Flyting

Flyting is a contest consisting of the exchange of insults, often conducted in verse, between two parties.

I have two younger sisters, Janelle is 2 years younger and Jamie is 9 years younger.  Janelle and I definately did our fair share of flyting back in the day but now we tend to focus our energy on our youngest sister.  Jamie has mastered the art of flyting and can throw insults at anyone, about anything.  She constantly reminds me that I am a midget (she recently just passed me in height) and also likes to inform me that she hates me - in return, I tell her that "I love her too."  Because I am the oldest, I have learned the hard way that I have to "set a good example" for my younger sisters. Blah blah blah.

 Although the rath of my dad is not something I look forward too, sometimes I just can't help myself.  The most memorable form of flyting between me and my sisters happened a couple years ago.  Jamie, as usual, was being a "spoiled little brat," and Janelle and I felt it our duty to inform her of that.  (Background: Jamie has pretty bad asthma and has struggled with it since she was very little.  She sometimes gets pretty raspy and weesy when the air quality is bad) I can't remember the exact details but for whatever reason Jamie was getting on our nerves (nothing new there).  We started joking around with her and calling her a variety of different names when suddenly I had the best name for Jamie -- J-WEEZY!! Janelle and I had a moment of BRILLIANCE.  We could not stop laughing at the clever name we just thought of and kept repeating it over and over again - and for once, Jamie didn't have anything to say back (so not exactly flyting but, it works)  "J-Weezy, J-Weezy!" Yo, J-Weezy, what's up!?" Jamie, of course, didn't find it as funny as we did and ran off to inform our parents of her new nickname.

Our brilliant moment passed in minutes after we heard our dad yelling and directing us to his office "NOW!"  Whoops :-)

Mythology and Me

It is interesting to think what Shakespeare, or any piece of literature for that matter, would be like without mythological and biblical references in them.   Although I am not well versed in mythology or The Bible, I can catch on to some of the better known references and get some sort of meaning out of them.  I realize the importance of these references and the layers of meaning that each one is capable of. 

While reading the first few acts in All’s Well That Ends Well, I felt bombarded with mythological references, most of which I had little idea of what exactly was being referenced.  My lacking in this area has some what caused a lack of interest in some of the plays we have read; although I understand the content, I don’t understand what lies beneath it.  This made me think of my high school English classes where almost everyone but myself hated “reading between the lines” to find a deeper meaning.  This reading between the lines has always been so easy for me that I was unable to relate to my old classmates’ woes.  But now I understand.  Shakespeare wrote his plays with so many different references, meanings, and interpretations that it is nearly impossible for a person to in one, two, maybe even twenty readings, to catch each and every one of them.

So what does that mean for me?  I could easily give up, like many of my old high school classmates chose to do, which would probably be the easiest, more lax choice.  Or, I could give Shakespeare my best effort and try to understand at least 20% of what he means in each of his plays.

So here’s a good ol’ GOOD LUCK! to myself (and whoever else needs it).

Go get ‘em tiger! (Or boar, or whatever)

As You Like It

As far as mythology in As You Like It goes, I think that it is pretty prevelant.  Like we discussed in class, there are a lot of biblical references as well as Greek mythologies.  This refrences are not only done with character names and places that are within the text,  but also places and settings. 

One line that I think might be somewhat of a biblical reference would be line 129 in Act 1, Scene 2 with Touchstone's line
      Thus men may grow wiser every day. It is
      the first time that ever I heard breaking of ribs was
      sport for ladies
When I read this, I thought about how one of Adam's ribs was broken in order to create Woman. 

The one I thought that was most interesting and easy to miss, was when Charles referenced the "golden world."  I feel like that the thought of the golden world and how people want to go back to it, is a trend that continues generation after generation.  Everyone's grandparents and parents always remind the younger generations about how "back in their day" everything was better, time didn't move as quickly, and the music didn't suck.

MSND..................

To put it politely, I HATE BLOGGING!  I hate the idea of putting my personal thoughts and ideas out there (on the world wide web especially) for everyone can see.  In all honesty, I do not feel as advanced or educated in Shakespeare and other literatures as most of my fellow classmates.  So this whole blogging thing is really uncomfortable for me.

As far as MSND goes though, the reason I think that the fifth act is there is because that the play as not been completed.  In the beginning, four major events or problems are introduced to the audience. The first one being the marriage of The. and Hip., which is completed in the fourth act.  The second problem is that of the lovers: Lysander, Hermia, Demetrius, and Helena.  Each of them go through the ups and downs of love with one another because of a potion put on them by Puck.  In the end of Act 4, they are all married to their intended partner.  Oberon and Titania reconcile their problems as well, due another love potion of course.  The only thing that is not finished or completed is that of the play-within-the-play.  By including the fifth act, characters like Bottom and Puck get to complete the circle of the comedic play.  Without having the fifth act and the play, which is mentioned throughout MSND, then the characters within the play would have not been worth mentioning. Once the play is completed everyone in the fairy and human world alike are happy, which finishes the comedy.

A little late...

Blogging about Shakespeare? Sure. Why not.  Although I am not as well versed, or as well read as many of my classmates seem to be on the topic of William -- or any topic for that matter -- I enjoy reading the blogs of others and discovering ideas and concepts I have been missing out on.

Everytime I tell one of my friends or family members (who are not English majors) that I'm taking a class that is entirely about Shakespeare and his works, I get the same reaction: "OMG that sucks! I hate Shakespeare!" And I usually reply with the comment that I actually don't mind Shakespeare and wish we could write and speak like that today, rather than with "OMG!" or "BTW" and the like.  But that isn't reality.  Going into English (with a teaching option) I fear the worst for the generations to come and the loss of language and literature that awaits them.  Very few students today find any enjoyment in reading or writing or creating.  They would rather text, play Xbox or sit and stare at Facebook all day! (I too, am guiltly of this last one...)

So my question is, how do we reverse this attitude towards literature and writing and SHAKESPEARE! Who not only created love stories, but so many tales, comedies and sayings that young and old alike still reference to this day?  I want to change the idea that Shakespeare (and really any author for that matter) is just some guy who wrote this boring play, book, or novel that, God forbid! I HAVE TO READ!?! 

I think the point that most students most commonly miss is that reading a play by Shakespeare is not about reading what is in front of you, it is about translating the words to form meaning -- to look in between the lines of the text and dig up the buried meanings underneath the words.

My background in Shakespeare...

Of course, I studied Shakespeare in high school with Romeo and Juliet (and actually got the classroom role of Juliet) :).  Unlike my other classmates who hated the reading, I loved it--and still do.  Over the past couple of years in college I have read a couple more of his works, such as his sonnets, Hamlet and King Lear. I am looking forward to this class because I am going to one day be an English teacher and would like to be prepared as possible for my students.  I can't wait to get underway with the romances, comics and dramas that Shakespeare has in store for us!