Next Week and the Final Exam Assignment (due Dec.9th!)

If you missed class on Monday, or simply forgot what we did, remember that I gave you a Final Exam assignment (posted below). It's based on the idea of making Shakespeare new again, and challenging how we see and understand his plays. It's also inspired from the Reduced Shakespeare Company, a performing troupe which used to perform all of his plays in about an hour and a half. The video below is what we watched in class (about the first 26 minutes), but feel free to watch the entire thing for inspiration. 

ALSO, we DO have class next week, but only on MONDAY. We're going to wrap up the course and get the chance to win valuable Shakespeare prizes! :) Enjoy the break and I'll see you next week. 

Link to the Performance: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vd4h16DWpdU&list=PL2YqtSaZw0JSnkhbBIuUvHvOcQz6lzAnH&index=6&t=1934s

English 3213: Shakespeare

Final Project: Ten-Minute Shakespeare

For your ‘final exam’ so to speak, I want you to take a cue from The Reduced Shakespeare Company, which performed all 36 of Shakespeare’s plays in a single hour (well, sort of). While this is a humorous idea, it also tests how well you know a given play, and what the essence of the play’s themes and ideas truly consist of. What would a ten-minute Julius Caesar or Hamlet look like? How could you compress most of the general theme, plot, and ideas into a single short scene?

That’s exactly what I want you to do: take one of the plays from class, and reduce it to a 5-7 page script (since 1 page = 2 minutes of reading time). You don’t have to write a thing. All you have to do is arrange lines of dialogue that somehow suggest the main action, events, or ideas of the play. Granted, you’re going to have to leave a LOT out. But how can you still suggest the basic essence of the play to an audience so that they walk away with a rough idea of what the play is about (or maybe, some aspect of the play)?

Think of the 10-minute scene as a kind of ‘movie trailer’ for the play, one that captures the drama of the work in miniature. You don’t have to use an entire speech, or an entire conversation, but edit it as you see fit. For example, you could focus solely on the journey of a single character, or a single theme, or a single relationship. Or you can give several little snapshots. But try to make it coherent, and include stage directions (the original or your own) so we see how the different moments go together.

The goal of this assignment is for you to communicate a ‘reading’ of the play based on the shortest possible script of the play. Have fun with this. It doesn’t have to be serious: in fact, you can show us how silly King Lear looks by only focusing on the ‘mad’ parts! But think about your audience: assume they’ve never seen the play before, so try to give them a taste of what they’ll encounter when they see or read a complete performance. Or better yet, make them want to see it!

REQUIREMENTS

• Try to keep it short, no more than 5-7 double-spaced pages. After that you’re cheating! :) 
• Make sure we know who’s talking and where they are. Use stage directions as you see fit, and feel free to add your own (that’s the only writing you’ll have to do)
• Maintain the play format, so that it reads like an actual scene in a Shakespeare play.
• Feel free to add your own scholarly footnotes ala the Folger Shakespeare! (especially if you want to be funny)
• DUE NO LATER THAN FRIDAY, DECEMBER 9th BY 5PM

For Friday: Shakespeare, Measure for Measure, Act 5

Remember, we'll do an in-class writing over Act 5 on Friday, so I won't post questions after class. The questions below, as always, are about today's reading and discussion (Wednesday).

Answer two of the following:

Q1: Though we have no idea what Shakespeare really intended with this play, when it was first published in the Folio of his completed works, Measure for Measure was listed as a comedy. Why do you think this is, based on our reading so far? Does it suggest a certain dark humor in the play? Or a sense that we shouldn't take the moral implications and "dark corners" of the play too seriously? Or does the play offer the laughter of a Fool, who tells us the truth while seeming to be absurd?

Q2: Why do you think Isabella, who defies both her brother and Angelo, is so compliant to the Duke's wishes? Consider that even after she learns that Claudio has been killed, and the Duke tells her to keep up the facade, she replies, "I am directed by you" (4.3). Why would she be directed by him, a random Friar who has a dubious plan that seemingly fails to work?

Q3: What role does Lucio seem to perform in this play? He's a totally inconsequential character, and yet, as he tells the Duke, "I am a kind of burr; I shall stick" (4.3). Why do you think Shakespeare found his character attractive?

Q4: We discussed the Duke's connection between both King Lear and Hamlet in class today, which brings up a big point: do you think the Duke is mad? Angelo certainly thinks so, saying that "His actions show much like to madness" (4.4). Is there more method or madness in his actions so far? Does he seem to have a calculated, long-term plan? Or is he just making this up and he goes?

For Wednesday: Shakespeare, Measure for Measure, Act 4

Read Act 4 for Wednesday, and answer two of the following based on Monday's reading/questions:

Q1: What do you make of the strange scene in Act 3.2, when Lucio confronts the Duke-Friar and gossips about the former Duke, saying, among other things, that "He had some feeling of the sport, he knew the service, and that instructed him to mercy" (119)? Is he merely lying to make everyone seem as bad as he is, or is ironically telling the truth to the Duke's face? How does the Duke react to this information? 

Q2: A great point was made in class that Isabella's outrage in 3.1 against her brother is because he would never have to sacrifice himself to save her, yet she is asked to do the one thing she most abhors to save him. Is that how you read this scene? And if this is true, why doesn't she say words to this effect, instead of just insulting him and calling him a "faithless coward" and a "dishonest wretch"? Are we supposed to be more sympathetic with her in this scene, or with Claudio?

