Coat of Arms in Real Life

I walked into my room this afternoon, and while trying to grab something from my bookshelf, I took a peek at my dance trophies. I realized that many of them could be imitations of coats-of-arms. I'm not one hundred percent sure, because their style is different, but I think the basic idea is the same. Here's a site with similar trophies on it:

http://www.raymondstrophycenter.com/html/Trophies.php

There is no actual shield, but many of the elements are the same. Each trophee has different elements from the various sports represented on them. There are symbols of that sport every where. There is also a wreath on many of them. While there isn't a motto, there is usually a place at the bottom for an inscription.

I'm not sure if this applies 100%, but I thought I'd post it and find out ! Does anyone care to disagree with me?

Heraldric Sightings

So I thought I would start a post on our random heraldric sightings...

Today I was looking around for signs of heraldry and found it on the grille of my own car, a Volvo.

As you can see, the grille is divided Per Bend Sinister, signifying defense or protection. I believe that the Volvo company chose this particular design to imply that the company makes safe, durable, strong cars. Also, the charge in the center is the "male" symbol. This could again signify the strength of the brand.

Also while searching, I came across a useful website that explains the meanings of charges and has good example coats of arms.

www.fleurdelis.com/meanings.htm

While on this site I came across what is probably my favorite family motto: Ut apes, geometriam --"As bees, geometry (the Petty family)." I have absolutely no idea what this means, but I like it.

Keep your eyes open for those heraldric elements!

Canterbury Tales: Prologue

I found a pretty good recording of the first 18 lines of the prologue of the Canterbury Tales, so I figured I'd post the site on here. The link is http://www.courses.fas.harvard.edu/~chaucer/gp1-18.wav. It's Middle English, so it's definitely helpful to have a copy of the text in front of you (otherwise it's kind of hard to understand). Good luck memorizing!

Rhinoceros Performance

Friday was a wonderful day filled with lots of pep (E-I-G-H-T 08!!!) and riddles, but, sadly, no Rhinoceros. Since Laz wasn't there and we didn't get a chance to start discussing the performance we saw on Thursday night, I figured we could start discussing it on here.

I thought the performance did a great job of eliminating the "fourth wall" between the actors and the audience. This was accomplished through the mention of one of Ionesco's plays by Jean when suggesting to Berenger that he make himself more cultured. The smallness of the theater, and the way Berenger addressed the audience in Act Three served this purpose as well. Additionally, Berenger's used a script throughout the entire performance, bringing attention to himself as an actor and making the audience very aware that what they were watching was in fact a scripted, artificial play. Ionesco strived to ensure that the audience never lost themselves in the play, that they were grounded in the fact that what they were watching was not reality, and that the play should not be used to escape their lives. The elimination of the "fourth wall" makes the play a part of your "real life," making it just as real as what you do before or after the play.

Another idea for Berenger's use of the script is that it shows that we are all puppets. We are all conformists. There is no original thought. We say and think the things that society tells us to. Berenger acts and speaks like the town drunkard because that is what is expected of him, and we all play out the stereotypes assigned to us.

I think the performance of the show illustrated the idea of "collective consciousness" really well. During the first act, the parallel dialogue between Jean and Berenger and the Old Gentleman and the Logician, with some overlapping lines completely the same, first brings light to the existence of a collective consciousness, which will become increasingly more apparent and important throughout the remainder of the show.

I had a lot of fun, and I think it was definitely helpful to see it done on stage. Favorite part of the show: Jean. <3

Comments and/or other ideas?

Who represents what in the play?

I think we discussed this a bit in class. I want to know what everyone thinks about the charactors- who stands for what, if anything.
Just a few random thoughts of what I think...

Logician: Everything in society that is supposed to be "logical". Human's sense of logic, and the everyday things we do, are absurd.

Berenger: I think he represents what the common man strives to be, to a certain extend. He's the only charactor that we can relate to, and he's the one who "stands up for what is right". Most people would like to beleive they could be like this, so Ionesko creates a charactor that we can relate to. Unfortunately, he (maybe) turns into a rhino again, kind of bursting the bubble of all those who beleive that the good/brave (themselves) will strive in hard times.

Can someone please explain Daisy? I still don't really understand her.

More WWII and Marxism Parallels

So, I just had a few more WWII and Marxist parallels that I wanted to throw out there and get some feedback on. (It was either write a post or write another college essay...I chose the lesser of two evils. :P)

In the beginning of Act Two, Botard is very skeptical of all of the accounts of the rhinoceroses, and he believes that the stories are just being sensationalized by journalists. Even after seeing a rhino, Botard says, "I can't see a thing. It's an illusion." He attributes this illusion to "collective psychosis." This made me think of all those who did/do not believe in the Holocaust. Additionally, in the play, Berenger says that if he were to read about an epidemic in another country in the newspaper, he could maintain an objective detachment. He goes on to say, "When you're involved yourself...you can't help feeling concerned." These statements illustrate the human ability to turn a blind eye to even the most horrific situations. 'Out of sight, out of mind.' This mentality may be used to explain why intervention did not come sooner in the case of WWII. I think Ionesco was commenting on the world's inaction in situations such as the rise of the Iron Guard in Romania and the Nazis in Germany (and surrounding European nations) when he wrote Berenger's line, "We sometimes do harm by simply not preventing harm."

