dependent upon women. The Roman state, moreover, depends upon women, and Coriolanus cannot escape the pleas of his wife and mother. Secondly, the Roman Republic was founded on the rape of Lucrece. Coriolanus' wounds are representative of that rape, but they are also problematic because they symbolize the rape of a man. Thus, the play illustrates two clashing iconographies: war and masculinity versus the effeminate rhetoric of rape.
Heather Finch
Heather Finch
Theme of Cannibalism in "Coriolanus"
The plebeians and the aristocracy of Rome in “Coriolanus” each feel the other party is trying to eliminate them; this hostility is depicted is in the theme of cannibalism. We immediately hear the commoners’ cannibalistic sentiments about the aristocracy in the play’s opening scene when a citizen says about the aristocracy “If the wars eat us not up, they will; and there’s all the love they bear us” (1.1. 82-4). When Marcius (later known as Coriolanus) later enters in this scene, he argues the commoners are actually their own threat and it’s indeed the aristocracy that keeps them from devouring each other, Marcius asks “You cry against the noble Senate, who/Under the gods, keep you in awe, which else/Would feed on one another?” (1.1. 185-7). Yet, just as the wars are a threat to consume the plebeians, the wars are also eating Marcius; Brutus says about Marcius “The present wars devour him” (1.1. 259).
Menenius offers us a moderate view of the hostilities between these estates of the commoners and aristocracy when he tells the belly fable. Here, he describes Rome as a body in which the Senate is the belly that nourishes the limbs, like the commoners. Yet we see Menenius offer us his private insight about the plebeians’ relationship with the aristocratic Marcius when tells Brutus and Sicinius “Ay, to devour him, as the hungry plebeians would the noble Marcius” (2.1. 9-10). Ultimately, we see Marcius as the pharmakos of this social conflict when he is murdered at the play’s end. While it is not the plebeians that eliminate Marcius here, they contribute to his demise. Just as Marcius saves many Roman plebeians from elimination when he stops his Volsican army from waging war on Rome, it is ironically Marcius’ refusal to wage war that leads to his demise; war does not consume Marcius, peace does.
Matt Sigel, Waldo (Section A)
Menenius offers us a moderate view of the hostilities between these estates of the commoners and aristocracy when he tells the belly fable. Here, he describes Rome as a body in which the Senate is the belly that nourishes the limbs, like the commoners. Yet we see Menenius offer us his private insight about the plebeians’ relationship with the aristocratic Marcius when tells Brutus and Sicinius “Ay, to devour him, as the hungry plebeians would the noble Marcius” (2.1. 9-10). Ultimately, we see Marcius as the pharmakos of this social conflict when he is murdered at the play’s end. While it is not the plebeians that eliminate Marcius here, they contribute to his demise. Just as Marcius saves many Roman plebeians from elimination when he stops his Volsican army from waging war on Rome, it is ironically Marcius’ refusal to wage war that leads to his demise; war does not consume Marcius, peace does.
Matt Sigel, Waldo (Section A)
Emasculation in Coriolanus
Coriolanus embodies the archetype of the absolutist ruler, with a nod to James 1 and the Basilikon Doron. Shakespeare critiques the over-masculinity of Rome in the play, and orchestrates its turn towards the hysterical as a plea for the balance of femininity. Rome is a masculinized corporeality, as the birth of Rome was engendered by violence. The violent overthrow and defeat of Tarquin, the 1608 foot riots to which the play is thematic response, and also the rape of Lucrece implies that was instrumental in Rome’s founding all convey a sense of contextual violence from the beginning. Thus the notion of violence, which itself is suggested to be masculine, is considered the birthing agent in Rome’s history. The play itself begins with the context of violence with riots ensuing the expulsion of the Tarquin kings. Thus Rome, even at the start, was conceived with a masculine identity while disregarding the role of the feminine. Women are the people who give birth, yet they have been replaced in Coriolanus by the masculine trait of violence in Rome’s origin. Shakespeare critiques this hyper-masculinity and encroachment of roles through the downfall of Coriolanus, which serves as a metaphor for the failure of Rome. Coriolanus himself as a political and military leader of Rome is killed, and Shakespeare renders violence unproductive. In a sense, the tragedy of Coriolanus’s hubris suggest an emasculation of the masculine absolutist rulership.
Kevin Yee
Section 1D
Amanda Waldo
Kevin Yee
Section 1D
Amanda Waldo
Music of Spheres
"Music of Spheres", or Musica Universalis meaning 'universal music', is a philosophic concept whose idea was first credited to the Greek mathmatician and astronomer, Pythagoras, who believed that the distances between the planets would have the same ratios as produced by harmonious sounds in a plucked string. Pythagoreans believed the solar system was made up of 10 spheres revolving around a central point, each sphere giving off a sound as it moves through the air. Closer spheres created lower tones, and spheres farther away created higher tones. These combined variations in pitch create a beautiful harmony. In The Tempest, Act 3.2, Caliban refers to this 'music of speres' when he speaks about the isle being "full of noises, sounds and sweet airs" and so on. He's trying to emphasize the point that true beauty and perfection are found in nature without imposing influences by man. Society would naturally find a harmonius balance of existence without strict regulations being enforced by the authority class. In order for man to find perfection in the world, he just needs to stop and listen, because it already naturally exists.
Gwynne Standfield
Section 1A
Waldo
Gwynne Standfield
Section 1A
Waldo
Spectacular Theatre/1608 Food Riots
- these are just excerpts from my notes, although they may be a bit here and there; I think you all might find them helpful...
Spectacular Theatre -
... in any case, there is a role for theater to play (Tragedy of Coriolanus); particularly focusing on the auditory experience… what happens to theatre as we move into the early 17th century is in some ways the birth of theater that is more spectacular, a theater driven by spectacle… as contrasted to a theater driven by the auditory… the play is THEN critiquing this shift of plays from the AUDITORY AND THE SUBSTANTIAL to the SPECTACULAR AND INSUBSTANTIAL… he maps this out through Coriolanus and the poplulous and how they want to participate in this spectacular culture, a theater driven by show and tell… thus, starts to come a much more impotent form of theater itself… We see Shakespeare pushing the play against what the populous wants in this play, events come to us choral form; little is actually seen… much is taking place in story telling… one of the biggest moments of this is when Coriolanus still named Martius goes to the gates of the city and they shut the gates of the city off… people are killed off stage… we don’t get to see this big action scene in the play. We see Shakespeare getting into King Lear, all characters die off-stage except for King Lear… thus, we see him taking it step up… lets stage the barge scene but now show it… talk about it… then, take it up a notch… then to Coriolanus where we show nothing… the audience experiences this feeling of literally being shut up… instead what we keep getting is a play that keeps turning to the use of the chorus… underscoring the sense of the theatrical, Rome will not be turned into a spectacle… we don’t see his wounds, we don’t see him as an action hero; thus, the play by denying us access to spectacle… the play is critiquing our desire for it! What we see in that is this shift of theater itself from being far more substantial to some that entertains us and provides us with visual sport… cheapening of the power of theater itself… it’s highlighting that shift…
The play critiques the populous… by demanding spectacle, we are denying ourselves food… there is substantial social and political role theatre more play… the more we demand spectacle the more undermine the power inherent in auditory theater.
There is this sense of CONFUSION, it is not simply that people want the spectacle, it is what we have done to theater and the art of story telling… story telling and listening is a form of empowerment and the fact that theater is becoming a spectacular sport, this is quite dangerous.
Big pint here is the play can be thought about as rescuing the theater from the spectacular… Coriolanus gets banished from Rome and turns around bands Rome from himself, Coriolanus reminds James I of Basilikon Doran as he talks about himself as a little god..
Food Riots of 1608
One of the notions of senate is that men share power equally, Coriolanus does nothing on equal terms with other figures around him. How does Rome produce such a strong character like Coriolanus and then how do they assimilate him into the civic fold?
One of the issues that was referenced last time was the issue of the MID-LANDS… one of the approaches to this play is to think of it as a response to what was happening in the MID-LANDS… food riots of 1608 outside of Stratford, what happened in those riots was essentially what happened in the play itself… the gentry to negotiate the price of corn were holding back food, thus, the general population endured much starvation… the riots were to force the gentry to turn over the corn and stop manipulating the food supply for economic aid… then we have the people uprising… exactly what happens in the play.
Here… we must think of the play as Shakespeare’s response to the food riots, then it raises questions of theatricality in the play… it raises a serious question of ‘what is the role of theater in relation to these food riots…’ If we take Shakespeare to be on the side or against the riots, Little suggests Shakespeare is supporting the people and not the gentry. What is the role that theatre can play and does play in relation to starvation and rioting… of what use, politically, socially is theater…. When we are speaking about issues of rioting and starvation… Shakespeare’s argues then that theater comes across an impotent, that is doesn’t have a serious contribution to make… we can see this played out in the beginning of the play when the straving people come in and Menninius decides to tell them a story… What is the relationship between story telling and food, can we feed the masses with theater, or if we talk about theater as a kind of food or nourishment ten what is its relationship to food? One of the critiques here, not what happens with the Plebians in the beginning; they hear the story… Menninius substitutes story-telling for food, then as we go on… the story moves on to the body of Coriolanus… we move from the auditory, a shift from listening and speaking to showing.. this comes particularly in the form of Coriolanus…
What everyone wants Coriolanus to do is to show his wounds… to put his wounds on display which Coriolanus is refusing to do, something very feminizing about that whole process… talk about the terms in terms of immasculization… If we are starving as people are in the play and the Mid-Lands there is potentially a role for theater to play because it not only there for entertainment but it maybe even more so there as part of instruction and part of the socio-political process… this is why theater was so regulated in Shakespeare’s day…
---
Still don't have 'Blood Tragedies' in my notes... anyone else have this?! If so, please post!!!
James Steel
Dis 1D
Spectacular Theatre -
... in any case, there is a role for theater to play (Tragedy of Coriolanus); particularly focusing on the auditory experience… what happens to theatre as we move into the early 17th century is in some ways the birth of theater that is more spectacular, a theater driven by spectacle… as contrasted to a theater driven by the auditory… the play is THEN critiquing this shift of plays from the AUDITORY AND THE SUBSTANTIAL to the SPECTACULAR AND INSUBSTANTIAL… he maps this out through Coriolanus and the poplulous and how they want to participate in this spectacular culture, a theater driven by show and tell… thus, starts to come a much more impotent form of theater itself… We see Shakespeare pushing the play against what the populous wants in this play, events come to us choral form; little is actually seen… much is taking place in story telling… one of the biggest moments of this is when Coriolanus still named Martius goes to the gates of the city and they shut the gates of the city off… people are killed off stage… we don’t get to see this big action scene in the play. We see Shakespeare getting into King Lear, all characters die off-stage except for King Lear… thus, we see him taking it step up… lets stage the barge scene but now show it… talk about it… then, take it up a notch… then to Coriolanus where we show nothing… the audience experiences this feeling of literally being shut up… instead what we keep getting is a play that keeps turning to the use of the chorus… underscoring the sense of the theatrical, Rome will not be turned into a spectacle… we don’t see his wounds, we don’t see him as an action hero; thus, the play by denying us access to spectacle… the play is critiquing our desire for it! What we see in that is this shift of theater itself from being far more substantial to some that entertains us and provides us with visual sport… cheapening of the power of theater itself… it’s highlighting that shift…
The play critiques the populous… by demanding spectacle, we are denying ourselves food… there is substantial social and political role theatre more play… the more we demand spectacle the more undermine the power inherent in auditory theater.
There is this sense of CONFUSION, it is not simply that people want the spectacle, it is what we have done to theater and the art of story telling… story telling and listening is a form of empowerment and the fact that theater is becoming a spectacular sport, this is quite dangerous.
Big pint here is the play can be thought about as rescuing the theater from the spectacular… Coriolanus gets banished from Rome and turns around bands Rome from himself, Coriolanus reminds James I of Basilikon Doran as he talks about himself as a little god..
Food Riots of 1608
One of the notions of senate is that men share power equally, Coriolanus does nothing on equal terms with other figures around him. How does Rome produce such a strong character like Coriolanus and then how do they assimilate him into the civic fold?
One of the issues that was referenced last time was the issue of the MID-LANDS… one of the approaches to this play is to think of it as a response to what was happening in the MID-LANDS… food riots of 1608 outside of Stratford, what happened in those riots was essentially what happened in the play itself… the gentry to negotiate the price of corn were holding back food, thus, the general population endured much starvation… the riots were to force the gentry to turn over the corn and stop manipulating the food supply for economic aid… then we have the people uprising… exactly what happens in the play.
