Kate's Annotated Bibliography (2)

The Title I'm Working on now is "Christ Figures throughout Romances" I know Shakespeare isn't referenced, but I will write on more than just Shakespeare so I worry it would be weird to only mention Shakespeare. 

Sources:

Scholarly

 Bryant, JR. "Shakespeare's Allegory: "The Winter's Tale"" The Sewanee Review 63.2 (n.d.): 202-22. Web.

This article specifically focuses on the Winter's Tale as a Christian allegory. Although it is not specific in focusing in on these aspects in the genre of Romance, it is good for focuses on the aspects of allegory in the tale.

Aldridge, A. Owen, and Northrop Frye. "The Secular Scripture: A Study of the Structure of Romance." World Literature Today 51.1 (1977): 167. Web.

Northrop Frye is awesome. So, this is mostly about Romance being the genre of Christianity. So, this will work well with the first one cited because now we can look at Christian allegories, as a whole, in the Romance genre. This one will be super useful.

Luria, Maxwell S. "The Storm-Making Spring and the Meaning of Chrétien's "Yvain"" Studies in Philogy 64.4 (n.d.): 564-65. Web. 

Okay, so this one dives into the meaning of the tale. And basically, to Luria, the meaning is one of Christian importance. It's pretty ideal. It talks a lot on WHY it should be read as a Christian tale and what elements make it as so. It'll be useful for me.

 Harris, Julian. "The Role of the Lion in Chretien De Troyes' Yvain." Pmla 64.5 (1949): 1143. Web.

This one specifically goes into the Role of the Lion as a Christ-like figure in the tale. It is super useful because it is super specific on different parts of the poem where this is shown, with references and page numbers and all that. Basically, she reinforces the common idea that the Lion IS the Christ figure. 

Social Sources

[expert]

Dr. Benfell- He is my Romance professor, and he also loves and studies Shakespeare. I could easily ask him about this paper, as a whole. I can check in with him on how well my understandings of the Christ figures are going throughout the process.

[peer]

Angela- Angela is a fellow Comp Lit student, who is also in Dr. Benfell's romance class. I spoke with her briefly about Hermione as a Christ figure and she had a ton of interesting insights on that. So, that was awesome. 

[homie]

Brian- I made a FB post about my topic and I had someone comment back on why he doesn't see it as an allegory. It was NOT what I wanted to hear, haha, but actually it gave me some good ideas on some things I should address to make my paper stronger. So, all in all, worth it. 

[enthusiast]

Mrs. Eichert- My sixth grade English teacher somehow got tagged in my post and ended up writing a really good response. So, that's hilarious. She had some good ideas. 

[enthusiast]

Sara-I found her on twitter.

She's French and a big Yvain fan. She writes a blog about Arthurian romances, and I tweeted her an and she tweeted me back and gave me the link to her blog. It has a lot of good information, and I know that I can ask if she wants to comment on the lion as a Christ figure. 

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Kate's Hamlet Analysis

Last night, I, along with pretty much every other person in attendance, was memorized by the National Theatre Live adaptation of Hamlet. I think what made this performance interesting, and at least to me, a stand out performance was the unique use of costuming and music throughout the performance.

What intrigued me the most out of the performance was Cumberbatch's David Bowie shirt. I am not even kidding a little bit. I love David Bowie and that was incredible. I feel like Hamlet and I would be buds just because of that shirt. Forget everything else. That shirt was great. But, in all seriousness, I loved the costuming in the play. It had such an interesting impact on each character. Many characters seem to be stuck in different times, and I think each of the times reflected the character's personality. Like, with the Bowie shirt and Hamlet, it showed that he was acting, you know, a little bit crazy. (Think Bowie in Labyrinth) I think one could argue that this made it more confusing, but I actually saw the different modernization interesting in that they reflected each character.

The music was also what drew me in. "Nature Boy" playing at the beginning was incredible. It gave us the first glimpse into the modernization of this rendition, and it also set the tone for the all around awesomeness that would occur. Then, throughout the play, whenever a scene was changed, they always used the fast forward motion of the actors, along with exciting music, to move onto the next scene. I LOVED that there was not a curtain. I feel like it made everything flow together, and the actors were so great at moving quickly between scenes that it did not feel annoying or rushed.

Other thoughts:

-My only complaint is Ophelia bugged me, like she REALLY bugged me. I'm not sure why. She kind of looked like Zooey Deschanel, and maybe that had something to do with it? But, I thought her madness was interesting. I just didn't LOVE her. But, that's okay.

