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In honor of William Shakespeare we are celebrating the 400th anniversary of his death on April 23, 2016. What better way to do this, than by highlighting the writing done by first-year students in Associate Professor of English John Wesley’s first-year seminar, A Year in the Life of William Shakespeare? This first-year seminar in scholarly inquiry studies four remarkable plays Shakespeare wrote or saw into production in 1599, the same year he opened the Globe Theatre. In the first half of the course, students were introduced to the myriad ways in which Shakespeare’s 1599 plays are shaped by and give shape to the political and cultural intrigues of that year. In the second half of the course, students turned to a play (and year) of their own choosing, the historicist analysis of which is the basis of an independent research project. As part of this project, students were asked to prepare a blog post that reflected on aspects of Shakespeare’s life, a specific work, or a resource or organization associated with Shakespeare, or to provide a personal interpretation of a play. During the month of April, we’ll feature the posts from students that celebrate all things Shakespeare!

Congratulations to our wonderful first-year writers. For additional online resources about Shakespeare, check out these sites:

• British Library: http://www.bl.uk/
• Folger Shakespeare Library: http://www.folger.edu/
• Globe Theatre: http://www.shakespearesglobe.com
• Internet Shakespeare Editions: http://internetshakespeare.uvic.ca
• Shakespeare 400:  http://www.shakespeare400.org/

Broken Windows
By Bobbi Ford

Portrait of Shakespeare, 1884

I don’t know about you, but growing up I read one of Shakespeare’s plays every year, and every year it was intimidating. When I was younger the language was hard to comprehend, now that I’m older the concepts are what stumbles me. It seems that there has always been a certain ambiguity that comes along with Shakespeare. We try extensively to understand and theorize who William Shakespeare was personally – not just one of, if not the greatest playwright of all time. Analyzing his sonnets and plays to not only learn the bigger picture he was trying to create but rather what that vision can tell us about him politically, socially, or even romantically. If we take into account his works, the books he may have had access to, the political movements of that time, and who he got to work with, we can create a more realistic picture of how each piece of his life effected his plays. More specifically, if we look into the religious background of England we gain a bigger understanding of Shakespeare and his plays as a whole.

A once Catholic church that was whitewashed during Shakespeare’s time

It is hard to say for certain anything about Shakespeare’s personal life, especially something as private as what religion he practiced. However, we do know that Protestantism became the official religion of England the year before Shakespeare was born in 1563 (Goaby). With that, we can infer that he was aware of its ceremonies and other attributes including its reformation of catholic churches through whitewashing. This was done essentially to remove “distractions”, such as intricate stained-glass windows and paintings of saints covering the walls in the church to let the word of god be the focal point. One in particular, the “right goodly chapel” in Stratford-upon-Avon – where Shakespeare was from – had a glazier come to town to shatter the beautiful stained-glass windows and replacing them with clear glass. Since this was a public event chances are he was there as a child watching it unfold. (Shapiro) Seeing this could have effected how Shakespeare perceived religion and furthermore influenced his writings.

In Shakespeare’s time many things were changing and a change in religion added another confusing factor. Many official Catholic holidays that had been celebrated for years were no longer celebrated and new protestant holidays were added to the mix. This disrupted their everyday life because there was a certain way to dress for holidays, usually a special hat. When you don’t know what is a holiday and what isn’t there can be a lot of confusion. This problem bleeds into some of his plays including Love’s Labor’s Lost and Julius Caesar (Shapiro). In the opening scene of Julius Caesar, a common man and a cobbler are dressed for the holiday, two men, Flavius and Murellius confront them for wearing holiday attire on a workday, however, it was actually a holiday (Julius Caesar 1.1). This confusion directly parallels with how the Elizabethans were always questioning “Is This a Holiday?” like in James Shapiro’s book, A Year in the Life of William Shakespeare, 1599 explains.

Another larger problem was time for the Elizabethans and was only worsened by the divide in religion. People were off of the calendar by about ten days. To fix this a pope suggested to skip day to get back on track. This seemed like reasonable and easy solution until the Protestant countries didn’t agree, consequently Easter was celebrated five weeks apart (Shapiro). In Julius Caesar, the very noble and smart Brutus asked what the date is which if you didn’t understand the problem with time back then you would be very confused why such an intellectual man would ask such a silly question (Shakespeare, Julius Caesar 1.2). Things like this and many others seemed to have directed influenced his plays. Though we can’t know for sure much about Shakespeare we can use the historical events surrounding him to help better understand his plays and even further, why his historical plays are so important in understanding him.

