The Globe Theater!

The globe theater.  That's where Shakespeare put on his plays.  It has a kind of interesting history, originally Shakespeare rented the land that the theater was built on, when he wanted to buy it the land owner said no (he was making a lot of money off of it.)  Shakespeare shrugged and moved the theater - literally relocated it.

People going to see plays during Shakespeare's era were a lot more involved in the showing than a lot of Shakespeare 'fans' are now when they just read it.  The globe theater jutted out into the stage so that the actors were constantly interacting with their adience.  As well as simply being surrounded on all sides on the stage, actors also walked through the crowd, acting out parts of the play in the pit amongst the viewers.



I went to a viewing of Hamlet at the Shakespeare Festival last summer and thought it was fascinating.  Actors actually ran up and down the isles between chairs, one even came down and sat one someone's lap!

Here's a documentary I found about the globe theater.  It's kind of long but has some really great information in it . . .

There's a lot of great ways to enjoy and learn from Shakespeare, but the theater is really fun.  What's really great about Shakespeare is that he still is performed (over, and over, and over again.)  It gives you a completely different feel for the plays when you see them performed like they were intended - its fun.

We have found ourselves a Hero

What constitutes a hero?

In one of my other English classes we've been reading about Carl Jung.  He has thought on the subject of heroes very deeply and has written many articles about it.  Jung argues that every human being has a 'shadow.'  This shadow is a part of the person, a dangerous piece.  It is the creativity and spontinaity, but it is also prideful and powerful.  Jung discusses how each person runs the risk of being 'eaten' or destroyed by their shadow if the shadow is completely ignored.

There is a balance in all things.  Reason and intuition, good and bad, light and dark.  The problem is in finding equilibrium.  Reading Richard III, this play deals with issues of morality and ethics.  So too does every story or play that deals with life.

What does this shadow mean?  Are there some wrong things that aren't really evil?  Lines so often times seem blurred and unclear. Right is always right.  But the question is posed: what of it?  They killed the dragon, they saved the fair maiden, they defeated the army, they overcame their fears . . . But, as Hamlet states at the graveyard, in the end all men die.  Once they are gone and buried they are all equal, good or bad, rich or poor - the worms certainly don't discriminate (sorry that's gross.) 

I suppose its in the times of our trials and struggles that we truly learn who we are.  Hamlet found he didn't know who he was, he was scared of himself.  Richard is ambition and jealousy, willing to stoop to anything and everything to become king.  Lear can't live with what he's done to his daughter and goes crazy.  Macbeth looses all sight of who he is and becomes his shadow. 

What should we learn from all of this?  Probably to be prepared before we're faced with problems and struggles. 

As Shakespeare penned in The Tragedy of Richard III:

"When clouds appear, wise men put on their cloaks;
When great leaves fall, the winter is at hand;
When the sun sets, who doth not look for night?
Untimely storms make men expect a dearth."  - Third Citizen

What is he getting at?

This is so perfect, I just had to put it on

Worth the time, right?
This clip really made me think about Hamlet though.  What is Shakespeare trying to tell/teach us.  - although sometimes I wonder if he was just depressed one day and decided to write a play where everyone dies.  I figure there must be something deeper about what he's writing than just letting everone die for the heck of it.
The play has lots of great themes: life and death, 'to be or not to be.'  It's also about sanity and mind over matter. 

Who's the real hero here?  And what is it that the hero does that makes them heroic?  In this story they all die, so the true measure of heroism is not simply in 'being the last to survive.'  It makes me want to start examining Hamlet closer, what qualities does he have that could make him a hero?  He doesn't seem particularly brave, and he does go crazy, or at least pretends to. 

Maybe Hamlet isn't the hero.  I don't think the king is the hero, he doesn't get the prize.  But perhaps someone like Polonius who at least realizes what the trouble is could be considered more heroic.  Even if he isn't 'true to himself' he at least sees that its a short coming.  - then again, if you know what the problem is and then don't act on it that may be worse then simply remaining ignorant.



Thoughts?

Once More Goals

Adding on to the goals I posted previously, 'fleshing them out' you might say: I read probably twenty different plays by Shakespeare in high school - which gave me breadth, but not really depth.  I also took a Shakespeare class from UVU before I transferred which examined about four plays in depth.  After all this studying and learning and readcing, I still don't seem to have even scratched the surface.

To make my goals brief I could just say I want to be able to : read, understand, analyze, participate in, and use Shakespeare in the world of today.  there's got to be a reason the guy is still famous and being read.  He's not quite as old as Socrates and Plato, but he's probably quoted more!

