Curtain Call

As the end of class looms and final approaches, I thought it only fitting to reflect on what has been a whirlwind of a semester! My initial thought as class began after reading the likes of Othello and The Tempest back in high school, was shock at how we would ever cram seven or eight full plays of Shakespeare into our short sixteen weeks. There were definitely pro's and con's to flying through these great works, but as I found out my initial skepticism did not last.

I had the chance to read plays like Richard III, Julius Caesar, and Hamlet, all of which opened my eyes to works renowned as literary brilliance. I was able to interact with a vast and diverse range of characters: the striking and thought provoking Prince Hamlet, glorious Caesar, amazing collaborate of Petruchio-Lucentio-Katherine-Bianca, unparalleled evil Iago, and Robin "Puck" (which means mischievous) Goodfellow. And of course, I was able to savor his great story telling abilities. Even though we were unable to go into great depth given the time constraints and nature of the class, I ended up learning a tremendous amount about Shakespeare through the sum of his works and their comparisons.

As we went through each work, my previous impression of Shakespeare having just a few great works while most others weren't relative or worth my time - was erased.  What I took away from this class was a new perception of Shakespeare as an unbelievable multi-dimensional writer that was able to translate genres in his time and now translate generations in ours. Every single one of his plays brings so many fascinating attributes - plot, character, theme, symbolism, and many others - that it is difficult to not react or resonate with some aspect of each single work - no matter the individual or audience. More so, as we went through these plays in succession all of the works started to seemingly blur and I began to develop an impression of the puppeteer who masters his stage from above, an impression of Shakespeare as a whole. His plays stress such simple, yet relevant human ideas - love, hate, life, death, friendship, betrayal, fame, beauty, malice, power, struggle, courage, fear, happiness - are just the tip of the iceberg. Shakespeare then uses his literary tools and craftsmanship, particularly the portrayal of theme, to relate such common human experiences to the audience, and in turn the audience to his work.

Having encountered Shakespeare's work before, I really didn't expect much coming into it this class. Looking back now though, I was pleasantly surprised. The way Ewa engaged in the material and encouraged class discussion brought life to the plays. It truly was a joy to come to class each day.  I'm excited to have had my eyes-opened to this literary great and am just beginning to see why Shakespeare has stood the test of time. I know it won't be my last encounter!