Bibliography

Goadby, Edwin. “Protestantism in Elizabethan England.” Shakespeare’s Religion. Shakespeare Online, 2011. Web. 28 Feb. 2016.

William, Page. Portrait of Shakespeare. 1884. Photograph. Folger, Shakespeare Library.  folger.edu. Web. 28 Feb 2016

Shakespeare, William. Julius Caesar. Broadview Press: Internet Shakespeare Editions. 2012.  Print.

Shapiro, James. “Is This a Holiday?” A Year in the Life of William Shakespeare, 1599. Harper Collins Publishers. 2005. Print.

In honor of William Shakespeare we are celebrating the 400th anniversary of his death on April 23, 2016. What better way to do this, than by highlighting the writing done by first-year students in Associate Professor of English John Wesley’s first-year seminar, A Year in the Life of William Shakespeare? This first-year seminar in scholarly inquiry studies four remarkable plays Shakespeare wrote or saw into production in 1599, the same year he opened the Globe Theatre. In the first half of the course, students were introduced to the myriad ways in which Shakespeare’s 1599 plays are shaped by and give shape to the political and cultural intrigues of that year. In the second half of the course, students turned to a play (and year) of their own choosing, the historicist analysis of which is the basis of an independent research project. As part of this project, students were asked to prepare a blog post that reflected on aspects of Shakespeare’s life, a specific work, or a resource or organization associated with Shakespeare, or to provide a personal interpretation of a play. During the month of April, we’ll feature the posts from students that celebrate all things Shakespeare!

Congratulations to our wonderful first-year writers. For additional online resources about Shakespeare, check out these sites:

• British Library: http://www.bl.uk/
• Folger Shakespeare Library: http://www.folger.edu/
• Globe Theatre: http://www.shakespearesglobe.com
• Internet Shakespeare Editions: http://internetshakespeare.uvic.ca
• Shakespeare 400:  http://www.shakespeare400.org/

Hamlet’s Development
By Leah Ikenberry

Hamlet is one of Shakespeare’s most famous tragedies in the classical sense. The character of Hamlet is a very complex character and undergoes a huge amount of psychological development over the course of the play in a very short time. One question that is commonly asked is about Hamlet’s age and while he may have a set physical age the age he represents developmentally throughout the play changes. A brief overview of this theory shows Hamlet’s age anywhere from seven to thirty-five.

At the play’s beginning, Hamlet is dealing with his father’s funeral. He shows a wide variety of emotions. He is questioning everything through his emotions which represents the developmental age of fourteen. Emotions are overwhelming and experienced to the fullest and emotional limits are tested. “In this latter [Hamlet] case the initial effect is strengthened by contrast: against the foil of extreme hypocrisy of Claudius and of the flatters who pander to him, the profound sincerity of Hamlet is overwhelming… a man dedicated to truth and allergic to falsity in any form, a soul that reverberates with love of good and abhorrence of evil” (Lings 27). When Hamlet encounters his father’s ghost in Act I Scene V where he learns the truth of his father’s death. “The serpent that did sting thy father’s life/ Now wears his crown” (38-39). This information endows him with responsibilities and the development of the ego and sense of self confidence usually associated with the age of twenty-one.

At age twenty-eight a person tends to question what they are doing with their life or make a change in career. Hamlet reaches this point when he sets up his uncle during Act III Scene II in “The Mouse-trap” which is a play that acts out the murder of Hamlet’s father by Claudius’ hand (224). Hamlet confirms Claudius’ guilt with Horatio.

Hamlet: “O good Horatio, I’ll take the ghost’s word for a thousand pound. Didst
perceive?”
Horatio: “Very well, my lord.”
Hamlet: “Upon the talk of the pois’ning?”
Horatio: “I did very well note him” (271-5).