I think another important fascist parallel is Jean and Berenger's discussion on their (in)ability to control their dreams. Jean states that he never dreams, that he is always in conscious control of his thoughts. This reminded my of the fascist ideal that individual interests and thoughts be subverted to those of the state. Berenger, on the other hand, shamefully admits that he sometimes loses control over his thoughts in his dreams. Control seems to be a very important issue here. I think because the world seemed so out of control to the characters, they tried to cling to anything they could control. I do, however, think it's absurd that they tried to control their thoughts even in their dreams. Dreams are subconscious experiences that can't (normally) be controlled by the dreamer.

One last thing. I thought Daisy's comment towards the end of the play that human love was a weakness could be interpreted as a Marxist statement. Communist societies strive for equality amongst members, and human love interferes with this. When people love, they automatically establish an internal heirarchy, ordered from most to least loved. Going by this logic, we can say that Daisy has Marxist tendencies.

Comments on my ramblings?

IMPORTANT

I reserved the tickets for Rhinosoraus. I reserved 8 tickets, and they are being held with my dad's credit card. Everyone will bring cash to the door when we get to the show (15 minutes early).

If anyone needs to back out, they must do so by tomorrow morning. If they don't my dad's credit card will be charged and I'll be angry. For a long time. :)

Hope this helps.
Can someone talk to Matt and make sure he's going? I got a ticket for him :)

Anisha

Interesting Idea

While doing a little research on Rhinoceros, I came across interesting.

In the first scene, the logician tried to explain a syllogism to the Old Gentleman. I looked up the word "syllogism" online to double check the definition, and found that it means reasoning in which a conclusion is derived from two premises. For whatever reason, this stuck a chord.

I remember reading, years ago, that Hitler used this technique to persuade the Germans to elect him leader. He made one statement which was completely true, one statement which was a half-truth, half-lie, and one conclusive statement that was completely untrue. Linked together, people would see this as logic. I think the example was something like this:

1. The German economy has suffered greatly after World War I (True)

2. This is the fault of outside forces and outsiders who hurt Germany (Half true depending on how you look at it... Versailles Treaty, etc)

3. Therefore, Jews are the reason that Germany is suffereing (lie)

I don't think this was the exact statement. It made a little more sense and linked better than that. Either way, I think I got the basic point across. I just thought it was an interesting WWII/Nazi parallel.

Mum Puppettheatre

For those of you that said i was noncommittal
<--- o.O

I just have to say that I don't remember paying for Sesame Street.
(not to judge beforehand)

Anyway...

Thursdays 7:00 PM's performance is
$25.00 +$5.00 processing fee (whatever that is).


Here's the info: 15 Arch Street • Philadelphia, PA 19106
Tickets 215.925.7686
Office 215.925.8686
Email info@mumpuppet.org
Website TIX

Theatre of the Absurd

I don't really have much to say on the Theatre of the Absurd right now, but I figured I would get the ball rolling on discussion...

While reading Jerome P. Crabb's essay on the the Theatre of the Absurd (I forget the website url...), I came across a sentence that really stuck with me. Supporters of Absurdist Theatre often claim that "Change is only an illusion." At first, this concept was absolutely mind-blowing to me, but I'm going to try to put it in the context of "Rhinoceros" and see if it makes sense...

Throughout the play, people keep changing into rhinoceroses and Berenger sees this as a change in their characters. However, these characters do not undergo any internal change (which is the main focal point of the story) and by the end of the story they are exactly the same as they started. Berenger is so preoccupied by the other characters' outward changes that he does not see that no inward change has occurred.

However, this model does not hold up for Berenger himself who undergoes a huge metamorphoses from a state of apathy to one of great concern for humanity.

In conclusion, I don't know if my post made any sense. Please feel free to show me how wrong I am or to make a better arguement for what I am trying to say.

Paganism and Christianity in Beowulf

While doing research for our binders, I'm sure many of us came up with A LOT of information on the role of religion in Beowulf. The author seemed to be particularly good at balancing Christianity and paganism, and as Laz said, working together in relative harmony. Obviously there's a lot to discuss, and a million different places you could begin, but here I go...

Some of the Christian influences in this story are obvious. The reference to Grendal as Cain's decendant, the use of "He" in capital letters, the alusions to Biblical themes. However, there are also pagan influences (the men praying to "heathen" gods, the ideal man having super-human powers, etc). I think this will eventually lead to questions about the author. Was he a Christian?

One piece of research I picked up was an essay entitled "The Christian Coloring in the Beowulf" by F.A. Blackburn. The author suggested that most scholars beleive one of three thigns about the author:

1. The author was a Christian, who heard about the (pagan) story and used it as matieriel, making it more Biblical.

2. The author was Christian, who used old story ideas (which were not in the verse form yet) and added Christian meanings and influences to them.

