For Friday: Critical Readings--Adelman and Dollimore (see below)

For Friday: Critical Readings on Antony and Cleopatra

* Read Adelman’s “Tradition as Source in Antony and Cleopatra” (180-192) and Dollimore’s “Virtus under Erasure” (193-203)

Answer 2 of the following:

Q1: Adelman’s essay explains that the story of Dido and Aeneas (from Virgil’s The Aeneid, the great Roman epic poem) shapes the characters and conflict of Antony and Cleopatra. How did Shakespeare’s reading of this work, as well as the retellings of this work by Marlowe and others, influence how he wrote his characters and presented their story?

Q2: Adelman also suggests in her essay that Elizabethan audiences would be expected to read parts of the play—or the characters—allegorically. How does she suggest we do this? How might this change how we read or experience the play?

Q3: Dollimore’s essay concerns itself chiefly with the idea that “power is a function not of the ‘person’...but of the ‘place’, and that the criterion for reward is not intrinsic to the ‘performance’ but, again, relative to one’s placing in the power structure” (196). How does this idea help us read Antony’s downfall in the play, and his inability to be the man he once was?

Q4: Another quote that underlines Dollimore’s essential reading of the play comes on page 201, when he writes, “The extent of people’s dependence upon the powerful is something that the play never allows us to forget.” How does he explain this idea in the play itself? How does it shape the events and actions of the main characters? 

For Wednesday: Antony and Cleopatra, Act V & Shakespeare's Language Link

Remember, no questions for Wednesday, but finish Act 5 (and thus, the entire play); we'll have an in-class writing assignment/discussion when you arrive. 

Also, for those interested, I recently read an editorial on the attempt by the Oregon Shakespeare Company to 'translate' the plays for modern audiences. While the article is in favor it, I am not, and I wrote a post about the need to confront Shakespeare on his own terms, and in his own language. You can read it here if you're interested (both my post and the original article) and post your own responses if you wish. Dr. Benton has already given his two cents here as well.

http://hblackbeard.blogspot.com/2015/10/translating-shakespeare-for-english.html

Everyman Extra Credit Assignment

NOTE: The questions for Act 4 of Antony and Cleopatra are BELOW this post. 

For those of you who went to the Friday performance of Everyman, here is an extra-credit opportunity for you. Answer the following questions (all of them), and I can allow you to make up for 2 missed responses, or 2 absences, or if you don't need any of that, I'll add 3 extra points to your final grade. Something to think about...

Q1: How does Everyman seem to share many of the same themes, ideas, and characters of our other medieval works--The Canterbury Tales and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight? How might Chaucer or the Pearl Poet be responding to the same cultural issues as the playwright of Everyman?

Q2: In what ways did the current performance try to modernize a play originally written in a dialect of Middle English in (or around) the 14th century? Do you feel the modernization was effective, or did it detract from the play itself? Be specific here--don't just say "they used modern dress," etc.

Q3: What did you feel the message of the play was. especially considering the entire work was allegorical in nature? How did this performance stress this reading? 

Q4: How did the readings in our class prepare you to appreciate and/or understand this work in a way other audience members might not have? How has your scholarship in earlier English literature come to your assistance? (assuming it has, that is...) 

For Monday: Antony and Cleopatra, Act 4

For Monday: Shakespeare, Antony and Cleopatra, Act 4

Answer TWO of the following...

Q1: In Act 4, Scene 4, Cleopatra dresses Antony for war, much as in an earlier scene, she dressed him in her clothing and wore his sword. At the end of this scene, she admires him as he leaves, remarking, “He goes forth gallantly. That he and Caesar might/Determine the great war in single fight!/Then, Antony—but now—Well, on” (83). Why does she close with this statement? What do you think she is lamenting here, and how should we read/hear her final sentence with the dashes?

Q2: In Act 4 we have three deaths and one fake one (Cleopatra); how do the deaths of the servants (Enobarbus and Eros) compare with Antony and the fake death of Cleopatra’s? Are some pathetic and others bathetic? Recall the death scene of Arcita in “The Knight’s Tale”: do we see any bathetic overtures here? Or are these all sound, tragic deaths?

Q3: In Act 4, Scene 12, Antony gives his longest speech about Cleopatra upon learning of her second betrayal. Examine this speech: what does it say about the ambivalent nature of their relationship, and Antony’s deeply ingrained nature as a Roman (and not an Egyptian, like her)?

Q4: Why does Cleopatra play the final trick on Antony, telling him through servants that she’s dead? What does she hope to accomplish by this ruse? Does she intend to kill him? Save him? How this act change/challenge your view of her, or merely affirm it? Focus on a passage that helps us ‘see’ this.

Paper #1 assignment (due in 2 weeks)

If you missed class today (Wed), be sure to see the Paper #1 assignment below. For Friday, read Act 3, though there are no questions to respond to. We'll have an in-class writing response when you arrive.  

