Shakespeare's Clowns and Fools - Introduction
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Downloading a Movie to Watch Together on a Saturday Night
ADMISSION: FIGURING THE EARLY MODERN THEATRE by EVE PREUS B.A. (Honors), The University of Washington, 2004 M.A., The University of British Columbia, 2008 A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULLFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY in THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE AND POSTDOCTORAL STUDIES (English) THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA (Vancouver) December 2017 © Eve Preus, 2017 Abstract Drawing from theories of the theatre that interrogate the master image/metaphor of theatre-as-life, my thesis “Admission: Figuring the Early Modern Theatre” develops a poetics of admission, or a theory of early modern theatrical form that takes into account its penchant for metatheatrical device and its obsession with the incorporation of strangers. What is a stranger? What might it mean to integrate the Other into the self and into society? The theatre stages a face-to-face encounter between two ostensible strangers—the performers and the audience. At the level of the medium, then, is an interest in the ways we come to know and let others in. The early modern stage was extremely interested in this process, self-consciously experimenting with, interrogating, and evaluating the tensions and possibilities inherent in the articulation of the human via live illusion. While the influx and management of strangers were growing concerns in the burgeoning metropolis of early modern London, the theatre became a sight to organize these concerns in a way that, perhaps unconsciously, returned them to their metaphysical origins. My thesis examines several early modern characters that are strangers, or become strangers, within the communities of their respective play realities: the deposed King Richard II; the outcast Jewish money-lender, Shylock; the bastard son of Troy, Thersites; and the revenge tragedians and madmen, Hieronimo and Hamlet. -
The Validity of Hybridity in Derek Walcott's a Branch of the Blue Nile
View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by Academy Publication Online ISSN 1798-4769 Journal of Language Teaching and Research, Vol. 9, No. 1, pp. 97-107, January 2018 DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.17507/jltr.0901.12 The Validity of Hybridity in Derek Walcott’s A Branch of the Blue Nile Zohreh Ramin Department of English, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran Monireh Arvin Department of English, Alborz Campus, University of Tehran, Alborz, Iran Abstract―With A Branch of the Blue Nile (1983) Derek Walcott makes a strong statement for the validity of a hybrid West Indian culture. He portrays the relation between European, specifically English, as well as American and African culture as one that should not be marked by a hierarchy, placing the central culture and languages at the top and African or mixed cultures/languages at the bottom. Walcott’s strategy here is to show that the so–called standards, Shakespeare’s ‘classical’ plays and their language are already of a hybrid nature, and any attempt to characterise them as homogenous entities and preserve them as such may ultimately result in their inertness. What threatens a civilisation or culture, according to Walcott, is not some form of hybridity, but rather the closing off or preservation of artistic forms from other foreign influences because it makes these artistic forms incapable of interacting with the surrounding cultural environment. The authors of this paper while appreciating all the orchestrated bonus of the existing relevant criticisms on hybridity towards Walcott’s A Branch of the Blue Nile intend to examine the use of Bakhtinian notions with regard to language exemplifying Bakhtin’s view of linguistic interanimation and his insights into the “polyglotic” and “heteroglotic” nature of the play. -
Lavinia Roberts Big Dog Publishing
Lavinia Roberts Big Dog Publishing Shakespeare’s Next Top Fool 2 Copyright © 2018, Lavinia Roberts ALL RIGHTS RESERVED Shakespeare’s Next Top Fool is fully protected under the copyright laws of the United States of America, and all of the countries covered by the Universal Copyright Convention and countries with which the United States has bilateral copyright relations including Canada, Mexico, Australia, and all nations of the United Kingdom. Copying or reproducing all or any part of this book in any manner is strictly forbidden by law. No part of this book may be stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form by any means including mechanical, electronic, photocopying, recording, or videotaping without written permission from the publisher. A royalty is due for every performance of this play whether admission is charged or not. A “performance” is any presentation in which an audience of any size is admitted. The name of the author must appear on all programs, printing, and advertising for the play and must also contain the following notice: “Produced by special arrangement with Big Dog/Norman Maine Publishing LLC, Rapid City, SD.” All rights including professional, amateur, radio broadcasting, television, motion picture, recitation, lecturing, public reading, and the rights of translation into foreign languages are strictly reserved by Big Dog/Norman Maine Publishing LLC, www.BigDogPlays.com, to whom all inquiries should be addressed. Big Dog Publishing P.O. Box 1401 Rapid City, SD 57709 Shakespeare’s Next Top Fool 3 Shakespeare’s Next Top Fool FARCE. In this reality-TV show, fools compete for the title of Shakespeare’s Next Top Fool. -
