#writing dossier

[shakespeareanthoughts]

Theory of the Statue

   The final scene of The Winter's Tale is undoubtedly strange: the statue of Hermione comes to life. Is it magic? It doesn't seem to fit into the world of the Oracle of Delphi. But maybe the statue was never really a statue, and is the real Hermione pretending to be a statue. Based on the text it's plausible, especially with Paulina and Leontes's comments about the statue's likeness to the real Hermione. Paulina says that “As she lived peerless / so her dead likeness” (5.3.17-18) and Leontees comments notices that “Hermione was not so much wrinkled, nothing / So agèd as this seems” (5.3.32-33). So the statue looks eerily exactly like Hermione, but it looks as if she's aged in the sixteen years since her death. But what if Hermione didn't die at all, and Paulina was hiding her until the oracle's prophecy is completed? Some sort of revenge on Leontes? (that's pretty extreme I admit.)

   So how is that possible? Well, Hermione dies after the prophecy is relayed by the messengers. And Paulina is the one who reports Hermione's death. Hermione falls onstage and is carried off, then Paulina re-enters and says “the Queen, the Queen, / The sweet'st, dear'ts creature's dead, and vengeance / for't / Not dropped down yet” (3.2.219-221) and then: “I say she's dead. I'll swear't. If word nor oath / Prevail not, go and see” (3.2.224). Of course, Leontes also says “Prithee, bring me / To the dead bodies of my queen and son . . . Once a day I'll visit / The chapel where they lie” (3.2.260-265). At this point we can't actually know how much of Hermione Leontes sees. But if we're going with this theory than Paulina could have manipulated him into seeing only what she wanted him to see. We already know she can manipulate him from Act 5 when she makes him promise to not remarry without her permission (a little nod to Hermione returning perhaps?).

   And what about the prophecy? The oracle apparently says “Hermione is chaste, Polixenes blameless, Camillo a true subject, Leontes a jealous tyrant, his innocent babe truly begotten; and the King shall live without an heir if that which is lost be not found” (3.2.142-146). So if Perdita, the lost daughter, is not found than Leontes will live without an heir, which makes sense seeing as she is his heir. Unfortunately, that doesn't bring Mamillius back. So why is this important to Hermione as a statue? Well, Paulina says “If you can behold it, / I'll make the statue move indeed, descend / And take you by the hand” (5.3.109-111) and then “'Tis time. Descend. Be stone no more” (5.3.125). She sets it up so that she can be the person to magically bring Hermione back. She also keeps warning everyone that the statue is newly made and not to touch it–but is that because they'll be able to tell she's a real person if they touch her? And finally, Hermione herself says that “Knowing by Paulina that the oracle / Gave hope thou wast in being, have preserved / Myself to see the issue” (5.3.158-161).

   So maybe Paulina reminded Hermione of the oracle's words after she fainted upon hearing of Mamillius's death and thereby kept her alive (and hidden) until the prophecy was fulfilled. Now that Leontes has had the time to repent and deserves his daughter again, Perdita comes back to him, and so does Hermione.

(March 25)

[shakespeareanthoughts]

Theatre Review: When Shakespeare’s Ladies Meet

   You don't have to be a Shakespeare nerd to get these references. “When Shakespeare's Ladies Meet” is exactly what the title infers: some of Shakespeare's most exciting and vivacious heroines meet to discuss and advise Juliet (Romeo and Juliet) on her blossoming romance with Romeo. Katherine (The Taming of the Shrew), Portia (The Merchant of Venice), Ophelia (Hamlet), Desdemona (Othello), and Cleopatra (Antony and Cleopatra) all have their own opinion on Juliet's romance, as well as thoughts on each others already established relationships. Bursting with snide remarks, foreshadowing, and unapologetic puns, each leading lady speaks half in Shakespeare's characteristic flowery language, half with modern expressions. Theatre Activ brought student actors and directors to professional plays. The actors fit their characters perfectly, not only in disposition, but in likeness as well: Portia was stately and calm; Katherine was sharp-tongued and sarcastic; Ophelia was essentially crazy; Juliet was optimistic and love-sick; and Cleopatra was confident and guiding. The stage, though covered in flowers for Ophelia's sake, was straight-forward and bare enough that it never distracted from the actresses. The student director brought Charles George's play to life. Full of laughable puns and hilarious quotations, it gave us a glimpse of what could happen if Shakespeare's ladies met.

