Monthly Archives: September 2011

Stubborn Love

Posted on September 26, 2011 by raquel.ortega1

       This play had struck my interest for a few reasons. For one, I enjoyed reading the play and noticing how relaxed the text was to read and understand. I did enjoy reading how characters like Benedick spoke in way that was translucent and simply understandable. The prose of the text made for a more enjoyable reading. However, I most enjoyed seeing two tough and obstinate characters like Benedick and Beatrice (two people of whom) rejected any facet of true love fall completely in love. Through the beginning of the play, we can see how Benedick proclaims his declaration of a bachelor he says,

                                                Those women conceived me. I thank her;

                                                that she brought me up, I likewise give her most

                                                humble thank. But that I will have a rechate

                                                winded in my forehead, or hang my bugle in an

                                                invisible baldrick,all women shall pardon me.

                                               Because I will not do them the wrong to mistrust any

                                               I will do myself the right to trust none…

                                               I will live a bachelor. (1.1 229-236)

We can see that Benedick has no intentions of falling in love and will not have anything to do with women and truly believes that his relationship to a man is much closer to that of a women. In Benedick’s eyes all men are considered bachelors, and therefore unmarried. As stated above Benedick makes a reference to being taken by the horns, and it seem as if he does not want to be taken control of especially by a women. Benedick holds this philosophy of love true until the end of the play when his feelings are  confronted and challenged by Beatrice, who is just as persistent as Benedick. 

        Beatrice’s’ mind-set seems to correspond exactly to Benedick’s. For one, she does not believe in love. This is because she truly thinks no man is going to suit her, in other words, no man will ever live up to her standards. Beatrice and Benedick develop feelings for each other. Thus, they cannot resist one another and cannot avoid falling in love.

 

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Hearing between the lines

Posted on September 26, 2011 by Rikki

In the final act of Much Ado About Nothing, Shakespeare’s contrast of two sets of lovers comes to a head. “Thou and I are too wise to woo peaceably,” Benedick says to Beatrice. Contrary to Benedick’s claim. the road to Beatrice and Benedick’s union, when compared to Hero and Claudio’s, is decidedly smooth. What are a few sharp words compared to public humiliation, feigned death, and resignation of suicide? This is one of the wonderfully universal and timeless elements of Shakespeare’s writing. Shakespeare has his characters say one thing and display another. We are told that Claudio is honorable and yet he behaves in an unprincipled manner. We are told that Benedick is unquestionably a bachelor and then he changes his tune so dramatically that he agrees to duel his best friend at his lover’s behest. We are told that Margaret is “just and virtuous” and then, two short scenes later, we see her trading phallic jokes with Beatrice’s lover (5.1.305). Again and again we hear Shakespeare’s characters deceive themselves and others with that commodity that Shakespeare himself trades in. While the most immediate effect is comedic, the lasting message of contrasting words and evidence speaks to a larger message about patterns of human behavior. Again we see the relevance of the reception of a Shakespearian play. That the audience is expected to hear the play, asks that they listen and piece together verbal clues. In offering this exchange with his audience, careful listening for comedy and romance, Shakespeare also trained his audience to pull apart the speech of everyday life. The Elizabethan version of “leap frog,” Shakespeare provided educational entertainment, teaching his audience to hear between his lines.

Posted in Much Ado About Nothing, The Taming of the Shrew | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Anonymous Movie Trailer

Posted on September 25, 2011 by ef082014

Went to the movies last night and this was one of the previews.  Although I’ve heard of this theory before, I’m not speculating or agreeing that Shakespeare was, in fact, a fraud—I just think the movie looks interesting, and is certainly relevant to our course.

For some reason, I couldn’t embed the video directly in the post, so here is the link:
Anonymous Movie Trailer

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Startling Suddenness

Posted on September 23, 2011 by Mary Iannone

In class on Wednesday, we spoke about Benedick and Beatrice’s apparent sudden change of heart regarding their feelings for one another.  When Benedick “overhears” Don Pedro, Claudio, and Leonato discussing how Beatrice is mad with love for him, and Beatrice “overhears” Hero and Ursula speaking of Benedick’s own love for her, they immediately say they find themselves able to love one another.  But just as these apparent changes of heart reflect obvious long dormant feelings for each other, there are other instances of suddenness in Much Ado that are reflective of other characters’ own personality traits.