1. Shakespeare's Fools Costume Design
1. Shakespeare’s Fools Costume Design - Oliver Cronk, London College of Fashion Director - Caroline Williams Museum Location - The Dorothy and Michael Hintze Galleries The Fool questions, probes and provokes. He disrupts form to reveal truth. He is an agent that bends or gnaws at the ear of the powerful. Our Tribe of Fools revels in unearthing the hidden through lucid observation. It whispers, laughs and dances through the constraints of environments in which it exists. Our Tribe of Fools draws on characters from across Shakespeare’s plays (Feste, Touchstone, the Gravediggers and Lear’s Fool). Analysis of the characterization and narrative function of these figures has allowed us to essentialise a ‘stock’ fool, which serves a performative model for our work. As the Shakespearean fool disrupts and alters the narrative mechanics of the plays it inhabits, so our performance seeks to distort experience and question the environments in which it occurs, be they in provincial England, the V&A Sculpture Galleries or beyond. In addition to our live performance, we also present a short film interpretation of a journey made by Shakespeare’s own ‘fool’ collaborator, William Kempe. In 1601, Kempe danced the entire way from London to Norwich. In response, our fools dance the entire way back. 2. The Merry Owls of Windsock Costume Design - Max Johns, Bristol Old Vic School Museum Location - The John Madejski Garden “Why not reclaim our distinctively human heritage as creatures who can generate their own ecstatic pleasures out of music, colour, feasting, and dance?” (Barbara Ehrenreich) When designing costumes for Shakespeare’s Merry Wives of Windsor Max was persistently drawn to the final scene at Herne’s Oak. -
Shakespearean Supernatural Elements the Vast and Diverse
Shakespearean Supernatural Elements The vast and diverse powers in many forms of fiction feature characters attributed with superhuman, supernatural, or paranormal abilities, often referred to as ―superpowers‖ (also spelled ―super powers‖ and ―super-powers‖) or ―powers‖. The supernatural has been claimed to exist, which cannot be explained by the laws of nature, including things characteristic of or relating to ghosts, gods, or other types of spirits and other non-material beings, or to things beyond nature. Supernaturalism, as opposed to naturalism, is a belief in the supernatural in interpreting the world or attempting to control it. It can vary from those who believe that supernatural powers or entities are constantly or continuously intervening in the natural world to those who like Deists. Shakespeare‘s specific scenes focus the suspense and involvement of the supernatural. The use of witches, apparitions and ghosts are an important element in making the play interesting. Shakespeare has created immortal characters whose characteristics transcends those of the normal supernatural beings, but most students of literature agree that his uses of the supernatural aren‘t merely figments of his creative imagination. Every man, woman, and child is influenced by the age into which they are born and Shakespeare was no exception. Not only does his use of supernatural elements within his works reveal the Elizabethans‘ obsession with mythical beliefs, but it also reveals his attitude toward these beliefs at different points of his writing career. Witches appear in Macbeth, a ghost appears in Hamlet, and fairies appear in A Mid- Summer Nights Dream. In addition, magic cures are given in All‘s Well, evil curses are chanted in Richard III, and prophecies are told in Julius Caesar. -
The Food of Fools
THE FOOD OF FOOLS: AN ANALYSIS OF THE FOOLS’ GUSTATORY IMAGERY IN KING LEAR by Sara Rafferty Sparer A Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of The Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts Florida Atlantic University Boca Raton, Florida August 2009 ABSTRACT Author: Sara Rafferty Sparer Title: The Food of Fools: An Analysis of the Fools’ Gustatory Imagery in King Lear Institution: Florida Atlantic University Thesis Advisor: Dr. Emily Stockard Degree: Master of Arts in English Year: 2009 The character of the Fool in William Shakespeare's King Lear uses hitherto unexamined gustatory imagery as a linguistic device to achieve the literary fool’s function of imparting wisdom that masquerades as nonsense. While previous critics have analyzed the linguistic devices of puns, riddles, and rhymes used by medieval and Renaissance literary fools, this thesis argues not only that the Fool’s gustatory imagery constitutes the dominant motif in the play, but also employs food theory to demonstrate how these image patterns provide political commentary on the dramatic action. The Fool’s pattern of gustatory imagery is employed as well by characters who can be seen as variations on the wise fool. Through these characters, Shakespeare establishes a food chain motif that classifies some characters as all-consumptive, even cannibalistic, and others as their starving prey. The pattern of food imagery offers a range of perspectives, from highly critical to idealistic, on the play’s meaning -
