Richard III: Tragic Hero

            As a result of Shakespeare’s eponymous play, Richard III is considered conniving, murderous, and cruel. The full title of the play is The Tragedy of Richard III (R3), which seems incongruous since Richard appears to be a consummate villain; yet the play is a tragedy. It contains the necessary elements of an Aristotelian tragedy: a high born hero who falls from greatness through his own tragic mistake.

The structure of Richard III fits what Aristotle describes in his Poetics. The plot of Shakespeare’s Richard III is intimate: it involves the royal classes, their relatives and close friends. As the younger brother of King Edward IV, Richard, Duke of Gloucester is at the top of the social order in England. His hamartia sets in motion murders and executions, with Richard killing off friends and family members in a tyrannical reign. In final scene of the play, Richmond kills Richard and declares “the bloody dog is dead” (R3 5.5.3); Richard has lost everything and has been killed in a civil war of his own making. This is the classic Aristotelian plot structure of tragedy.

It would be easy to argue that this play is not a tragedy because Richard is not a hero, claiming as proof that in the opening scene of Shakespeare’s The Tragedy of Richard III, Richard himself says “since I cannot prove a lover to entertain these fair well-spoken days, I am determined to prove a villain and hate the idle pleasures of these days” (R3 1.1.28). However, it’s important to note that Richard doesn’t say that he is a villain. He may be plotting, but he hasn’t actually done anything evil at this point. He isn’t very well liked, but Aristotle’s Poetics does not list likeability as a requirement for a tragic hero.

When Aristotle considers tragedy in his Poetics, he says, “most important of all is the structure of the incidents…character comes in as subsidiary to the action” (Aristotle 25). Richard is different than most tragic heroes, but in the opening scenes of the play, Shakespeare paints a portrait of someone who is clever, witty, and intelligent; someone who is royal but has been dealt a cruel hand by fate giving him physical deformities.

In Act I, scene 3, Queen Elizabeth tells Lord Grey that Richard has been chosen to be protector when the King dies, which will make Richard the de facto ruler until Edward’s son is old enough to take the throne. Richard obviously starts the play as a great man, a hero. Audiences are intended to feel at least some pity for this deformed man, who is disliked and ridiculed by almost every other character in the play, even if Shakespeare couldn’t make Richard too sympathetic since he was overthrown by an ancestor of the sitting queen.

Richard’s hamartia is that he engineers the death of his brother Clarence in Act I. Richard didn’t need to have his brother Clarence killed to gain power. Richard had already been chosen as protector, and was going to rule England until the prince was old enough. However, having successfully engineered one death, Richard’s ruthless ambition to be king consumes him and he begins coldly removing anyone in his way. By Act IV, scene 3, he has had the princes, Lord Grey, Earl Rivers, Sir Vaughn, Lord Hastings, and his own wife murdered.

In Act V, when Buckingham says “Thus doth he force the swords of wicked men to turn their own points on their masters’ bosoms” (R3 5.1.23), he is speaking as much about Richard as he is about himself. Buckingham recognizes that Richard has brought about his own downfall. Richard also has this recognition and his “recognition is coincident with a reversal of fortune” (Aristotle 39), appropriate for the tragic hero, happens in Act V, scene 3, when he proclaims that no one loves him, and why should they, since he does not pity himself (R3 4.3.200).

At the end of the play, the audience is not left with a sense of poetic justice, but with feelings aligned to the tragedy they have witnessed, feelings appropriate for having witnessed a tragedy. While Richard III is not the perfect tragic hero, he is, nonetheless, a tragic hero and the eponymous play, The Tragedy of Richard III, is indeed a tragedy.

Works Cited

Aristotle. Poetics. Trans. S. H. Butcher. London: MacMillan & Sons, 1895 Internet Archive. University of Toronto Libraries. Web. 5 April 2014.  

Shakespeare, William. The Tragedy of Richard III. Ed. Barbara A. Mowat and Paul Werstine. New York: Simon & Schuster. Paperback, 2012. Print.

