Character Studies. In depth studies of the women in the presentation.

Transcription

1 Shakespeare s Women Shakespeare s Women introduces us to a number of characters from the Bard s plays. We meet Lady Macbeth from the play Macbeth, Helena and Titania from the play A Midsummer Night s Dream, Cleopatra from Antony and Cleopatra, Juliet and her Nurse from Romeo and Juliet, Viola and Olivia from Twelfth Night, Gertrude and Ophelia from Hamlet, Portia from The Merchant of Venice and finally Puck also from a Midsummer Night s Dream; Puck can be either male or female and is often acted with a young woman in the role. Discussion point 1: Shakespeare is famous for the diversity of his female characters. He not only explores strength, intelligence, humour and sophistication; but also vulnerability and frailty: aspects of femininity from a complex range of perspectives. Write or discuss a short description about each of the characters you met in the presentation including: Your thoughts and feelings on the women you met? (Did you like them? Did they make you laugh, cry, feel afraid, feel impressed etc...?) How well written were they? (Did you believe in them? Do you believe that they are as important to the story being told as the male characters?) Discussion point 2: How well do you think that Shakespeare, a male writer, understands and presents female characters? Character Studies. In depth studies of the women in the presentation. Lady Macbeth In 30 words or less describe who Lady Macbeth is and what she wants. Start with the following words: Lady Macbeth is... Lady M, although ruthless, fears she does not have the strength to proceed with her plan to murder Duncan. How does she get the strength to proceed with her plan? Refer to the famous Raven speech below: The raven himself is hoarse That croaks the fatal entrance of Duncan Under my battlements. Come, you spirits That tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here, And fill me from the crown to the toe top-full Of direst cruelty! make thick my blood; Stop up the access and passage to remorse, That no compunctious visitings of nature Shake my fell purpose, nor keep peace between The effect and it! Come to my woman's breasts, And take my milk for gall, you murdering ministers, 1

2 Wherever in your sightless substances You wait on nature's mischief! Come, thick night, And pall thee in the dunnest smoke of hell, That my keen knife see not the wound it makes, Nor heaven peep through the blanket of the dark, To cry 'Hold, hold! Lady M now has the strength she needs, but her husband doesn t. Macbeth no longer wants to kill Duncan. How does Lady M give Macbeth the strength to murder Duncan and steal the THRONE? (Refer to the sources below). Read the following modern comic version and then read Act 1 Scene 7 on page 3: 2

3 This column is Shakespeare This column is modern English Enter LADY How now! What news? LADY He has almost supped. Why have you left the chamber? Hath he asked for me? LADY Know you not he has? We will proceed no further in this business. He hath honored me of late, and I have bought Golden opinions from all sorts of people, Which would be worn now in their newest gloss, Not cast aside so soon. LADY Was the hope drunk Wherein you dressed yourself? Hath it slept since? And wakes it now, to look so green and pale At what it did so freely? From this time Such I account thy love. Art thou afeard To be the same in thine own act and valor As thou art in desire? Wouldst thou have that LADY enters. What news do you have? LADY He has almost finished dinner. Why did you leave the dining room? Has he asked for me? LADY Don t you know he has? We can t go on with this plan. The king has just honored me, and I have earned the good opinion of all sorts of people. I want to enjoy these honors while the feeling is fresh and not throw them away so soon. LADY Were you drunk when you seemed so hopeful before? Have you gone to sleep and woken up green and pale in fear of this idea? From now on this is what I ll think of your love. Are you afraid to act the way you desire? Will you take the crown you want so badly, or will you live as a coward, always saying I can t after you say I want to? You re like the poor cat in the old story. 3

4 Which thou esteem st the ornament of life, And live a coward in thine own esteem, Letting I dare not wait upon I would, Like the poor cat i' th' adage? Prithee, peace: I dare do all that may become a man; Who dares do more is none. LADY What beast was t, then, That made you break this enterprise to me? When you durst do it, then you were a man; And to be more than what you were, you would Be so much more the man. Nor time nor place Did then adhere, and yet you would make both. They have made themselves, and that their fitness now Does unmake you. I have given suck, and know How tender tis to love the babe that milks me. I would, while it was smiling in my face, Have plucked my nipple from his boneless gums And dashed the brains out, had I so sworn as you Have done to this. Please, stop! I dare to do only what is proper for a man to do. He who dares to do more is not a man at all. LADY If you weren t a man, then what kind of animal were you when you first told me you wanted to do this? When you dared to do it, that s when you were a man. And if you go one step further by doing what you dared to do before, you ll be that much more the man. The time and place weren t right before, but you would have gone ahead with the murder anyhow. Now the time and place are just right, but they re almost too good for you. I have suckled a baby, and I know how sweet it is to love the baby at my breast. But even as the baby was smiling up at me, I would have plucked my nipple out of its mouth and smashed its brains out against a wall if I had sworn to do that the same way you have sworn to do this. 4