Q3: Why do you think the Duke is getting so involved in the intrigues of his kingdom rather than simply curing them himself? For example, he cautions Claudio to prepare himself for death when he, more than anyone, could save him with a word. And why does he offer the example of the bed-trick to Isabella, rather than simply pardoning them both at once? In short, why not see that Angelo screwed up and call it off...why does he continue to play the game?

Q4: When Angelo presses Isabella to accept his terms, she protests, "Better it were a brother died at once/Than that a sister, by redeeming him,/Should die forever" (83). Do you think she really believes that God's judgement would be so inflexible when she later told Angelo to forgive her own brother's sin? Is she being a hypocrite as much as Angelo, though to a less disgusting degree? 

For Monday: Shakespeare, Measure for Measure Act 2.3-Act 3 (see note below)

NOTE: These are the post-reading questions for Wednesday's class. You can turn these in as late as MONDAY, since we don't have class on Friday (Paper #3 is due on Friday, remember). But be sure to read Act 2.3-Act 3 for Monday's class as well.

Answer two of the following for Wednesday's reading:

Q1: What is the purpose of Act 2.1, which is little more than an elaborate farce between Elbow, Escalus, and Pompey? Do we ever learn what Escalus accuses Pompey of doing to his wife? How does this all relate to the rest of the play?

Q2:  We briefly discussed Isabella's powerful speech in Act 2.2, where she proclaims that if everyone used their power like Jove, "Jove would never be quiet,/For every pelting, petty officer/Would use his heaven for thunder,/Nothing but thunder" (67). According to her, what is the danger of punshing people within the full limits of the laws, as many judges do even today? Why not give someone the maximum sentence, if the point of a punishment is more to deter crime than than to punish the person themselves?

Q3: It was mentioned in class today that the play has resonances with the Book of Job, where God tests his most faithful servant to show Satan that some men are indeed true to the faith. How might this play be a kind of allegory for faith or virtue, and if so, who do you think is being tested: Angelo, or Isabella? Who might be the real protagonist of this play?

Q4: Re-read Angelo's famous soliloquy in Act 2.2, where he reflects on the effect that Isabella has had on him. What do you think he means when he says, "but it is I/That, lying by the violet in the sun,/Do as the carrion does, not as the flower,/Corrupt with virtuous season" (71)? Why is he not like the flower, and why is he doing "as the carrion does"? Does he think himself unfairly "assayed" by Isabella in this speech, or is he admitting to his own weakness and frailty? How well does he seem to know himself here (consider how Lear's daughters said "he does but slenderly know himself"). 

For Wednesday: Shakespeare, Measure for Measure, Acts 1 through 2.2

NOTE: Be sure to read past Act 1 through Act 2.2 since Act 1 is very short in this play, and a better cut-off point is Act 2.2.

Since we couldn't watch Act 1 in class today (!!), here are some notes that might help you in your reading of the play. Also note the scene summaries at the beginning each scene in the Folder edition of the play--they can be very helpful!

Act 1.1: The DUKE is giving his power to ANGELO to see if he can tame the people's taste for vice and debauchery, which has gotten out of hand. He thinks it's unfair to suddenly introduce harsh laws since he more or less let such behavior flourish under his reign. ESCALUS is his second-in-command who learns about this first, and is told to assist Angelo.

Act 1.2: LUCIO is a man-about-town and a friend to CLAUDIO. He learns that the brothels are being closed and anyone who commits a sin, such as sex before marriage, will be punished severely. Claudio has been accused of just such a crime, since he slept with his fiancee, JULIET, out of wedlock. He speaks with Claudio on the way to prison, and Claudio entreats him to talk to his sister, ISABELLA, before she takes holy orders as a nun. If anyone can convince Angelo to save his life, she can.

Act 1.3: the DUKE talks with FRIAR THOMAS, who helps him disguise himself as a fellow brother. The Duke explains why he has skipped out of town, only to return secretly to watch Angelo's affairs. He believes that Angelo is an extremely virtuous man who might, if possible, be too virtuous. So he wants to test him. 

Act 1.4: Lucio convinces Isabella to entreat Angelo to save her brother's life. 

Act 2.1: A long, 'comic' scene, where Angelo and Escalus hear the testimony of ELBOW, an officer, against FROTH and POMPEY. Elbow has the very comic ailment known as "malapropism," which means when a character uses a negative word for a positive meaning. For example, he often calls his superiors "vagrants," and calls the criminals "benefactors" (instead of malefactors). He goes on and on and doesn't make a very convincing case against the pair, whom he thinks have debauched his wife (which they don't exactly deny). Escalus finally sends him away with not much accomplished.

Act 2.2: The 'big' scene where Isabella petitions Angelo, at first unsucessfully, but gradually more and more persuasively until he relents--almost. He tells her to come back tomorrow, and then has a soliloquy which shows how attracted he is to her 'virtue.' Note Isabella's language in this scene, which is extraordinarily powerful and some of Shakespeare's greatest writing. She clearly blows him out of the water. 

REMEMBER: No questions until after class on Wednesday. Then I'll give you "post reading/discussion questions," and you can answer them anytime between Wednesday and Friday. This way, you can focus on reading and not have to scramble to finish the questions right after class. Remember, too, that Paper #3 is due on Friday! 

See you next week!