Shakespeare famously writes so that his characters will often break the fourth wall. The most cited example of this is the closing scene of The Tempest when Prospero delivers the epilogue and asks the audience for their applause. However, in the play The Merchant of Venice some of Shakespeare's characters also seem aware of a higher power controlling their destiny. We specifically looked at the example of Antonio's resignation to his fate. In the very first scene, he says "I hold the world but as the world, Gratiano,/ A stage where every man must play a part,/ And mine a sad one" (1.1.81-83). Such determinism seeps throughout the entire play; Portia can not influence whom her husband will be, and despite Shylock's loses the trial and a substantial sum of money despite his multiple desperate attempts to break his cycle of misfortune. A glance at the included screenshot shows Shylock's passion and effort to earn justice. Yet life, or at least his artificial life in the play, consistently denies him what he so desires.Hence, the idea of metafiction comes into play. Traditionally, scholars hail the Spanish author Miguel de Cervantes as the inventor of literary metafiction. His novel Don Quixote de la Mancha features a protagonist who learns that he is a literary figure. His wild and absurd adventures then take on a new meaning as the reader wonders what is real, what is fiction, and what is simply Don Quixote's crazed imagination. The book was published in 1605.
Cervantes and Shakespeare were contemporary one to another. In fact, they died within the same week. Shakespeare debuted many plays before the publication of Don Quixote, so I would like to investigate just how many plays of his feature elements of metafiction. Both authors are well known and studied often, so I am not worried about a lack of information. Additionally, BYU is holding a lecture on the similarities between Cervantes' work and Shakespeare's plays this week, as it is the anniversary of both of their deaths.
Ultimately, I am unsure just how much influence Cervantes had outside of Spain directly after the publication of Don Quixote. Research concerning the reach of each author would enlighten me as to who truly introduced the idea of self-aware characters to the world.
If you were going for a Shakespeare vs. Cervantes type research, I think that this article could prove helpful: http://www.britesmag.com/article/cervantes-vs-shakespeare
ReplyDeleteIt acknowledges the contributions of both men as contemporaries.
If you were trying to make a claim that one of them was better than the other at metafiction or just generally, I think that this article is good as well: https://www.thelocal.es/20160422/nine-reasons-why-cervantes-is-better-than-shakespeare
I also just think the title is hilarious. I know in class that some of us have talked about how Shakespeare receives so much praise when in reality a lot of other writers have been just as successful.
haha I know, right? Thanks for the research!
DeleteYou mentioned how "BYU is holding a lecture on the similarities between Cervantes' work and Shakespeare's plays this week, as it is the anniversary of both of their deaths"; I saw the poster for in in the JFSB, and it reminded me of your comments in class. They had a similar event over the summer (http://kennedy.byu.edu/events/cervantes-shakespeare-400/) where they showed a bunch of films. If you look at the PDF on the website, there are a ton of movies ideas you could watch as a part of your research.
ReplyDeleteAt first while I was reading your post, I was thinking about how I wouldn't be surprised if Shakespeare was this idea of metafiction from Cervantes (Shakespeare is known for writing his plays based on other works). However, I did some small searches and there are apparently works that used metafiction long before either of these two authors. There is talk that earlier writers (Joyce and Dante) used metafiction, but I don't know how credible those sources were. I'd be interested to see if there is more evidence of that. Here's a pretty good list of works of literature that have metafiction: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_metafictional_works.
ReplyDeleteInteresting! I definitely would want to look into that as well. It would be embarrassing to write an entire paper on this and then find one source that blows my entire thesis apart.
DeleteI agree with Kevin that it could help your research if you perhaps acknowledge previous metafictional works such as Dante. The you could argue that Shakespeare popularized metafiction and Cervantes used it around the same time as part of his critique on romantic literature. I think it could be a cool research project tho!
ReplyDeleteI meant Karee, sorry still waking up. Also here is a link which might be useful in exploring the connection between the two authors: http://content.ebscohost.com.erl.lib.byu.edu/ContentServer.asp?EbscoContent=dGJyMNLe80SeqLU4zdnyOLCmr06ep7BSs6u4SbSWxWXS&ContentCustomer=dGJyMPGuskyurK5IuePfgeyx43zx1%2BqE&T=P&P=AN&S=R&D=f6h&K=114855127
ReplyDeleteI'm pleased that you are making the connections between Cervantes and Shakespeare, and it looks like you could go even broader. Just be careful that you don't lose sight of Shakespeare (and of his specific formal features and strategies) as you go into comparative analysis. There are other plays and ways for metafiction across Shakespeare's opus, such as when the Chorus speaks to us in Henry V, or in Puck's "If we shadows have offended" speech in Midsummer, or when Prospero gives up his magic in The Tempest. That could bring in other factors, but you might consider talking with the students who read these plays. You could also look at plays within plays, which are obvious metatheater (as in Midsummer with the embedded Pyramus and Thisbe play, or in Hamlet withe the Mousetrap play or Hamlet's instructions to the players. Several good angles here.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the suggestions! I like the idea of talking with other students about their plays- it's a fun social source, and I think it would yield more insight than just looking up summaries on SparkNotes.
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