I don't know if you're still at the airport but: Fave book as a kid? Least favourite Shakespeare play so far (if you had to pick)? Best book you've read for school? Also, I'd love to hear even more about your tempest project sometime!
Hi! Got back home safe and sound - and thank you so much for this! Your asks are absolutely wonderful:)
Fave book as a kid?
Here’s the very funny thing - I actually hated reading as a kid. I hated books. I just *heavy sigh* did not enjoy it whatsoever. Up until high school, I wanted to be a biology major or do something with sciences in education. My first favorite book didn’t come up until senior year of high school, and that was Brave New World by Aldous Huxley - (he has an incredibly interesting biography - like hit me up if you ever need or want some Aldous Huxley facts/trivia, I’m your girl).
Least favorite Shakespeare play so far?
Titus Andronicus. Ahhh, I’m so sorry to everyone who likes that play, I wish I could like it, I really do. Maybe if I go into some more research about it I might like it a little bit more, but if I had to choose a Shakespeare play to never read again, it would be that one.
Best book you’ve read for school?
This semester, I just finished reading The Island of Dr. Moreau by H.G. Wells and I loved it. I didn’t like it at first, but by the time I finished it I was in love. It’s a very easy read, relatively short, but the three main characters are absolutely fascinating. There’s the narrator, Edward Prendick (who is ME - we have so many things in common it hurts me a little), who gets rescued from a lifeboat that he was the only survivor on - after an episode where he contemplates cannibalism - , and he is absolutely terrified when he sees what’s going on on this island he’s been brought to, so much so that it’s traumatic for him for the rest of his life. Montgomery, who rescues him, gay alcoholic who has found friends in these animal-human hybrids, and comes into fatal moral contention with Prendick. And then there’s Moreau, who is a vivisectionist trying to create human beings from animals, and at one point stabs a knife into his leg to prove that pain exists because it does and we shouldn’t put feeling into it, and like I wish I had that kind of confidence in life. I absolutely adore books that delve into the psychological and this one does not disappoint. If you haven’t read it, I highly recommend it. (Also, like if you decide to watch the 1996 movie, just know that they took the book and like threw it into the ocean and disregarded everything, but it’s like so bad that you can’t look away either so... watch at your own risk? >-<).
ProjectAriel?
So my Tempest project this semester (which I am still in the research phase of) is exploring Ariel’s place in The Tempest from a few different standpoints (right now - I’ll probably fine tune it later once my research becomes more specific). One that I’m going to dig a little deeper into is the idea that he might represent a romanticization of the pre-colonial past. I’m also interested in his use of magic in comparison to Prospero’s, and if (if they do) these magical characters compete with each other in any way, and why they do, or do not - which might lead me into research about faeries. It was interesting to me that Prospero and Sycorax have some competition for the island and they share the ability of magic, whereas Ariel has magical qualities, he is the most indigeneous character on the island, yet he does not claim power in the same way that Prospero does - which could lead into the idea of the pre-colonial past and the idea that Ariel is very similar to the character of Friday from Robinson Crusoe (the sort of benevolent indigenous character). It sounds really ramble-y but that’s everything that’s going on in my brain at this point. I’m planning to really dig in this weekend and next week.