Awesome! This took me forever to figure out! I am not much of a blogger but I am excited to learn more about it. Anyway, I have been putting some serious thought into this paper. I am going to be applying for Grad School next year so I want to start getting some good stuff out there.
As you all know, I am rather fascinated by the concepts of villainy in drama and cinema. I think that a good villain makes a good hero. I have been trying to think how I could make Shakespeare more fun and interesting for people who...er...can't quite swallow him. I think that a paper exploring Shakespeare's influence on modern popular film might snag some peoples interest.
These are my proto-papers. I think, however, I may end up writing a hybrid of all three. I wonder if that would have an appropriate scope, or if it would collapse on itself.
Textual
The
villains of Shakespeare are self-assertive, aspiring, calculating, and clever
individuals. They push hard against the society that often pushes them first.
It is this rugged determination to fight against all odds that we as the
audience find so fascinating. We become their confidants and often
co-conspirators. Though we dread their success we long to see them exercise
their intelligence against societal norms. As characters they almost always
undergo a transformative moment during a soliloquy as they conceive an image of
who they are. The Shakespearean soliloquy is vital to the power and draw of his
most famous villains.
This
“proto-paper” would delve deep into the soliloquys of some of Shakespeare’s
most compelling villains. Special attention would be paid to figures of speech,
rhetorical strategies, and other methods used in presenting the character. The
real interest would be that it is the rhetorical essence of these soliloquys
that causes Shakespeare’s villains to be so fascinating, not necessarily the
plot alone.
Contextual
Shakespeare
created villains who exemplified all the classic tropes of villainy that
abounded in sixteenth century England. Marauders, border thieves, murderers,
and assassins were not uncommon. A few of the most famous brigands of the
Renaissance are Geordie Bourne and Guy Fawkes, both of whom had gained a
certain level of notoriety. The characters and crimes of these men are of such
audacity that they too could have been villains of drama. This suggests that
Shakespeare drew from actual criminals of his time to create his most dastardly
villains.
Exploring
the most famous criminals of the 16th century reveals a great deal
about likely sources of Shakespeare’s villains. There are a few records of
wardens and other government officials that describe the crimes and punishments
of the era’s most notorious bad guys. By comparing these actual criminals with
those of Shakespeare’s drama, I hope to indicate how Shakespeare managed to
create such lasting villains. His plots were not entirely original, they were
based on history, folk lore, or other plays. Why should his villains be any
different? This does not demean his accomplishment. On the contrary, it further
exemplifies his skills as an artist.
Critical
Engagement
Villains
represent the fears and dangers of society. Often times we create villains in
art to express what we are truly afraid of. Shakespearean villains are often a
conglomeration of what society truly feared. Usurpers, murderers, and schemers,
they form a wicked community. It is the realism and accessibility of villains
such as Iago and Edmund that brings them their appeal. This is what set
Shakespeare apart. His villains expressed Machiavellian ideologies, pushed
limits, and were anything but simple. These agents of evil gave birth to our
modern concepts of villainy in cinema, literature, and drama. Today, we too
express our fears through terrifyingly real and potent villains. The Joker of
The Dark Knight is a modern descendant of Shakespeare’s Iago and Edmund.
This
prospective paper would involve contextual as well as critical sources. The
previous prompts might even fit inside of it. I found an interesting book titled,
“Villains and villainy : embodiments of evil in literature, popular culture and
media”. I have also found countless other sources that discuss and critique the
villains of Shakespeare on an individual basis from multiple different angles
of interpretation. I plan on fusing these two themes to explore the impact
Shakespeare had on our modern concepts of villainy in modern culture.
All in all, I really am leaning toward all three. I just wonder if that is too much material. A really interesting source on modern day villains was this,
Villains
and Villainy : Embodiments of Evil in Literature, Popular Culture and Media. Eds. Anna Fahraeus, Dikmen Yakalı Çamoğlu, and
Global Villains and Villainy Conference (1st : 2009 : Oxford). Amsterdam; New
York: Rodopi, 2011. Print
