Office hours and Thesis Ideas

I went to Professor Burton's office hours on Friday to review my new thesis. A few problems with my thesis stated in this post include:

1. Still much too broad.
2. No groundbreaking thesis - too general.
3. Will require too much work to complete by the deadline.

After reviewing my previous posts, and revisiting my hub post, I have a revised thesis. It is based on an article I reviewed in this post. To recap, Shakespeare and the interaction of his works with popular culture have changed through time. They went from commodity for the masses, to a highbrow form of entertainment and culture. My thesis that I am proving on my blog is that SHAKESPEARE'S WORKS NOW CONTAIN A BIT OF BOTH WORLDS. IT HAS BOTH THEMES AND IDEAS TO BE STUDIED BY THE SCHOLARLY, AS WELL AS ENTERTAINMENT VALUE FOR THE MASSES. THE FACT THAT SHAKESPEARE'S WORKS HAVE REMAINED POPULAR THROUGHOUT THE AGES IS EVIDENCE THAT THOUGH MEANS OF TRANSMIT OF POPULAR CULTURE HAS CHANGED, PERHAPS WE ARE MORE SIMILAR TO THE CULTURE IN SHAKESPEARE'S DAY THAN WE REALIZE.


I need to find more scholarly sources for my argument, but the Shakespop article that I link to above is my main start. My posts on things such as Richard III - Play in a Day, the Othello symposium, She's the Man rendition of Twelfth Night, BYU's production of Much Ado About Nothing , our flashmob,  and my songwriting project, serve to show how mainstream popular culture, as well as scholars have adapted the use of Shakespeare.

Library Research

So yesterday I took Professor Burton's advice and went to the library. It took a good hour or so, but I couldn't believe how many books there were about Shakespeare! I definitely saw books pertinent to every single topic that we have indicidually chosen for our blogs, even as specific as the Naxi appropriation of Shakespeare. Pretty amazing. I found about fifteen books that I can use in my thesis statement study, as explained in my previous post. If any of you don't remember that thesis, here's a refresher!

SHAKESPEARE'S WORKS HAVE HAD SUCH LASTING SUCCESS NOT MERELY BECAUSE OF THEIR BEAUTY AND INSIGHT INTO THE HUMAN CONDITION, BUT BECAUSE THEY RAISE DIFFICULT QUESTIONS THAT NEED TO BE CONSIDERED AND ADDRESSED. THESE ISSUES ARE STILL BEING LOOKED AT TODAY, AND SHAKESPEARE'S WORKS HAVE FACILITATED PUBLIC THOUGHT INTO SUCH DILEMMAS.

Posts from here till I finish my research will go topic by topic based on my research into each area. To start it off, my next post will be on Shakespeare and the themes of revenge and victimization in his works.

RIchard III - Grassroots Shakespeare production

Saturday was a busy day! It started out for me with the Splash n Dash here in BYU campus. This was followed by a trip to the annual Festival of Colors! From there, I was planning on rushing to get cleaned up and then head to rehearsal for the Richard III production. That's how it was supposed to turn out anyhow. A friend of ours got pretty badly hurt at the Festival, and I got busy helping with first aid till the paramedics arrived! (I'm happy to report she is alright, she suffered a concussion but no broken bones.) I was running late for play rehearsal, but decided to stop by on my way home to see if they still needed my help, or if they had already reassigned the part. I walked in covered from head to toe in colored chalk, and talked to the directors of the production. They were ecstatic that I had come, because they were in sore need of more participants. So I told them great! I'd go home and clean up, and come back in about half an hour. Reasonable right? Wrong! They needed the rehearsal time so badly, they pleaded that I stayed as is. So...yes. I did in fact perform in the Richard III production covered in colored chalk. Head to toe. Needless to say, it was an experience. Since we didn't have many props, I'd say I probably brought the most color to the stage that night! Perhaps that's why they didn't want me to change...hm.

But on to more scholarly topics! One of the biggest things I noticed from doing the production in this manner (very little to no rehearsal) was that the play took on a completely new life. Each part was completely up to the interpretation of the actor that played it. This was even more sharply contrasted by having each part played by multiple actors. I was able to see how each different individual interpreted and acted out the role of Richard, or Lady Anne, or Buckingham, or Hastings, etc.

Each production of Shakespeare can be entirely different based on these interpretations. One actor even took the character of Tyrell, and changed his part into a modern day "ganster" persona. This was completely different than any interpretation of the part that I'd imagined while reading the play myself.

Othello Symposium

 

On Friday I attended the English Symposium! I saw on the schedule that there was a session about Othello and The Merchant of Venice, and I attended that session.

The three speakers had very interesting points regarding the plays and the issues that they addressed. Here is a brief list of the main points highlighted by the speakers:

1. Shakespeare creates 2 ideal feminine women in Othello and Merchant of Venice, but in process shows that these women (Portia with masculine traits, and Desdemona by being ideal and yet intelligent) are masculine in certain ways that make them ideal.

2.   Shakespeare blurs the line. He challenges audience to look at conception of what is good as far as genders go. 

3. Distortions that are taught to a person from childhood have a lasting effect on that individual. Othello was raised with the idea that women were unfaithful creatures, and even admits in the play that he knew he'd be subjected to infidelity. Iago wasn't the cause of the spiral of distrust, he merely facilitated what was already present in Othello's mind.
4. Pornography addiction is mirrored in the story of Othello and Desdemona. Pornography simply isolates body parts and turns a person into a thing. Othello tries to find answers in her body, rather than pursuing a companionate relationship. 

5. Women are in the same position as those who face racism in Shakespearean society, they are assigned a sense of “otherness,” and because of that have a lost sense of power. Ethnic oppression is echoed in female oppression.

