Final Exam Information

Final Exam for Shakespeare: Thursday, May 10th @ 11:30 

I’m going to take select passages from Bevis and van Es’ book and ask you to respond to them using two of the plays from class—so bring 2 books at least! You can use more plays if you like, but you  must demonstrate knowledge (through quotation) of at least two plays to respond to these ideas about comedy, character, conventions, time, and satire. You can also bring Bevis and van Es’ books with you if you want to explore the context of a passage or simply quote from them as well. But the gist of the exam will be several short essays using Shakespeare’s text as support. Remember, the exam is worth 15 pts. out of 100 pts. total for the class, so as long as you show awareness of the ideas we've been discussing all semester, and feel confident about at least two of the plays, you should do well. 

Good luck!

For Tuesday: The Tempest, Acts 3-4

As you finish The Tempest, here are a few ideas to consider:

* Much of The Tempest reads like a play-within-a-play: how does Shakespeare achieve this quality? When do we feel we're watching the actors play roles inside their own, and when do we seem to be watching the "real" action?

* Caliban claims that "They all do hate him/As rootedly as I" (3.2). Is Caliban lying here? Is Prospero a much hated tyrant who the entire island wishes to dethrone? How might this compare with the reasons he was booted out of Milan many years ago?

* Though playing a somewhat comic role in a comic sub-plot, how does Shakespeare make Caliban surprisingly round in these acts? Why do you think he does so, since it slightly serves to unbalance the comedy of the plot?

* Why does Prospero threaten Ferdinand numerous times not to sleep with Miranda before their wedding night? Why would he assume Ferdinand would do so? (could he be setting him up??)

* What do you make of the elaborate play (or "masque," a 17th century genre where allegorical figures perform with song and dance) in 4.1 with Iris, Ceres, and Juno? What is the "plot" of this play, and why is it staged for Ferdinand and Miranda?

* Several of Prospero's late speeches are considered autobiographical for Shakespeare, though of course we can't really know what he thought or felt. What speeches seem to have a curious double meaning about the stage and/or the retirement of a famous playwright?

* At the end of Act 4, Prospero says, "At this hour/Lies at my mercy all mine enemies," though soon after, in 5.1, he suddenly says, "The rarer action is/In virtue than in vengeance." Did he always mean to pardon his enemies with a show of strength? Or does something convince him to abandon his plans?

* Is Caliban redeemed at the end? If so, is it believable? Has he changed--or has Prospero's vision of him changed? Does the play offer a happy ending between "father and son"?

Short Paper #2: The First Review

“Such deadpan ironies can make comedy the defender of the finer feelings which it offends. Perhaps it even elicits feelings in the reader by affecting to disregard them…A dark comedy may be the best answer one can muster when faced by this messy state of affairs. Any single life should be taken seriously, but not too seriously” (Bevis 100).

Shakespeare is often taken too seriously, which is such a shame—he’s too funny (and insightful) for that! For this short paper, I want you to write a satirical review of one of the plays—either All’s Well That Ends Well or The Tempest—pretending that you’re the first critic to ever see the play. With that in mind, try to imagine how such a critic would be confused by this “comedy” and the “happy endings” or “solutions” it offers us. Throughout your review, try to be ironic—try to use the critic’s confusion, anger, frustration, or even delight—to help us understand the point of the play itself. In other words, don’t tell us what you like about the play…show us what you like about the play through the voice of someone who doesn’t understand or appreciate it.

Remember our articles from The Onion, especially the one, “It’s Time To Give Up " (I pasted them below). The article begins, “Years of research regarding your progress thus far and the projected outcome of your continued efforts have culminated in the finding that it is in fact time for you to give up, experts on you concluded this week.” Of course, the point of the article isn’t to give up…it’s to make fun of the way we beat ourselves up and think that we, alone, are a ‘failure’ in life. So do the same thing in your review: have a critic review the play who thinks Betram is a great guy and he’s  finally found the woman of his dreams…or a critic who thinks Caliban is an evil brute who is punished the way he deserves, thanks to Prospero! Whatever you satirize, try to do make the reader realize (a) that you don’t really mean this, and (b) what the true point of the play really is.

REQUIREMENTS

·         No page limit, but be reasonable—one page isn’t enough!