One somewhat concerning example is how easily Claudio is willing to believe that Hero would make a fool of him by having relations with another man.  With no proof or prior suspicion, Claudio immediately takes Don John at his word when Don John speaks of Hero’s alleged infidelity.  We spoke in class about how old we suspect each character to be, and I think this naivete proves that Claudio cannot be anything but a young teenager.  

Claudio is also buying into this sense of bravado that we have seen from many of the other male characters, perhaps in an effort to seem like his older fellow soldiers.  The men have many times referred to how they would rather die than be made a cuckold, with frequent references to having a woman make them wear (metaphorical) horns.  So when Claudio hears what Don John has to say, he is so afraid of being made a cuckold himself that he cannot see clearly enough to give Hero the benefit of the doubt. 

The fact that Margaret, the servant, poses as Hero during this tryst also proves that Claudio doesn’t even really know his fiancee that well – even from a distance, one would think that a man would know the woman he supposedly loves.  I believe he is just so afraid of being made a fool of that he already begins planning how to shame her back (the later scene that he makes at the wedding altar) before he even sees this show Don John has put together for him.

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Posted on September 23, 2011 by Lorey

I apologize for posting this late however, my assignment was to analyze Act 5 of Taming of The Shrew and I believe in “better late than never!” I would like to particularly discuss Act 5, Scene 2, lines 179-188; These are the last several lines of Katherine’s speech to the wives.

But first, I can’t say that I’m particularly surprised by Katherine’s extreme role reversal, after all love makes us do crazy things. We never really discussed the idea of love being a factor towards Katherine’s transformation and I do believe that it was love that changed her.  My argument isn’t necessarily that it was healthy love or even true love, but I find it to be the best explanation. I believe she had found a companion within Petruchio, initiated by their witty conversations, someone she felt a sense of loyalty to and a sense of security with. We all can easily say that you should never change who you are for someone else, they should like you for you, blah blah blah but sometimes your heart gets in the way of your mind.  I think Katherine sacrificed apart of herself in order to feel loved.

“My mind hath been as big as one of yours,
My heart as great, my reason haply more,
To bandy word for word and frown for frown.
But now I see our lances are but straws,
Our strength as weak, our weakness past compare,
That seeming to be most which we indeed least are.
Then vail your stomachs, for it is no boot,
And place your hands below your husband’s foot:
In token of which duty, if he please,
My hand is ready, may it do him ease.”

Katherine loses her sense of self clearly and rejects the strength she once had for the sake of her husband. As a romantic, this is the saddest token of affection. It’s admirable her reverence for her husband but at the price she pays, I’m torn. I can’t imagine trading my beliefs for love, at best, I hope I wouldn’t. Is this perhaps an ideal of their time? As a woman of the Elizabethan Era is there much more to look forward to than succumbing to a man? If love makes you weak, love broke Katherine.

Posted in Gender matters, Ideas of governance, The Taming of the Shrew | 2 Comments

Inception…?

Posted on September 22, 2011 by Andy Chu

Although I have not finished the entire play yet, my favorite part of the story has been Act II, Scene 3 and Act III, Scene 1 when both Benedick and Beatrice were tricked into falling in love with one another. The separate scenes where the men purposely lied with Benedick eavesdropping and where the women duped Beatrice were very well written.

It was funny to observe and compare all the techniques that were used during the conversations — the men created exaggerated stories about Beatrice’s passionate love for Benedick, such as how Beatrice is up “twenty times  a night” (2.3.134) while scribbling the words “Benedick” and “Beatrice” over and over again. Later, the women worked together to basically beat down Beatrice’s self-esteem and stress how horrible she was for the way she acted towards a great man like Benedick. According to Ursula, “for shape, for bearing, argument, and valor” (3.1.96), Benedick was the best in Italy and Beatrice was too busy filled with scorn.

The question I pose is, did Beatrice and Benedick really fall in love with each other because of what they heard? Or was there already attraction before that?

I believe that Don Pedro, Claudio, Ursula, and Hero all played an important role in getting the relationship to progress at a faster pace. However, I don’t think they were the ones who can get the credit of planting the seeds of attraction. Despite the insults and the disdain they often showed one another (especially on Beatrice’s part), I sensed chemistry between them from the very beginning. Before Benedick ever appeared in the play, Beatrice was already denouncing him as a soldier/man of poor quality. Typically, women and men who find no interest in someone could care less about how another person was if they weren’t at least a little bit interested. Despite her insults, Benedick still alluded to Beatrice’s beauty during his discussion with Claudio early in the play.

