If there is one continuous theme that has prevailed throughout the course of ENG 2800, it's been the struggle of storytelling. 

We've gone through some very different means of storytelling. We've gone from the word of mouth (Gilgamesh), to semi-song like (Shakuntala),  to plays without original manuscripts (Othello), poems (although first, also based solely on word of mouth, Sir Gawain & The Green Knight) and even personal accounts and diary entries (The Pillow Book).

Which is why when I spotted this tablet depicting the Battle of Til Tuba at the Met, I remember yet another means of story telling/ accounting/ recording that I had learned over the years in my Global History classes. Tablets are the ancestors of modern day illustrated books. It was written when literacy was limited and a symbol of social status. It was written when the ancestors of modern-day alphabets hadn't even been conceived, but the Egyptians had developed hieroglyphs based on pictographs and the Sumerians had developed cuneiform, a primitive alphabet system which looked like right angles rotated at different axes.

Thinking about this brought me back to the spring of 2015 when I was deciding on whether to take 2800 or 2850 for my final English requirement ever. I remembered why I chose 2800 over 2850. 

For modern day writers it's easy to throw words that they didn't have to coin for the first time ever or to have to wonder how they would be able to pass on their ideas to someone else, while still earning credit. This is hard to put into words for me, ironically, despite the amount of words at my diposal, however the ancient texts that we read had a certain beauty in the way they were written and the real struggle that shines through every word. Each word that the writers chose weighed equally, but heavy.

For this reason, I find it unreasonable, if not impossible, to ever compare any text from over the past few months to any contemporary piece of literature that I've had the pleasure to read.

I mean, it's just not the same to have $1 trillion handed to you versus earning every dollar of that trillion. Neither's better, but one's a more better story to listen to than the other.

In my trip to the Museum of Modern Art, I saw this oil painting from Roy Lichtenstein called “Drowning Girl” which was painted on 1963.  This painting stood out to me because of its dark color scheme and lack of bright colors. It gives off a angry vibe because of the dark colors. I liked this painting because it reminded me of a  comic book, which I used to read. I noticed that this “Drowning Girl” seems to have a problem with someone named Brad saving her. This made me think of her as a woman who doesn’t need to depend on a man to help her in any way. This painting reminded me of Medea, who I consider to be a modern woman in her time period. She talked about the problem that women in her society face in terms of marriage. I feel like Medea would say the same exact thing that the Drowning Girl would say, since they both aren’t in terms with men.

Based on my visit to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, I decided to go to the Asian Art section.  As I was discovering all the paintings in the wing, the painting “Drunken immortal beneath an old tree” by Chen Zihe caught my attention.  This painting’s texture consists of a hanging scroll and ink on silk.  It occurred during the Ming dynasty (1368-1644), early 16^th century.  Working in Fujian province, Chen produced this painting for the local market and travelers.  This painting expresses the feelings that the main focus is the drunken man, who is in a deep sleep.  The detail of the brush shows that the trees and robes treat the man’s face; most importantly, he painted the drunken man’s face in a fine way to express humanity in the whole setting.  I can see that this painting has a connection to Li Bo’s Drinking Alone with the Moon.  This poem shows Li Bo’s imagination of friendship with the moon.  Although the moon is an object and his shadow is separate from him, Li believes “He and my shadow and I make three./ But I’ll make merry with them both.”  This shows his humanity towards things; he respects the nature around him by having the willingness to reinforce the idea of the three companions including him.  Even though the moment of realization finally comes to Li, he would want to go “beyond human ties” to create his friendship with the moon.  The Silver River, a specific location, shows that he is making humane efforts.  Though Li remained sober the whole time, the main point is that there are signs of humanity from a drunken person and sober man.  Humanity is a positive symbol in a painting and a scene of a text.          

Attached in the link below are the New World readings I was discussing in class today. We can discuss them in conjunction with Othello (or, if you signed up for a blog post for Wednesday, then you could consider doing the post on these readings).

Here’s what’s included (all told, about 8 pages of reading):

Jean de Lery, a few pages from History of a Voyage to the Land of Brazil.
Inca Garcilaso de la Vega, a page discussing race and ethnicity in the New World from Royal Commentaries of the Incas and a General History of Peru
Pero Vaz de Caminha, from A Letter to King Manuel

NewWorld

As a fan of Shakespeare’s plays I knew to expect a tragedy even before opening the book but this one seemed hopeless from the start. It was clear that Iago was too ambitious. There was no way out for Othello without  actually questioning Cassio himself but he was unwilling to do that. He didn’t want to have to ask and have it confirmed but he allowed jealousy to take over anyway. Othello seems to be very stubborn in his way of thinking. When he believed in Desdemona he believed in her wholeheartedly and would defend her to anyone but once he see’s and hears what he believes is proof of her infidelity he becomes hell-bent on the idea that she is unfaithful. Nothing she or anyone else says will change his mind. That is until he has murdered her.