-"To be or Not to Be" scene. Earlier that day, we had focused on the different renditions of this. So, while I was watching the play this stood out. I think that the almost, sadness that accompanies it was beautiful. He just seemed so torn and lost, and it was incredible acting.

10/10 would view again.

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Kate's Annotated Biography (1)

In my essay, I plan on addressing Christ figures represented in the Romance genre. Title wise, I was thinking about saying something like The Christ Figures in Romance. For my thesis, I would like to focus on the figures, so I think, "Although some may argue that religion is nonexistent in Romances, Christ figures are often represented in texts, which help to further the idea that Northrop Frye suggested when he stated that, "Romance is the Christian genre."

Sources

Performances

The Winter's Tale. Dir. Jeremy Cole. Perf. Actor's Ensemble of Berkeley. N.p., n.d. Web.

This version has a very interesting representation of the resurrection of Hermione. Also, for it being a Romance, the end of scene three really highlights the switch between the sad to the happy, which is part of what qualifies it as a Romance. 

Quest's "The Winter's Tale. Quest Shakespearean Theatre, n.d. Web.

The Quest's version of the Resurrection scene was also something that I thoroughly enjoyed to see. The differences between their Hermione in "stone" was much less clear than the other, but I enjoyed how they spoke the various lines to really emphasis the importance of Hermione's Resurrection. 

 

Media or Informal Online Sources

 Garber. "Harvard ENGL E-129 - Lecture 11: The Winter’s Tale." Video blog post. N.p., n.d. Web. 

This is incredible. A Harvard professor's lecture on the tale is featured. She speaks on the resurrection and gives lots of insights for the reasoning behind it.  

Bandgeekendall. "Yes, She's a Christ Figure, Too." Video blog post. Youtube.com. Https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6EhqXOdXg64, n.d. Web.

This is actually a video simply on Christ figures and it is incredible. The woman specifically mentions Yvain and the Lion, which is very helpful,m as that is half of my topic. Winter's Tale is not specifically mentioned, however, she does mention the importance and meanings behind the Resurrection scenes. 

 

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Christianity and Romance

Northrop Frye described the genre of Romance as the "Christan genre". In writing my paper, I plan to take this theory into practice, while analyzing the Christ-like imagery in The Winter's Tale as well as in the French Arthurian Romance, The Knight of the Lion. Both stories use the archetype of this Christ-figure to demonstrate the importance of Christianity in the genre. Northrop Frye also wrote an interesting essay on this, which is in parenthesis here. (http://northropfrye-theanatomyofcriticism.blogspot.com/2009/02/third-essay-archetypal-criticism-theory.html)

This topic will be interesting because I find the Christian influence on Romances intriguing and The Knight of the Lion is one of my favorite texts. The Winter's Tale has this incredible ressurection scene, which will only more fully demonstrate the Christian aspect of these Romances. On Slack, when I asked about my topic, I was given the advice to make sure I don't get too jumbled with all the ideas, which is extremely fair advice. That is why I think I will focus less on "Christianity" as a whole in Romances, and more on these Christ figures that we find in the texts. I will say that this is a little sad for me because I love the usage of religious language used for romantic love that is often found in Romances, but I think that the advice is great because adding the language as well as the analysis of these figures would lead to a confusing paper. 

For both topics, I have found some articles that will help jump start my research. I found Grace and Salvation in Chretien de Troyes, which is a French essay on the Lion, who is the Christ-figure of the story.If you read French, this is a great read. Another text was titled Shakespearean Resurrection: The Art of Almost Raising the Dead, which was on the topic of Shakespearean resurrections (or attempts), but the part on Hermione is awesome. I would link them, but I had to get an interlibrary loan, so the link would not really take you anywhere great.

My only worry for this is really that anytime I search Hermione, tons of Harry Potter stuff comes up and it is kind of annoying. But, I'm really excited for this!

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Kate's sonnet 18

https://youtu.be/AxVUR2t-yuY

Sorry I suppress a laugh at the end. My cat was opening the door onto me and I had to hold it close with my foot.

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The Question of Duty

In reading The Winter's Tale, I liked focusing on how the text fit into what is typical of the Romance Genre. Having taken a Romance class, I have studied other texts of Romance and it was interesting to see how this one was a Romance, and yet, what made it uniquely its' own. The Winter's Tale has many references to honor, especially versus the love that one character may feel. In the case of the hidden princess, Perdita, and the prince, Florizel, we see Florizel dealing with choosing whether he should follow his love or his duty. In fact, in speaking to Perdita, he states, "I'll be thine, my fair, / Or not my father's"(IV.iv.42-43). In this, he describes how the marriage will make him go against his father, so he can be with her.

