love

"Love sought is good, but given unsought, is better." (3.1 line 153)

Personally, I detest beginning anything with a quote. I think it's poor form to begin a paper, report, etc. with someone else's thought. This is why I will never write a formal piece beginning with a quote, however because this is the nature of the blog assignment, an exception exists.

There's a fine line between obsession and love. In fact, it's so fine very few even know it exists. If you have to seek out someone to love you, then it isn't love; it's persuasion. Therefore, having love be unsought is the only way to truly be loved. If someone loves another they just do. There's no discussion, seeking, or method to make it happen it just is. Unsought love is the only love. It not only exists in a passionate love affair, but is best represented in family love. For birthday's you don't ask your grandparents to present you with a gift, they just do. But when it gets to the point that you have to ask or constantly remind another to do something for you, it's no longer out of love but out of request. That is the worst type of relationship to ever put yourself into.

Viola certainly doesn't love Olivia, and Olivia doesn't really love Cesario. It's merely the idea of love that she and so many others are enticed to seek.

Mr. Foolish

Twelfth Night is more than simply a great play it's a Christian holiday that began in Tudor England. The Oxford English Dictionary states that it's "the evening of the fifth of January, preceding Twelfth Day, the eve of the Epiphany, formerly the last day of the Christmas festivities and observed as a time of merrymaking". (This was taken from Wikipedia)

Moreover the festival celebrates the Lord of Misrule who was known for causing disorder. This falls right in line with Shakespeare's comedy as the characters of Maria, Sir Toby and Sir Andrew do nothing but cause much disorder. In fact even the more serious character of Viola causes quite a disruption. In fact, in some cultures the festival of 'Twelfth Night' marks the beginning of carnivale season, or Mardi Gras. The end of the festival marks the coming of the Epiphany. This relates back to Twelfth Night to the point that the characters are marked with an epiphany at the end of the story (the end of the Twelfth Night) as revelations about the characters disguises are revealed.

Although written a couple of centuries later, Victor Hugo's masterpiece The Hunchback of Notre Dame takes place during the celebration of the Epiphany. Although the book was written as a testament by Hugo to maintain the original structure of the cathderal there is also a major undertone to the novel not about mistaken identities as in Shakespeare, but about mistaken appearances. Quasimodo who would be thought of as nothing more than a mamed imbecile is reality the most humane of any character in the novel. This uniquely parallels Viola who, although she is physically disguised, she remains the most honest to her heart, never does she consider courting anyone besides Orsino.

It's typical of Shakespeare to inculcate his messages. Here he has the main story-line about Viola's disguise, but then there is Maria's disguised letter, Antonio -a pirate- representing himself as a good friend, Olivia is supposed to be mourning her brother's death but instead is out to get Cesario. Therefore it's extremely likely that Shakespeare chose to name his play after the Twelfth Night holiday in order to represent all of the topsy-turvy during the festival and the play itself.

Bibliography Progress Post

The Renaissance is something that has always fascinated me. Being an intellect at this time highlighted exactly what it means to be a human being. The ability to think, create, and change the world around you, very few people have done or will do this. We've read many Renaissance authors thus far this semester; most are British. I am not certain that my chosen topic will be permitted, however I am certain that very few people in the world know anything about my topic. Leonardo Da Vinci's Fables I know . . . you thought he only painted, created war machines, and studied anatomy . . . but he was also a very prolific writer and the definition of a Renaissance man. My thesis (which will undoubtedly change) is currently Leonardo Da Vinci's fables are written in such a manner that they tell of the unjust political system he was subject to and as such are his testimonies againsnt that very system. Yeah it needs some work, but it's coming along. As far as my reasearch is coming, I won't lie. It's somewhat difficult to find information on the fables, let alone finding the fables in Da Vinci's original Archaic language. I may end up having to use one fable as an example, but we'll see. As far as my process goes I have my notebook system, perhaps you rememer from last semester. Again, I do hope I provided you with the information that you wanted . . . I'm really not sure. The assignment sheet said "a blog post about your progress . . ." If you want my "Notebook" or a list of my sources so far, just let me know otherwise I'm going to enjoy the last five hours of my spring break!

