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[202140579aws2021]

The Tragedy of Mariam by Elizabeth Cary on female eloquence/silence

“I am a student of the University of Hull blogging as part of my assessment for the module All the World’s a Stage. All views expressed here are my own and do not represent the university”. 

Gina-Madeleine Moellenhoff 202140579

Elizabeth Cary is the first Englishwoman to write a tragedy in English, namely the Tragedy of Mariam – The Fair Queen of Jewry. The play, which is a so-called “closet play”, was published in 1613 and belongs to the Senecan subgenre of the revenge tragedy. Although the play was intended as a closet play, it can certainly be seen on stage. This alone shows a modification of the original intention. Mariam, Salome and Graphina can appear as potent performers; especially in the person of Salome, there is the possibility of portraying her as particularly eye-catching through certain costumes. Graphina's quiet role can also be given a deeper meaning through stage directions and costumes.

The drama can be read as an expression of its author’s own life and struggles. We know this because of a biography by one of Cary’s four daughters. Cary is a female writer and creates multiple female characters (including protagonists) for a – possibly – female readership. This femininity is very striking and cannot be overlooked in the play. The Tragedy of Mariam has to be analysed from a feminist point of view, which is what this essay aims at under the title of eloquence and silence regarding women.

The Tragedy of Mariam offers a unique female perspective upon the role of authority within the state and marriage. For Cary as a woman of the aristocracy, this is a brave and dangerous move. She tries to show the women’s attempts to construct their relations to the social center, to their husbands, without losing their voices. This is a very narrow path but one that Cary treads successfully. She does this by giving the women different voices and attitudes, which differ from each other to a great extent. Salome for example is a woman who was enabled to claim an independent speaking position by her upbringing but is then marginalised by her husband Constabarus. The argument between the two of them in Act 1, Scene 6, is a good example for this argument. In this scene, Constabarus enters and confronts Salome for her unfaithfulness, and she declares that she will seek a divorce from her husband, an option only available to men at the time. Constabarus tells her, “Oh Salome, how much you wrong your name, // Your Race, your country, and hour husband most” (1.6.1-2) as well as “Didst thou but know the worth of honest fame, // how much a vertuous woman is esteem’d, […] And seeke to be both chast and chastly deem’d” (1.6.17-20) and “I feare me much you will too late repent, // That you have ever liv’d so void of awe” (1.6.81-2).

Women in The Tragedy of Mariam also repeatedly speak against each other in the very act of asserting their defiance of patriarchal authority. Their performative skills are often condemned as evil by men in positions of power. Overall, Cary examines both the successes and failures of female speech. She elaborates on the personal feelings of her characters, especially on Mariam. Therefore, she is shifting the focus from the evil king to the wronged queen. She decided to let the play start with a woman’s soliloquy, which is again a bold and unique move by Cary. The soliloquy itself is highly suggestive of the possibilities of the text.

The mothers in The Tragedy of Mariam are represented at length as speaking subjects rather than muted witnesses to male sexual potency. They take up a special position in the play, because they claim maternity as a condition for speech; they have fulfilled their feminine and conjugal duty and given birth to an heir. Their speeches cannot undermine the centrality of the ruler, but they can be seen to redraw the boundaries of domestic authority. In doing so, they enter dangerous territory, because the roles between men and women are very precisely divided at the time. Using speech, they try to make their own positions clear. Also by speaking with voices whose passion and eloquence serve to decenter standard early modern notions of fatherly authority, they manage to find speaking positions apart from renaissance masculine conceptions of their roles. The mothers’ voices balance the voices of those female characters whose speech is directed primarily - and erotically – toward the men. This refers above all to Salome and Graphina, who will be discussed later on.

Starting with Mariam, the eponym of the play, we see that her first appearance is a public speech, which contains great danger for as woman at the time. She is speaking freely, and thus bypassing her husband, who is entitled to freedom of expression, which can end badly. This unfortunately proves true in Mariam’s case later on. Mariam’s opening soliloquy allows the reader to appreciate her inner conflict and desires to be both a woman and an opposer of tyranny. Her first lines of this first soliloquy evoke the powers of speech and their consequences, which were often denied women by contemporary conduct traits: “How of have I with public voice run on // To censure Rome’s last hero for deceit: // Because he wept when Pompey's life was gone, // Yet when he lived, he thought his name too great. // But now I do recant, and, Roman lord, // Excuse too rash a judgment in a woman: // My sex pleads pardon, pardon then afford, // Mistaking is with us but too too common” (1.1.1-8). She apologises directly with her first words for speaking loudly as a woman and includes that women should not do this, and if they do, that they make frequent and many mistakes. Here you can see Mariam's attitude well: She knows about her status as a woman, but does not want to completely correspond to it or submit to it. With this she also states that every single element of female speech is problematic.