Now Hamlet has to decide what to do with this information and this forces Hamlet to make a conscious life shift which occurs around the developmental age of thirty-five and is Hamlet’s physical age according to the Gravedigger or First Clown in Act V Scene I “Why, here in Denmark. I have sexton here, man and boy, of thirty years” (151-2). It was already established Hamlet was five when the sexton came. Hamlet conscious does not kill Claudius while he is praying at the alter “Now I do it pat, now ’a is a-praying; / And now I’ll do’t – and so ‘a goes to heaven, / And so am I reveng’d. That woud be scann’d: / I, his sole son, do this same villain send/ To heaven” (3.3.73-8). From this point on Hamlet is consciously making his own decisions instead of swayed by other influences.

The figure of Hamlet holding the skull of Yorick from a production of Hamlet performed at the Denver Center Theater Company. http://extras.mnginteractive.com/live/media/site36/2014/0212/20140212__20140214_C1_AE14THREVIEW~p1.jpg

During one of the most famous speeches in Hamlet, the titular character relives the developmental age of seven. This speech is found in Act V Scene I and Hamlet relives his childhood while addressing the skull of Yorick. “Alas, poor Yorick! I knew him, Horatio, a fellow of infinite jest, of most excellent fancy. He hath bore me on his back a thousand times, and now how abhorr’d in my imagination it is!” (172-5). Seven is the age of the imagination and seeing the possibilities in the universe, Hamlet remembers this as well as his possibilities now.

The end of Hamlet, Hamlet is at peace within himself and no longer has a fear of death. He welcomes death as a person usually associated with the age of forty-two. He dies in the arms of Horatio. “Now cracks a noble heart. Good night, sweet prince, / And flights of angles sing thee to thy rest!” (5.2.341-3).

This theory of how one man can experience the different stages of life within a short amount of time is very revealing. It also shows how physical age is only a number and does not directly relate to how that person is exploring the world developmentally. Each and every person may experience all of these stages according to the associated age while others may never reach any of these stages. It depends on the person and how they relate to the universe and themselves.

Bibliography

Lings, Martin. Shakespeare’s Window into the Soul: The Mystical Wisdom in Shakespeare’s Characters. United States: Inner Traditions, 2006. Print

Shakespeare, William. Hamlet. Boston, MA: Bedford/ St. Martin’s, 1994. Print.

The figure of Hamlet holding the skull of Yorick from a production of Hamlet performed at the Denver Center Theater Company. Taken from the Denver Center.
http://extras.mnginteractive.com/live/media/site36/2014/0212/20140212__20140214_C1_AE14THREVIEW~p1.jpg

In honor of William Shakespeare we are celebrating the 400th anniversary of his death on April 23, 2016. What better way to do this, than by highlighting the writing done by first-year students in Associate Professor of English John Wesley’s first-year seminar, A Year in the Life of William Shakespeare? This first-year seminar in scholarly inquiry studies four remarkable plays Shakespeare wrote or saw into production in 1599, the same year he opened the Globe Theatre. In the first half of the course, students were introduced to the myriad ways in which Shakespeare’s 1599 plays are shaped by and give shape to the political and cultural intrigues of that year. In the second half of the course, students turned to a play (and year) of their own choosing, the historicist analysis of which is the basis of an independent research project. As part of this project, students were asked to prepare a blog post that reflected on aspects of Shakespeare’s life, a specific work, or a resource or organization associated with Shakespeare, or to provide a personal interpretation of a play. During the month of April, we’ll feature the posts from students that celebrate all things Shakespeare!

Congratulations to our wonderful first-year writers. For additional online resources about Shakespeare, check out these sites:

• British Library: http://www.bl.uk/
• Folger Shakespeare Library: http://www.folger.edu/
• Globe Theatre: http://www.shakespearesglobe.com
• Internet Shakespeare Editions: http://internetshakespeare.uvic.ca
• Shakespeare 400:  http://www.shakespeare400.org/

No Legacy is so Rich as Honesty
By Aidan Regan

Will Kemp, Kemp’s Nine Days Wonder (1600)

During the summer of 2014, I undertook an apprenticeship through the Idaho Shakespeare Festival, a ten-week long hurly-burly of perspiration and perseverance. It included, among other things, the memorization, working, re-working, re-re-working, and performance of a real Shakespearean monologue—and not just any monologue, but one opposite to what we’d normally be cast. I, typically very composed, was allotted a murderous tirade of Caliban’s from The Tempest, who’s both drunk for the first time and half-fish. I could envisage a crystal clear image of Caliban and how he should be played, but no matter what I tried, something was missing from my performance; some element of Caliban’s truth was lost on me—that is, until taking one of the apprenticeship’s master classes taught by a phenomenal actor named M.A.

