Zac on Othello Intro

Introduction to Othello (Zac Kieser)

The intro to Othello mentions how Iago uses the characteristics of Desdemona and Othello to make Othello believe his wife is being unfaithful to him. One of the characteristics Iago uses in his evil plot is Desdemona’s willingness to deceive her father to marry Othello. Iago makes Othello suspicious that if Desdemona was willing to deceive her father, she will also be willing to deceive her husband. Surprisingly, this idea is not originally planted in Othello’s mind by Iago. It is actually first mentioned by Brabanzio, who in Act 1, Scene 3, says to Othello, “Look to her, Moor, if thou hast eyes to see: \ She has deceived her father, and may thee.” At the time, Othello just passes this off as nonsense, swearing, “My life upon her faith.” Of course, this proves to be prophetic as Othello, once he no longer believes in his wife’s faithfulness, ends not just her life, but also his own. And this is why Iago brings up the idea Brabanzio had already planted in Othello’s mind. Iago knows that Othello is so trusting of his friend and so willing to take decisive action when he believes something that Othello will kill or at least hate Desdemona if he believes her unfaithful. So, Iago re-plants the idea of being cuckolded into Othello’s mind, mentioning the word “cuckold” in Act 3, Scene 3, and then later in that scene, telling Othello, “She did deceive her father, marrying you.” And this immediately lodges itself in Othello’s mind as he replies, “And so she did.” It appears to me that Othello’s faithful character is what makes this line of attack by Iago so effective. Othello views faithfulness as important in others because this characteristic is important to Othello himself. Therefore, if his beloved Desdemona has lost her faithfulness, Othello not only cannot love her but must hate her. And that change from love to hate is what causes the tragic ending of the play.

Chris on the Final Four in TN

Twelfth Night: The Final Four (Chris Kraner)

At the end of Twelfth Night Viola-Cesario ends up with Duke Orsino and Olivia ends up with Sebastian. Maria and Sir Toby also get married. I think it is possible that Maria wanted to marry Sir Toby to climb a social ladder because he is a knight after all. It is hinted that Toby has feelings for Maria in act 2.5.188-189 in which Toby says that he’d marry Maria in a heartbeat if she could think up another prank like the one she pulled on Malvolio.

Orsino is outraged when he finds out that Olivia has married Sebastian whom he thinks is Cesario. But when he finds out that Cesario isn’t Sebastian he doesn’t really care all that much anymore. This suggests that he was more upset that Cesario got married than that Olivia got married which would suggest that Orsino had fallen in love with Cesario who he believed to be a man. But, when it is revealed that Cesario is a woman (Viola) Olivia who fell in love with Cesario because of how nicely he talked to and treated her doesn’t care that she is now marrying Sebastian instead of Cesario.
Orsino describes the Sebastian and Viola as
​
One face, one voice, one habit, and two persons--
A natural perspective, that is and is not. (TN 5.1 206-7)

Viola and Sebastian look alike, sound alike, and act the same. Olivia and Orsino are both full of it and it makes a little bit of sense that they wouldn’t care whom they married as long as they looked like the person they fell in love with. What if Sebastian is a terrible guy? Olivia doesn’t care. Love is blind but looks are still important because presumably the twins are good looking to both sexes.

Madeline on Malvolio

Malvolio (Madeline Cripe)

(painting by Daniel Maclise 1806-1870).

The true problem of Malvolio is his arrogance. Although, it is hard to tell for sure if he is consciously aware of his ignorance or not. It is also safe to say that even though he is portrayed as a “bonehead” within the play the audience does eventually start to feel bad for him.

First of all, Malvolio is Olivia’s steward in the play not a servant. This means that in Elizabethan England he would be in charge of all the male servants on the estate. Which is ironic because this seems to be where he gets a large amount of his arrogance from, even-though just like the servants he still works for the lady of the house. It is also interesting to note how literate Malvolio is presented in the play, considering the fact he is a part of the working classes himself, which could also be an element to his arrogance. This also means that Malvolio was not in-charge or higher up than Maria, Sir Toby Belch, or Sir Andrew. Maria is noted to be of an equal to Malvolio in-charge of all the female servants on the estates, and it should also be noted that she seems to be just as literate as he. Also Sir Toby Belch and Sir Andrew are foolish noblemen/knights well above his ranking. It is humorous that Shakespeare gives Malvolio such an egotistical problem due to the fact that he is just a steward. It is also funny that the knights in the play are viewed as obnoxious men who earn little respect for their actions. “Nothing that is so, is so” (4.1, 7).

