thegiraffe
07-09-2006, 05:21 AM
Alright y'all. So I'm a student, and I'm taking 3 summer classes AND working. Bright idea? Sounded like it at the time. One of my classes is a Shakespeare class - from a theatrical perspective. It's online - we read plays and write papers - not too bad. Normally, I'm GREAT at writing papers, but I'm having a problem with this one. I've basically started firing from my ass, and, well, I'm worried my prof will be put off by the tone of the paper. It's not done, but I'm gonna post what I have on here. Don't worry if you're not a Shakespeare expert, I'm more worried about the tone. I feel it's flirting with the line between brilliance and insanity - hoping it's on the brilliant side. Any help would be greatly appreciated! Thank you!
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“Twelfth Night”: the love story. A comedy, true, yet in an almost satirical, dark way that winds and twists like a roller coasters at a theme park such as Six Flags or Busch Gardens. As riders, we can see the track, yet can’t begin to anticipate the feeling of the G’s as we spin through that corkscrew or fly over the hill – not to mention those little surprises that come along the way. With Viola (Cesario), Olivia, and Orsino, we can see where it’s bound to wind up, yet it still catches us breathless when we get there.
Viola – what a character! She (or he as Cesario) has truly found herself in the greatest predicament. She tries desperately to fulfill her duty to her master, Orsino, who wants to proclaim his love for Olivia. Meanwhile, Olivia falls for Viola as Cesario, while it turns out that Viola has fallen in love with Orsino. And yet the plot thickens, as Olivia wants to hear nothing of Orsino’s speech, yet is intrigued by the handsome, delicate Cesario. Oh dear…now, Cesario does an impeccable job of reigning in the moody Olivia by eloquently praising her beauty, and what woman of Olivia’s status wouldn’t be pacified by someone commenting on their beauty? This exchange makes Olivia even more intrigued, and perhaps somewhat infatuated with, this Cesario. Realizing that she (he) won’t be able to recite Orsino’s speech, Cesario runs off, leaving Olivia in a fluster. Now keep up here – this is where it gets hairy. Olivia, not about to be outdone, sends her messenger with a ring for Cesario, instructing him to “return it”, though everyone knew that Cesario had never presented her with one in the first place. It becomes more evident later in the play that Orsino’s more in love with himself than he’ll ever be with Olivia, and that Viola has actually fallen in love with Orsino!
Let’s take a moment to catch our breath real quick. Ready? Ok, good. Now, this isn’t an incredibly long exchange, but it’s complicated in that it has to exhibit so many feelings and twists at the same time, while keeping the audience on the same page. Initially, everyone pretty much has a good idea of what’s going to happen – Cesario is going to go in, give the speech, and leave – right? Well, not exactly. It’s obvious that initially, Cesario is intent on playing a Pinocchio role – just doing what’s asked of him. The only problem is that it doesn’t exactly work that way. He comes out praising Olivia as having “Most radiant, exquisite and unmatchable beauty” (ln. 168). Only problem is that this little compliment had some unintended consequences for poor Cesario. He’s simply trying to be gentlemanly, yet Olivia eats up the praise. Uh oh, he’s now in a pickle. I doubt Cesario had prepared himself for an encounter quite like this, yet he did a very admirable job of catching and dealing with what Olivia insisted on throwing at him. She essentially took control of his strings, or so she thinks. In reality, however, it seems Cesario has inadvertently stolen Olivia’s attention. Regardless of the fact that Olivia won’t hear what Cesario was sent there to say, she becomes hopelessly infatuated with him.
Thank you guys SO much!
I should add that he has commented on previous papers how he likes the excitement with which I write, and how the scenes seem to come alive for me. He's a theatre teacher, and a very nice one at that. I just don't want to take advantage of that.
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“Twelfth Night”: the love story. A comedy, true, yet in an almost satirical, dark way that winds and twists like a roller coasters at a theme park such as Six Flags or Busch Gardens. As riders, we can see the track, yet can’t begin to anticipate the feeling of the G’s as we spin through that corkscrew or fly over the hill – not to mention those little surprises that come along the way. With Viola (Cesario), Olivia, and Orsino, we can see where it’s bound to wind up, yet it still catches us breathless when we get there.
Viola – what a character! She (or he as Cesario) has truly found herself in the greatest predicament. She tries desperately to fulfill her duty to her master, Orsino, who wants to proclaim his love for Olivia. Meanwhile, Olivia falls for Viola as Cesario, while it turns out that Viola has fallen in love with Orsino. And yet the plot thickens, as Olivia wants to hear nothing of Orsino’s speech, yet is intrigued by the handsome, delicate Cesario. Oh dear…now, Cesario does an impeccable job of reigning in the moody Olivia by eloquently praising her beauty, and what woman of Olivia’s status wouldn’t be pacified by someone commenting on their beauty? This exchange makes Olivia even more intrigued, and perhaps somewhat infatuated with, this Cesario. Realizing that she (he) won’t be able to recite Orsino’s speech, Cesario runs off, leaving Olivia in a fluster. Now keep up here – this is where it gets hairy. Olivia, not about to be outdone, sends her messenger with a ring for Cesario, instructing him to “return it”, though everyone knew that Cesario had never presented her with one in the first place. It becomes more evident later in the play that Orsino’s more in love with himself than he’ll ever be with Olivia, and that Viola has actually fallen in love with Orsino!
Let’s take a moment to catch our breath real quick. Ready? Ok, good. Now, this isn’t an incredibly long exchange, but it’s complicated in that it has to exhibit so many feelings and twists at the same time, while keeping the audience on the same page. Initially, everyone pretty much has a good idea of what’s going to happen – Cesario is going to go in, give the speech, and leave – right? Well, not exactly. It’s obvious that initially, Cesario is intent on playing a Pinocchio role – just doing what’s asked of him. The only problem is that it doesn’t exactly work that way. He comes out praising Olivia as having “Most radiant, exquisite and unmatchable beauty” (ln. 168). Only problem is that this little compliment had some unintended consequences for poor Cesario. He’s simply trying to be gentlemanly, yet Olivia eats up the praise. Uh oh, he’s now in a pickle. I doubt Cesario had prepared himself for an encounter quite like this, yet he did a very admirable job of catching and dealing with what Olivia insisted on throwing at him. She essentially took control of his strings, or so she thinks. In reality, however, it seems Cesario has inadvertently stolen Olivia’s attention. Regardless of the fact that Olivia won’t hear what Cesario was sent there to say, she becomes hopelessly infatuated with him.
Thank you guys SO much!
I should add that he has commented on previous papers how he likes the excitement with which I write, and how the scenes seem to come alive for me. He's a theatre teacher, and a very nice one at that. I just don't want to take advantage of that.