Is man no more than this?

Ok, so these thoughts are spurred by King Lear and the discussion we had about him in class.

In the play King Lear, there is a part where King Lear is thrown out of the households of both of his two evil daughters. Because of their betrayal, compounded with being exposed to the elements while living on a heath, King Lear starts to lose it. It's kind of a rough time for him. And because of the harshness that his fate has dealt him, he starts to lose his identity. He just lost his family, his power, his soldiers, his kingdom, most of his friends, his self-respect, etc. and his senile mind can't really handle it.

Ok, so identity is one of the themes of King Lear. There is also a strong motif of nature throughout the play. And as I was thinking about this, and about the things that we discussed in class, something clicked in my mind. So often in life we base our identities on things like our possessions, our wealth, where we live, how we look, or other people's opinions of us. But none of these things can bring us true joy, as King Lear was able to experience. These things don't last and once they're gone, what are we left with? Emptiness and a sense of being unfulfilled. So what do we base our identities on? This is where it gets interesting.

I was sitting in class thinking about this and I realized that if we are basing our identities on these temporal things, we are limiting our progression because we are limiting how far our identities can grow. We are chaining ourselves to temporal objects. And then I realized that the gospel of Jesus Christ truly liberates us because it gives us an identity that is independent of the world. The gospel helps us to understand who we truly are. As we recognize our identity as children of God, that  is something that will never change, no matter what situation we are in. And this identity is far more fulfilling than anything the world has to offer. So to relate this back to King Lear:

KING LEAR
Why, thou wert better in thy grave than to answer
with thy uncovered body this extremity of the skies.
Is man no more than this? Consider him well. Thou
owest the worm no silk, the beast no hide, the sheep
no wool, the cat no perfume. Ha! here's three on
's are sophisticated! Thou art the thing itself:
unaccomodated man is no more but such a poor bare,
forked animal as thou art. Off, off, you lendings!
come unbutton here.

King Lear is recognizing that the identity of man does not rely on external sources. You don't need silk, hides, wool, perfume. You are the thing itself. You are your own identity, independent of anything else. The nature motif in this play neatly takes the role of God. It was in nature that the characters were able to have revealed to themselves who they really are.

A Midsummer Night's Dream

So I read A Midsummer Night's Dream last week. It was sooo good! It's full of love, and confusion, and brilliant comedy. To be honest, all of the love triangles/squares remind me a bit of the college life :)

Anyway, to lessen the confusion of who the main couples are during all the switcharoos, I've made some beautiful and detailed pictures to help.

There you go! So now you can read the play and remember who really loves who...or who will really love who in the end.

Familial Love. Or lack of it.

I really hope the characters in King Lear are not an accurate perception of what people are really like.

Because, seriously, everyone (aka. Goneril, Regan, Burgundy, Edmund...etc.) is so driven by greed! And THEN everyone else (Gloucester, King Lear) is so willing to be deceived by the above persons!...(minus Burgundy).

Really though, you would think that with the way that Gloucester goes on about how much he loves Edgar because he's a legit son, and how well he knows Edgar, and how much he loooooves Edgar, he would be a little slower to accept a story about Edgar betraying him. But nooo, he's eager and willing to believe Edmund's lies. No hesitation.

And King Lear is so quick to conclude from one speck of time that Cordelia actually doesn't love him. Right, pretty safe to assume that the previous however-old-she-is years don't really matter at all.

The familial love in Shakespeare's plays often has such big misunderstandings.

Gloucester  "He cannot be such a monster--"

Edmund "Nor is not, sure."

Gloucester "To his father, that so tenderly and entirely loves him."

But if Gloucester really loved Edgar, wouldn't he have a harder time believing that Edgar is trying to kill him? It reminds me of Hamlet, and how Claudius misunderstood so greatly what a father's love is really like. (See previous post about that--Claudius, the False.) Except that Gloucester really is Edgar's father, sadly. What a downer.

Lord of the Lear

This week has been super busy and I'm afraid my blogging has suffered. Maybe if I practice flattery I'll become as good as Goneril and Regan and be able to talk my way to my Professor's good favor. Ha. No thanks.

Ok, King Lear. To be honest, this is the most interesting of all the Shakespeare plays I've read so far because before I read it, I really didn't know anything about it. It isn't Shakespeare's most popular play. I really like reading it because I have this wide open slate with really no expectations. I get to make my own observations about it without being influenced from stuff I've heard about the play before.

And because I don't have a preconceived notion of what King Lear is like, the first image that my mind drew upon as I was reading was.......wait for it.......DENETHOR! Lord of the Rings, baby.

Don't you see the resemblance??? They both have these awesome kids, Cordelia and Faramir, who really love them and they just don't get the picture. King Lear and Denethor are just blinded by....stupidity? I dunno. They're blinded by something... .... ....Yeah, actually, I'm pretty sure it is stupidity....

I'm so impressed that my mind made this connection because it's been like.....what, like maybe 2 years since I've watched the Lord of the Rings. I'm going to have to fix that. I just realized how much I miss those movies. But anyways.

