Volpone by Jonson, even though a lengthier reading assignment, was one of my favorite weeks during this class. I thought the style of writing and the sarcasm within the play was intriguing to read and different from what we had been assigned to in the past. While reading the play, I kept imagining how it would appear on stage. Having taken a theatre class that required attending various productions, I thought about the different parts of the play we had discussed and how the words on the page could translate into actors in front of my eyes. Skimming through the play the first time around, I found the plot and characters more difficult to follow than anticipated. Not until I had read through the play several times [once when it was assigned and once before writing this rumination] did I truly understand all of what had been going on. Personally, I think Volpone is far too diffcult to follow or truly appreciate on paper. Much of the sarcasm that is implied throughout the play is lost on the reader. I did not find the play to be particularly humorous until the middle of events, where Sir Politic is allowing Peregrine to read his diary. It implies that Sir Politic writes down every part of his day in the diary, even when he "urinated on St. Marks cathedral." This is the first time, throughout the entire reading, that I stopped to laugh. I then realized if this were presented in front of me, I would have most likely laughed at alot more throughout the course of the play. The events that take place throughout each scene is extremely comical and the theatrics that could be included on stage would have the audience laughing "until their face was red" - which was in fact Jonson's mission.
Other than the humor and satire throughout the play, I focused mostly on the names of the characters. At first this was hard for me to follow, much like the plot line. To make things more clear, I started to focus on the translations of each character's name and see how the translation related to their personality. The first, and most obvious, was Volpone, meaning "the great fox." Naturally, Volpone is a con and owns up to this fairly early on in the play. A fox, often seen as a mischievious animal, is the perfect description for the main character. Throughout the entire play, Volpone is pulling the biggest con of his entire life. He has three men fighting for his inheritance while attempting to steal a man's wife. He even fakes his own death. What had me wondering was, where did Volpone attain all of this power? Mosca, his parasite, follows Volpone around for most of his life. It is not until all of these events take place that Mosca realizes he holds more power than Volpone. Why has Mosca chosen to live his life in Volpone's shadow up until now?
Mosca was, to me, the most interesting character throughout the entire play because he had the biggest transition. At the beginning of the play, I almost felt bad for Mosca [his name meaning "fly"] since I saw him as a person in Volpone's life that was taken advantage of. Volpone bossed him around and made it seem as though he was insignificant, much like an insect is considered. Throughout the play he evolves into somewhat of an enemey to Volpone. Volpone for so long as been pulling the wall over people's eyes that he did not see Mosca's scheme coming. This is where the nickname "parasite" begins to make sense. Mosca, who had for so long obeyed Volpone, was now going to take everything away from him, the same way a parasite sucks the blood from its victim. I found this shift in Mosca to set the tone of the play since all of the other characters trusted his word. Once Mosca betrayed them, is when pure chaos insued.
Monday, May 16, 2011
Friday, May 13, 2011
A Friend in Need
When asked to complete a random act of kindness this week, I was stumped as to what I could do. Fortunately, the opportunity fell right into my hands. My close friend who is a junior found out at the end of last week that her grandmother has passed away. Dealing with the stress of finals and now the family issues, she was not handling it all very well. She decided to take a train home on Tuesday for the wake and funeral, missing several classes. Her train was to leave on Tuesday morning and get her there in time for the family wake. However, the train was running late Tuesday morning, meaning that she would miss the wake. Hanging by a thread, she called me frantically and in a panic. I knew I had to help. I looked up alternate ways for her to get back to New York and found a bus that was not leaving Wilmington for another hour. I quickly picked her up from the train station and brought her to the bus stop, where she luckily made it on and returned home in plenty of time. Even as we approach the weekend she has been thanking me consistently for helping her out, yet I assured her it was nothing at all...and really, it wasn't. I was happy that I could help a friend in need, one who has been there for me so many times in the past. I know she would have done the same for me.
Shakespeare and Sympathy
When first given the assignment to watch a documentary titled, "Shakespeare Behind Bars," I was confused - what could this have to do with our course? How would I benefit from listening to prisoners recite Shakespeare? What I got out of the film was much more than I had anticipated. By the end of the documentary, I found myself relating to the inmates and wanting to see each one of them succeed.
