The Play's the Thing

Love's Labor's Lost, as performed down at BYU, was set up as a radio show during the war.  The question is, did this add to the theme of the play, or detract from it?  As the audience comes in to sit down, jazzy music is playing, periodically interrupted by war adds.  The play also ends with another add.  Throughout the play, there is almost constantly a jazzy background music.  This all adds to the atmosphere of a radio show.  But why would they choose this for the play?

In Shakespeare's day, there were no radios.  The fact that the King was British and the Princess was French was significant, because France and Britain were enemies for most of their history.  Their love symbolized a uniting of the countries for the time, and thus had political as well as personal meaning.  In the play at BYU, the French and the British were both on the same side during the war.  The fact that they fall in love does not have the same meaning as it did in the play Shakespeare wrote.  It looses some significant meaning in the new context.  Although it doesn't seem likely, it might have made more sense if the play occurred at the end of the war, and the Princess was from Germany, or one of the other countries on the other side.  Then their love would once again have symbolized the joining of two enemies happily, the opposite of what happened in Romeo and Juliet.

March Madness Finals

For those of you who don't know, in a previous blog I mentioned that there is a group that does a Shakespeare March Madness.  Well, the finals have arrived, and it has come down to a fight between Beatrice and Lady Macbeth.  Who do you think should win?

The Play in Provo

Saturday, I drove down to Provo to see Love's Labor's Lost.  It was very funny, and the actors were great, but that is really all  I can say about it.  I did not care for the play much when I read it, and I still feel apathetic towards it.  None of the characters seemed very believable to me, so it was hard to care too much about what happened to them.  

Overall, I don't know if the three hour round trip was really worth it.  Traffic was terrible on the way down, and on the way back to Bountiful there was a crash on the freeway, and rubberneck syndrome kicked in full force.  When I got home, I went directly to see my little sister perform in Beauty and the Beast Junior.

My favorite thing about the play was the music.  Peter Murray was amazing.  I was good friends with his sister in high school, so it was fun to see him performing.  I loved the way the music set the atmosphere through the whole thing.

While I did not actually dislike the play, I didn't like it, either.  This had nothing to do with the actors, and everything to do with the play itself.

Casting Chloe

I am definitely open to suggestions on this one, but here are some actresses I could see doing the part.

Carey Mulligan: played Kitty in the Keira Knightly Pride and Prejudice, appeared on a Doctor Who episode, and was in Northanger Abbey.

So far, she's the only one to strike my fancy.  Like I said, any input would be great.

Kleopatra

Okay, I have totally fallen in love with the idea of Kleopatra being played by Katie McGrath.  She plays Morgana in "Merlin," the TV series about how Merlin became the great wizard and Arthur the great king.  At first, you absolutely love her, and feel sorry for her, but then she starts to become one of the villains in the show.

Casting Atalanta

Here are a few possibilities for Atalanta, from Meleager
Kelly Macdonald: played Helena Ravenclaw and "Peter Pan" in finding neverland

Penélope Cruz: from Pirates of the Caribbean, on stranger tides

Miranda Otto: Played Eowyn in Lord of the Rings

Updated Shakespeare March Madness

Here are the results of the first round.

Remember to cast your votes at: http://americanshakespearecentereducation.blogspot.com/

Love's Labors Confounded

Love's Labors Lost is all about a group of noblemen, and a group of noblewomen, and the battle of wits that ensues.  As it is often said, all's fair in love and war, and in this play there is plenty of each.  It is interesting to see the women get the better of the men, even as the men are talking in ways to suggest how intelligent they are.

Another way to describe this play is a battle of the sexes, where the women definitely come out the victors.  There is a series that follows this theme: Boys/Girls Battle. 
Here is a picture of the first book, which can be found on Amazon.

In the series, a family of girls moves in next to a family of boys.  The boys resent the girls, because their best friends used to live there.  They decide to prank the girls, and chaos ensues.  There is no clear winner in the end, although eventually the two groups of kids become friends. 

In Shakespeare's play, the women engage the men in battle, but the men hardly seem aware that they are being played with.  The men don't appear to catch the women's sarcastic remarks and witty barbs.  Although nobody cross-dresses, the women are portrayed as equals to the men, which was rare in Elizabethan society.  Once again, Shakespeare has played with the traditional roles of men and women in order to humorously make a point.

