Sonnet 116 and Twelfth Night

Shakespeare’s Sonnet 116 has many parallels to Orsino’s theatrical views on love in Twelfth Night. Orsino is caught up in a self-made melodrama of love, yet it is clearly apparent that he is merely infatuated with the idea of being in love, rather than concentrating on love itself. His speeches are riddled with “me” and “my,” scarcely referring to Olivia, whom he supposedly yearns for. Sonnet 116, in contrast, is about love in its purest form: a love that does not weaken or change with the passage of time, a love that survives even death. This pretense of love, contrasted with a real and eternal love, shows the irrationality of Orsino as he proclaims himself to be in love with Olivia. The most relevant line of Sonnet 116 in regards to Twelfth Night reads “Love is not love / Which alters when it alteration finds.” Olivia could not have ever been Orsino’s true love, for is she was, it would have been “an ever-fixed mark.” Though Orsino pines and mopes despondently for Olivia, his love for her quickly and almost painlessly dissipates, thus showing they are not of “true minds.”

Disguises in Twelfth Night

A very obvious theme in Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night is that of disguise. It is evident on the surface because the principal character, Viola, spends the majority of the play in the guise of a man. Orsino and Olivia both find themselves attracted to her despite her gender or appearance, and I think that Shakespeare’s purpose in writing Viola as a woman dressed in male clothing was to show how ephemeral romantic attraction is. In fact, only Viola, who is wearing the disguise, has a love that is unhindered by physical deception in the form of clothing.

Underneath the surface however, the theme of disguise is also apparent in more subtle ways. Malvolio for example, wears crossed garters and yellow stockings because he believes that it will help him rise in social standing. In addition, when he dreams of being Olivia's husband, he imagines himself wearing a "branched velvet gown" (2.5.45), which supports the theme that clothing and identity are linked together. Later on in the play, when Malvolio is imprisoned in a dark room, Feste visits him pretending to be a priest named Sir Topas, and even though Malvolio will not be able to see him, he still finds it necessary to don a disguise. This suggests that clothes really do have the power to change a person's identity. I think that this is part of Shakespeare's satiric purpose however, because through this theme of disguise, he makes it appear as if the nature of human identity is not fixed, as it can be changed merely by wearing different clothes.

Malvolio: foolish or pitiable?

In Twelfth Night there are many attacks on the Puritans through the character of Malvolio. Malvolio is an easily fooled character who is constantly being duped by Maria, Sir Toby, and Sir Andrew. His very name means "ill will" which immediately gives his character a bad reputation in the minds of the readers. Maria mocks Malvolio, saying he "will not hear of godliness," (3.4 l 119). Maria implies that despite Malvolio's devout Puritan lifestyle, his spirituality nevertheless is anything but Godly. However, in the fourth act, Malvolio is confined to a dark cell which seems to be taking the light-hearted mockery a bit too far. It seems that Malvolio is suddenly transformed into a sympathetic character rather than a slapstick, comic relief figure. What can account for this change in connotations? What is Shakespeare trying to convey here?

fools in love

After reading both Sonnet 130 and Twelfth Night I get the distinct feeling that they were supposed to be read together. In Sonnet 130 Shakespeare’s is making fun of overly romantic poetry. When you look at Twelfth Night Shakespeare is also making fun of overly romantic people, as well as poetry. By looking at these two pieces we can see that Shakespeare is trying to convey something to his audience: pledging undying love is foolish. Just like the other poets of the time set up idealistic expectations of the beauty of woman. Shakespeare is trying to show in Twelfth Night how these impractical expectations of romance can make you a fool.

This folly of love is shown in the scene with Malvolio. After reading what he thought was a love poem from Olivia. Again Shakespeare is referring to the folly of the love poems written by others during his time. We see in Malvolio’s actions that Shakespeare is also making fun of how people act after reading these poems: “this does make some obstruction in the blood, this cross-gartering; but what of that? if it please the eye of one,” (1566-1568). Here Malvolio is referring to the fact that he is wearing crossed garters to please the eye of Olivia who he thinks loves him. Shakespeare is trying to make a joke about the lengths people will go because of the romantic poetry they read. Do you agree with this assertion? Do you think it is the poetry Shakespeare is making fun of or the people?

Do your eyes shine like the sun?

