A Correspondence

So, I've been talking with the blogger I talked about in a previous post. This, combined with some academic work I've been looking through, is giving me some more confidence in my topic. Here are parts of some emails I've been sending and receiving:

Bridget,

We haven't met yet because I'm new in the ward, but I heard you talking about your abuse seminar in Relief Society. Since then I've read pretty much all of your blog. This may sound odd, but I was really interested in what you had to say because of a Shakespeare class I'm in right now.

I'm writing a paper about abuse, but looking at it by applying Shakespearean examples. I don't know what your literature background is, but I'd really like your input on some of the modern-day applications. For example, The Merchant of Venice features some characters that go through cycles of abuse. Antonio abuses Shylock, who then turns around and abuses him. Justice doesn't really end up serving anyone. So, how have you seen this in relationships? I know many times the victim starts to have an obsession about their abuser and just can't let things go. Any insights you have would be really appreciated.

Thanks,
Kayla Walke

Hey Kayla!

Thanks for your message. Well, I'm not really sure what you're asking in relation to the Shakespeare example. I'm not very familiar with the story line of the Merchant of Venice. There's one thing I would like to add to one of your statements though. You wrote that many victims start to have an "obsession" with their abuser. With my own experience and having heard many others, I would change the word "obsessed" to the word "dependent". Abusers most often thrive on becoming the dominant partner, and they keep their victims close to them by keeping the victims dependent on them. The main component that keeps victims attached to their abusers (even after the relationship ends) is the emotional abuse. Emotional abuse leaves scars that can take years to heal, and many times victims can't let go of the past/abuser because of the mental manipulation used by abusers.

If you'd like more information, let me know and I'd be more than happy to answer any of your questions.

~Bridget

Bridget,

Thanks for responding so quickly. I have a few more questions, so I hope you’ll be patient with me. I noticed in one of your posts about forgiveness that you put a warning at the top that you shouldn’t read this if you were still in an abusive relationship. That made me think: what would you describe as the process of removing yourself from this kind of relationship? When should you start trying to forgive someone? How do you forgive them without starting to want to be near them again? It seems like the easiest way to stay away is to harbor bad feelings about the person, but this probably isn’t the most healthy state of mind to be in.

Thanks,

Kayla

So we'll see what more information I can get!

Progress Report: Phase 1 of Research Paper

I'm required to document my research and writing process for the Shakespeare research paper I'm doing this month. According to the assignment instructions, here are the components I must include. If I have met those requirements, I have included a link to a post or posts that document my efforts for that component:

Phase 1

Exploration

I’ve had a couple of posts exploring the paper. This one is the start. I originally thought about doing a comparison of Othello and The Children’s Hour, looking at the effect of rumors. Then, as I started to look at The Children’s Hour, I remembered that it starts by quoting The Merchant of Venice. Portia’s speech is about mercy, and as I started looking at secondary sources, I realized the cycles of abuse present, and how mercy is what ends the cycle. (That was talked about in this post. Okay, so I talked about a lot of different paper options in that post.)

Oh yeah, and I even connected this topic to my post talking about the children's performance of The Merchant of Venice.

Textual Analysis

I’ve started up some textual analysis. It’s ongoing, of course, but the start of it is here in this post. I’m going character by character, and I started with Portia.

Social Proof (finding)

I found a couple of social proofs here in this post. The one I was most excited about was a contact I found that led me to looking at modern-day abusive relationship through a Shakespearean lens. I’ve since contacted her and started up a correspondence, so we’ll see how that goes.

Phase 2

Performance Analysis

Annotated Bibliography

Digital media and online resources

Social Proof (contacting)

Phase 3

"Tweethis" statement

Posted draft with peer interaction

Evaluation of a peer's draft

Character and Textual Analysis

I’ve been looking at outside sources thus far, so I thought it might be time for some good ole textual analysis. My process:

1. Stare at paper version of The Merchant of Venice.
2. Decide to use searchable online text.
3. Stare at online text.
4. Look at summary again.
5. Decide to go by character instead of chronological plot.
6. Realize doing one character takes a really long time.
7. Decide to do characters post by post.

Portia has a couple of interesting points. One is her treatment and how she is treated with relationships.

Her father’s will makes it so she cannot choose her husband. Though she loves her father, Portia also resents him:

I may neither choose whom I would nor refuse whom I dislike; so is the will of a living daughter curbed by the will of a dead father.

