Link to my Cleopatra article, "Cleopatra, Content Queen: Shakespeare's Viral Monarch in Antony and Cleopatra"

For those interested, the class inspired me to write a shortish article on Cleopatra as the first "content queen," or a proto-influencer who uses her ability to be many people all at the same time to distribute her image across the ancient world and consolidate power. You can read it for free via this link on Medium (otherwise you have to pay to read it). It might give you some ideas for the final paper: https://joshuagrasso-58239.medium.com/cleopatra-content-queen-shakespeares-viral-monarch-in-antony-and-cleopatra-c-1607-aced97c49d9d?sk=1475ef86a453ad5154499655547ba4dd

Final Questions: Antony and Cleopatra, Acts 4-5

For your final set of questions, I'm going to divert from the normal 'guiding' questions and just give you some very simple prompts to explore. Where you decide to go with these will shape the path of our conversation next week! 

Answer TWO of the following:

Q1: Discuss a moment or scene that would be very hard to stage in performance. Why is this? How might you solve it? OR, does it need to be there at all?

Q2: Discuss a moment of legitimate catharsis in Acts 4 or 5. Where do we feel a strong sense of pain, loss, horror, or release? How does Shakespeare accomplish this for you?

Q3: Discuss a moment where the comic takes over the tragic. How does this happen, and do you think everyone would read/hear it this way?

Q4: Disucss a speech (long or short) that you feel would survive the play as a stand-alone poem. Why is this? What makes it so satisfying simply from the point of poetry? 

For Thursday: Antony and Cleopatra, Act 2-3

NOTE: Even though we talked a little about Act 2, we'll come back to it a little on Thursday. However, try to read through Act 3 for class, and we'll do an in-class writing to launch off our discussion. Some ideas to consider...

* Why does Enobarbus switch into verse when he gives his famous speech about Cleopatra in Act 2? What does this say about his attitude toward her? Is he as racist as the Romans? Or is he an Egyptian at heart?

* Somewhat related to the above, what role does Enobarbus seem to perform in the play? Though a loyal supporter of Antony, why is he looking for a way out in Act 3? Or was this always his intention? Is he a Brutus or Cassius to Antony's Caesar (to cite our previous play)?

* What is Caesar's opinion of Antony throughout these acts, but especially in Act 2? Why does he agree to marry off his sister to her, especially given their heated words at their historic meeting?

* What role does the Soothsayer play throughout these acts, and how might it echo the one we saw in Julius Caesar ("beware the ides of March")? And why might Shakespeare always slip in some element of the supernatural into his tragedies? 

* Why does Cleopatra sabotage Antony's sea battle against Caesar in Act 3? Was this a test of her love? Or was she secretly plotting against him? 

* In the big fight between Antony and Cleopatra in 3.13, Antony says some very nasty things to her, to which she responds, "Not know me yet?" What does she mean by this? What does she think he should 'know' about her, especially since she often hides her true intentions? 

For Tuesday: Antony and Cleopatra, Acts 1-2

As always, answer TWO of the following: 

Q1: In many ways, this is a play about acting, and no one acts more extravagantly as Cleopatra. As Enobarbarus (her servant) says about her, "I have seen her die twenty times upon poor moment" (1.2). Why does she spend so much of her time with Antony in 'costume' rather than being more 'real'? Is there a reason a woman like Cleopatra might view life as a performance? 

Q2: How do the Romans in the play, such as Caesar, regard Antony's behavior? Though he's a great warrior and clearly a great lover (to win Cleopatra's affections), what makes him seem 'unmanly' to them? Do people in Egypt share the same opinion? Does he? 

Q3: From Acts 1-2, does this seem like a love story? Are they madly, passionately in love, or is it more a power play? Is he using her for political advantage? Is she? How does their language in Act 1 betray their emotions? 

Q4: How does Shakespeare create the 'setting' of Egypt through his language? In other words, what makes Egypt 'sound' differently than Rome or Romans? How does he create this illusion (Act 1.2 is a good example). 

Q5: How would you stage Act 2, Scene 5, particularly the scenes with Cleopatra and the Messenger? Is this a scene of high comedy, where Cleopatra loses it and acts like a spoiled child? Or is this a deeply tragic scene, where she realizes that the one hold she had over Antony’s affections is lost? Use a line or two to support how you think we’re supposed to read (and stage) this scene. 