RSC King Lear
CONTENTS Investigating the Design 2 Using letters to create 4 missing scenes Exploring staging challenges 6 in Act 1 Scene 4 King Lear is one of Shakespeare’s best known tragedies. In this pack are ideas for work with your students that has come directly from the rehearsal process for David Farr’s 2010 production. A director and actors together make interpretive choices. These are negotiated through rehearsal and result in a unique interpretation of the story and characters - their motivations and relationships. We have created the following activities directly from our experience in the rehearsal room. Registered charity no. 21248 Page 1 of 13 © RSC David Farr, the director of the 2010 production has worked closely with the designer John Bausor to come up with the design of the production. This activity will help your students explore the process of design and the design of this production in particular. The Director and Designer decided that the central theme of this play is a regime change. The new generation which inherits Lear’s property has very different values to Lear’s own. This theme links clearly to two possible changes in Shakespeare’s own time that may have inspired him to write the play. The first is the Enclosure Riots. The second is the country’s changing religious standpoint from Catholicism to Protestantism. Explain the design concept to the students – you might want to give them information about the societal changes in Shakespeare’s time too, or set this as a research task for homework. Explain to the students that the Director and Designer decided to represent regime change using the First World War. -
King Lear, Henry V, Romeo and Juliet, and Others
Folger Shakespeare Library https://shakespeare.folger.edu/ Get even more from the Folger You can get your own copy of this text to keep. Purchase a full copy to get the text, plus explanatory notes, illustrations, and more. Buy a copy Contents From the Director of the Folger Shakespeare Library Front Textual Introduction Matter Synopsis Characters in the Play Scene 1 Scene 2 ACT 1 Scene 3 Scene 4 Scene 5 Scene 1 Scene 2 ACT 2 Scene 3 Scene 4 Scene 1 Scene 2 Scene 3 ACT 3 Scene 4 Scene 5 Scene 6 Scene 7 Scene 1 Scene 2 Scene 3 ACT 4 Scene 4 Scene 5 Scene 6 Scene 7 Scene 1 ACT 5 Scene 2 Scene 3 From the Director of the Folger Shakespeare Library It is hard to imagine a world without Shakespeare. Since their composition four hundred years ago, Shakespeare’s plays and poems have traveled the globe, inviting those who see and read his works to make them their own. Readers of the New Folger Editions are part of this ongoing process of “taking up Shakespeare,” finding our own thoughts and feelings in language that strikes us as old or unusual and, for that very reason, new. We still struggle to keep up with a writer who could think a mile a minute, whose words paint pictures that shift like clouds. These expertly edited texts are presented to the public as a resource for study, artistic adaptation, and enjoyment. By making the classic texts of the New Folger Editions available in electronic form as The Folger Shakespeare (formerly Folger Digital Texts), we place a trusted resource in the hands of anyone who wants them. -
Comparing the Daughters in King Lear and a Thousand Acres
University of Mary Washington Eagle Scholar Student Research Submissions Spring 5-4-2018 Reclaiming Independence: Comparing the Daughters in King Lear and A Thousand Acres Zachary Caldwell Follow this and additional works at: https://scholar.umw.edu/student_research Part of the English Language and Literature Commons Recommended Citation Caldwell, Zachary, "Reclaiming Independence: Comparing the Daughters in King Lear and A Thousand Acres" (2018). Student Research Submissions. 243. https://scholar.umw.edu/student_research/243 This Honors Project is brought to you for free and open access by Eagle Scholar. It has been accepted for inclusion in Student Research Submissions by an authorized administrator of Eagle Scholar. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Caldwell 1 Zachary Caldwell Dr. Mathur ENGL 491 4 May 2018 Reclaiming Independence: Comparing the Daughters in King Lear and A Thousand Acres In his book, Shakespeare and Modern Popular Culture, Douglas Lanier analyzes how authors adapt Shakespeare to the current era and provides some methods that authors use to do so. Jane Smiley adopts two of these methods of reoriented and interpolated narrative in her novel, A Thousand Acres, to shift William Shakespeare’s patriarchal play, King Lear, into a feminist text through the perspective and actions of the three daughters, Ginny, Rose, and Caroline. Lanier explains that a reoriented narrative is one “in which the narrative is told from a different point of view” (83). A Thousand Acres shifts from the point of view centralized around King Lear to the eldest daughter in the novel, Ginny. An interpolated narrative is one “in which new plot material is dovetailed with the plot of the source” (Lanier 83), meaning that some plot points are added, subtracted, and/or altered from the original text. -
