I'll show thee the best springs; I'll pluck thee berries;I'll fish for thee and get thee wood enough.A plague upon the tyrant that I serve!I'll bear him no more sticks, but follow thee,Thou wondrous man.
I was a bit curious as to why he had decided to do something like this yet again, because isn't this what he had done before with the duke? He showed him the land and how to live on it and in return he enslaved him for it, why would he assume Stephano or Trinculo would be different?
SEBASTIAN As if it had lungs and rotten ones. ANTONIO Or as 'twere perfumed by a fen.
The banter between Sebastian and Antonio is remanence of the kinds of conversations between Fred and George in harry potter, very easy going and silly, I do wonder if they purposely did this to mask the cruel intentions they had towards the king in obtaining his power.
No harm.I have done nothing but in care of thee,Of thee, my dear one, thee, my daughter, whoArt ignorant of what thou art, nought knowingOf whence I am, nor that I am more betterThan Prospero, master of a full poor cell,And thy no greater father.
looking at this is kind of comical in a type of sick sense. He is basically saying "oh its ok to not be sad for all these people that just died cause I've been a great dad to you and you should know better than to feel that way", like do you want to talk about emotional repression to the max? No wonder she wants to fight against her father.
Had I been any god of power, I wouldHave sunk the sea within the earth or ereIt should the good ship so have swallow'd andThe fraughting souls within her.
I was personally wondering why she was so saddened at the wreak of the ship, was it her fathers ship? because she talked like she didn't know any one from the ship, she was just assuming that there were noble men aboard. Is this supposed to imply early on that Miranda is wistful or empathetic? I assume that it is an attempt to show her type of loving nature early on in the play.
Now, Ursula, when Beatrice doth come,As we do trace this alley up and down,Our talk must only be of Benedick.When I do name him, let it be thy partTo praise him more than ever man did merit:My talk to thee must be how BenedickIs sick in love with Beatrice. Of this matterIs little Cupid's crafty arrow made,That only wounds by hearsay.
While I do believe that these lies had no malice behind them and only brought pre-existing feelings to the surface, it does make me wonder how no one got angry at each other. They still straight lied to Beatrice and Benedick to get them to admit their feelings, and while it did end happily it is still a crappy thing to do to lie to people you care about. I know they say in the end that they must have been misinformed but how or why was this never confronted?
[Reading out of a scroll]Done to death by slanderous tonguesWas the Hero that here lies:
I know that this maybe something that was supposed to make me feel sympathy for Claudio's broken heart but the only thing that went through my head is "this is what you get for not communicating with your wife to be and taking the word of people who didn't know what they were talking about" The shaming of Hero could've been avoided if people had just talked to one another! It's like this is the comedy version of Othello.
Another Hero!
This part has always perplexed me, I didn't think that they were going to prolong the charade of Hero's death after she had been forgiven. I can kind of understand why but if she has been forgiven and it has been proven that her cheating was a lie why does she need to pretend to be a different person for the rest of her life?
Good Margaret, run thee to the parlor;There shalt thou find my cousin BeatriceProposing with the prince and Claudio:Whisper her ear and tell her, I and UrsulaWalk in the orchard and our whole discourseIs all of her; say that thou overheard'st us;And bid her steal into the pleached bower,Where honeysuckles, ripen'd by the sun,Forbid the sun to enter, like favourites,Made proud by princes, that advance their prideAgainst that power that bred it: there will she hide her,To listen our purpose. This is thy office;Bear thee well in it and leave us alone.
This scene and the scene before it are wonderful layouts of the other characters creating this bond of love between Beatrice and Benedick. It does make me wonder how much of these feelings for one another were there before the deceit, Mrs. Grindle believes that there was none before and it made me really think about it. I can see what she means but it seemed to easy for these people to manipulate Beatrice and Benedick into liking each other, which makes me believe that it was there but they were repressing it because they didn't want to admit their feelings for one another.
I wonder that you will still be talking, SigniorBenedick: nobody marks you.
I think this part is kind of comical because she basically tells Benedick to shut up for no reason, I never truly figured out why she hates Benedick so much, because its not just the fact that she wants to be single because she doesn't treat all men like that. I'm guessing it is because she's always had feelings for him and was fighting to suppress it by treating him badly.
I will go tell him of fair Hermia's flight:Then to the wood will he to-morrow nightPursue her; and for this intelligenceIf I have thanks, it is a dear expense:But herein mean I to enrich my pain,To have his sight thither and back again.
