I don't particularly have a favorite work, but I do have one that I'll certainly remember for a long time: Hamlet. My previous exposures to Shakespeare's works have left me underwhelmed. I read Romeo and Juliet, Macbeth and saw a performance of A Midsummer Night's Dream (with the orgy scene cut to be family friendly of course). I didn't dislike those plays, but none of them particularly stuck out to me, perhaps Macbeth would have if I had been introduced to it in high school when my critical analysis skills were more developed instead of being introduced to it in middle school. But Macbeth really stood out to me in multiple ways and now I understand, at least a little bit, why Shakespeare is still taught so frequently centuries after his passing and in another country no less.
Hamlet doesn't stray far from the plot of a typical revenge tragedy, especially a Shakespearean one: the former king is killed and his son wishes revenge and ends in the deaths of just about every named character. At first I thought that Hamlet would be a deconstruction of the genre. Hamlet only knows that his father was murdered from a ghost, previous uses of supernatural elements by Shakespeare have been used to tell characters information they wouldn't already know such as in Macbeth. So if Shakespeare had decided to go that route, it could be possible that Hamlet is using the rumor of a ghost to justify his desire to kill his uncle now step-father. If his uncle really was innocent, this play could have delivered a truly powerful message on how revenge leads to many innocent deaths and the destruction of everything important around the person who sought revenge. Instead, the genre is played straight, while leaning more on the revenge side of the revenge-tragedy, where everyone lies dead and the country in shambles.
Other than that slight disappointment, there is something else about Hamlet that I like; the amount of small, but important details that are left unknown. The overall plot of the play is straightforward and easy to understand, however some key details are left vague. These details being left unknown do not hurt the play at all, but give people who do like the play some meat to chew on after the actors have taken their bows. This play leaves a lot open to interpretation and a lot of evidence that can support various interpretations, its the perfect mind candy for critical thinkers. That's why Hamlet will long stay in my mind and the minds of others for centuries to come.
Saturday, November 29, 2014
#13: Analysis of Use of Race in Fences
Fences is a play that makes it quite clear that this has the African American perspective in mind. From the way characters talk to the opportunities presented to them, race radiates throughout the entire play. Its the way that race holds an important aspect, but not an overwhelming aspect of the play in comparison to the family dynamics that makes this play a success. You don't have to be of the same ancestry as Troy to understand his situation or the conflict between him and his son (I personally have a friend whose father greatly resembles Troy and my friend resembles Cory). Yet the race of the two characters gives the situation a distinct flavor that makes it unique to the African American culture. Race is a part of these characters but it is not their defining aspect, it merely informs them and the audience of their role in society and it is the way the characters react to the role that has been decided for them by society that makes them interesting characters.
#12: Analysis of Setting Information from Fences
The three paragraphs set the scene and time period of the play, as well as a clue towards the central conflict that drives the play. America is in a time of change and of people climbing the social and economical ladder, yet African Americans have been denied this privilege, but times are changing and their chance is coming.
These paragraphs appear to be mere mood setting at first, but when reading them again with the main character in mind, it clearly establishes the central conflict. Troy was part of the generation of African Americans denied his full potential due to his race, and his son is part of the generation that can reach his full potential despite his race. Troy is stuck in the olden times and refuses to acknowledge the change taking place despite taking advantage of it to get a promotion. Troy wants his son to reach his full potential but can only recognize one way for him to do so: his way. This is the central conflict of the play and while many first time viewers/readers will quickly forget about these paragraphs, they add some deeper meaning to those who decide to revisit the play.
These paragraphs appear to be mere mood setting at first, but when reading them again with the main character in mind, it clearly establishes the central conflict. Troy was part of the generation of African Americans denied his full potential due to his race, and his son is part of the generation that can reach his full potential despite his race. Troy is stuck in the olden times and refuses to acknowledge the change taking place despite taking advantage of it to get a promotion. Troy wants his son to reach his full potential but can only recognize one way for him to do so: his way. This is the central conflict of the play and while many first time viewers/readers will quickly forget about these paragraphs, they add some deeper meaning to those who decide to revisit the play.