 This idea that love and honor cannot coexist is also present in the Italian Romance, Orlando Furioso, by Ariosto. In the story, a female warrior, Bradamante, finds herself torn between her love of an Islamic man, Ruggiero, and her duty to her Christianty. Ruggiero, as well, feels this duty of staying true to his religion, or accepting the love he wants. In both cases, both sets of characters have to choose between what is correct, their duty or their love. However, in both cases, we also learn that rather than being in opposition, their duty and love align with each other. Ruggiero later learns his duty IS to convert to Christianity and his love helps him achieve this. Florizel learns that his duty is to help Perdita find her way home, so that her true identity may be discovered. After, they both can honor their duty, by marrying royalty, and still honor the love they share. Now, this idea is something that is not commonly found in Romances. Generally, duty and love do not line up. In fact, this creates a large conflict in many Romances. And yet, both of these stories contain these moments.

It would be highly interesting to compare and contrast these ideas of duty and love, and see what one could make out of this. In research, I would first like to see if Shakespeare had any knowledge of Orlando Furioso, as it was published 100 years earlier. And, I would also look into researching if there are any other stories that break the mold on duty and honor. 

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Kate's Pre-Writing

This passage is a perfect example of nihilism that is present throughout the text.

During my time studying King Lear, I focused on Nihilism, which is apparent as I look back on all my previous notations. Having it all out in front of me has been a good help for analyzing the information. And the purpose of the nihilism, I believe, is aiding in the bleakness of the story.

On Slack, we had a couple people bring up Nihilism, and information on it. A quick google search also gave me some different sources, from Shmoop (http://www.shmoop.com/king-lear/nothingness-symbol.html) all the way to a powerpoint presentation on the topic. We also had someone bring up the Stranger, which reminded me that they really are similar in this idea of nihilism. These different sources will help me to have a well-rounded analysis.

Working Claims:
|
[Definition Claim] Nihilism in King Lear is a representation of the nothingness that occurs at the end of King Lear's life.

[Policy claim]King Lear should be read as a nihilistic tale.

[Evaluation Claim] King Lear is a better story because of its' use of nihilism and the tone that this brings to the entire text.

[Casual Claim] King Lear's feeling of nothingness was caused by his loss of former power and title.

[Comparison Claim]King Lear and it's idea of nihilism is like  The Stranger by Albert Camus.

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Hope in the Wrong

The television screen is turned to on

As I stare, unprepared to really see.

I’d wearily state my faith is not gone

But f I bet, I'd only have a fee,

"Go, go" the women clad in black may scream,

as masked men cheer in hopes of  victory.

And hopefully this hope is not in dreams;

Reality is contradictory.

The game begins and now whoosh they go.

Past the first, past the next for the win.

Our men go fast and yet are too slow,

as the enemy scores with a grin.

Now I love my team, I do, it is true.

Raiders, come on! Win more than a few. 

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Love and Stuff

Sonnet 116 is often looked at as one that is a great example of the "Shakespearean Sonnet" because of it's common structure and theme. It follows the conventional structure in the last couplet when we see the ending possessing not only a conclusion, but also, a revelation. Now, one would often see the Sonnet 116 and compare it to that of 18 and 31, because both of them also deal with this idea of eternal love. However, Sonnet 116 is special because of how Shakespeare goes about describing this eternal love. So, what are the differences? What makes this sonnet one of the great ones? Through his various uses of word choice, we see the greatness of the story that is framed in the sonnet.

Repeated Pairs

One of the most interesting parts of Sonnet 116 is the usage of the repeated pairs throughout the poem. Lines such as, "Love is not love",, "alters when its alteration finds", and "remover to remove" all demonstrate this use of repetition in pairs. Now, the importance of this is that in using these various pairs, they become representations of the pair of lovers themselves, which helps to only further weave this idea of a loving pair throughout the story.

Impediments

In the opening lines of the poem, Shakespeare refers to love as "a marriage of true minds." and then goes on to say, "admit impediments." Now, the understanding of impediments is crucial in realizing the importance of this line for the story. Now, if someone had just happened to grab the dictionary and look this up, they'd get a definition of something like, "a hindrance or obstruction in doing something." Which is true. However, it is important to note that during Shakespeare's time this was not used as an economic term, or any other thing really. It had one role and it was used to describe objects at a wedding ceremony (Nelson). So, in knowing this, we see that this strong love is one that is agreeable on all ends. There is no objections to it because it is obviously eternal and strong.