Here… we must think of the play as Shakespeare’s response to the food riots, then it raises questions of theatricality in the play… it raises a serious question of ‘what is the role of theater in relation to these food riots…’ If we take Shakespeare to be on the side or against the riots, Little suggests Shakespeare is supporting the people and not the gentry. What is the role that theatre can play and does play in relation to starvation and rioting… of what use, politically, socially is theater…. When we are speaking about issues of rioting and starvation… Shakespeare’s argues then that theater comes across an impotent, that is doesn’t have a serious contribution to make… we can see this played out in the beginning of the play when the straving people come in and Menninius decides to tell them a story… What is the relationship between story telling and food, can we feed the masses with theater, or if we talk about theater as a kind of food or nourishment ten what is its relationship to food? One of the critiques here, not what happens with the Plebians in the beginning; they hear the story… Menninius substitutes story-telling for food, then as we go on… the story moves on to the body of Coriolanus… we move from the auditory, a shift from listening and speaking to showing.. this comes particularly in the form of Coriolanus…
What everyone wants Coriolanus to do is to show his wounds… to put his wounds on display which Coriolanus is refusing to do, something very feminizing about that whole process… talk about the terms in terms of immasculization… If we are starving as people are in the play and the Mid-Lands there is potentially a role for theater to play because it not only there for entertainment but it maybe even more so there as part of instruction and part of the socio-political process… this is why theater was so regulated in Shakespeare’s day…
---
Still don't have 'Blood Tragedies' in my notes... anyone else have this?! If so, please post!!!
James Steel
Dis 1D
Utopia vs Dystopia, Montaigne and Scenes to Attend to in The Tempest
When we talk about a UTOPIA we are talking about a perfect place and the word comes from the Latin roots ‘Ut’ and ‘Topia’ … which literally means ‘NO PLACE’… word was coined in 1511 by Thomas More in a work called 'Utopia'… but what we use the word to convey contemporarily is a notion something along the lines of a perfect or ideal place… the opposite of this being a DYSTOPIA… the question then becomes what the island in the tempest is, utopia or dystopia? ONE MANS UTOPIA IS ANOTHER MAN’S DYSTOPIA… Prospero comes onto the island to create a fantastic world in his own mind but what do we end up with if we are Caliban...? Is this then dystopia…? Do we think of the play as belonging to Caliban or Prospero?
The Tempest is also referred to as Shakespeare’s American play in part inspired by notions of groups of colonists coming over on ships coming over to populate colonies set up by England and the ships wrecked and one of the coasts ended up off the coast of Bermuda… The colonists were reported to have found this magic, lush place and stayed there for 9 months or so (found it to be paradise-like) and then found their way back to England and re-told the tale. One of the biggest questions we must ask in question of the legitimacy of these sort of tales of utopia and of utopias in general, if these individuals were in such a paradise; then why did they bother to come back?!
This is argued to Shakespeare’s most political play, thinking of absolutist authority and ideas of oppression and cultural sensitivity… notions of establishing utopias and finding ourselves in dystopias…
Act 2.1 → Moment when Antonio, Gonzalo and all the rest of them are all sitting around chatting… we see here the repetition of all the brother characters here, they want to basically kill each other off as they fight for some kind of supremacy… we remember one the reason we are on this island is because Prospero like James I, got very much caught up in his magic…. In some ways what we see is Prospero is on the island b/c he was practicing all this magic, when he gets there on the island; he just does all of absolutist stuff on the island and practice his study on how to carry out acts of revenge… the world that we are in however, as much we see it as a utopia, we cannot hide from the dystopic undercurrents… the other part of this in terms of Shakespeare nodding to some kind of global tradition, now we have the king here married his daughter to some black African guy sending him across the world and now they’re done... this is certainly a notion that has been and may be addressed further by critics in terms of what Shakespeare meant to say by including this detail...
Gonzalo decides that this island could be a place they could live for a long time… UTOPIA means NO PLACE… we have characters that go off to utopia and then they come back and tell the stores of how wonderful their time was, then the problem always seems to be… THEN WHY DID YOU LEAVE?
Why does he give up his magic? He has all he wanted, IT WAS ALL FOR POWER! He wants to go back and rule, that is his whole prerogative… NO CHARACTERS EVER CONTROL SHAKESPEARE’S PLAYS… the plays belong to no characters… a big DISILLUSIONMENT for Shakespeare is that even for him is… IT IS NOT HIS PLAY…
Act 2.1 (Line 150) – “In the commonwealth…” → Gonzalo is describing all of his views of utopia… then Sebastian adds in… “yet he would be king on it…” We get the sense that somebody has to in charge of the utopian vision, it doesn’t just happen! The governing word here is no ('ut'), which is ultimately a no place… we get a utopia not by putting in content but taking out content, we wont ‘t have this or that., etc… We see this in the Declaration of Independence, many notions of taking things away; a declaration of no dependence… we will emerge as a utopian fantasy nation of no dependence… On the other side of this we see how heavily policed the idea of a utopia is…! FINE LINE BETWEEEN UTOPIAN CULTURE AND A OPRESSIVE ONE…
Part of the lines of this quote are taken almost word for word from a French essayist in the west named MICHEL MOTAIGNE in an essay of his called “OF THE CANNIBALS.” His essays were translated into English by JOHN FLORIO in 1603…
In this essay of the Cannibals… Montaigne writes that there is nothing about the American Indians that is barbarous or savage, we have no other aim of truth or reason that the culture/customs from the culture in which we live in… What he is arguing is the following: In the sense that when we have trees that naturally produce fruit that are unaltered, then we have fruit and food produced artificially, we are altering nature… the things that occur naturally in nature are perfect for him… the bigger point he is making is that when we go to the Americas, what we do is we see cultures that don’t have our customs: we see those and we call those cultures barbaric, where in fact, we are the barbarians because we have gone and don’t recognize ourselves therefore, we call them uncivilized… Every culture in itself is netural zone, it is not good or bad within himself…
When Gonzalo speaks and offers his utopian vision is from a essay calling into question of having these utopian desires, there is something that becomes chilling for others for Shakespeare about telling others how they should live, this is barbarism….
THE CONTRAST for this comes from Caliban… when he is talking to Stefano and Trinculo, this is when they hear the music on the island (Act 3.2)… then Caliban says in some of the most beautiful language we find in Shakesepeare, one of the most profound notions in Shakespeare; what is the nature of savegry?! What is that really underscores the savagery of Caliban, it is ultimately a savagery that not only Caliban lays claim to, but also Shakespeare HIMSELF…
“Be not afeard. The isle is full of noises,
Sounds, and sweet airs, that give delight and hurt not.
Sometimes a thousand twangling instruments
Will hum about mine ears, and sometime voices
That, if I then had waked after long sleep
Will make me sleep again; and then in dreaming
The clouds methought would open and show riches
Ready to drop upon me, that when I waked
I cried to dream again. ” (III,ii,130)
To translate this for us: What Caliban says here in contrast to Gonzalo’s speech which called for policing and increasing regulation is no… in fact, what you do is stop talking and start to listen… it isn’t ultimately about manipulating and regulating… this brings Shakespeare to the end of his career, he realizes he has been regulating and manipulating… he sees we need not impose our will on the universe, but listen to it…
James Steel
Dis 1D
Amanda Waldo
The Tempest is also referred to as Shakespeare’s American play in part inspired by notions of groups of colonists coming over on ships coming over to populate colonies set up by England and the ships wrecked and one of the coasts ended up off the coast of Bermuda… The colonists were reported to have found this magic, lush place and stayed there for 9 months or so (found it to be paradise-like) and then found their way back to England and re-told the tale. One of the biggest questions we must ask in question of the legitimacy of these sort of tales of utopia and of utopias in general, if these individuals were in such a paradise; then why did they bother to come back?!
This is argued to Shakespeare’s most political play, thinking of absolutist authority and ideas of oppression and cultural sensitivity… notions of establishing utopias and finding ourselves in dystopias…
Act 2.1 → Moment when Antonio, Gonzalo and all the rest of them are all sitting around chatting… we see here the repetition of all the brother characters here, they want to basically kill each other off as they fight for some kind of supremacy… we remember one the reason we are on this island is because Prospero like James I, got very much caught up in his magic…. In some ways what we see is Prospero is on the island b/c he was practicing all this magic, when he gets there on the island; he just does all of absolutist stuff on the island and practice his study on how to carry out acts of revenge… the world that we are in however, as much we see it as a utopia, we cannot hide from the dystopic undercurrents… the other part of this in terms of Shakespeare nodding to some kind of global tradition, now we have the king here married his daughter to some black African guy sending him across the world and now they’re done... this is certainly a notion that has been and may be addressed further by critics in terms of what Shakespeare meant to say by including this detail...
Gonzalo decides that this island could be a place they could live for a long time… UTOPIA means NO PLACE… we have characters that go off to utopia and then they come back and tell the stores of how wonderful their time was, then the problem always seems to be… THEN WHY DID YOU LEAVE?
Why does he give up his magic? He has all he wanted, IT WAS ALL FOR POWER! He wants to go back and rule, that is his whole prerogative… NO CHARACTERS EVER CONTROL SHAKESPEARE’S PLAYS… the plays belong to no characters… a big DISILLUSIONMENT for Shakespeare is that even for him is… IT IS NOT HIS PLAY…
Act 2.1 (Line 150) – “In the commonwealth…” → Gonzalo is describing all of his views of utopia… then Sebastian adds in… “yet he would be king on it…” We get the sense that somebody has to in charge of the utopian vision, it doesn’t just happen! The governing word here is no ('ut'), which is ultimately a no place… we get a utopia not by putting in content but taking out content, we wont ‘t have this or that., etc… We see this in the Declaration of Independence, many notions of taking things away; a declaration of no dependence… we will emerge as a utopian fantasy nation of no dependence… On the other side of this we see how heavily policed the idea of a utopia is…! FINE LINE BETWEEEN UTOPIAN CULTURE AND A OPRESSIVE ONE…
Part of the lines of this quote are taken almost word for word from a French essayist in the west named MICHEL MOTAIGNE in an essay of his called “OF THE CANNIBALS.” His essays were translated into English by JOHN FLORIO in 1603…
In this essay of the Cannibals… Montaigne writes that there is nothing about the American Indians that is barbarous or savage, we have no other aim of truth or reason that the culture/customs from the culture in which we live in… What he is arguing is the following: In the sense that when we have trees that naturally produce fruit that are unaltered, then we have fruit and food produced artificially, we are altering nature… the things that occur naturally in nature are perfect for him… the bigger point he is making is that when we go to the Americas, what we do is we see cultures that don’t have our customs: we see those and we call those cultures barbaric, where in fact, we are the barbarians because we have gone and don’t recognize ourselves therefore, we call them uncivilized… Every culture in itself is netural zone, it is not good or bad within himself…
When Gonzalo speaks and offers his utopian vision is from a essay calling into question of having these utopian desires, there is something that becomes chilling for others for Shakespeare about telling others how they should live, this is barbarism….
THE CONTRAST for this comes from Caliban… when he is talking to Stefano and Trinculo, this is when they hear the music on the island (Act 3.2)… then Caliban says in some of the most beautiful language we find in Shakesepeare, one of the most profound notions in Shakespeare; what is the nature of savegry?! What is that really underscores the savagery of Caliban, it is ultimately a savagery that not only Caliban lays claim to, but also Shakespeare HIMSELF…
“Be not afeard. The isle is full of noises,
Sounds, and sweet airs, that give delight and hurt not.
Sometimes a thousand twangling instruments
Will hum about mine ears, and sometime voices
That, if I then had waked after long sleep
Will make me sleep again; and then in dreaming
The clouds methought would open and show riches
Ready to drop upon me, that when I waked
I cried to dream again. ” (III,ii,130)
To translate this for us: What Caliban says here in contrast to Gonzalo’s speech which called for policing and increasing regulation is no… in fact, what you do is stop talking and start to listen… it isn’t ultimately about manipulating and regulating… this brings Shakespeare to the end of his career, he realizes he has been regulating and manipulating… he sees we need not impose our will on the universe, but listen to it…
Dis 1D
Amanda Waldo
Friday, December 5, 2008
There be some sports are painful... (The Tempest)
"There be some sports are painful, and their labour
Delight in them sets off. Some kinds of baseness
Are nobly undergone, and most poor matters
Point to rich ends. This my mean task
Would be as heavy to me as odious, but
The mistress which I serve quickens what’s dead
And makes my labours pleasures."
(III.i.1 - III.i.7)
In this passage at the opening of III.i, Ferdinand is speaking in monologue, explaining that he is accepting of the ridiculous work tasks that Prospero has created for him, because of Miranda's love. This passage suggests that Ferdinand believes that everything happens for a reason, or "for the best," which is an ironic sentiment in this specific context, since he is being freely manipulated by Prospero despite Prospero's approval of him; it is also an ironic sentiment in the larger scheme of the play, since all things on the island, in the play, and "on the globe" are suggested to be illusory. The scene of Ferdinand and the logs also ties in with a common theme of punishment and exchange throughout the play, in which sacrifice for many of the characters is necessary to claim/reclaim their "reward"/status/freedom.
