Antigone by Sophocles

When the Literary Life group decided to read the Greek play Antigone, I gave it a pass. With a towering TBR list, I assumed I had better things to read. Silly me. When I saw that the audiobook was just over an hour, I caved in. Surprisingly, I didn't need the Lit Life group to understand the beauty and power of this short play. 

For one thing, the opening paragraph (called "The Argument") gives an overview of the story's principal events so you never have to wonder what is going on. Then comes a brief list of characters (the last two books I read would have been so much easier to understand if I'd had that!) After that, the reader plunges right in. I admit that having some background in Shakespearean English (or at least in the King James Bible) would be helpful in understanding the old-fashioned language. Once I got the hang of it, I loved the plucky heroine, the great dialogue, and the gorgeous wording.

The basic story is of a young woman who goes against the king's arbitrary command (to leave her dead brother unburied) and the heavy price everyone pays for it. Many universal themes are introduced, but the main one is civil disobedience. When does loyalty to family override loyalty to government? Antigone argues that the gods would not have approved of the king's edict. So, she is not only being loyal to her brother, but also to a higher Law. She says to King Creon: 

Nor did I deem that thou, a mortal man,

Could'st by a breath annul and override

The immutable unwritten laws of Heaven.

They were not born today nor yesterday;

They die not; and none knoweth whence they sprang. 

It was startling apropos to our present times as the government continues to encroach on personal religious beliefs.  

My translation (free via Hoopla) by Francis Storr was stunning in its beauty. Here are a few favorite quotes: 

Much thought extends a furlong into a league. (Which I loosely interpret to mean, "Overthinking turns an inch into a mile.")

Hope flits about on never-wearying wings. (Do you suppose this line could have inspired Emily Dickinson's famous poem?)

I would not weigh his wealth and power against a dram of joy.

Ironic statement from a position of power: 

Now if she thus can flout authority unpunished,

I am woman, she the man.

On Pride: To err is common

To all men, but the man who having erred

Hugs not his errors, but repents and seeks

The cure, is not a wastrel nor unwise.

No fool, the saying goes, like an obstinate fool.

Word lovers will revel in phrases like, "her brother lay unsepulchered." And the word "snaffle" made me laugh with delight (even though it's only an old-fashioned word for bridle.) Oh, if only I could slip this delightful phrase into a future conversation: "You vex me with your babblement."

A quick, but worthwhile read. I listened, and then loved it so much downloaded a copy to read again the next day.

Blessings,

Cyrano de Bergerac by Edmond Rostand

Plays are difficult to read, but Cyrano de Bergerac  is worth the effort.   You must make yourself “listen” hard to the voices in the opening scene as many characters are introduced.   As the play continues and the principal characters are highlighted, it becomes much easier to follow. The clever dialogue is a delight.

Cyrano is a French soldier with a reputation for wit and bravery.  And a very large nose.  He is in love with the fair Roxanne who likes him as a friend and who enlists his help to get the man she loves, Christian de Neuvillette.  Setting aside his own feelings, he agrees to help the two lovers.   His sacrificial love for Roxanne is what makes this an enduring classic.

Rostand’s play is both heartbreaking and hilarious.  My version was done by writer and poet Brian Hooker (1880-1946).  His free verse rendition was the best English translation for many years until Anthony Burgess published his more poetic version in 1980.  I read somewhere that Burgess’ version was used for the English subtitles in the 1990 French film with Gerard Depardieu.

Hooker’s translation may not rhyme, but it is wonderfully lyrical:

All those [words] that blossom in my heart, I’ll fling to you – armfuls of loose bloom!  Love, I love beyond breath, beyond reason, beyond love’s own power of loving!  Your name is like a golden bell hung in my heart; and when I think of you, I tremble, and the bell swings and rings – Roxanne!  (168)

And what is a kiss, when all is done?  A promise given under seal – a vow – taken before the shrine of memory – a signature acknowledged – a rosy dot over the “i” of loving. (174)

Well – when I write my book, and tell the tale of my adventures – all these stars that shake out of my cloak – I must save those to use for asterisks. (187)

The most famous movie versions are (1) the José Ferrar film from 1950, (2) Steve Martin’s distorted version in 1987 called Roxanne, and (3) the French version in 1990 with Depardieu.  I was pleased to stumble upon an obscure 1946 adaption starring Hume Cronyn which is set during World War II.  It is called A Letter for Evie and it is fun and romantic.

Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller

I heard this Pulitzer Prize winning play quoted at length two different times this past year and decided it was time to actually read it. “Willy Loman” is apparently a name that every “cultured” American should know, but I had no idea who he was as I opened the book. Although Death Of A Salesman is a short book, just over 100 pages, it took me a whopping three days to read it because it was a bit grim for my tastes and I had to keep putting it down to take a breather. What struck me from the beginning was the profuse profanity – interesting for something written in 1949. While I dislike gratuitous swearing, its repeated use here seemed somehow appropriate – to show how lost these people were. Written today it would have been much worse.

