Audible Version of Hamlet

I've finished listening to Act I of Hamlet and have to admit I've been pleasantly surprised. I was not looking forward to approaching the text this way but I have seen some benefit already. The biggest advantage I have found comes through character development. It is much easier for me to get a "feel" for the characters and distinguish between them when I hear them performed. It usually takes me a while to develop a clear mental picture of a character with the text alone but the audio version allowed me to do that much more quickly. I've been listening to the version through Audible with the commentary and some of that commentary has been helpful but I'm not going to finish the play with it. Not only do I not have 11+ hours to dedicate to listening to the play but I found a lot of the commentary distracting and unnecessary. The positive aspects of the commentary were outweighed by the negative for me. I've also found it helpful to follow along with the text in front of me while listening. Even though it takes longer than just reading silently, I find that I am more engaged and spend larger chunks of time reading/listening than if I have the text alone.

All that Glisters?

I'm assuming we've all heard the phrase, "all that glitters is not gold." At this point I can't say that I was surprised to read it in one of Shakespeare's plays but I was curious if this phrase in The Merchant of Venice (Act II Scene VII) was a Shakespearean original or if he borrowed the phrase. (Especially because the line immediately following the phrase reads, "often have you heard that told.")
According to The Phrase Finder this is one that Shakespeare borrowed. It also says that the original text read, "all that glisters is not gold." It cites a few examples of the idea being expressed in literature pre-dating The Merchant of Venice:

-The 12th century French theologian Alain de Lille wrote "Do not hold everything gold that shines like gold".

-In 1553, we have Thomas Becon, in The relikes of Rome: "All is not golde that glistereth."

-George Turberville, in Tragical tales, (and other poems), 1587, wrote that "All is not gold that glistringly appeere."

I was also interested by the name "Shylock" in the play. In the 2005 movie Be Cool John Travolta plays a mobster-turned-movie producer named Chili Palmer and various times throughout the movie it is questioned whether or not he is/was a shylock. I didn't know what that meant when I saw the movie but I when I started into The Merchant of Venice and found that one of the main characters was named Shylock I was curious. I went to the most legitimate source of knowledge I could think of, Urban Dictionary, and found that "shylock" has come to be used as a term meaning, "a mafia loan money collector."

Shakespeare = Prospero #1

After some initial research I have a nice little list of sources to begin studying more thoroughly. One source seems pretty interesting so far: "At the Edge of the Modern, or Why is Prospero Shakespeare's Greatest Creation," by William Benzon (Journal of Social and Evolutionary Systems, Vol. 21 No. 3, pp. 259-279, 1998) 

Here is a piece of the abstract:

"By looking at his career through modern studies of adult development, we can see that the shift from one genre to another follows the reorganization of Shakespeare's psyche. The ultimate fruit of that development is Shakespeare's final play, The Tempest, whose protagonist, Prospero, has managed to integrate those aspects of himself which had been in conflict in earlier plays. If we then place Shakespeare's career in a broader psycho-historical context we can see how he helped make the modern nuclear family psychologically possible."

It looks like Benzon attempts to chart the development of Shakespeare's psyche throughout his career through an analysis of his characters. The full article is available through the link above. I'm still in search mode so I haven't read the full article yet but it looks like an interesting approach and one that should help me with my focus.

Research Idea

After a healthy dose of procrastination I am now embarking on some real academic research. I was really interested by the idea of Shakespeare writing himself into The Tempest as Prospero and possible connections with JD Salinger and The Catcher in the Rye. (My early posts mentioned this connection) I don't have a definite goal in mind but that's the thread I would like to begin pulling at as I start looking into secondary sources. I am hoping this research will lead into an idea I have for a creative project for later in the semester (it's pretty nebulous right now so I'll wait to unveil it just yet). I will be posting on what I find over the next while but would love any hints, tips, suggestions, ideas along the way if anyone has them.

Once More Unto The Breach

Dr. Burton talked about some of the speeches in Henry V. I recognized the opening line of the "Once more unto the breach..." speech most immediately as being quoted in the movie Good Will Hunting (I was going to post the clip but it includes a few strong words - search for Good Will Hunting Park Bench Scene on YouTube if you want to watch it). I poked around a bit about the speeches in Henry V. First, this clip is supposedly the "most celebrated rendition" of that speech.