Sonnet 130 has to be one of my favorite of Shakespeare’s poetry. As Doug has demonstrated the poets of the time had a very idealistic and romantic writing style when it came to love. Much like the other sonnets we have read they go on about how amazing a woman is. But Shakespeare enjoys irony. In this sonnet he is making fun of all the other poets of his time. The typical romantic sonnet of the time praised a woman’s features to an unrealistic degree. They woman were said to have perfect skin when it was pockmarked and covered in makeup. In Sonnet 130 Shakespeare contradicts these romantic inaccuracies, “My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun” (1). He is bringing poetry back to the real world. Women’s eyes don’t shine that brightly. To Shakespeare, love is adoring a really woman for who she is, not embellishing all of her beauty to inaccuracy. In fact I find this poem more romantic because he loves her regardless of her realistic beauty. Which kind of poetry do you prefer? Do you think I’m correct in my understanding or do you think this is a joke on other poets by Shakespeare?

Inquisition

The presentation on the Spanish Inquisition focused on what specifically happened in Mexico.  What I found interesting about it was how Jewish families in Mexico would deal with their faith.  She said that Jewish families would often hide their faith from their own children until they were older.  That it was a serious enough of a problem to keep this faith from your own family members was terrible to hear.  A lot of her presentation dealt with the actual violence of the auto-da-fe's or acts of faith was the punishment decided by inquisitors.  The punishments were often brutal with people frequently being burned at the stake. But the accused often were allowed to make penance in order to not be burned.
This clearly relates to the reading of Edmund Spenser's Faerie Queene, the book has a huge problem with Catholics and you can see why Spenser would have hated the church.  Because the inquisition started 100 years before Spenser even began writing, this feud between Protestants and Catholics would have been a huge part of his life.  I think the violence of the epic can definitely be tied to the violence Protestants faced at the hands of the Catholics. It would make sense that Spenser would want to turn it around on them.
-Molly Hakso

Love Language in Shakespeare

It would be hard to miss it. In Shakespeare's Twelfth Night the way love is described by the main characters is as if it is something undesirable like a disease or something along those lines. Orsino, the emo lead opens the play by whining about how much he loves Olivia.  That his love for her "like fell and cruel hounds, E'er since pursue me" (l 22-23). Viola also sees love as a burden.  However, it is even more complicated when she is dressed up as a boy.  She feels terrible to love Orsino while dressed up as a boy. "And I, poor monster, fond as on him."  First of all she calls herself poor for loving Orsino.  This is significant because it is bringing back the idea of love as a burden.  Viola takes it farther though by calling herself a monster.  This reveals that dressing as a boy has taken its toll on her identity.  Love in this play is no easy task and is more confused when genders are switched.
In sonnet 147 Shakespeare writes about the burdensome sickness of love. He compares his love to a fever or sickly appetite.  I think it is fascinating that the idea of love in Twelfth Night is found in his sonnets as well. Like we discussed in class, Shakespeare never intended the sonnets to be read.  That they still deal with love in the same way as the play is interesting to me.  Shakespeare really must have had some painful experiences with love to have talked about it in such a manner in several of his works.  Even the works that reveal his thoughts that weren't meant for an audience.
-Molly Hakso

Twelfth Passion

The 1996 version of twelfth night was amazing. I haven’t seen such good acting in a very long time. The actors were able to give an effective and dramatic flow of conversation. Instead of the bland chunks we read in class with little feeling. These actors brought the words to life drawing out uncomfortable pauses and speeding up the words when they were anxious or rushes. I could understand what Shakespeare was trying to portray so much better when it is spoken.

Even more the acting was magnificent. Though everyone did a very good job my favorite had to be Helena Bonham Carter as Olivia. I have seen Carter in many other roles and was impressed at her ability to play such a difficult role. She can beg for love from a girl just as convincingly as singing about eating people. But all the actors were a great success. I was able to feel the emotions they had right through the screen, longing, torment, passion.

In fact the movie did a splendid job of creating sexually tension. From the scene we saw in class of Malvolio rubbing up against the statue of the woman, to a scene in which Viola must wash Orsino while he is taking a bath. But even more than this the actors talent at heated glances made me blush quite a few times. It’s these kinds of impassioned scenes that made the emotions of the characters and the tension of all this powerful love come into play. Though, by the end I was left wondering if their feelings were really love or just lust.