(February 1)

[shakespeareanthoughts]

The Ending of The Winter’s Tale

   Whether you believe Hermione was alive the entire time or not, Leontes doesn't want to find out if one or the other is true. He doesn't want to investigate or unveil anything he might not want to know that answer to. If he finds out she wasn't dead, than she and Paulina managed to manipulate him for 16 years. If she was, than Paulina is some sort of witch; with Paulina bringing Hermione back, he doesn't really want to punish her in any way. And Leontes does this in the beginning of the play as well. He doesn't investigate his beliefs that Hermione was unfaithful. He doesn't stop and think about the validity of the claim, but he also doesn't want to do so, because if he does, he might find something he doesn't like. If he finds it to be true, than he might be angrier than he is in the play, and would never have repented during those 16 years. However, if he found the claim to be wrong, he'd have to admit he jumped to conclusions. He'd have to retract his claim and admit to Hermione, Polixenes, and the entire court, that he was completely wrong in his judgements. Then he might not be given the same respect he had before or be taken as seriously. Really Leontes prefers to be ignorant than know the whole truth.

(March 29)

[shakespeareanthoughts]

Rhetorical Analysis: Leontes’ Soliloquy

“Go play, boy, play: thy mother plays, and I / Play too” (190-1)

Antanaclesis of “play”: shift in meaning of the same word.

1. boyhood “play”: having fun, general sense of the word

2. mother's “play”: infidelity, sexual playing, playing around with other men

3. metatheatre “play”: Leontes playing the role of the cuckold in theatre (but this isn't true)

“That little thinks she has been sluiced in's absence / And his pond fish'd by his next neighbour, by / Sir Smile, his neighbour: nay there's comfort in't” (198-200)

Consonance of “s”: repetition of a consonant sound

Serpent, slithering, trickery, manipulative, infidelity

Leontes believes Hermione has been unfaithful; here he is talking of her

Consonance of “n”

Strong, confrontational, standing in place

Leontes is speaking of men, in general believing them to be stronger than women, but also in this case speaking of men who Hermione may have been unfaithful with, hence the confrontation

“Where 'tis predominant; and 'tis powerful” (206)

Anaphora / Parison / Alliteration: word repeated at beginning of a clause, parallel of structures and ideas, repetition of a sound at the beginning of a word

Solidifying, strengthening, repetition places the idea more firmly in our minds.

“p” sound with the specific words are powerful, kingly, take a stand, man has fidelity, is angry, strong, power over Hermione who has cheated (supposedly), she has been manipulated or is the manipulator vs. Leontes who has morals, is unwavering, grounded

“Go, play, boy, play” (repeated) (190, 193) and “play” (190, 191, 193)

Epimone: repetition of an entire line

Unstable, Leontes has to repeat the line, he keeps insisting Mamillius go off and play; reassuring himself

Diacope: repetition of a word with intervening words

Referencing and reinforcing the antanaclesis, the idea of the three different “play(s)”

“With bag and baggage” (210)

Polypton / Alliteration: same root, different word

Both: something you bring with you

“bag”: physical

“baggage”: emotional, thoughts, actions, a history that follows you

“b” sound keeps the words and ideas together, emphasizes them

(March 27)

[shakespeareanthoughts]

How to Stage the Bear and the Statue in The Winter’s Tale

  I think that in Shakespeare's time they could have used a real bear, however, using a person dressed as a bear would be more comedic. If I were to stage The Winter's Tale, I would use a person dressed as a bear, but make them more man than beast. I would have it apparent that this is definitely a person pretending to be a bear, probably having them chase Antigonus off stage on two feet. For the statue, I would have the actor plating Hermione stand on stage as the statue herself, and have a spotlight on her, that way she could step down seamlessly into the scene, and it would only be from the dialogue from other characters that she is in fact a statue.

