Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Something to Delight Your Eyes
The State of Two Unions
In reading Henry V, I found myself inundated in politics today. As I was watching the State of the Union Address by President Obama, I made several connections to some lines in the play. Here's a brief rundown of the points that came down to mind.
- President Obama stated that there needed to be bipartisan efforts in order for the government to accomplish anything of value. In 1.2, Exeter states that "For government, though, and low, and lower, put into parts, doth keep in one consent, like congreeing in a full and natural close, like music" (180-183). I don't know about what others think, but I'm thinking that modern politics hardly sound like music. The intense discords between mudslinging hooligans is not of the same caliber as the intense discords that ease off into some kind of resolution. If there is no working together, then the parties just take turns passing bills when their party is the majority, and it changes with the elections. It becomes very difficult for real progress to be made.
- King Henry V declared that England needed to be prepared not only to invade France, but also to defend itself from invasions from the Scots. Obama said we need to look at our infrastructure which has fallen over the past several years, and find a way to build it back up again.
- He talked about several key issues that would help build us back up in the world again, including increased availability of high-speed internet access, good resources, high-speed trains, and improving the road systems. We need to have a good strong base in order to be able to do anything to help other countries.
- Part of that strong base is our children's education. If the kids aren't taught well, then the future of the country is also in danger. We shouldn't educate other people, and then send them off to other countries to compete against us and our businesses. We should use the education system to build up the nation. President Obama called for good teachers to rise up and serve their country. It's interesting that the call has gone from soldiers to teachers.
Well, those are some of the ideas that were floating down in my head. They aren't spectacularly well developed right now, but I plan on looking further into the ideas of education and politics in relation to Shakespearean plays. I also plan on writing what I had researched before I watched the Address and wrote this instead.
Have a glorious day!
Monday, January 17, 2011
On a Prince of Denmark and a Secretary of State
Former Secretary of State Condeleezza Rice came to BYU to speak at the forum, and I had the extreme privilege of sitting in the Marriott Center and listening to her speak. She spoke on a wide variety of topics, including a Question and Answer session. I found that I had Hamlet on the brain when almost everything she said made me think of our beloved off-kilter prince.
Dr. Rice mentioned that the biggest threat to any country is itself. In Hamlet, there is "something rotten in the state of Denmark," something so rotten it culminated in the death of Hamlet and half the cast. When a country or a family is constantly battling itself, then it becomes easier for other threats to become a serious danger. In Hamlet, there is the threat coming from Fortinbras on the outside of Denmark. Denmark itself is in a rough spot with the death of a beloved king, the crowning and wedding of a new king who is not the old king's son, and now Hamlet is going a little emo. There is definitely some cause to worry when there is "something rotten in the state of Denmark" while there is something rotten brewing abroad as well. Where do you focus your attentions?
Education has the power to change your life. It changes where you are, what opportunities are placed before you, where you are going, how you act, how you speak. It changes everything. Enter our example from the play. Hamlet was sad enough over his father dying and mother remarrying. Then he got himself an education from his dead father's ghost, and everything changed. He went from sad to bonkers and mad for revenge. He stayed at Elsinore and changed how he was acting (he started acting like a mad man), and how he was speaking (he started raving like a mad man- but with some method behind it).
Dr. Rice also mentioned that am education can affect your family for generations to come, using her grandfather's Presbyterian education as an example. Since her grandfather became a minister, her whole family has been highly educated and Presbyterian. Hamlet got educated, and it definitely affected his family when they all got killed off. It even killed off some of the family friends. Now there are no future generations to influence with his education.
Aggrievement and entitlement bring only grief to yourself, and irritation to others. They also rob you of your ability to control your life and your actions, becoming a reactor instead. Hamlet fell to a point where he reacted to everything instead of making rational choices. He started becoming more violent and more demanding of those around him. Fortinbras wanted to get back the land that his father had lost. The land wasn't worth anything, but it was for honor. Seems ridiculous to me.
While deciding on a career choice back in college, Dr. Rice went and talked to a municipal government official to see if that was something she would be interested in doing. She said that he was the single most boring man that she had ever met. I couldn't help but think of Polonius. That man has some funny lines, but he's ridiculous, stuffed up, and excessively irritating. When I think of him, I can't keep from snickering at the mental image of some fat pig shoved inside some black judge robes, with one of those ridiculous white wigs that lawyers used to wear. Like I said, ridiculous.
One of the last points that Dr. Rice made was that the very essence of human nature is to integrate knowledge of what is and faith in what might be. Hamlet got caught up in the knowledge of what was happening right in front of him at that exact moment. He forgot to look ahead, to look around. He lost faith in human nature, in his friends (except Horatio), and in family ties. Because of his inability to to integrate and his obsessive attitude on revenge, Hamlet and company came to a very untimely and tragic end. It's really very sad.