·         QUOTE from the play in question; you might have the critic misinterpret important lines or see the wrong thing for comic effect

·         Have fun! Be funny but also make a point—don’t just play it for laughs

·         Due Tuesday, May 1st by 5pm

THE TWO ARTICLES: From The Onion.Com

Ex-Boyfriend Still Hopes To Be Terrible, Incompatible Friends

DENVER, CO—Insisting the turmoil didn’t need to stop just because the relationship had ended, local man Alex Ware was reportedly hopeful Monday that he and his ex-girlfriend could still be terrible, incompatible friends. “I understand that we’re a bad match romantically, but after everything we’ve been through, I think we owe it to ourselves to maintain some kind of toxic relationship,” said Ware, who assured his ex-girlfriend that he wanted her to have an unhealthy presence in his life. “I still care about you and, even if we’re not dating anymore, I want us to keep bringing out the worst in each other. You probably need some space right now, but once you’re ready, maybe we can meet up to fight occasionally.” At press time, Ware responded to his ex-girlfriend blocking him on social media by leaving an honest, solemn message on her voicemail saying that their breakup wasn’t working.

Report: It’s Time To Give Up

WASHINGTON—Years of research regarding your progress thus far and the projected outcome of your continued efforts have culminated in the finding that it is in fact time for you to give up, experts on you concluded this week. “You made a decent run at it, but you’re kidding yourself if you think you’re ever really going to get anywhere,” said numerous sources who worked on your case, none of whom believed that further expenditure of time, energy, or resources would garner appreciable gains and all of whom believed that a graceful admission of defeat is your best option. “You may believe this is merely a slump or a rough patch and that you’ll eventually get back on track with everything, but all the data we have indicate that the more effort you put forth now, the greater your disappointment will be when you are finally forced to surrender to your own inadequacy and stop trying altogether. Yes, before you say anything, we know it seems as if you have years to get it together, but you don’t. Those years will only bear mute witness as you flail helplessly, getting nowhere. You probably should have given up decades ago. You are a failure.” The experts also noted that, while it has been stated many times previously that one should never, ever give up, that sentiment is intended as a general guideline and does not apply in your specific and more hopeless case.

For Thursday: The Tempest, Acts 1 and 2

Be sure to read the first two acts of our final play in class; as you read, keep in mind the ideas of satire and dark comedy that we discussed from Ch.7 in Bevis' Comedy. Here are some other ideas to consider:

* Why is there generally more verse in this play than All's Well and As You Like It? Though the servants in the play generally speak prose, everyone else typically sticks to verse, and even Caliban speaks verse to Prospero.

* Pay close attention to the story Prospero tells his daughter, Miranda, about why they came to be on the island. Is it as cut and dry as he makes it sound? Though his brother did betray him, what might have aided in this betrayal?

* What are Prospero's relationship with the other inhabitants in the island, Ariel and Caliban? Why do they serve him?

* How does Prospero come to be master of the island? What do we imagine happened to the previous 'owner' of the island, Sycorax?

* Why is Caliban so abusive towards Prospero and Miranda? Why might this be an example of "laughtears"? Why might he be both a comic and a pathetic figure?

* How is Prospero trying to manipulate both his daughter and the new visitors to his island? In particularly, what does he want to have happen between his daughter and Ferdinand?

* Who are the fools in Act 2 and what message do they have for the duke--and for the audience?

* What advice does Antonio (Prospero's brother) have for Sebastian? How does he convince him that this is a sound and reasonable course of action?

* How might the Act 2, scene 2 satirize the encounters between Europeans and natives that were ongoing throughout Shakespeare's time (since this was when Europeans were actively exploring the Americas)? How is Caliban duped by the servants?

For Tuesday: All's Well That Ends Well, act 5 and Bevis, Chapter 7 "Beyond a Joke"

Some questions to consider for our reading...

* Why might the quote, "Life does not cease to be funny when people die any more than it ceases to be serious when people laugh" (105) be a way for understanding Shakespeare's problem comedies, esp. All's Well? While it doesn't have a lot of "death," in it, why does it use serious and even disturbing material for the purposes of comedy?

* In explaining dark comedy, Bevis uses the example from Mel Brooks: "Tragedy is when I cut my little finger. Comedy is when you fall into an open sewer and die." Why is the latter funny? What makes it tragi-comic? Where do we see similar moments in All's Well?

* Writing about dark comedy, Bevis says that "any single life should be taken seriously, but not too seriously" (100). While this could be said of comedy itself, what makes dark comedy even more apt to underline this sentiment?