Dirty Billy

"Bless you, fair shrew." - 1.3-line 44

"By my troth, i would not underake her in this company." 1.3 line 55

"It's dry, sir." 1.3 line 69

"And I hope to see a housewife take thee between he rlegs and spin it off." 1.3 Lines 96-98

"And I think I have the back-trick simply as strong as any man in Illyria." 1.3-115

"And all is semblative a woman's part." 1.4 - 34

"Many a good hanging prevents a bad marriage." 1.5-18

"Send for money knight. If though hast her not i'th' end, call me cut." 2.3 - 175

"These be her very c's, her u's, and her t's, and thus makes she her great P's." 2.5 -83-85

Above are a strain of quotes taken from the first and second acts of Twelfth Night. As you can see William Shakespeare appears to have quite a knack for sarcastic sexual innuendos. Mr. Shakespeare is usually referred to as one of the best poets and playwrites, ever. It also gives one something to think about when discussing the role of stage plays in Renaissance England. They were thought unnecessary and some critics even said that they were subhuman activities. To a certain extent one would have to agree that the above languanged used by Shakespeare a.k.a Dirty Billy is quite repulsive. Surely a civilized human being would not want to delve out their hard earned money to listen to such defilements of the spoken language.

It's nice to see that Shakespeare's work carries on today not only in adaptations (Twelfth Night is She's the Man starring Amanda Bynes,) but also in the aspect that people only became more perverted not only in writing but in living. Perhaps if this perversion had been dealt with when Billy did it we wouldn't have the likes of Howard Stern and others disgracing the language of civilized beings.

Ebert, Roeper and Henry VIII

So . . . I went to go watch The Other Boleyn Girl this past weekend, and I must say I was pleasantly surprised at a few things and kind of disgusted at some others . . . here are my thoughts!

1). Every time someone was married in the film only woman received a ring. Point for historical accuracy.

2). All of the literature we've read in class suggests that Mary and Anne weren't very close . . . but in the movie it kind of seems like they were best friends at times.

3). There were quite a few people who felt that Henry was 'stalking' Anne and really wanted her . . . it seems that Anne was the pursuer in the movie. Of course as to which theory is correct we'll probably never know.

4). Anne was beheaded for sleeping with her brother in the film, but in reality there were about five men she was 'accused' of sleeping with. Again . . . hard to prove/ disprove anything.

5). The film makes it seem like Henry left the Catholic Church and divorced Catherine all because he wanted to have sex with Anne. Come on . . . I just know that there has to be more to it than that.

And finally, the fact that my husband fell asleep a mere thirty minutes into the film shows that it was probably a decent film, as he can only manage to remain conscious if there are a plethora of bad jokes and drunk imbeciles.

T. Hurt

So, I wasn't aware that I was supposed to post my sonnet on-line. But then I started thinking . . . hey it'll take up one of my blog-posts.


Force and deceit are all that you know.
I struggle to find defilement’s cure.
Refusing to allow this pain to grow.
Until then I stand here, intentions pure.
Although the dearest dove may want a snake--
“Be gone!” I keen. “Banishèd you shall be!”
Linger no more, fore you are a mistake!
Love’s disease duns that I never be free.
Moribund without you and your kind eyes --
But, of course, these are hidden from the world.
Only noticing your ignoble lies,
Treachery, and the men you have hurled.
My deepest wish is for you to become
A virtuous man so we may be one.

The Faerie Queen of the Rings

The Faerie Queen vs. The Lord of the Rings

1). The bringing together of different groups to fight a common enemy.

"The enemy of my enemy is my friend!"

For the Faeries . . .

We've got lions . . . . faeries, wizards . . . knights . . . . dwarves . . . and yes, even some trees.

For the Lord of the Rings . . .

Their fellowship consists of hobbits, men, wizards, dwarves, elves, horses, and yes, they had trees too.

2). What kind of enemies did they face?

Was there an evil sorcerer? Faeries: Archimago Lords: Sauramon

Did they face error? Faeries: Error itself Lords: Error in Frodo putting on the ring at the Hotel . . . uh oh!

Did they face some sins? Faeries: All 7 of them Lords: Envy- those who wanted the ring; Lust - Aragon and Eowyn;

Greed - Gollum; Wrath- Mines of Moria; Gluttony - Minas Tithes;

Pride - Frodo refusing to have help; Sloth - Sauramon

Did they face Despair? Faeries: By the same name Lords: Frodo, Gollum, Faramir . . . always so sad - - Arwen.

Was there perhaps something two faced? Faeries: Duessa Lords: Gollum/Smeagle

A big meany at the end? Faeries: Dragon Lords: Sauron

3). What about the characters?