Paper #3: Teaching Tragedy

English 3213

Paper #3: Teaching Tragedy

PROMPT: Your Paper #3, as promised, is a bit different than the first two. For this assignment I want you to design an assignment, a classroom activity, or a set of 8-10 discussion questions for ONE of the plays from class. However, the audience for these assignments should be either a High School Classroom, OR a Book Club/Library Discussion Group. In other words, not a college classroom with English majors who are already pretty sophisticated and interested in the material. Imagine that you’re trying to help them read, appreciate, and understand Shakespeare via your assignment. So don’t make it too sophisticated, but DO make it challenging and thought-provoking.

IDEAS: Here are some things you might focus on in your assignment/activity/questions:

• Helping people read/understand Shakespeare’s language
• Applying Poole’s ideas about tragedy to a specific play
• Focusing on issues of character and class/rank
• Exploring the role of Fate vs. Free Will
• Problem scenes and how to stage them
• Finding and feeling catharsis
• Men vs. women—their roles and characters
• Comedy vs. Tragedy
• Ideas about adaptation (how Shakespeare did it, or how you could)
• Reading modern politics through his characters/plots
• Glossing/defining specific words or phrases that are not commonly known or have changed over time

REQUIREMENTS: Your assignment should have two components: (a) an assignment sheet, that documents the assignment, activity, or discussion questions for someone to engage with. Imagine that this is what you would give to the class or group (1-2 pages). And (b) a short reflection explaining how you approached it and what you hope to achieve through it—how people might respond, etc (also 1-2 pages).

If you do the assignment, remember it doesn’t have to be completely analytical—it can also be creative in nature. This especially goes for the activity: it can be something creative and hands-on, but still thoughtful and engaging. And if you do the discussion questions, make sure they’re specific and thoughtful: no one-sentence questions like “do you think Hamlet is insane?” And try to make the questions instigate wider discussion and even debates. Don’t ask something that you already know the answer to: feel free to ask questions that you, yourself, are still pondering (that’s what I do!).

DUE TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 25^th by 5pm [no class that day!]

For Thursday: Julius Caesar, Act V (try to finish!)

No questions today, but do try to finish Julius Caesar for tomorrow's class. We'll write about something interesting in this act which may (or may not) have to do with your Paper #2! Remember that the paper is due on Tuesday instead of tomorrow, so we can finish Julius Caesar first. If you need the assignment, it's a few posts down from this one.

Here are some ideas to consider as you read:

* How does Shakespeare depict the warring armies in the final act? Do they seem like the powerful, god-like heirs of Rome? Or just a bunch of teenagers scrapping in a schoolyard? 

* In Act 4.3, Cassius and Brutus have what sounds like (or could be performed like) a lovers' spat. They literally seem to be breaking up, though in the end, they patch things up and watch Netflix (well, not quite). How does 5.1 continue the love language between them? What IS their relationship with one another?

* In Act 4, Antony was becoming a second Caesar--arrogant, tyrannical, and indifferent to the life around him. Does Act 5 redeem him, or does he harden into the very Caesar they were trying to kill in Acts 1-3?

* Are the deaths of Cassius and Brutus comic or tragic? Are they cathartic? Or even poetic? In a play of great speeches, do they get some good ones in the end?

* How does the conflict between fate and free-will get played out in Act 5? Do we feel that the characters were doomed to meet this fate? Was the soothsayer's prolocation, "beware the ides of March" meant for both Caesar and the conspirators? Or were the events of Act 5 the result of their own tragic decisions?

* Why does Antony seem to change his tune about Brutus at the very end of the play? Is this another act of theater, as when he eulogized Caesar in Act 3? Or is this meant with sincerity/tragedy?

For Tuesday: Julius Caesar, Acts 3 & 4

NOTE: Sorry for the delay--I meant to post this on Tuesday but somehow never did! But you still have plenty of time to read and respond! 

Answer TWO of the following:

Q1: In Caesar's famous death scene, he suddenly turns to Brutus and utters the famous words, "et tu, Brute?" (And thou, Brutus?). This is the only Latin in the play and stands out, almost jarringly so. Why do you think Shakespeare does this? Doesn't it break the suspension of disbelief for the audience, since all the characters are supposed to be speaking Latin all along? Why do you think Shakespeare found this effect irresistible?