5 If we should fail? LADY We fail? But screw your courage to the sticking-place, And we ll not fail. When Duncan is asleep Whereto the rather shall his day s hard journey Soundly invite him his two chamberlains Will I with wine and wassail so convince That memory, the warder of the brain, Shall be a fume, and the receipt of reason A limbeck only: when in swinish sleep Their drenchèd natures lie as in a death, What cannot you and I perform upon The unguarded Duncan? What not put upon His spongy officers, who shall bear the guilt Of our great quell? Bring forth men-children only, For thy undaunted mettle should compose Nothing but males. Will it not be received, When we have marked with blood those sleepy two Of his own chamber and used their very daggers, That they have done t? But if we fail LADY We, fail? If you get your courage up, we can t fail. When Duncan is asleep the day s hard journey has definitely made him tired I ll get his two servants so drunk that their memory will go up in smoke through the chimneys of their brains. When they lie asleep like pigs, so drunk they ll be dead to the world, what won t you and I be able to do to the unguarded Duncan? And whatever we do, we can lay all the blame on the drunken servants. May you only give birth to male children, because your fearless spirit should create nothing that isn t masculine. Once we have covered the two servants with blood, and used their daggers to kill, won t people believe that they were the culprits? 5

6 Lady Macbeth pays a terrible price for Duncan s murder; she slowly goes mad with guilt and then she commits suicide. In this famous painting of Lady Macbeth by French symbolist Gustave Moreau we can see the nightmare of her madness surrounding her. How has the artist used elements such as colour, light and emotion (look into her eyes) to explore Lady Macbeth s horrifying inner turmoil? 6

7 The last time we see Lady Macbeth she enters in a nightdress. Lit by candlelight she desperately tries to rub an imaginary spot of blood from her hands. It is blood that only she can see. It is the blood of all the people they have murdered: it is King Duncan s blood; it is also the blood of the wife and child of the Thane of Fife whose throats were slit; it is even the blood of Macbeth s best friend Banquo whom Macbeth pays assassins to stab to death. The Macbeths have murdered many people for the throne. In the famous Candle speech below, Lady Macbeth rubs and rubs and rubs her hands but the blood never rubs off. Read through the speech and then... Discuss: Why the blood will not rub off? Why the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten her hand? What is happening to Lady M? Out, damned spot! out, I say!--one: two: why, then, 'tis time to do't.--hell is murky!--fie, my lord, fie! a soldier, and afeard? What need we fear who knows it, when none can call our power to account?--yet who would have thought the old man to have had so much blood in him. The thane of Fife had a wife: where is she now?-- What, will these hands ne'er be clean?--no more o' that, my lord, no more o' that: you mar all with this starting. Here's the smell of the blood still: all the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand. Oh, oh, oh! Wash your hands, put on your nightgown; look not so pale.--i tell you yet again, Banquo's buried; he cannot come out on's grave. To bed, to bed! there's knocking at the gate: come, come, come, come, give me your hand. What's done cannot be undone.--to bed, to bed, to bed! HELENA A Midsummer Night s Dream Four of Shakespeare s funniest yet deeply sincere characters are found in A Midsummer Night s Dream, Shakespeare s magical play on the frustrations of love. They are of course the love-stricken Helena, Hermia, Lysander and Demetrious. Helena is desperately in love with Demetrious who is desperately in love with Hermia who is desperately in love with Lysander who desperately loves her back (Hermia that is). But Hermia s dad wants her to marry Demetrious whom she hates. Hermia does what any high-spirited lass would do; she runs away with her love into the woods. Demetrious hears about her plan to run away with Lysander and does what 7