This leads her to her attitude toward suitors (and seemingly all men). She makes fun of all of the men that come to try and win her, even though most seem respectful enough to respect her wishes and not have the possibility of forcing her to marry them by choosing a casket. Finally, Bassanio comes. Portia has considered herself too good for any of the suitors so far, but when one comes that she likes, she considers herself unworthy.

I might in virtue, beauties, livings, friends,
Exceed account; but the full sum of me
Is sum of something, which, to term in gross,
Is an unlesson'd girl, unschool'd, unpractised

She is somewhat insecure in the relationship. She tests Bassanio by giving him a ring as a token of her love. When she gets it from him in disguise, she gets irritated with him. The outcome could have been more unfortunate if Portia hadn’t been forgiving. The couple makes up, and she doesn’t take this test as a showing of the quality of his love.

Another plotline is when Portia is dressed up as a law clerk during Antonio and Shylock’s case. She preaches to Shylock on the virtue of mercy.

The quality of mercy is not strain'd,
It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven
Upon the place beneath: it is twice blest;
It blesseth him that gives and him that takes:

When Shylock refuses to show mercy, though, Portia admits that justice must win out.

It must not be; there is no power in Venice
Can alter a decree established:

Basically, she says that Venetian law doesn’t allow for mercy. (Though as I’ve mentioned before, I don’t know if I believe this. They seem to circumvent the law and justice just fine when they want to.) Portia asks once more for mercy, as Shylock is the only one that can allow for it.

Be merciful:
Take thrice thy money; bid me tear the bond.

After this one last chance, a chain of events occur that turn the tables around on Shylock. He then is the one in need of mercy. After all she said before, however, Portia only allows for justice.

Thyself shalt see the act:
For, as thou urgest justice, be assured
Thou shalt have justice, more than thou desirest.

She says it is because that’s what he wanted, so that’s what he’d get. Really though, this is just saying, “Well he was mean, so now we can be mean to him.” It’s exactly how Shylock felt about Antonio. Not only does Portia require justice instead of mercy, she makes it very exacting.

if thou cut'st more
Or less than a just pound, be it but so much
As makes it light or heavy in the substance,
Or the division of the twentieth part
Of one poor scruple, nay, if the scale do turn
But in the estimation of a hair,
Thou diest and all thy goods are confiscate.

She isn’t just offering justice; she’s offering the harshest justice available. She even adds:

Tarry, Jew:
The law hath yet another hold on you.

The only mercy she talks of is that that Antonio can choose to render. His mercy isn’t particularly merciful.

What mercy can you render him, Antonio?

Tah-Dah! There's the start of my Portia analysis. One down, a few more to go.

Social Proofing It Up

I've been discovering all sort of social media and such. To summarize earlier posts, I'm reaching out to find people interested (generally or specifically) in abuse/victimization cycles, and justice & mercy as they relate. I'll be looking at The Merchant of Venice and The Children's Hour in my paper, but principles outside of the texts can be applied.

First of all, miraculously someone stood up in Relief Society meeting on Sunday and announced that they were running a seminar for emotional abuse. It's tomorrow, so I'll be going and asking some questions, but in the meantime I've checked out the associated blog. (Everyone's doing it these days.) It's betheonethatgotawaytoday.blogspot.com. Something interesting I've been noting in her posts is the addiction or obsession people have with others that have hurt them. They know they should turn away and eventually forgive, but it's a real struggle.

I also followed Professor Burton's advice and checked out slideshare.net. There I found a slideshow on The Merchant of Venice and justice and mercy. It points out some cycles too. Portia lectures Shylock on mercy, but then turns around and shows none.

(I'm curious, though. Does anyone else feel that Portia is showing mercy when she tries to get Shylock to give in, knowing full well what is coming if he doesn't?)

The slideshow also says that Venetian law doesn't allow for mercy. I think this is just something that the characters hide behind. The Duke obviously has the power to circumvent the law when he chooses not to take Shylock's life. Oh, and here's the link to the slideshow: http://www.slideshare.net/luv4peace/mercy-vs-justice-presentation

Thoughts? Contradictions here? I'm sure they exist.

Paper Topics: Let the Fun Begin

Okay. So the more I look in to different paper topics, the more I get excited about different ones. As you know from an earlier post, I started by looking at Othello and The Children’s Hour, and how rumors affect relationships. As I reviewed The Children’s Hour again, though, I remembered that the play starts with a reading from The Merchant of Venice. Then I realized that the whole of both plays could be brought back to the idea of victimization, and cycles of abuse. The abuser becomes the abused in each case, and the audience is left wondering who was in the right in the end.

