All is True (or, 'Enery the Eighth)

King Henry VIII has always held a sort of fascination for me. Maybe it was his arguably chauvinistic womanizing, his seeming cruelty, or his unforgettable break with Rome that got me (hey, I did go to Catholic school). Or, maybe it was this movie (see photo on right). Or, of course, it could be this charming little ditty:

I'm Henery the Eighth, I am,
Henery the Eighth I am, I am!
I got married to the widow next door,
She'd been married seven times before.
And every one was an Henery
It wouldn't be a Willie or a Sam
I'm her eighth old man named Henery
Henery the Eighth, I am!

Regardless, I've always been interested in books, art, and movies about Henry VIII and specifically, his many wives. My next choice of Shakespeare play, then, was obvious: All is True (or, more commonly known as Henry VIII).

While the play is full of much pomp and spectacle (and many more stage directions than you usually find in Shakespeare), I was disappointed that Anne Boleyn had very few lines and scenes and only one with Henry himself. Katherine of Aragon, however, had quite a few long passages that were full of dramatic import (and thus the best for reading aloud in the solitary comfort of one's home).

The play is not, of course, about Henry's wives or marriages. It is more about the fall of greatness -- and from the Duke of Buckingham to Cardinal Wolsey, there is quite a bit of falling. Below, some of my favorite quotations:

Norfolk to Buckingham:
"Heat not a furnace for your foe so hot
That it do singe yourself."

Queen Katherine regarding the cardinals:
"They should be good men, their affairs as righteous --
But all hoods make not monks."

Cardinal Wolsey:
"O negligence,
Fit for a fool to fall by!"

Gardiner, Bishop of Winchester:
"Affairs that walk,
As they say spirits do, at midnight, have
In them a wilder nature than the business
That seeks dispatch by day."

What I can't really figure out is why this play isn't commonly performed anymore. Henry VIII is a well-known king and the play itself offers a good history lesson (or brush-up) on part of his realm. It may not be funny or bawdy or violent, but is still entertaining, thought-provoking, and possibly tear jerking. As the Prologue says, "I come no more to make you laugh. Things now / That bear a weighty and a serious brow, / Sad, high, and working, full of state and woe -- / Such noble scenes as draw the eye to flow / We now present."

The Two Gentlemen of Verona

The Two Gentlemen of Verona was a fairly fast, easy read, and I think part of that was because the plot, language, and themes aren't nearly as advanced or mature as some of Shakespeare's other works. I did some brief research on the play and discovered that many critics are in alignment with my thoughts -- this is one of his weaker plays.

I remember a friend of mine performing one of Julia's monologue from this show at a theater camp I attended one summer in high school. As I read the lines in the play, I could still hear her voice and see her performance in my mind:

"O hateful hands, to tear such loving words!
Injurious wasps, to feed on such sweet honey,
And kill the bees, that yield it, with your stings!
I'll kiss each several paper for amends.
Look, here is writ — kind Julia. — Unkind Julia!"

Another quotation I enjoyed, this time from Valentine:
"That man that hath a tongue, I say, is no man,
If with his tongue he cannot win a woman."

Next up: very likely another history play

The Tragedy of Othello

Despite being an English major, and therefore a voracious reader, I had never before read, studied, or seen Othello. My only real knowledge of the play came from its comparisons to the OJ Simpson case and this video.

But, I immediately understood and appreciated why this play is considered one of Shakespeare's finest works. The story drew me in from the very beginning and even brought me to tears at its end. While many critics have argued that Othello is a barbarian from the start, with only a thin veneer of civility standing between him and chaos, I still felt it impossible not to find sympathy for him. My reading centered more on Iago as a cold, diabolical fiend without any sense of remorse, empathy, or humanity, and how his actions and speeches drove Othello to murder.

