As You Like It
Thanks to Vivian, I'm back on the straight and narrow path to enlightenment aka comprehending and writing this essay on Chaucer. For the longest while I was lost after straying from the true path (thanks to my own mental carelessness) - but Vivian has set me straight.
For a brief period I thought of blaming others, but I have only my self to blame for veering from the road to truth. I've been idle, much like the protagonists on the dream vision I am studying, who've forgotten how to read the stars, or draped themselves in darkness. But I've waxed poetic long enough.
The reason I am writing a post in the midst of essay brainstorming is that I recalled a amusing tale for those few (regular) readers, Vivian and Jeremy, who I knew would get a chuckle (and a sneer) out of this recent experience. It happened Thursday morning amid breaktime in my Shakespeare tutorial (bright and early from 8:30 to 10:15). We were discussing Romeo and Juliet and I had noted a few passing biblical allusions in the text, one of which I was unsure of. Trustworthy person that I am, I decided to seek the wisdom of my TA - Reginald Khokher - my first mistake. There was a reference to "twenty hundred thousand" in a speech by Friar Laurence (if I am not mistaken) - which I thought could be either 120 000 (I mistook this for the 144 000 servants of God from the 12 Tribes of Israel in Revelation) or just a really big number. So I treked over to the TA before he left the room, planted my book down and asked him to clarify. He looked befuddled, babbled an "I don't know" and then proceeded to note other biblical references I had noted in the margins. He then proceeded to presumptuously state that he didn't think that I was familiar and/or liked postcolonial theory and Shakespeare together based on the fact I've written an essay on biblical allusions in Richard 3 and written my midterm on the subject religion, rhetoric and power. So he presumed that I favoured the biblical over "modern" theory, or was ignorant of postcolonialism (it's not my forte, but I'm not ignorant I just prefer reading the text for what IT IS, not what I can FILTER IT THROUGH).
What a problem, that we should interpret Shakespeare as it was written.
For a brief period I thought of blaming others, but I have only my self to blame for veering from the road to truth. I've been idle, much like the protagonists on the dream vision I am studying, who've forgotten how to read the stars, or draped themselves in darkness. But I've waxed poetic long enough.
The reason I am writing a post in the midst of essay brainstorming is that I recalled a amusing tale for those few (regular) readers, Vivian and Jeremy, who I knew would get a chuckle (and a sneer) out of this recent experience. It happened Thursday morning amid breaktime in my Shakespeare tutorial (bright and early from 8:30 to 10:15). We were discussing Romeo and Juliet and I had noted a few passing biblical allusions in the text, one of which I was unsure of. Trustworthy person that I am, I decided to seek the wisdom of my TA - Reginald Khokher - my first mistake. There was a reference to "twenty hundred thousand" in a speech by Friar Laurence (if I am not mistaken) - which I thought could be either 120 000 (I mistook this for the 144 000 servants of God from the 12 Tribes of Israel in Revelation) or just a really big number. So I treked over to the TA before he left the room, planted my book down and asked him to clarify. He looked befuddled, babbled an "I don't know" and then proceeded to note other biblical references I had noted in the margins. He then proceeded to presumptuously state that he didn't think that I was familiar and/or liked postcolonial theory and Shakespeare together based on the fact I've written an essay on biblical allusions in Richard 3 and written my midterm on the subject religion, rhetoric and power. So he presumed that I favoured the biblical over "modern" theory, or was ignorant of postcolonialism (it's not my forte, but I'm not ignorant I just prefer reading the text for what IT IS, not what I can FILTER IT THROUGH).
What a problem, that we should interpret Shakespeare as it was written.
posted by Davyth | 8:38 PM
1 Comments:
Please stop giving me so much credit for helping you. You have all the potential, but you need to learn how to discover it for yourself.
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