"Taming of the Shrew"

"What, with my tongue in your tail" (II.i.218).

     Possibly one of my favorite Shakespeares, The Taming of the Shrew is the story of two sisters, Katherine and Bianca.  Bianca is fair, beautiful, and has many suitors waiting for her hand in marriage, whereas her sister is ill-tempered, violent, and disgusted by all men.  This places Bianca in quite a predicament: since Katherine is the older of the two, Bianca cannot be wed until their father finds a husband for the elder.  Bianca's suitors recognize this problem and pay a man to marry Katherine.  This man is Petruchio, a traveller in search of a wife with a grand dowry.
      Petruchio is just as witty and quick-tongued as Katherine therefore making them perfect matches for each other.  Petruchio is determined to prove that he is capable of turning any woman into a good and loyal wife, thus the "taming of the shrew".

     Like I said, this is one of my favorite of Shakespeare's plays because it has so man jokes, both clean and inappropriate.  But I have one problem with it.  The message itself is not very good.  Without giving too much away, the main message is that women must conform and be obedient to their husbands.  It makes Grease the Musical look like a parable.  Shakespeare is making the argument that everyone in society is much happier when they conform to their expected role.  Whether this play is actually a criticism of social roles is debatable.
     Overall, though, this is a very good read.  It continues to be read and performed because it's comedy and witticisms continue to be funny and relevant today.

I give it 5 out of 5 Wildes.

Here is Delaney and I performing a Act 2 Scene 1 from the show.  We did this scene last year for drama class and had to perform it for every other drama class because we were so stellar!

"Macbeth"

"Out, damned spot, out, I say!" (Macbeth V. i. 37).

     Being one of Shakespeare's shorter plays, Macbeth is a powerhouse of a show that runs very much like one of today's thriller movies.  "That Scottish play", as it's know to anyone who has ever been involved with live theater, is probably one of my favorite Shakespearean plays.  It focuses on the psychological turmoil of Macbeth, a war hero.  Macbeth's wife, Lady Macbeth, convinces him kill the current king so as to take the throne for himself.  Lady Macbeth suggests this because it was foretold to Macbeth, by three witches, that he would one day be king.
     After having done so, Macbeth becomes so distraught with guilt that he can no longer sleep.  And not just have a rough night's sleep every night, but literally stops sleeping all together.  Because of this, Macbeth's mind and world begin to crumble.  In his guilt, Macbeth commits multiple other crimes which just add to his fleeting sense of reality.
     Macbeth really delves into the mind and humanity of man.  It is a play that quite literally keeps the reader on his or her toes; constantly wondering what will come next and how much further can Macbeth go into madness.  Truly, it is one of the first psychological thrillers.

     About a year ago, I was in Ashland, OR for the Oregon Shakespeare Festival on a school trip.  While there, we got to see multiple plays and productions being put on for the festival.  Other than being one of the best weekends of my life, this weekend also yielded the best live performance I have ever seen of a straight play.  Directed by Gale Edwards and staring Peter Macon as Macbeth and Robin Nordli as Lady Macbeth, this production of Macbeth was stellar and took live theater to a level I had never seen or experienced before.  I've included a couple of pictures from the website because of how amazing it was.

Macbeth in the heat of battle

Macbeth and Lady Macbeth share an intimate moment upon his return from war

The witches who prophesize Macbeth's future as king

The spirit that holds the dagger with which Macbeth must kill the king

Robin Nordli in the famous Lady Macbeth scene in which she has lost her mind, "Out, damned spot!".

I give it 5 out of 5 Wildes.

"To Kill a Mockingbird"

     When was the last time you read a book that changed your life? When was the last time you read a book that changed your life the second time you read it?  To Kill a Mockingbird is just such a book.  Written by Harper Lee in 1960, To Kill a Mockingbird is the story of a young girl, Scout Finch, living in Maycomb County, Alabama during the Great Depression.  Among all of her adventures with her brother, Jem, and their summertime friend, Dill, one of the most notable is the three's quest to discover the truth about Boo Radley - a man who lives with his family in an old house, a man no one knows very much about.

