Misery acquaints a man with strange bedfellows....

And what a strange one at that. I happened to watch the cinematic version of the The Tempest. Helen Mirren stared as  Prosperia and Russell Brand as Trinculo. Having a woman play the "Prospero" role was diffidently  different and had a new "twist" to it. I am sure that it changed the ideal behind the parent figure. There was softer shape to the character that I didn't feel with it being played by a man. 

Points

The Tempest

Definition:  

• N.
• A violent windstorm, frequently accompanied by rain, snow, or hail.
• Furious agitation, commotion, or tumult; an uproar: "The tempest in my mind/Doth from my senses take all feeling"(Shakespeare).
• [Middle English, from Old French tempeste, from Vulgar Latin *tempesta, variant of Latin tempests, from tempus,time.]

The Books:

Definition:

• N.
• a handwritten or printed work of fiction or nonfiction, usually on sheets of paper fastened or bound together within covers.

These were two themes within the plays within the plays that I found were more important than most. The Tempest, being the name of the play, is also the storm that ensues the ship and also the "game" that Prospero plays with his brother and the others while using his daughter, Miranda, was a character but also a vessel for pay back and redemption. The Books were a symbol of knowledge and power but inevitably caused more harm then good.   

INSIGHT!!!

Ha! Finally. So you all have heard the phrase "necessity is the mother of invention". Well, from necessity of needing a topic for my capstone paper my mother helped me invent my forum for it. I had an idea and she helped to put it together. There are times when you just need to admit you need some help. And bouncing ideas off others is a great way to get that help. So, my capstone:

I am always drawn to the mystic and magic of stories and Shakespeare uses them so much in what he writes about, it is almost like a slap to the face when you figure out that it has been there all along.
Some have fairies, ghost, witches, magic or astrology. I believe this to be because  the Elizabethan Period was full of superstition that it was perpetuated by the churches. Remember the Crusades..... yeah. 
Shakespeare wrote his plays for the high and low alike as we have discussed in class, but most he wrote for the everyday man and what the common man believed in.  He gave them something they could relate to.
Whether it be real of fictional. 

There were all kinds of magical spells, by both fairies and witches.  Some with good intent or mischief, some were bad and meant to curse someone. These were meant to be part satire and part fantasy. 
The spells were quite interesting.  The senses were involved in creating the magic scenes of the stories.  I will be writing about the imagery in the magic and use of color, emotions and sounds within the text that created such an effect on the audience ( who actually participate because they were so pulled into and involved in what was happening on the stage.) 
Through personal experience and that of others, I will write about the effects these ideas have on the audience. 

Better late than never

So this is the first chance I've had to write a blog for Mr. Turner's lecture and poet reading. First of all: that was brilliant. What a mind!? But the real thing was the quote about Nothing. I should have written this write after was in class and after the reading but I'll do my best to remember what he said. Nothing is somewhere out of reach of the last circle that artists and poets get to. Its past the line of chemistry and physics, past that of biology and somewhere right before getting lost. ( taking some liberty here). And also that becoming aware of such nothing is the start of something. Have to work on this a bit but I love it.

Redo

Ok so this morning during our class discussion the topic of depressing Shakespeare plays came up. "The art is not depressing, it is only you or the art itself was made to be depressing. It's not the art". I think that it does show a lot about the way one thinks when reading a play or book and the emotion that comes from that experience. But I think that gets more into Freudian philosophy on the mind. Is the way that one preseeves a situation really they way that their mind works? If the happiest person in the world were to look upon a baby being born and find that it made them incredible sad, would that make them a sorrowful person?  I think Dillion (?) was saying in class about "Mashed potatoes and rocks in a garbage can" makes a bit of sense. Essentially we all turn back into little Carbon particles so why should such emotions effect us so wildly? It falls back into the Buddhist line of thinking would it not? Dharma. Period.

Oh Poor Fool

Well I have to say I think King Lear is about 10x as dramatic and depressing  as Hamlet. At least in Hamlet there was some vengeance for all that accrued. King Lear, like in any good Shakespeare play, had everything in the beginning and was left with nothing in the end. I may find this one more emotional because it is based more on the father- daughter relationship and what happens when the father gets older and how he is treated and regarded. People have choices in life and  since I have a great relationship with my dad, I would have to say that I would never make him go mad(although I'm sure he'd say otherwise).   I know King Lears madness is what makes him King Lear, just like Hamlets madness makes him Hamlet, but I can not see why he would not have just taken up his knights and gone to find Cordelia after his other daughters had been so terrible to him. Would that not make more sense? And yet that would have made for a terrible play.

I think there is something to be said about the suffering of others that makes us understand our selves better. Not so much that we would act according to our thoughts but that it brings awareness to the actions that may be brought up at a different time.