Blog 1, The Taming of the Shrew, Period 1, Sonam Sherpa, Character Watcher
Well, in the first two introductions of the play it is kind of hard to follow along due to both the akward wording of some of what the characters say, and also because in the beginning, not all of the characters were introduced at the same time, so forgive me if there are some mistakes, you can just comment on them in your responses to this initial blog.
Well, in the introduction, We see the first glimpse of Sly as the person that he truly was, not the wealthy lord that the lord, the huntsmen, and the player. This is interesting because it shows us that something had gone really sour somwhere along the course of his life. The fact that he had such a bad life before could be one of the reasons why he was so reluctant to accept his new life as a lord. Because, if you were homeless and someone told you that you were a lord, wouldn’t you join them? It makes sense that he wouldn’t really care much for his old life full of liquor and, well, more liquor, and not really fret over the part of his life that he was losing. So my question for you is as follows. If you were in the same position you were now, and then someone came along offering you a “better” life as a royal, would you take it? Please keep in mind that in my question, when you were to start a new life you would have to leave back every last sliver of your old life and be completely enveloped in your new life.
Now, to get to another important character, Tranio. When we first see Tranio walk in on stage with Lucentio he seems to be an extremely loyal and obedient servingman, and he stays that way in the first two scenes. With his master’s orders he even gave into masquerading as him, even though there would be much noise made if their little ruse was found out. So my question for you is as follows. If you were a servingman/woman, do you think that you would be as loyal and faithful as Tranio was with Lucentio? And since there really is nothing else to say about Tranio, I shall move onto Lucentio.
When we first see Lucentio appear in the play he is telling his man-slave Tranio how he shall continue to study the arts, philosophy, etc. because his father had already made so many advances in those fields he thought that since he was his father’s son he should help to build onto his glory. This shows that Lucentio is not one of the characters that doesn’t follow the social norm. What is meant by this is that in those times heritage was a major role in who you were, even more so than today, so by caring so much about his father’s legacy he was following the social norm and not making a name for himself. So my question for you is as follows. Do you think heritage is really that important, even more so, do you think that you would be the same person if you had been born into a different family?
And due to the fact that both Hortensio and Grumio are similar as we have seen them so far, and also due to the fact that I’m tired of typing, I shall lump these two together in one eloquent paragraph. So when we first meet these to they are being begged by Baptista to marry his older daughter Katharina. Then we find out something really interesting when they refuse to marry Katharina. We find out that both Hortensio and Grumio, so far, seem to not be quite as weighted down by social norms than some other characters like Lucentio and Biondello. What is meant by this is that when Hortensio tells his friend Biondello of his plan to get to Bianca by getting Katharina married, Biondello says that he will marry her because of the state of his monetary conditions. Then we also see that these characters are also cunning and will do what they have to, to get what they want. So my question for you is as follows. If you were in the same situation as Hortensio or Grumio would you react the same way, or do you have a better way that they could have reacted?
I do realize that some of my questions are hidden, but do please try to answer them all. I would like to thank you in advance.
Category: Uncategorized 4 comments »
May 9th, 2009 at 12:07 pm
1. I think that I would keep my old life. It is not benificial if you take this new life and leave all of your friends and family behind. They were who kept you happy and it would be like betraying them if you take this new life of glits and glam. If you still have your friends and family you can try and make your life better without loosing them. You can work hard to make a better for yourself and still be happy.
2. I would be because he is my boss. I would help him to do anything espescially if it is for love. He would do the same thing for me and besides he would get in trouble with me if we were found out.
3. I think that heritage is important to cetain degree but I think that you should have your own heritage. It is critical to know where you were before you can know were you are going. Your heritage is something that you should be proud of but you should be able to do what you want to do. Although your heritage can be what you love and you might not have discovered it without your heritage. Not I don’t think that I would be the same person if I was born into another family. I gained my talents and loves through my family so I think that I would be different with any other family.
4. I might not have acted the same way. I probably would not have used trickery and cunningness to get what I want. I would probably would have talked to Baptisa about how I could help find someone to marry Katharina. This way I could help out and build a relationship with Baptisa so that hopefully he will think that I would be fit to marry Bianca. I would hopefully do the honest thing and tell him how I felt and hope he would approve of me.
-Taran
May 10th, 2009 at 4:59 pm
Colin Easter
1. I would not take the new life since it would mean having to give up everything from my old life. It would be trading everything you have now, including family, for money. As you know, money can not buy happiness. There are other ways to be happy other than having many material possessions.
2. I would be as loyal to him because I would be working for him. When you work for someone else, you try to do your best. This is the same principle.
3. Your heritage impacts your life in different ways. It can help some people by getting them respect, influence, or jobs. If you have an influential heritage, it can be very useful. I do not think that I would be the same person if I had a different family. People from different families can be very different. This is can be caused by differences in heritage.
4. I would not have been as secretive as them. They seem to try to be doing this under the radar so that the father will not know that they are trying to do get Kate married so that they can get to Bianca. I would have gone about it in a more honest manner.
May 10th, 2009 at 5:39 pm
Write enough Sonam?!?! Haha, just kidding.
1. Wow, that is a really deep topic to discuss. It is rather hard to say whether or not I would let everything go. With every situation my answer could vary. If my life was so terrible that I did not enjoy any part of it or love anybody in it I would have to admit that I probably would take the better life. This would be only and only if I had nothing to look forward to in life. If there was anything, a husband (or in his case a wife), a child, or even a hobby that was loved I would have to say no, I would not accept a new life. Even in the worst conditions I would try to find a way to hold close to me those few things that are important, because I would not want to let them go. That would be like saying that they are not good enough for you, which if you truly love someone or something, this is not true.
2. Again, this is another situation that would vary according to the situation. If my master/lord was good to me I would have to say yes I would. If people return the favor I am happy to assist them. Plus, it would be so much fun to act as someone else. At least it would be fun to me, but I have problems.
3. Man Sonam you are on a role with these questions! Anyway, I would have to say that heritage is incredibly important, yet it should never be a reason to hold anyone back. If I was not born into the family that I was I would probably be a very different person. I love my Italian heritage, and it is a pretty large part of my family. If it were ever to get in the way of who I am as a person though I do not think that it should overrule this. What you characterize yourself by I believe is more important, because it is what makes you an individual.
4. I would have to say that if I loved Bianca (no guys I am not saying that I like girls, so do not take it that way) I would probably do all I could to get to her. I would find a much better way to do it though. Girls are much easier to win over than most guys realize just because they do not know how we think. Therefor I would honestly tell Baptista my plans and move from there. I guess girls just think differently than guys…
~Erin Campbell =]
May 10th, 2009 at 8:05 pm
I think i would take the oppertunity. I mean you could always come back to your family . Its not like as soon as you make the decision your family disappers. Also, maybe your family beats you and keeps you in a cage. Maybe, just maybe you ought to take the chance.
I do not think I would be as loyal as they are. I mean, he is my employer, not god. I do think there is a fine line between work and friendship. Don’t dip in company ink. This is how I feel. Yeah Mr. Shank, I learned that from Pineapple Express. You should watch it.
Heratige is who you are, and you should respect that. I mean, I’m pure Brett, no doubt. What if I had a bit of like Derrick Truex in me. That would be terrible considering nobody likes Derrick. Haha Just kidding (jk). I would be a completly different person. What experiecned you have experienced will affect the person you become.
I think I would follow this rule “When in doubt, Pinky out” Try to be as polite and as nice as you can. But above all, be yourself. Not being yourself can have drastic consiquences. Oh, and don’t steal peoples identity. You will get caught.