Twelfth Night Reflections -Hanna A.

Something that stuck out to me in Twelfth Night is the fact that Feste the fool is the most profound character in the play. The idea that Feste is the most profound character (instead of the least, which might be the normal assumption) points back to the importance of Malvolio leaving Illyria in the end. Malvolio, the character that would, perhaps, seem to be the most serious character, ends up being the fool of the play, while Feste, the fool, is really the wisest of the roles in the play.

Feste plays along with many of the games within the play, but also has the lines and moments with the most depth. One perfect example of this idea is his line near the end of the play, “Why, ‘some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrown upon them’” (5.1, 366-367). Feste has a habit of pulling catchy and wonderfully applicable little tidbits of wisdom out of thin air. He is not only witty but also wise. In this one line, Feste establishes the entire theme of the play, which is the theme of greatness. What indeed makes a man or a woman great? Is it rank, faith, integrity, or some other abstract attribute? It is clear in Twelfth Night that the Feste the fool is one of the great ones, along with others, especially Viola. The main thing to notice it seems though, is that Malvolio, the serious one who is also a Puritan, is the one who is left at the end as the great fool. It strikes me that this is the case, not only because he is a Puritan, but because he is unable to the moment but is constantly caught up in pride, the way others view him, and his own desire to advance socially in rank. Pride, lust for power, and deep-seated insecurities are what keep him from being great. Feste on the other hand, the fool, is completely able to live into his greatness simply because he does not take himself too seriously, is humble beneath his false pride, and is in no way insecure. This then leads to the conclusion that greatness has very little to do with self-perception.

At the end of the play, Feste finishes off the theatricality with a rather serious song. The song progresses from boyhood to manhood and focuses especially on the idea that “By swaggering could I never thrive” (5.1, 394). This means that bullying, pride, and pushing to the top never gets a person anywhere. So, though Feste is, by all appearances, the “fool” of the play, he is most definitely the instigator of much of the dialogue that contains more depth. 

Gender Roles and Sexuality in The Twelfth Night

After reading and performing The Twelfth Night, I was curious about the purpose of the confusing gender roles within Shakespeare’s work.  So, I brought my questions to JSTOR and found a plethora of insights from an article titled, “Gender Trouble in Twelfth Night”.  

            This article stated that historically all male actors would have performed the Twelfth Night in the Elizabethan theaters.  Apparently, the use of only male actors was intentional in order to “avoid a real fear of women’s sexuality” and to show an “nonthreatening version of female erotic power” (Charles 126).  Through involving only make figures, the power of a woman in sexual circumstances is diluted and confused because it is not actually women acting out these roles.  Therefore, any portrayal of female sexuality is fashioned for the play’s purposes and can hardly be compared to a real woman’s actions and power.  As the article I read stated, “Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night is arguably about the fashioning of gender” (Charles 124).

            Because of the use of male actors only, the cross-dressing of characters, such as Viola, caused an extra level of confusion on stage than what is shown in the script.  For example, in the script Viola’s character disguises herself as a male figure with the name as Cesario; however, in Elizabethan theater this gender swap was confused even more on stage because the actor was originally a male in the first place.  This complexity clearly blurs the gender of Viola, making the sexual attraction of Olivia toward Viola confusing and subtly homosexual.  What I found interesting about my research was Charles’ perspective on the purpose of these homosexual hints and how homosexuality all relates to Shakespeare’s commentary about love.  Charles claims, “Lovers like Olivia, Orsino, Malvolio, and Antonio construct fantasies that turn the objects of their affection into something more than they are, thereby disrupting the boundaries of compulsory heterosexuality and class-consciousness through the performance of these imaginary fantasies,” (Charles 124).  This insight reveals that perhaps Shakespeare is getting to the idea that love can be fashioned and directed at anyone because the object of one’s love is completely in the eye of the beholder.  Because of his use of cross-dressing and romantic love within sex-same actors and characters, this fashioned and imagined love becomes evident not only in the plot of the play but also through the directional choices behind the scenes. 

            Clearly, gender swaps and hints of homosexuality are the core of Shakespeare’s message.  Through my reading of the play and outside research, it seems as though Shakespeare’s intentions were to challenge the boundaries of sex-based roles and heterosexuality during his era.