     But the legend of Boo Radley serves only as the backdrop to the real dilemma in this small town in Alabama.  Tom Robinson is a black man accused of raping a white woman named Mayella Ewell.  Atticus Finch, Scout and Jem's father, is the man appointed to defend Tom in court.  Atticus -a man truly ahead of his time - is fighting against a jury of racist people in the deep south.
     To Kill a Mockingbird is a classic bildungsroman tale (a coming-of-age story) because it is all about Scout opening her eyes to the real world for the first time and seeing how ugly some people can really be.  Up until then, Scout saw the world through her innocent child eyes; her father was perfect, people were good, and there is always justice in the world.  But through the court case with Tom Robinson, Scout loses that innocence and recognizes mistakes.  She sees that Atticus is actually just human and that he does make mistakes.  She sees that not all people are good.  And she sees that sometimes justice will not prevail in a world so full of prejudice and hatred.
     Like I said earlier, To Kill a Mockingbird is the kind of book that can offer the reader something new and insightful every time he or she reads it.  I have read it twice, and each time, I find a new lesson to be learned.  A wonderful book that no person should not have read at least once in their life.

I give it 5 out of 5 Wildes.

And I couldn't help but add one of the funnier spoofs of To Kill a Mockingbird available on the internet. How to Kill a Mockingbird.

"A Raisin in the Sun"

     Written in 1959 by Lorraine Hansberry, A Raisin in the Sun tells the story of the struggles that a black family living in Chicago endures.  It is most popular for being the first play to be performed on Broadway that was written by a black woman and directed by a black man.

     A Raisin in the Sun goes in-depth to unearth the types of problems and issues that a black family suffers in a world where it is a privilege to be white.  It is all about their attempt to move away from the slums of Chicago to a nice suburb where they can live a much happier and healthier life.  It's a great read good for anyone who cares about the justices of man.

I give it 4 out of 5 Wildes.

"The Picture of Dorian Gray"

     Alas we have arrived at my favorite writer.  Oscar Wilde was a sassy and witty man from England.  He was one of those people who was larger than life.  In his day, he was extremely flashy and eccentric.  Wilde, as many great writers and artists are, was a homosexual.  One of the funnier stories involving Wilde is one from when he was on trial for sodomy (yes, it was illegal at one point).  Throughout the whole trial Wilde has a plethora of expensive lawyers all trying to win his case for him.  After a few months of proceedings, Wilde finally fires all of his lawyers and decides to represent himself.  On the day of his sentencing, the judge asks Wilde if he has anything else to say before the verdict is hear.  Wilde stands in the middle of the courtroom and says, "Just tell your son I say 'Hello', judge".  The judge threw out the case before the verdict was ever heard.  He was truly a character ahead of his time.  

     While my favorite work by Wilde is The Importance of Being Earnest, he is more well known for his novel The Picture of Dorian Gray.  This tells the tale of the rich and young Dorian Gray who is described as far more handsom than even the Greek gods themselves.  Gray has a portrait commissioned of himself painted by his artist friend, Basil.  While posing for the painting, Gray realizes that all he has is his youth and beauty, and that someday it will be gone.  He becomes jealous that while one day he will be old and ugly, the painting being done of him will remain young and beautiful forever.  In his distress he wishes that that the painting will get old and he will be able to keep his youth.  

     As a fiction novel will have it, the picture does begin to age.  But it also does much more than that.  Gray begins to live a life full of sin and deceit.  It is because of this that the picture also begins to display Gray's sins and wrongdoings.  In a matter of years, the picture has become old and gruesome, while Gray remains as young as the day the portrait was commissioned.  Gray must hide the picture from the world because it reveals what his soul is really like.  

     It is a great novel about the preservation of a wholesome life and being careful what you wish for.  This is one of Wilde's more serious works but well worth the read.

I give it 5 out of 5 Wildes.

"Oedipus the King"

     Fates foretold, jealousy, incest, and needles to the eyes... Yes indeed this play has everything.  Oedipus the King was written by Sophocles in about 429 BC.

     Oedipus Rex is one of those guys who just can't catch a break.  Through the tellings of an oracle, it is foretold that Oedipus will one day kill his father and marry his mother.  Oedipus finds this crazy because he loves his parents very dearly and would never hurt them in that way.  Little does he know, though, that he is actually adopted.
     Several years later, Oedipus becomes king by marrying queen Jocasta (whose husband was killed many years prior by a group of robbers).  When Oedipus learns news of how Jocasta's first husband actually died, he recalls a time when he was nearly run off the road by a carriage.  For revenge, Oedipus kills the owner of the carriage.  As you may have guessed, the man Oedipus killed in the carriage was his biological father, therefore, the woman he has been sleeping with is actually his mother.  And, just as any man would do, he gouges his eyes out with needles and attempts to exile himself.  But he is relieved of this duty which leads into the next play.

