fandomhigh | Modern Shakespeare, Wednesday, Period 1 & 2

After the violent disaster that had been Jono and Hannibal's wedding (of which she had contributed much of the violence), Karla was tempted to show Ran. But she wasn't sure Peridot's reading level was up to snuff to follow the subtitles. So, instead, she had another movie that discussed violence in its many variations and the effect it has on the text. But before she could start the movie, there was something she had to clear up first.

"Okay, so everything in the documentary...forget it," Karla said, rubbing her temples. "I'm sorry. It was just...yeah, everything about it was wrong. Hilarious, but wrong." It was below her Queenly dignity to admit that she'd gone home and snickered at all the words Philomena had underlined with her finger. And then sent it to Ender, because what was the point of having friends if she couldn't troll them? "So, take it as a joke--a parody--and let's move on."

There, that done, Karla could move onto the proper lecture. "So, one of the benefits of modern adaptations is the ability to look at the plays in ways that Shakespeare and his contemporaries could never have imagined. There are new ways of looking at the text, like feminist criticism or queer theory--that is, examining the plays with an eye towards how gender or sexuality is constructed. And with that, comes a focus on minor characters. Modern adaptations can expand upon their roles or delve deeper into their characterizations, or even use them to shed new light on the text. Today, we're looking at one of the most famous examples of this, by revisiting our first play, Amleth."

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Thoughts? Questions? Comments?

Karla's letting the class lead the discussion today.

"It is a strange story," Lucille said. "But... interesting and well written."

Edited 2016-06-08 11:14 (UTC)

"It's not even a story," Tip said happily. "It's, like, an absence of story. It's characters desperately searching for their story and hoping it won't inevitably end in death."

Which, of course, it did. Because Shakespearean tragedy.

Tip had a point, and she sounded a lot more clever than Lucille.

"It is a story in the shadow of the great tragedy," Lucille said. "About the people that are expendable."

"Well, yeah. But what's the bigger tragedy? Dying in a grand duel for the throne, or dying for no real reason at all, without ever even knowing why you're living in the first place?"

"It depends on what you mean by tragedy," Lucille replied. "Rosencrantz and Guildenstern never offer the audience any catharsis, merely misery. That's closer to reality, I suppose, but the point of tragedy is not to be real, but to show the essence of emotions."

"Misery isn't an emotion?" Tip countered. "Confusion? Despair? Guildenstern basically accepts his fate in the end, which is a decision in and of itself. Just because they're not grand doesn't mean they're not tragic."

It actually rather did, but Tip hadn't learned the difference between tragedy and Tragedy. And she'd certainly never read any Aristotle.

Lucille had read some Aristotle thanks to the library at home, but that didn't mean she had a good understanding of his philosophy. She did however quite like Tragedy.

"Tragedy is grand, that is its purpose."

Modern Shakespeare, Wednesday, Period 1 & 2

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