This is one of the most important passages of the play; it is not only important what Mariam says, but mainly how she presents herself through it and what power such an opening soliloquy gives her. Mariam is also a good example when it comes to silencing: She is accused of being a traitor and beheaded for her domestic counsel. She did not directly go too far with her speeches, but her previous behaviour influenced Herod in such a way that he was (for the time being) convinced of her guilt. She was not the silent wife desired in the Renaissance. At the end of the play, there can be no doubt as to where our sympathies lie. Being speaking and performing agents, Mariam ans also Salome both reveal a remarkable awareness of the possibilities afforded to women by different tactics of self-representation. Mariam herself is fully aware of the power of her obvious sex appeal to maintain domestic harmony. An apparent example for this can be found in act 3, scene 3: “I know I could enchain him with a smile // And lead him captive with a single word. // I scorn my look should ever man beguile, // Or other speech, than meaning to afford” (3.3.45-8).

Since Salome is, just as Mariam, a speaking and performing agent in the play, she can be considered as one of the liveliest characters. This is mainly because she stands out so much as a woman in her role. She is given a convincing and impassioned plea for the right of women to divorce their husbands, as can be seen in the following quote: “My will shall be to me instead of law” (1.5.80). Divorce is reserved for men at the time and Salome takes abig risk with wanting it. She does not adhere to the prevailing roles between man and woman but speaks like a man and demands those very rights, even if she is not entitled to them. She cannot (and does not want to) understand why it should not be her right as a woman to get a divorce – but Cary gives Salome a voice that probably spoke from the heart of many women at the time.

Salome changes her personae and modifies her behaviour to conform to whatever paradigm will get her what she wants, hence she appears as an apparent political, sexual, and social foil to Mariam. This makes the play even more layered because Cary manages to give different women unusual voices, all of which are more than the standard at the time. While Salome decides to profit from her skills, Graphina uses her silence to position herseld in relation to the male characters in the play.

Graphina represents the Renaissance ideals of feminine behaviour: chaste, silent, obedient. She therefore mingles into insignificance. However, she uses her silence as a weapon and is prepared to break her silence if it can be advantage to her, as we can see in act 2, scene 1: “If I be silent, ‘tis no more but fear // That I should say too little when I speak, // but since you will my imperfections bear, // in spite of doubt I will my silence break” (2.1.49-53).

[201909891waws2022]

Review: John Dove’s Measure for Measure at the Globe

Student Number : 201909891

Performance : Measure for Measure Live from the Globe, 19:30 04/09/2004, BBC4, 180 mins. https://learningonscreen.ac.uk/ondemand/index.php/prog/004EDF0B?bcast=4201876 (Accessed 07 Dec 2021)

After a close reading of Measure for Measure written by Shakespeare, I decided that I wanted to find and watch a theatre performance of it. Due to financial restrictions, I was not able to visit the Globe theatre itself and watch a performance, but I did manage to find a recorded performance from BBC Four of a performance in the early 21st century directed by John Dove. I chose this performance specifically because it’s performed in the renovated Globe theatre which is as close to an authentic performance of a Shakespeare play as you can get. Shakespeare wrote his plays specifically to be performed in the Globe which is what makes the atmosphere of this performance so genuine and like how Shakespeare would have wanted his play to be perceived. An interesting thing to note about this performance is that the actors and entire production team are aware that they are being recorded live, this could affect how the play is performed, and it does to a certain extent, they must make sure that it reads the same on camera as it would to the live audience which gives the actors a far more difficult job. However, I do think after watching the entire performance it is very close to if not the same as the written version, every performance will differ in how things are portrayed and that is just part of the beauty of theatre.