I give it 3 out of 5 Wildes.

"Johnny Tremain"

     Oh good God, how I will never forget reading Johnny Tremain.  Written by Esther Forbes in 1943, Johnny Tremain tells the story of a young boy living in Boston, MA in the time leading up to the American Revolution.  Johnny is a young apprentice to a silversmith when he has an accident involving a cracked crucible ("It is a whore!" -The Crucible).  After burning his hand severely and fusing his thumb and palm together, Johnny realizes that he will never be able to be a silversmith like he had hoped and worked towards for the past several years.

     From this point on, Johnny spends the next half of the book being depressed and upset about his mangled hand.  He has no more family, so he must continue to live with the silversmith's family, getting a constant reminder everyday of the life he will never lead.  It is not until the very end anything interesting happens concerning the Boston Tea Party and Paul Revere.  Overall, I would not recommend this book even to my worst enemy.  It is just too depressing and embarrassing to deal with.

I give it 1 out of 5 Wildes.

"The Pearl"

     Ok, I think it is about time that I finally admit what I have been hiding on here.  I hate John Steinbeck.  It is nothing against his character or him as a person, but I just hate his writing style and basically anything he touches.  Perhaps my deep hatred stems from when my fifth grade teacher forced us to go on a field trip to the John Steinbeck Museum in Salinas, CA.  It was the longest and most boring field trip I have ever endured.  But whether that is the reason or not is between me and my future string of countless therapists.  Unfortunately, THREE of his books have made it onto my list.  The first one I am writing on is The Pearl.

     This tells the story of a poor family living in La Paz, Mexico.  The main character, Kino, is a pearl diver and uses his pearls as a source of income.  Much happens to this poor family including a scorpion sting, death, illness, murder, and Lord knows what else.  The main point of the plot is that Kino finds the largest pearl anyone has ever seen; "The Pearl of the World".  This pearl initially brings wealth, happiness, and hope to the family.  But eventually that changes.  The pearl then becomes a symbol for hatred, death, and despair for Kino.
     While it is certainly and easy read, I did not find it a fun one.  Then again, that may have been because I was stewing the whole time thinking about stupid John Steinbeck and his museum in hot-as-hades Salinas, CA.  Stupid Steinbeck...

I give it 2 out of 5 Wildes.

"The Merchant of Venice"

     "If you prick us do we not bleed?".  Does that line sound familiar? It should.  It is a line from one of Shakespeare's most famous works The Merchant of Venice.  That line in particular is used often throughout modern culture to express the injustices of those oppressed.

     The play tells the story of Antonio, a wealthy merchant, who allows his friend, Bassanio, to place his name down on a loan from a Jewish money lender named Shylock.  Bassanio requires the money so as to woo the fair Portia.  If Antonio is unable to repay, then Shylock has the legal right to remove a pound of flesh from Antonio.  On top of this interesting plot line, there is also a love story between Portia and Bassanio.

     *Spoiler Alert*

    In the end, Antonio cannot repay his debt to Shylock because all of his ships and goods are still at sea.  Shylock is offered a repayment by Bassanio, but because of his hate for Antonio, requests the pound of flesh instead.  As Shylock is about to begin, he is stopped and it is clarified that in the contract, Shylock may remove only a pound of flesh, but no blood.  If a single drop of Antonio's blood is lost, then the contract is broken.  Disappointed, Shylock requests then to take the original repayment offered by Bassanio, but cannot claim it because he has already denied it.  To add insult to injury, it is pointed out that Shylock, being a jew, tried to claim the life of a Christian (Antonio).  Now he must have half his estates taken away from him.  Shylock is left poor and beaten by the system.  It is because of this ending that this play is often reproached for it's anti-semitic themes. 

*End Spoiler*

    The Merchant of Venice is a unique play and offers much thought and speculation long after you are done with it.  And isn't that what a good piece of literature is supposed to do? 

I give it 4 out of 5 Wildes.