The Commedia dell’Arte Influence on A Midsummer Night’s Dream

     Commedia dell’Arte was a theatre tradition that began during the Renaissance in Italy and spread across Europe. “There is no evidence that [Shakespeare] ever saw a Commedia company perform, but there are such strong links and comparisons, he must have heard some very accurate accounts of it” (“Commedia dell’Arte”). A Midsummer Night’s Dream includes not only the interweaving of stories across social classes found in Commedia dell’Arte, but some of its stock characters. As a result, the play remains one of Shakespeare’s most popular comedies.

     Commedia dell’Arte incorporates three “classes” of characters in its performances. These are the vecchi, the zanni, and the innamorati (“French Theater in the 18^th Century”). The vecchi are the upper class or masters. In A Midsummer Night’s Dream, these characters are represented by Theseus, Hippolyta, Egeus, Oberon, and Titania. Theseus is the Duke of Athens; Hippolyta is the Amazon queen engaged to Theseus; Egeus is a citizen of Athens; and Oberon and Titania are the king and queen of the fairies. In addition to being part of the vecchi, Egeus is recognizable as the stock Commedia dell’Arte character named Pantalone, who often portrayed a father whose daughter doesn’t want to marry the man he has chosen for her. This is certainly true in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, as one of the major plot lines surrounds Theseus’ daughter Hermia, who wants to marry Lysander rather than the man her father wants her to marry.

     The working class craftsmen in A Midsummer Night’s Dream who have decided to perform the story of Pyramus and Thisbe for the Duke’s wedding are referred to as the mechanicals. They consist of Nick Bottom, Peter Quince, Francis Flute, Robin Straveling, Tom Snout, and Snug. These characters are part of what is referred to as the zanni in Commedia dell’Arte.  They provide much of the base humor in the play, from the visual comedy of Bottom’s head being turned into the head of an ass (3.2.102) to the mechanicals’ performance in front of the vecchi at the top of Act V, which is so terrible that it’s laughable. The most memorable of the mechanicals is Nick Bottom, who is self-deluded and thinks he is a talented actor; he is the butt of many of the jokes in the play. Other zanni in the play are the servant fairies: Puck, Peaseblossom, Cobweb, Mote, and Mustardseed.

Puck, Oberon’s servant, plays a more integral role in the play than the rest of the fairy zanni in A Midsummer Night’s Dream and may be compared to the Commedia dell’Arte stock character named Arlechinno. He is also one of Shakespeare’s most memorable characters, just as Arlechinno was one of the most memorable Commedia dell’Arte characters. In Act II, Oberon gives Puck a flower and tells him to anoint Demetrius’ eyes with it. The flower is magical and its nectar will cause Demetrius to fall in love with Helena. Unfortunately, Puck mistakes Athenians and anoints Lysander instead of Demetrius and plot complications ensue. Making mistakes that complicate the plot is a characteristic of Arlechinno. Another characteristic of Arlechinno is that he may speak directly to the audience (“Arlechinno”), something that Puck does at the end of the play.

     The innamorati, or young lovers, in Commedia dell’Arte are represented by the characters Hermia, Lysander, Demetrius, and Helena in A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Like the innamorati in Commedia dell’Arte, these characters are more serious than the other classes. Hermia is in love with Lysander instead of the young man her father, Egeus, wishes her to marry. Demetrius, her father’s favorite, wants to marry Hermia, but he has jilted her best friend Helena and she plots to win him back. This is a common plotline in Commedia dell’Arte, where the wishes of fathers regarding the marriages of their children are at odds with the desires of those children.

     Given the popularity of Commedia dell’Arte, it is no wonder that Shakespeare used its elements of interwoven classes and stock characters to create A Midsummer Night’s Dream, a memorable play that continues in popularity to this day.

Works Cited

“Arlechinno” Shane-Arts.com. The Commedia dell’Carte. n.d. Web. 27 March 2014. <http://shane-arts.com/Commedia-Arlechinno.htm>

“Commedia dell’Arte.” UnderstandingItaly.com. Understanding Italy, n.d. Web. 19 March 2014. <http://www.understandingitaly.com/profile-content/commedia.html>

Shakespeare, William. The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Volume 1. Ed. W.G. Clark and W. Aldis Wright. Garden City: Nelson Doubleday, Inc. Hardback, n.d. Print.