 Works Cited:

Charles, Casey. "Gender Trouble in Twelfth Night." Theatre Journal, Vol. 49, No. 2. pp. 121-141. JSTOR. The Johns Hopkins University Press, May 1997. Web. 3 Nov. 2013.

http://www.jstor.org/stable/3208678

Beowulf (film) - Extra credit

While I was writing the script and filming my modern adaptation of Beowulf, I was overcome by the amount of plots and stories that I thought were essential to portray in the modernization. Also how difficult it would be to do so, since a lot of the stories or allusions would need to be read word for word or they would take too long in order to do them justice. My goal for this film was to make a funny abridged version of Beowulf for the modern audience. I wanted to be true to the story, but make it interesting and entertaining, since most modern audiences are not interested in seeing full productions of Beowulf. Some characters are essential, yet they have small parts so they are harder to flesh out. Such as the character of Unferth, who I wanted to have in my version of Beowulf, but he only has two big speaking parts in the original poem. In the end it was difficult to stay true to and keep the various themes and small plot points, since they would have such a small part of the film anyway. Such as the Dane Queen giving Beowulf treasure and entreating him to take care of her kids. I felt like that was an important part of the original poem, but in the film it felt out of place. I was torn between two different ideals. How do I keep my film true to the original, but still make it interesting?
In the end, I hope that all of my executive decisions and creative efforts are worthwhile. I hope that there is some truth to be found in my version of Beowulf, but I also hope that it is interesting and entertaining as a piece that stands alone.

"She's the Man" vs. Twelfth Night

In the modern day adaptation of Twelfth Night, the movie She's the Man, the plot has not changed much. It keeps its comedic and romantic moments, making the movie the quintessential rom-com. However much She's the Man may be technically based on Twelfth Night, however there are still distinct differences. For instance, in the movie Viola takes on the persona of her brother Sebastian (who is not dead, but left the country) instead of the name Cesario. Another notable difference is in the way that Viola figures out that Olivia likes Sebastian (her alter-ego). Instead of having a soliloquy (II. ii. 14-30) Viola finds out when she in the ladies room with Olivia as her real self, having Olivia confess it to her personally. Instead of a soliloquy, which would be out of place in a rom-com such as this, the audience sees Viola speechless looking in a mirror. This whole plot takes place at a high school, as opposed to kingdoms with lords and ladies. This also makes sense as a plot change. She's the Man doesn't really keep much from the original plot except for the overall basic plot of cross dressing, the names, and a few quotes.
I think that Shakespeare would be slightly horrified that his play turned into a rom-com, but I also think he would be entertained by it in the end. There are multiple nods in the film to Twelfth Night, such as when Viola is first walking into the school there is a bulletin up advertising the play Twelfth Night. Also, the pizza place which is a main setting in the film, is named Cesario's, which is a nod to Viola's original alter-ego name. The line "Some are born great" is quoted in the film by the Duke (the character of Orsino in the movie) (II. V. 129).
It is interesting to see the different plots and allusions they make in the movie She's the Man, and I think it is helpful to see how Shakespeare has been translated and used by so many different people and artists throughout history because his stories are so iconic.

Copernicus, Donne, and Webster

In middle school, we all have “that project” where we have to research a certain historical individual who had tremendous impact upon the world. Somehow, I was stuck with Copernicus, the man who discovered that the Earth, and all of the planets in our solar system, revolved around the Sun; the scientifically accepted view of the universe thus shifted from a geocentric view to a heliocentric view on the universe. When I was doing this project, I often asked myself, “Who cares? I wish I had Oprah instead of this guy.” But, Copernicus and his heliocentric discovery keep popping up in my studies. I can’t get away from him!

This time, Copernicus’s heliocentric universe has shown up in our Early 17^th Century writings. The Norton says:

“Galileo’s telescope provided evidence confirming Copernican astronomical theory, which dislodged the earth from its stable central position in the cosmos and, in defiance of all ordinary observation, set it whirling around the sun.” (1351)

Many authors responded to this new confirmation in science, as well as others such as the discovery that blood circulates throughout the body, in their works. The two works that explicitly discussed planets and heliocentrism were The Duchess of Malfi by John Webster and “Good Friday, 1613. Riding Westward” by John Donne. In Duchess, when Antonio and the Duchess are exchanging their vows, Antonio says, “may our sweet affections, like the spheres, Be still in motion!” (Webster 1584). And, in Donne’s poem, he asserts, “Let man’s soul be a sphere, and then, in this, / The intelligence that moves, devotion is.” (Donne 1415)

I find it so interesting that authors are using scientific, figurative language in order to discuss love, whether for another human or for God. It is definitely a shift from the earlier periods we’ve studied so far! I wonder who Donne and Webster’s intended audiences were. If it is for both the laypeople and the wealthy aristocracy, it definitely speaks to the acceptance of science throughout the masses. 