Stephanie Solis
Ian Hoch, 1B
Delight in them sets off. Some kinds of baseness
Are nobly undergone, and most poor matters
Point to rich ends. This my mean task
Would be as heavy to me as odious, but
The mistress which I serve quickens what’s dead
And makes my labours pleasures."
(III.i.1 - III.i.7)
In this passage at the opening of III.i, Ferdinand is speaking in monologue, explaining that he is accepting of the ridiculous work tasks that Prospero has created for him, because of Miranda's love. This passage suggests that Ferdinand believes that everything happens for a reason, or "for the best," which is an ironic sentiment in this specific context, since he is being freely manipulated by Prospero despite Prospero's approval of him; it is also an ironic sentiment in the larger scheme of the play, since all things on the island, in the play, and "on the globe" are suggested to be illusory. The scene of Ferdinand and the logs also ties in with a common theme of punishment and exchange throughout the play, in which sacrifice for many of the characters is necessary to claim/reclaim their "reward"/status/freedom.
Stephanie Solis
Ian Hoch, 1B
King Lear ID - Apostrophe
Not, Nothing - works against language that has underscores driven by the apostrophe:
Call out upson Mytrical force (GODS HEAVENS) Jupiter, Jove Line 220 (2.4)
When Lear 1st does this it is grand because he is King Lear but by Act 2.4 it ends as an underscore scene of the empty theater.
All grandeo is not about calling on God because infact they are not there. Theater packed with gods, etc is an empty space.
Sententiousness: empty feels good.
Lear who's been in charge disinegrates infront of us. We have reached end of emotionality. There is no where else for him to go. (Line 259) 2.4
Christina Salinas (Chris)
Call out upson Mytrical force (GODS HEAVENS) Jupiter, Jove Line 220 (2.4)
When Lear 1st does this it is grand because he is King Lear but by Act 2.4 it ends as an underscore scene of the empty theater.
All grandeo is not about calling on God because infact they are not there. Theater packed with gods, etc is an empty space.
Sententiousness: empty feels good.
Lear who's been in charge disinegrates infront of us. We have reached end of emotionality. There is no where else for him to go. (Line 259) 2.4
Christina Salinas (Chris)
Prospero acknowledges Caliban
Max Porter Zasada
Professor Little called attention to how The Tempest's name is based on something which we assume is natural, but turns out to be artifice. Here Shakespeare is pushing the limits of theater by exploding the illusion it creates. Theater that draws the audience in is, in The Tempest, then revealed to be a simple series of tricks by a conjurer like Prospero, simply for his own betterment (or PROSPERity). It is as if, at the end of his career, Shakespeare is telling his audience look and see how he has so simply tricked them into believing his plays so he could make a profit.
However, it goes much deeper when we think about the desire of human beings to break through the artifice to something real. Despite the flat characters which can be so easily fabricated that fill up this play, there's a complex and serious backstory which is pointedly ignored. We learn that Prospero killed Sycorax, then enslaved her son, Caliban, we learn of this complicated treaty that Prospero's brother worked out as a result of his taking the throne from the uninterested Prospero, and these would normally make us question the morality of Prospero's retaking the throne. However, the flow of the play will not allow this question to come up, making a point of how the play must conform to the illogical desires of the audience.
Max Porter Zasada
TA Ian Hoch
Professor Little called attention to how The Tempest's name is based on something which we assume is natural, but turns out to be artifice. Here Shakespeare is pushing the limits of theater by exploding the illusion it creates. Theater that draws the audience in is, in The Tempest, then revealed to be a simple series of tricks by a conjurer like Prospero, simply for his own betterment (or PROSPERity). It is as if, at the end of his career, Shakespeare is telling his audience look and see how he has so simply tricked them into believing his plays so he could make a profit.
However, it goes much deeper when we think about the desire of human beings to break through the artifice to something real. Despite the flat characters which can be so easily fabricated that fill up this play, there's a complex and serious backstory which is pointedly ignored. We learn that Prospero killed Sycorax, then enslaved her son, Caliban, we learn of this complicated treaty that Prospero's brother worked out as a result of his taking the throne from the uninterested Prospero, and these would normally make us question the morality of Prospero's retaking the throne. However, the flow of the play will not allow this question to come up, making a point of how the play must conform to the illogical desires of the audience.
Max Porter Zasada
TA Ian Hoch
King lear themes as a model to thematically studying all the plays. . .
From Dustin Brown, Amanda Waldo's section at 5:00pm on Thursdays :)
King Lear-
Justice
(consider which figure in the play should represent justice and who actually does represent it. To what extent does he or she and to what extent doesn't he or she represent justice? consider also, how and why readers get and expect justice to come about. How does King lear's justice tie into justice in another play?)
King Lear is a brutal play, filled with human cruelty and awful, seemingly meaningless disasters. The play’s succession of terrible events raises an obvious question for the characters—namely, whether there is any possibility of justice in the world, or whether the world is fundamentally indifferent or even hostile to humankind. Various characters offer their opinions: “As flies to wanton boys are we to the gods; / They kill us for their sport,” Gloucester muses, realizing it foolish for humankind to assume that the natural world works in parallel with socially or morally convenient notions of justice (IV.i.37–38). Edgar, on the other hand, insists that “the gods are just,” believing that individuals get what they deserve (V.iii.169). But, in the end, we are left with only a terrifying uncertainty—although the wicked die, the good die along with them, culminating in the awful image of Lear cradling Cordelia’s body in his arms. There is goodness in the world of the play, but there is also madness and death, and it is difficult to tell which triumphs in the end.
Authority versus Chaos
(How does the play define these terms? Is chaos the appropriate term here or is what happens in the play Authority redefined? Compare the relationship between Authority and Chaos in King Lear with authority and Chaos in the other plays. What does this conflict (since it says "versus") suggest about Shakespeare's plays overall since they were written during the Jacobean era?)
King Lear is about political authority as much as it is about family dynamics. Lear is not only a father but also a king, and when he gives away his authority to the unworthy and evil Goneril and Regan, he delivers not only himself and his family but all of Britain into chaos and cruelty. As the two wicked sisters indulge their appetite for power and Edmund begins his own ascension, the kingdom descends into civil strife, and we realize that Lear has destroyed not only his own authority but all authority in Britain. The stable, hierarchal order that Lear initially represents falls apart and disorder engulfs the realm.
The failure of authority in the face of chaos recurs in Lear’s wanderings on the heath during the storm. Witnessing the powerful forces of the natural world, Lear comes to understand that he, like the rest of humankind, is insignificant in the world. This realization proves much more important than the realization of his loss of political control, as it compels him to reprioritize his values and become humble and caring. With this newfound understanding of himself, Lear hopes to be able to confront the chaos in the political realm as well.
Reconciliation
(Again, is this the proper word for what happens in Lear? What are some synonyms for reconciliation that seem to get closer to the truth? What is at stake in the play if reconciliation does not occur, or for that matter, if it does? How does reconciliation in lear prefigure reconciliation in the other plays we read? What is shakespeare implying with how he uses or does not use reconciliation?)
Darkness and unhappiness pervade King Lear, and the devastating Act V represents one of the most tragic endings in all of literature. Nevertheless, the play presents the central relationship—that between Lear and Cordelia—as a dramatic embodiment of true, self-sacrificing love. Rather than despising Lear for banishing her, Cordelia remains devoted, even from afar, and eventually brings an army from a foreign country to rescue him from his tormentors. Lear, meanwhile, learns a tremendously cruel lesson in humility and eventually reaches the point where he can reunite joyfully with Cordelia and experience the balm of her forgiving love. Lear’s recognition of the error of his ways is an ingredient vital to reconciliation with Cordelia, not because Cordelia feels wronged by him but because he has understood the sincerity and depth of her love for him. His maturation enables him to bring Cordelia back into his good graces, a testament to love’s ability to flourish, even if only fleetingly, amid the horror and chaos that engulf the rest of the play.
Good Luck everyone!
King Lear-
Justice
(consider which figure in the play should represent justice and who actually does represent it. To what extent does he or she and to what extent doesn't he or she represent justice? consider also, how and why readers get and expect justice to come about. How does King lear's justice tie into justice in another play?)
King Lear is a brutal play, filled with human cruelty and awful, seemingly meaningless disasters. The play’s succession of terrible events raises an obvious question for the characters—namely, whether there is any possibility of justice in the world, or whether the world is fundamentally indifferent or even hostile to humankind. Various characters offer their opinions: “As flies to wanton boys are we to the gods; / They kill us for their sport,” Gloucester muses, realizing it foolish for humankind to assume that the natural world works in parallel with socially or morally convenient notions of justice (IV.i.37–38). Edgar, on the other hand, insists that “the gods are just,” believing that individuals get what they deserve (V.iii.169). But, in the end, we are left with only a terrifying uncertainty—although the wicked die, the good die along with them, culminating in the awful image of Lear cradling Cordelia’s body in his arms. There is goodness in the world of the play, but there is also madness and death, and it is difficult to tell which triumphs in the end.
Authority versus Chaos
(How does the play define these terms? Is chaos the appropriate term here or is what happens in the play Authority redefined? Compare the relationship between Authority and Chaos in King Lear with authority and Chaos in the other plays. What does this conflict (since it says "versus") suggest about Shakespeare's plays overall since they were written during the Jacobean era?)
King Lear is about political authority as much as it is about family dynamics. Lear is not only a father but also a king, and when he gives away his authority to the unworthy and evil Goneril and Regan, he delivers not only himself and his family but all of Britain into chaos and cruelty. As the two wicked sisters indulge their appetite for power and Edmund begins his own ascension, the kingdom descends into civil strife, and we realize that Lear has destroyed not only his own authority but all authority in Britain. The stable, hierarchal order that Lear initially represents falls apart and disorder engulfs the realm.
The failure of authority in the face of chaos recurs in Lear’s wanderings on the heath during the storm. Witnessing the powerful forces of the natural world, Lear comes to understand that he, like the rest of humankind, is insignificant in the world. This realization proves much more important than the realization of his loss of political control, as it compels him to reprioritize his values and become humble and caring. With this newfound understanding of himself, Lear hopes to be able to confront the chaos in the political realm as well.
Reconciliation
(Again, is this the proper word for what happens in Lear? What are some synonyms for reconciliation that seem to get closer to the truth? What is at stake in the play if reconciliation does not occur, or for that matter, if it does? How does reconciliation in lear prefigure reconciliation in the other plays we read? What is shakespeare implying with how he uses or does not use reconciliation?)
Darkness and unhappiness pervade King Lear, and the devastating Act V represents one of the most tragic endings in all of literature. Nevertheless, the play presents the central relationship—that between Lear and Cordelia—as a dramatic embodiment of true, self-sacrificing love. Rather than despising Lear for banishing her, Cordelia remains devoted, even from afar, and eventually brings an army from a foreign country to rescue him from his tormentors. Lear, meanwhile, learns a tremendously cruel lesson in humility and eventually reaches the point where he can reunite joyfully with Cordelia and experience the balm of her forgiving love. Lear’s recognition of the error of his ways is an ingredient vital to reconciliation with Cordelia, not because Cordelia feels wronged by him but because he has understood the sincerity and depth of her love for him. His maturation enables him to bring Cordelia back into his good graces, a testament to love’s ability to flourish, even if only fleetingly, amid the horror and chaos that engulf the rest of the play.
Good Luck everyone!
King Lear
King Lear
(3.2 13-24)
Rumble thy bellyful; spit fire; spout rain.
Nor rain, wind thunder, fire are my daughters
I tax not you, you elements, with unkindness.
I never gave my kingdom, called you children.
You owe me no subscription. Then let fall
Your horrible pleasure. Here I stand your slave,
A poor, infirm, weak and despised old man,
In this passage Lear is talking to the Fool during a thunderstorm. In line 13, Lear’s words are short and quick, and make a sound similar to rain. Lear is coming to the realization that nature is stronger than he is when he says, “I tax not you, you elements with unkindness.” Lear still believes that he is “a little god” as James I through this statement, and the uses of monetary language towards earth’s elements. As the passage goes on, he realizes that nature isn’t going to pay taxes towards him; in fact he is a slave to nature and the natural world and will die like everyone else. The use of the word unkindness shows that nature is not moral, and will not pity him, and that nature is not a projection of King Lear himself, rather nature is completely separate and goes on regardless. However, this appears to be contradictory because in the play, this storm goes on as Lear goes into madness at the climax of the play. The storm that Lear is referring to is very much a reflection of Lear’s emotions.
(3.2 13-24)
Rumble thy bellyful; spit fire; spout rain.
Nor rain, wind thunder, fire are my daughters
I tax not you, you elements, with unkindness.
I never gave my kingdom, called you children.