Cordelia. Faramir. Both of them love their fathers. Mom's out of the picture. (Maybe that's why their Dads act so dumb....?) Both super noble, willing to sacrifice for their father...and both of them actually show their fathers their love...how interesting. Who knew Lord of the Rings and Shakespeare have connections???

To be or not to be.

(Chloe, this is for you. :)

Kenneth Branagh's Hamlet is super good. The production design was especially well done. When I watched it I drew some conclusions that I thought were interesting.

So the main color scheme for the film is only 3 colors: white, red, and black.

White & Black
The setting is the castle where the floor is a checkerboard of black and white squares, which seems unusual for the time period that the movie is set in, but to me it represents the theme of conflict throughout the entire play: Hamlet's internal conflict, the conflict with his uncle, his conflict with his own mother, the conflict between Hamlet and Polonius and eventually Ophelia and Laertes as well, etc. It is a constant reminder that things are not right in Denmark.

White
I think the white represents the lost purity and shattered innocence of Hamlet. When he lost his father it was a tragic loss for him, but then for it to be so immediately followed with his mother's wedding was unthinkable. It completely destroyed his world. You can see in this picture that the white petals are his broken innocence, falling to the ground.

Red
Which brings me to red. The scarlet represents the sin and wrongdoings of his uncle, who is the one that destroyed Hamlet's world by murdering his father and marrying his mother.

Hamlet's mother is dressed in white and his uncle in red, because his uncle blemishes the purity of his mother. It symbolizes his shame and guilt (that he SHOULD feel).

Black
Aaand black is Hamlet's discord with his surroundings. He just does not fit in with the rest of the castle because there is such a barrier between him and everything/everyone else in his life. And he holds onto it throughout the entire movie until the very end when he is dressed in black and white for the final scene, when his conflict is resolved.

And see how the color for his uncle's sins isn't there anymore. Hamlet triumphed in the end!

Claudius, the False

Mmk. So I've been trying to sum up my experience with Hamlet, like what the theme is and and what message it is trying to get across. Unfortunately, there's really not much uplifting material here to work with. I think Marcellus says it best at the very beginning of the play, "Something is rotten in the state of Denmark." Point made.

And I would definitely say that that rotten 'something' is Claudius. The scheming, slimy uncle of Hamlet.

Exhibit A:

When I read Claudius' speech to Hamlet at the beginning of the play, I wanted to puke. He is so artificial and ingenuine! And scummy. He gives me the willies.

KING CLAUDIUS (Act I, Scene II. Hamlet)

'Tis sweet and commendable in your nature, Hamlet,            (First, he uses flattery.)
To give these mourning duties to your father:
But, you must know, your father lost a father;                         (Then, he shows a complete
That father lost, lost his, and the survivor bound                      detachment and callousness by
In filial obligation for some term                                              talking about death as just
To do obsequious sorrow: but to persever                              another part of life.)  

Ok, Hamlet has every right to mourn for his lost father. He is showing his love and attachment for him by doing so. It is a natural thing to be sad. Yet Claudius begins his speech by using words like duty, filial obligation, and obsequious to describe the act of mourning, as if Hamlet is putting on a show out of a sense of duty for his father. Claudius has no concept of what Hamlet feels.

In obstinate condolement is a course
Of impious stubbornness; 'tis unmanly grief;
It shows a will most incorrect to heaven,
A heart unfortified, a mind impatient,
An understanding simple and unschool'd:
For what we know must be and is as common
As any the most vulgar thing to sense,
Why should we in our peevish opposition
Take it to heart?

Claudius uses words like obstinate, impious stubborness, unmanly, heart unfortified, mind impatient, understanding simple and unschooled, peevish opposition to show that he sees Hamlet like a contrary child that is simply not complying because they just don't want to do what their parent wants them to.

                           Fie! 'tis a fault to heaven,
A fault against the dead, a fault to nature,
To reason most absurd: whose common theme
Is death of fathers, and who still hath cried,
From the first corse till he that died to-day,
'This must be so.' We pray you, throw to earth
This unprevailing woe, and think of us
As of a father: for let the world take note,
You are the most immediate to our throne;                            (And then he ends the sham by 
And with no less nobility of love                                         saying the love that he has for  
Than that which dearest father bears his son,                    Hamlet is a father's love, which 
Do I impart toward you.                                                     clearly he knows nothing about.)

I also find it interesting that Claudius speaks so much of Heaven in this speech. He does his best to portray Hamlet's mourning as being discordant with God's will, while the truth is that Claudius is the one that has done a pretty good job of  distancing himself from Heaven.

Everything that Claudius does, says, or is in this play is treachery. He truly is rotten and causes the fall of the royalty of Denmark.

Clever Gem

The other day I was looking up songs that mentioned Shakespeare and I found tons of really weird ones. But I also found this gem :) Hamlet parody! Rugs from Me to You by Owl City. Check it!

