Questions of legitimacy and fear of cuckoldry central to conflict in Acts 1-3
Overgeneralization of female sexuality—“bawdy planet” speech
p. 38- daughter presented as a copy of the father; Leontes refuses to look or acknowledge
3.3/p. 53- emblem of transgressive female sexuality
son’s image early in play = visual proof of legitimacy
daughter’s image = not a proof
Why not?
Expectations of a boy - Henry VIII context—see introduction p. xxxv
Henry VIII’s daughters separated from him for long time
3.2 Trial Scene
1534 Treasons Act—it’s a crime to even imagine doing harm to king, his queen, or his heirs
“constructive treason”- could be used against Anne Boleyn, Catharine of Aragon, etc.
-sexual misconduct is a quick and easy charge to get rid of undesirable wives
[Hermione’s sexual misconduct vs. Leontes’ tyranny]
-‘two witness rule’ in the period’s law courts denied
-Hermione notes this at p. 47—it’s not law, but whimsy going on
Hermione is denied all of her maternal, political, and social roles & Leontes’ tyranny exposed in this moment; see Introduction p. xxxiii
Romance is a cycle that goes…
Tragedy→ decline to death to upset → Comedy → recovery to birth to maturity
4.1 What is the function of Time? In relation to genre of Romance?
Functions of Art
4.4- debate on Art v. Nature
Is art a good thing? Does it distort or enhance nature?
Can it help call into being a better world or is it merely a temptation to compete with the creator?
p. 68 flower allusions—Prosperpina is the threat of maternal vengeance because of a loss of her daughter.
It’s also a seasonal reflection- 6 months of winter, 6 of summer
Also a story of mother-daughter reunion brought about by a mother’s love & agency
This whole reflection is a good way to think about the two halves of the play
Bohemia in Act 4- Pastoral retreat, healing and hope (but it has its own problems!)
It’s not a Paradise: 1) ominous Prosperpina allusion, 2) disguise and deceit, 3) threatened patriarchy (p. 82)
Threat to young love
p. 67-8 Art-Nature Debate; “nature’s bastards” & purity vs. crossbreading and “art itself is nature”
One position holds nature over art, the other argues for artifice’s role in nature
Polixenes champions art/grafting, etc.. yet he’s the one who wants purity in marriage for son
Dramatic irony with this, and fact that Perdita, arguing for purity, is herself standing as an emblem of hybridity
Art opens up new possibilities for understanding and exploring nature
What happens when you present something real as artifice or false? That’s the segue to 5.3…
Emphasis on faith and miracles on p. 114
Leontes, at 5.3.110, gives himself over to magic.. contains both art and nature
Ending = bittersweet, not joyful. The statue is aged and wrinkled- some of what is lost can never be regained. Also, Mamillius and Antigonus are still dead; some wounds cannot be healed
Play’s end is more about mother-daughter reunion than husband-wife; after all, reunion of Perdita and Paulina is what makes Hermione real again
Partial reunion for imperfect men and women…
10 May 2007
"W's Tale" Notes from Monday Lecture
Conversation about Romance as a genre. Also called “tragicomedy.”
Tragic themes- jealousy, tyranny, incest (real or imagined)
Involves comic resolution—meaning marriage and prosperity
Action situated in longer period of time than other genres
General Structure or Pattern:
A king or duke errs—he and his family (esp. daughter figure) suffer—the resolution is family-based and usually brought about by the daughter somehow
Transgressions forgiven & future prosperity is promised
The transition occurs through the fantastic, the amazing, magic, the supernatural; the laws of nature are defied in this way
Improbable transformation of sorrow to joy
All about second chances
Key political issue = legitimacy, succession
Acts 1-3 enact a mini tragedy
Issues of male friendship, female sexuality, and tyranny
1.1 sets the tone—mood is situated between optimism and decline (like everything in life, really)
1.2- we see a situation different from the one described in 1.1; friendship in decline
“Feminine”- Latin for the weaker sex; traditionally believed to be guided by passion and not reason
p. 9 roots of Leontes’ jealousy uncertain. Hermione has come between he and his best friend & has accomplished what he could not. But it’s also what he asked her to do…
p. 16 Leontes making something out of nothing… out of his nightmare
p. 18 & p. 29- Leontes believes he is the only one capable of discerning truth; no room for reasoning with him; we cannot understand his inexpressible and insubstantial (not real) feelings and certainties
One major issue is perspective- ours, and those of characters (never a complete or unified vision; everyone’s perspective is unique and partial)
p. 25- no one in “Othello” is immune to Iago’s villany and Othello’s tragedy is related to the fact that he’s a victim of Iago
Leontes, on the other hand, inhabits a world that excludes the forces of Iago. It’s Leontes’ own mind that poisons itself [see spider imagery- “I have drunk”}
→ it’s not the presence of the spider that’s destructive, it’s the human imagination
p. 48 ironic truth in Leontes’ line “All that is true is mistrusted.” Leontes defines his own failing and self-deception.
