Saturday, January 29, 2011

The Taming of the Shrew, Act One

After having read only the Induction and Act One of the play, Shakespeare has already created gender specific roles.  So far, my view on the men in the play is that they are superficial and act like pigs.  The women don’t really have a role yet besides being wooed by the men.  It seems so far that the women are somewhat powerless and definitely not considered equal with the male characters.  Although there have been a few examples of defiance and power among the women, none of the men actually take them seriously.  The first example of this is with the hostess in the Induction.  She takes control over the situation with Sly and tries to get him kicked out.  He does not submit to her requests but instead passes out at the bar.  She was allowed to take charge, showing her power, but the man still did not listen to her.  This is somewhat similar to what happens to Katharina in Act One.   She rebels against what all of the men say to her/about her, acting like she doesn’t care. Her plan is to never submit to a man by marriage.  Even though I have only read Act One, my guess is that she will end up marrying one of the characters and have to listen to what he tells her to do.  This character will most likely be Petruchio, who is just one of the many males that shows the men’s vile behavior.  In order for Hortensio to convince Petruchio to marry Katharina, all he had to do was tell him that she was rich.  Even after he describes what a terrible person she is and says he wouldn’t marry her for all of the gold in a mine, Petruchio says “thou know’st not gold’s effect.” This means that gold to him is worth more than anything else, and that it is all that matters.  On the other hand, the men who are enamored by Bianca are not concerned with gold but with beauty. The audience can clearly see that both of these things are superficial.  So far, the men in the play are only concerned with satisfying their desires, and the women are mere pawns. 

Sunday, January 23, 2011

Richard III

In Act One of Richard III, there are multiple references to The Bible.  The most powerful one occurs in Act One, Scene Three, lines 344-358.  This is when Richard is alone before the murderers enter.  He first refers to Clarence, “whom I indeed have cast in darkness.”  This line (I.iii.347) is comparable to Matthew 8:12 “But the subjects of the kingdom will be thrown outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”  This verse means that the people of the kingdom (of earthly things), and not of God, will suffer great consequences.  Here, Richard believes that he has caused Clarence to suffer these same consequences.  Next, only a couple of lines later (I.iii.355), Richard again refers to scripture.  This time it is much more obvious because he states that he is using it to hide the fact that he is the villain.  He claims that he tries to follow scripture like Matthew 5:44 “But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.”  Richard’s plan here is to appear to others that he does not mean to do his enemies any harm, and better yet, that he loves them.  This is exactly like the devil citing scripture for his own purposes, and Richard even admits to this by saying “And seem a saint when most I play the devil” (I.iii.358).  These references to the bible and the way that he is manipulating people are truly showing Richard as the villain.  He is acting like the devil with what he says, and the audience can see the power of language.  Richard knows exactly what to say and this soliloquy adds dramatic irony to the play because the characters don’t realize how well Richard works with words.  Shakespeare is clearly familiar with The Bible, and Richard III uses this to manipulate the others into doing and believing what he wants.  This scene is only one example of where The Bible is referred to in this play, which brings up the question of whether or not Shakespeare was a Christian.  He obviously understood scripture very well, but one should not judge what characters say to be the beliefs of the author.