One part of this performance I want to briefly focus on is the staging of this performance. It is performed at the Globe which has been renovated and is supposed to be a replica of the original Globe in which Shakespeare wrote his plays specifically to be performed in. This means that when he wrote the plays, he had the image of the stage and set up in mind which is why his plays work so perfectly in this setting. The stage in this performance Is interesting because there are 3 doors in the back of the stage covered by curtains, these tend to be used to the advantage of the play, the main way I saw it used was where the middle door was used for entrances and the doors either side are used for exits. This allows the actors to exit as others are coming on which allows for a more seamless exit and scene switch which makes the audience see the distinct scene changes less. This can be both a good and bad thing, it could be good because it makes the story and performance run more coherently. However, it could also be a bad thing because this could cause the audience to feel more lost and struggle to follow the scenes properly. I found it a good thing because I think it helped me to follow the plot easier but that could have easily been because I know the play well and have studied it in depth. Comparing the newer renovated Globe, which is the one that this performance is based in, to the original Globe, they are as similar as they could be from diagrams and pictures. If you look at them side to side, you can see many similarities.

 https://nosweatshakespeare.com/resources/theatres/globe-theatre/

      Another interesting way in which this performance uses the staging to its full advantage is regarding the columns you can see at the front of the stage. One part where I saw these columns being used well is around the timestamp 1:06:49. The Duke, who is disguised as a friar so that he can observe what happens when he is away and leaves someone else in charge, is hiding behind one of the columns so that he can listen in and eavesdrop on the conversation happening between Claudio and Isabella. This is interesting because the duke is hiding from the actors, but the audience can see him as well as Claudio and Isabella. This is smart in terms of staging because it keeps the aspect of him being hidden but also allows the audience to be fully aware of what is happening on stage and in the scene. This is a far better way to stage this scene rather than have the duke hiding in the back somewhere because it allows the audience to see everything, it also allows for chances of physical comedy from the duke. The entire concept of the duke being undercover adds dramatic irony into the performance itself but little moments like this where he is physically hiding away from the actors' increases and enhance this irony. It is moments like this that add up and dramatize the play, it also emphasizes the comedy aspect of the play, but it also adds moments for the actors to interpret the written play in their way and perform it in their style and way.

My primary focus when studying and analysing Measure for Measure was the topic of sex and desire, this gave me a good amount of background knowledge on how this topic was approached within this play, so it led me to see how this performance differs in the portrayal of it. During the performance, I noticed that the way the actors deal with anything regarding sex or desire is in a more comedic way than is portrayed through reading it. I found myself laughing at the jokes which surprised me because I don’t think I would be classed as the audience Shakespeare wrote his plays for. I think that’s part of the beauty of his plays, especially Measure for Measure because no matter what audience it is performed for it can be tailored and received in the same comedic way he intended. One joke in particular that came across to me as quite a modern version of comedy is “What’s he done?” “A woman”. The reason I found this funny and one of the best examples of a modern version of humour is because it is such dry humour that a lot of people in today’s society find it comedic. It is similar to the kind of jokes that you get on apps such as Tiktok or Twitter which are massively common amongst people in the 21st century. The main reason the comedy in this performance was so surprising to me when watching it is that it is profusely sexual humour, at the time when this play would have been originally performed this would have been seen as vulgar and unacceptable but nowadays it's seen as funny. One part of this performance that I found particularly interesting is when Isabella is begging Angelo to spare her brother’s life, it’s fascinating because it expresses Isabella’s hypocrisy. She is begging Angelo to pardon the crime of fornication which portrays her as viewing sex as less of a negative thing and not worthy of a death sentence however when presented with the ultimatum that if she was to give up her body to Angelo she is disgusted and refuses. The extreme reaction she has is rather comedic, even Angelo mentions the hypocrisy of it. The reason it is hypocritical is that on one hand, she is claiming that what Claudio did wasn’t that bad and then on the other hand she would rather let him die than commit the same offence.

In conclusion, I think this performance opened my eyes as to how funny this play is, as well as helped me view the characters differently. When studying the play, I was disgusted by Angelo and felt bad for Isabella however after seeing this performance I feel less sympathetic towards her and more sympathetic towards Claudio. His sister had the chance to save his life, and although in the end his life is saved, it is cruel of her to refuse to do that in the first place. But at the same time, it has me undecided because Claudio is unreasonable for asking her to. The only feeling and opinion I am certain of are that Angelo is the villain in this play.