Any thoughts or comments?

Posted in Much Ado About Nothing | Tagged , | 2 Comments

A+…

Posted on September 22, 2011 by Antoinette Davis

That’s the grade I’ve chosen to give this play!!! I thought it was very interesting. I finished the play a couple of days ago and I couldn’t put the classic down. This is actually weird being that it is Shakespeare’s play. Usually I’m confused, turned off, or the story line is redundant and I’m uninterested.

Throughout the scenes, I wondered what would happen next. Is Benedick actually going to kill Claudio for the love of Beatrice? How romantic!! Or would Claudio kill himself after finding out the false news that Hero died? This play wasn’t as predictable as others I’ve previously read.

The back and forth love/hate relationship Beatrice and Benedick had was entertaining. I anticipated reading the next scene, hoping they’d make an appearance.

Posted in Much Ado About Nothing, Suspense: what happens next? | 1 Comment

Claudio and Hero’s Marriage

Posted on September 22, 2011 by nmartinez1

When Don John informs Claudio and Don Pedro about Hero’s infidelity, they do not hesitate to believe him. Don John has created a plan with Borachio, where Claudio
and Don Pedro quickly fall into the trap.  Through Borachio’s conclusion, we know that
Claudio and Don Pedro confused Margaret with Hero. It is very surprising and at
the same time disturbing how neither man took a moment to approach Hero that
same night at her balcony. The men must have been at a great distance to not
have noticed the differences in the women, in regards to their voice, language
and features. The men only wanted to believe what they had already been told.

Claudio seems to only care about what he can do to get back at Hero.  It is astonishing to note how quickly his love to her has become mere hatred.  It is difficult to understand his change of feelings after he publicly humiliates her at the altar. His actions symbolize his youth. Another individual, one that is mature and experienced would have probably handled the situation differently. The best way to have handled a similar situation would have been to approach Hero or her father Leonato in private. Hero deserved to have the
opportunity to defend herself.

Unfortunately for Hero, she has to go through a representation of death and rebirth to erase way the sin she was wrongly accused of.  The sin of adultery ruins her reputation and
that of her family. This process of death will allow Hero to be valued for the good qualities she should be remembered by. Her rebirth is a symbol for a new beginning. After all that has happened Hero marries Claudio because she truly loves him and realizes that their love was tested by a misunderstanding.

The ending of this play has a fairytale ending of happily ever after. In a discussion
from another English class, the majority of readers know how the ending of a text will end. However, recent studies show that readers are more intrigued to know how the characters and their drama get to that ending. It is more interesting for some people to read about finding the solution to the conflict rather than to read how happy everybody becomes.

Posted in Gender matters, Much Ado About Nothing | 1 Comment

The Need for Comedic Relief in a…Comedy?

Posted on September 21, 2011 by Ilya Mavashev

It is strange that you would need comedic relief in a comedy, but while the first two acts of this play contain a lot of humor and lightheartedness, in typical Shakespearean fashion, the play quickly takes a turn for tragedy in the third act with some very intense scenes. This is where the sudden introduction of the character Dogberry becomes important, because a distraction and catharsis was needed for the audience.

While Benedict and Beatrice constantly go at one another and amuse us with their use of creative language, and Claudio’s and Hero’s relationship is being manipulated for our entertainment by Don John and his men, all of these characters still maintain a realistic and relatable sense about them. They may not be comedic as individuals, but in the types of situations that they are put into is what I believe makes this a comedy.

Dogberry is a special case in this play though. His dialogue is very memorable and funny in its own right with the way he tries to sound so self-important, smart, and refined, but just ends up horribly botching everything he says through the incorrect use of words and language. To the audience it is the obvious the words he should be using instead, and this memorable form of malapropisms, which I learned from today’s scene study group, brilliantly adds to the value of his comedic timing and relief.

There is also silver lining and humorous contradiction within the character of Dogberry, for although he is the bumbling idiot of the play that constantly botches every line uttered out of his mouth, he also botches and foils the plan of Don Johns plot, exposing not only him and his men, but indirectly saves and redeems Hero from public humiliation, perhaps being the foolish, oblivious, and ironic hero of the play himself.

Posted in Much Ado About Nothing | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

Scene Study One: Dogberry and the Watch

Posted on September 21, 2011 by erica.lin

http://youtu.be/vyhvrxHTITY

Posted in Dogberry and the Watch -- Group 2, Much Ado About Nothing | Tagged , | 4 Comments