The Lead Casket

Ok, I just read Sarah's blog post about the lead casket in the Merchant of Venice and it got me thinking again.

The reason I brought up the quote about the lead casket ("Who chooseth me must give and hazard all he hath.") is because I was applying it to real, pure, love. True Christlike charity requires us to give and hazard all that we have. It requires the sacrifice of all things. It requires us to give everything and take risks. It is not easy to let go of ourselves and trust others. Often I find myself struggling to perfectly trust even Heavenly Father with my life, my future, or those that I love. But it is through our sacrifices that we are able to become truly Christlike.

I love how Sarah applied the quote in relation to every aspect of our lives. Today in my Doctrine and Covenants class we talked about the Law of Consecration, which was in effect in the 1830s in Kirtland, Ohio and required the early members of the church to give up all of their substance and received in turn as much as their family needed while the surplus was given to the poor and needy. As I was thinking about it, I realized that the Law of Consecration helps us to be Christlike because it requires us to strip ourselves of pride, belongings, everything until it's just us and the Lord. Those Saints in Kirtland definitely understood what it means to give and hazard all he hath.

I was able to experience this, though not as extreme, when I served my mission. When I accepted the call to serve a mission, I gave up everything to the Lord. I left my job, school, family, everything behind. And not just the tangible things. When I was a missionary I did not hold a single thing back from serving with my whole heart. I consecrated my mind, my heart, my entire soul to serving Heavenly Father and doing the things that he wanted, not that I wanted, and by being the person he wants me to be. That was when I began to understand the love that He has for his children, not only for me but for those I was serving amongst. And that's when I really began to understand the gospel of Jesus Christ and my relationship to him and the plan that he has for me.

And that brings me to Shylock's quote, "you take my life when you do take the means whereby I live..." It reminds me of the scripture in Matthew 16:25, "For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it." It is when we consecrate our lives to Heavenly Father that we are able to find the life that he intends for us. And that is when we give our life away.

"If you prick us, do we not bleed?"

The Merchant of Venice is brilliant. And it was so fun to be able to go watch a live performance of it on Saturday! I admit that I was a bit speculative about it when I first found out that the play had been adapted for young audiences. I was afraid of it being cheesy or insincere. I was especially interested to see how they would adapt it because of a fun experience that I had just a couple nights before.

I was babysitting four super cute kids. It was their bedtime so I put them all in bed, sang them a few songs, and then went back downstairs to do homework. But just a few minutes later, the 4 and 6 year old girls came downstairs crying because they were scared without their parents. So I invited them to snuggle on the couch with me and asked them if they would like me to tell them a story. They immediately stopped crying, haha. The first thing that came to my mind was the Merchant of Venice, which I had just finished reading for my Shakespeare class. I mean, Shakespeare was meant for bedtime stories, right? So I started to tell them the story of Bassanio and Antonio and Portia and Shylock. I definitely edited out the part about Shylock being a Jew. And I portrayed him more as being the Big Bad-guy rather than being a sad product of his circumstances. And the focus of my story was definitely the love story between Bassanio and Portia and how Bassanio had to win her by choosing the right chest. The girls loved it :)

Ha, I'm not the only one telling Shakespeare as bedtime stories! This is cute. Bring on the Shakespeare Geek's adaptation. This convinces me that telling Shakespeare stories at bed time is definitely the way to go!

Anyway, it was interesting to me that the whole focus of the theater production of The Merchant of Venice was geared towards the fact that Shylock was different from Antonio and analyzing the lack of kindness that all the characters displayed towards those different from themselves. Their main focus wasn't love, it was the lack of it.

I thought the production was great. It did a great job of making the play personal to the kids in the audience by focusing on bullying, which is something they deal with in their own lives, and also by having the kids participate right in the play. It was so great!

My favorite, favorite part was the cute little girl they got to play Jessica. Specifically, when they announced that she fell in love and married Lorenzo, who was played by a cute little boy, and the look of disgust that she gave him. It was HILARIOUS!

Great production. I loved that they didn't change the Shakespeare language even though their main audience was children. They did a great job of not only entertaining the audience but teaching a pertinent message very effectively.

So if I get the chance to retell the Merchant of Venice as a bedtime story, perhaps I'll bring it a little closer to home and run a bullying thread through it :)

Time Travel and Shakespeare

As I was reading Rebecca's post about Doctor Who going back in time to meet Shakespeare, a memory was dredged up from the depths of my mind.