You owe me no subscription. Then let fall
Your horrible pleasure. Here I stand your slave,
A poor, infirm, weak and despised old man,
In this passage Lear is talking to the Fool during a thunderstorm. In line 13, Lear’s words are short and quick, and make a sound similar to rain. Lear is coming to the realization that nature is stronger than he is when he says, “I tax not you, you elements with unkindness.” Lear still believes that he is “a little god” as James I through this statement, and the uses of monetary language towards earth’s elements. As the passage goes on, he realizes that nature isn’t going to pay taxes towards him; in fact he is a slave to nature and the natural world and will die like everyone else. The use of the word unkindness shows that nature is not moral, and will not pity him, and that nature is not a projection of King Lear himself, rather nature is completely separate and goes on regardless. However, this appears to be contradictory because in the play, this storm goes on as Lear goes into madness at the climax of the play. The storm that Lear is referring to is very much a reflection of Lear’s emotions.
Dead as earth
Professor Little ended his discussion of King Lear by focusing on the phrase "dead as earth" in the last scene of the play (V,iii, Line 261). In his lecture he expanded this phrase to the play and indeed the whole world, for in the vast despair of this play, the world is viewed as a dead place.
Echoed again in Lear's cry, "No, no, no life," in line 305, this sentiment informs our reading--or hearing--of the entirety of the play, and connects the ideas of early history with the hopelessness of solving life's problems. We have the sense that because the whole world is dead, there can be no motion or development of a true being. if this play takes place in Albion, the name of early England, and they didn't have an answer, then what tells us we know now? Besides connecting to the religious turmoil and changes that England was going through during this period, this thought brings us to the ultimate impotence of the theater itself. As a mirror of the world, the theater cannot contain an answer and is as empty and dead as the thing it mirrors.
Max Porter Zasada
TA Ian Hoch
Echoed again in Lear's cry, "No, no, no life," in line 305, this sentiment informs our reading--or hearing--of the entirety of the play, and connects the ideas of early history with the hopelessness of solving life's problems. We have the sense that because the whole world is dead, there can be no motion or development of a true being. if this play takes place in Albion, the name of early England, and they didn't have an answer, then what tells us we know now? Besides connecting to the religious turmoil and changes that England was going through during this period, this thought brings us to the ultimate impotence of the theater itself. As a mirror of the world, the theater cannot contain an answer and is as empty and dead as the thing it mirrors.
Max Porter Zasada
TA Ian Hoch
Nostalgia of Reapolitik
I've seen such a discrepancy amongst the several definitions of nostalgia of realpolitik that I found it necessary to comment on it. It’s quite literally the politics of reality. It’s a propagandist move that manipulates the memory of things past (true or untrue) to the advantage of the politician. It’s a strategy more so than a perversion of memory, Prospero utilizes the nostalgia of realpolitik as much as Coriolanus and Enabarbus do. They each hinge their arguments on the fact that the past was no much nicer, the fact this hallucinatory past is non-existent is superfluous to the definition of the N.O.P.
Hector Cueva
TA Aaron Gorelik
Hector Cueva
TA Aaron Gorelik
Role of Blindness in King Lear
Blindness in Shakespeare’s King Lear is a vital motif, one that characterizes King Lear and Gloucester as gullible men. The motif of blindness seems to further expose Shakespeare’s sense of disillusionment so apparent in this play, and it reinforces the concept of the human tendency to ignore the futility of a life destined for death. Both men are blind to the true devotion of their good children (Cordelia and Edgar) and oblivious to the true duplicity of their evil children (Regan, Goneril, and Edmund), allowing for the tragic events of the play to unfold. Because they are unaware of the true affections of their good children and they believe the false words of their malevolent children, the two fathers end up making the bad children heirs to wealth and power, making the blindness exhibited by Lear and Gloucester the source of the abuse of authority.
As Regan states, Lear “hath ever but slenderly known himself” (I.i.294-5), signifying her father is old and completely unaware of those around him, and more importantly, unaware of himself. Lear literally demonstrates blindness in not recognizing Kent, the subject the king banished for siding with Cordelia. This illustrates that while he had power, Lear could not see in plain sight the loyalty of his subject, but the king later relies on Kent’s service as he pretends to be someone else. Edgar, likewise, later disguises himself as Poor Tom, and though Gloucester literally cannot see his son, he does finally realize Edgar’s good character.
As for Gloucester, when his bastard son Edmund shows him the letter that Edgar supposedly wrote, the Earl literally does not see that the document is forged, asking Edmund “You know the character [handwriting] to be your brother’s?” (I.ii.62-3). While there is no way to know if Gloucester could recognize the difference in handwriting between his two sons, he obviously is blind to the fact that it is Edmund who is the one plotting to kill him and hasten his inheritance. Cornwall malevolently plucks out Gloucester’s eyes, telling him “upon these eyes of thine I’ll set my foot” (III.vii.69); when Regan announces Edmund was the one who revealed the earl’s treason, Gloucester exclaims “O my follies! Then Edgar was abused [slandered]” (III.vii.94). Ironically, it is not until Gloucester literally loses his sight that he sees the truth concerning his two sons. Similarly, it is not until King Lear suffers by descending into insanity and enduring the storm, that he acknowledges he is a “very foolish fond [silly] old man” (IV.vii.61) and pleads for Cordelia’s forgiveness.
Michael Benitez
As Regan states, Lear “hath ever but slenderly known himself” (I.i.294-5), signifying her father is old and completely unaware of those around him, and more importantly, unaware of himself. Lear literally demonstrates blindness in not recognizing Kent, the subject the king banished for siding with Cordelia. This illustrates that while he had power, Lear could not see in plain sight the loyalty of his subject, but the king later relies on Kent’s service as he pretends to be someone else. Edgar, likewise, later disguises himself as Poor Tom, and though Gloucester literally cannot see his son, he does finally realize Edgar’s good character.
As for Gloucester, when his bastard son Edmund shows him the letter that Edgar supposedly wrote, the Earl literally does not see that the document is forged, asking Edmund “You know the character [handwriting] to be your brother’s?” (I.ii.62-3). While there is no way to know if Gloucester could recognize the difference in handwriting between his two sons, he obviously is blind to the fact that it is Edmund who is the one plotting to kill him and hasten his inheritance. Cornwall malevolently plucks out Gloucester’s eyes, telling him “upon these eyes of thine I’ll set my foot” (III.vii.69); when Regan announces Edmund was the one who revealed the earl’s treason, Gloucester exclaims “O my follies! Then Edgar was abused [slandered]” (III.vii.94). Ironically, it is not until Gloucester literally loses his sight that he sees the truth concerning his two sons. Similarly, it is not until King Lear suffers by descending into insanity and enduring the storm, that he acknowledges he is a “very foolish fond [silly] old man” (IV.vii.61) and pleads for Cordelia’s forgiveness.
Michael Benitez
Thursday, December 4, 2008
Ekphrasis
A painting inside a narrative. Words used to describe a picture. Language used to describe physical art.
An example would be in "Antony and Cleopatra" when Enobarbus describes Cleopatra on the barge in Act 2, Scene 2. This freezes the decadence of Egypt.
-Michelle Gonzalez
Gorelik, 1C
An example would be in "Antony and Cleopatra" when Enobarbus describes Cleopatra on the barge in Act 2, Scene 2. This freezes the decadence of Egypt.
-Michelle Gonzalez
Gorelik, 1C
Language as a Source of Power in The Tempest
As Caliban attempts to convince Trinculo and Stephano to murder Prospero, he urges them to first destroy his books, which seem to be the main source of his power. Caliban instructs: “Remember / First to possess his books, for without them / He’s but a sot, as I am, nor hath not/ One spirit to command…Burn his books” (3.2.100-104). He implies that the books are endowed with some sort of magical ability that help their possessor to rule over others in an authoritarian fashion. Conversely, the absence of these books makes one into a “sot” and seems to degrade the individual, just like Caliban. This connection between books and power is also made by Prospero himself, when he decides to renounce his powers: “deeper than did ever plummet sound / I’ll drown my book” (5.1.65-66). He claims he wants to “drown” his book, which suggests that his powers are contingent upon his possession of it. Othello also makes a similar remark when he exclaims that language is like “witchcraft,” suggesting that it can be used to control people’s behavior (1.3.170). In The Tempest, Shakespeare seems to underscore this power of language upon others, which can often lead to harmful effects since language can be used to deceive and to keep others them in a base and subservient position. Moreover, there seems to be a master-slave relationship between those who master the use of language and those who lack this ability. From a metatheatrical perspective, those with special linguistic abilities, the playwrights, have complete control and over their subjects, the audience, since they dominate the story in the play. Prospero’s speech seems to disclose Shakespeare’s discontentment with language, his ultimate renouncement of his writing career and his forsaking of the authoritarian power he once held as a writer.
Rossely Amarante
Aaron Gorelik
Rossely Amarante
Aaron Gorelik
Justice in King Lear
"The gods are just" Edgar (IV.i.37–38)
In class, we talked a lot about the world of King Lear and the apparent indifference nature has to mankind. Professor pointed out that good things don't necessarily happen to the good people in this play. And if that's so, if there is no logic to the bad, then what is the meaning of tragedy? If we can't categorize the succession of terrible events in the play as being fair or unfair then King Learcan't really be a tragedy at all. The play loses the limits that justice would put on it and, because of this, the play loses its meaning. Just as King Lear gradually accepts the indifferent, superior power of nature, so must the audience accept that their lives are as meaningless and lacking in justice as the characters on the stage. “As flies to wanton boys are we to the gods; / They kill us for their sport,” Gloucester says, implying how foolish mankind, as well as the audience, is to assume that the natural world works with the goal of justice in mind. Edgar though, offers a different opinion that the "gods are just." So which is it? In a way, it does almost seem like poetic justice that King Lear loses the only daughter who truly loved him right after he realizes how poorly he mistreated her. But it's justice at the expense of an injustice to the kind-hearted Cordelia. Can justice be both existent and non-existent at the same time? In the end of the play, it seems like we're just left with a disturbing uncertainty rather than a definite answer. There is good that triumphs at the end of the play but there is also death and madness. In a sense, Shakespeare's King Lear doesn't bother to answer anything for the audience but rather live in a state of constant questioning right along with us.
Courtney Powell
Hoch/1B
Gonzalo's Speech--I' the commonwealth I would by contraries
Act II.i.150
GONZALO
I' the commonwealth I would by contraries
Execute all things; for no kind of traffic
Would I admit; no name of magistrate;
Letters should not be known; riches, poverty,
And use of service, none; contract, succession,
Bourn, bound of land, tilth, vineyard, none;
No use of metal, corn, or wine, or oil;
No occupation; all men idle, all;
And women too, but innocent and pure;
No sovereignty;--
Little explained in class that in order to have a utopia one must have another person to keep that vision clear in order to reach that desired place. LIttle also said that to the key word is no. If utopia is supposed to be a sublime paradise then why is is so policed? Utopia in the play so heavily regulated and oppressive. Prospero's utopia is his own hell and therefore like Adam and Eve, he too loses paradise. What is interesting about Gonzalo's speech is that he ripped it off someone else. Shakespeare plagiarized from and essay called Michael Montaigne “of the Cannibals” translated into English in 1603 John Florio.
Ian Hoch
Alma Solis 1B
12/04/2008
GONZALO
I' the commonwealth I would by contraries
Execute all things; for no kind of traffic
Would I admit; no name of magistrate;
Letters should not be known; riches, poverty,
And use of service, none; contract, succession,
Bourn, bound of land, tilth, vineyard, none;
No use of metal, corn, or wine, or oil;
No occupation; all men idle, all;
And women too, but innocent and pure;
No sovereignty;--
Little explained in class that in order to have a utopia one must have another person to keep that vision clear in order to reach that desired place. LIttle also said that to the key word is no. If utopia is supposed to be a sublime paradise then why is is so policed? Utopia in the play so heavily regulated and oppressive. Prospero's utopia is his own hell and therefore like Adam and Eve, he too loses paradise. What is interesting about Gonzalo's speech is that he ripped it off someone else. Shakespeare plagiarized from and essay called Michael Montaigne “of the Cannibals” translated into English in 1603 John Florio.
Ian Hoch
Alma Solis 1B
12/04/2008
Nostalgia in Antony and Cleopatra
One of the main themes Prof. Little touched on was the idea of nostalgia, or longing for a Rome which the characters once had, as if the they are looking to go back to an era in which things worked successfully in Rome. The problem with this is that, there is no way to ever reach something that has happened in the past; it no longer exists. This can be seen as Shakespeare’s critique of nostalgia, in that he is blatantly showing the audience how reaching for something in the past ultimately leads to destruction. The character of Ceaser acts as the one who reaches most drastically for this idea of an old Rome. His “Modena Speech” in Act 1, Scene 4 acts as the major nostalgia scene in that Shakespeare reverts back to a time in history when Antony followed the way of the Roman lifestyle, or the virtus. Furthermore, Ceaser is projecting this idea of a failed Rome onto Antony in that he crossed over into a more feminine or civitas world, preventing them from ever reaching that perfect Rome of the past.