Meleager's Family History

Meleager's parents, Althaea and Oeneus, had an arranged marriage.  They came from two warring clans, the Calydonians and the Curetes.  When Meleager kills his uncles, the tentative peace is shattered, and the two groups go to war, where Meleager dies.  For more information, check out the following link:
Oeneus
Althaea

The War of the Roses

As many of you probably know, my individual play for my Shakespeare class was Richard III.  This play was one of many plays dealing with the fights between the House of Lancaster and the House of York, two branches of the Plantagenet family, over the throne of England.  I just finished reading a book called "Crown Duel," and in it a girl and her brother are plotting to overthrow a corrupt king.  They claim to be fighting on behalf of all the people of the kingdom, but the girl eventually finds out that most of the commoners don't care.  In fact, most of the people just want to be left alone, eking out an existence until the king raises the taxes too high.  This got me thinking.  Although the girl in the book truly believes that she is doing what is best for the people, not caring about power, it doesn't matter to the subjects.  I believe this was also true in Richard III's time.  The people of England did not care who was on the throne, so long as they were left in piece.  Although war seems noble to others, the commoners who lived in times of  war were hit the hardest.  Their men were forced to fight in the armies, their food was used to supply the armies, and their homes and fields were destroyed in the battles of war.  I can see why the peasants at that time were sick of the fighting, and did not care who was sitting on the throne, if they could provide stabilization and peace to the country.

Scene from Act V

Kleopatra enters Althaea's sitting room.  She is obviously upset.
Kleopatra: Oh, mother! I cannot believe my eyes!
                  Your son, my husband, has slain his kin.
                  Your brother lies dead, and my brother lies dead!
                  To live to see the day when such a thing
                  My mother I know not how to face him.
                  How can I live, my daughter live
                  With such a monster, our lord, her father
                  Who willingly did slay for love of she
                  The wild, unwomanly Atalanta
Althaea( aside): No! It cannot be true! What lies are these?
              And yet, I felt that some dark cloud loomed near
              It seemed to me the howling wind brought woe
              Alas! My brother, my baby, kin-killed
              Meleager you are no more called my son
Althaea (to Kleopatra): daughter, fetch Europinditis hither
              I must have speech with my son's favored servant.
Kleopatra: Mother, I go.
Exit Kleopatra
Althaea: My heart has died, my hatred overflowing.
              Oh Fates, you once foretold my son's end.
              Well, now, I pray that I may have the strength
              To bring the prophecy to pass, and use
              My son;s most loyal friend to seal his doom.
              May the gods forgive my traitorous act!
A moment of silence, while Althaea steels herself
Enter Euriponditis

Oh, Shakespeare

I have been looking at some of the common themes in Shakespeare's tragedies.  A big one is fate: are we subject to destiny, or are we able to make our own decisions?  Hamlet's fate is that he must kill his uncle to avenge his father.  Throughout the play, he struggles against his fate, so at the end, once he has finally accepted it, he dies.  Was his destiny unavoidable, or could he have lived if he had simply avenged his father at the beginning?  Was it really fate, or simply his own nature that led to his demise?

Romeo and Juliette were destined to end sadly.  Their love was forbidden, and they were unwilling to forget each other.  Their fate was to end tragically.  But were they simply the product of fate, or were their actions what led to their demise?

Finally, Macbeth.  When the witches foretold his destiny, was he already bound to be king?  Or, by hearing the prophecy, did he choose to follow a path that would fulfill the prophecy?  These questions are never answered, and the reader is left to wonder whether the witches told Macbeth his fate out of spite, or gave him a destiny that would lead to chaos in Scotland.

Shakespeare did a great job of subtly exploring the idea of fate.  Although most of the characters are never told their fate, they are all subject to what would seem to be an unavoidable end.  However, was it really fate, or did they have the ability to choose a different end?  At what point do you seal your fated doom?  This are questions that society has always struggled with, although rarely as openly as the Greeks.  We use excuses of "that's just how I am"  but are we really saying "that's just the way it was meant to be?"  Shakespeare was very good at using themes that echo in the hearts of his audience, and those themes are still applicable today.
So I leave you with the question: is it fate or choice?

Chloe

Chloe is Euriponditis' love interest.  She was Iphicles's wife, yet although he loved her and treated her well, it was an arranged marriage and she does not care for her husband, who is ten years older than her.  When she meets Euriponditis, she initially thinks that he is handsome, and as preparations begin for the boar hunt, she spends a lot of time in his company.  He is strong, noble, and a witty conversationalist.  She is a clever woman, but her husband doesn't see this.  He believes in the traditional role of women.  Chloe feels trapped in her marriage, and at first Euriponditis is a good friend, but by the time the hunt has finished, she realizes that she is in love with him.  She has no children. 

Chloe's lines
Oh heart, that cannot find the strength to love
where I am wed but turns to one whom I
may never have. Oh! Fate, that I were free
to give my love to Euriponditis
A man so kind, and noble, and loyal
He doth deserve the heart and hand of one
Still fair, and young, and free, not such as I

My husband lies dead, by my lover's hand
Ye Fates, why give me what my heart desires?
Will I be cursed if I so choose to go
And wed, so soon a widow, to the man
Who sent my husband down to Hades' realm?
Yet I can feel no grief in my freedom.