It is in-fact Malvolio’s pompousness that gets him into the troublesome scheme at the end of the play. Since Malvolio went out of his way to demand respect from his equals one too many times, they deceived a plan to bring him back down to reality. Malvolio thinks so much of himself that he actually believes he could have a chance at being with the lady of the house. Which is yet another example of Malvolio’s arrogance problem, the way he speaks of Olivia being in love with him makes it sound like he might be more in love with the idea of becoming Count Malvolio. “Having been three months married to her, sitting in my state/ Calling my officers about me, in my branched/ velvet gown, having come from a daybed where I have left Olivia sleeping/ and then to have the humor of state and, after a/ demure travel of regard, telling them I know my place as I/ would they should do theirs/” (2.5, 39-49). Surely he deserved to messed with a little bit, but no one deserves to have their heart crushed as he did when he saw Olivia was already married to Sebastian.

D'Jara on Boccaccio

Giovanni Boccaccio (1313-1375) (D'Jara Culpepper)

Born in Paris,  Boccaccio was an Italian poet and scholar. He was the son of a Tuscan merchant, Boccaccio di Chellino. He passed his early childhood rather unhappily because his father had no sympathy for his literary inclinations and sent him to learn business in Naples when he was around fifteen years old. During this time of study, Boccaccio mixed with the learned men of the court and the friends and admirers of Petrarch, through whom he came to know the work of Petrarch himself.

“Of far more lasting importance than official honors” was Boccaccio’s first meeting with Petrarch in Florence in 1350. This meeting brought about a decisive change in Boccaccio’s literary activity. Boccaccio revered the older man as his master, and Petrarch proved himself to be a ready counselor and reliable helper.

Through their correspondences (i.e. exchange of books, news, and ideas), the two men laid the foundations for the humanism of the Renaissance and raised vernacular literature to the level and status of the classics of antiquity. This meant for Boccaccio that, after the Italian prose of one of his most famous works, The Decameron, he wrote nothing in Italian (with some exceptions) and turned instead to Latin, devoting himself to humanist scholarship.

The meeting with Petrarch, however, was not the only cause of the change in Boccaccio’s writing. Another contributor may have been premature weakening of his physical powers and disappointments in love, as would explain the shift from his general praising of women and love to the misogynistic tone of another work, Corbaccio. Beyond this, there are signs that he may have begun to feel religious scruples. Petrarch described how Carthusian monk Pietro Petrone, on his deathbed in 1362, sent another Carthusian, Gioacchino Ciani, to exhort Boccaccio to renounce his worldly studies.

Boccaccio’s circle in Florence was of vital importance as a nucleus of early humanism. Leonzio Pilato, whom Boccaccio housed from 1360 to 1362 and whose nomination as reader in Greek at the Studio (the old University of Florence) he procured, made the rough Latin translation through which Petrarch and Boccaccio became acquainted with Homer’s poems—the starting point of Greek studies by the humanists.

The recovery of Latin classical texts—Varro, Martial, Apuleius, Seneca, Ovid, and, above all, Tacitus—likewise occupied Boccaccio’s admiring attention. Even so, he did not neglect Italian poetry, his enthusiasm for his immediate predecessors, especially Dante, being one of the characteristics that distinguish him from Petrarch. His Vita di Dante Alighieri, or Trattatello in laude di Dante (“Little Tractate in Praise of Dante”), and the two abridged editions of it that he made show his devotion to Dante’s memory.

Boccaccio, impoverished, retired to the village of Certaldo in 1363. Yet, in October 1373, he began public readings of Dante’s Divina commedia in the Church of San Stefano di Badia in Florence. A revised text of the commentary that he gave with these readings still exists but breaks off at a point, representing when he had fallen ill and lost heart in his work in 1374. Petrarch’s death in July 1374 grieved him more, and he retired back to Certaldo, where he died on December 21 of the following year.

Information: https://www.britannica.com/biography/Giovanni-Boccaccio#ref755

Bottom Picture Info: Engraved portrait of Giovanni Boccaccio (1313–1375) by Raffaello Sanzio Morghen (1758-1833) after Vincenzo Gozzini, dated 1822 (Picture found on Boccaccio’s Wikipedia page)

Top Picture: https://fineartamerica.com/featured/the-decameron-john-william-waterhouse.html

Thomas Cranmer

Thomas Cranmer (1489-1556)

Arguably, Cranmer was the true "father" of the English Reformation.  He was responsible for The Book of Common Prayer, shepherded the Coverdale or "Great" Bible through the press, the first officially sanctioned English translation, and was Archbishop of Canterbury for both Henry VIII and his son Edward VI.

He attended Jesus College, Cambridge and studied for the priesthood there, since he stood to gain nothing in inheritance from his father. He married the daughter of a tavern owner after impregnating her, and lost his scholarship.