In some respects, Shakespeare's choice to leave Iago wordless at the end of the play struck me as a cop-out ("Demand me nothing. What you know, you know. From this time forth I never will speak word."). Iago's motivations and reasons for driving Othello to madness are never truly explained. We know he is jealous about being passed over for promotion, but is that his primary motivation for behaving the way he does? Or, is he a psychopath who delights in causing destruction and seeing others in pain?

One character I especially enjoyed, and would have liked to have heard more from, was Iago's wife, Emilia. I was curious whether this was the first time she was really seeing Iago for what he was, or whether she had had inklings during their marriage that he wasn't quite as "honest" as others think him.

Emilia's scene with Desdemona, as the latter unknowingly prepares for her deathbed, was one of the more poignant scenes in the play. It helped slow down the pace and further cemented Desdemona's goodness and innocence, making the following murder scene all the more tragic.

Finally, I learned that I think I enjoy reading Shakespeare's tragedies best, followed by the comedies, and then the history plays. That said, I've got three tragedies left to read, six comedies, and 10 histories.

Surprise!

Recently, I had the pleasure of crossing #17 off my "30 before 30" list -- mail someone a surprise package. I sent both a belated birthday present to my friend and college roommate in Chicago and a Valentine's present to my mom. And, much to my delight, neither one was broken on arrival (they were both made of glass).

My mom's gift was low-key -- a rose-scented pink candle and a Valentine's card (stuffed, quite expertly, I might add, in a box -- something the postmaster and I puzzled over for several minutes). I should take the time here to give mad props to the postmaster. He was very helpful and full of funny and somewhat pathetic stories involving many of the patrons in and outside of my not-so-safe neighborhood post office. These included an anecdote about a note from a homeless person sleeping in the alcove at night: "Dear postmaster, please turn up the heat in the post office. It is too cold for us to sleep." But I digress.

My friend's gift was homemade and involved glass etching. I've had the tools to etch for quite some time but have been afraid to try it, mainly because I hate messing things up but mostly because I'm just lazy.

For this project, I turned to my handy Cricut die-cutting machine and some software. Because we both went to the University of Maryland, I wanted to create a nostalgic Maryland Terrapins frame for her home or office.

1. First, I downloaded the Terps logo and then used my software to trace the JPG image into an SVG image.
2. I then cut a stencil using my Cricut and contact paper.
3. Placing the stencil on the glass of a small picture frame, I etched the glass using an etching cream.
4. For the inside of the frame, I used a Terps sticker I had from back in the day and mounted it on red cardstock.
5. Voila! A homemade frame that was both easy and fun to make.

(And one tiny side note -- the package to my friend wasn't quite a surprise; I had to email her to ensure I had the correct address.)

Still, if I had the money, time, and resources, I think I'd mail surprise packages every month. I loved knowing someone was going to get something unexpected that just might brighten her day.

Henry IV, Part II

I must admit that I was very distracted while reading Henry IV, Part II. I started the play with great intentions but, well, life intervened and I was unable to finish the read in one or two sittings. My main problem was that every time I picked up the play, I had to refresh my memory on what had happened in previous scenes. I found myself skimming the play, rereading character lists and, yes, perhaps cheating a bit by rereading the forward (and plot spoilers) in my Folger edition.

Because of this, I can say most of the enjoyment I got out of the play was toward the end. One of my favorite scenes was the one between the dying king and his son, the soon-to-be-crowned Henry V. The prince leaves the king's bedside with the crown, and the king mistakenly thinks his son is eager to be rid of him so he can take leadership:

"Thou hidest a thousand daggers in thy thoughts,
Which thou hast whetted on thy stony heart,
To stab at half an hour of my life.
What! Canst thou not forbear me half an hour?"

After I finished the play, I read a little bit about Henry V on Wikipedia. What I found interesting was that Henry's "supposed riotous youth" is largely a myth, perpetrated by Shakespeare's plays. Certainly, Shakespeare's characterization of Henry V and his friends (before taking the crown) makes the plays more comedic and supports the prince's rise to the throne and transformation into a sober, wiser king.

Next up: I'll be taking a break from the history plays to read Othello.