M.A. had each of us apprentices perform our monologue for him (in the midst of its “re-re-working stage”) and midway through gave us a directorial twist: to do it AS A PIRATE. I shut one of my eyes, made a hook gesture with my hand, and elongated my R’s. Afterrrrrrwards he asked us all why we’d made those specific decisions, to which we had no answers. They were simply performative impulses made on the spur of the moment. But instead of critiquing our decisions, he dropped a mantra with a singularly profound impact on us all: “Pirates don’t apologize.” It taught me that while I couldn’t make my performance of Caliban perfect, I could make it mine. Likewise, any decision I make, whither in my acting or in my life, is the right one as long as I’m honest with myself and own it.

This lesson applies equally to the performance of any one of the characters in Shakespeare’s plays. By embracing their own individual take on the role, actors can make their performance more real, more honest, and entirely new to the stage; as Mariana says in All’s Well That Ends Well, “No legacy is so rich as honesty” (3.5.14). Shakespeare’s plays have had such legacy and appeal over the past 400 years simply because every one of his characters lends themselves to the versatility of an individual’s interpretation. This fact has been recognized by several Shakespeare scholars, including Simon Palfrey, who writes in Doing Shakespeare that “The recognition that they [characters] are prescripted or bounded by dramatic materials leads to a search for that which lies within or beyond such materials; similarly, the absence of explanation or evidence makes us try to supply both. The characters we locate are our constructions, without substance outside our experience of them…in that they are hardly less real than any other thing we call our own” (322). All actors need to do for their performance to work and their rendition to be real is to follow in the footsteps of Will Kemp, Shakespeare’s clown who’s pictured above, and dance to the beat of their own drum.

Bibliography

Kempes Nine Daies Wonder. 31 Dec. 1599. Illustration. Wikimedia Commons.

Palfrey, Simon. Doing Shakespeare. N.p.: Bloomsbury, 2014. Print.

Shakespeare, William. Complete Works. Vol. 7. New York: Hearst’s International, 1909. Print.

In honor of William Shakespeare we are celebrating the 400th anniversary of his death on April 23, 2016. What better way to do this, than by highlighting the writing done by first-year students in Associate Professor of English John Wesley’s first-year seminar, A Year in the Life of William Shakespeare? This first-year seminar in scholarly inquiry studies four remarkable plays Shakespeare wrote or saw into production in 1599, the same year he opened the Globe Theatre. In the first half of the course, students were introduced to the myriad ways in which Shakespeare’s 1599 plays are shaped by and give shape to the political and cultural intrigues of that year. In the second half of the course, students turned to a play (and year) of their own choosing, the historicist analysis of which is the basis of an independent research project. As part of this project, students were asked to prepare a blog post that reflected on aspects of Shakespeare’s life, a specific work, or a resource or organization associated with Shakespeare, or to provide a personal interpretation of a play. During the month of April, we’ll feature the posts from students that celebrate all things Shakespeare!

Congratulations to our wonderful first-year writers. For additional online resources about Shakespeare, check out these sites:

• British Library: http://www.bl.uk/
• Folger Shakespeare Library: http://www.folger.edu/
• Globe Theatre: http://www.shakespearesglobe.com
• Internet Shakespeare Editions: http://internetshakespeare.uvic.ca
• Shakespeare 400:  http://www.shakespeare400.org/

Perspectives on Sonnet 55
By Chelsea Bruen

Not marble nor the gilded monuments
Of princes shall outlive this pow’rful rhyme,
But you shall shine more bright in these contents
Than unswept stone, besmeared with sluttish time.
When wasteful war shall statues overturn,
And broils root out the work of masonry,
Nor Mars his sword nor war’s quick fire shall burn
The living record of your memory.
‘Gainst death and all oblivious enmity
Shall you pace forth; your praise shall still find room
Even in the eyes of all posterity
That wear this world out to the ending doom.
So, till the judgment that yourself arise,
You live in this, and dwell in lovers’ eyes.