Willy is a 63 year old traveling salesman who wants to quit, but can’t afford to. He is tired and disoriented. Clues to how he reached this condition are given through subsequent dialogue and occasional flashbacks. Obviously something is very wrong with his relationship to Biff, his oldest son. Their struggles to relate to each other are evident from the first scene. As the story unfolds we discover that Biff and his father had adored each other earlier on in their lives. In fact, Willy had pinned all of his hopes on Biff. He had been convinced that his son was going to be “somebody” and had pumped him up with false ideas of his own greatness. Only when Biff recognizes he’s “nobody” does he have a chance to start over without all the lies and pretensions, but this happens near the conclusion of the play.

There were several twists in the play (which will go unmentioned here). The reason that Biff never finished high school comes out near the end. At that point the reader is not sure whether to blame Willy or Biff. Both of them made wrong choices that destroyed their futures. I don’t know what Arthur Miller’s intentions were when he wrote this play. Nothing redemptive seems to come out of all the suffering. When Linda talks about being “free” in the last scene she is referring to their money problems. I think the freedom could also be applied to Biff’s decision to finally give up a life of pursuing false hopes. The truest freedom would have come if the people in this story had been able to experience forgiveness for their past foolishness. Miller effectively showed the oppressive heaviness of their sins and how the whole family was still trapped by them.

Because of the heavy subject matter this play was not pleasant reading material, but I’m glad I finally got to see what all the fuss was about.

King Lear by Shakespeare

After my success with Much Ado About Nothing, I dug out my CDs of King Lear  (purchased years ago) and decided to give them a try. In spite of the stellar cast (Judi Dench, Emma Thompson, Kenneth Brannagh, etc.) I was floundering to understand the story. It was confusing to try to discern each speaker just by their voice. So I checked out the book from the library and gave it another try. After all, WORLD magazine in its 2003 summer issue named it one of the top 5 masterpieces of Western literature. A quote from their review:

This play is probably the bard´s most moving and most profound. What is left when your country comes apart, when your family comes apart through your own fault, when you lose your very mind? Only self-sacrificial love.

I liked the play much better the second time through, but I still found it unusually difficult trying to remember which sister was which and which man was her husband. Who was really insane and who was just pretending? The illegitimate son and the legal son had similar names (Edgar and Edmund) and I had to keep reminding myself who was the good guy and who was the bad one. The only thing that kept me going was the World review AND the juicy quotes that I kept scribbling onto my bookmark. Truthfully, I was a little overwhelmed with the tragic ending.

Some favorite quotes: When Albany tells Goneril to stop being so cruel and conniving he tells her to "be-monster not thy features". (!) Cordelia kisses her crazed father and asks "Restoration to hang its medicine on her lips." Albany´s quote in Act 5, scene 4 has been my theme for the week: Our present business is general woe! Of course, my friends and relatives aren´t dying all over the place so I should be grateful. The best line of all comes in Act 4, scene 1. "The worst is not, so long as we can say, This is the worst!"

The word lover in me came away from the play somewhat confused, yet at the same time deeply satisfied. Now I think I´ll give the CDs another listen. Of course, the very best thing to do would be to SEE the play!

Much Ado About Nothing by Shakespeare

I read classics not because I "have to", but because I actually LIKE them. But when it comes to Shakespeare I have to admit intellectual laziness. I read some of his plays in high school and college. I´ve watched the movie versions and have seen at least 5 of his plays acted out on stage. But his works are NEVER on my list of books to read.

I can´t make the excuse that it is too complicated in reading plays to remember who´s who. One of my favorite books of all time is Cyrano de Bergerac  which is an extremely poignant and well-written play. And it´s not because Shakespeare does not appeal to me. For my 30th birthday my husband and I saw Kenneth Branagh´s Henry V at the theater and fell in love with it. My husband has watched it so many times that quotes from it are part of his daily vocabulary!

Laziness is my only excuse. Before my recent move I grabbed the thinnest book on my shelf and stuffed it into my purse for the trip. (Does anyone else feel underpacked unless they have at least 3 books to take along on a trip?) It happened to be Shakespeare´s Much Ado About Nothing . As I began reading I was captivated from page one by the rich language (Yes, I know Shakespeare and "rich language" have been synonymous for centuries!)

Leonoto describes his return from a battle with very few casualties with these words: "A victory is twice itself when the achiever brings home full numbers". Young, handsome Claudio is praised for his military prowess with these words: "He has borne himself beyond the promise of his age by doing in the figure of a lamb the feats of a lion."

The main love story of Claudio and Hero is overshadowed by the love story of minor characters Benedick and Beatrice. Their puns and verbal jabs are superb! My favorite line in the play is in Act 5, scene 2 when Beatrice is upset over her cousin´s problems and tells Benedick she feels ill. His response is, "Serve God, love me, and mend." What a prescription for what ails us!

I highly recommend this short play. My Wordsworth Classic edition came with a helpful glossary of archaic words.