I also found that typing in the opening phrase of that speech into Wikipedia brings up an article about the 157th episode of Star Trek which is entitled Once More Unto the Breach.

The St. Crispin's Day speech is another of the most famous of Shakespeare's speeches from Henry V. I was unaware that this was the source of the phrase, "Band of Brothers," which pops up regularly,  especially locally -->  BYU Football

These are just a couple more examples of Shakespearean longevity.

Boring.

I am having a terribly difficult time getting through this play. I am not enjoying it. I am not at all. I've noticed I'm not the only one either. So this post is a very sincere attempt to get something, anything, from any of you to help me enjoy or at least find interest in this play. Please?

Terrific Literary Friends

Dr. Burton said something in class last time that got me thinking. He mentioned, off-handedly, about a list of questions he has for Shakespeare if he gets the chance to talk to him in the afterlife. When he said that, a quote from Catcher in the Rye came to mind (the second consecutive Salinger post is just a coincidence, I promise this isn't the only book I've ever read):

"What really knocks me out is a book, when you're all done reading it, you wished the author that wrote it was a terrific friend of yours and you could call him up on the phone whenever you felt like it."

I've read a decent amount of Shakespeare but have never wished that he were a "terrific friend" of mine and that I could call him up on the phone whenever I liked. Don't get me wrong, I would certainly answer the phone if he called me (you don't give Bill the no-answer) but I don't think he'd be on my speed dial. Salinger would. Hemingway would, especially if he's really like the way he's portrayed in Midnight in Paris, and especially if I could also get Owen Wilson on the line.

Which writers would be on your speed dial?

Prospero = Holden Caulfield?

I realize this seems like a stretch for those of you familiar with J.D. Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye. Let me explain myself.
Someone (I can't remember who) mentioned the website Shmoop. I was curious, partly because that name is so ridiculous, so I looked it up. I read through some of what it has to say about The Tempest and came across this:


"For a lot of audiences and literary scholars, Prospero seems like a stand-in in for Shakespeare, who spent a lifetime dazzling audiences before retiring in 1611, shortly after The Tempest was completed. Not only is the play chock-full of self conscious references to the workings of the theater, its epilogue seems to be a final and fond farewell to the stage."
(for the full section on The Tempest from Shmoop, follow this link:  http://www.shmoop.com/tempest/)

I'm by no means an expert on Salinger but I know enough to see a connection between the excerpt above and Salinger with his character Holden Caulfield. Many scholars read Caulfield as a "stand-in" for Salinger. He left the literary scene shortly after writing the bestselling Catcher and spent the rest of his life in relative isolation in a cabin in the Northeast U.S., which is exactly what Holden suggests doing in the book.

Now it's impossible to say whether Salinger or Shakespeare really intended those characters to be stand-ins for themselves because both writers are dead and, as far as I know, neither ever commented on it. But it is interesting to think about. 

January 6th - Experience and Personal Learning Plan

I'm an English major so my experience with Shakespeare has been largely force-fed. Maybe that's why I'm not exactly enamored with the man's writing. I recognize it's worth and influence but I have never read Shakespeare for fun and something dramatic would have to change in order for me to ever do so in the future. And that seems to place me in the minority within the English program. The approach to this class is unique enough that maybe that will change. I guess we will see.

I'm having a hard time figuring out a learning plan for this course because 1) Although I'm in my final semester as an undergrad I can't remember ever establishing a learning plan for a specific course and 2) This course is unique so I don't know quite what to expect. In some regards I feel like I'm just kind of along for the ride. I do have a couple general principles in mind that I hope will guide me along throughout "the ride" this semester.

The first is to embrace the different approach. Love it or hate it, I'm in the course so I may as well jump in with both feet. And some of this stuff sounds fun too.

The second is to try to find a way to tie course material into my passion for creative writing and specifically film. I plan on pursuing an MFA in Creative Writing after graduation and if I can find a way to incorporate my passion for creative writing within the framework of the course I will be much happier and produce something much better.