8 any jealous boy would do; he follows them into the wood. Helena, desperate for Demetrious love, does what any love-sick girl would do and chases after Demetrious. Eventually the lovers all get tired and fall asleep in the woods. Puck, an impish spirit of the forest with a wicked sense of humour, stumbles across the sleeping lovers and does what any fairy Imp of the forest would do: he pours a fantastical love potion into their eyes. When the lovers wake they all magically fall in love with the wrong person. To watch a cartoon video that explains the story of A Midsummer Night s Dream please cut and pastes this link into your browser: In the performance you see Helena just as she has catches up to Demetrious in the woods. Write a short paragraph explaining how she tries to make Demetrious fall in love with her. (What does she say to him? What does she do to him?) How do you feel about her? (Can you relate to her situation? Should she just get over him? Should she fight harder for his love?) What do you think about Demetrious? (Is he right to reject Helena even though she loves him so much? Is he right to be chasing after Hermia even though she loves somebody else?) Helena has many flaws, she is spiteful and selfish and self obsessed. Yet she is also funny, lovable and her emotions and actions are understandable. Do real everyday people have these types of contradictions in their personalities? In Shakespeare s day arranged marriages were most common: Elizabethan women had very little choice. In A Midsummer Night s Dream Helena s friend Hermia has refused her father s command to marry Demetrious. Egeus is furious and implores the Duke of Venice for justice against his disobedient daughter. (Read Egeus speech to the Duke on the next page): 8

9 A Midsummer Night s Dream Act 1 Scene 1 Full of vexation come I, with complaint Against my child, my daughter Hermia. Stand forth, Demetrius. My noble lord, This man hath my consent to marry her. Stand forth, Lysander: and my gracious duke, This man hath bewitch'd the bosom of my child; Thou, thou, Lysander, thou hast given her rhymes, And interchanged love-tokens with my child: Thou hast by moonlight at her window sung, With feigning voice verses of feigning love, And stolen the impression of her fantasy With bracelets of thy hair, rings, gawds, conceits, Knacks, trifles, nosegays, sweetmeats, messengers Of strong prevailment in unharden'd youth: With cunning hast thou filch'd my daughter's heart, Turn'd her obedience, which is due to me, To stubborn harshness: and, my gracious duke, Be it so she; will not here before your grace Consent to marry with Demetrius, I beg the ancient privilege of Athens, As she is mine, I may dispose of her: Which shall be either to this gentleman Or to her death, according to our law Immediately provided in that case. 9

10 What are the accusations Egeus makes against Hermia and Lysander? How did Lysander steal Hermia s love? What will Egeus do if Hermia continues to disobey him? Are his threats legal under Athenian law? Do you think that Egeus should make these threats against his daughter? What would you advise her to do if she was your friend? Do parents always know what is best for their children? Arranged marriages still occur today in many countries. What is your opinion about arranged marriages? (Is it possible for people to meet, marry and THEN fall in love?) What happens to Helena, Hermia, Lysander and Demetrious in the end? What do you think Shakespeare is trying to say about love in A Midsummer Night s Dream? (Is love like a dream?) TITANIA A Scene from A Midsummer Night's Dream: Titania and Bottom (1848) by Edwin Landseer. 10

11 Oberon and Titania: the King and Queen of the fairies; are fighting. Oberon wants a magical changeling boy to be his servant: (a changeling is a fairy child that has been left in place of a human child stolen by the fairies.) Titania has adopted the child and will NOT GIVE HIM UP! To get revenge on his Queen, Oberon orders Puck to pour a drop of a magical love potion into Titania s eyes as she lies sleeping: when she wakes she will fall madly in love with the first living creature she sees: OBERON: Be it on lion, bear, or wolf, or bull, on meddling monkey, or on busy ape, She shall pursue it with the soul of love. Meanwhile a group of amateur actors are rehearsing a play in the forest. The biggest loud-mouth of the lot BOTTOM, a weaver by trade, is making such a racket that Puck, the mischievous Imp of the forest, decides to play a joke on him. He waits behind a bush and when Bottom is near, he magically turns him into a donkey. All the other actors, scared out of their wits, run away from Bottom leaving him alone in the woods. Bottom doesn t know what has happened to him and finding himself deserted gets really scared. To calm down he starts walking up and down singing a jaunty song, REALLY OUT OF TUNE...: BOTTOM:...La la the ousel cock so black of hue with orange tawny bill la la la la... Titania asleep in her fairy bower is woken by this very strange sound and straightway on seeing BOTTOM falls in love with YOU GUESSED IT an ASS. Shakespeare s forest is the world of dreams, a world of the imagination: a fairy kingdom where anything is possible. This is the world that artists and lovers and dreamers inhabit, far away from the harsh realities of daily existence. Discussion or essay question on A Midsummer Night s Dream: In a world that seems to emphasise the need to study for a practical job, make lots of money, to buy a house and to take life seriously; what place is there for the world of dreams and the imagination? Nature is out of joint: Because of the fight between Oberon and Titania all of nature is in upheaval. Read the following speech of Titania s as she fights with Oberon: Titania fighting with Oberon Act 2 Scene 1:...never, since the middle summer's spring, Met we on hill, in dale, forest or mead, By paved fountain or by rushy brook, Or in the beached margent of the sea, To dance our ringlets to the whistling wind, But with thy brawls thou hast disturb'd our sport. 11