When I first read through this section I couldn't help but think "is this girl dumb?" because this would've been a great opportunity for her to have the woman that stood in the way of her having the man she so longed for just disappear, but instead she's "ah, let me lead him back to her so he can marry someone that isn't me." it just didn't make sense to me that she was going to lead this man back to the woman he loved instead of taking her chance to take her place.
Perchance till after Theseus' wedding-day.If you will patiently dance in our roundAnd see our moonlight revels, go with us;If not, shun me, and I will spare your haunts.
I have to think that this is the start of Oberon's plan to play with Titania and make her look like a fool, and its baffling to me that he gets so angry with her when she offered him to stay, she had things to do but didn't tell him he couldn't join her, this just verifies the thought that Oberon is the ass of this play, not bottom.
What say you, Hermia? be advised fair maid:To you your father should be as a god;One that composed your beauties, yea, and oneTo whom you are but as a form in waxBy him imprinted and within his powerTo leave the figure or disfigure it.Demetrius is a worthy gentleman.
Here is that underlining misogyny that I brought up in the discussion post. I know this was aligned with the views of this time, but comparing a man to god (even the man that helped to give you life) seems like a bit much. Not to mention he is using this comparison to tell her that she needs to choose the man he wants because what she thinks doesn’t matter, even if she's the one that has to live with the choice.
[Rising] Never, Regan:She hath abated me of half my train;Look'd black upon me; struck me with her tongue,Most serpent-like, upon the very heart:All the stored vengeances of heaven fallOn her ingrateful top! Strike her young bones,You taking airs, with lameness!
This shows how arrogant the king actually is, he is basically saying, because your sister won’t proclaim her love for me before all that she will never have my forgiveness or love again, but you claimed you love me, so care for me and the large number of men that trail behind me. It makes sense why the sisters snapped in the end, but that doesn’t necessarily justify trying to murder him.
I do not well know, my lord. If it shall pleaseyou to suspend your indignation against mybrother till you can derive from him bettertestimony of his intent, you shall run a certaincourse; where, if you violently proceed againsthim, mistaking his purpose, it would make a greatgap in your own honour, and shake in pieces theheart of his obedience. I dare pawn down my lifefor him, that he hath wrote this to feel myaffection to your honour, and to no furtherpretence of danger.
This is one of the only parts in the play where Edmund appears to make any sense, He spends a lot of this play acting like a tool (for lack of a better term), but his plea for the sake of his brother actually holds some ground, especially with the foresight of how Edgar becomes a virtuous and redeemable character in the end.
Unhappy that I am, I cannot heaveMy heart into my mouth: I love your majestyAccording to my bond; nor more nor less.
The beginning of this play is rather misleading, Cordelia proclaims her love in the least for her father, while her treacherous sisters rave on about their love for their father. This is what angers the king in the first place, and causes the discord in the beginning of the play, and sadly this distrust in Cordelia and blind trust in her sisters is what causes the king to be undone.
That heaven had made her such a man: she thank'd me,And bade me, if I had a friend that loved her,I should but teach him how to tell my story.And that would woo her. Upon this hint I spake:She loved me for the dangers I had pass'd,And I loved her that she did pity them.This only is the witchcraft I have used:
I actually really appreciate the subtext here, because with how abruptly this play begins, it helps the audience create a connection to this couple that is the focus of the play. After reading it, it is rather saddening though, they were really guilty of nothing but loving each other and they die for it.
With nought but truth. I have wasted myself out ofmy means. The jewels you have had from me todeliver to Desdemona would half have corrupted avotarist: you have told me she hath received themand returned me expectations and comforts of suddenrespect and acquaintance, but I find none.
This scene in retrospect is rather saddening, this was that one chance to turn events around and save the lives of many people who were innocent of wrongdoing. If Iago’s golden tongue hadn’t tricked Roderigo along with many others through the play, so much pain could have been avoided. And this was a futile breath of hope, that Roderigo would finally see how he was being used and abused, but he was swayed by sweet thoughts and words from Iago, who instead brings brief and cold death not long after this scene.
The tyrant custom, most grave senators,Hath made the flinty and steel couch of warMy thrice-driven bed of down: I do agniseA natural and prompt alacrityI find in hardness, and do undertakeThese present wars against the Ottomites.Most humbly therefore bending to your state,I crave fit disposition for my wife.Due reference of place and exhibition,With such accommodation and besortAs levels with her breeding.