When she died in childbirth, he reapplied for admission, was accepted, and graduated in 1523.  This was probably not as heartless as it might sound. He obviously loved his wife, chose her over religious studies, and was willing to sacrifice his career for her and their child. Since this was pre-Reformation England, he obviously could not marry and be a priest, and he was not established enough to keep a mistress, a practice he despised.

Cranmer came to the king's attention as a scholar and advocate for the divorce from Catherine.  He was part of the embassy to Rome to argue for the annulment in 1530.  In 1532, he became Henry's ambassador to Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, an extremely important and sensitive post in Germany. There he became conversant with Lutheranism, which the king desired to learn more about. In the process, Cranmer met and (secretly) married Margaret Osiander.  The protestant movement to abolish clerical celibacy was already in process, but for decency's sake, he kept the relationship private. 

Cranmer was the last Archbishop of Canterbury to be appointed by the Pope. One this occurred, he became the leading minister of what would become the newly-formed Church of England, whereupon he annulled the king's marriage to Catherine and presided over his union with Anne Boleyn. Cranmer teamed with Henry's trusted advisor Thomas Cromwell and became part of the seismic changes that the reformers brought about. He presided over the king's subsequent divorces and marriages.

Henry remained a conservative Catholic, regardless of his status and his excommunication, persecuting Lutherans and Catholics alike. When he died in 1547, Cranmer made the Church of England more protestant in its Thirty-Nine and Forty-Two Articles, which even contained some support for the Calvinist doctrine of predestination. The first complete version of the Book of Common Prayer was published in 1549 as part of Edward's Act of Uniformity. A second version appeared in 1552, heavily revised, and more extremely protestant.  Cranmer also composed the Litany for the new church in 1545.  

When Edward died prematurely in 1553, Cranmer's position became untenable, since the king's oldest child, Mary, became queen.  She was a counter-Reformation Catholic like her mother, and removed Cranmer from his position. He had been distrusted by the king's northern subjects, whose Act of Six Articles (1539) attacked positions that the Archbishop held, such as clerical marriage and a belief in the doctrine of the Real Presence or consubstantiation in preference to the ancient Catholic belief in transubstantiation, which held that the priest had the power to transform the bread and wine into the actual body and blood of Christ.

Cranmer's enemies, especially the new Archbishop, Stephen Gardiner, made sure that the last three years of life were hell. 

He was officially stripped of his priestly status in a public ceremony on Valentine's Day, 1556, and hounded into recantation of his beliefs, which he partially undertook.  He was forced to watch the dreadful martyrdom of his colleagues Latimer and Ridley. However, when he came to his own death at the state on 21 March of the same year in Oxford, he recanted his recantation and even placed the hand he had used to sign it into the fire first.

http://www.greatsite.com/timeline-english-bible-history/thomas-cranmer.html

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Thomas-Cranmer-archbishop-of-Canterbury (G. R. Elton)

image credits: http://www.luminarium.org/renlit/cranmerimages.htm

Tara on Ariosto

Orlando Furioso (Tara Olivero)

Ludovico Ariosto, a poet born in 1474 in Ferrara, Italy, is most well-known for his epic poem Orlando Furioso. Composed of 40 cantos published in 1516, with an expanded version (46 total cantos) published in 1532, the poem is a continuation and expansion of an epic by Matteo Maria Boiardo called Orlando Innamorato, which was published around 1482 and was based on both Arthurian legend and the Song of Roland, the earliest known example of French literature. The protagonist of Boiardo’s story is Roland, Charlemagne’s nephew and a knight, who helps the army of Christian Franks fight against Muslim armies in Spain.

In Ariosto’s continuation, Orlando (based on Roland) falls in love with a pagan princess, Angelica, and is driven mad by her. The poem is written in ottava rima, an eight-line stanza, and is split into episodes focused around three subplots: Orlando’s love for Angelica, the battle near Paris between Charlemagne’s Christian army and the Muslim Saracens, and a love story between two characters named Ruggiero and Bradamante. It was first translated into English by Sir John Harington, a courtier who dedicated an illustrated volume to Queen Elizabeth I, his godmother.

An excerpt from the first canto of Orlando Furioso is below:

OF LOVES and LADIES, KNIGHTS and ARMS, I sing,

Of COURTESIES, and many a DARING FEAT;

And from those ancient days my story bring,

When Moors from Afric passed in hostile fleet,

And ravaged France, with Agramant their king,

Flushed with his youthful rage and furious heat,

Who on king Charles', the Roman emperor's head,

Had vowed due vengeance for Troyano dead.

In the same strain of Roland will I tell

Things unattempted yet in prose or rhyme,

On whom strange madness and rank fury fell,

A man esteemed so wise in former time;

If she, who to like cruel pass has well

Nigh brought my feeble wit which fain would climb

And hourly wastes my sense, concede me skill

And strength my daring promise to fulfil.