-William Shakespeare

“Sonnet 55,” by William Shakespeare, is hard to pin down. Some say it’s a love sonnet, because what sonnet wouldn’t be about love? Some look a little closer and think it’s about time. Some, such as myself, try to connect it to history.

Philip McGuire looked a little closer and found the theme of time. In McGuire’s article “Shakespeare’s Non-Shakespearean Sonnets” he speaks to the poem’s theme of time, referencing the unusual rhyme pattern as a way that this poem, “will endure, keeping his beloved alive, until, with final judgement, time itself ceases to be” (McGuire 312).  I don’t disagree that Shakespeare deviates from the typical sonnet rhyme pattern, but I think the theme of time runs a bit deeper than rhyme. Overall, I see a questioning of when time will run out and what will remain. Taking phrases such as “outlive”, “sluttish time”, and “living record” together provide an overall experience of moving through time till eventually it runs out (on judgement day), leaving behind only the record (this sonnet) of what occurred.

Helen Vendler also sees the deeper meaning of time. In The Art of Shakespeare’s Sonnets, Vendler describes the frequent use of the word “live” in sonnet 55, and uses it to draw out a central question from the poem, “Does the person [you] remain alive in the contents, or does only a record [of your memory] remain?” (Vendler 268). Vendler’s idea that Shakespeare is questioning which side is the truth is very intriguing; are we alive without a record or only remembered within it? I’m not sure the poem gives an answer to the question she raises, perhaps Shakespeare was struggling with it himself.

The theme of time is in the poem, and it doesn’t include romance. Time is about record and memory and history, not infatuation. Time is something these authors and I agree on, but we do not agree on who Shakespeare is writing about. Vendler and McGuire interpret this person to be a young man, I think it is quite the opposite.

I believe this sonnet is about Queen Elizabeth I. Throughout the poem there are subtle hints that the person he speaks of is someone of great importance, saying that “Not marble nor the gilded monuments / Of princes shall outlive this pow’rful rhyme” (1-2). It can be taken that he means great statues / monuments of royalty will not outlive this rhyme, and also not outlive the memory of who he speaks of, meaning that they are important enough to not be easily forgotten. Elizabeth was a very important person in Shakespeare’s time, you know being Queen and all, but that is not solid evidence that this is about her. These lines are better evidence, “Nor Mars his sword nor war’s quick fire shall burn / The living record of your memory. / ‘Gainst death and all oblivious enmity” (7-9). Mary, Queen of Scots, was associated with Mars god of war (you can see her next to Mars in the painting below). Mary was rumored to be succeeding Elizabeth, and also may have been plotting against Elizabeth. That information fits very well into the lines. I read them to say: Mary can’t destroy your (Elizabeth’s) memory, nor can war, you will live on past this hostility. Bringing it back to the first two lines, Shakespeare may be saying here that Elizabeth’s memory will live on, or Elizabeth herself will.

Figure 1. Family of Henry VIII, an Allegory of the Tudor Succession (Wikimedia).

Elizabeth did live on, well beyond the life expectancy of the times, bringing it back to the theme of time. I think this sonnet is questioning when Elizabeth’s time will run out, and how she will be remembered through history.

Unfortunately, we will never know exactly what this sonnet meant from Shakespeare’s perspective. Looking at the historical references I found in the sonnet anyone could make a case that it’s about Elizabeth, but there are other valid arguments, except love. I see many things in this sonnet, but romance is not one of them.

Bibliography

McGuire, Philip C. “Shakespeare’s Non-Shakespearean Sonnets.” Shakespeare Quarterly 38.3 (1987): 304-319. Web. 01 Mar. 2016.

Shapiro, James. A Year in the Life of William Shakespeare. New York: Harper Perennial, 2005. Print.

Vendler, Helen. The Art of Shakespeare’s Sonnets. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1997. Print.

Wagner, John A. and Susan Walter Schmid. “Mary, Queen of Scots.” Encyclopedia of Tudor England. 2011. Web.

“Family of Henry VIII, an Allegory of the Tudor Succession.” Wikimedia Commons. Wikimedia, 15 Jan. 2016. Web. 01 Mar. 2016.