In acts one through four Iago is very sure of his strategy to become lieutenant. He see’s no way of his plan backfiring on him. But at the start of act 5 Iago comes to the realization that if Cassio survives his plans will be destroyed, and Othello could find out the truth. Which essentially set the stage for the finale.

Having already read Othello for previous classes it never seems to disappoint, but the reason is because I can’t but stop and like Iago as a character in this play. The way he’s so sneaky about what he does and so good at it is what makes all the little turns makes the play so intriguing. Iago seems to have such a clever way of creating this illusion for people, while he says one thing he makes it come off as something entirely different. Just like how he made Othello believe that Cassio was talking about Desdemona, but he wasn’t at all instead he was talking about Bianca’s sexual advances on him.
Iago has been able to plant his poisonous seed so deep into Othello’s mind that he can control Othello into doing whatever he pleases. Othello goes so far as to hit Desdemona when Lodovico comes to deliver a message for him. That’s where you know Iago has corrupted Othello so much, because Lodovico is so shocked that the man he once knew would do something like that. He says “My lord, this would not be believed in Venice” (Line 270 Act IV Scene 1). Meaning that Othello would have never done something to that extent that even people back home wouldn’t believe that would happen. Iago is my favorite character in this play by far. His whole agenda and quest for vengeance is thought-provoking at the least.

While the play has always been described as a tragedy, the dark turn took me by surprise. I wanted to like Othello, but I find him to be an extremely dislikable character. He blindly trusts the lies of Iago and the others. I genuinely feel for Desdemona, and cannot help but wonder how or if she will escape this. Her life with Othello is pitiful compared to her life with her father: both accuse her of lying, but the violence pushes it to another level. Undeniably, Desdemona is in grave danger, mostly due to a lack of proper communication between her and her husband. It seems Brabantio’s warning about Desdemona’s lies in the beginning of the play have finally taken their toll on Othello.

I think the general attitude of the males in this play toward the women reflect something about society, and how women should be imagined complexly and not in black and white terms. There is more that matters than loyalty and faithfulness, and they do not seem to understand that. They only care about who Desdemona seems to be sleeping with. Furthermore, it seems that Emilia is hinting to Desdemona that she should become what Othello and others think she is — and that she should indeed embrace the infidelity accusations and satisfy her needs with someone else, possibly reflecting Emilia’s own marriage. Desdemona will not take that into consideration, because she is very concerned with being seen as innocent. However, I highly doubt that she will make it out alive due to Othello’s toxic attitude and behavior.

On my recent visit to the MoMA AKA the Museum of Modern Art I came across this oil painting (with sequins) by Gino Severini named the Dynamic Hieroglyphic of the Bal.
At the very first glance, I could tell that the painting had a story to tell in just the way the painting happened in a circle and there seems to be intricate details that from far away look like a mess, but upon a closer look seemed to be crucial details in the painting, from both an artistic point-of-view as well as that of an observer.
       The first story that I related to the picture was Shakuntala was for a variety of reasons like: colors, concept, shape, and complexity. The colors in the painting reminded me of Shakuntala because of the variety. I imagine the play to be of many colors that mimic the variety of emotion in the play. The colors also denote the colorful life of King Dushyanta in the palace because it is luxurious and it also mimics Shakuntala's life in the middle of the forest. The concept of the intermingling of the various parts of the painting show how many stories overlapped in Shakuntala- Shakuntala's, Dushyanta's, Shakuntala's biological father's, etc. This is also why the intricacy of the painting was interesting. It was just like the minute details in the story that were crucial to the story. 

     Othello Act II starts off with an abrupt end to the war with the Turks. The scene shifts from the beach and slowly closes in to Othello’s home and ends up in his bedroom. What we assumed to be a political tragedy hints into becoming a domestic tragedy. We witness a scene with Iago and Desdemona playfully arguing and creating an uncomfortable atmosphere. This is odd because Othello is still missing. With the combination of Iago’s condescending remarks about women and Desdemona seemingly urging on this behavior, it leaves the audience a little puzzled. Desdemona once again seems to state her independence and does not depend on Othello. Does this whole scene seem to foreshadow a romantic betrayal of Desdemona towards Othello?

     Concluding the first scene of Act II, a soliloquy by Iago is given stating all his plans clearly. His motives on the other hand are very muddled. There are numerous possibilities including his lust for Desdemona or his jealousy of Cassio’s position. He even throws in the rumors of Othello and Cassio sleeping with his wife. During the soliloquy he speaks to the audience directly and even seems to mock us for trying to determine his motives, it seems that Iago creates a new justification for every action he has.