THEN I started reading All’s Well That Ends Well. I’d seen this play before, but never read it. Then that made me think about gender roles. Some parts of the play remind me of “Wife of Bath’s Tale” in The Canterbury Tales.

So many options! Of course, the topic I have the most research on so far is the cycles of victimization in The Merchant of Venice and The Children’s Hour. I found a couple academic sources on good and evil and justice. And I’ve decided I love Portia’s line in Act IV “Who is the merchant here, and which the Jew?”

Opinions? Is there one topic that sticks out as more interesting to the public (or at least my audience here?)

Sharing the Love

First of all, know that I'm working on some sweet stuff for my paper, and expect to see that post in the next couple of days, because I need some input. But for this post:

I was with my brother the other night, and somehow it came up that he had never read or seen Hamlet. I don't know why I was so shocked; I'm sure a lot of the intelligent world is in the same boat. With him, though, I had to fill this hole right away. So, I preceded to give my own summary of the play, complete with great voices, and motions. I thought of our learning outcome of sharing Shakespeare. While it's a shame you can't all see me jumping around, I think I'll write out the gist of it here. I think it shows my biases nicely.

So, there's this guy named Hamlet. He's the prince of Denmark. His dad (the king) died 2 months ago. His mom has since married his uncle, and he's always all, "Ew, ya sickos!!" And "how can I live??" and that kind of thing. Basically, he's a 30-year-old that doesn't like his new daddy. Then the ghost of his real father comes to visit. He's very "Ooooooo, remmmmeeemmbbbeerrrr mmeeeee...." He tells Hamlet he was actually killed by his uncle-now-daddy Claudius. He poured poison in his ear.

Interjection from Tyler: His ear? Seriously.

Me continuing: The ear. Anyway, so Hamlet's all, "now I have justification to do something! . . . but what?" The ghost just says, "don't hurt mom; God'll take care of that one." Hamlet decides acting crazy is the best way to go. So then the players come.

Tyler: Hah.

Me: Like the theatre actor ones. Hamlet has them put on a play eerily similar to the current family situation. Claudius uncle-dad looks pretty guilty. Hamlet's like, "I knew it!" even though he already knew it. He's going to kill him this one time, but he's confessing, and so he waits. Naturally.

Tyler: Uh-huh.

Me: Okay, skipping forward. So, Laertes is mad that Hamlet killed his father.

Tyler: What?

Me: Oh, right. So Polonius is spying on Hamlet behind a tapestry, and Hamlet realizes someone's there, yells that he smells a rat, and throws a dagger in him. Then he realizes who it is and he's like... well dang. Anyway, so there's a duel! So Laertes has a poisoned dagger. And Claudius is trying to send Hamlet poisoned wine. But Hamlet's mom-aunt takes it and says she's thirsty and drinks it, so they'll have to forgive her. So she's dead. And in the end, Hamlet gives Laertes a mortal blow, and Hamlet dies slowly of poison. Oh yeah, and Ophelia commits suicide. Hamlet liked her.

And that's basically how it went. So, the question is: does it ruin the story to have it told like this, or is it an effective way to give people an "in" into Shakespeare?

No Fear (at all) (seriously) Shakespeare

I have been experiencing Hamlet through a lot of different mediums. I started listening to the audiobook with commentary by accident. After a few lines of Bernardo and Francisco back and forth, a voice cuts in, "Francisco has been keeping watch." "YA THINK?" I said (out loud, unfortunately). I think I was just annoyed by the interruption in the action. So I switched over to the non-commentary, and I'll listen to some of the most important/my favorite scenes with commentary afterward. And it's been going much better.

After a little bit, I pulled out my Kindle and started following along. I really liked this. It was like I was still reading the play (though slower). A while after I've read a book, sometimes I forget if I read the book or saw the movie, because that's how my brain works while I read. So as I read, voices and actors played over top, enforcing that effect. Loved it.

Then I came to the graphic novel version. I picked the Barron's graphic classics version. The first thing that struck me was actually the text. It still has the Shakespearean text in the dialogue bubbles, but below in boxes are little summary blurbs in modern English. It reminded me of Sparknotes No Fear Shakespeare. Except with the graphic novel style, it became Super No Fear Shakespeare. Laertes slashing Hamlet's arm is pretty great.

Now I want to watch the movie! I've seen a couple before, but I want some input. Which versions are your favorites?