Q2: In his famous speech in 3.2, Antony protests that "I have neither wit, nor words, nor worth,/Action, nor utterance, nor the power of speech/To stir men's blood" (131). Does Antony persuade the crowd because he is more a "man of the people," who speaks a common, emotional language? Or is there another reason his speech proves so persuasive?

Q3: Related somewhat to the above, why does Antony decide to go against Brutus and stir up the people against him? What is his 'end game' in rousing them to a bloody frenzy? Is he tragically ignorant of the consequences of his actions? Or is he even more manipulative than Cassius? 

Q4: How does Brutus began acting and/or speaking more like Caesar in Acts 3 and 4? Why might he do this? Does anyone notice his change of character?

Q5: Where do our loyalties lie by Act 4 of the play? Are we supposed to sympathize with the slain Caesar now, and his surrogate, Antony? Or are we firmly in the camp of Brutus and Cassius? Or no one at all? How does Shakespeare artfully manipulate--or alienate--our sympathies?  

For Tuesday: Julius Caesar, Act Two

NOTE: In class, I said to read Acts 2-3, which you are more than welcome to do, but since we're still just starting the play, I think we'll need the entire class to discuss Act 2. We'll deal with Acts 3-4 next week (since we won't have class on Thursday, and that will give you extra time to read two acts as well). 

ALSO: If you get a chance, take a look at this review of the RSC production from 2012 that we started to watch in class. It talks about why they chose this setting and lens to examine Julius Caesar, and whether or not the critic feels they succeeded: https://gerryco23.wordpress.com/2012/07/01/the-rscs-african-julius-caesar-not-stones-but-men/

Answer TWO of the following: 

Q1: In Tragedy: A Very Short Introduction, Poole reminds us that "But there is a more political aspect to the living dead…they embody values, ideas, and ethics that challenge the present and obstruct the future. The living dead are by nature conservative, if not reactionary…they insist that the world remain as it was for them" (Chapter 3). How does this play show us that Rome is haunted by the ghosts of the dead, which limits the actions and decisions of those still living? Who in the play might be considered the "living dead," numbly rehearsing the myths of their forefathers?

Q2: When Portia confronts her husband after the meeting of conspirators, she exclaims "No, my Brutus,/You have some sick offense within your mind,.Which by the right and virtue of my place/I ought to know of" (69). Do you think Brutus has been poisoned and manipualted by Cassius and company? Are they maniuplating his thoughts and ambitions? Or is the "fate" he was destined to walk all along? How much is he acting of his own free will?

Q3: In Act 1, Cassius bemoans modern-day Romans, since they "are governed with our mother' spirits/Our yoke and sufferance shows us womanish" (39). Even Portia echoes this lament, saying "how weak a thing/The heart of woman is!" (89). Yet how does Shakespeare characterize the few women in the play so far--Portia and Calpurnia (both wives of the rival men). Are they stereotypical portraits of feminine weakness? Do they emasculate their men just as Rome is (according to Cassius) emasculated by womanish values?

Q4: Though Brutus is more than willing to strike down Caesar, where does he draw the line? Why does he feel this line is ethical and important? Do the others agree with him? Do we agree that though willing to murder a rival, he does so for the right reasons? Or is this another instance of right vs. right (according to Poole)? 

For Thursday: Julius Caesar, Act 1

NOTE: Read Act 1 for Thursday, but no questions this time around. Just try to enjoy the Act and your increasing fluency and comfort in Shakespeare's language. We're going to watch some of Act 1 in class so we can see how some modern versions of Shakespeare decide to stage his work, and help us see the politics going on behind the words. 

SOME IDEAS TO CONSIDER AS YOU READ...

* Cassius makes a famous speech on page 21 (Act 1.2) with the phrase “the fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars.” Taken in context, what is he trying to say about fate and human action?

* What is Brutus worried about in Act 1? How does Cassius have to “woo” him to his side?

* Why isn’t Caesar shaken by the Soothsayer’s warning? Also, what do you think he means by calling him a “dreamer?”

* What does Caesar men when he dismisses Cassius in favor of “fatter” men? Why does he fear/distrust him?