From a young age, you are taught that people who comment crimes are bad. Each one of the inmates that told their story had murdered someone and received a sentence for it. Being addicted to Law & Order and CSI, these stories were not uncommon for me to hear. It did hit closer to home when the viewer realized these were actual stories, not just something made up for television viewers to watch. Also, many of the inmates had no reason to kill their victim. The men simply became frustrated or let our their anger on their victim. One even got away with kiling his wife for over ten years. Hearing these stories should have made me outraged and scared of the men on the screen; however, I found myself cheering for them as they struggled through their Shaekspearean characters and performance.
Throughout the documentary, many of the men who told their stories broke down crying. You could feel the remorse that they had from their crimes and how they were becoming better through the Shakespeare Behind Bars program. Prison always seems to be a place where inmates have trouble adjusting and get into trouble. I never knew that inmates who behaved had as many priveliges as these men did. I also was not aware of the various programs set up for each prisoner to join and take part in. It was great that the documentary included the positive effects of being in prison and how it could change a man.
In every English class I have taken, Shakespeare is seen as one of the best playwrights of all time. I usually just went along with this idea, never truly understanding the impact Shakespeare has had on literature, plays, actors, and the audience. When I went to London over winter session this year, I saw several Shakespearean plays at various theatres and was asked to recite a sonnet. While in the theatre, I saw some spectators moved to tears at the performance, an emotion I had never seen at a play. People were so moved by the words of Shakespeare that they were overwhelmed with emotion. Performing my sonnet with another student showed me how this emotion can be felt in the actor as well. I learned to understand the words inside and out, for once getting the meaning behind Shakespeare's words. Without even knowing it, I was displaying emotion. My classmates could feel it too.
This type of emotion was clearly displayed by the men in prison. Each one of the men had a character that involved raw emotion. The reason this program was so successful in prison was because the inmates were allowed to take the emotions they never were able to deal with and apply them to another character in another story. The man who played a woman was able to directly relate to her situation - not knowing who her father was. The performance was so powerful because the inmates were able to express themselves in a way they were not used to. Each one who took part in the performance only had positive things to say about it. Shakespeare had truly impacted their lives in a way they were not expecting.
From a young age, you are taught that people who comment crimes are bad. Each one of the inmates that told their story had murdered someone and received a sentence for it. Being addicted to Law & Order and CSI, these stories were not uncommon for me to hear. It did hit closer to home when the viewer realized these were actual stories, not just something made up for television viewers to watch. Also, many of the inmates had no reason to kill their victim. The men simply became frustrated or let our their anger on their victim. One even got away with kiling his wife for over ten years. Hearing these stories should have made me outraged and scared of the men on the screen; however, I found myself cheering for them as they struggled through their Shaekspearean characters and performance.
Throughout the documentary, many of the men who told their stories broke down crying. You could feel the remorse that they had from their crimes and how they were becoming better through the Shakespeare Behind Bars program. Prison always seems to be a place where inmates have trouble adjusting and get into trouble. I never knew that inmates who behaved had as many priveliges as these men did. I also was not aware of the various programs set up for each prisoner to join and take part in. It was great that the documentary included the positive effects of being in prison and how it could change a man.
In every English class I have taken, Shakespeare is seen as one of the best playwrights of all time. I usually just went along with this idea, never truly understanding the impact Shakespeare has had on literature, plays, actors, and the audience. When I went to London over winter session this year, I saw several Shakespearean plays at various theatres and was asked to recite a sonnet. While in the theatre, I saw some spectators moved to tears at the performance, an emotion I had never seen at a play. People were so moved by the words of Shakespeare that they were overwhelmed with emotion. Performing my sonnet with another student showed me how this emotion can be felt in the actor as well. I learned to understand the words inside and out, for once getting the meaning behind Shakespeare's words. Without even knowing it, I was displaying emotion. My classmates could feel it too.
This type of emotion was clearly displayed by the men in prison. Each one of the men had a character that involved raw emotion. The reason this program was so successful in prison was because the inmates were allowed to take the emotions they never were able to deal with and apply them to another character in another story. The man who played a woman was able to directly relate to her situation - not knowing who her father was. The performance was so powerful because the inmates were able to express themselves in a way they were not used to. Each one who took part in the performance only had positive things to say about it. Shakespeare had truly impacted their lives in a way they were not expecting.
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