Edmund... you scare me so!

When watching the clip of Edgar's soliloquy I was very much disturbed. Mostly because of the lighting on Edmund's face. It provided an atmosphere filled with dread. That, I think, was the director's intention in the PBS film of King Lear. Also in the play I had envisioned Edmund's soliloquy to be much more fiery. Almost as if he was shouting at his gods for this unjust place of a label that is cemented upon him since birth. He never really speaks of his mother. The absence of a role could make an argument that he has become so bitter from lack of a mother figure that, that is why he chooses to reek havoc on the lives of Gloucester and Edgar.

Yet I also wonder that because Shakespeare does not put stage directions that he did it on purpose so his lines were up for interpretation of the director or actor. The actor who played Edmund took his tone quality of the words in an entirely different direction then what I had originally thought from the character of Edmund. But i really liked this different take. It made more sense to me that he would be more quiet and firm about his actions that he is going to take. In making his statement controlled and slightly dark he has captured my attention and made me feel like I am in on his game that I do not wish to be apart of.

Be MANLY!

"Let not women's weapons, water-drops, Stain my man's cheeks!" King Lear Act 2 Scene 4

I found this quote from King Lear very amusing actually. It illustrated the sexist attitude of the time, that to cry was see n as a weakness and therefore, utterly feminine. Also the fact that Lear sees crying as a weapon women use means that he equates women as being manipulative. That when a woman cries she does it to attain an end. There is no true emotion in her weeping rather there is just a conniving force of want that makes the water pour from her eyes. I think Lear sees Cordelia as an enemy not only because of how she responded to his challenge of expressing love for him the best but also because she has the most power over him. He recognizes that when he sees that she has the power to make him cry... an unmanly emotion.

King Lear:Edmund you EVIL SPAWN!

During the course of the play I was yet again confounded by the intricate and diabolical plot by the villain, Edmund. Shakespeare never ceases to amaze me with his villains and the success in truly tricking all around him. At one hand I find it unrealistic how Shakespeare's villains like Iago and Edmund can successfully dupe all around them. Yet they do, they do it in a subtle way that the person being lied does not even know it. For example when Edmund quickly puts away a note when his father Gloucester appears. He timed it just right that he knew Gloucester would become curious and want to know what was in the letter. I find that this cunningly simple show of trickery sums up how smart Edmund is and that villains sometimes do make the story have an unhappy ending. I think it is very interesting that Shakespeare was that realistic. He realized that in real life there are not always a prince riding off into the sunset so it shouldn't always be that way in the theater.

Love... Can it Surpass All Really?? Please Wait While I Try Not to Vomit!

The one part of this play that I thought was very interesting was the romantic scene between Yolland and Maire. Yolland with all of his awkward, "sorry sorry?" comments on what exactly was said and Maire just staring and wondering if her trying to communicate is futile. It was hilarious in a way thought how they both were saying the same thing in their own language. It irony of it was quite powerful. With that said the question that came to mind is, is this scene meant to display the boundless quality of love (puke!) or does it just illustrate that first fascination accompanied with culture foreign from your own. I personally think the author was showing the fascination with the culture because the play did not seem to be a romantic play. It had a point. The point being more like a question to make the audience think. Is there something lost in translation and if so does that demean the quality that the old Irish names embodied. I, personally think there is a quality lost in translation. It is almost like the English came in and said, "Your names of your country are wrong. We may not speak your language but all of the names of your towns have to be changed since you did such a bad job." That is what the English seem to be saying through their renaming and more importantly in the way Lancey treats those in the Hedgehog school. He treats them like stupid, ignorant town folk just because they do not speak English. Which is hypocritical considering Lancey does not even try to speak Irish!