ENGL210 Week 11/12 Transmedia Blog

The transmedia blog has been a new and worthwhile experience for my group and myself. Furthermore, we decided to create a Facebook page for both Antony and Cleopatra illustrating the complications uprising from their relationship. Antony and Cleopatra seemingly had a complicated relationship, and accordingly this is exemplified through the creation of the modern Facebook pages. The Facebook pages portray the story of Antony and Cleopatra through posts of images, videos and status’, thus employing the use of modern technology to narrate their story. The couple is so much in love, however their relationship is implicitly tainted by obligation and politics. Therefore, my group and I strived to create an interactive transmedia blog through portraying their battle between affection and obligation.

My transmedia group included:

Theresa Aniello (me)

Joseph Conducto

Helen Kim

Corrida Nohra

Rebecca Smith

Antony and Cleopatra – A modern adaptation

Mark Antony’s Facebook Profile

Mark Antony

Antony’s Profile

In memory of Fulvia

Cleopatra’s Facebook Profile

Cleopatra’s Profile

Cleopatra

Facebook Relationship Status

Antony and Cleopatra’s Relationship Status on Facebook

Facebook Chat Conversations

Chat Conversations between Antony and Cleopatra

Facebook Photos

Facebook Status Updates

Cleopatra’s Online Journal

Antony and Cleopatra’s Facebook Lamentations

ENGL210 Week 10 Peer Review

Hello Jasynda,

I felt that I could relate to your blog as you exemplify that Antony and Cleopatra, although doomed to tragedy, is a timeless love story. In today’s society, many people are fascinated by the themes of love and lust, and thus it is this temptation that has made Antony and Cleopatra knowingly admired throughout time. The play is still widely accessible as many relationships continually suffer the wrath of social and cultural restrictions. Therefore, has the world really evolved from the time of Antony and Cleopatra? In my opinion, the plot still has significance as it highlights a struggle between love and inescapable obligation. Well done!

Theresa

ENGL210 Week 10 Blog

My own personal question in relation to Antony & Cleopatra:

Choose one role (either Antony in Rome, or Cleopatra in Egypt) and write a monologue detailing why you love (him or her) so much. Explain the difficulties you are having with your present surroundings without your partner.

Antony and Cleopatra

I wake, it is morning already and in slumber I envision my ideal. My ideal is everything I desire and if it is to be taken away, I do no think my heart will bear the aching. I am showered with the serene light flooding through the window and doused with a peace solely given by my ideal. It is with my ideal that I feel at ease, but although I am jovial, I cannot help but feel utterly confused, which is brought about when questioning myself. It is a mixture of who, what, when, where and how that invade my subconscious – that little fool always seems to be looming.

The morning is habitually my time of contemplation, and so I am in the front row seat of my own play. I gaze at the ceiling in all its paleness, which provides a background for my complacency, as it is when I am staring upward that clarification is epitomized. I suppose I am a peculiar being, tirelessly trying to picture the imminent future, and when my ideal will caress a desire I cannot independently nourish. I damned my subconscious being for coveting a life not yet lived.

My ideal is symbolic of one-half, a half that was given as an indication of perpetuity. In the yester year of adolescence, I reminisce in my adulthood about the time in which I preferred folly, however all has changed and it is not what is believed to be ideal, but how when molded together, a union make perfection.

Antony, my inclination and desire to be with you is ever-present, however I do not know if it is lust or love that you feel. I curse the day I had to return to Egypt, but brave soldier I shall caress each requested desire when we are reunited in love and not in war.

Antony, you are my ideal.

I believe this song is a great representation of the love between Antony and Cleopatra.

Works Cited List

Elf-Fin. “Antony and Cleopatra.” Online Image. Deviant Art. 2006. <http://browse.deviantart.com/art/Antony-and-Cleopatra-30330707&gt;

ENGL210 Week 9 Peer Review

Hello Rebecca,

I thoroughly enjoyed reading your interpretation of Antony writing a love letter to Cleopatra. I believe you had captured the true essence of the play, which is Antony’s unduly lust, and the implicit struggle between the political and romantic aspects of his life. The symbolic use of the “Roman wall” as an implied restraint is effective in portraying his apparent dilemma in choosing between Cleopatra and the state of Rome.

Theresa

ENGL210 Week 9 Blog

3/ Explore the Folger Shakespeare Library and write a short review of its benefits to our study of Shakespeare.

This picture is a link to the Folger Shakespeare Library website.

Henry Clay Folger, established the Folger Shakespeare Library with his wife, Emily Jordan Folger. The Folger Shakespeare Library is located on Capitol Hill in Washington D.C., in the United States. The library is globally renowned to have the world’s largest collection printed materials and works by William Shakespeare. Furthermore, the library has a conservation laboratory for the vital preservation of such rare materials.

The Folger Shakespeare Library offers an array of public and scholarly programs that include concerts, exhibitions, family programs, lectures, music and play, as well as K-12 and college education for students and teachers. Therefore, the library enables people to explore the wonder and subversive nature of William Shakespeare’s collection of workings.

The library’s website offers an amalgamation of information pertaining to Shakespeare’s life, work, theatre and collection. The library also has a selection of digital texts such as:

• The Tempest
• Twelfth Night

The digital texts are an educational resource, as both students and teachers can navigate their way around the play through reading the synopsis or using the facility of ‘Quickjump and Search’ when analysing a particular scene. Moreover, this website is a great holistic resource when studying the life and works of William Shakespeare.