Ashley Wynn
Ian Hoch, Dis 1E
Ashley Wynn
Ian Hoch, Dis 1E
Key Term: Nostalgia of Realpolitik
This term refers to the imagined nostalgia for the way things were at another time. In reality, what the people are nostalgic for never really existed, it is just a means to make others think that things were once better another time, and therefore motivate them to want to change. This technique was used by politicians to manipulate people into supporting them.
This term was introduced in class in relation to Antony and Cleopatra, specifically the way that the Romans discuss Antony. The Triumvirates display their nostalgia for the way Antony once was, the Roman that he used to embody. They are really expressing their nostalgia for the way Rome was. However, Rome was never really like that, they are just displaying their desire for what they want Rome to be.
Brittany Buckalew
This term was introduced in class in relation to Antony and Cleopatra, specifically the way that the Romans discuss Antony. The Triumvirates display their nostalgia for the way Antony once was, the Roman that he used to embody. They are really expressing their nostalgia for the way Rome was. However, Rome was never really like that, they are just displaying their desire for what they want Rome to be.
Brittany Buckalew
New English vs. Old English
In lecture, Antony was described as a character corrupted by the influences of Egypt. The relationship between Egypt and England within the play can be compared to the historical relationship between England and Ireland. Edmund Spenser, author of The Faerie Queene , was a proponent of the New English (newer English Protestant settlers in Ireland). The Old English were English citizens that had been sent to colonize Ireland and control it for English interests in the past, but eventually assimilated into Irish society and became too Irish. Similarly, Antony could be compared to the Old English because he has been corrupted by Egyptian influence.
Stephanie Bates
T.A.- Gorelik
Section 1F
Stephanie Bates
T.A.- Gorelik
Section 1F
The Tempest
I found this play to be the most intriguing of the course because of the manner in which it directly relates to the image of Shakespeare outside of the play itself. Although it is a given that this play can be read as a commentary of Shakespeare himslef, Professor Little's lecture gave insight to viewing Shakespeare as a either a creator or destroyer, or both. Shakespeare fit the image of a creator being in the position of a playwright. Through plays, however, he is able to deconstruct the ideologies of his society. Yet, with each proceeding play he progressively becomes more and more disillusioned and even cynical with the theater. My interpretation of this transformation is that Shakespeare struggled to find satisfaction in his own works. Creating the image of Prospero in representation of himslef allowed Shakespeare to deconstruct the unsatisfaction in himself. The personal insights into Shakespeare's psychology in this play makes this a fitting end to his career. It is ironic that Shakespeare's greatest deconstruction was of himself.
Ana Davila
Section 1F
Gorelik
Ana Davila
Section 1F
Gorelik
Schadenfreude
While discussing King Lear, Professor Little brought up the term schadenfreude which means delight in other's suffering. The example he gave is on page 787 when Gloucestor's eyes are pulled out. Gloucestor then falls into depression and eventually wants to commit suicide but the play won't let him out. As a result, this perverse sense of suffering ultimately highlights how tragic the place is not just for Gloucestor but also for Lear. Professor Little mentioned the sense of pleasure the audience experiences in other's misfortunes (Schadenfreude).
Claudia Acevedo
Aaron Gorelik
Section 1C
Claudia Acevedo
Aaron Gorelik
Section 1C
Utopia/Dystopia
Utopia: literally means "no place" - the term was coined by Thomas More in 1511 in his work titled "Utopia". A Utopia is an ideal world of perfection. The direct translation is important because a Utopia is an empty place, lacking things like crime, sickness, etc. At what point does a utopia become oppressive? A utopia would require heavy regulation to the point it may become a nightmare. EX: Communist Russia: the idea of communism was an idealized and pictured as a world without starvation, with equality for all, yet the attempt to create such an impossible society ended in death, a severe lack of civil rights, and political havoc.
Dystopia: (a famous one cited by Little was Brave New World). It is a nightmare place, the opposite of utopia.
Relation to "The Tempest": Is the island a utopia or a dystopia? One man's utopia is another's dystopia. Depending on the reading of the text, you can coax out either extreme (it's weird how closely these two opposites are related).
-Ashley Smith, Discussion F (Aaron)
Dystopia: (a famous one cited by Little was Brave New World). It is a nightmare place, the opposite of utopia.
Relation to "The Tempest": Is the island a utopia or a dystopia? One man's utopia is another's dystopia. Depending on the reading of the text, you can coax out either extreme (it's weird how closely these two opposites are related).
-Ashley Smith, Discussion F (Aaron)
Lear's Stripped Identity
Act II Scene 4 lines 10-19 is where things begin to fall apart for Lear. In this scene King Lear and Kent have a conversation which reveals Lear's sense of himself of being a spiritual body. He is beginning to go mad and being stripped of his identity but he tries to hold on. Professor Little brought up this passage in lecture because it is important to mark it at the point where 'the storm begins' against Lear. As the play progresses we can see Lear lose more and more of his sanity. According to the theory of the King's two bodies Lear believed he had two bodies; one physical and one spiritual. He believed that if he gave up his physical body he could still maintain his spiritual body. However we learn that is not case as it causes Lear to go mad and lose his sense of identity.
Jacob Lopez
Ian Hoch
Section 1E
Jacob Lopez
Ian Hoch
Section 1E
Ending of King Lear
Hey all,
I was just going over my notes for King Lear, and at the very end of my notes for this play I had written something about the odd ending of the play, in the sense that a great tragedy must have a great person fall from great heights, and this does not happen in King Lear. I never thought too hard about it because the notes were just scribbled down at the end of class, but the idea of Lear's fall has already occurred in the play early on, which led me to think throughout the play, what's to come next? I was always anticipating, rather than getting into the storyline. Unlike Macbeth, for instance, where everything is built up so to such a great conclusion to the play, in this one the anticlimactic ending really comes through, and it left me feeling slightly depressed at the idea that the greatness is lost so early on in the play, and everyone has to suffer through it before being killed off anyway. Don't get me wrong, it's one of my favourite plays, but for a play that was so overdramatic and filled with exaggeration at the beginning, the ending just doesn't quite match to me.
Anyway, that's my two cents =)
Good luck on the final!
Jessica White
TA: Amanda Waldo
Section 1D
I was just going over my notes for King Lear, and at the very end of my notes for this play I had written something about the odd ending of the play, in the sense that a great tragedy must have a great person fall from great heights, and this does not happen in King Lear. I never thought too hard about it because the notes were just scribbled down at the end of class, but the idea of Lear's fall has already occurred in the play early on, which led me to think throughout the play, what's to come next? I was always anticipating, rather than getting into the storyline. Unlike Macbeth, for instance, where everything is built up so to such a great conclusion to the play, in this one the anticlimactic ending really comes through, and it left me feeling slightly depressed at the idea that the greatness is lost so early on in the play, and everyone has to suffer through it before being killed off anyway. Don't get me wrong, it's one of my favourite plays, but for a play that was so overdramatic and filled with exaggeration at the beginning, the ending just doesn't quite match to me.
Anyway, that's my two cents =)
Good luck on the final!
Jessica White
TA: Amanda Waldo
Section 1D
Marriage in The Tempest
In The Tempest Shakespeare mentions briefly marriage, but it is enough to remind us about what was happening in Measure for Measure. In Measure for Measure we go back to when we discussed how the government was trying to have control over the people and saying that society cannot be married without following the rules set down my the government. And the play was a mockery of this, saying that the government cannot do everything it says it will do, it cannot be everywhere and do everything. In The Tempest the opposite is occurring. Marriage is shown to be incomplete without the traditions of society and the witness by the government. This is shown when Prospero is telling Ferdinand to hold him self back and not to have sex with his daughter, Miranda, until they have gone through with the marriage ceremony:
PROSPERO. Then as my gift and thine own acquisition Worthily purchased, take my daughter. But If thou dost break her virgin knot before All sanctimonious ceremonies may With full and holy rite be ministered, No sweet aspersion shall the heavens let fall To make this contract grow, but barren hate Sour-eyed disdain, and discord shall bestrew The union of your bed with weeds so loathly That you shall hate it both. Therefore take heed, As Hymen's lamps shall light you. (4.1.13-23)
We can see that through this quote the marriage ceremony holds a stronger bond with society then it did in Measure for Measure. And maybe this is Shakespeare’s way of telling his audience that marriage is defined by us and that whatever way one wishes to be married or whoever one wishes to marry, is of no concern to anyone but those who are being married. Marriage is a bond between man and heaven, not man and society.
Spencer Sohler
PROSPERO. Then as my gift and thine own acquisition Worthily purchased, take my daughter. But If thou dost break her virgin knot before All sanctimonious ceremonies may With full and holy rite be ministered, No sweet aspersion shall the heavens let fall To make this contract grow, but barren hate Sour-eyed disdain, and discord shall bestrew The union of your bed with weeds so loathly That you shall hate it both. Therefore take heed, As Hymen's lamps shall light you. (4.1.13-23)
We can see that through this quote the marriage ceremony holds a stronger bond with society then it did in Measure for Measure. And maybe this is Shakespeare’s way of telling his audience that marriage is defined by us and that whatever way one wishes to be married or whoever one wishes to marry, is of no concern to anyone but those who are being married. Marriage is a bond between man and heaven, not man and society.
Spencer Sohler
Last Post
This play was interesting in the usage of the supernatural. Although there is an abundance of supernatural and mystical actions going on throughout the play, the thing that struck me the most was the idea of the “Utopian society” that Professor Little brought up in lecture. Utopia come from the Greek, literally meaning, “no place,” proving that although Prospero left his land to go to the island and believed it to be perfect with no problems, there was already the idea of slavery when it comes to Caliban. Caliban although originally not in servitude to any character, he was a victim of slavery to the island itself. Like Prospero, Caliban’s mother was exiled from her home, Argier due to the practice of witchcraft, and there, on the island, Caliban was born, and by the right of his mother, the island was his. When Prospero arrives, Caliban gives up his duty to the island of which he was born, only to once again return to servitude under the watchful eye of Prospero. Caliban is constantly referred to by Prospero as a slave and is performing duties for Prospero throughout the play. This violates the idea of a “utopian” society, because the idea of perfection and equality no longer, if ever had, in existance. As stated in the meaning of the word from the Greek, there is “no place” that exists which is perfect, no matter how badly someone believes that it may be possible.
Why does Caliban feel the need to be in servitude to Prospero after he and his men arrive on the island and to what extent does witchcraft play, if at all, in this loyality?
Nichol Forbes
Ian Hoch
Section 1E
Why does Caliban feel the need to be in servitude to Prospero after he and his men arrive on the island and to what extent does witchcraft play, if at all, in this loyality?
Nichol Forbes
Ian Hoch
Section 1E
Metatheater in Othello
"In sleep I heard him say 'Sweet Desdamona,
Let us be way, let us hide our loves',
And then, sir, would he grip and wring my hand,
Cry 'O, sweet creature!', then kiss me hard,
As if he plucked up kisses by the roots,
That grew upon my lips, lay his leg o'er my thigh,
And sigh, and kiss, and then cry 'Cursed fate,
That gave thee to the Moor!'"
- Othello 3.3.423-430
As Iago acts out this fictitious vignette, he assumes the role of an author, Othello functions as the audience, and the fabrication of Cassio speaking of Desdamona in his sleep becomes the dram. The moment is metatheatrical as it calls attention to the construct of the play. The audience's awareness of the fiction is enhanced by the fact that Iago is relating an account that never actually transpired. Like an author, Iago utilizes dialogue and action to create a story, which he presents to Othello as reality. Interestingly, however, the power of action in developing meaning is undermined, as Iago's words are all that is needed to create an event. Even though the account Iago relates never actually took place, language is influential enough to deceive Othello into thinking that it did, and, as a result, the fabricated event yields real consequences.
Let us be way, let us hide our loves',
And then, sir, would he grip and wring my hand,
Cry 'O, sweet creature!', then kiss me hard,
As if he plucked up kisses by the roots,
That grew upon my lips, lay his leg o'er my thigh,
And sigh, and kiss, and then cry 'Cursed fate,
That gave thee to the Moor!'"
- Othello 3.3.423-430
As Iago acts out this fictitious vignette, he assumes the role of an author, Othello functions as the audience, and the fabrication of Cassio speaking of Desdamona in his sleep becomes the dram. The moment is metatheatrical as it calls attention to the construct of the play. The audience's awareness of the fiction is enhanced by the fact that Iago is relating an account that never actually transpired. Like an author, Iago utilizes dialogue and action to create a story, which he presents to Othello as reality. Interestingly, however, the power of action in developing meaning is undermined, as Iago's words are all that is needed to create an event. Even though the account Iago relates never actually took place, language is influential enough to deceive Othello into thinking that it did, and, as a result, the fabricated event yields real consequences.