When I was probably like ten years old, I read a book by Susan Cooper called King of Shadows. I remember I loved it but I haven't thought about it in ages! Rebecca's post reminded me of it because it's about this boy who is in theater and he goes back in time and performs A Midsummer Night's Dream with the real William Shakespeare. In the process he finds healing from tragedies that have happened in his past. It's a great book!

Wow, I think that might have been my first exposure to Shakespeare. I just remember that I loved the character of Shakespeare because the author portrayed him as very fatherly and loving and perceptive. And one of the things that I've since come to conclude is that Shakespeare really understood people. As I've read and watched his plays, I'm continually amazed at how well he portrays people. He had a gift not only to mold the English language, but to discern who people really are and what drives them. He understood what made people do the things they do and is able to recreate that in his plays. And I think that is why his plays are timeless. As others watch his plays, they are able to relate with his characters because they are so real. I love that! William Shakespeare was such a genius.

A Shakespeare rant, but not as eloquent as King Henry...

Man, I am feeling so frustrated right now! And it frustrates me that I'm frustrated, because I know I really shouldn't be.

Ok, so for my Shakespeare class we were asked to make a blog to fulfill our learning outcomes for the class. So, I made it. The end. Except not because now I need to figure out what I'm supposed to be doing with it. And it's hard for me! I just don't think I'm getting what I'm supposed to do with this. Which annoys me because I don't know why it's hard for me! I can analyze literature. And I'm creative. . . sometimes. . . . I'm just having trouble applying this stuff and sharing Shakespeare meaningfully and engaging it creatively. And I hate feeling stupid. I feel like I'm being asked to take a step into uncharted territory except in my mind the earth really is flat and after the next step there isn't anything else.

Now, if I was Henry V, I'd command this stupid mental block to go hang itself. Or I'd give it a brilliant monologue that I came up with. On the spot. You know what I wish? I wish that King Henry could come give me a St. Crispin's day pep talk right now. . .

Whatever. This will all work out. Wish me luck that I'll be able to find the beauteous new opportunities that this brave new world has to offer. . .

Holy Cow, Henry V

Ok, Henry V is incredible! I LOVED it! Wow, Shakespeare is so good at using language. It gives you such great imagery and just the sound of it is so beautiful. It really makes you feel.

Some of my favorite lines were right at the beginning of the play when King Henry V is describing war.

"...His soul
Shall stand sore charged for the wasteful vengeance
That shall fly with them: for many a thousand widows
Shall this his mock mock out of their dear husbands;
Mock mothers from their sons, mock castles down;
And some are yet ungotten and unborn
That shall have cause to curse the Dauphin's scorn."

It's so powerful! He totally plays on your emotions to feel the loss that war brings.

I also loved how Shakespeare integrated faith in God in this play. The religious aspect wasn't overbearing but it rang so true to me! I think its probably because I just returned from my mission, but that thread of the play stuck out to me. And I loved it. Throughout the whole play Henry makes comments like,

"But this lies all within the will of God,
To whom I do appeal."

"We are in God's hands now, not theirs."

Especially the St. Crispian's day speech.

"If we are mark'd to die, we are enow
To do our country loss; and if to live,
The fewer men, the greater share of honour.
God's will! I pray thee, wish not one man more."

I loved this part because this small, weary band of soldiers are facing 5 to 1 odds and King Henry V is so full of faith and humility. You can tell he really trusts God. And Shakespeare subtly (ok, not super subtly but very tastefully) conveys that that is why Henry V beat the French.

MONTJOY: "The day is yours."

KING HENRY V: "Praised be God, and not our strength, for it!"

It's just so great. I loved the whole play but I think my favorite part was when Henry disguises himself and goes around his camp and talks with his soldiers and then his soliloquy after that. He's so human. You can feel the pressure and anguish of his soul. And his subjects love him. Shoot, I love him too! He just has some great qualities: faith, trust, mercy (while at the same time being exactly just), optismism, love, humility, courage, diligence. He's awesome.

And the courting scene at the end! Soooo cute! As I was watching this scene in the movie, I was thinking about how he had just sacrificed part of his life fighting in war, experiencing the misery and depression of it. And many other people died for this cause. How joyful he must have felt right then to know that there would be peace between France and England. And...he gets the girl :)

Miranda and Ferdinand--Lovers or Lusters?

So yesterday in my Shakespeare class we briefly discussed Miranda and Ferdinand's relationship in the Tempest. It seemed to be widely perceived by the class as being a shallow infatuation. I don't think so. I was thinking about it last night and surprised myself when I realized I was still thinking about it as I woke up this morning.