I don't know if all of this is accurate analysis, but it's what went through my head as I was listening to Dr. Rice. It was an interesting study to make.
Dr. Rice mentioned that the biggest threat to any country is itself. In Hamlet, there is "something rotten in the state of Denmark," something so rotten it culminated in the death of Hamlet and half the cast. When a country or a family is constantly battling itself, then it becomes easier for other threats to become a serious danger. In Hamlet, there is the threat coming from Fortinbras on the outside of Denmark. Denmark itself is in a rough spot with the death of a beloved king, the crowning and wedding of a new king who is not the old king's son, and now Hamlet is going a little emo. There is definitely some cause to worry when there is "something rotten in the state of Denmark" while there is something rotten brewing abroad as well. Where do you focus your attentions?
Education has the power to change your life. It changes where you are, what opportunities are placed before you, where you are going, how you act, how you speak. It changes everything. Enter our example from the play. Hamlet was sad enough over his father dying and mother remarrying. Then he got himself an education from his dead father's ghost, and everything changed. He went from sad to bonkers and mad for revenge. He stayed at Elsinore and changed how he was acting (he started acting like a mad man), and how he was speaking (he started raving like a mad man- but with some method behind it).
Dr. Rice also mentioned that am education can affect your family for generations to come, using her grandfather's Presbyterian education as an example. Since her grandfather became a minister, her whole family has been highly educated and Presbyterian. Hamlet got educated, and it definitely affected his family when they all got killed off. It even killed off some of the family friends. Now there are no future generations to influence with his education.
Aggrievement and entitlement bring only grief to yourself, and irritation to others. They also rob you of your ability to control your life and your actions, becoming a reactor instead. Hamlet fell to a point where he reacted to everything instead of making rational choices. He started becoming more violent and more demanding of those around him. Fortinbras wanted to get back the land that his father had lost. The land wasn't worth anything, but it was for honor. Seems ridiculous to me.
While deciding on a career choice back in college, Dr. Rice went and talked to a municipal government official to see if that was something she would be interested in doing. She said that he was the single most boring man that she had ever met. I couldn't help but think of Polonius. That man has some funny lines, but he's ridiculous, stuffed up, and excessively irritating. When I think of him, I can't keep from snickering at the mental image of some fat pig shoved inside some black judge robes, with one of those ridiculous white wigs that lawyers used to wear. Like I said, ridiculous.
One of the last points that Dr. Rice made was that the very essence of human nature is to integrate knowledge of what is and faith in what might be. Hamlet got caught up in the knowledge of what was happening right in front of him at that exact moment. He forgot to look ahead, to look around. He lost faith in human nature, in his friends (except Horatio), and in family ties. Because of his inability to to integrate and his obsessive attitude on revenge, Hamlet and company came to a very untimely and tragic end. It's really very sad.
I don't know if all of this is accurate analysis, but it's what went through my head as I was listening to Dr. Rice. It was an interesting study to make.
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
"I know a hawk from a handsaw"- Engineers and Hamlet
Hamlet. Extremely famous tragic (and dramatic) prince from an extremely famous tragic (and dramatic) play. Even people who don't have anything to do with the educated gentility related to being an English major can quote lines from this one. "Get thee to a nunnery!" "To be, or not to be, that is the question." "Brevity is the soul of wit." People don't even know they're being cultured when they throw one of those out there.
I decided that even though I've studied Hamlet a good few times, I would like to find a new way of reading. I have often "translated" Shakespeare into more benign (or modern) English for friends or family who don't sit around and read his works on a regular basis. I wondered what it would be like to introduce the Prince of Denmark to a group of men as far from Shakespeare as possible: science geeks and math dweebs.
My experiment:
Begin by selecting a group of subjects for the study. I chose apartment 9, which consisted of two Computer Science majors (Matthew and Michael), and two Mechanical Engineers (Brandon and Andrew).
Announce the activity and assign roles. I went with just telling the boys that they were going to be reading Hamlet out loud with me, and that they would have a good time doing it. I spoke their native language...
Read. This was thrilling. I've seldom been so entertained in my life. The boys took some things very literally (such as the Ghost speaking from beneath, when Andrew crawled under the coffee table to bellow "Swear!" every time he was kicked), and made comments that really made me think about the text. When we got to some especially long passages, it took pretty long to get through them because if you're not used to reading Shakespeare, you're just not used to it.
Collect and analyze the results. Hearing the familiar lines read aloud (slowly) by a new voice (not mine) made me think again about what the words were actually saying. And how absolutely ridiculous Polonius is. And why does Hamlet tell the First Player a list of ways to perform and to not perform the speech, and then tell him to use his own judgment? Reading the play aloud to myself was insightful because I couldn't zone out on myself and "sleep read." Reading it aloud with energetic boys (who turned out to like the activity, just like I said they would) brought to life a new dimension of the play. I got a small taste of AMATEUR Shakespeare theater.