The Boar Hunt, or Act III

In the previous act, Atalanta challenged Meleager and Euri. to a boar hunt.  Everybody gathers at Meleager's home for this epic event.  Meleager's uncle and brother join the hunt, as well as two other men who live nearby.  Atalanta dresses up as a man for the event.  Once everything is ready, the group goes into the woods to hunt the giant boar living there.  They split into groups, and Atalanta and Meleager are the first ones to find the boar.  Atalanta draws first blood, seriously wounding the boar.  Around this time the others barge into the clearing, and the boar is confused.  Eventually it heads for Meleager, who just manages to deal the death blow.  The group skins and cleans the hide, and strip the meat from the carcass.  They bring the remains back to Meleager's, and the servants cook the meat and prepare a feast for that evening. At the feast, Meleager is awarded the skin as prize for killing the beast; however, he feels that Atalanta deserves the victory more than him, and so he gives her the skin.  She then reveals herself to be a girl, and everybody is shocked. Kleopatra returned during the time of the hunt, and when she realizes that Meleager has awarded the skin to a girl, and sees the way he looks at her, she becomes jealous.  The act ends with her speaking to her uncle and brother-in-law, riling them up against Atalanta.

Kleopatra

Okay, so I think that Meleager was married before he left with Jason and the Argonauts.  He left his wife, Kleopatra, pregnant with their daughter, although he probably didn't know this at the time.  Kleopatra had just left to visit her family when Meleager returned from his trip, as there was no way for her to know when he would be back.  Meleager sees Atalanta at an inn, and falls in love with her.  After all, he hasn't seen his wife in awhile.  Kleopatra eventually hears about her husband's return, and is excited to tell him about their daughter.  Unfortunately, she returns in time to notice Meleager's attraction to Atalanta.  She becomes jealous, and even goes so far as to encourage Meleager's brother and uncle in their actions against Atalanta.  Unfortunately, Atalanta leaves and Meleager kills his brother and uncle, which then results in his death.  Kleopatra is left alone,  widowed with a daughter.

More on Atalanta

Here is the love triangle for the story, first of all.

So Atalanta was left in the woods when she was a baby because her father was devastated that she was not a son.  She was raised by a mother bear, and learned to live and fight the way bears do.  This is where her wild and rebellious nature comes from.  When she first meets Meleager, at an inn, she has been living among humans for awhile.  When Meleager, who has been gone from home for awhile, sees her, he falls in "love" with her, and wants her. . . even though he is already married and has a daughter.  Atalanta has dedicated her life to the goddess Artemis, and thus has made a vow of chastity.  She sees Meleager the same way she sees all men:  they are fun to hunt with, but they also treat women as inferior.  This rubs her the wrong way, as she knows she is faster and a better fighter than other men.  This leads to her challenge to a hunt with Meleager, which she participates in while dressed as a man.  Meleager and his friend are the only two who know who she really is.  Atalanta can easily keep up with the other men, and when they finally find the boar, she draws first blood, wounding the animal with her spear.  Meleager finishes the beast off, and then gives her the hide as a trophy.  When the other men find out that she is actually a girl, they try to take away her trophy and insult her.  As Meleager steps in to defend her honor, Atalanta receives news of her father, who is now willing to claim her as his heir.  She leaves, against Meleager's protests.  Eventually, after being reunited with her father, her father demands that she choose a husband.  Staying true to her vow, she says that she will only marry the man who can beat her in a race, and any man who challenges her and looses will be put to death.

*Blue text indicates occurs after story.  I included this last bit in order to show more of Atalanta's character.

March Madness Round 1.1

It's time to cast your vote!  Who do you think would win in the following, anything goes, showdowns?

Henry V vs. Paulina
Queen Margaret vs. The Bear
Iago vs. Tamora
Richard III vs. Cornwall

go to http://americanshakespearecentereducation.blogspot.com/2012/03/shakespearean-march-madness-2012-round.html to cast your votes, and remember, the text is the best evidence!

Snow

When I left class last night, it was snowing, which reminded me of A Winter's Tale.  I spent the whole drive home with my hands strangling the steering wheel.  Fortunately, I made it okay.  The funny thing about A Winter's Tale is that the only time winter is really mentioned is when a boy asks his mother to tell him a story.  She asks him what kind of story he wants, and he replies with a winter's tale.  Much as I love snow, I look forward to warmer weather, especially after lugging my cousin up a hill on a sled three times.  Happy Winter, everybody!

Atalanta

Atalanta is beautiful and fierce.  She is in love with Meleager, but she want's to be a warrior.  The only daughter of a king, she defies tradition and dresses up as a man in order to hunt with the men.  Unfortunately, Meleager is betrothed to another, so their love is forbidden.  She can outrun any man, but has the same flaw of any female: she loves beautiful things.  During the hunt, she hits the boar with her arrow, and then Meleager deals the death blow.  When he gives her the prize, she is revealed to be a woman.  This makes Meleager's brothers very angry, and they make some disrespectful comments.  Meleager kills them to defend her honor, and Atalanta returns to her home.

Lines from Atalanta:
 "I am as good as any man on earth
   yet I am woman born and cursed to watch
   while others fight for glory and for gold.
   That I were born an Amazon warrior
   Or son to someday rule my father's throne."

"Alas, my love, you are not meant for me
 Yet why should I mourn that which cannot be
 Better to be free than shackled to man
 Better to fight than subject to man."