#11: Hamlet's Speech Shows His Madness
Hamlet's monologue at the end of Act 2, Scene 2 gives us an example of Hamlet's mental state, and its one that isn't particularly sane. He jumps from metaphor to metaphor like an ADHD child distracted by shiny toys. His sentence structure is erratic, his language is philosophical, his mind unclear. What makes this important is that this is the one point in the play where he is alone and talking to himself after he has declared to feign madness to hide his true intentions of revenge. This is the only point the audience gets to see what Hamlet is REALLY thinking and yet his speech is so inconsistent and strange the audience can't help but wonder how mad Hamlet really is.
Note: the text after the // represents my thoughts on the current line
Ay, so goodbye to you.--Now I am alone.
O, what a rogue and peasant slave am I!
Is not a monstrous that this player here,
But in a fiction, a dream of passion,
Could force his soul so to his own conceit?
That from her working all his visage wanned,
Tears in his eyes, distraction in his aspect,
A broken voice, and his whole function suiting
With forms to his conceit And all for nothing!
For Hecuba! //The heck is that? Not even the book explains what that is
What's Hecuba to him, or he to Hecuba,
That he should weep for her? What would he do
Had he the motive and the cue for passion
That I have? He would drown the stage with tears //So he's questioning how the player would act if he were in Hamlet's position
And cleave the general ear with horrid speech,
Make mad the guilty and appall the free,
Confound hte ignorant, and amaze indeed
The very faculties of eyes and ears. Yet I,
A dull and muddy-mettled rascal, peak
Like John-a-dreams, unpregant of my cause,
And can say nothing--no, not for a king
Upon whose property and most dear life //Now he's doubting his resolve for his revenge plan
A damned defeat was made. Am I a coward?
Who calls me villain? Breaks my pate across?
Plucks off his beard and blows it in my face?
Tweaks me by the nose? Gives me the lie i' the throat
As deep as to the lungs? Who does me this?
Ha, 'swounds, I should take it; for it cannot be //Then suddenly changes topic to refute those who would cast him into villainy
But I am pigeon-livered and lack gall
To make oppression bitter, or ere this
I should ha'fatted all the region kites
With this slave's offal. Bloody, bawdy villain! //Example of his rapid change in metaphor
O, vengeance!
Why, what an ass am I? This is most brave,
That I, the son of a dear father murdered,
Prompted to my revenge by heaven and hell
Must like a whore unpack my heart with words //He's doubting his plans at this point?
And fall a-cursing, like a very drab,
A scullion! Fie upon 't, foh! About, my brains! //What?
Hum, I have heard
That guilty creatures sitting at a play
Have by the very cunning of the scene //So he's completely forgotten about doubting himself?
Been struck so to the soul that presently
They have proclaimed their malefacitons;
For muurder, though it have no tongue, will speak
With most miraculous organ. I'll have these players
Play somethign like the murder of my father
Before mine uncle. I'll observe his looks;
I'll tent him to the quick. If 'a do blench,
I know my course. The spirit that I ahve seen //So now he's spelling out his plan
May be the deveil, and the devil hath power
T'assume a pleasing shape; yea, and perhaps
Out of my weakness and my melancholy,
As he is very potent with such spirits,
Abuses me to damn me. I'll have grounds
More relative than this. The play's the thing
Wherein I'll catch the conscience of the King
Note: the text after the // represents my thoughts on the current line
Ay, so goodbye to you.--Now I am alone.
O, what a rogue and peasant slave am I!
Is not a monstrous that this player here,
But in a fiction, a dream of passion,
Could force his soul so to his own conceit?
That from her working all his visage wanned,
Tears in his eyes, distraction in his aspect,
A broken voice, and his whole function suiting
With forms to his conceit And all for nothing!