[202005621aws2021]

Benedict Cumberbatch Stars as Shakespeare’s Young Revenge Protagonist

Originally performed at the Barbarian Theatre in 2015, and broadcast to cinemas later that same year, the National Theatre production of Hamlet became the fastest selling show in London theatre history. Benedict Cumberbatch takes the titular role of Hamlet, a young student troubled with grief by the murder of his father, and the hasty remarriage of his mother to his Uncle. In this modernised production, directed by Lyndsey Turner and Robin Lough, audiences get to witness the slow burning consequences of Hamlet’s mission in seeking revenge. Stage designer, Es Devlin dazzles audiences with her beautiful designs for the large stage of the Barbarian Theatre. With the creation of a bedroom, ballroom, a common area and a beautifully damaged castle full of rubble and leaves, Devlin transports the audience through multiple locations with her use of carefully placed props and masterful lighting. The captivating destruction of the castle adds such a beautiful detail to Shakespeare’s play, creating a visual representation of the destruction caused by the betrayal and revenge between each of the characters.

The above photograph shows Devlin’s aforementioned set design for IV.vii in which Sian Brooke’s Ophelia slowly walks over the rubble, leaves and overturned chairs to the back of the stage and towards her death. Anastasia Hille’s Gertrude notices Ophelia and, realising the danger struggles after, her but it is unfortunately too late. This beautifully haunting set design not only represents the destruction of Elsinore itself but also how the repercussions of revenge have caught up to our protagonist creating nothing but death and destruction around him. When the play was first performed in the early 1600s, there would have been a trap door in the stage to represent Ophelia’s grave which Devlin recreates on the Barbarian Theatre stage in V.i, however, perhaps making it look more realistic by the rubble and mud surrounding it.

Conventional revenge protagonists usually accept their role as the revenger early on within a revenge tragedy and therefore are completely determined in their mission to exact revenge. Shakespeare’s Hamlet is therefore a refreshing take on the revenge genre as we have a protagonist whose main impediment is his own conscience. Within the National Theatre production, directors Turner and Lough beautifully aid Benedict Cumberbatch’s portrayal of a deeply devastated and vulnerable Prince through their use of costume and set. As the play opens, the audience is greeted by Cumberbatch’s Hamlet packing up his deceased father’s belongings. We see a recognisable state of grief as he smells his father’s jacket before going on to wear it throughout the beginning of the performance. Old Hamlet’s jacket, therefore, becomes a symbol for the grief that drives Hamlet to “sweep to [his] revenge". It also serves as a reminder to the audience of the relationship that was had between Hamlet and his father and how Hamlet is still struggling to move on. This becomes a juxtaposition to Gertrude, whose first appearance on stage is walking down the grand staircase with a big smile, hand in hand with her new husband, Claudius.

Shakespearean critic, Kiernan Ryan, suggests Hamlet is a “tragic protagonist who refuses, for reasons he cannot understand himself, to play the role in which he has been miscast by the world he is in.” In II.ii, through Hamlet, Shakespeare describes Denmark as, “a prison” suggesting Hamlet feels trapped and isolated even though he is at home, a place where you expect to feel safest and the most comfortable. Perhaps this feeling of isolation and confinement comes from his fear of being “miscast” into the role of a typical revenge protagonist. Unlike Laertes and Fortinbras who act as foils to Hamlet, he doesn’t feel the “divine ambition” that they seem to have with getting revenge for their deceased fathers. Instead, he needs time to think about the moral implications of his actions whereas Laertes, in IV.v declares, “let come what comes, only I’ll be revenged/Most thoroughly for my father.” With the help of the creative set design, Cumberbatch expresses this feeling of being miscast within his surroundings perfectly. In II.ii, just before he describes Denmark as a “prison”, Cumberbatch can be seen playing/hiding within a miniature castle with large toy soldiers placed at each corner. As Rosencrantz and Guildenstern walk down the staircase, Hamlet seems to be defending his miniature castle. This could be interpreted as a miniature representation of Elsinore and Hamlet’s defending of it, is Hamlet trying to keep out the pressures of being not only a revenging son but also the revenging protagonist.

Cumberbatch engages the audience’s sympathies by portraying an intelligent mind that seems to be falling apart under the burden of grief and revenge. Cumberbatch’s extravagant entrance in II.ii reveals an outfit change for Hamlet into a bright red soldier outfit, which portrays to the audience the deep impact grief and the promise of revenge has had on the Prince’s mental state. The dramatic irony throughout the performance is that the more energetic and childish Cumberbatch becomes, the more Hamlet is emotionally deteriorating. As critic Isabelle Casey suggests, this emotional deterioration is supported through Cumberbatch’s effortless soliloquy-style confessionals in which Hamlet’s feelings are revealed to the audience. Although Hamlet agrees to the ghost’s request to, “revenge his foul and most unnatural murder”, it is not long before Hamlet begins to have moral doubts and starts to fear that the ghost “may be the devil”. With this revelation, Hamlet needs to have “grounds/more relative” and suggests putting on a play that reflects the murder of his father will help him to “catch the conscience of the King”. Cumberbatch’s performance perfectly captures Hamlet’s “antic disposition” and blurs the line between appearance and reality making audiences question Hamlet’s emotional and mental state constantly throughout the performance.

