Wakefield Mystery Surprises

Last night, I took a much-needed study break to check out The Wakefield Mysteries. Even though we'd read one of the plays from the cycle in class, I really had no idea what to expect: I have a friend in the chorus, and I remember asking him specifically if the plays would have a lot of modernization. "The mystery plays are really known for being contemporized in their day, right?" I'd asked. "Is that an adaptation that Whitworth will be making?" My friend just kind of looked at me funny and was like, "huh?," so I assumed that the plays would be performed pretty close to what they would have been like a couple centuries ago. This was not a correct assumption.

Like Lee, I really enjoyed the contemporary aspect of the plays. I think their modern-day costuming and humor helped (at least me) have an interest in the stories that was immediate and not just religious. While I intellectually understood that this was an element for the original audiences of "The Second Shepherd's Play," it really wasn't a part of my reading--I thought it was funny and I appreciated Mak and Gill's humor, but the shepherds' complaining and Mak's punishment went way over my head (probably because I didn't feel like I really had a cultural context for them). I personally had a hard time relating to the social conditions of the characters. However, with the modern adaptations (like giving Cain a tractor), I could understand the issues a little bit better: my grandparents still live on a farm, so I have a basis of understanding for what it's like to have a bad harvest year. (I don't have a basis of understanding for what it's like to be a tenant farmer.) Anyway, I was glad to be able to personally appreciate how the mystery plays' contemporary aspects changed the enjoyment level for medieval audiences.

Also like Lee, I must say that "The Second Shepherd's Play" was not my favorite of the cycle, and I was really surprised by some of the changes that they made. For instance, when the shepherds decide to toss Mak in the blanket, it seems funny but also kind of mocking and mean in the Whitworth production. While Mak is definitely not a good guy for stealing a sheep, the three shepherds seemed really reminiscent to me of elementary school bullies who think up weird and humiliating punishments just for fun. In the version that we read, though, it's really clear that the normal punishment for sheep-stealing would be death, so the three shepherds are actually being merciful to Mak when they decide to toss him in the blanket. This kind of changes the meaning of the most crucial element of the play: the meeting of baby Jesus. If the three shepherds are seen as ultimately good-hearted people, then their goodness is rewarded because they are chosen to see Jesus first. However, if they are kind of gruff bullies (which is what it seemed like to me in the Whitworth production), then it's less that they are pure people and more just a sense that Jesus came for gruff, bullying, flawed humans. I think that both interpretations are good, but it's just interesting to see the different interpretations that can come from a pretty small detail.

At any rate, I really enjoyed the humor, contemporization, and energy that the Whitworth theater department put into The Wakefield Mysteries. While there were times when the rapping, dance breaks, and jazz seemed a little outrageous, I think the department did a good job at retaining the spirit of the plays, which were reverent but didn't take themselves too seriously. There are two more shows next week, and if you guys haven't been yet then I definitely recommend it!

SGGK and Islam

After Doug mentioned the Green Knight's potential relationship to Islam, I couldn't stop thinking about the storyline in those terms. Islam's existence in Spain would have been on its decline at this time, and the indigenous Christians in Spain would have been fighting harder and harder to reclaim the land for "Christ". This adds a new gravity to the poem, and a new depth to the quiz question we had about spirituality and SGGK. At this point, Sir Gawain’s quest to find the green knight becomes about more than the development of an immature knight.  It becomes a battle to save Christendom from this dangerous religion that Christians had been fighting against for centuries, that was even in their own backyard.

Does Christianity emerge as a victor over Islam in this epic poem, or does it end the other way around? Morgan le Fay and Sir Bertilak do, after all, trick the naive Christian knight. The maturity of Sir Bertilak’s court and its connection with the successful bamboozlement of Sir Gawain and Arthur’s court would suggest (at least for me) that Islam is connected to a more mature sense of spiritual development in the epic poem. In the end Gawain is tempted by the green girdle. By doing so Sir Gawain can be seen as accepting the Islamic faith as a protective element against the Green Knight. While he adopts it as a sign of shame in the end, the other knights of King Arthur’s court are too naive to understand what it means—they think it is merely a cool, protective charm, as Gawain once did.

And I think that’s the point. The poem is a satire, showing how to be a poor knight. I think it presents Sir Bertilak’s court and its connection with Islam to show what’s really at stake if chivalrous knight’s fail: ultimately, their religion will fail too.

Mystery Plays

I attended the Wakefield Mysteries last night and thought they did a pretty good job with the whole performance. They had a nice description on the back of the program explaining the origins of the plays and their purposes. The modernization and humor added to the play made it quite enjoyable and interesting. I felt like they captured the purpose of informing the general audience of specific Bible stories and had some very creative props and backdrops.

The cast also did an excellent job with their parts. I especially enjoyed the performance by Keith Wyma, who played Lucifer. The creativity of when he was portraying the serpent tempting Eve was excellent; he was “snake-like” in everything he did. Although not dressed like a serpent, the movements he performed left little doubt to the audience on what he was.

I enjoyed “The Garden of Eden,” but my favorite rendition was “The Killing of Abel.” The cast, writing, humor, and modernization of the story made it quite entertaining. The moral lessons were not difficult to figure out and the story was quite simple, but again, the creativity behind the story made it very entertaining.

