Remember Who You Are

Okay, I must be honest. I have definitely been looking forward to this post for a while. For two reasons:

1) Hamlet is probably my favorite, if not one of my favorite, Shakespeare plays. and
2) I have been DYING to make the comparison between two things that I love: Shakespeare's Hamlet & Disney's The Lion King.

The "Play" Is the Thing: Merchant of Venice for Kids

The play we saw on Saturday was definitely an awesome experience. It was really interesting to see how the Young Company tailored the Merchant of Venice for a young audience, and made it "kid-friendly". All the bright costumes and fun props which the kids got to take part in made it entertaining to witness. I loved the little boy who played Bassonio's friend. Although he didn't actually have any lines, he was so into what he was doing. His facial expressions went perfectly with how the character would react to Bassonio. It was adorable!

The Merchant of Venice

There was much about this play that I really enjoyed. I really liked the themes that are presented in it, the references to religion and this idea of prejudice against people who are different. The idea of mercy vs. justice was probably the one that I reflected on most when reading this play, however. This concept is shown through the conflict of Shylock and the other Christian characters. When Antonio is unable to repay the debt, and they are in court discussing this, the characters all expect Shylock to have mercy. Shylock refuses to do this, and asks what could possibly convince him to do so. Portia then makes this speech in reply to his question:

Animating Shakespeare: To Thine Own Self Be True

Alright. So after discussing in class yesterday about how we should be trying to incorporate our interests and majors into our studies of Shakespeare, I decided I would try to make some specific goals. I definitely want to bring my knowledge of animation and film into how I study Shakespeare. But how can I do this, specifically?

Men and Monsters

During my reading of The Tempest, I was also thumbing through an analysis of the play in hopes that I would be able to get a better understanding of what was going on. It's always convenient to have summaries and analyses of what Shakespeare has written so that I can make sure I'm following. As I was looking through this analysis, there was an interesting theme which was discussed. It was referred to as "the difficulty of distinguishing men from monsters". My mind seemed to cling to that idea. How interesting! What a concept to wrap my brain around.

My "Shakespearience"

Shakespeare has certainly always been a point of interest for me. In high school, I loved reading his plays and discussing the themes in my english classes. Although his writing style and some of the meaning seemed incredibly daunting to me, I enjoyed the learning experience.