Let's do a bit of comparing shall we . .

Description: The Faerie Queen and The Lord of the Rings

Knight: Red Crosse Aragon

Lovely Lady: Una Arwen

Warrior Woman: Britomart Eowyn

Evil Sorcerer: Archimago Sauramon

Companion: Dwarf Gimli (who is also a dwarf)

Two-Faced: Duessa Gollum/ Smeagle

Nature Help: Lion / Talking Tree Horse/ Talking Tree

Good Wizard: Merlin Gandalf

Christ Figure: King Arthur Elron

4). What about everything else?

Ultimate Goal:

Faeries: save the castle from the fiery dragon

Lords: save the ring from the evil fiery eye

Language:

Faeries: purposely archain, but used influence from Greek and Roman poets

Lords: influenced by old English, Norse mythology, and christian ideals

Formation:

Faeries: written in a series of books with many cantos and in those many stanzas

Lords: three different volumes meant to represent three different eons, and in those volumes are a variety of books

Crying for the Dreamless

I've been an analytical, scientifically thinking and probability based person as long as I can remember. Science has been the basis for many of my decisions. During gymnastics practice I used to calculate the angles and amount of force I needed to apply to my swings on the bars. When I watch contestants on Deal or No Deal I keep track of which cases hold high amounts, because on the basis of probablity two high amounts are unlikely to be next to eachother. As I walk down the street and look at different plants I classify thems as angiosperms or gymnosperms and monocot or dicot. When I take medicine I write out the chemical formula whatever I'm taking and figure out each reaction mechanism so that I precisely which part of my body is receiving the medicine when.

It's absolutely INSANE to live this way.

Every once in a while I just need to escape into a fantastic story. So I read. I remember reading Tolkien's The Hobbit -- long before Orlando Blooom blessed us with his presence. I remember being enchanted by Roald Dahl at the age of seven and wishing that I could be Matilda or have my best friend be The BFG. And yes, I will admit to remembering the very first day I opened the book that told me about a lost boy name Harry and his friends Ron and Hermione. Reading these stories I could allow myself to believe in something, even if only for the moment. There were these fantastical worlds where anything was possible -- and with no evidence to the contrary.


Unfortunately, I also remember the day I found out Charlie and the Chocolate Factory was a political satire and that Tolkien's Lord of the Rings were based off of Chaucer. And within the past few weeks I have read The Faerie Queen, and while reading it I fell in love with the story. A story of beautiful princesses and chivalrous knights fighting the dragons and evil witches. But because I have a logically-indused brain stem I know that is not the intent of the story, so I struggle to continue to believe in such wonderous events. It's sad that people who claim to believe in a merciful, benevolent God kill people who do not believe as they do. It's crap.

RIDDIKULUS!

Perhaps Harper Lee was write when she stated that the greatest way to harm a child is to take away their innocence. I refuse to let mine go. I'm holding onto it for dear life and although I'm a very intelligent girl if I want to forget about the reformation and crazy Queen Bess for an hour or two so I can simply enjoy a great story written by Eddie then I will --- because I think it far more important to believe in something than to be correct.

Ed the Mundane

Edmund Spencer had one goal, and that was to become a great English poet. He didn't write so that he could spread the joy of story making to others, nor did he write so that people thousands of miles away could be educated in the affairs happening in his part of the world. No, Edmund Spenser cared about being praised.



What strikes me as even more interesting is that he constantly wrote to the Elizabethan court asking for a job . . . but he was always turned down . . . such a shame. Somebody please tell me what person is repeatedly denied a job and then turns around and praises those who refused them their dream? Eddie Does!!! Trust me, I really don't think anyone would write out an ungodly long poem for Simon Cowell. What would it even say?



Simon you are the music Rex

how dare I be obsessed-

with all of my lyrical dreams

I have listened to your facetious claims

and know that it is best

For me to lay my passion to rest

Praise Simon! The Faerie King!

The one who knows who can sing!



Um. . . probably not.



Really the only thing that separates Edmund from William Hung --yes, the She Bang guy-- is the fact that Edmund was at least intelligent. His poem admittedly contains great "dark conceit" as he called it, but let's get real. Although he talks about holiness and blah blah blah . . . pride is bad.



Pride was the only thing driving Mr. Spenser to create such a work.



Two of a kind. Edmund Spenser and William Hung.