This is also a link to their WordPress website: http://folgereducation.wordpress.com/

ENGL210 Week 8 Peer Review

Hi Helen,

The Folger Shakespeare Library is such a great and vast amalgamation of information relating to Shakespeare’s plays. Therefore, I found your insights and interpretations of the website increasingly helpful in my study of Shakespeare. I particularly liked how you also highlighted that it will be a great resource when teaching in a classroom one day. I personally found Shakespeare difficult to understand at times, therefore did you find this website useful in your study of Shakespeare?

Theresa

ENGL210 Week 8 Blog

2/ John Bell has mentioned his interest in comparing the first production of Henry IV in Sydney in 1800 (performed by convicts) with his version today in 2013. Find out what you can about this and share your resources.

This picture is a link to the newspaper article by John Bell featured in The Australian.

William Shakespeare, as a playwright, has been demonstrated as being a significant influence on the cultural history of Australia. Furthermore, Shakespeare was held in such high regard that his venerated name was considered for the new national capital after the creation of the Commonwealth of Australia. In 1800, Henry IV was the first recorded performance of a Shakespearean play, which took place in Sydney. John Bell, both an actor and director, highlights that ex-convicts performed the first production of Henry IV.

John Bell knowingly contrasts Henry IV with a painting by Brueghel titled The Procession to Cavalry. The picture was painted in 1564, the year Shakespeare was born, accentuating a vast desolate and barren landscape. Relatedly, Bell explains that Breughel’s view, like Shakespeare’s, is “dispassionate, thus illustrating that life, regardless of stature and wealth, concludes with impending death.

Breughel – The Procession to Cavalry

Henry IV was written in two parts, and Bell exemplifies that it is seemingly a contrast between boisterous and comedic rebellion with the prevalent mood of cynicism, death and decay. Furthermore, the play focuses on the explicit struggle between King Henry and Falstaff for the alliance of Prince Hal.

Throughout time, Henry IV has been viewed as being a historical play pertaining to patriotism and the superiority of England. However, the harsh realities of histories political systems are illustrated by Bell’s industrialist approach, representing cruelty, hypocrisy, opportunism, rebellion, and palpable success.

“That’s why I plan to set my production in England in 2013, but an England as seen through modern Australian eyes. What do we think about the monarchy, about mateship, about violence and gender relationships? About power? This has to be a Henry IV for us here and now, a mirror in which we can study many layers of ourselves and the world in which we live.” – John Bell

In 2013, Bell wished to embody the true chaotic, rebellious and anarchic spirit of Henry IV, as mirrored in the production performed on April 8, 1800. The play is symbolic of the map of Britain, accentuating a troupe of both nobility and radicals, portraying the pragmatism of the world.

Works Cited List

Bell, John. “John Bell is looking for Henry with a new production of Shakespeare’s masterpiece.” The Australian [Sydney] 16 Feb. 2013: n. pag. Web.

ENGL210 Week 7 Peer Review

Hello Natalina,
I felt that I could really connect to your blog this week, as sometimes I also feel that I need to seek affirmation, particularly in relation to my appearance and relationships. Therefore, I believe that insecurity, self-consciousness and uncertainty, as well as society, has influenced the principle that people need “affirmation” and approval to function in the world. Furthermore, the act of seeking affirmation can be viewed as being narcissistic, however it can also be regarded as a basic human need. Do you somewhat agree?

Theresa

ENGL210 Week 7 Blog

3/ Explore the on-line reviews of the up and coming Bell Shakespeare production of Henry IV and present a mini-web resource kit which contains a few of the best resources for preparing for this visit. In other words compile a list of the best reviews and maybe summarise the essence of what a few of them say (either about the play itself or about the production).

Link to Henry IV Synopsis

Henry IV Trailer

John Bell gives ‘one of the best performances of his career’ – The Australian

John Bell as Falstaff in Bell Shakespeare’s Henry IV

The Australian has reviewed the play as being highly successful, particularly in relation to John Bell’s performance as Falstaff. Furthermore, The Australian described John Bell’s performing as being one of the “best” during his “long and distinguished career.” Similarly, the production of the play is also exemplified, highlighting the profound effect of the “onstage drums and electric guitar.”

Henry 4 | Bell Shakespeare – Australian Stage

Matthew Moore as Prince Hal in Bell Shakespeare’s Henry IV

Australian Stage has reviewed the play as once again being highly successful. The set of the play is described as being a “post-industrial landscape.” The seasoned cast is depicted as being “meticulous and measured,” emphasising their apparent triumph in interpreting the characters within Henry IV. Conclusively, the play was described as being an “excellent production.”

Bell’s Henry 4 is audacious but uneven – The Sydney Morning Herald

Bell Shakespeare’s Henry IV

The Sydney Morning Herald has reviewed the play as being “desperately uneven” and “dramaturgically flawed.” The play is criticized for its modern adaptation, indicating that John Bell has “dismantled most of the political architecture” in his interpretation. The reviewer emphasises that Henry IV did not need “German tourists,” or an “outrageous Scottish stereotype” to be humorous. Ultimately, Henry IV is exhibited as being “much less appealing.”

ENGL210 Week 6 Peer Review

Hello Julia,

I believe that the contrast between your life and The Tempest is very thought provoking. In today’s society, the act of forgiveness is such a rarity, as people are blinded by the desperate need to take revenge. Therefore, how can we personally be free if we have all this tension within our mind, body and soul? In Act V, the new world within The Tempest is symbolic of reconciliation and regeneration, and so the discordant elements of nature, particularly the tempest, have now been converted to the promise of “calm-seas” (Shakespeare V.I.314), hence the notion of forgiveness.

Theresa

Works Cited List

Shakespeare, William, Peter Hulme, and William H. Sherman. The Tempest: Sources and Contexts, Criticism, Rewritings and Appropriations. New York: W.W. Norton, 2004. Print.