Washburn Shakespeare (Spring 2019)

Do we all remember the Claymation spectacle "Celebrity Deathmatch" from the turn of the last century? The irreverent show featured clay models of celebrities engaging in ridiculous battles to the death. I’m going to consider some match-ups from each play we discussed this semester, and how they might proceed… Henry v. Catherine: Henry bears an awkward display of limp swords and a moderate understanding of French. Catherine wears a billowing, layered white gown that allows her to hover, and, when cornered, spouts a waterfall of French insults. Catherine is insulted by Henry’s limp attacks and reaches her final Limit Break, “Je Ne Sais Pas Ca” (“I don’t know that”), which puts Henry in a state of Confusion. Then, Catherine floats away and the judges awkwardly declare Henry the de facto winner. Antonio v. Portia: Bassanio enters the ring after the bell and both Antonio and Portia seem to be competing to protect Bassanio. Jeers from the crowd toward Antonio get louder

    Dr. Whitney Sperrazz a’s lecture on the ignored female writers under Shakespeare’s shadow was really inspiring, as it reminded me of the invisible female writers throughout Chinese history. At first, she asked us to name a few women writers in Shakespearean time, and I found it interesting that many of us didn’t have an answer. After the lecture, as I reflected on my literary education in the last 15 years, I found that I could also rarely name any female writers in Chinese history. The only names I knew was Cai Wenji who could write beautiful essays in late Han Dynasty, and another female poet, Qingzhao Li who lived in Song Dynasty. It was weird to have only two famous female writers in two thousand years of civilization. Also, like Shakespeare’s works, the works of important male writers in ancient China were also collected, sorted and revised over and over again, therefore having easier access than those female writers.     It is interesting to find out how gender inequali

When I first started this class I have a vague understanding of who Shakespeare was. I had read Romeo and Juliet  in high school, studied his sonnets in my second year of college, and had otherwise ignored him until beginning this course. I knew the basics: he was a writer, part of the common core, was not always well received, and could be problematic at times. The last part is what got me interested. While I didn’t enjoy all the plays that we read, I gained a deeper understanding on how they connected to issues we as a society are dealing with today. Primarily the issues with sexuality/consent, gender, and racial biases.  While these issues were occurring hundreds of years ago, they’ve continued to be a constant issue even today. Measure for Measure, Merchant of Venice, and Othello are prime examples of this, and I believe that until we solve these issues that remain to run rampant, Shakespeare should still be taught for people to realize that there is a problem.  It’s easy to jus

After our end of class discussion,I was think about all the places Shakespeare pops up. I think you could study Shakespeare for years and still not be an expert. I think that says a lot about just how complex he and his works are. While every author leaves some kind of footprint, Shakespeare's is just so massive. I found a lot of intriguing quotes within quotes. When working on my commonplace book and reading Shakespeare it was amazing to me how much insight was in every single line. It seemed like underneath the plot in even the casual dialogue was even more text which I felt offered meaning. I think the plays themselves show much larger problems, the little lines here and there throughout the play offer even more insight into the day to day hardships of being human. When I started taking the class I guess I just didn't realize quite how large of a span of issues that are brought up in his plays. I've also noticed a lot more Shakespeare references this semester,more than I

I’m going to start this off with if my loved one was a statue I wouldn’t complain that they look older instead of being happy. The King’s reaction of “oh there’s my wife, why does she look 16 years older” is ridiculous. First off, she’s been gone 16 years. Do you expect time to not pass? I’d be more apt to be upset at the statue maker for taking so long to make the statue! I didn’t expect his wife to come back, but after the statue had shown the age and passing of time, I thought just maybe this would be a happy ending (and while there was) I’m still having a big “What the hell” reaction to it just with how the king reacted. I enjoyed the play (don’t get me wrong) but was disappointed in the King nearly the entire time. I know we don’t know everything that has transpired between all of the characters but I still found myself siding with Hermione. Even IF she had done wrong, she was treated terribly before judgement had even passed (no time after having her child and zero time for rec