6. In Merchant, Shakespeare allows woman to take masculine role and thereby have a happy ending. In Othello, Othello refuses to allow Desdemona to take the masculine role and ends up in tragedy and murder. Good becomes bad (Desdemona’s faithfulness) and bad good (Portia becomes a man). Shakespeare shows that a man NEEDS a female counterpart to be successful and whole.  

The insight that these English students had into Shakespeare's works was fascinating. While listening to their insight, my thesis began to form with regards to my own research project here in this blog. I am going to research and support the following statement: SHAKESPEARE'S WORKS HAVE HAD SUCH LASTING SUCCESS NOT MERELY BECAUSE OF THEIR BEAUTY AND INSIGHT INTO THE HUMAN CONDITION, BUT BECAUSE THEY RAISE DIFFICULT QUESTIONS THAT NEED TO BE CONSIDERED AND ADDRESSED. THESE ISSUES ARE STILL BEING LOOKED AT TODAY, AND SHAKESPEARE'S WORKS HAVE FACILITATED PUBLIC THOUGHT INTO SUCH DILEMMAS.

Play-in-a-Day!

 

This Saturday, the Grassroots Shakespeare Company is putting on a production of Richard III. I'd love it if you all came to watch! I think it will be a lot of fun. I am going to be acting in Act 3 Scene 2, and Act 5 Scene 1. If you'd like more information, you can go here and visit the website. But for just a quick run down:

Where: Dixon Middle School Auditorium
When: Saturday, March 26, 9-10 pm
What: Richard III!

Shakespearean song

 

So as I mentioned in my last post, I am beginning to brainstorm ideas for writing my song from the viewpoint of a character from one of Shakespeare's plays. I have a few ideas floating around, but I'd love to get some feedback from all of you before I begin writing. Do any of you have suggestions for character viewpoints I should use for this song? Topics I could write about? I'm open for all suggestions! Please, let them come! I'm going to start writing by Wednesday, so if I could get a good cache of ideas to work with by then it would be superb! Juliet? Hermione? Ophelia? Desdemona? Katherina? Romeo? Hamlet? Othello?

Recap of my Posts

 

I am at that place in my blogging experience where I am trying to hone in my focus a bit more. I feel that I am kind of unsure of where to go with my research, and when I sit down to try to blog I am unsure of what to study next. I did plan out my semester , and the idea I had was to study Shakespeare representation in popular culture. The problem with that focus is it is much too broad! I talked to some of my classmates in our small groups the other day, and David gave me the great idea of doing this post to see what I've already researched.

1. I've done some research into the historical context of the plays. I did  post about Renaissance music, covering how it sounds, what instruments are typical used, etc. I also researched typical marriage customs of Shakespeare's day, and how they were represented (whether well or poorly) in his plays.

2. I researched a little about the historical representation of Richard III, and whether or not he was as evil as the play construed him to be. I also was interested by how representation in popular culture can easily sway public opinion on a matter for many years to come.

3. I looked at the psychological effects of "being ugly"and the effect this label and ensuing treatment could possibly have upon a person's behavior, as well as how it was portrayed in Richard III. I drew connections between the Phantom from Phantom of the Opera and Richard III.

4. For some close read assignments, I have done a close read of a love sonnet as well as an analysis of Hermione's speech in Winter's Tale. I also read Prospero's speech and did a close read and historical research of how Prospero's character and sentiments may have lined up with Shakespeare's own feelings.

5. I looked at modern productions of Shakespeare's plays. First, I compared She's the Man and Twelfth Night. I looked at storyline changes, as well as character portrayal. I also looked at another modern and cultural setting for Shakespeare's Othello and how the different cultural perspective changed my experience of the story. Also just recently, I went and saw BYU's production of Much Ado About Nothing and compared the modern production of the play with how they would have performed it in the Globe Theater.

6. I did an interview with Fred Adams (courtesy of Cara), the head of the annual Shakespeare Festival. He had some really neat insight on the history behind Shakespeare, and talked about how politics of the time as well as laws and prejudices affected his plays. Mr. Adams also discussed how they go about putting on the productions so as to remain true to original form.

7. I found an article about Shakespearean popular culture and how Shakespeare's works and their acceptance has changed since they originally ran in the Globe Theater through today. It was interesting to see the demographic that enjoys the plays, and how both the demographic as well as media which is used as a vehicle has morphed.

8. Lastly, I participated in the flash mob that our class did at Provo towncenter. I looked at flashmobs as a popular culture phenomenon, and how they are used as a means of advertising and communication in our culture.

Some things I am CURRENTLY working on include:

1. I am beginning work on my Shakespeare song, as outlined in my course lesson plan (linked at the top of this post). Hopefully I can perform the finished product in class.

2. I found in the library a reference book on Shakespeare and how he's been used in every form of popular culture imaginable. If he's in something, this book will have it. This will certainly be very useful in my further research.

3. I'm working on a project with Brandon currently about musical representation and Shakespeare. We're trying to get the Battle of the Bands idea to pan out.

4. I am participating in the Grassroots Shakespeare's production of Richard III. I should be getting my lines today! I encourage everyone to attend the production on Saturday night!

5. I finally received my Looking for Richard dvd from netflix, and I'm planning on watching that movie in the next few days, so if anyone wants to see it with me, last call! Let me know!

6. I'm still planning involvement in Brooke's production of a scene from one of Shakespeare's plays.

That's a summary of what I have done and what I'm currently doing. I see a thread that I could possibly follow in how Shakespeare himself portrays certain issues in his plays, and how that translates to our productions today. I'd appreciate some feedback ladies and gentlemen. What do you think?