Paper #1: Staging Shakespeare

For your first paper, I want you to play the role of a dramaturge, which is basically a resident scholar in a theater company: he/she informs the actors about the historical and cultural aspects behind a play, and helps the actors understand who the characters are and how to read/perform them. So imagine that you’ve been asked to help a specific actor understand his or her role as CLEOPATRA or ANTONY (choose one). Since these are the male and female leads, your advice is crucial to making this performance work (and you can assume the actor has never read the play before, or knows all that much about Shakespeare).

ANALYSIS: Your paper should be addressed to the actor, and should help explain how he/she should understand the character’s role in the play: how should the actor portray him/her, from the character’s morals, ideas, intentions, strengths, weaknesses, etc. To do this, I want you to focus on two specific scenes that you feel showcase your view of the character. You will then discuss these scenes through a close reading to help the actor understand why the character says what he/she says, and how these lines can be interpreted to reveal the character’s inner being. Consider not just what is said but how it is said—verse/prose, metaphors, meanings of a word, etc.

SOURCES: To help you with your analysis, I want you to use at least two outside sources as research on the character and/or the play. You can find many useful sources right in our book: we will be reading several articles in “Criticism” section of our Norton Critical Edition of the play, and these can be voices you join with in conversation about the play. Some of the articles I particularly encourage you to read are: Adelman, “Tradition as Source in Antony and Cleopatra”; Dollimore, “Antony and Cleopatra: Virtus under Erasure”; Dusinberre, “Squeaking Cleopatras: Gender and Performance in Antony and Cleopatra”; Rutter, “Shadowing Cleopatra”; Loomba, “The Imperial Romance of Antony and Cleopatra”

NOTE: You must quote from these articles in your paper, as a way to bring another critical voice into the discussion. Use them to highlight ideas you might not have seen yourself, so you can respond to them in your discussion. A good literature paper is a conversation with yourself and other scholars/writers. Unless you quote them, your paper will read like a monologue—and no one wants to hear a 4-5 page monologue!

REQUIREMENTS:

* At least 4-5 pages double spaced

* Must quote from the play in your close reading; don’t merely summarize

* Must use at least 2 outside sources, both of which are quoted in your paper

* Quotes should be documented in MLA format with a Works Cited page

* Due Wednesday, October 14th by 5pm (no class that day) 

For Wednesday: Shakespeare, Antony and Cleopatra, Act II

RSC production of Antony and Cleopatra, courtesy of zuleikahenry.co.uk

For Wednesday: Shakespeare, Antony and Cleopatra, Act II

Answer TWO of the following…

Q1: How would you stage Act 2, Scene 5, particularly the scenes with Cleopatra and the Messenger? Is this a scene of high comedy, where Cleopatra loses it and acts like a spoiled child? Or is this a deeply tragic scene, where she realizes that the one hold she had over Antony’s affections is lost? Use a line or two to support how you think we’re supposed to read (and stage) this scene.

Q2: When Enobarbus tells the Romans (Maecenas and Agrippa) about Cleopatra, he switches from verse to prose: why does he do this? Also, examine this speech—what does he think about Cleopatra? Does he consider her Antony’s “exotic” whore? Or does he hold her in respect and awe? 

Q3: In Act 2, Scene 7, Menas offers to do a service for his master, Pompey: his master refuses. What is the service and why does Pompey refuse it? What might be the repercussions of this refusal?

Q4: Why does Antony agree to marry Octavia, Caesar’s sister? Is this solely a political marriage? Or is this also Antony’s attempt to “cure” himself of Cleopatra? Do you agree with Enobarbus, who says, “He will to his Egyptian dish again” (45)? 

For Monday: Shakespeare, Antony and Cleopatra, Act I

From a RSC 2013 Production: Photo by Zuleika Henry (zuleikahenry.co.uk) 

For Monday: Shakespeare, Antony and Cleopatra, Act I

Answer TWO of the following:

Q1: In some respects, Cleopatra is portrayed in the manner of The Wife of Bath, a strong-willed woman with very specific ideas about how to rule a man. Where do we see this in Act One? Do you feel Shakespeare is parodying such a woman, or is she given the same strength and dignity as Chaucer’s heroine?

Q2: In the beginning of Act I, Philo notes that “sometimes when he is not Antony,/He comes too short of that great property/Which still should go with Antony” (9). How is Antony, a great Roman soldier of antiquity, presented in Shakespeare’s play? What kind of man is he, and what kind of relationship is he in with Cleopatra (besides being an adulterous one)?

Q3: Why does Caesar call Antony “A man who is the abstract of all faults/That all men follow” (19)?  What is his chief grievance against Antony, and do others seem to agree with him?

Q4: Though Antony and Cleopatra is largely spoken in verse—in keeping with its historical characters and setting—the beginning of Act 1, Scene 2 is almost entirely in prose (until Cleopatra enters). Why is this? How does this scene sound and read differently than Act 1, Scene 1? Try to read it out loud to ‘hear’ the difference.