Last post
This play was interesting in the usage of the supernatural. Although there is an abundance of supernatural and mystical actions going on throughout the play, the thing that struck me the most was the idea of the “Utopian society” that Professor Little brought up in lecture. Utopia come from the Greek, literally meaning, “no place,” proving that although Prospero left his land to go to the island and believed it to be perfect with no problems, there was already the idea of slavery when it comes to Caliban. Caliban although originally not in servitude to any character, he was a victim of slavery to the island itself. Like Prospero, Caliban’s mother was exiled from her home, Argier due to the practice of witchcraft, and there, on the island, Caliban was born, and by the right of his mother, the island was his. When Prospero arrives, Caliban gives up his duty to the island of which he was born, only to once again return to servitude under the watchful eye of Prospero. Caliban is constantly referred to by Prospero as a slave and is performing duties for Prospero throughout the play. This violates the idea of a “utopian” society, because the idea of perfection and equality no longer, if ever had, in existance. As stated in the meaning of the word from the Greek, there is “no place” that exists which is perfect, no matter how badly someone believes that it may be possible.
Why does Caliban feel the need to be in servitude to Prospero after he and his men arrive on the island and to what extent does witchcraft play, if at all, in this loyality?
Why does Caliban feel the need to be in servitude to Prospero after he and his men arrive on the island and to what extent does witchcraft play, if at all, in this loyality?
"Empty Space" in Antony and Cleopatra; close reading
Thou, an Egyptian puppet, shalt be shown
In Rome, as well as I mechanic slaves
With greasy aprons, rules, and hammers, shall
Uplift us to the view; in their thick breaths,
Rank of gross diet, shall be enclouded,
And forced to drink their vapour.
Nay, 'tis most certain, Iras: saucy lictors
Will catch at us, like strumpets; and scald rhymers
Ballad us out o' tune: the quick comedians
Extemporally will stage us, and present
Our Alexandrian revels; Antony
Shall be brought drunken forth, and I shall see
Some squeaking Cleopatra boy my greatness
I' the posture of a whore. (Cleopatra; 5.2.203-217)
Cleopatra warns her attendant Iras that if they are to be taken back to Rome their bodies will be “puppet[s]”, “mechan[ical]” objects devoid of self control. Without control over her own body, Cleopatra will merely be a “slave” of the people and she will be forced, among other things, to assume the expected role of the woman: “greasy aprons” and “rules”. Her body as a puppet is further conveyed with the notion of having being “forced to drink [the Romans] vapour” - Cleopatra will not only lose control of her body - she will be forced, perhaps injected, with the “vapour”, or ideology, of Romans. This sexual innuendo further suggests that Cleopatra will lose her ability to make sexual decisions on her own. The extent to which Cleopatra uses bodily imagery and the loss of control of the body in this monologue strengthens the notion of her body as an empty space. She realizes that surrendering her body to Rome will result in the masses forcing their expected, assumed, and fantastical notions of who “Cleopatra” should be in their eyes. At no better point in this monologue does Cleopatra, and ultimately Shakespeare, convey the body as an “empty space” than with the invocation of metatheatre; Cleopatra is worried that she and Iras will be commoditized as “scald rhymers / ballad us out o’tune: the quick comedians / extemporally will stage us…I shall see / some squeaking Cleopatra boy my greatness / I’the posture of a whore.” Cleopatra realizes that once her body is able to be portrayed however the masses wish it to be (i.e. at a playhouse), she will have lost all individuality and solely be the subject of the peoples’ intents. She will be presented, as she was in act two scene five, before she was aware of her body’s relation to her persona, as “the posture of a whore” - i.e. that which the masses demand her to be portrayed as.
Michael Dacks Milliken
TA Ian Hoch; discussion 1b
In Rome, as well as I mechanic slaves
With greasy aprons, rules, and hammers, shall
Uplift us to the view; in their thick breaths,
Rank of gross diet, shall be enclouded,
And forced to drink their vapour.
Nay, 'tis most certain, Iras: saucy lictors
Will catch at us, like strumpets; and scald rhymers
Ballad us out o' tune: the quick comedians
Extemporally will stage us, and present
Our Alexandrian revels; Antony
Shall be brought drunken forth, and I shall see
Some squeaking Cleopatra boy my greatness
I' the posture of a whore. (Cleopatra; 5.2.203-217)
Cleopatra warns her attendant Iras that if they are to be taken back to Rome their bodies will be “puppet[s]”, “mechan[ical]” objects devoid of self control. Without control over her own body, Cleopatra will merely be a “slave” of the people and she will be forced, among other things, to assume the expected role of the woman: “greasy aprons” and “rules”. Her body as a puppet is further conveyed with the notion of having being “forced to drink [the Romans] vapour” - Cleopatra will not only lose control of her body - she will be forced, perhaps injected, with the “vapour”, or ideology, of Romans. This sexual innuendo further suggests that Cleopatra will lose her ability to make sexual decisions on her own. The extent to which Cleopatra uses bodily imagery and the loss of control of the body in this monologue strengthens the notion of her body as an empty space. She realizes that surrendering her body to Rome will result in the masses forcing their expected, assumed, and fantastical notions of who “Cleopatra” should be in their eyes. At no better point in this monologue does Cleopatra, and ultimately Shakespeare, convey the body as an “empty space” than with the invocation of metatheatre; Cleopatra is worried that she and Iras will be commoditized as “scald rhymers / ballad us out o’tune: the quick comedians / extemporally will stage us…I shall see / some squeaking Cleopatra boy my greatness / I’the posture of a whore.” Cleopatra realizes that once her body is able to be portrayed however the masses wish it to be (i.e. at a playhouse), she will have lost all individuality and solely be the subject of the peoples’ intents. She will be presented, as she was in act two scene five, before she was aware of her body’s relation to her persona, as “the posture of a whore” - i.e. that which the masses demand her to be portrayed as.
Michael Dacks Milliken
TA Ian Hoch; discussion 1b
Utopia and Dystopia
Utopia-Literally translated this term means "no place," but we generally think of a Utopia as perfect world or paradise. Perhaps the literal translation holds more meaning, however, if we look at the term in regards to "The Tempest." Different characters in the play try to define what a utopia should be, but whenever one character imposes their utopia on another, it becomes clear that the latter character's ideas about utopia are quite different. One of the best examples of this occurs in Act 1, scene 2, when the character Caliban expresses how his utopia differs from Prospero's: "You taught me language, and my profit on't/ Is I know how to curse. The red plague rid you for learning me your language." Caliban's speech implies that Prospero pushes intellectual language onto Caliban, believing that he will profit from learning and potentially experience a more utopian existence. Caliban rejects Prospero's logic, however, explaining that Prospero's ideal existence is not in line with his own, and that language has actually made him quite miserable. The text is highlighting that a community is never a true utopia if an absolute authority is attempting to define its ideals. Utopia exists when a place becomes a "no place," emptied of the rules and content which govern individuals behavior.
Thomas Marren
Thomas Marren
Michel de Montaigne's "of the cannibals"
"Of The Cannibals" was an essay originally written by the French writer Michel de Montaigne. His essay was from his massive book of "Essais" or "attempts". Montaigne is important in our Shakespeare realm because Shakespeare used his "Of the Cannibals" essay when Gonzalo is giving his famous speech of the island (2.1 : Line 147)in "The Tempest". John Florio translated Montaigne's essays in 1603 into English, as Montaigne was one of the most influential writers of the French Renaissance.
Brian Casillas
Aaron Gorelik
Disc 1C
Brian Casillas
Aaron Gorelik
Disc 1C
Music of the Spheres
The "Music of the Spheres" is the concept that the movement of the planets makes a kind of music that contributes to a massive celestial symphony.
This idea relates to Caliban's speech of 3.2.130:
"Be not afeard. The isle is full of noises,
Sounds, and sweetairs, that give delight and hurt not.
Sometimes a thousand twangling instruments
Will hum about mine ears, and sometimes voices
That if I then had waked after long sleep
Will make me sleep again; and then in dreaming
The clouds methought would open and show riches
Ready to drop upon me, that when I waked
I cried to dream again."
As Professor Little described in class, a true utopia will come when people stop talking and regulating the world, and learn how to find peace in listening. The world is perfect in itself, and true happiness may come from enjoying this perfection through our senses. This idea relates back to Shakespeare and the writing of plays. As The Tempest was his last play, this passage may emphasize his decision to stop writing plays and let the world continue in its perfection without his direct involvement.
Taylor Price, Ian Hoch, Section B
This idea relates to Caliban's speech of 3.2.130:
"Be not afeard. The isle is full of noises,
Sounds, and sweetairs, that give delight and hurt not.
Sometimes a thousand twangling instruments
Will hum about mine ears, and sometimes voices
That if I then had waked after long sleep
Will make me sleep again; and then in dreaming
The clouds methought would open and show riches
Ready to drop upon me, that when I waked
I cried to dream again."
As Professor Little described in class, a true utopia will come when people stop talking and regulating the world, and learn how to find peace in listening. The world is perfect in itself, and true happiness may come from enjoying this perfection through our senses. This idea relates back to Shakespeare and the writing of plays. As The Tempest was his last play, this passage may emphasize his decision to stop writing plays and let the world continue in its perfection without his direct involvement.
Taylor Price, Ian Hoch, Section B
Religious Conversion and Colonization in The Tempest
As Professor Little and other bloggers have stated, one of the key themes in The Tempest is colonization. In correlation with colonization, religious conversion seems to be another key theme. Shakespeare uses the two bumbling idiots of the play, Trinculo and Stefano, to demonstrate the futility of trying to convert other cultures to a specific religion.
In the play, Caliban is associated as one having others come in to his land and impede and his lifestyle. Stefano and Trinculo both force their ideals upon Caliban, symbolized by their alcohol. In Act 2, scene 2, the two colonizers get Caliban drunk:
"Come on your ways. Open your mouth. Here is that
which will give language to you, cat. Open your mouth. This
will shake your shaking, I can tell you, and that soundly. You
cannot tell who's your friend. Open your chaps again."
While there are other similar passages, this is the first instance in which the seemingly reluctant Caliban has alcohol forced upon him by Stefano and Trinculo. Shakespeare uses these two characters to portray how inept colonizing countries, England included, are in terms of colonizing. The colonies end up despising the colonizers, in part because their culture is destroyed.
Andrew Karcher
TA: Ian Hoch
Section 1E
In the play, Caliban is associated as one having others come in to his land and impede and his lifestyle. Stefano and Trinculo both force their ideals upon Caliban, symbolized by their alcohol. In Act 2, scene 2, the two colonizers get Caliban drunk:
"Come on your ways. Open your mouth. Here is that
which will give language to you, cat. Open your mouth. This
will shake your shaking, I can tell you, and that soundly. You
cannot tell who's your friend. Open your chaps again."
While there are other similar passages, this is the first instance in which the seemingly reluctant Caliban has alcohol forced upon him by Stefano and Trinculo. Shakespeare uses these two characters to portray how inept colonizing countries, England included, are in terms of colonizing. The colonies end up despising the colonizers, in part because their culture is destroyed.
Andrew Karcher
TA: Ian Hoch
Section 1E
Lear's Utopian World Falls into Dystopia
Lear’s Utopian World Falls into Dystopia
Utopia is a name for an ideal community, taken from the title of a book written in 1516 by Sir Thomas More describing a fictional island in the Atlantic Ocean, possessing a seemingly perfect socio-politico-legal system. The term has been used to describe both intentional communities that attempted to create an ideal society, and fictional societies portrayed in literature. "Utopia" is sometimes used pejoratively, in reference to an unrealistic ideal that is impossible to achieve, and has spawned other concepts, most prominently dystopia.
A dystopian society is one in which the conditions of life are miserable, characterized by human misery, poverty, oppression, violence, disease, and/or pollution (Wikipedia).
Shakespeare takes these themes at shows them both at work in his play, King Lear. Through the betrayal of the plays characters we see a utopian world fall into dystopia. It is because of this betrayal that we see the workings of wickedness in both the familial and political realms, as brothers betray brothers and children betray fathers. Goneril and Regan’s betrayal of Lear raises them to power in Britain, where Edmund, who has betrayed both Edgar and Gloucester, joins them. It is as this betrayal occurs, that we see Lear’s utopian world turn into a barren landscape, which is filled with death and deceit. It, therefore, can be said that each of these characters are responsible for their own destinies due to their actions, which will ultimately shape the world in which they inhabit.
William Hamilton
Utopia is a name for an ideal community, taken from the title of a book written in 1516 by Sir Thomas More describing a fictional island in the Atlantic Ocean, possessing a seemingly perfect socio-politico-legal system. The term has been used to describe both intentional communities that attempted to create an ideal society, and fictional societies portrayed in literature. "Utopia" is sometimes used pejoratively, in reference to an unrealistic ideal that is impossible to achieve, and has spawned other concepts, most prominently dystopia.