Conclusions. These boys have energy, but they don't know a hawk from a handsaw. Reading Shakespeare may seem intimidating at times even for an English major, and downright dreadful to a math dweeb, but fun can be had by all with it.
I decided that even though I've studied Hamlet a good few times, I would like to find a new way of reading. I have often "translated" Shakespeare into more benign (or modern) English for friends or family who don't sit around and read his works on a regular basis. I wondered what it would be like to introduce the Prince of Denmark to a group of men as far from Shakespeare as possible: science geeks and math dweebs.
My experiment:
Begin by selecting a group of subjects for the study. I chose apartment 9, which consisted of two Computer Science majors (Matthew and Michael), and two Mechanical Engineers (Brandon and Andrew).
Announce the activity and assign roles. I went with just telling the boys that they were going to be reading Hamlet out loud with me, and that they would have a good time doing it. I spoke their native language...
Me: *Point and grunt* "Brandon, you Polonius!" *point at next boy, then to page* "Andrew, you Ghost. Ghost dead king. *grunt* Good?"... and so on and so forth till the parts were assigned. When we ran out of people, we improvised with falsetto ranges, random stuffed things lying around, and having conversations with ourselves.
Read. This was thrilling. I've seldom been so entertained in my life. The boys took some things very literally (such as the Ghost speaking from beneath, when Andrew crawled under the coffee table to bellow "Swear!" every time he was kicked), and made comments that really made me think about the text. When we got to some especially long passages, it took pretty long to get through them because if you're not used to reading Shakespeare, you're just not used to it.
Collect and analyze the results. Hearing the familiar lines read aloud (slowly) by a new voice (not mine) made me think again about what the words were actually saying. And how absolutely ridiculous Polonius is. And why does Hamlet tell the First Player a list of ways to perform and to not perform the speech, and then tell him to use his own judgment? Reading the play aloud to myself was insightful because I couldn't zone out on myself and "sleep read." Reading it aloud with energetic boys (who turned out to like the activity, just like I said they would) brought to life a new dimension of the play. I got a small taste of AMATEUR Shakespeare theater.
Conclusions. These boys have energy, but they don't know a hawk from a handsaw. Reading Shakespeare may seem intimidating at times even for an English major, and downright dreadful to a math dweeb, but fun can be had by all with it.
Something to Delight Your Ears
I thought that I would share this with you. This song was supposedly composed for Queen Elizabeth for her birthday and is a very pretty song. It has 40 different parts, and is written for eight choirs. (In case you were wondering, that's practically insane.) This was the sophisticated music of back then.
I love music, and this happens to be one of my favorites, not only from this time period, but in general.
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Hello and Welcome!
Hello, readers, my name is Natashya, and I'll be your blogger today. Brief summary of self? Yes. I am an English Major at BYU, minoring in the Humanities. I love Shakespeare because it is like reading another language, but in English. The delightful dance of nuance and meaning blend into a delicious festival of words just ready to be picked apart and inspected.
I have been considering some learning goals for the semester, and some interesting ideas have been coming to mind. Unfortunately, not all of these interesting ideas have been intelligent ones, so I shall see what I can do to fix that.
I will commence with Hamlet, which shall be read in a new and gloriously insightful way so that it is new to me once more. I shall use men to increase my understanding of this play. We shall see how this works.
I do believe that for the breadth requirement, I would enjoy reading at least one play from every genre that Shakespeare has written, maybe two depending on the genre. I will then watch every production of those plays that I can get my little hands on. I will also read some of his poems, both sonnets and non-sonnets. I am considering the following plays selected from a book of NECESSARY plays. How do you choose the more necessary part?
The Comedies:
I have been considering some learning goals for the semester, and some interesting ideas have been coming to mind. Unfortunately, not all of these interesting ideas have been intelligent ones, so I shall see what I can do to fix that.
I will commence with Hamlet, which shall be read in a new and gloriously insightful way so that it is new to me once more. I shall use men to increase my understanding of this play. We shall see how this works.
I do believe that for the breadth requirement, I would enjoy reading at least one play from every genre that Shakespeare has written, maybe two depending on the genre. I will then watch every production of those plays that I can get my little hands on. I will also read some of his poems, both sonnets and non-sonnets. I am considering the following plays selected from a book of NECESSARY plays. How do you choose the more necessary part?
The Comedies:
- The Taming of the Shrew
- Twelfth Night; Or, What You Will
- Another one listed in the book
- I'm doing some research to see which one of these would be best. I have had the least amount of exposure to these plays than any other genre. Surprised? I'm not.
- Othello
- King Lear
- Macbeth
- The Tempest
- The Rape of Lucrece
- Selected Sonnets
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