Edmund du Lac
illustration of the Tempest

I actually liked the love story of Miranda and Ferdinand in the Tempest. Yeah, both of them were young and pretty inexperienced with the ways of the world but I think that is what made their relationship so sweet. I'm not saying that it was because of true love at first sight that made it cute, but because of what they both brought to it. Real, pure love. From the beginning of the play, we are shown Miranda's got a gift for love. The distress she experiences as she watches the ship flounder in the tempest shows her concern for others.

 "O, I have suffered
With those that I saw suffer: a brave vessel,
Who had, no doubt, some noble creature in her,
Dash'd all to pieces. O, the cry did knock
Against my very heart."
(Act I, scene II)

She's legit. Plus she has this awesome, wise magician of a father that has spent their whole time together teaching and tutoring her. Of course Prospero would teach her how to be intelligent! She's got it together. And throughout the play we are given evidences of her character. When she sees that there are even more people than our dear Ferdinand she exclaims,

"O, wonder!
How many goodly creatures are there here!
How beauteous mankind is! O brave new world,
That has such people in't!"
(Act V, scene I)

She loves! And she's good at it!

And the fact that Ferdinand was willing to work for her. And he had to, thanks to Prospero. (Good work, by the way, Prospero). I mean, Ferdinand could have been like, "You know what, I just nearly drowned, I saw my dad and everyone else on that ship perish in those killer waves, and you want me to what? Haul wood? I mean, your daughter's cute, but come on! She's not that cute! Don't you think I need some time to feel depressed and hopeless?"

And the last thing that's the kicker, Prospero approves of their relationship. He's been with his beloved daughter, his only child, caring for her every minute of her life and I know that any good father wouldn't give his daughter away to just anyone that wanders onto his island. Even if Miranda was willing to go for the first man she sees, Prospero's got way more experience and is probably a lot more picky. He definitely would not let her marry a loser. But he's cool with Ferdinand.

Miranda and Ferdinand's lack of life experience and innocence makes their relationship very pure. They really do care for each other and you can see it by how they respect each other. Their goal is to be married. It isn't anything else, if you know what I mean...

Ok, so contrast all this with today's chick flicks. No matter what story it is, most of them portray lust as being romantic and sleeping together as a sign of true love. "We're both really, really attractive so we should hook up, yeah?" Bad! That's sooo gross! I would take Miranda and Ferdinand's relationship any day.

Personal Betterment Program

Mmk. So for my personal learning plan I've come up with, you know, a few things. I want to gain Shakespeare literacy by reading more of Shakespeare's works. . . duh. A new enjoyment of analyzing and picking apart literature has slowly and pretty recently developed in my life and Shakespeare is my new practice ground. And I LOVE watching live performances. It's gonna be good. Um, what else...oh yeah, I want to learn more about who he was cause I know that will help me to understand why he did the things he did and wrote the plays he did, etc.

Analyze Shakespeare critically. . . I'll analyze him? Jk. I'm gonna go deeper than just reading the events. I'm going to understand themes of his plays, context, all that good stuff. I want to be able to come to know good old Willy better by viewpoints that I see in his plays and common themes that he has. You can tell a lot about a person from the things they produce.

Engage Shakespeare creatively. . . oh dear. I'm not the best at being geniusly creative. (Did you see that new word?) But I'm going to try to come up with something unique. . . and personal. . .

Share Shakespeare meaningfully. Hm. You know, I've got some cute younger brothers and sisters that I'm sure would LOVE to hear Shakespeare's stories. . . ooo, maybe I could make a children's book. . . not a bad idea. . .

Gain digital literacy. Well, here we are. Me and my new blog! I'll be better at it in the future, I promise.

And just some other things I've been thinking about. I'm taking a class on Shakespeare because I want to, so I need to make sure that I remember that throughout this semester. I need to remember to look at doing the homework is an opportunity to expand my horizons, not as a chore. Reading Shakespeare plays is not a chore, right? And hey, if I'm going to dedicate part of my life to learning Shakespeare, I want to be more sophisticated from it :) And I want to put real effort into this class. It really is a waste of time to take a class and just do the minimum. I want to actually be a better, more well-rounded person from taking this class. Shakespeare is just great! I'm super excited to be able to learn more about life through his works.

Goals, goals, goals! Not just words, words, words :)

This is new. And pretty cool.

Ok, so...this is different. I have always let the people with more time than me and more words than me be bloggers. The ones that want to get their thoughts out into the universe. The first kind of blogger. Sorry, I'm not really one of those, I'm the second kind. I'm one of the ones that begin blogging because of a class assignment :) Ha!

And now I am the one that gets to throw my thoughts about Shakespeare into the universe! Just you wait!