Leontes is only person who fails to see that he is wrong.
Leontes becomes a blind tyrant… in a world where no real evil like Iago exists, except his own deceptions – thus there is a chance for true redemption
p. 51 Leontes uses a key term- “recreation”—re-creation, birth, regeneration… but it comes through weird stuff like the bear, who doesn’t kill the infant as we would expect
Theme of twinning and resemblance. “Art thou my boy?” asked twice in 1.2
Tragic themes- jealousy, tyranny, incest (real or imagined)
Involves comic resolution—meaning marriage and prosperity
Action situated in longer period of time than other genres
General Structure or Pattern:
A king or duke errs—he and his family (esp. daughter figure) suffer—the resolution is family-based and usually brought about by the daughter somehow
Transgressions forgiven & future prosperity is promised
The transition occurs through the fantastic, the amazing, magic, the supernatural; the laws of nature are defied in this way
Improbable transformation of sorrow to joy
All about second chances
Key political issue = legitimacy, succession
Acts 1-3 enact a mini tragedy
Issues of male friendship, female sexuality, and tyranny
1.1 sets the tone—mood is situated between optimism and decline (like everything in life, really)
1.2- we see a situation different from the one described in 1.1; friendship in decline
“Feminine”- Latin for the weaker sex; traditionally believed to be guided by passion and not reason
p. 9 roots of Leontes’ jealousy uncertain. Hermione has come between he and his best friend & has accomplished what he could not. But it’s also what he asked her to do…
p. 16 Leontes making something out of nothing… out of his nightmare
p. 18 & p. 29- Leontes believes he is the only one capable of discerning truth; no room for reasoning with him; we cannot understand his inexpressible and insubstantial (not real) feelings and certainties
One major issue is perspective- ours, and those of characters (never a complete or unified vision; everyone’s perspective is unique and partial)
p. 25- no one in “Othello” is immune to Iago’s villany and Othello’s tragedy is related to the fact that he’s a victim of Iago
Leontes, on the other hand, inhabits a world that excludes the forces of Iago. It’s Leontes’ own mind that poisons itself [see spider imagery- “I have drunk”}
→ it’s not the presence of the spider that’s destructive, it’s the human imagination
p. 48 ironic truth in Leontes’ line “All that is true is mistrusted.” Leontes defines his own failing and self-deception.
Leontes is only person who fails to see that he is wrong.
Leontes becomes a blind tyrant… in a world where no real evil like Iago exists, except his own deceptions – thus there is a chance for true redemption
p. 51 Leontes uses a key term- “recreation”—re-creation, birth, regeneration… but it comes through weird stuff like the bear, who doesn’t kill the infant as we would expect
Theme of twinning and resemblance. “Art thou my boy?” asked twice in 1.2
Time & Action in the Second Half of "Othello"
Time seems to move both quickly and at a crawl. The scenes are long, with characters entering, exiting, and re-entering. The tone is enclosed,claustrophobic, and oppressive because of Othello's doubts and psychological deterioration.