Personification

Now, personification in and of itself is not a new idea for Shakespeare to use in his poems. In fact, sonnets are full of personifications. However, Shakespeare chooses something quite interesting to personify in this sonnet, and because of that, the sonnet becomes more interesting for the reader. In lines 9 and 10 he explores the relationship between love and time. He states that even if' rosy lips and cheeks' and confronted by time's 'sickle' that the love will endure. So, he personifies love and time here. And, instead of  using them as enemies, which they were traditionally seen to be, he says that they can coexist. They will work together. Love endures.

Shakespeare is brilliant because he can take an idea like love being eternal and spin it many different ways because of his skill as a writer. We see love in Sonnet 31, although this is a love that is more reflective. We see love in Sonnet 18, which also focuses on the idea of an eternal love. However, each of these sonnets is different because of how gracefully Shakespeare prepared each and every one.


Works Cited
Nelson, T.G.A" "Impediments" in Shakespeare's Sonnet 116." Parergon 2.1 (1984): 185-89. Web.

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Kate's Informal Research of Sonnet 116

1. "Impediments" in Sonnet 116 by TGA Nelson. This is an AWESOME formal analysis which focuses on the difficulties of the sonnet. He basically talks about the central "problem" of the sonnet, but in this, it gives you a better understanding of not only THIS sonnet, but sonnets in general. Awesome read.

2.http://nfs.sparknotes.com/sonnets/sonnet_116.html No fear Shakespeare basically breaks down the sonnet into a modern text. Which, helps a modern reader kinda just "get it" a little more. 

3.  

Can we just talk about how handy this image is? Seriously. It breaks down the sonnet and has little bubbles that makes the organization so much easier for me to get. Plus, I really love how some of it is super simple, and yet, it's all relevant to my research.

4. I spoke to my husband about this over the weekend. We talked about the poem, and it was a really good opportunity for me to really "get" the poem because I was explaining it to an Electrical Engineer AKA he has a pretty limited knowledge of poetry and its do's and do not's. 

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Kate's Draft Sonnet

The red button is turned that I may see

something my heart has yet to understand

For if I bet, I'd only have a fee,

as they go out to storm the wasteland

"Go, go" the women clad in black may scream,

and scruffy men in mask so varied;

call out to crowds loudly as a team,

quickly as victory is buried

The game begins and whoosh they go.

Past the first, past the second for the win.

Our men go fast just to be too slow,

as the enemy scores with a grin.

Now I love my team, I do, it's true.

Raiders, come on! Win more than a few. 

So, I think my rhyme scheme is up. Like, I think line 4 and 8 are off? Could be wrong. I need some help with that, though. Thanks!

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Kate's Analysis of Sonnet 116

Let me not to the marriage of true minds
Admit impediments. Love is not love
Which alters when it alteration finds,
Or bends with the remover to remove:
O, no! it is an ever-fixed mark,
That looks on tempests and is never shaken;
It is the star to every wandering bark,
Whose worth's unknown, although his height be taken.
Love's not Time's fool, though rosy lips and cheeks
Within his bending sickle's compass come;
Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks,
But bears it out even to the edge of doom.
     If this be error and upon me proved,
     I never writ, nor no man ever loved.

During my reading of Sonnet 116, I uncovered a very simple truth to this sonnet. I learned it is really, just a simple love poem. Throughout the poem, Shakespeare uses MANY of his "usual" devices found in his sonnets. I'm thinking referencing the passing of time, and using weather (tempest) and references to women's body parts (lips and cheeks)

Basically, this is a poem about eternal love. So, he needs to show that no matter what happens-whether it be a tempest or just time passing- he will continue to love this woman. I really like the phrase, "Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks". I think that is his own little summary of his poem, just in one line. Love will not change. It can be eternal IF it truly is love.

Now, this is NOT some revolutionary idea. However, Shakespeare does use interesting phrases and word choices so that it's not a total bore to read. I like how he uses the term "ever-fixed mark" to describe this love, and I feel that as one uses interesting word choices, it makes the story more interesting. So, Shakespeare successfully took an old thought and made it new with his descriptions! Awesome!

I compared it to 18 and 31, as they are both about this unyielding love. Basically, sonnets are often written on love, but both of these have the focus of ETERNAL love. Sonnet 18, the always popular one, uses some references to the passing of time, this time using the always popular season changes. It also has references to the women's body parts. He says so long as anyone can live, they'll be together. And, sonnet 130 has the obvious usage of using the women's body. This one though, shows that love, this love, is eternal because it's NOT based on things that can simply just go away. It will stay, because it's not superficial. 

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Kate's Shelfie

No, I don't read in Japanese but Asian Literature is a favorite.

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