For Hecuba! //The heck is that? Not even the book explains what that is
What's Hecuba to him, or he to Hecuba,
That he should weep for her? What would he do
Had he the motive and the cue for passion
That I have? He would drown the stage with tears //So he's questioning how the player would act if he were in Hamlet's position
And cleave the general ear with horrid speech,
Make mad the guilty and appall the free,
Confound hte ignorant, and amaze indeed
The very faculties of eyes and ears. Yet I,
A dull and muddy-mettled rascal, peak
Like John-a-dreams, unpregant of my cause,
And can say nothing--no, not for a king
Upon whose property and most dear life //Now he's doubting his resolve for his revenge plan
A damned defeat was made. Am I a coward?
Who calls me villain? Breaks my pate across?
Plucks off his beard and blows it in my face?
Tweaks me by the nose? Gives me the lie i' the throat
As deep as to the lungs? Who does me this?
Ha, 'swounds, I should take it; for it cannot be //Then suddenly changes topic to refute those who would cast him into villainy
But I am pigeon-livered and lack gall
To make oppression bitter, or ere this
I should ha'fatted all the region kites
With this slave's offal. Bloody, bawdy villain! //Example of his rapid change in metaphor
O, vengeance!
Why, what an ass am I? This is most brave,
That I, the son of a dear father murdered,
Prompted to my revenge by heaven and hell
Must like a whore unpack my heart with words //He's doubting his plans at this point?
And fall a-cursing, like a very drab,
A scullion! Fie upon 't, foh! About, my brains! //What?
Hum, I have heard
That guilty creatures sitting at a play
Have by the very cunning of the scene //So he's completely forgotten about doubting himself?
Been struck so to the soul that presently
They have proclaimed their malefacitons;
For muurder, though it have no tongue, will speak
With most miraculous organ. I'll have these players
Play somethign like the murder of my father
Before mine uncle. I'll observe his looks;
I'll tent him to the quick. If 'a do blench,
I know my course. The spirit that I ahve seen //So now he's spelling out his plan
May be the deveil, and the devil hath power
T'assume a pleasing shape; yea, and perhaps
Out of my weakness and my melancholy,
As he is very potent with such spirits,
Abuses me to damn me. I'll have grounds
More relative than this. The play's the thing
Wherein I'll catch the conscience of the King
#10: Analysis of Woman in "Hamlet"
There are only two notable woman in the play so this issue isn't a mountain to tackle. First there's the Queen Gertrude and Hamlet's (supposed) fiance Ophelia. Gertrude gets the most screen time and what makes her interesting is what we don't know about her. The audience is not told how much she knew about her husband's death or about her second husband both before and after the marriage. It is also left unknown why she married him, was she manipulated, was it down to secure her position as queen? We don't know. Her biggest scene in the play, where she and Hamlet meet in her room, consists mostly of Hamlet yelling at her and giving her no chance to explain herself.
Ophelia gets less screen time, and once again, her biggest scene consists of Hamlet yelling at her and not giving her a chance to respond. She tells us that Hamlet loves her yet in the only scene where the two interact, he scoffs her away. She then goes mad and drowns in the river (we are left uncertain if this was intentional suicide or not), and Hamlet reacts to her funeral by declaring that his love for her is greater than her brother's, which some readers may see as more of an attempt to outstage her brother than an actual declaration of feelings.
These roles are passive, the woman themselves don't directly affect the plot, its the interactions with them from men that give them importance in the play. Hamlet discarding Ophelia shows how far off the deep end he's gone, Hamlet's attempts to discover the truth behind his mother's actions create similar results.
