we are asked today to write about examples from the movie Shakespeare in Love or facts that we've read about in Shakespeare's World that somehow stood out to us and of which we thought had an impact on his writting. with no particular order i choose to write about the following:
1- in the movie the women of Shakespeare's time had no more value then to be a bed companion and possess the ability to bare children. i found this ironic because england has been known to have some of the most amazing rulers of its time many of which happen to be females. shakespeare probably saw the irony of this and probably wished to either express his disagreement or his irony to this matter by making the heroines of his plays to be strong characters. ie Caterina in THE TAMING OF THE SHREW; Desdemona, OTHELLO; Juliet, ROMEO AND JULIETA. these ladies all had strong wills and were not afraid to go against anyone for what they wanted.
2-the death of his characters happen to be SO DRAMATIC! before someone dies, or kills themselves or another then a dramatic speech is made and the act is turned into something poetic. ironic because according to the handout SHAKESPEARE'S WORLD death in the times of shakespeare were simply gruesome, public displays of slaughters. it was customary that some 20 to 30 people were executed in one day. so i guess this may have influenced shakespeare's writting in that he may have wanted to show people this this act which has been taken and turned into something ordinary and common should not be taken so lightly and that people deserve to be given some sort of respect in their last hours.
3-the men of shakespeares time considering their views of women seem to me to be very pesimistic towards love. since women were treated so poorly and used for just about only two important thing (sex and reproduction) they didnt see fit to believe in love. in the movie even the queen did not give it much credence. but shakespeare seemed to be a dreamer. he felt that in order to write he needed to be in love or believe to be in love. when he went to go visit the apothecary in the movie to talk about his lack of ability to write anything it was because he did not feel corresponded in his love to Rosaline (who happens to be a common whore because later on after confessing to her he finds her in bed with someone else leaving him heartbroken). shakespeare yearned to be in love and to show that this was more then just a fleeting emotion. he wished to show that this was something powerful and motivating that once truly found is not easily dismissed, (ie: sonnet #116) and also once found and lost it can be disastrous (ie: Venus prophecy on Love after Adonis death) could be one the reason why he is remebered for his great and oh so tragic love stories and remarkable sonnets.
5 comments:
Good entry! I think the film implied that part of the reason why it was hard to show love in a performance is that all characters are played by men (as hard as it is for us to understand today)--a very heterosexual vision of love, of course.
I agree that this was a very good entry. But I do find it hard to understand why plays had to played by men only. I think the "romantic" parts would of been a lot better with a woman playing the part rather than a man.
good writing and great imagination
Hi Annie, I read your piece on how women in Shakespeare's time were treated and couldn't help wonder if he was raised by a single mother or how influencial was his mother on his life. In other words: what role did his mother play in his life? I only wonder because from observing men who are impacted by the women in their life, tend to have more respect for women than other men may have. I notice Quentin Tarentinos
you made a very good point about the irony with the women.
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