(March 20)

[shakespeareanthoughts]

Peer Reviews

    Reflect on the process of peer review: what were your challenges? What were the benefits of the exercise? What did you learn?

  I found the peer review process to be incredibly beneficial. At first I was a little worried because I haven't done much peer editing before. While doing the review, I realized how much the editor is trying to help. I wasn't trying to demean the person's essay that I was editing, I just wanted to help them. And that's really what editors do. I was able to recognize problems in their essay that I have struggled with myself. When I got my own peer review back, I reminded myself of what I had learned in doing the exercise: that it's all to held make my essay stronger. Usually I have a difficult time accepting criticism, but in my own peer reviewed essay I read everything carefully and contemplated every note the person had to say. I went over their review and yes, I dismissed some of it, but most of it I took into consideration and tried to be as open-minded as I could about the advice and criticism I was given.

[shakespeareanthoughts]

QUEUC

  My first time at the Quebec Universities English Undergraduate Conference I wasn't really sure what to expect. I had no idea what a conference such as this would entail. I ended up entirely amazed. People from all over presented papers on all sorts of things, from Shakespeare to Feminism to Harry Potter. Just listening to the presentations wasn't all, the conversations that followed sparked by questions from the audience were amazing. I had never been in a room with so many open-minded people who were willing to discuss the portrayal of Lilith in mainstream media (as only one example). My favourite panels were Leading Ladies, and Elizabethan Shakespeare. Even if I wasn't evaluating the papers by any means, nor were my personal favourites the most argumentative, everything I listened to was interesting and engaging. Not only that, but the question periods that turned into general conversation time were amazing. In the Leading Ladies panel, the conversation turned into discussions on The Princess Diaries, Lilith in Supernatural and the Shadow Hunters series, and Maleficent and Ursula as favourite Disney characters. In The Future is Female panel, I didn't understand the papers as much, but the conversation ranged from depictions of minority groups in film to a long while talking about a particular video game and the matriarchy in it. It was so amazing to be around people with the same interests as me, and who are interested in talking about the same things as me, which I had never before experienced (at least in High School). Overall it was an amazing experience and I am so glad I was able to be a part of it. But perhaps the most amazing part of the conference was during literary cranium when, upon having to write a sonnet, my team immediately started debating which type of sonnet we should write.

(March 12)

[shakespeareanthoughts]

Debate: Antony and Cleopatra

  Topic: Shakespeare constructs Cleopatra as a proto-feminist who challenges the Roman patriarchal system.

  I agree. Compared to the patriarchal Romans, she is the Queen of a nation. She controls her own country versus the Roman triumvir. She surrounds herself with supportive women (Charmian and Iras) as well as some men, compared to Antony, Caesar, and Pompey's entourage of men (such as Enobarbus, Macenas, and Menas). As well, Cleopatra is much more powerful and free than Octavia, who has no influence over her marriage to Antony and is forced to accept him.

  Refutation: Octavia travels to Rome to convince Caesar to keep up his bond with her new husband, Antony. However, she has to be given permission to do so. She can't do anything without a man's approval.

  Cleopatra challenges the Roman system by killing herself rather than be paraded around Rome like a trophy, as even Caesar confirms would be the case. She does everything by her own terms.

  Refutation: Cleopatra is a pawn to men: her life is dictated by Antony and Caesar's actions. However, she chooses Antony, chooses to stay with him and help him. If Caesar were a woman, would her reaction (killing herself) have been any different?)

  Finally, Caesar's resolve to bury Cleopatra with Antony shows that her actions have had a lasting effect on the Roman patriarch, convincing Caesar enough of her individual power that she is buried with “her Antony” (5.2.429).