Blog Reflections on Shakespeare Reflections

Reviewing my past Shakespeare blog posts, what first struck me was the tone of playfulness I took when writing my first one on A Midsummer Night's Dream (AMND). Being my first blog post, I think I was unsure how to start and decided to have fun with writing it, quoting the end of the "Pyramus and Thisbe" in my blog title and so on. I am proud of the content of my first blog, however, for I feel that I gave strong and interesting points of evidence to support my argument, that Act V was important and necessary to rounding off AMND.

I think my writing style may have matured by October when I blogged, "Much Angst About a Misapphrension!", my "Much Ado About Nothing" blog. Again, I think I included a satisfying account of my reactions and personal questions from the reading, however I think my second blog could have used more quotes from the text. I think I made too many statements in this blog without enough citation from the play in the first part of my second blog.

I'm a little surprised I did not draw from my past Shakespeare's plays in my second blog as I did in my third, in which I compared Richard III against past Shakespeare villains. (This is an aside, but when I searched by name, I did not see my third blog appear that I submitted a week and a half ago. This makes me very worried. I save all my blogs on a word program and will submit it a second time following this post. It was titled "Richard III and Other Miscreants" if you find it). My third blog post I wrote after reading Act I and Act II of The Tragedy of Richard III and I was already struck by the discussion of Richard as one of Shakespeare's "most villainous villains" of his works. At the time I was intrigued by Richard III giving up-front the reasons and motives behind his sinister demeanor, explaining that his soul is as warped as his physical deformities and he is embittered by the romantic trysts and power his brother enjoys that he himself does not. Villains explaining themselves reminded me of Don John, who also was a self-described victim of familial unfairness. I wish that I had brought in more comparisons to other plot-structures and character psychological profiles in my second blog, but I can certainly make it a point to continue in future blog posts.

I think the notion of weighing acts of villainy is one I will try to expand upon more fully in future blogs. For example, right now I have the sentiment that Iago was one of the worst villains we've read so far, worse than Richard III even! In the play "Richard III", everyone in Richard's family and who he congregated with seemed to understand right away just how cruel and wicked his character was. Anne has speeches worth of slander that she delivers to Richard's face, his own mother laments his birth, and some get wise enough to go into hiding when Richard III is on rampage for the crown. While Richard III did employ some manipulation on his ascension to king, I felt that the level of manipulation and trickery did not nearly reach the level of Iago's of "Othello". Richard III was evil, sure, but relatively honest about it. Iago, however, impersonated the role right-hand-man right past the tragedy's point-of-no-return, a move that I read to be exceedingly more calculating. And further unlike Richard III, Iago never attempts to explain his maliciousness. As Shakespeare may have been trying to convey through Iago, that kind of evil simply is.

The aspects that I value most in weekly blogging is the opportunity to not just sit with my own ruminations of the plays we read, but have an outlet to broadcast them. These ruminations may not be relevant or appropriate to bring up every discussion in class, but having a blog allows a chance for me to share my feelings and connections open for discussion. Though I consider some of my blog posts verging on rambling pratter, perhaps wanting some more structure, this feature of showcasing ideas is one I will continue to use for my own benefit. This second half of the semester I will aim to add more organization and citations, however!