Othello Pt. I

Othello Act I

In Act I, the reader learns about most characters through the filter of Iago and Roderigo's representation. Iago sets himself to be the villain and is honest to no one but the audience, as he lets his audience know about all of his malicious intentions. He is loyal to no other than himself and his interests, and misleads even Roderigo. Before even meeting Othello, the audience has established an opinion about him, solely because of the talk happening between Roderigo and Iago. At least for myself, their talk makes Othello an innocent character before even meeting him. Sympathy is established because of Roderigo and Iago's evil plans for Othello's demise. The anticipation of meeting Othello and his overall nature made diving into reading the play a much easier process than when reading other stories.

The Tempest Pt. II

The Tempest Acts 3, 4, & 5

Prospero's famous epilogue in The Tempest has been suggested to represent the playwright himself. Prospero's final farewell to the audience can be seen as Shakespeare's farewell to his audience. Prospero's speech about using magic to manipulate those around him, to control their minds and destinies, is essentially what Shakespeare has done as a living. He has created and molded characters. He has decided their intentions and their destinies, and knows every ending because of his absolute power over his characters. When Prospero forgives the ever-so flawed people surrounding him, he realizes that amongst these flaws, love, humor, and surprise can still exist and that these things can be beautiful. Likewise, Shakespeare has an appreciation for the differences in character the human condition carries. He knows that these differences fill the world with intricate people with lives full of ups and downs; Shakespeare finds beauty in every difference, good or bad.

The Tempest Pt. I

The Tempest Acts I & 2

During Acts I and II of Shakespeare's The Tempest, a certain innocence is exhibited by various characters both foreign to the island and on the island itself. For instance, Miranda and Caliban, both of whom already resided on the island before the shipwreck, are innocent to outside influence and evil intentions. Although Caliban can be seen as "bad" himself, many people only put such a reputation on him because of his mere appearance, when in reality, Caliban had evil thrust onto him because of the way he was born and from whom he was born from. Sycorax, the witch who resided on the island before Prospero, gave birth to Caliban and because of this, one might think that Caliban is as evil as his mother. A more proper interpretation of his character, especially up until what we see in Act II is that he is expected to be as evil as his mother. He is gullible and almost welcoming of others, as we learn that he helped Prospero in the beginning of Prospero's arriving to the island, and his helpfulness towards Stephano and Trinculo. There seems to be a yearning to belong and to be accepted within Caliban. On the other hand, Miranda is also an innocent character; she is sheltered by her father and has little knowledge of the outside world and her own past. She lacks identity and falls easily for the first man she meets. Both characters are naive and trusting because of their lack of knowledge about the realities of the the world.

Sonnets

Shakespeare's fascination with the youth of the young man is truly impressive, albeit a bit obsessive. To write 126 sonnets about this man's youth and show so much urgency to preserve his beauty through procreation is just remarkable to me! In a good way, of course. It is interesting to see what the worries and thoughts of someone in the 17th century were. Sonnet 18, being the one I've read the most, definitely sounds the prettiest to me. To compare someone to something as beautiful as a summer's day and then to go on further and say "thou art more lovely and more temperate" (line 2), makes me want to do nothing but read stories about love and watch The Notebook. I remember reading this particular sonnet back in high school, and falling in love with Shakespeare, thinking someday a nice guy would somehow speak in iambic pentameter and quatrains and couplets. The day never came, but alas it was a nice thought. :) Whomever this was written to definitely became immortal, as the couplet at the end implies they would be. That is such a beautiful concept, that someone could go on living forever, simply because you were the muse of the words written and read over and over again in the future.