Unfortunately, the National Theatre’s staging of the play-within-the-play scene, is rather disappointing. Hamlet’s focus is on the reaction of Claudius, and it would therefore make sense for the audience to be able to join Cumberbatch in his observations, however, the spectators of the Mousetrap are hidden in shadows with their backs to the audience, so the primary focus is on the ‘play-within-the-play”. When they eventually turn to face the audience, directors Turner and Lough have Cumberbatch act out the lines meant for the villainous Lucianus. This directorial change creates new interpretations within III.ii. For example, Claudius’ abrupt departure could be interpreted as a response to Hamlet’s rude intervention within the performance. On the other hand, perhaps Claudius aligns Hamlet with Lucianus and by Cumberbatch now speaking those last lines, Claudius may interpret this as a threat to the King rather than revealing Claudius to be guilty.

On the whole, this 2015 production of Shakespeare’s Hamlet, is extremely effective in engaging the sympathies of the audience and showing a mature, rational mind disordered by grief and the promise of revenge. As David Scott Kastan describes, revenge is a desperate mode of imitation in which wrongs are avenged with wrongs. By stalling his revenge and playing for time, Hamlet not only avenges his father’s murder in the spur of the moment, but he also becomes the catalyst for the deaths of most of the characters throughout the play. Shakespeare’s Hamlet presents revenge as a dangerous way to get justice. Although we are presented with a protagonist who is mostly cautious and doesn’t follow the typical conventions of a revenging son, the play still ends in death and tragedy. With brilliant acting, modern costumes and eye-catching set designs, the National Theatre’s new production is an unmissable new performance of the Shakespearean tragedy.

[untiedblogs]

The most awaited event💯💥 AWS Community Day South Asia 2021 is happening on 22-23 October 2021. . . This is the best chance for active participants to win AWS goodies.💯💯 . . Follow @untied_blogs ☑️ . Like | Share | Comment ✔️ . #aws #awscloud #awscommunity #awscommunityday #southasia #event #goodies #goodie #awsculturechamp #hereataws #amazonwebservices #untied_blogs #networking #industrytrends #awscertification #aws2021 #postoftheday #instagramposts #greatpost (at India) https://www.instagram.com/p/CUKwwosMgje/?utm_medium=tumblr

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AWS is the largest cloud player in the market today. According to Forbes, AWS grew US$2.3 billion in revenue just in the second quarter of 2019.

AWS alone owns around 40 percent market share in the market, which is huge when you compare it with the second-largest cloud provider, i.e., Microsoft Azure, which owns around 16 percent of the market.

[masaa-ma]

［速報］AWS、2021年初頭に大阪リージョンを開設すると発表。従来の大阪ローカルリージョンを拡張

from https://www.publickey1.jp/blog/20/aws2021.html

AWSジャパンは、日本国内で二番目のスタンダードなリージョンとなる大阪リージョンの開設を2021年初頭に行なうと発表しました。

同社は2018年に「大阪ローカルリージョン」と呼ばれる限定的なリージョンを開設し、一部の顧客向けに提供しています。2021年開設予定の大阪リージョンはこれを拡張し、3つのアベイラビリティゾーンを備えたスタンダードなリージョンになります。

AWS大阪リージョンは、北京、香港、ムンバイ、寧夏、ソウル、シンガポール、シドニー、東京に続くアジア太平洋地域で9番目のAWSリージョンとなります。

今回発表の大阪リージョン以外に、AWSは今後インドネシア、イタリア、南アフリカ、スペインの4つの地理的リージョンにおいて13のアベイラビリティゾーンの開設を発表しています。

またAWSジャパンは新たな取り組みとして、デベロッパー向けWebマガジンを新たに創刊し、購読メンバーに対するさまざまな特典の提供を予定していることも明らかにしました。

https://www.publickey1.jp/2020/8CD96B0B-21B9-4D57-A66B-FAD36B002ECB.jpeg

[yoji-ono]

via Publickey