...and yet more Shakespeare...

Love's Labour Lost. Now there's a great play to listen to and to laugh with. As Shakespeare expertly begins this play with 3 friends making a vow to uphold a rigid list of rules for 3 years, who would guess that within the "day?" all three are already compromising their dedication to those rules. The play continued to draw laughs from me as King Ferdinand and his attending Lords attempt to woo the French princess and her attending ladies as Russian suitors. The women think that they have come to mock them and turn the tables on them by disguising themselves. The wooing ends really badly; the joke being on the three young men, a.k.a. the Russian suitors. Through misplaced love letters and deliberately-misguided masquerade balls, the play finally concludes with the young women taking charge of the situation: they decide that they will come back in a year and marry the young men if the young men will dedicate their lives for 1 year to study. It would be interesting what Shakespeare would have written as a sequel. What a fun play that would be to write. Ah, well...sometime in the future?!!

I also listened to Much Ado about Nothing. This play emphasized to me the importance of treating others kindly. I didn't elaborate on my notes so I'll have to go by memory on this one. When Timbrero (duped into witnessing a false scene orchestrated by Girondo who's jealous of their relationship) accuses Fenicia of being unfaithful, she faints and her father pronounces her dead. Because of Girondo's actions, and others in life who believe that if they're miserable everyone else should be, happiness was nearly thwarted. Even when it may seem impossible to believe the truth, I hope that we would exercise faith and trust in those we love, and listen less to those around us who might not have our best interests at heart. This happened to me when I became engaged to my husband. There were a few who did their best to talk me out of it and split us up but I persevered, went with my heart, and we've enjoyed 15 years of, more than less, happy times. I also thought of Othello when I listened to this play and how he, by listening to Iago, destroyed everything he loved.

Listening to the Winter's Tale, I found myself examining loyalty, especially in the relationship between Polixenes (King of Bohemia) and Camillo (King Leontes's Lord), Queen Hermione and Paulina (wife of Antigonus, a Sicilian Lord), and Prince Florizel and Perdita. Camillo and Paulina showed exemplary courage when they displayed loyalty for truth. Camillo didn't even any ties to Polixenes, but he knew the king was in the wrong, and stood up for truth. He also stayed loyal to Polixenes by serving him many years after the accusation, even though he was pining for Sicily. Paulina stayed loyal to the queen, even at the peril of her own life. And the young lovers stayed true to themselves and their relationship even when Polixenes took away money, title, and was threatening to them. I realized that there's all kinds of loyalty and we need to embrace them all, as they lead to truth.

Listening again, this time to As you like it. I also thought this was a great play about how we should respond to adversity and how to treat others. The Duke, living without anger in banishment, and Rosalind and Celia, seemed to be of such great character in spite of the circumstances they are wrongly thrust into. I was impressed so much as to think of our Lord, Jesus Christ, and the way he handled abuse and disgrace. He was humble, kind, forgiving, and loving. These are the very attributes that these three characters portrayed in this play and I enjoyed learning about them and I especially loved the ending when the righteous win the day.
I noticed at one point in the play when Rosalind is talking to Orlando about how men and women change after marriage how true it is of human nature that when we're afraid of getting hurt, we sometimes say things that we don't mean, as she did. Unfortunately, fear can sway us off the perfect path of truth. I hope that I can be better at saying the things I mean and feel, not just the reactions that come to mind in a situation such as that.

I watched Troilus and Cressida and didn't enjoy the movie very much. I'm not much for Shakespearean tragedies. I watch movies to "see the sunny side of life" so tragedy is hard for me to get through. That said, I loved Troilus comment in the beginning of the play to Pandarus. "When I do tell thee, there my hopes lie drown'd. Reply not in how many fathoms deep." I thought that line was hilarious. Do we do that sometimes? Wallow with someone else in their despair and take them further in to the depths? I hope not, but it's worth pondering... I did admire and respect Troilus, also, as he leaves Cressida (once he realizes she's betrayed their marriage) and doesn't look back. It takes a lot of courage and self worth to take the higher road and move on.

Another tragedy...Cymbeline...and another play in which the desire of Satan is examined, that is, if he is in misery, he wishes everybody to be in misery. In another Iago and Girondo role, Iachimo tries to persuade Posthumus that Imogen, like all other women, will not stay faithful to her agreement with him. He is not able to convince Posthumus, though, until Iachimo shows him the bracelet he stole from her room. Posthumus is devastated and orders to have Imogen killed. He regrets that act and from thenceforth cares nothing for life, even to the point wherein he gives himself up as a prisoner. In the end, Posthumus and Imogen are reunited and Iachimo announces his deception. The one thing I find interesting about Shakepeare's plays are that when someone says that they're sorry and ask forgiveness, they are frankly forgiven and are usually friends afterward. It seems so quick and easy, like it's supposed to be, but hardly like what it feels like to forgive sometimes.

In watching Coriolanus, I was amazed at the journey that Coriolanus, formerly Caius Martius, took. He intensely dislikes the lower class and so when he asks for their vote, after becoming a war hero and part of the Senate, and they reject him (admittedly by two other people conspiring against him). I don't feel sorry for him at all. I think he brought it on himself. It just gets worse for him as he defects to Rome's enemy, and attacks Rome. He ceases the attack only when his mother pleads for the city. He returns to Antium and is declared a traitor because he did not take Rome. In the end he's assassinated. What a life! And what anger can do to it...helping to make foolish and rash decisions.

Another video I watched was King John. I'm thinking this is the play that I researched in more depth and unless I'm thinking of another, I was amazed at how close to the true history Shakespeare wrote this. I was saddened by Arthur's sad plight. He was rescued by Hubert, feeling compassionate by the boy's innocence, and then ends his life by leaping off of a castle wall, thinking he could flee England, and falling to his death.

In watching Antony and Cleopatra, I pondered a lot on our emotions and the correct way to portray them. Antony and Cleopatra both seemed so apt to passionate behavior which led to a dramatic end for both of them. At one point, it seems as if Cleopatra does this for show, because as soon as she makes her point, she chooses a new emotion, a calmer one, which makes me wonder how often emotion is used to manipulate. Antony does this also to Cleopatra as he condemns her at one point in the video and then promptly forgives her. I, like them, tend to be passionate and am continually working to have more self-control. I am very aware of when I have the spirit and when I don't and when I am passionate, I feel it leave. Of course, that's when I am passionately angry. When I'm passionate about something I'm learning or about something I'm sharing, I feel the spirit increase.

I watched Macbeth at our local college just a few weeks ago. The story was just as I remembered it to be. I read the play a few months ago. It was dark and evil which is exactly what you conjure up when you deal with spirits on the other side. The actor who portrayed Macbeth was fabulous in his character progression. I found myself liking him at first, he seemed honorable and noble. It was fascinating to watch him descend into lower and lower emotions, conversations, and physical appearance. The moral that always pops into my head about Macbeth is be careful who you turn to for inspiration. The reality is that there is good and there is evil in our world. We have to be careful to always choose the right. The middle road is an easy way for the devil to slowly lead us down to hell. I enjoyed immensely the civil-war era and the Southern accents that accompanied this play.