The writers also took quite a bit of freedom with the script. I have not completely finished the play at this time, but from what I can tell they rearranged many of the scenes. From adding some lines at the beginning to the play to inventing a war, you could tell they took liberties with the play. They also moved Orsino back later into the movie so that the musician playing was actually Viola. Probably the most masterfully done cuts in the movie was when they would cut between scenes in Olivia’s court and scenes in Orsino’s court on the same word. This was done with the singing scenes in which Feste sings for Sir Toby and Maria, and the scene where the same song is also being plaid for Viola and Orsino.

Over all the play was a triumphant success drawing you into the world of these characters and their passionate emotions. I had always thought that it would be next to impossible to really get a modern-day audience to understand Shakespeare. By watching this movie I see that with some talented people and good ideas the stories of the past can be brought to the people of this century as well.

An Optimistic Taking on the Sonnets

In class I am learning that there are far more interpretations of the sonnets than I first expected. I have read many of the sonnets before and I am fully aware that not all of them are happy love poems. However, when recently studying Sonnet 116 and having Doug take a more pessimistic reading than myself, I began to question what Shakespeare was trying to get at. I had always read that sonnet as a description of the truest love and even went as far as to write it down in a card for my dad's wedding. I'd like to believe that true love is steady and guiding and a fact that the narrator is confidant in. But Shakespeare never intended for these poems to be published, so I have to wonder if this poem (and others like it) are about himself which makes a more negative reading more possible considering his love life. Or maybe he was writing poetry in his journal which many people do and therefore he could be writing from any point of view and my optimistic reading could be completely correct. Poems are often used for personal interpretation by the reader and therefore if someone could argue their point with proof it could be correct, even if one poem had enough evidence for opposing sides. However if they were written for no one's particular interpretation other than the author's, then there probably is one or maybe two correct answers. And we will never know what they are. So now we battle with the different meaning and have to decide what Shakespeare was trying to say when he describes love as "an ever fixed mark". I will always try to find the romance of the sonnets because I am a sap, but it is important to consider alternative readings. At the end of it, we get to choose how we read it and make sense of it for ourselves.

Twelfth Night is She's the Man!!

So maybe I am just slow, but did you guys know that the movie She's the Man is the modern day version of Twelfth Night?!?! She's the man is the movie with Amanda Bynes and Channing Tatum? I was reading Twelfth Night and kept thinking, why does Orcino, Viola, Olivia, Malvolio, all these names sound so familiar? It's the movie shes's the man!! ahh I'm so excited i figured that out and that movie is amazing. Well anyways, I really like Twelfth Night and think it is super funny and one of my new favorite shakespeare plays. I liked the scene where Viola and Orcino are talking and she is totally hinting at the fact that she is a woman and in love with him but he just doesn't get it. When Viola says, "Say that some lady, as perhaps there is, Hath for your love as great a pang of heart as you have for Olivia. You cannot love her. You tell her so. Must she not then be answered" (ln. 88-91)? These lines made me sad! This is like the ultimate plea from a girl for a boy to like her! And Orsino, like all blind guys says there is no one. I thought that was kind of a funny, pathetic part and very applicable. ;) I like twelfth night a lot!

Andrea Yarnell

Shallow Love

Okay, I admit that Shakespeare's Twelfth Night is one of my favorite plays of all time and not because it is a Shakespearean play. From what we have read so far in Twelfth Night, almost every love interest is shallow. Romance and love are plot points that bring about great humor for the groundlings in that Viola loves Duke, Duke loves Olivia, Olivia loves Cesario, but Cesario is Violia pretending to be a Eunuch to be in Duke Orsino's court because Olivia's court is inaccessible. This neurotic love confusion is shallow in that there is no foundation for the romance to take place. The play immediately starts off with Duke Orsino's whining for Olivia's love and her refusal because of her mourning her dead brother. Malvolio appears to love Olivia solely to become Master of her home and to rule her servants and over her uncle. Olivia refuses Duke but in turn longs for Cesario after speaking only briefly. Love appears to be easily lost and obtained, going from "Hello, nice to meet you" to "I love you and don't want to live without you or I'll die"; in this sense, love has no bounds. I love that Shakespeare can make a play about love and having that love surrounded by lies. Today in modern America, love is about being honest and not lying, but love in Shakespeare's time was not exactly promoted. Many people of that time were married for social obligations or political negotiations, rarely for the pure attraction of love. Twelfth Night allows the characters to go beyond the surface in why they really loved and their journeys in trying to sustain or prevent love in their own lives and others.
This play is also about dealing with the unexpected. Many a time the characters encounter something or someone they wish to avoid and all respond differently. After arriving to Illyria, Viola disguises herself as a teenage boy to seek protection; Malvolio is annoyed with Sir Toby and Maria so he threatens to kick them out; rather than physically harming Malvolio, Sir Toby and Maria seek revenge by writing a love letter to Malvolio from Lady Olivia. The human dynamics of this play are truly incredible! Seeing this play performed was an amazing experience, each character fleshed out in Shakespeare's writings and physically presented was just beyond mere words. The characters all have something to loose on the line, but some risk it all for the sake of love. Aww, how romantic. :)