* How is this opening act very theatrical, or meta-theatrical? How are the various characters trying to stage themselves to the audience (both their audience, and ours)?

* Why does Casca make his speeches in prose unlike everyone else around him? Why don’t the others speak prose with him (or he speak verse with them)?

Paper #2: First Time Tragedy, Second Time Farce

English 3213

Paper #2: First Time Tragedy, Second Time Farce

“Risk is intrinsic to all performance, but where tragedy is concerned, the sense of risk is written into the text itself as something to be embodied, encountered, endured by anyone who reads, witnesses, or performs it, no matter how gifted or ham-fisted” (Poole, Chapter 7).

INTRO: As Poole notes above, there is a great risk in performing tragedy—because we might not ‘get’ it. It might fail, the actors might fail, and we might simply laugh that what is supposed to be horrific or moving (bathos instead of pathos). As Poole also notes in Chapter 6, “There’s a good case for laughing at the pretensions of tragedy when it’s not the real thing.” Many scenes in Shakespeare’s tragedies veer close to comedy, not because they’re telling jokes, because they’re so difficult to perform or imagine. This is especially true with over-the-top characters like Richard III, who sometimes seems to embody a cartoonish violence (“off with his head”), or many characters in Julius Caesar, whose events and language are ripe for parody. So does Shakespeare want us to cry or laugh? When might he stretch the tragedy too far—on purpose? Or when are we just unwilling to take the risk, and laughter is the easy way out?

PROMPT: I want you to examine TWO SCENES (either one from both Richard and Caesar, or two from one play) that you feel have the potential for parody. Meaning, we’re not sure whether to be moved to laughter or to tears/emotion. Why is this? Is it in the plot, the relationships, the context, or the language? What is the “risk” this scene demands of its actors and the audience? How could it be performed/understood tragically, and how could it become a joke? Should it? Is this scene an attempt to bring comedy into an otherwise serious moment? Or are we just taking the easy way out by laughing? Try to avoid an obviously funny scene (with someone making jokes, etc.) and look instead at a scene that has the potential to go either way. But make sure to tell us which way you THINK it should be performed; which way makes the most sense dramatically?

REQUIREMENTS:

• CLOSE READING: Just as with the last paper, don’t summarize but analyze: show us what you see in the language. Don’t rely on the plot to make your points.
• THEORY: Use Poole to help you make connections and point out things which are otherwise difficult to explain/examine. Poole can help!
• DUE DATE: In a little over two weeks, on Thursday, October 30^th IN CLASS. We’ll approach your scenes in class, so bring it with you!

For Tuesday: Poole, Tragedy, Chapters 6 & 7

NOTE: Read as much of Chapters 6 and 7 as you can, and consider some of the ideas below. We'll write about ONE of them when you return next Tuesday, or some combination of some of the ones below. 

* What does Poole mean when he suggests "first time tragedy, second time farce?" Why does repetition kill an audience's sense of tragic potential?

* If comedy is tragedy that happens to someone else (to paraphrase Mel Brooks), why doesn’t the entire audience laugh at every tragedy? What makes it ‘work’ even though the comedic potential is always there?

* Is tragedy just a stylistic thing? Or as Poole asks, “Does it all depend on how it’s told”? What would that mean in Shakespearean terms? Just iambic pentameter? (You might think about the story he tells from Chekhov)

* Why might comic relief be an important part of tragedy (and not just to take pressure off the serious moments)? Why does Shakespeare always have some comic moment in his darkest plays, such as the murder scene in Richard III, or the Graveyard scene in Hamlet? Could these scenes also be tragic in their own right?

* If plays are all about words/speaking, why are the silences equally important—especially for Tragedy? How does Shakespeare do this in his plays, that you’ve seen?

* Related to this, what does Poole mean when he writes, “Breaking the silence has become a modern way of thinking about tragedy”?

* Why might the role of the ‘messenger’ be one of the greatest tragic roles of all time? And why do all tragedies employ this device—of someone who has to report of a tragedy that happened off-stage?

* Why does the ancient Greek mask of Tragedy (with open eyes and mouth) represent an important theory or message of Tragedy? How can this empower artists writing in the wake of events like 9/11?

* Why is sound in general so important to Tragedy, meaning the sounds other than speech? How do plays take advantage of other aural mechanisms? Think of movies as well.