In this section, he is discussing the prospect of war with the ottomites and the impact this may mean for his lifestyle back home. It may not have been something he had originally wanted or planned for, but if he is to look at the onslaught of war to ensure the safety of his future children, he is willing to fight. I believe that is what he was getting at when talking about the breeding of his wife.
Though in the trade of war I have slain men,Yet do I hold it very stuff o' the conscienceTo do no contrived murder: I lack iniquitySometimes to do me service: nine or ten timesI had thought to have yerk'd him here under the ribs.
This is Iago’s way of trying to vocalize his morality and his basic standards, how he is ok with killing men in battle but murder is abhorred and ugly to him. I think it is almost comical listening to him spout off about his moral compass and what he believes is justifiable when you know the damage and death he is able to cause by being a lying scumbag.
'Zounds, sir, you're robb'd; for shame, put onyour gown;Your heart is burst, you have lost half your soul;Even now, now, very now, an old black ramIs topping your white ewe. Arise, arise;Awake the snorting citizens with the bell,Or else the devil will make a grandsire of you:Arise, I say.
This section helps to take the shape of the moral and personal stances of these characters and who they are to become later in the play. It outlines Roderigo as overly cocky and sure of himself, while Brabantio is this arrogant old man who is in denial about where his daughter's heart lies.
This becomes the great.Sorry am I his numbers are so few,His soldiers sick and famish'd in their march,For I am sure, when he shall see our army,He'll drop his heart into the sink of fearAnd for achievement offer us his ransom.
This sets the scene for how downtrodden henry and his men were starting to feel, so much so that the French were even starting to notice. This could be seen as a good thing, because it gave the French an ignorant sense of victory and they started to underestimate their threat.
For never two such kingdoms did contendWithout much fall of blood; whose guiltless dropsAre every one a woe, a sore complaint'Gainst him whose wrong gives edge unto the swordsThat make such waste in brief mortality.Under this conjuration, speak, my lord;For we will hear, note and believe in heartThat what you speak is in your conscience wash'dAs pure as sin with baptism.
This section seems to look a lot like the speeches we were reviewing in class, but he talks with almost a sense of contention because he knows exactly what is to come; rather than the rousing and almost uplifting tones he tried to use later on. I can't tell if this is better or worse for the image of Henry because it shows that he wasn't being rash and knew what he was sacrificing, but what he was sacrificing was the lives of the very people he was supposed to be leading.
O Kate, nice customs curtsy to great kings. DearKate, you and I cannot be confined within the weaklist of a country's fashion: we are the makers ofmanners, Kate; and the liberty that follows ourplaces stops the mouth of all find-faults; as I willdo yours, for upholding the nice fashion of yourcountry in denying me a kiss: therefore, patientlyand yielding.Kissing her
While Henry is doing his best to try and win Katherine over with his way of words, he not only fails because of the language barrier but seems to almost insult her and her culture in the process. This section basically reads out "The traditions of your country kind of suck and are outdated, so you should show me that you are ready to move on to better traditions that my country has instated by kissing me when you don't really want to."
It must be thought on. If it pass against us,We lose the better half of our possession:For all the temporal lands which men devoutBy testament have given to the churchWould they strip from us; being valued thus:As much as would maintain, to the king's honour,Full fifteen earls and fifteen hundred knights,Six thousand and two hundred good esquires;And, to relief of lazars and weak age,Of indigent faint souls past corporal toil.A hundred almshouses right well supplied;And to the coffers of the king beside,A thousand pounds by the year: thus runs the bill.
It is strange listening to them intensely discuss the oncoming war. You'd assume they would discuss loss of life and other worries, but their biggest worries ended up being stripped of their church, and how much it was going to cost the church to go to war. I suppose this makes a small bit of sense given they were deployed to the king from the church, but it seems like their time would've been better spent discussing strategies of victory and making the price of war worth it rather than worrying about themselves.
Mine eye hath play'd the painter and hath stell'd,Thy beauty's form in table of my heart;My body is the frame wherein 'tis held,And perspective it is best painter's art.For through the painter must you see his skill,To find where your true image pictur'd lies,Which in my bosom's shop is hanging still,That hath his windows glazed with thine eyes.Now see what good turns eyes for eyes have done:Mine eyes have drawn thy shape, and thine for meAre windows to my breast, where-through the sunDelights to peep, to gaze therein on thee; Yet eyes this cunning want to grace their art, They draw but what they see, know not the heart.
