Last post on desire

A wrap up on desire.


First entering the class, I was completely out of my element. Shakespeare always seemed very daunting and it was in the beginning. By having one theme, instead of summing up the plays or finding something new to write about in each post, it allowed for overarching parallels within early Shakespeare. I was glad that I chose desire because it has a lot of plasticity. I liked that I grew comfortable with Shakespeare due to looking at one or two characters and finding the real meaning behind the many, many words and the rampant symbolism.

 I liked how desire in the comedy plays was about a desire for identity in sometimes aggressive or trickster methods-- with Comedy of Errors and Taming of the Shrew. Then how desire shifted into a form of sexual identity and the need for reproduction and desire for another body, especially in Romeo and Juliet. Then, and what made most sense to me, was desire in the historical plays. Taking a  wider look at the plays in general Shakespeare's desire for writing the plays was for historical consciousness and the desire that people had to remember their past. Within the play form, desire can take a very strong and violent manifestation. The rulers are constantly vying for power and leadership while leaving corruption and the people under or plotting against these rulers like in Titus, Richard II and Henry IV, all desire a good leader and one who will not damage or fault against their homeland. The desire of keeping with a strong sense of nationalism. I liked the historical plays the best because they seemed to have more substance-- but this is coming from someone who knew nothing about Shakespeare (or even where he was born which was probably a freebee on the test).

I enjoyed the class and learned a lot more than I expected. I am glad about this blog posting and enjoyed doing this because writing is the mind working through ideas and processing and how my mind works best. I am glad there was one theme to look at and discover and make very intimate throughout the class. I definitely have a better grasp on different forms of desire in Shakespeare, so the next challenge will be the final exam!