So this was originally  going to be about 'Fool' by Christopher Moore and the Star Wars quote would just be a silly pun. But then I forgot and the book was due. Either way, I hear it's a good book. Like good enough that someone - a librarian no less - recommended it to me on two separate occasions with over a year in between the instances so you know the second wasn't just a follow-up. But again, didn't get around to reading more than a couple pages. So let's talk about Star Wars instead.  Or rather, instead of talking about looking at Shakespeare through different words and different characters taking the spotlight, let's look at other franchise through a Shakespearean lens. And Star Wars just so happens to be perfect for that, since most of the movies have been rewritten as if they were Shakespearean plays .  Pretty cool, right?  And I'm well aware there's plenty of nay-sayers out there, complaining about the quality of the translation

There is no denying A Winter's Tale is full of contrasting ideas. As weird as this play was, I thought it was kind of poetic that all of these different tones, emotions, and symbols were woven in together to create this tragedy/romance.  The Winter's Tale is a coin, with two sides of the same settings, tones, and characters. The following are some of my observations on these apparent opposites: The first half of the play is set in a cold, harsh, and condemning tone.  Sicilia is depicted as being not a happy place, and its king is paranoid to the max.  All we see of Sicilia in the play is the castle/stronghold that is home to the royals, and a court room.  Castles are traditionally cold and dark due to being created out of stone, and of course the court room in the play is the site of the condemnation of an apparently innocent woman (Hermione) and the sentencing of a little baby to exile.  If that isn't cold, I don't know what is.  On the other hand, the second half

Sorry to be blunt with everyone, but Iago is annoying. After reading Othello for the third or fourth time, Iago just continuously gets more annoying with each time I read it. This could play could be a beautiful and groundbreaking love story of two passionate lovers, but someone peed in Iago’s cheerios so no one can be happy. First of all, I think his intentions were driven by his belief in white supremacy. Right off the bat, we learned about how Iago hates Othello, though he doesn’t say why exactly he hates him, Othello is a promoted and Iago isn’t. On top of this, Othello and Desdemona get married when Iago was trying to set up Roderigo and Desdemona. Just so many reasons for Iago to be mad at Othello right now, right? Next, Iago has the audacity to run to Desdemona’s dad to tattletale on Othello, telling Brabanzio that Othello STOLE Desdemona. Brabanzio didn’t even realize Desdemona was gone until Iago said something. Then, Branbanzio decides to star

When I first came to this class, I had no clue what to expect. The only Shakespeare I had read before this class was Romeo and Juliet  but let's be honest, almost everyone reads that in high school. I was honestly kind of nervous at first because I was worried I would not understand anything we read or I would not enjoy it. Truth is, I was able to comprehend most of what we read and I actually enjoyed most of the plays we read. So, going off of Nic's post , I thought for my last blog post I would reflect on what I actually learned this semester. The biggest thing that Shakespeare has taught me is that everyone interprets things differently. I had never really thought this way, but this semester helped me see that. This is important for me as a future teacher to know as well, because my students will all interpret what we read differently. Most reading that middle school students read is pretty straightforward, but I will be more open to listening to my students' interpret

The characters Leontes and Polixenes in Shakespeare’s Winter’s Tale appear to be opposing forces throughout the first three acts of the play. Yet, when the setting is taken to Bohemia, aspects of Polixenes’ character emerge that align him more with Leontes. The drama in Sicilia and Leontes’ overwhelming paranoia about Polixenes made me sympathize with Polixenes, who appears to be a sort of scapegoat for Leontes’ ire. We don’t learn much about Polixenes while he is in Sicilia; he is talked into staying in Sicilia rather than returning to his own kingdom, and his continued presence leads to Leontes’ paranoid attempt to poison Polixenes. I was on Polixenes’ side when he escaped back to Bohemia. However, in Act 4, the dynamic between Polixenes and his son Florizel reveal a king who would rather enforce a rigid hierarchy than allow his son to marry someone he loves. The effort he makes to embarrass Florizel and Florizel’s ensuing escape to Sicilia is analogous to Polixenes’ own escape fr