As well as just sitting down with a 'good play' it's important to actively engage it.  I want to watch movies, watch plays, read criticism, talk with my peers, etc. about Shakespeare. 

One day I got so involved in Hamlet that when my roommate came back from school I started talking Shakespearean to her - she gave me a 'you poor thing' grin and said, "I think you've been reading too much Hamlet."

However . . . Shakespeare is interesting and what he writes is still applicable in our day (alright, so we're not all princes and princesses whose father has just been murdered, but there are other things.)  There's something about the questions Shakespeare poses that lets us, or even asks us, to answer them.  I think that's the power of Shakespeare - he talks to us, each of us, (if we can understand what he's saying and in what language he's saying it), in a powerful, personal way.

Goals

1. I want to be able to understand Shakespeare.  He's one of the most famous playwrights (maybe the most famous), but either because he was brilliant, or because he's been gone for a while, the language he uses is hard to follow.

2. As well as understanding, I want Shakespeare to be applicable.  I want to be able to apply what Shakespeare is saying to life, in his time as well as now.

3. Use scholarly information.  Looking back at historical context, gaining perspectives and ideas.  I want to read up about Shakespeare and his plays so that I get more than just a storyline in my head to work with.

4. Enjoy it.  Shakespeare is supposed to be fun and make you laugh.  I want to enjoy this class, as well as just reading his works!!!!

Is the wrong thing the only right thing to do?

Today in class we discussed Hamlet’s famous soliloquy, “to be or not to be, that is the question.”  We talked about how the monologue was mostly just Shakespeare taking a long time to say, “should I kill myself or not.”  But as I was ‘pondering’ upon this deep subject, I compared Hamlet to Macbeth (scary I know.)  I haven’t ever read Hamlet before so I’m not sure what happens at the end of the play, but the question that I was debating is whether it’s better to decide or to move on.

Right now Hamlet hasn’t made a decision yet, he’s stuck in the in-between – which isn’t good, it’s driving him crazy.  But at the same time, Macbeth did make a choice.  Macbeth an extremely tragic play because Macbeth made a decision that was wrong.

It is important for Hamlet to make a choice, but he needs to be careful as he makes it.  What his uncle has done is wrong.  But two wrongs don’t make a right.  Even if murdering his uncle/avenging his father is the right thing, sometimes a right and a wrong don’t make a right – they just make everything worse.  If Hamlet does kill his uncle he’s killing the king and leaving his mother widowed again (which may not be such a bad thing seeing as she’s married to a killer.)   

But in destroying what Hamlet hates the most, he is re-creating it in himself.  If he kills his uncle, what is to separate him from his uncle?  Perhaps his motives are different, although I’m sure plenty of people will just see an insane or jealous prince climbing to the throne, but the actions are the same.  Is a difference in motive enough?

The question Hamlet is asking, or at least one of them, is: is doing something wrong ever right?  Or is there ever a time when something is right that would normally be wrong?  When people’s lives and structure get mixed up into society and ethics everything gets confusing and distorted.  Is right really right?  Is wrong really wrong? 

"To thine own self be true" – Polonius, Hamlet

On Sonnets

Because I didn't post last week I want to make up for that now.  I really enjoyed reading Shakespeare's poetry and was surprised by how much I liked some of it. 
I think my favorite sonnet (that I've read so far) is 29, "for thy sweet love remembered such wealth brings/that then I scorn to change my state with kings." 

One of Shakespeare's qualities in writing is that he is able to write what people feel, or have felt.  This poem talks about jealousy and 'hankering after other people's stuff.'  It also touches on feeling outcast, or alone.  Bernhard Frank talks about this when he analyzes the sonnet, discussing how the first octave reveals Shakespeare's state of depression.  This tone changes at the very end of the sonnet, as it's focuses changes, appreciating what he does have.

There are many different debates about why Shakespeare would have written about depression at this time.  Two main reasons could be: firstly, in 1592, the London theater was closed, and secondly, in 1592, a dramatist named Robert Greene said some pretty . . . rude things about Shakespeare.   

However, despite how Shakespeare may have been feeling at the time, his poem end on a happy note and is ultimately one of his happier poems.

Introduction

Hi, my name is Laura.  I'm a BYU student (shocking right?) and I'm also an English Major (even more shocking.)  My favorite Shakespeare play is "As You Like It."  I've also performed in one Shakespeare play before, "Much Ado About Nothing." 

Other stuff about me:  I'm allergic to pistachios,  I love animals, am addicted to popcorn and chocolate and love Saturday (what does this have to do with Shakespeare? - nothing,)  I'm also looking forwards to exploring 'the world of Shakespeare' with you all this semester!