Sonnets and Twelfth Night

I think that it is really interesting that Shakespeare has written two types of literature where one piece focuses on a love steady and everlasting and the other piece focuses on a love that is weak and always changing. The steady love is shown in Shakespeare's sonnets; for example, both narrators in Sonnet 18 and 116 talk about never giving up on the love that they have for someone. Both narrators do not give up on the idea that the person they love will love them back. Twelfth Night on the other hand is totally different. There is this weird love triangle between most of the characters whose moods are constantly changing. For example, Orisno's has an undying love for Olivia one moment and the next he is not in love with her and then before you know it he is in love with her again. Another example would be Olivia. She makes it seem like she can never love anyone because she is depressed over her brother's passing; but then before you know it she is head over heals for Cesario who is really Viola. The love in the story is very unsteady and always changing. I have not read or seen this play before, but i do know this much, there are going to be some broken hearts by the end.

Strangulation can be such a blessing

The presentation tonight addressed the presence of the inquisition in Mexico. The speaker began by addressing the reason the inquisition began in the first place. In the 1600 there were many Jewish families in Spain but as Catholic power in Spain grew the Jews were either forced to convert or to leave. Many of them left for Portugal. But it wasn’t long before again the Catholics came to power and the Jews were either told to convert or to leave. At this time the Spanish in a way owned the Portugal crown. So the Jews had an opportunity to escape persecution and move to the New World

In the New World they pretended to be Catholics while really practicing Judaism. This was not a problem until the inquisition began to run out of money. Many of the Jewish families had become merchants in the New World and if the inquisition found them guilty of being a Jew they could take the families property, sell it, and keep the money for themselves. Needless to say almost 400 were tried. They were also looking into this because they were afraid the merchants who were originally from Portugal were trying to take over the colony and second they wanted to stop Judaism. The speaker outlined two families that were in these trials in both, the fathers were burned while the rest of the women were let off with a slap on the wrist. Altogether only 13 people were burnt at the stake. Most of them repented and were allowed to be strangled before the burning but one man chose to pass up the wire noose and go for the flames. Needless to say it was dangerous to be anything but Catholic in 17 century.

The drastic nature of this account in many ways shows how far the Catholics will go to weed out those who weren’t like them. Through this presentation I came to better understand what Elizabeth was truly up against on the continent. In fact the aggressive nature of the Catholics is so apparent that I believe the only thing that really saved Elizabeth was the fact that England is an island nation. We especially see this when Spain comes in ships to defeat England. If there had not been water in between the two nations England could have very likely fallen and we might be a Catholic college right now…. (shudder to think)

Dr. Faustus and Power

I can definitely see the decline in power that Hannah was talking about. I think it is interesting to talk about what causes this deterioration, I would argue that it is to show the lack of power humans ever really have. It reveals the utter depravity of mankind. In his arrogance, Faustus assumed that with power, he would achieve great things.  At the beginning he asks himself why he couldn't be eternized(line 18).  This is an example of how highly he esteems himself. He views himself to be so great that it is reasonable for the world to know his name. 
 Yet as the play continues the true ugliness of his character is revealed.  Like Hannah mentioned, he uses the power he has for practical jokes. And worse than that, Mephastophilis is able to lock in his soul by parading a pretty girl in front of him.  Ultimately, I think Faustus never really had that much power. The power he was given revealed the ultimate ugliness of his soul. 