The first four lines seem to discuss obviously her beauty and how he is seeing it. This was his way of saying beauty is in the eye of the beholder and I hold your beauty within myself in my love for you. He verifies this thought by using the next for lines to explain that you must see the beauty of art through the painters eyes, that the creator of these thoughts or "paintings" will always be the one to love them the most. In the ending of this sonnet, he goes on to explain that is possible and OK to see these things through a different frame of reference but it will never be as beautiful as it was intended to be.
So are you to my thoughts as food to life,Or as sweet-season'd showers are to the ground;And for the peace of you I hold such strifeAs 'twixt a miser and his wealth is found.Now proud as an enjoyer, and anonDoubting the filching age will steal his treasure;Now counting best to be with you alone,Then better'd that the world may see my pleasure:Sometime all full with feasting on your sight,And by and by clean starved for a look;Possessing or pursuing no delight,Save what is had, or must from you be took. Thus do I pine and surfeit day by day, Or gluttoning on all, or all away.
In the first two lines it seems like he is discussing his muse, and how who she is brings life and animation to his thoughts. he says "for peace of you I hold such strife" meaning that he feels unsure about the peace that she brings. Maybe that means he fears the this peaceful feeling will be fleeting, or that it might be fake. finally in the last part of his sonnet he starts to come to terms with these unsure feelings of devotion, but stating that "then better'd that the world sees my pleasures". I believe this sonnet might be a way of coming to terms with insecurities that weren't caused by his muse, but were already preexisting.
Shall worms, inheritors of this excess,Eat up thy charge? Is this thy body's end?
This is the biggest sign that he is talking about materialism to me, that the end of all things physical is decay and is ugly.
Then soul, live thou upon thy servant's loss,And let that pine to aggravate thy store;Buy terms divine in selling hours of dross;Within be fed, without be rich no more: So shall thou feed on Death, that feeds on men, And Death once dead, there's no more dying then.
Near the end here he takes a turn, talking about finding that which is divine in what is dross, creating a connection between his ideas. By making the overall idea that if you focus on the materialistic parts of life that things will feel pointless and gray, but there are beauties to be find if you focus on other things as well.
Why so large cost, having so short a lease,Dost thou upon thy fading mansion spend?
This is him contemplating if the pain that accompanies life is really worth the joy that is experienced, given that these joys can be rare and fleeting.
Poor soul, the centre of my sinful earth,My sinful earth these rebel powers array,Why dost thou pine within and suffer dearth,Painting thy outward walls so costly gay?
This Sonnet can really throw you for a loop when a lot of his poems were sweet and loving, he is talking about the sufferings of earth and the pain of living in a world of sin. and then connects this feeling of pain with the urge of to hide from other, even if we can't figure our why we have this urge to begin with.
XX
the conceit here appears to be a comparison between attraction and complacence, the difference between pure infatuation and the willingness to just play along with what is happening.
An eye more bright than theirs, less false in rolling,Gilding the object whereupon it gazeth;
This described how the beauty of a person is to be found in the eyes, that the life in someones eyes can be extremely magnetizing.
A woman's gentle heart, but not acquaintedWith shifting change, as is false women's fashion:
this explains how real beauty can't be portrayed through fashion, as it can be through a decent heart, which isn't as easier to have.
A woman's face with nature's own hand painted,Hast thou, the master mistress of my passion;
This describes how passion can be best ignited by natural beauty.
From fairest creatures we desire increase,That thereby beauty's rose might never die,But as the riper should by time decease,His tender heir might bear his memory:But thou contracted to thine own bright eyes,Feed'st thy light's flame with self-substantial fuel,Making a famine where abundance lies,Thy self thy foe, to thy sweet self too cruel:Thou that art now the world's fresh ornament,And only herald to the gaudy spring,Within thine own bud buriest thy content,And tender churl mak'st waste in niggarding: Pity the world, or else this glutton be, To eat the world's due, by the grave and thee.
After breaking it apart piece by piece, I believe this Sonnet describes that the only kind of everlasting beauty that can be found is in ones own moral compass and compassion for other people, and that if you fall in love with who someone is rather than what they look like, their beauty will never fade.
Pity the world, or else this glutton be, To eat the world's due, by the grave and thee.
I believe this section talks about empathy for others and that without it, the life that is lead can be empty.
Thy self thy foe, to thy sweet self too cruel:
this is a reference to an internal image of ones self, and the self-image struggles we all have to work through.
From fairest creatures we desire increase,That thereby beauty's rose might never die,
In the instance I believe he is still talking about a love interest, but he is describing how if you are able to desire someone for more than their original beauty, their beauty won't fade as time passes.