Quiz notes

Notes for quiz #2
filial ingratitude- thankless progeny. Lear sees them everywhere
flyting- rapid exchange of insults (like fighting only with words)
According to Frye 3 most important words in King Lear- nature, nothing, fool
Where does Jaques' name come from- it means outhouse, privy
Theophany- a dvine showing forth. It is used to describe a change in drama from doomed, male centered drama to surviving, female drama
Deus ex Machina- the machine of the god. It's an easy way out to fix a plot problem
How should the stage be set for Gloucester's suicide? Bare with no distractions
Themes from Cymbeline
*Appearance v. Reality
*Fidelity v. Trechary
*Redemption v. Deception
What is the there of all Shakespeare's plays? Hughes, "The unconditional love offered by the male party from the female"
What is a violation of the bed trick? The woman tricks the man into sleeping with her. The woman pursues the man instead of vice versa.
What is the poet in pastoral conventions?
Shephard
What immage illustrates a demonic aspect? Boar
What is it that both Gloucester and King Lear curse? Their own birth
Pure tradgedy- 2nd best is to die. The first is to never have been born.
Posthumus- first tragic character to survive
What is the main concern of romance? Lifting the hero our of the tragic plae
According to Garber how many different recognitions and recersals are in Cymbeline? 24
"We are to the gods as flies are to wanton boys." Gloucester
Who hears sermons in stones? Duke Sr.
Romance- weight of subjective transcendentalism
Tradgedy- weight of realism
In All's Well That Ends Well Bertram will only marry Helena if
1. She gets the ring from his finger
2. She has his child
Measure for Measure- the title comes from the Bible
In As You Like It who gets upset when he sees the dead deer? Jacques
Jacques doesn't join in the scene of recognition. He refuses to dance
What is the focus of melancholy characters?
1. Time
2. Death
3. Acting
Why is the title of Cymbeline misleading? Cymbeline is a minor character
Comedy of Errors- physical comedy

Notes from 3/22

"The worst returns to laughter." Edgar
Life is so bad all you can do is laugh about it.
Directing the scene where Edgar leads Gloucester up the imaginary cliff is difficult. Language must be used in order for Gloucester to believe that he is actually being led up a steep hillside when in reality he is just being led along the flat earth. Edgar must rely on his words to convince Gloucester that he is actually climbing upwards.
Lear curses women because without woment he would never have existed. This is a great theme within tradgedy. The second best option is to die. The first is to never have existed.
It is also worth noting that the fool has disappeard. Lear has become the fool so the fool is no longer needed..
Marilyn

Notes from 3/20

More talk of King Lear.
Theme: All the drama that you need is within the family.
*I'm an only child so this doesn't ring as true for me as it does for those with larger families.*
filial ingratitude- After all Lear has done for his children they show him no thanks. His progeny become something he doesn't want them to be
flyting-verbal exchange of insults
Act 2 Scene 3
Edgar changes into the destitute, slightly mad, character Tom. This is perhaps one of the greatest transformations in all of Shakespeare.
Marilyn

Notes from 3/8

On this day in class we talked about the play king Lear and how the play is a violation of poetic, retributive justice. Nothing good happens to those who do good. There is no happy ending. The gods do not punish those who deserve punishment. It's not exactly a real uplifting play.
Theodicy- question of the justice of God.
Inexpilcable suffering- present throughout the play.
When Lear chooses to divide his kingdom he divides himself. When he asks his daughters to tell him how much they love him the first two respond with great statements of flattery. The third, Cordelia says she loves him according to her bond, which seems to be a reoccuring theme throughout Shakespeare.
Also worth noting:
Edmund is the first existentialist- his evil nature has no natural explanation. He's just plain evil.
Oswald- possibly the most despised character in all of Shakespeare
Fool- Lear's conscience. He can say whatever he wants because he is, after all, the fool.
Marilyn

notes from 3/6

During this class we primarily discussed the plays Cymbeline and All's Well That Ends Well. Cymbeline was play that was important for Shakespeare because it was a change from tradgedy centered drama to theopany centered drama, drama based around a scene of epiphany. The swith in forms of drama is seen as a switch from male, tradgedy gloom and doom type of drama to female recognition. This is a recognition of the divine being present in the everyday. It transcends the tragic sense of life. Thophany centered drama is the drama of romance. As an aside, it is hard to pick a single moment of recognition in Cymbeline because there are 24 seperate reversals and recognitions.
All's Well That Ends Well is a Shakespearean play that remains unpopular even to this day. It violate many of the principles of its genre. The female pursues the male instead of vice versa and there aren't many jokes. For a summary of this play I found the following site helpful. http://www.britannica.com/ebi/article-9316102.
We also began to discuss King Lear in this class period. This play is considered the center of the cannon of Shakespeare. Dr. Sexson then asked us what we think is the center of the play of King Lear, aka the moment of recognition. Hint: It's not at the end.
Marilyn

Class on 3/1

I must start off thie post by saying nice job to group number two with their performance of cymbeline. I thought the idea of using a talk show to explain the plot of the story was an excellent very creative idea. If anyone missed this class day here are a few of the highlights from the presentation.
Cymbeline has elements of both tradgedy and comedy within the play. There is a clown like in most comic plays but at the same time there is no marriage at the end of the play which we have learned is a common expectation for comedies. However, the end of the play is not tragic so therefore the play is classified as a comedy.
I've never read Cymbeline before so I am not going to attemt to explain the plot because my own knowledge of it is very shakey. I found a website with a plot summary if anyone is interested. http://www.shakespeare-online.com/plots/cymbelineps.html
Some of the major themes in Cymbeline are: Fidelity v. trechary, appearance v. reality, redemption, and deception Also, all the subplots you've seen within previous plays. Anyway, for a more detailed description of the play as well as notes on the play I suggest checking out the blogs of any of the cast members. They probably know a lot more about it then I do.
Marilyn