Faustus and hypocrisy

I think that the end of ‘Doctor Faustus’ is an interesting portrayal of how many Christians live today. He realizes that he is actually going to die and go to hell, so he calls out to God, but he is not willing to change anything or give up his pleasures in order to go to heaven. He just keeps trying to bargain with God while still worrying about himself above everything and still serving and trusting Lucifer over God. While Faustus is too exaggerated a character to be a living person, Marlowe would have seen the hypocrisy and self-love in the people around him. The most obvious symbolism of the play is the attack on Catholicism, but I wonder if there is a criticism of Protestantism in the play as well. While Catholicism had hypocrites and self-serving people, so does every other group of people on the planet, and I wonder if Marlowe might have been trying to point out the hypocrisy in his own society as well as making fun of the rejected Catholic church.

Rachel Means

Sonnet 18 and Twelfth Night

In the very beginning of act 1, Orsino begins his deep confession of his love for Olivia in quite the poetical form. His mood changes drastically though. He goes from wanting to get as much love as he possibly can to getting tired of it, then doing back to dwelling on it wistfully. The sonnet is also a love poem, but this sonnet speaks of consistency, and I feel almost the greatest kind because the love is eternal in the poem. Because of Viola's love for Orsino, the fact that Shakespeare often writes predictable comedies, and the fact that I already know the ending, Orsino's love for Olivia isn't a true love and shifts in the matter of a few minutes. That discredits everything he says within the first few lines of the play. When I look at the two works side by side, it makes Orsino all the more laughable and the sonnet far more romantic.

Power in Dr. Faustus

I found the theme of power that is prevalent throughout Marlowe’s Dr. Faustus to have a declining nature. At the beginning of the play, Faustus contemplates the multitude of ways in which he could use the power gained from demonic relations. He imagines political power, wealth, and knowledge of the universe, and his desire for them consumes his thoughts so much that he is willing to do anything to get them. He even denies the potential of medieval areas of study such as logic, medicine, and theology in favor of magic and he is willing to sacrifice his social standing, education, and even his soul in order to achieve as much power as possible. Faustus accomplishes the impossible and gains the malicious power that equips him to do anything he wants, however, his desires shift dramatically. He no longer has the ambition to conquer the world and its forces, but instead contents himself with cheap practical jokes. One would imagine that Faustus would become entirely corrupt by the demonic power he now possesses, but instead, he resorts to mediocrity. I think that the best conclusion to draw within the boundary of Marlowe’s authorship is that ambition is a gift from God, and true greatness can only be achieved through Him. Once Faustus alienates himself from God, he no longer desires to do anything, even with the power of the world at his fingertips.

Dr. Faustus and Catholicism

I think that Christopher Marlowe's "Dr. Faustus" can be interpreted on many levels as an attack on the Catholic church. We can first see this in the egocentric attitude of Faustus himself, by constantly referring to himself in the third person, and his obvious hunger for ultimate power that rivals even God's power. In this way, the notions of the power of the papacy in Catholicism are represented and criticized in Dr. Faustus. This can also be shown through the scope of Faustus' actual power once he signs his soul away to the devil. While he fantasizes about such power, he dreams of doing great things, but once he obtains this power, he is reduced to petty jokes on the clergy. This could be saying that this kind of power cannot be attained without the help of God. When you turn away from God and seek power from the devil, you get a superficial, commonplace power. Only with the help of God can you achieve great things. Apparently, if we read this as a catholic criticism, the Catholic church seeks selfish power from the devil, and are in denial of the true power of God.

Raleigh's "The Nymph's Reply"

In response to  the post about Sir Walter Raleigh's "The Nymph's Reply to the Shepherd", I would argue that it is not an allegory relating to his relationship with Queen Elizabeth at all,  and could be considered a direct response to Marlowe's poem "The Passionate Shepherd to His Love".  The title itself clues the reader in right away to its connection to Marlowe's poem and it becomes clear through the content as well.  "The Passionate Shepherd" is an idealistic poem, filled with romantic and pastoral imagery.  To me, it is a typical sugary love poem in which the ideas of perfection, beauty and nature are intertwined.  Raleigh's reply hints of an a more realistic world; a world that changes, evolves and grows old.  Raleigh seems to be saying that only if aging and changing weren't a part of our existence, then a love and life like the shepherd's could be possible.
It is indeed possible his cynical tone is a result of his life experiences involving Queen Elizabeth.  They were rumored to be lovers, and so it seems reasonable to believe that his imprisonment due to his marriage stemmed from jealousy or anger from a scorned Elizabeth.  Obviously his personal biography has influenced his ideas on love and has made him less adept at seeing things positively or idealistically.