In honor of William Shakespeare we are celebrating the 400th anniversary of his death on April 23, 2016. What better way to do this, than by highlighting the writing done by first-year students in Associate Professor of English John Wesley’s first-year seminar, A Year in the Life of William Shakespeare? This first-year seminar in scholarly inquiry studies four remarkable plays Shakespeare wrote or saw into production in 1599, the same year he opened the Globe Theatre. In the first half of the course, students were introduced to the myriad ways in which Shakespeare’s 1599 plays are shaped by and give shape to the political and cultural intrigues of that year. In the second half of the course, students turned to a play (and year) of their own choosing, the historicist analysis of which is the basis of an independent research project. As part of this project, students were asked to prepare a blog post that reflected on aspects of Shakespeare’s life, a specific work, or a resource or organization associated with Shakespeare, or to provide a personal interpretation of a play. During the month of April, we’ll feature the posts from students that celebrate all things Shakespeare!

Congratulations to our wonderful first-year writers. For additional online resources about Shakespeare, check out these sites:

• British Library: http://www.bl.uk/
• Folger Shakespeare Library: http://www.folger.edu/
• Globe Theatre: http://www.shakespearesglobe.com
• Internet Shakespeare Editions: http://internetshakespeare.uvic.ca
• Shakespeare 400:  http://www.shakespeare400.org/

Transcendent Feminism: Women’s Shifting Perception in Shakespeare and Chicks Flicks
By Kaelie Coleman

Uncountable stories have been written throughout human history, most of which have not passed the test of time. Shakespeare’s stories have not only been remembered, they also continue to spawn new interpretations that remain pertinent throughout generations. Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew would seem to many too far from modern sensibilities to be marketable, yet in 1999 10 Things I Hate About You, a film adaption of the play, opened to enormous success. It wasn’t simply Heath Ledger’s rugged face that made the film an icon; viewers in the late 20th century could identify with the cultural commentary on women’s issues introduced by Shakespeare.

In 1590 when “The Taming of the Shrew” first hit the stage, the unfavorable position of the protagonist Katherine, a harsh shrew who refuses to marry despite her father’s insistence, exemplified difficulties British women faced. This rebellious nature was frowned upon, but instead of “taming” her spirit until she was a deferential wife, Katherine merely learns to use it more effectively. In Katherine’s final speech following her unwilling marriage to Petruchio most audience members are confused by Katherine’s newly demure attitude and utter deference to her husband. Shakespeare ends the play with an attitude switch so confounding that there are still debates today about the true meaning of the finale. Some critics take Katherine’s words at face value, assuming that the cruel treatment Katherine endured broke her. Others, like myself, see the speech as a form of forced evolution. Katherine can’t have the life of a single lady, so instead she is creating a life that is tolerable; a life built on a foundation of mutual trust, a novel concept in Elizabethan England.

The ambiguity in The Taming of the Shrew made 10 Things I Hate About You possible to format to contemporary values, especially those of the changing feminist movement. Unlike in the original story, the commentary arises from the development of the Stratford sisters, Kat and Bianca. Each sister represents a caricature of woman of the time. Kat, the anti-romantic embodies the stereotype of the bra-burning feminists of the seventies. The mild-mannered Bianca, on the other hand, is a classic sweetheart. As events unfold, the girls take on characteristics of the other, Bianca expressing anger towards the school scumbag with her perfectly manicured fists, and Kat embracing her feminine side in front of an entire classroom with a (rather awkwardly) rewritten Shakespearean sonnet. The changed girls mirror the altering perception of feminism in the Nineties. Gone were the unshaven extremists, instead refined strength became the tell of an empowered woman.

There have been many Shakespearean rom-coms produced over the years, probably with many more to come. Each of Shakespeare’s many plays focuses on a theme that is still apparent. A theme that still manages to make audiences crow with triumph, or cry with hopelessness. Taming of the Shrew addressed problems society still struggles with. Until basic underlying issues of our society are dealt with, I doubt that Shakespeare will ever become irrelevant.

Bibliography

10 Things I Hate about You. Dir. Gil Junger. Perf. Julia Stiles and Heath Ledger. Buena Vista Pictures, 1999

Shakespeare, William, Barbara A. Mowat, and Paul Werstine. The Taming of the Shrew. New York: Washington Square, 1992. Print.

Promotional poster for 10 Things I Hate About You. Digital image. Wikipedia. |             Touchstone Pictures, n.d. Web. 30 Feb. 2016.