A dystopian society is one in which the conditions of life are miserable, characterized by human misery, poverty, oppression, violence, disease, and/or pollution (Wikipedia).
Shakespeare takes these themes at shows them both at work in his play, King Lear. Through the betrayal of the plays characters we see a utopian world fall into dystopia. It is because of this betrayal that we see the workings of wickedness in both the familial and political realms, as brothers betray brothers and children betray fathers. Goneril and Regan’s betrayal of Lear raises them to power in Britain, where Edmund, who has betrayed both Edgar and Gloucester, joins them. It is as this betrayal occurs, that we see Lear’s utopian world turn into a barren landscape, which is filled with death and deceit. It, therefore, can be said that each of these characters are responsible for their own destinies due to their actions, which will ultimately shape the world in which they inhabit.
William Hamilton
Masques and The Tempest
A common masque of the seventeenth century included elaborate and ornate productions, often very over the top, that required little intellectual attention or introspection on the part of the audience; viewers simply had to passively sit back and visually observe the production in hopes of being entertained by an embellishment of costumes and movement. Shakespeare observed that the theater was becoming masque like and comments on this in his romance play, The Tempest. We are visually fooled in the Tempest; what appears to be the most natural scene of the play is actually the most artificial-Prospero's (and Shakespeare's) creation. Shakespeare shifted from the genre of tragedy to romance, a genre driven by tragedy that ends in comedy in a rather superficial (or artificial) fashion. Shakespeare stopped emphasizing the importance of individual personality among characters and casted them as "types," or cliches. The Tempest embodies the masque-like artificiality that was transpiring in the theater, and served as Shakespeare's final attempts to fool his audience into believing they understood what they were observing, when in fact they were the butt of the joke in their lack of understanding and inability to observe a play with more than their eyes. (In Coriolanus we observed a play where little was seen, and much was heard, unlike the Tempest which reveals how audiences became too visually dependent and stopped listening to the narrative.)
Stephanie Ingraham
Section 1B Ian Hoch
Stephanie Ingraham
Section 1B Ian Hoch
Utopia and Dystopia in "The Tempest"
Professor Little brought the concept of "Utopia" up during this past week's "The Tempest" lecture.
** The English word "Utopia" comes from the Greek word "Ut Topia", literally meaning "no place".
** The term was officially coined in 1511 by Thomas Moore in his work "Utopia"; originally written in Latin and then translated into English.
** We use the word to mean a 'perfect' or 'ideal' place
** The opposite of "utopia" is "dystopia" - an example of which is Huxley's "Brave New World"
** Dystopia defines a negative or nightmarish place standing in direct opposition to utopia.
** In the context of "The Tempest", it is unclear whether we are speaking of utopia or dystopia as one man's utopia is another man's nightmare. For example, Prospero creates his perfect utopian world when he comes to the island; for Caliban, however, this same space is represented as dystopia. This, then, brings up the question "Whose play is this?" Does it belong to Prospero or to Caliban - or either?
** In a larger context, "The Tempest" might be Shakespeare's most political play; especially in its examination of the establishment of both utopias and dystopias.
** In brief, the play also explores the following: In order for any of us to have a utopia, someone must be in charge of the utopian vision; it also explores how heavily policed the idea of a "utopia" is.
** Finally, there is a very fine line between a utopian culture and an oppressive culture.
--Kate McAvoy
Section IE, Ian Hoch
** The English word "Utopia" comes from the Greek word "Ut Topia", literally meaning "no place".
** The term was officially coined in 1511 by Thomas Moore in his work "Utopia"; originally written in Latin and then translated into English.
** We use the word to mean a 'perfect' or 'ideal' place
** The opposite of "utopia" is "dystopia" - an example of which is Huxley's "Brave New World"
** Dystopia defines a negative or nightmarish place standing in direct opposition to utopia.
** In the context of "The Tempest", it is unclear whether we are speaking of utopia or dystopia as one man's utopia is another man's nightmare. For example, Prospero creates his perfect utopian world when he comes to the island; for Caliban, however, this same space is represented as dystopia. This, then, brings up the question "Whose play is this?" Does it belong to Prospero or to Caliban - or either?
** In a larger context, "The Tempest" might be Shakespeare's most political play; especially in its examination of the establishment of both utopias and dystopias.
** In brief, the play also explores the following: In order for any of us to have a utopia, someone must be in charge of the utopian vision; it also explores how heavily policed the idea of a "utopia" is.
** Finally, there is a very fine line between a utopian culture and an oppressive culture.
--Kate McAvoy
Section IE, Ian Hoch
The "Emptiness" of the stage
"And my poor fool is hanged! NO,no, no life?
Why should a dog, a horse, a rat have life,
And though no breath at all?"
King Lear (Lines 311-313) Bevington Ed.
The above quote emphasizes that the world does not have a sense of morality or judgement that it acts upon humanity. This statement in turn breaks down other fallacies of the world. If there is no universal morality, there need not be any notion that hidden hands are pulling strings, and any belief or faith in a diety is un founded because the world is empty. Any significance we live in life is what we give it.
The class became depressed with the aforementioned, but i think it is the most positive message Shakespeare could have given us. If the world is empty, then it is up to our individual selves (BIG emphasis on "individual")to make life what ever we want- of course with respect to humanity as a whole.
Jose "Abel" Gonzalez, SECTION 1E
Why should a dog, a horse, a rat have life,
And though no breath at all?"
King Lear (Lines 311-313) Bevington Ed.
The above quote emphasizes that the world does not have a sense of morality or judgement that it acts upon humanity. This statement in turn breaks down other fallacies of the world. If there is no universal morality, there need not be any notion that hidden hands are pulling strings, and any belief or faith in a diety is un founded because the world is empty. Any significance we live in life is what we give it.
The class became depressed with the aforementioned, but i think it is the most positive message Shakespeare could have given us. If the world is empty, then it is up to our individual selves (BIG emphasis on "individual")to make life what ever we want- of course with respect to humanity as a whole.
Jose "Abel" Gonzalez, SECTION 1E
Before the Fall/After the Fall
When discussing King Lear, Professor Little used the terms prelapsarian and postlapsarian which means roughly before the fall and after the fall. In a biblical sense, the words refer to the origin story in which Adam and Eve resided in the Garden of Eden and lived in a perfect state of being. The postlapsarian event is the fall from grace when the first couple disobeys God and his authority. To relate to Shakespeare's play, King Lear, King Lear imagines a prelapsarian world in which everything is perfect and without conflict. In the land of disillusionment, he believes his failure and his daughters' action of rebellion starts a postlapsarian period. Ironically, his world was never perfect and this change never occurred. Shakespeare reminds the reader there is never a "perfect" place to live in. This highlights King Lear's denial of conflict and change.
Margarete Villalobos
Aaron Gorelik
Disc. 1C
Margarete Villalobos
Aaron Gorelik
Disc. 1C
Coriolanus and Tarquin/Lucrece
When Professor Little spoke about The Tragedy of Coriolanus, he mentioned that hidden in this story concerned with Roman identity was the legend of Rome's founding. Tarquin, the last King of Rome, is mentioned specifically in reference to the past--for example lines 83-85 on Page 1004 in Act 2:2:
Be singly counterpoised. At sixteen years,
When Tarquin made a head for Rome, he fought
Beyond the mark of others.
However, there is no mention of Lucrece--the woman so critical to Rome's founding. According to legend (and wiki), her rape and suicide sparked the people of Rome to overthrow the monarchy. The play's central concern of the shifting identity of Rome must then contend as well with the denial of this woman's suffering and the implications of being founded on such an immoral act. Furthermore, imagery of rape surrounding the desire to see Coriolanus's battle wounds harkens to this untold story.
Kimberlee Vander Most
Waldo ~ 1 D
Be singly counterpoised. At sixteen years,
When Tarquin made a head for Rome, he fought
Beyond the mark of others.
However, there is no mention of Lucrece--the woman so critical to Rome's founding. According to legend (and wiki), her rape and suicide sparked the people of Rome to overthrow the monarchy. The play's central concern of the shifting identity of Rome must then contend as well with the denial of this woman's suffering and the implications of being founded on such an immoral act. Furthermore, imagery of rape surrounding the desire to see Coriolanus's battle wounds harkens to this untold story.
Kimberlee Vander Most
Waldo ~ 1 D
Lears Shadow
Does any here know me? This is not Lear.
Does Lear walk thus, speak thus? Where are his eyes?
Either his notion weakens, or his discernings
Are lethargied--Ha! Waking? 'Tis not so.
Who is it that can tell me who I am?
Lear's shadow.
This passage is representative of many of the larger themes throughout the play. Lear attempts to understand what it means to be "Lear," and when he cannot decide, he asks a fool. The ridiculousness of this interaction--a king asking about his identity with a fool--reflects the larger nihilistic undertones throughout the play. Shakespeare is stripping away the scripts Lear adheres to systematically: first his walk, then his speech (his lofty language), then his very thoughts, or "notions." Finally the fool reveals that he is merely a shadow of himself. This is significant both in terms of the meaninglessness of scripts, but also in terms of Lear as a remnant. He is a figment of the imagination, a 2-bodied king who has given away his physical body, and he is what remains after disillusionment--a shadow.
Waldo's section at 5:00
Samantha Moeller
Does Lear walk thus, speak thus? Where are his eyes?
Either his notion weakens, or his discernings
Are lethargied--Ha! Waking? 'Tis not so.
Who is it that can tell me who I am?
Lear's shadow.
This passage is representative of many of the larger themes throughout the play. Lear attempts to understand what it means to be "Lear," and when he cannot decide, he asks a fool. The ridiculousness of this interaction--a king asking about his identity with a fool--reflects the larger nihilistic undertones throughout the play. Shakespeare is stripping away the scripts Lear adheres to systematically: first his walk, then his speech (his lofty language), then his very thoughts, or "notions." Finally the fool reveals that he is merely a shadow of himself. This is significant both in terms of the meaninglessness of scripts, but also in terms of Lear as a remnant. He is a figment of the imagination, a 2-bodied king who has given away his physical body, and he is what remains after disillusionment--a shadow.
Waldo's section at 5:00
Samantha Moeller
Cleopatra as Eroticized Other
In Antony and Cleopatra, the Egyptian queen is more often than not portrayed as an exotic siren -- her entire person is based on the facts of her being black and a woman.
She is usually described through the eyes of the Romans, who view her as inherently foreign. In the famous barge scene, for example, the Roman speaking is supposedly describing Cleopatra's personal allure, but the bulk of the lines are devoted to her exotic surroundings rather than to the queen herself.
Her sexuality is described in almost reverent terms, for even "the holy priests/bless her when she is riggish" (2.2.244-245).
While Cleopatra is being portrayed in this one-dimensional method by the characters within the play, the play itself seems to question this construct exactly because it is a construct -- Cleopatra is built up by the Romans observing her and has little say in her own reputation. Shakespeare does this by taking this eroticized queen and reminding audiences over and again that she is being portrayed by a boy actor. He does this in the scene where Cleopatra brags of how she "put [her] tires and mantles on [Antony] whilst/[she] wore his sword Phillipan" (2.5.22-23). This blatant gender reversal reminds audiences that this erotic queen exists entirely in their minds, and needs no basis in reality.
This especially shows through when Cleopatra rails against the thought of seeing "some squeaking Cleopatra boy [her] greatness i' th' posture of a whore" -- not only reminding English audiences what/who they are watching, but turning the tables and making England seem strange and perverse while England is marking her as such.
Carolyn Wang
She is usually described through the eyes of the Romans, who view her as inherently foreign. In the famous barge scene, for example, the Roman speaking is supposedly describing Cleopatra's personal allure, but the bulk of the lines are devoted to her exotic surroundings rather than to the queen herself.
Her sexuality is described in almost reverent terms, for even "the holy priests/bless her when she is riggish" (2.2.244-245).
While Cleopatra is being portrayed in this one-dimensional method by the characters within the play, the play itself seems to question this construct exactly because it is a construct -- Cleopatra is built up by the Romans observing her and has little say in her own reputation. Shakespeare does this by taking this eroticized queen and reminding audiences over and again that she is being portrayed by a boy actor. He does this in the scene where Cleopatra brags of how she "put [her] tires and mantles on [Antony] whilst/[she] wore his sword Phillipan" (2.5.22-23). This blatant gender reversal reminds audiences that this erotic queen exists entirely in their minds, and needs no basis in reality.
This especially shows through when Cleopatra rails against the thought of seeing "some squeaking Cleopatra boy [her] greatness i' th' posture of a whore" -- not only reminding English audiences what/who they are watching, but turning the tables and making England seem strange and perverse while England is marking her as such.