I have to admit, I was a little disappointed in “The Shepherd’s Play.” From what we read in class, I thought the humor was kind of lacking. Now, do not get me wrong, I thought they did an excellent job and thought the rendition was pretty good; however, I was looking forward to seeing how they portrayed Mak’s character. My favorite part of “The Second Shepherd’s Play” that we read in class was when Mak tried to uphold his lie to the very end, even when he knew it was hopeless. They pretty much cut that whole part out. They did, however, include the blanket scene. Overall, all the renditions were a great performance with quite a bit of creativity in the modernization, the props, and the cast.         

"The Faire Queene" as an epic

In class, Doug mentioned that Edmund Spenser's "The Faerie Queene" is an epic, with each book being a different adventure completed by a different personified virtue. There are some interesting similarities and differences between the medieval epics we read and this one.

Unlike some of the medieval epics, there is no list of important geneology to give importance to the main character. Where stories like "Beowulf" and "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight" both opened with historical context and the victories of predecessors, "The Faerie Queen" jumps right into the knight's story, without any big introduction. I thought this was interesting because it creates an independent sort of importance; this knight matters because of his own conquests and accomplishments, not an ancestor's. The focus is placed on his individual quest.

Another difference I am noticing so far is in the focus on battle. I don't want to make too broad of a generalization because this is the first epic we've read for this unit, but so far this is what I'm picking up. In this first Canto, the battle with the dragon/serpent is a somewhat minor part of the story. It takes up about two pages, a small fraction of the rest of the Canto. It seems that there is potential that the focus of the epic has changed. It is no longer just about the battle, but about the journeys surrounding it and battles of the wit and spirit. The story describes the characters being lost in the forest of Errour and then their interaction with the Archimago in seemingly more detail and focus than the battle with the dragon.

There may be some continuity in the value of faith being reconciled with violence from the medieval era to this one. In the description of the knight, he is said to be wearing "a bloudie Crosse" (782) on his chest. Not only does this bring a symbol of the unity of violence in the crucifixion with salvation, but it shows the knight's reliance on a higher power to succeed in his quest. He needs spiritual strength to succeed in his battles.

That's all I've got so far, but I'm interested to see how these themes play out in other things we read.

Test

Today, Doug said that about half of us did well on the test. I was not in that half. I was able to talk to him afterwards though and got a better idea of what he is looking for. I assume that if the other half of the class did not do so well, that you may have made the same mistakes I did. For example, I was not specific enough in my short answer questions. I was also too broad when answering the essay question and actually kind of misread it, so I feel like I was lucky to get any points.

                However, like I said earlier, I was able to talk to Doug about it afterwards and received some helpful hints that I thought I would share with the rest of you. As I already said, be as specific as possible. Also, something helpful that Doug pointed out in the notes that I had taken was that I did not have enough sources to cover all the short answer questions. That was another issue I ran into during the test and I was forced to answer a question I was a little iffy.

                Finally, Doug also checked out my paper and gave me some useful info on that. As in the test, be specific. I think that if you follow everything he has on the guidelines for the paper, you will be fine. Another thing he pointed out to me on my paper was that I did not explain my quotes well enough, in that I only had one or two sentences to explain the text.

                Hopefully this is helpful to those of you who had some of the same issues I did. If you guys have any other useful info either about the tests or papers please let me know, or leave a comment.

Mud, Grendel and the Faire - Hanna A.

The Renaissance Faire at Green Bluff was a rather humorous experience. In terms of cultural accuracy, most of the stuff going on was pretty off. The accents that people were using were really funny though and I really had lots of fun sampling food and interacting with all of the people. There was even a large ogre wandering around that reminded me of Grendel. Another highlight of the day was watching some jousting and seeing actual grown men in armor pummel each other with large poles while on horseback.

I also had the unusual experience of watching some “peasants” act out a muddy and inaccurate version of Beowulf. There was a small theatre called “The Mud Pit” where two men and one woman crawled around throwing mud at one another, all the while creating and acting out some semblance of Beowulf. It was awkward and rather painful to watch because it was clear that none of them wanted to be doing their job. They did however get the basic points of the plot correct with Beowulf first fighting Grendel, then Grendel’s mother, and I actually didn’t stay long enough to see whether Beowulf ever fought the dragon, but it seemed they were at least sticking to some of the basic plot points and characters. Though I hope never to see Beowulf acted out in that fashion again, I did get to have a bit of mud added to my wardrobe that day.

The mud theatre, as well as some of the music, games, and tent shops did give a bit of live-action context to some of the things we have been learning in class.

I enjoyed watching people interact in different interpretations of Middle English accents while attempting to rope all of the visitors into various activities like archery or sword fighting. There was also a mystical and magical aspect to the faire because creatures like the ogre as well as a plethora of witches, fairies, and gypsies were present. It seemed to me that people were pretty excited about bringing back the mythical aspects of the time more than the actual culture that would have existed.

            Overall the experience at Green Bluff was super entertaining and I would have loved to go back and speaking in an accent while flouncing around in some kind of dress from the time. It was great to watch people come alive in that setting and just enter into the foolishness and celebration of the culture created there. 

French in the readings

While reading the passages, I started noticing words that look like some french words that I remember from my very limited french background. Like in Spenser's A Letter of the Authors he uses the word 'ensample' to mean our word 'example.' While ensample isn't itself a French word, it definitely looks like one, and because of this I find myself reading the works in a French accent in my head. It makes sense that there would be obvious french influences in the language because of how the court was taken over by french nobility and everything was then changed to fit those aristocrats needs (i.e. language, customs, entertainment, etc) but I kind of thought that that influence wasn't as prominent in this new era that we have moved into. But I guess once something has a hold, it takes a while for it to lose it's grip in anything, whether that be language, culture, or anything else.