* Fools like Parolles, the Fool, and even Lafew seem to point to Bevis' point that "those lacking in imagination can be TOO healthy." Why might Shakespeare insert more fools than usual in a dark comedy like All's Well? Why might they be essential for the plot? Or the meaning behind the plot?

* Bevis writes that "comedy does not preclude tragedy; it presupposes it." Why might the plot and characters of All's Well "presuppose" tragedy? And why might that very fact have challenged Shakespeare to make a comedy of it?

* How is Act V a masterpiece of dark comedy? Who is the butt of the jokes in this act?

* Does the play end satisfactorily in the manner of a true comedy? Or does Shakespeare subvert even this expected ending? When the King says that "the bitter past, more welcome is the sweet," is he acknowledging what happened on stage, or trying to MAKE us see it?

For Thursday: All's Well That Ends Well, Acts 3 & 4

[sorry for the late post--somehow it didn't take when I posted it last night!]

Here are some ideas to consider for Acts 3 and 4:

* Is Parolles more of a flat or round character in Acts 3 & 4? Do we feel sympathetic to him when he is humiliated by Bertram and the Lords?

* Does Helen become more "flat" in these acts, particularly when she engages in the bed trick with Diana? Would she have done this in Acts 1 and 2?

* In justifying her actions, Helen says, "Let us assay our plot, which, if it speed,/Is wicked meaning in a lawful deed,/And lawful meaning in a lawful act,/Where both not sin, and yet a sinful fact" (3.7.). What does this mean?

* Why do the Widow and Diana go along with this? Are they convinced that this is a just action to support a maligned wife? Or are they simply well paid?

* Does Bertram emerge as a rounder character in these acts? What kind of lover is he to Diana? Is he authentic or comic in his lovemaking?

* Also, does Bertram betray himself (as the Second Lord later suggests) or is he tricked into laying with Diana? In other words, is he a villain or do they make him a villain?

* Act 3, scene 1 is a tiny scene that shows us the war going on behind the scenes. Why do we need to see this? Indeed, many versions of the play would cut this out entirely. But why do you think Shakespeare included this in the play? You might consider that some of the Duke's lines are echoed elsewhere in the play, as so:

Duke: "So that from point to point now you have heard/The fundamental reasons for this war..." (3.1)

First Lord: "Ay, and the particular confirmation, point from point, to the full arming of the verity" (4.3)

* Like Hero, Helen also engages in a staged death to trick her husband and force his repentance. Does this initially seem to have the intended effect? And is this something we would expect from her (or any 'round' character)?

For Tuesday: All's Well That Ends Well, Acts 1-2

Sorry for the delay--I got bogged down with Scissortail activities this week! Here are some question and ideas to consider for the first two acts of the play:

* The language of All's Well is much more difficult than the previous plays. Many of the speeches are notably more dense, such as Helen's line "The mightiest space in fortune nature brings/To join like likes and kiss like native things" (1.1).Why might a playwright make his verse (and prose) more difficult to penetrate? How would this play on-stage?

* Why are there so many 'fools' in this play? Not only in there a Fool, but Paroles plays the role of a fool, Helen speaks like a "fool" (in that she is wise, and spars with the fools), and even Lafew plays this role. Why might Shakespeare be continually adding fools to the ingredients of his play (and they have been increasing--we had a few in As You Like It, too).

* Why is so much of this play in prose? Everyone, except the King, speaks prose for much of the time. When do they switch to verse and why? Related to this, why when Helen confronts the King does their verse become largely rhymed couplets? (this happens almost nowhere else)

* Why does Paroles urge Helen not to be a virgin? Is he offering wisdom here or simply raillery? How does she 'spar' with him throughout this exchange in 1.1? Consider the line, "That you were made of is metal to make virgins."

* What makes Paroles a comic figure, and perhaps, an unwitting fool? Why does Lafew, in particular, hate him so much? Consider his line, "there's no kernel in this light nut. The soul of this man is his clothes" (2.5).

* Why does this play have a "square plot"? (remember van Es?). Why is it a difficult play for "round" character to inhabit?

* What makes Helen such a sympathetic and "round" character? Consider her speech in 1.3 when she confesses her love for Bertram to the Countess.

* One of the themes of this play is the difference between nobility and birth. Nobles are "born" noble from their blood, yet to be noble is a quality beyond blood or birth--it is an act. How does the King weigh in on this in 2.3?

* Why does Bertram refuse to marry Helen initially, even though all the other courtiers do, and the King has demanded it? What do you think he objects to--is it really just her inferior birth?