Carolyn Wang
Menenius and Failed Storytelling
I was really drawn to the character of Menenius from the very beginning of Coriolanus. I found it both amusing and troubling that he was able to quell the plebians of Rome, who are presumably hungry, by telling a story. And he doesn't just tell a story, he uses rhetoric, and dramatic pauses to catch and control the attention of the citizens. We can liken the citizens to the audiences of Shakespeare who came to "hear" plays and not see plays. At the beginning, there is definitely a controlling aspect of speech, which reminds me of earlier plays we read such as Othello where Iago manipulates Othello with speech.
However, later in the play (precisely 3.1 beginning line 179), Menenius' speech is troubled under the demands of the citizens. He says, "What is about to be? I am out of breath; / Confusion's near, I cannot speak." (3.1 187-88). Menenius, who was so gifted in speech, is losing his influence. His lines in this scene are now only about one to two lines long. This confusion is reflective of Rome's confusion regarding its identity. There's the whole issue of virtus and civitas being incompatible. But I find the idea of theater falling into the spectacle, more interesting. Menenius had so longed relied on speech, and now his speech is futile under the demands of the plebians/audience for visual.
Rachel Humphrey
sec. 1c
However, later in the play (precisely 3.1 beginning line 179), Menenius' speech is troubled under the demands of the citizens. He says, "What is about to be? I am out of breath; / Confusion's near, I cannot speak." (3.1 187-88). Menenius, who was so gifted in speech, is losing his influence. His lines in this scene are now only about one to two lines long. This confusion is reflective of Rome's confusion regarding its identity. There's the whole issue of virtus and civitas being incompatible. But I find the idea of theater falling into the spectacle, more interesting. Menenius had so longed relied on speech, and now his speech is futile under the demands of the plebians/audience for visual.
Rachel Humphrey
sec. 1c
Ariel and Prospero's relationship
One thing I kept noticing while reading The Tempest was how often Prospero would promise freedom to the spirit Ariel, but still continue to request more service from her. In Act 1 scene 2, Prospero says to Ariel, "thy charge exactly is performed; but there's more work" (238). While Ariel continues to carry out Prospero's requests time and time again in the play, Prospero is pleased and well aware of Ariel's desire to be free, but he continues to request more of her services. Finally in Act 5 scene 1, Prospero says "Thou shalt be free" at line 242, but at line 251, he turns to Ariel to request that she "set Caliban and his companions free." Ariel exits and is not seen again for the remainder of the play. The audience is deprived of witnessing the exact moment when Ariel is officially set free. Instead, the last time we see Ariel, she is still acting according to Prospero's orders.
While it is significant that Prospero saved Ariel from the "cloven pine" (1.2.277) and the witch Sycorax, he threatens to confine Ariel for "twelve winters" (1.2.296) if she fails to comply with his demands. While Prospero tries to remind Ariel of what worse fate she might have suffered if he had not freed her, he also shows himself to feel the same lack of compassion for the spirit as Sycorax did, which brings up the question of whether Ariel is truly better off in Prospero's service than in the service of Sycorax. This problematic relationship between spirit and master is also an issue because we never actually see Prospero carry out his promise to release Ariel from her sentence of servitude.
Emily Chang
Discussion 1C
While it is significant that Prospero saved Ariel from the "cloven pine" (1.2.277) and the witch Sycorax, he threatens to confine Ariel for "twelve winters" (1.2.296) if she fails to comply with his demands. While Prospero tries to remind Ariel of what worse fate she might have suffered if he had not freed her, he also shows himself to feel the same lack of compassion for the spirit as Sycorax did, which brings up the question of whether Ariel is truly better off in Prospero's service than in the service of Sycorax. This problematic relationship between spirit and master is also an issue because we never actually see Prospero carry out his promise to release Ariel from her sentence of servitude.
Emily Chang
Discussion 1C
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
As flies to wanton boys are we to the gods;
As flies to wanton boys are we to the gods;
They kill us for their sport.
These words are spoken by Gloucester in act IV scene i. He has just been blinded by Cornwall and Regan and is wandering on the heath. His words reflect the deep despair that has taken hold of him and drives him to wish he were dead. They also work to highlight one of the play's main themes, the question of whether or not there is justice in the universe. Gloucester suggests that there is no good order in the universe and that man is incapable of imposing his own moral ideas upon the harsh laws of the world. There is only "sport" of cruel gods who in turn reward cruelty. The plays events seem to coincide with Gloucester's outlook on the world. The good die along with the bad and there is no reason behind the unbearable suffering that takes place.
-Meline Kyurkchyan
They kill us for their sport.
These words are spoken by Gloucester in act IV scene i. He has just been blinded by Cornwall and Regan and is wandering on the heath. His words reflect the deep despair that has taken hold of him and drives him to wish he were dead. They also work to highlight one of the play's main themes, the question of whether or not there is justice in the universe. Gloucester suggests that there is no good order in the universe and that man is incapable of imposing his own moral ideas upon the harsh laws of the world. There is only "sport" of cruel gods who in turn reward cruelty. The plays events seem to coincide with Gloucester's outlook on the world. The good die along with the bad and there is no reason behind the unbearable suffering that takes place.
-Meline Kyurkchyan
use of nouns in King Lear
King Lear is losing the sense of himself and who he is, indicated mainly in the part of the play where "Lear's shadow" is discussed. Characters in the play need to hold onto a constructed reality that can sustain them, because the alternative to this life is one of emptiness. The fact that the play has many nouns within the speeches is one of Shakespeare's attempts to prove that one can only be sustained by filling his or her life with language and concrete things, and constructing a world that can act as a shield against the sense of "nothing" that can be prevalent within the characters of the play. The nouns can maintain the illusion by protecting individuals through heavy language.
Lauren Rosenthal
Discussion 1C
Lauren Rosenthal
Discussion 1C
blazon
Philo's speech at the beginning of "Antony and Cleopatra" feminizes Antony because Philo employs a blazon or speech that praises body parts. Blazons typically are used to describe female body parts and are reserved for women only, so when Philo describes Antony's body parts he in essence says that Antony is becoming a woman and losing his manliness. When Philo speaks of Antony bursting andd speaks of him reneging all the tempers, the way in which Philo uses the blazon surfaces. Shakespeare writes, "This captain's heart, / Which in the scuffles of great fights hath burst / the buckles on his breats, reneges all temper / And is become the bellows and the fan / to cool a gipsy's lust."(1.1.6-10) Mention of the heart and the breast underscores the notion that Philo employs the blazon. When Philo uses terms such as scufflses and reneges all the temper the notion that Antony looses his manliness becomes apparent.
Thomas Christian
Thomas Christian
Ekphrasis in Antony and Cleopatra
Ekphrasis, the dramatic, visual description or painting of a thing, person or place is used by Shakespeare to entrance the reader as Enorarbus describes Cleopatra:
The barge she sat in, like a burnish'd throne,
Burn'd on the water: the poop was beaten gold;
Purple the sails, and so perfumed that
The winds were love-sick with them; the oars were silver,
Which to the tune of flutes kept stroke, and made
The water which they beat to follow faster,
As amorous of their strokes. For her own person,
It beggar'd all description: she did lie
In her pavilion--cloth-of-gold of tissue--
O'er-picturing that Venus where we see
The fancy outwork nature: on each side her
Stood pretty dimpled boys, like smiling Cupids,
With divers-colour'd fans, whose wind did seem
To glow the delicate cheeks which they did cool,
And what they undid did. (2.2.197-211)
Her gentlewomen, like the Nereides,
So many mermaids, tended her i' the eyes,
And made their bends adornings: at the helm
A seeming mermaid steers: the silken tackle
Swell with the touches of those flower-soft hands,
That yarely frame the office. From the barge
A strange invisible perfume hits the sense
Of the adjacent wharfs. The city cast
Her people out upon her; and Antony,
Enthroned i' the market-place, did sit alone,
Whistling to the air; which, but for vacancy,
Had gone to gaze on Cleopatra too,
And made a gap in nature. (2.2.213.223)
Shakespeare paints a vivid and desirable image of the Queen of the Nile which is no longer present in the play. In many ways it teases the audience, contributing to the sense nostalgia already present in the play. The audience desires this lush, romanticized image of Cleopatra and of Egypt in both defeat and triumph, but Shakespeare only tantalizes them with this description that apeals to all senses, rather than bring the play to this desired place.
Amber Ackerman
Section 1B
Ian Hoch
The barge she sat in, like a burnish'd throne,
Burn'd on the water: the poop was beaten gold;
Purple the sails, and so perfumed that
The winds were love-sick with them; the oars were silver,
Which to the tune of flutes kept stroke, and made
The water which they beat to follow faster,
As amorous of their strokes. For her own person,
It beggar'd all description: she did lie
In her pavilion--cloth-of-gold of tissue--
O'er-picturing that Venus where we see
The fancy outwork nature: on each side her
Stood pretty dimpled boys, like smiling Cupids,
With divers-colour'd fans, whose wind did seem
To glow the delicate cheeks which they did cool,
And what they undid did. (2.2.197-211)
Her gentlewomen, like the Nereides,
So many mermaids, tended her i' the eyes,
And made their bends adornings: at the helm
A seeming mermaid steers: the silken tackle
Swell with the touches of those flower-soft hands,
That yarely frame the office. From the barge
A strange invisible perfume hits the sense
Of the adjacent wharfs. The city cast
Her people out upon her; and Antony,
Enthroned i' the market-place, did sit alone,
Whistling to the air; which, but for vacancy,
Had gone to gaze on Cleopatra too,
And made a gap in nature. (2.2.213.223)
Shakespeare paints a vivid and desirable image of the Queen of the Nile which is no longer present in the play. In many ways it teases the audience, contributing to the sense nostalgia already present in the play. The audience desires this lush, romanticized image of Cleopatra and of Egypt in both defeat and triumph, but Shakespeare only tantalizes them with this description that apeals to all senses, rather than bring the play to this desired place.
Amber Ackerman
Section 1B
Ian Hoch
3 quick defs/descriptions
apostrophe-call on something/someone that is not there; underscores sense of empty theater; talker or writer directs speech to imaginary person; often introduced by the work "O"
king's 2 bodies-one body is spiritual, one is physical; Lear believed he could give up physical body but maintain spiritual; Lear believed spiritual was granted by God
Cleopatra-not presumably good looking; one of martest women in history; probably a virgin before Pompey; very productive writer; fought in own military; did not sleep with lots of men; held off Roman Empire from taking over Egypt longer than anyone else defended their city
Brantley Watson
Amanda Waldo
1D
king's 2 bodies-one body is spiritual, one is physical; Lear believed he could give up physical body but maintain spiritual; Lear believed spiritual was granted by God
Cleopatra-not presumably good looking; one of martest women in history; probably a virgin before Pompey; very productive writer; fought in own military; did not sleep with lots of men; held off Roman Empire from taking over Egypt longer than anyone else defended their city
Brantley Watson
Amanda Waldo
1D
The Black Friar's Theater
This was the theater that Shakespeare company moved to in about 1608. The main difference between in and The Globe was the fact that it was an indoor theater. This provided Shakespeare with many opportunities to play with effects like the storm in the tempest and the other tricks, such as the buffet that Ariel conjures and then makes disappear. This is important because it goes along with the theater becoming more of a visual experience. Shakespeare was able to manipulate more visually while hearing less and less. The audience would only see the theater; therefore, they would only be able to see the story and get caught into the effects. It creates a danger of becoming like Miranda and not being able to hear anymore.
Rebecca Flick
The Tempest and Colonization
I thought it was interesting when Professor Little made the comment in lecture that The Tempest is Shakespeare’s most popular play in some countries, especially those that have experience with colonization. In many ways, events in The Tempest do resemble European colonization. All of the characters who land on the island find it within their rights to claim it and make it their own. Gonzalo is an example of one character who dreams that he can transform the island into what he wants it to be, creating a perfect society nostalgic of the golden age, with Gonzalo as its leader. Prospero, though, is the main allegorical colonizer figure in the play. He thinks he has complete authority over the island, even though Sycorax and Caliban had already been living there prior to his arrival. Prospero immediately turns Caliban into his servant, forcing him to do all of his work on the island. According to Caliban, he was once his “own king” (I.ii.342), but now he is a prisoner. Prospero and Miranda, acting as the colonizers, use very patronizing language toward him and act as though he owes something to them. They feel he should be happy that they found him and supposedly taught him how to be more civilized, particularly by teaching him to speak their own language. While they continue to deny Caliban his freedom throughout the play, Prospero also constantly denies Ariel his freedom. Prospero seems to promise Ariel that he will have his freedom soon, but up until the very end of the play, he withholds Ariel’s freedom, in an assertion of his own control.
Throughout the play, there are many examples of outsiders craving power and feeling they can simply go in and take it. Antonio usurped the dukedom from Prospero, Sebastian plotted to usurp the throne from Alonso, and Prospero usurped freedom from Caliban. These characters in The Tempest all want power and control. As Professor Little suggested, Shakespeare faced his own disillusionment in The Tempest, and he began to reflect on the absolutism he saw in himself as an artist through these characters.
Laura Anderson, 1B
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