A Play of Human Frailty: Shakespeare’S Measure for Measure
Corso di Laurea magistrale ( ordinamento ex D.M. 270/2004 ) In Lingue e Letterature Europee Americane e Postcoloniali Tesi di Laurea A Play of Human Frailty: Shakespeare’s Measure for Measure Relatore Prof. Valerio di Vianino de Scarpis Correlatore Prof. Shaul Bassi Laureando Sara Rusconi Matricola 822708 Anno Accademico 2012 / 2013 Contents Introduction 2 1. The Genre of Comedy in Shakespeare’s time 5 1.1. Shakespeare’s comedy 9 1.2. Introduction to the “Problem Plays” 13 2. Labeling Measure for Measure 22 2.1. Sources 35 3. The Characters 54 3.1. The Disguised Ruler 54 3.2. The Duke’s Surrogate 84 3.3. Women in Measure for Measure 104 3.4 . Comic Characters 132 Conclusion: A Failed Happy Ending 151 Bibliography 155 ~ 1 ~ Introduction William Shakespeare wrote most of his works toward the end of the sixteenth century, including tragedies, comedies and history plays. Nevertheless, toward the last part of his career, in the first years of the seventeenth century, his style changed, offering a range of plays which differ from the traditional canon. It’s in this period that Measure for Measure (Fig.1) made its first appearance, seemingly on the 26 th December 1604, as part of the Christmas royal entertainments, just shortly after the accession to the throne of England of King James I 1.The following work deals precisely with Measure for Measure . The nature of this play is quite ambiguous, because it cannot be listed among the tragedies or the comedies, nor is it a history play. So what? This dissertation is going to try to throw some light on this question. -
Incest in a Thousdand Acres: Cheap Trick Or Feminist Re-Vision
Texas A&M University School of Law Texas A&M Law Scholarship Faculty Scholarship 10-2001 Incest in a Thousdand Acres: Cheap Trick or Feminist Re-vision Susan Ayres Texas A&M University School of Law, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarship.law.tamu.edu/facscholar Part of the Family Law Commons, Law and Society Commons, and the Legal History Commons Recommended Citation Susan Ayres, Incest in a Thousdand Acres: Cheap Trick or Feminist Re-vision, 11 Tex. J. Women & L. 131 (2001). Available at: https://scholarship.law.tamu.edu/facscholar/267 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by Texas A&M Law Scholarship. It has been accepted for inclusion in Faculty Scholarship by an authorized administrator of Texas A&M Law Scholarship. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Texas Journal of Women and the Law Volume 11 INCEST IN A THOUSAND ACRES: CHEAP TRICK OR FEMINIST RE-VISION? Susan Ayres* I. Introduction .............................................. 131 II. Smiley's Feminist Re-vision .............................. 133 III. The Longing for the Mother .............................. 137 IV . Incest by the Father ...................................... 141 A. The Role of the Narrative ............................ 142 B. Is Smiley's Rewriting a Cheap Trick? ................. 143 C. Smiley's Rewriting Serves a Feminist Purpose - but W hich O ne? ........ ................................. 145 V . C onclusion ............................................... 154 You are entitled to have your story told in your language ...or the law is failing.1 I. Introduction In the Pulitzer Prize-winning A Thousand Acres,2 Jane Smiley re- writes King Lear3 from the older daughters' perspectives, because "[bleginning with [her] first readings of the play in high school and contin- * Visiting Associate Professor, Texas Wesleyan University School of Law. -
Fools, Clowns, Jesters: an Attempt to Understand Certain Low Comic Héroes in Shakespeare
BIBLID 1136-3169 (2004-2005) pp. 283-294 FOOLS, CLOWNS, JESTERS: AN ATTEMPT TO UNDERSTAND CERTAIN LOW COMIC HÉROES IN SHAKESPEARE TERESA GUERRA BOSCH Universidad de Las Palmas Gran Canaria RESUMEN Shakespeare creó tantos personajes cómicos —no sólo en sus comedias sino también en sus obras más trágicas— que intentar clasificarlos parece una tarea imposible. Sin embargo, con la ayuda de parte de la reciente investigación en las comedias de Shakespeare, y limitándonos en este ensayo al estudio de los "héroes cómicos" que podríamos denominar "fools", (el "fool" oficial que suele ser más inteligente y cuerdo que el resto de los personajes, y que aparece en King Lear o tal vez Feste; el simplón, aquel upo de personaje más limitado mentalmente como los "mecánicos" en Midsummer Night's Dream, los "tedious fools" tipo Pollonius y finalmente todos aquellos que no pertenecen a ninguna de las tres clases mencionadas). ABSTRACT Wüliam Shakespeare drew so many different comic héroes —not only in his comedies but also in his tragedles and histories— that to attempt a classification of them seems a daunting task. However, with the help of much of the recent research on Shakespeare's comedies and comic héroes, and limiting myself in the present essay to the study of some of his comic characters that wiU qualify as fools, (the so-called fools who happen to be wiser than anybody else, the type of fool we see in Ki»g Lear or perhaps Feste; the simpletons, the simplest of them all like the mechanicals of Midsummer Night's Dream, and those "tedious fools," those fools that are merely in- between), this essay will clarify Shakespeare's use of low comic humour.