Midterm Assessment

Learning Outcomes

• 1. Gain Shakespeare Literacy
  
  
  
  
  Demonstrate mastery over fundamental information about Shakespeare’s works, life, and legacy

  a. Breadth (knowledge of a range of Shakespeare’s works)

  I'm gaining a broader knowledge of Shakespeare's writings as I continue to read his works and study them.

  b. Depth (more thorough knowledge of a single work)

  I'm going to choose one of Shakespeare's plays and go more in depth with it.

  c. Performance (stage and screen)

  We got to watch the Merchant of Venice on Stage and I've watched the Kenneth Branagh films of Henry V and Hamlet. I've got a blog in the works about the Hamlet film.

  d. Legacy (history, scholarship, popular culture)

  Hm, this is probably the area that I'm struggling most in. I'm not super in touch with pop culture but I've been trying to relate Shakespeare with things that are more relevant in modern day. (Time Travel and Shakespeare; The Tragical History of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark)

• 2. Analyze Shakespeare Critically
  
  
  Interpret Shakespeare’s works critically in their written form, in performance (stage or screen) and in digitally mediated transformations. This includes 
  a. Textual analysis (theme, language, formal devices)

  I've done this my blogs about The Tempest and Henry V. 

  b. Contextual analysis (historical, contemporary, cultural)

  I think I need to look more into the context of Shakespeare's plays cause that's pretty interesting. I did a little bit with the Tempest when I read about how it was Shakespeare's last play and it was kind of like he was saying goodbye to his audiences through Prospero. But I didn't blog about it.

  c. Application of literary theories 

  Um...yeah...I'm not sure exactly what this means soooo....I'm probably not doing it.

  d. Analysis of digital mediations

  I've analyzed Kenneth Branagh's films of Henry V and Hamlet (although I haven't written my blog about Hamlet yet).

• 3. Engage Shakespeare Creatively
  
  
  
  
  a. Performance (memorization, recitation, scene on stage or video)

  I need to be better about finding speeches that I want to memorize.

  b. Individual creative work (literary imitation, art, music)

  Hm, I've been rolling thoughts around in my head but I haven't really gone anywhere with it yet.

  c. Collaborative creative project

  Again, I've been trying to come up with ideas to collaborate with people but so far, nothing outstanding has surfaced.

• 4. Share Shakespeare Meaningfully
  
  
  
  
  This includes engaging in the following:

  a. Formal Writing. Develop and communicate your ideas about Shakespeare clearly in formal and researched writing and through a format and medium that puts your ideas into public circulation.

  Not so much formal writing. Except that my informal writing (blog) tends to be kind of formal... 

  b. Informal Writing. This mainly means through regular online writing

  I'm trying to be better at blogging more frequently and more interestingly. I think I'm still not very successful at being a good blogger but I'm trying.

  c. Connecting. Share one’s learning and creative work with others both in and outside of class.

  Haha, this one. I think I'm doing a fair job. So I haven't been able to find anyone yet to have an in depth Shakespeare conversation with but I definitely have been able to use it when I was babysitting (If you prick us, do we not bleed?) and when my roommate had to go to the emergency room last week I got to read Hamlet to her :) 

• 5. Gain Digital Literacy
  
  
  Students use their study of Shakespeare as a way of understanding and developing fluency in 21st century learning skills and computer-mediated modes of communication. Those skills are grouped under the following categories.

  a. Consume - Effective and independent selecting, searching, researching, 

  I've been able to read about Shakespeare's life and I've found some external blogs that are interesting.

  
  

  b. Create - Producing content that demonstrates learning and which can be shared for others to profit from.

  I've been trying to blog about my learning. I don't know if it's that interesting, but I hope that others can find some kind of profit from it. I've changed the layout to fit better with the focus of my blog and the tone of it.

  
  

  c. Connect - Engage with other learners within and outside of the class to develop thinking and share more formal work.

  I think I'm pretty good at connecting with others through making comments on others blogs but I don't know about the formal work...

The Tragical History of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark (Part One)

Hamlet. "To be or not to be." The famous line. What kind of man says these words? And why?

So we had a pretty good discussion about Hamlet in class today that helped me out a lot, actually. I'll admit that I've been struggling with this play. And it's weird because I've seen it before on stage and I LOVED it. I don't know if it's because I'm like post-mission or what. . . nah, that's not it.

Ok, well it kind of is. Kind of. On my mission I really learned how to relate to people and how to love them and be empathetic to them and just all sorts of good stuff. So my struggle with Hamlet is I feel like I can't relate to him. Or anyone in the play for that matter! It's like. . . weird.

In class today we discussed what makes a tragedy a tragedy. Basically what I learned. . . it's the body count when the curtain closes. Pretty much. Actually, normal tragedies begin with the murder of someone and then for the rest of the play we get to see the outcome of it. But in this play, Hamlet sits around (Lie. He actually erratically wanders around pretending to be crazy.) for almost the entire play musing aloud about what he should do. He's a thinker, this one.

So in the "To be or not to be" speech, Hamlet is pondering on whether it would be better for him to just kill himself and end his troubles or if he should stick around the twisted world he finds himself in. He says it waaay better than I just did, though, cause he's so DEEP. Shakespeare really did do a great job of making his characters three-dimensional. Maybe I can't relate to him cause I'm actually a two-dimensional person. When I turn sideways, you can't see me.

Anyway, I think the real reason I'm having trouble relating to these characters is because. . . I'm not mad!