"The Great Divorce" and the Dream Vision

            Yet again, the material we’ve learned in this class has overlapped with that of CS Lewis. We were assigned Lewis’s The Great Divorce, which is a fantasy novella of sorts in which Lewis attempts to depict what heaven and hell are like (I highly suggest giving this a read – the literary features alone are enough of a reason without regard to the text’s embedded theology). A narrator – whom we can assume to be Lewis – is taken on a bus from “hell” to “heaven”, where he then witnesses multiple accounts of angels trying to convince the hell-folk to leave their world behind and join the heavenly host. At the end of the work, when it seems that a grand judgment is taking place, the narrator is awakened; the entirety of his experience had been a dream.

            As a Professor/Don of English at Oxford, and later the chair of Medieval and Renaissance Literature at Cambridge, it is not at all a jump to assume that Lewis was well aware and well learned in the “dream vision”. We saw examples of the “dream vision” in “The Dream of the Rood” and Piers Plowman. Just as a refresher, many authors writing on the subject of Christianity would guise their personal interpretations, disagreements, or commentary under a “dream vision” in order to avoid persecution; a character falls asleep and receives visions or revelations that are clearly of the author’s own making rather than the character’s. However, if an author was met with persecution, he would be defended by the fact that his arguments are not actually his own, but his dreaming character.

I wonder why Lewis wrote The Great Divorce in this manner. What is it that Lewis is ‘protecting’ himself from by using the “dream vision”? Perhaps he is trying to reinforce the fact (as he asserts multiple times in other works) that he is only a layman offering his own opinion on divine matters. And this would eliminate the possibility for the ‘wrath’ of other Christians for holding opposing theological views, as well as the wrath of God for spreading falsity/error. He is, in essence, covering all his bases by using the “dream vision”; he is trying to reveal to the reader that his idea of heaven and hell is not the ultimate truth, thus preventing persecution from possible errors he made in the text.

Sonnet 130

             After our discussion of Sonnet 130 in class last week I wanted to do a little more research on how Shakespeare describes the woman in the sonnet. As I mentioned in class, it seemed like Shakespeare was describing a corpse. When describing the woman, Shakespeare paints a perfect picture of a dead body. Her eyes are not bright like the sun, her lips and cheeks seem colorless, her skin is a blotchy brown, and she emanates a stench. Though these descriptions account for many of the lines in the poem, they do not account for all of them; so my theory was full of holes as I could not think of how her wired hair or how she treads on the ground could also point to a corpse.

                I then went on to do some further research and did find some articles that pointed to the idea Shakespeare was describing a body, but their theories lacked the same evidence mine did. The authors who wrote these theories were able to describe the lines I mentioned above but could not account for the lines describing her hair or how she walks. My research forced me to leave my idea that it was a corpse and continue on the idea that he was simply describing a not so attractive woman who he loves in spite of her ugliness.

                Granted, with the use of his vivid details to describe this woman, he gives her little flattery. I think it would probably be better if she was dead, then at least she would have an excuse for smelling bad and looking like death. I think this poem is actually really funny in that it is yet another sarcastic poem. Shakespeare gives the woman little praise and instead of comparing her to all these beautiful things he uses them to describe how homely looking she is.

                In an article I found online, the author actually analyzes the sonnet like we did in class. Amanda Mabillard discusses how Shakespeare is describing this uncomely woman of a dark complexion by using simple metaphors to describe what she is not. He never compares his love for her by utilizing otherworldly symbols such as Venus. In the final couplet, Shakespeare addresses the fact that he loves his mistress even “despite her lack of adornment” (Mabillard).

Mabillard, Amanda. “An Analysis of Shakespeare's Sonnet 130.” Shakespeare Online. 2000. 03/11/2013. http://www.shakespeare-online.com/sonnets/130detail.html.