3. The author was a pagan, and at a later date other authors edited it.

From what I understand, all three of these ideas basically have the same major idea behind it: It was a pagan story originally, with some kind of later Christian influence.

It is my personal beleif that the pagan and Christian references in this story have to do with the balance and collection of Beowulf. Laz said that Beowulf had MANY different versions when told. I think its fair to say that most of the earlier ones were entirely pagan based (before Christianity had spread), and as the years went by, some added Christian elements to the story. The author of this version wanted to balance out the Christian and pagan elements, adding in enough of both so that neither story was destroyed. He seemed to do a good job of it. Opinions?

Feminine Monstrosity (and Other Themes) from Beowulf

At the end of class today Laz gave us the opportunity to pick what we'll be talking about tomorrow, and some of us (tentatively) decided on the portrayal of females in the poem. I wanted to share some information I learned from the articles I read on this topic, and I also wanted to set up a post so we can talk about this theme and the others we'll be discussing in the coming days.

The idea of feminine monstrosity is one that is crucial to the story of Beowulf. One article I read discussed the monstrous nature of both Grendel's mother and Thryth. The difference between the two, it seems, is that Thryth, due to her social status as the daughter of a king, is able to function within society. Despite her evil nature and cruel actions, she is never outright condemned as a monster by the poet. Additionally, after her marriage, she becomes less evil. Is this a commentary on how men "tame" women once they're married?

Grendel's mother, however, is held as one of literature's greatest examples of feminine monstrosity. Described as greedy, grim-minded, an a monster woman, her entrance to Heorot strikes even more terror into the hearts of the men present than does Grendel's entrance. Another article I read, however, proposed the idea that Grendel's mother has received unfair treatment amongst literary scholars; some believe that readers are predisposed to read Grendel's mother as being monstrous due to all of the hoopla surrounding her character. This theory contrasts sharply the fact that the poet depicts, and most readers perceive, Grendel's mother as a horrible, grotesque monster, but does not do so with Grendel, who, in actuality, is equally as evil. Thoughts on this?

One aspect of this poem that I found interesting (as it relates to feminine monstrosity) is that the females in the story act in a more masculine way. Instead of exerting their power through words or through coercion of their husbands, women in the story actually use physical strength and weapons. I think if we compare the females from Shakespeare's plays (like King Lear) to those from Beowulf, this is one noteworthy difference. The poet of Beowulf depicts (some) women as evil, yes, but in a more literal, physical way.

Comments? Other ideas?

Monthly Poll Results (October)

To conserve space on the main page of the blog, I'm deleting old polls and putting the results here.

Feel free to comment.

Poll 1. Basically, an Overwhelming majority of you felt I am a genius. :)

Poll 2. Should Danielle be allowed to blog/comment?

yes	0 (0%)
no	6 (100%)

Poll 3. Laz's name?

Unanimously decided to be "Courage Destroyer" ? whatever it was.

Important Values in Beowulf

On Friday, Laz made a mention (actually, correcting me) about how values and acceptable actions have changed over the course of the human era. Since we're just beginning to dicuss Beowulf, I thought this might be a good place to start the dicussion. What values were more or less important to the charactors in Beowulf? Were they any different from the author's values? I think that in order to really evaluate Beowulf as a charactor, and the "morals" of the story, we have to be able to see things from the intended audience's point of view- see what their culture values, etc.
Obviously, strengh and the abilty to fight is extremely well valued. Loyalty, too, is important to Beowulf, Hrothanger, and the other charactors. My question really lies in isolationism. Is the ability to fight by yourself a good thing, or a bad thing? Beowulf becomes the protector of his people, but when he dies, he leaves them with (almost) no one to help them. They became dependent on him because he was powerful by himself. I guess it could be said that Wiglaf will take over after Beowulf's death, but the lamenting, mourning, and foreshadowing seem to prove that bad things will happen soon.
Something interesting to me is the value of death. Death seems to be a less emotional thing in this culture than many others. The idea of mourning is not as important as action and revenge. Early on in the story, Hrothanger dicusses how he paid a death-price for Beowulf's father to let him be accepted back to the Geats. It seems like killing someone is valued as bad in the monetary sense- like stealing something is in our culture. Once you pay back what's owed (monetarily), you're free of charge. Death seems to be less personal.
Similarly, Grendal's mother's attack seems to be justified in the eyes of the author- because she is avenging her son. The idea of revenge seems to be less emotional and more about simple, blood payback. Death is valued differently.

Of course there's a lot of other ideas and value's I'm not mentioning right now. Comments or more/better ideas?

Lazarow's name

Alright, we hereby gather on the first day of October in order to democratically choose the old english name of our English teacher, Mr. Lazarow.
I shall nominate the name:

Grimmwulf
Dreadful Wolf

He strikes fear into the hearts of many, yet displays a cunning unlike any other.

Any other nominations?

I'll see if I can set up a poll later tonight a la Dan Kim. Nominations shall close at 10 pm est.

-Albert
Trumferth
Sound Mind