So, to make keeping track of events in the play's second half a little easier, here are major moments from 3.3 to play's end:
3.3 Cassio appeals to Desdemona; Iago works up Othello's suspicions (O gives his first soliloquy); handkerchief dropped & picked up by Emelia
3.4 "Moist hand" accusation & handkerchief story by Othello
4.1 Othello hears Iago’s Cassio-Bianca exchange; Othello slaps Desdemona
4.2 "Whorehouse" scene; Desdemona & Emelia exchange about faithfulness; Roderigo complains to Iago
4.3 "Willow Song"
5.1 Roderigo killed, Cassio maimed
5.2 Othello kills Desdemona; Emelia reveals all & is killed; Iago stabbed; Othello kills himself
Other issues to consider...
-Desdemona sees Cassio as an extension of her love for Othello; therefore she doesn’t perceive how pleading for Cassio could be inconsistent with love for Othello
-Othello can't stand uncertainty & Iago preys upon this
-Othello's attitude toward women changes from Desdemona-oriented to "they"-oriented; a series of gross overgeneralizations and stereotypes. Desdemona's unique personhood is denied.
-What feelings are we left with toward Othello as the result of his final speeches?
-Through the treachery of Iago, a surprising white devil, Shakespeare challenges his audience to spot the true color of villainy (or can it be both black *and* white?)
-A play very much about how we repute (hold people in certain/good esteem) and repudiate (refuse and reject as true)
-A Tale of Three Trials…
The surrender of Othello’s (sound) judgement to passion can be measured in three successful trial scenes…
1. trial of Othello in front of Venetian court (1.3)
2. Othello’s trial of Cassio for drinking and rioting (2.3)
3. the prejudged sentencing of Desdemona w/o allowing her to defend herself (5.2)
-What ultimately causes Othello's demise? Is it entirely Iago, making O a victim, or ultimately must the cause be traced back to Othello himself?
So, to make keeping track of events in the play's second half a little easier, here are major moments from 3.3 to play's end:
3.3 Cassio appeals to Desdemona; Iago works up Othello's suspicions (O gives his first soliloquy); handkerchief dropped & picked up by Emelia
3.4 "Moist hand" accusation & handkerchief story by Othello
4.1 Othello hears Iago’s Cassio-Bianca exchange; Othello slaps Desdemona
4.2 "Whorehouse" scene; Desdemona & Emelia exchange about faithfulness; Roderigo complains to Iago
4.3 "Willow Song"
5.1 Roderigo killed, Cassio maimed
5.2 Othello kills Desdemona; Emelia reveals all & is killed; Iago stabbed; Othello kills himself
Other issues to consider...
-Desdemona sees Cassio as an extension of her love for Othello; therefore she doesn’t perceive how pleading for Cassio could be inconsistent with love for Othello
-Othello can't stand uncertainty & Iago preys upon this
-Othello's attitude toward women changes from Desdemona-oriented to "they"-oriented; a series of gross overgeneralizations and stereotypes. Desdemona's unique personhood is denied.
-What feelings are we left with toward Othello as the result of his final speeches?
-Through the treachery of Iago, a surprising white devil, Shakespeare challenges his audience to spot the true color of villainy (or can it be both black *and* white?)
-A play very much about how we repute (hold people in certain/good esteem) and repudiate (refuse and reject as true)
-A Tale of Three Trials…
The surrender of Othello’s (sound) judgement to passion can be measured in three successful trial scenes…
1. trial of Othello in front of Venetian court (1.3)
2. Othello’s trial of Cassio for drinking and rioting (2.3)
3. the prejudged sentencing of Desdemona w/o allowing her to defend herself (5.2)
-What ultimately causes Othello's demise? Is it entirely Iago, making O a victim, or ultimately must the cause be traced back to Othello himself?
05 May 2007
B or Not a B?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vb4X2DuLisc
More evidence for the strange proliferation of Shakespeare into popular culture. Patrick Stewart? Sesame Street?
More evidence for the strange proliferation of Shakespeare into popular culture. Patrick Stewart? Sesame Street?
01 May 2007
Entering the Video Game World
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070430/od_nm/videogame_shakespeare_odd_dc
People complain about violence on TV & in video games. Never about the violence in early modern drama. That's culturally protected. I like that.
People complain about violence on TV & in video games. Never about the violence in early modern drama. That's culturally protected. I like that.
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