Extra Credit Lecture

Professor Rafaela Acevedo Field’s lecture “The de Leon Jaramillos before the Inquisition” gave a little known history of the Inquisition in Mexico. Her presentation centered on the de Leon Jaramillo family and its part in one Alto de Faye in Mexico City in 1649. An Alto de Faye was a huge public event where the Inquisition sentenced “heretics” and carried out those sentences in front of large crowds. During this particular Alto de Faye, the de Leon Jaramillos were accused of practicing Judaism instead of Catholicism.

This accusation was based mostly on the fact that the de Leon Jaramillos were Portugese. During that time period, there was a hierarchy based on race and assumptions that the Portugese migraters were all crypto Jews. This assumptions stems from the 1497 law that forced Jews to convert or leave the country. Many converted, but a great number of them also left for the New World, where they hoped to find religious freedom. Unfortunately for them, this freedom did not last long as the Inquisition’s arm of the law was far-reaching during that time. The de Leon Jaramillos met a tragic end as the Inquisition forced the men to repent. The father was granted “a merciful death” of garroting. The wife and children were reconciled and welcomed into the Catholic Church.

This presentation directly relates to what we’ve been reading in class in that it portrays the Catholic Church in an extremely negative light. Most of our readings are by authors who were strongly against the Catholic institution. The accounts of the Alto de Fayes portray the Church as vindictive, unforgiving, and purely evil.

Extra Credit Opportunity Lecture

The extra credit lecture that was offered was very interesting and different. The professor told about her research done about the spanish inquisition and specific families affected by this "El Gran Auto de fe" (sp?). This was in the 17th century colonialism time period and was a time where the inquisition would name all the prisoners and sentence them to their fate. People who were in trouble were people accused of practicing Judaism, Lutheranism and anything else that wasn't catholic. This relates to our class because in european history all of the shifting and clashing of catholics vs. protestants was very relevant and affected that time period greatly. With Mary coming in and proclaiming catholicism and punishing protestants and then elizabeth doing the opposite. We see this clash of religion throughout history and it relates to this El Gran auto de fe. These specific families the professor talked about all had unique stories and were portugese Jews. One man married a woman to move up the social class so he wouldn't be noticed as much. This relates to our class kind of in the way of peace weaving. An interesting thing i learned was that families would lie to their children and tell them that they were catholic but would really be practicing judaism or another. But it was really common for daughters to have loyalty to catholicism because the fathers would force judaism on them. The professor told really graphic ways this was done, like a female version of being circumcised where the father would cut off a part of the daughters skin on her arm and ingest it....This was a sign that the people from el gran auto de fe would look for. Also, fathers would lock up their daughters and children and force fasting upon them. As a penance people would have to wear a special garb that was very interesting. This speech was very interesting and i had no prior knowledge but it really just taught me how big of a deal the catholic vs protestant battle was.


Andrea Yarnell

A Differing Opinion on The Faerie Queen...

I will have to disagree with some of you about Edmund Spenser. While I acknowledge that his symbolism can be a bit one-dimensional, and his themes overly idealistic, I still think that The Faerie Queen is a poem that is exemplary both in scope and in its style. It seems that most of you do not like the work because you do not like the author, and while I agree that he seems obsequious and fawning, this does not necessarily take away from his work. It’s easy to scoff at his work and write him off as one of Elizabeth’s lackeys, but Spenser did create a new poetic device when he created the Spenserian stanza, which isn’t exactly an easy feat. Beside its good stylistic points, I don’t think that The Faerie Queen should be derided just because Spenser so blatantly praises Elizabeth and the Tudor dynasty in it. There are a number of historical poems that praise reigning monarchs and empires, and I don’t see why Spenser’s poem should be viewed any differently just because he was trying to get patronage for it. I don’t think he was a sell-out, either, because the views he expressed really seemed to be his own (the anti-Catholic sentiments, for example.)

- Lauren NuDelman