12 Therefore the winds, piping to us in vain, As in revenge, have suck'd up from the sea Contagious fogs; which falling in the land Have every pelting river made so proud That they have overborne their continents: The ox hath therefore stretch'd his yoke in vain, The ploughman lost his sweat, and the green corn Hath rotted ere his youth attain'd a beard; The fold stands empty in the drowned field, And crows are fatted with the murrion flock;......the moon, the governess of floods, Pale in her anger, washes all the air, That rheumatic diseases do abound: And thorough this distemperature we see The seasons alter: hoary-headed frosts Far in the fresh lap of the crimson rose, And on old Hiems' thin and icy crown An odorous chaplet of sweet summer buds Is, as in mockery, set: the spring, the summer, The childing autumn, angry winter, change Their wonted liveries, and the mazed world, By their increase, now knows not which is which: And this same progeny of evils comes From our debate, from our dissension; We are their parents and original. Make a list of everything mentioned in the speech above that is happening in the Athenian world because of the fight between Oberon and Titania. Use your imagination to make up an answer to the following question: Why do you think that the nature and the world are in upheaval just because the king and queen of the fairies are fighting? What happens in your world when you are fighting with a friend or family member? (How do you feel? How do they feel? What does it do to your world? I.e. To other people, to classmates, to neighbours, to brothers, sisters, pets in the house etc..?) Bottom the donkey Oberon gets revenge on Titania by making her fall in love (for a little while) with a donkey, who turns out to be BOTTOM the weaver. What do you think about Oberon s joke on his wife? BOTTOM is one of the most loved characters in Shakespeare. What is your opinion of him? Do you think he deserves to be one of the most loved of Shakespeare s characters? 12

13 CLEOPATRA o Describe the scene with Cleopatra and the messenger in thirty words or less starting with the words; A messenger tells Cleopatra that... o A common expression in life is Don t shoot the messenger. What does this expression mean? o What relevance does this expression have to the scene you saw in the performance featuring Cleopatra and the messenger? o Why does Cleopatra behave the way she did? o The scene is known as tragicomical. Which means it combines both tragedy and comedy. How did the scene do this? (Explain what was funny and what was sad in the scene). o How do you feel when you receive bad news? 13

14 o Do you want to attack the person who brings the news like Cleo did? o Describe Cleo s personality or character. o How do you feel when you have to tell someone some news that you know will upset them? o Does it take courage to deliver bad news? Jealousy o In Othello Shakespeare gives a man called IAGO the following lines: beware, my lord, of jealousy! It is the green-eyed monster which doth mock the meat it feeds on. What does this mean? Think about when you have been jealous o What was the result of these feelings? o Did these feelings help or hurt your relationship with the people you were jealous of? o Were they positive or negative emotions? Why does Shakespeare call jealousy a Green-eyed monster? o Does jealousy hurt the person who feels it more than anyone else? o Is there a positive side to feeling jealous? Jealousy is a natural feeling which we all have from time to time, so given that it is normal how can we use this quote to improve our lives? Love appears to be at the heart of many of Shakespeare s plays. The murderous Macbeth and Lady Macbeth were deeply in love and when she dies Macbeth is heartbroken and seems to give up on life, he says: Out, out, brief candle! Life s but a walking shadow, a poor player That struts and frets his hour upon the stage And then is heard no more; it is a tale Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, Signifying nothing. Romeo and Juliet both die for their love. When Juliet awakens to find her Romeo dead at her side she says: JULIET What's here? a cup, closed in my true love's hand? Poison, I see, hath been his timeless end: O churl! drunk all, and left no friendly drop 14

15 To help me after? I will kiss thy lips; Haply some poison yet doth hang on them, To make die with a restorative. (She kisses him) Thy lips are warm. Yea, noise? then I'll be brief. O happy dagger! (Snatching ROMEO's dagger) This is thy sheath; (Stabs herself) there rust, and let me die.. In A Midsummer Night s Dream Helena says: HELENA Love looks not with the eyes, but with the mind, And therefore is winged Cupid painted blind. Helena means that love is more than a simple attraction of beauty with the eyes: it is a deep attraction of the heart, mind and soul. In Antony and Cleopatra: Antony dies first and Cleopatra will not live without him. Accompanied by her crying handmaidens, Cleopatra follows her love into death; she allows an Asp (a venomous snake) to strike her breast: The Death of Cleopatra by Reginald Arthur,

