Dear Nonexistent Younger Sibling,
You have chosen to
study Shakespeare. I always enjoyed Shakespeare. The language is a bit of a
bear, but once you get an edition of his works with some decent footnotes, the uniqueness
of the verse will impress you, as it did me.
My favorite play
is A Midsummer Night's Dream,
with Hamlet being a close second. I think you
would enjoy Othello—lots
of people die, so it's your kind of story. You know how I wrote that paper
about carnivalization last summer? Well, it turns out Bakhtin talked about
Shakespeare too. He said that Shakespeare used many carnival elements in his
works. I think this explains how Shakespeare was able to use peasant/lower
class characters to undermine the authority of the aristocracy. But he includes
a lot of Christian elements, which I believe point us to his faith in a
Christian God, which sort of balances out the satire. At the same time, his
plays are never moralizing--the perfect blend of insight, wit, and meaningful
themes. In my opinion, that's why they've lasted as long as they have. I'll be
interested to see what you think about this, after having read some yourself.
Anyway, I liked reading about the themes. Shakespeare laughs at everyone, kind
of like we’re all actors on his stage. He uses a lot of plays-within-plays in
his works. What do you think that could mean?
The formal analysis is a bit of a struggle, but just make good
notes in the text. It'll help you notice patterns. Particularly watch out for
when he breaks from verse (the iambic pentameter you probably learned about in
High School—you’ll discuss “blank verse” in class) and uses prose. This
generally means a commoner is speaking. While I think Elizabethan elites would
have seen this as Shakespeare’s way of laughing at peasants, I think he was
slyly undercutting the monarchs’ way of speaking by demonstrating how neatly
dishonest it was—and the fact that he included dialogue from peasants at all
makes me think he wanted to form a dialogue between classes in a satirical sort
of way. Of course, I do want to see him as this secret social revolutionary,
which he probably wasn’t, so I may be making a lot out of nothing. Anyway, I’ll
be glad to hear what you think.
I’ve started talking to people on a Hamlet fanfiction forum. I
mean, a lot of what they write is about Hamlet’s gay fling with Laertes—yes,
and Horatio—which I haven’t read. (Something tells me Shakespeare is rolling
over in his grave, but maybe he’d be flattered that they care.) They have
really good insights about character motivations, though formal analysis isn’t
their cup of tea. I really like talking to them, and one of the members and I
have actually started a correspondence. We’re both puzzled by the
Hamlet/Ophelia relationship. You should join. I know it seems weird, but at the
very least, after reading an enthusiast’s take on Horatio’s supposed affair
with Hamlet, you will never read it the same way again. And you’ll have a fresh
perspective to build on when you’re writing your papers. J
I wouldn’t worry too much about including Shakespeare on your
personal blog. My family and friends seem to take it in stride. A few of our
cousins are reading Shakespeare in high school, and they were able to talk to
me about it. I hope I got them more excited about it. Granted, my family think it’s
a little weird, but—to be honest—they thought I was plenty weird before I
started quoting Shakespeare on the blog. J Write soon.
Love,
Micah
It would be interesting if you got a response from the nonexistent younger sibling. But pretty cool. Neat that you're talking to fanfic peeps! Way to continue your exploration past the class:) (This is Shelby, btw. Work computer.)
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