Orlando Furioso had a tremendous impact on Elizabethan literature, including on Spenser’s The Faerie Queen and Shakespeare’s Hero/Claudio plot in Much Ado About Nothing. Spenser’s inclusion of King Arthur in The Faerie Queen was most likely inspired by Ariosto’s work; he also makes a number of allusions to events and characters in Orlando Furioso, and by turning them inside out and ignoring their context in the older epic, Spenser seems to be asserting his own artistic superiority. A 2013 article published in the Journal of Arts and Humanities posits that because the English translation of Furioso was planned to be released barely a year after the publication of Spenser’s epic, this could have contributed to Spenser’s motivation to prove himself the better writer and the poet with greater “moral seriousness.”

The article cites one of the strong examples of parody of Ariosto in The Faerie Queen’s Book I, Canto viii, when Arthur battles the giant Orgoglio, where Spenser references a mirrored shield like one which played a major role in Orlando Furioso. However, Spenser not only alludes to this shield but instead manipulates readers’ expectations based on the role that the shield played in Ariosto’s work compared to his own. For example, in Ariosto, the shield is a prize carried by Atlante, a character representing the idea of time, with the round shield as a symbol of the round world. Time, and specifically worldly pleasures, conquer all humans (although in the end, Atlante is overcome by a magic ring, an eternally circular shape which signifies some divine power). According to the article, in The Faerie Queen, however, Arthur’s shield instead takes up the symbolic position of the ring in Orlando Furioso, acting as a representation of Arthur’s magnificence and merit; Spenser’s shield is not a negative symbol of humanity’s failure but is flipped to represent positive Christian virtues instead. In sum: “Spenser’s use of allusion in this way is deliberate, and in many ways it is a silent tribute to Ariosto’s poem, where Spenser asks the reader to remember the great work which is Orlando Furioso, but also to keep in mind that The Faerie Queene is the better poem within the construct of Elizabethan poetic standards.”

**Fun extra note: a project at Muhlenberg College in Pennsylvania began tracking Orlando’s journeys on an interactive website called The Orlando Furioso Atlas. You can check it out here.

Sources:

http://www.jstor.org/stable/456132

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Ludovico-Ariosto

http://orb.essex.ac.uk/lt/lt201/LT201_present/Spenser_%26_Epic.html

http://medievalromance.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/Ariosto_Orlando_furioso

https://www.bl.uk/collection-items/ariostos-orlando-furioso-in-english-1591

https://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/20/arts/design/500-years-of-orlando-furioso.html

http://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/615/pg615-images.html

http://www.furiosoatlas.com/atlas.html

Image credit:

http://dcc.newberry.org/items/orlando-furioso-orlando-insane

Megan on Viola 2.4

A Woman with a Blank History (Megan Howard)

Utah Theatre Festival production of Twelfth Night

http://utahtheaterbloggers.com/19042/utah-shakespeare-festivals-twelfth-night-justly-plays-on-through-the-fall

Viola, dressed as Cesario, talks of herself in a distant third person in her short speech to Orsino at the end of Act 2, Scene 4, Lines 107-112. She describes a woman who never tells the one she loves her true feelings, while appearing as a peaceful statue, which are often seen in cemeteries, smiling even though consumed in grief. This is Viola as thus far in the play she has not spoken to any other character about her love, and she wears the grief for her assumed dead brother in a happy façade.

Viola also then goes on to reflect Orsino’s persona back towards him. As Viola as Cesario has been wooing Olivia, Cesario knows that Orsino may have all the correct societal norms met in courting Olivia but he has no true feelings behind his advancements and therefore he will never get any further with Olivia. She knows what type of man she wants to be with, and Orsino will never be the type of man Olivia wants. Cesario knows this because he is a woman in a mans’ world and he has been listening to both Orsino and Olivia in this attempted courtship. Therefore, because of social status between Cesario and Orsino, Cesario makes a generalized statement about men and how they court. “For still we prove/ Much in our vows, but little in our love.” (2.4.114-115) At the end of the speech, Cesario is harsh with his opinion of men in love. He declares men are full of fancy words and oaths but deliver little in terms of love. This could be Cesario’s way of trying to get Orsino’s attention in terms of altering his approach to courting Olivia, as he has done this previously in Act 1, Scene 4, Line 28. Here Cesario is blatantly telling Orsino he is wrong in his thoughts with a sharp “I do not think so, my lord” to Orsino’s foretelling of Olivia’s reaction. Therefore, it is not strange to see Cesario still trying to change Orsino’s perspective by hinting at reality instead of a direct approach.

This speech could also be interpreted as Viola confessing who she truly is, a woman full of grief and unrequited love, while attempting to seduce or talk Orsino out of pursuing Olivia to pursue Orsino more openly herself not merely for the betterment of Orsino.