16 CLEOPATRA...is it sin To rush into the secret house of death, Ere death dare come to us? How do you, women? What, what! good cheer! Why, how now, Charmian! My noble girls! Ah, women, women, look, Our lamp is spent, it's out! Take heart: We'll bury him; and then, what's brave, what's noble, Let's do it after the high Roman fashion, And make death proud to take us. Come, away: This case of that huge spirit now is cold: Ah, women, women! come; we have no friend But resolution, and the briefest end. Discussion or essay question: Why is love such an important part of Shakespeare s plays? (In your answer or discussion please refer to examples from a couple of plays). 16

17 Juliet and her Nurse o Write a short description of what happens in Romeo and Juliet ending with the words...and then Juliet dies. o On what mission has Juliet sent her nurse? o Does the nurse give Juliet her good news straight away? (Refer to the comic above to refresh your memory). o Why does the nurse tease Juliet like this? o The nurse tells Juliet that in choosing Romeo she has made a simple choice ; in modern English this means he is a poor choice of a man. Does the nurse really mean this? Read through her speech below and explain what the nurse really means: Well, you have made a simple choice; you know not how to choose a man: Romeo! no, not he; though his face be better than any man's, yet his leg excels all men's; and for a hand, and a foot, and a body, though they be not to be talked on, yet they are past compare: he is not the flower of courtesy, but, I'll warrant him, as gentle as a lamb. Go thy ways, wench; serve God. 17

18 True Love The course of true love never did run smooth o In 2016 Alan Rickman died of cancer: he played Severus Snape in the Harry Potter films. Alan had been together with his childhood sweetheart Rima Horton for fifty years but they only just married three years before he died. Rima had all the legal rights of a spouse; so why would they marry after forty seven years together? After the wedding Alan told a newspaper: "We are married, just recently. It was great, because no one was there. What do you think he meant by that? Alan said: I think every relationship should be allowed to have its own rules. She's tolerant. Unbelievably tolerant. Possibly a candidate for sainthood." What does this suggest about the nature of relationships? What are the important things to build and develop when you are in a relationship? What are important personal traits that you should work on to help your relationships with people grow stronger? What personal traits should you try to change to sustain relationships? LYSANDER: The course of true love never did run smooth. What does Lysander mean in this quote from A Midsummer Night s Dream? 18

19 The Taming of the Shrew The Taming of the Shrew is a love story between Kate and Petruchio. It is often criticised as being sexist and misogynistic. But is it? Yes, it does dramatise a battle between a man and a woman and yes it does dramatise humiliation and taming ; but why? Is it perhaps that two people cannot find true love until each sees the world through the other s eyes, until each gives everything to the other? If you have a spare hour, please watch this wonderful documentary Kiss me Petruchio about the 1974 Shakespeare in the Park, New York production starring Meryl Streep and Raul Julia. Part minutes. Part minutes. Class discussion: What is the play s message about the nature of love? 19

20 Ophelia In the play Hamlet OPHELIA dies in a watery grave. When down her weedy trophies and herself. Fell in the weeping brook. Her clothes spread wide; And, mermaid-like, awhile they bore her up. In her last scene in the play she appears on stage clutching a posy of mixed herbs. Her father is dead at the hands of the man she loves: Hamlet who has also recently rejected her. Ophelia sings a strange song as she passes the herbs amongst the court. She appears mad. Read OPHELIA s song below and discuss what has caused this apparent madness: OPHELIA How should I your true-love know From another one? By his cockle bat and' staff And his sandal shoon. GERTRUDE: Alas, sweet lady, what imports this song? OPHELIA: Say you? Nay, pray You mark. (Sings) He is dead and gone, lady, He is dead and gone; At his head a grass-green turf, At his heels a stone. To-morrow is Saint Valentine's day, All in the morning bedtime, And I a maid at your window, To be your Valentine. Then up he rose and donn'd his clo'es And dupp'd the chamber door, Let in the maid, that out a maid Never departed more. [Sings] By Gis and by Saint Charity, Alack, and fie for shame! Young men will do't if they come to't By Cock, they are to blame. Quoth she, 'Before you tumbled me, You promis'd me to wed.' He answers: 'So would I 'a' done, by yonder sun, An thou hadst not come to my bed.' 20

21 PUCK a midsummer night s dream If we shadows have offended, Think but this and all is mended, That you have but slumber'd here While these visions did appear. And this weak and idle theme, No more yielding but a dream... On this page which is the best picture of PUCK and why? Why can PUCK be played by a woman or a man or a child? 21