Wednesday, March 29, 2006

Reading

Notes

Please prepare through the fourth act of Titus Andronicus for class. We’ll delve especially into the pitfalls of blind obedience (especially since Titus himself is hardly the only character with this flaw). Also important will be the roles of Aaron, Tamora, and her sons: they all function as outsiders to the traditional Roman system and respond to its expectations and problems differently. Perhaps most important, and something we’ll continue to discuss on Friday, is the role of Lavinia in this mess.

We probably won’t discuss this until Friday, but keep in mind the functions of revenge in this play. Be especially aware that Titus is not the only person with revenge and murder on his mind!

Make sure to keep up, as well as you can, with the required response papers. These are meant to help you develop your own thoughts regarding the plays and to aid you in becoming more comfortable (if not more proficient) writers. Many of you are writing brilliant responses, while some of you have yet to turn any in. This latter issue is becoming problematic, as you’re reducing your overall grade with each response you miss — and doing yourselves no favors by limiting the amount of thoughtful writing you do. (In addition, remember the old axiom, 50% of something is better than 100% of nothing!)

Upcoming!

I want to call your attention to the twentieth anniversary celebration at the Chicago Shakespeare Theatre. The theatre is celebrating during the entire month of April and has scheduled many free events. Note especially the 200 free tickets to their “Short Shakespeare” production of Macbeth on April 1. As an enticement to my students: If you attend that production of Macbeth, you can count it as one of your interpretations for option four of the essay.

These events are, of course, in addition to the fifteenth annual McElroy Shakespeare Celebration on April 11.