It would be far fetched to describe these characters as a misogynistic representation of women, but their roles are so small or unknown there's not enough solid evidence to present such a case
Ophelia gets less screen time, and once again, her biggest scene consists of Hamlet yelling at her and not giving her a chance to respond. She tells us that Hamlet loves her yet in the only scene where the two interact, he scoffs her away. She then goes mad and drowns in the river (we are left uncertain if this was intentional suicide or not), and Hamlet reacts to her funeral by declaring that his love for her is greater than her brother's, which some readers may see as more of an attempt to outstage her brother than an actual declaration of feelings.
These roles are passive, the woman themselves don't directly affect the plot, its the interactions with them from men that give them importance in the play. Hamlet discarding Ophelia shows how far off the deep end he's gone, Hamlet's attempts to discover the truth behind his mother's actions create similar results.
It would be far fetched to describe these characters as a misogynistic representation of women, but their roles are so small or unknown there's not enough solid evidence to present such a case
#9: Thoughts on "When I Consider How My Light Is Spent" by John Milton
I went about memorizing that poem by reciting one line at a time, then reciting the poem I had memorized up to that point, then recited the next line then repeated.
I could not decipher a meaning at first only when I looked up the poem online did I see what the poem was trying to say. It makes sense in retrospect but requires knowledge of the language of the time and preferably the author's life as well.
I could not decipher a meaning at first only when I looked up the poem online did I see what the poem was trying to say. It makes sense in retrospect but requires knowledge of the language of the time and preferably the author's life as well.
#8: Analysis of "A Table For One" by Ben "Yahtzee" Crowshaw
Poem can be found here (it is recommended you see this before instead of after): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sSOOuvQMQG0&list=PLAbMhAYRuCUhovB3jwR7XGxCs4MTjpMcT&index=45
As can be seen by other poems by this particular author, Yahtzee likes to use metaphor to make a point on current events. There are obvious parallels between the stories of his poems and recent news in the realm of gaming. He then uses the plot of the poem and reactions of the characters to express his point.
The restaurant represents the Xbox One, which had just been announced by Microsoft at the time. The waiter represents the Kinect, a device that was announced to require an online connection to function, was capable of watching the player when not using the console. The bread menu represents the list of features that were announced with the Xbox One, most notably how the word "television" was used more often than "games" during the announcement. The Xbox One is presented as a multimedia device that can combine all your forms of entertainment into one box, but it is primarily a games machine, and very few games were announced with the Xbox One, as can be seen by the empty menu at the restaurant. There is much more to the poem, but that's all needed to understand the point of the poem.
Now that the symbolism is out of the way, what makes Yahtzee's style noticeable is the way he disguises his metaphors. Even for a person familiar with all that is gaming, it is impossible to tell what metaphor the author is going for until at least half way through the poem. Once the audience realizes the metaphor, his message becomes blatantly clear: Yahtzee feels the Xbox One is a failure of a games machine in the same way a restaurant is a failure if it only serves bread.
As can be seen by other poems by this particular author, Yahtzee likes to use metaphor to make a point on current events. There are obvious parallels between the stories of his poems and recent news in the realm of gaming. He then uses the plot of the poem and reactions of the characters to express his point.
The restaurant represents the Xbox One, which had just been announced by Microsoft at the time. The waiter represents the Kinect, a device that was announced to require an online connection to function, was capable of watching the player when not using the console. The bread menu represents the list of features that were announced with the Xbox One, most notably how the word "television" was used more often than "games" during the announcement. The Xbox One is presented as a multimedia device that can combine all your forms of entertainment into one box, but it is primarily a games machine, and very few games were announced with the Xbox One, as can be seen by the empty menu at the restaurant. There is much more to the poem, but that's all needed to understand the point of the poem.
Now that the symbolism is out of the way, what makes Yahtzee's style noticeable is the way he disguises his metaphors. Even for a person familiar with all that is gaming, it is impossible to tell what metaphor the author is going for until at least half way through the poem. Once the audience realizes the metaphor, his message becomes blatantly clear: Yahtzee feels the Xbox One is a failure of a games machine in the same way a restaurant is a failure if it only serves bread.
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