“French Theater in the 18^th Century.” McCarter.org The Figaro Plays. n.d. Web 20 March 2014. < http://www.mccarter.org/figaroplays/3-explore/frenchtheater18.html>

 

Hamartia and Catharsis in Hamlet

             The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark by William Shakespeare is one of the best tragedies ever written. Hamlet is a prince whose hamartia sets in motion a series of tragic events among his family and the family of the woman he loves. The rising action causes very strong emotions to build in the audience, the climax of the play leads to Hamlet’s complete downfall, and the play has a cathartic ending which provides an emotional release for the audience.

According to Aristotle’s Poetics, “Tragedy is an imitation not only of a complete action, but of events inspiring fear or pity” (Aristotle). In The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, the plot involves relatives and close friends: Claudius has murdered his brother, King Hamlet; Prince Hamlet kills the father of the woman he loves; Ophelia goes mad and falls into the stream, killing herself; Claudius accidentally poisons the woman he loves, Hamlet’s mother Gertrude; and Ophelia’s brother kills Hamlet. The intimacy of these relationships heightens the audience’s pity for Hamlet, and the fact that Hamlet falls from royalty makes his descent that much more poignant.

Hamlet wants to be absolutely certain that the ghost’s allegation is true before exacting revenge upon Claudius. Once Claudius’ reaction to the play supports the ghost’s allegation, Hamlet is driven to seek revenge and justice. He has an opportunity to kill Claudius immediately after the play, but decides that killing Polonius during prayer would send him straight to heaven. Hamlet is doing his best to effectively manage the uncertainties in his life, to find justice where there may be none, to consider the actions he may take. He ponders the meaning of death and what comes after. He is likable, if somewhat gloomy, but is at times consumed by the emotion of it and unable to act rashly. He is someone that audiences can identify with: we have all done this.

An argument might be made that Hamlet’s tragic flaw is that he believed in ghosts. If he had not believed the ghost of King Claudius, he would never have sought revenge for the murder of his father; however, this argument would not have directly led to the tragic events of this play. Another argument might be that his indecisiveness is his flaw; unfortunately, this is supported because the series of tragic events do not unfold when he is being indecisive.

It is an act of rashness in an otherwise thinking man that is Hamlet’s hamartia. When Hamlet speaks to his mother in her room, he is angry that she does not see the situation his way and frightens her with his passion. When Gertrude calls out in fear, Hamlet rashly kills the man he hears behind the tapestry, only to learn that it is not Claudius. Hamlet’s action sets in motion events that lead to the deaths of seven more people including himself. In a sense it also leads to the death of Denmark itself, as the only royal left standing at the end is the Prince of Norway who happens onto the scene at the same time as the British ambassadors.

Catharsis comes when Fortinbras happens upon all the dead bodies in the palace, is briefly informed of what has happened, and says “Bear Hamlet like a soldier to the stage, for he was likely, had he been put on, to have proved most royal; and for his passage, the soldier’s music and the rite of war speak loudly for him” (Shakespeare 287). After all of the tragic events, the audience is allowed release from the emotions they have been building up through the play: Hamlet is treated as a hero by Fortinbras.

Works Cited

Aristotle. Poetics. Trans. S. H. Butcher. Project Gutenberg. Web. 13 March 2014.

Shakespeare, William. Hamlet. Ed. Barbara A. Mowat and Paul Werstine. New York: Simon & Schuster. Paperback, 2012. Print.

Category Shift & Social Media: Because x

Social media allows people to communicate across ethnicity, socio-economic status, and geography. Category shift is using a word as a different part of speech; according to Mary M. Clark, “English makes very frequent use of category shift … in fact, most common nouns can also be used as verbs … verbs can also often be used as nouns” (Clark 29). This happens very frequently when the nouns of social media become verbs and vice versa, like the proper noun Google becoming the verb to google, and then becoming the common noun googler. One of the more unusual category shifts surrounds the subordinating conjunction because, which is now being used as a preposition that appears in the format because x. This new category shift has rapidly been adopted in part because social media makes it possible for people all across the world to see this new usage.

“Just as languages evolved before – by interacting with other languages – we will adjust the way we use words based on what we do and see. And since what we see is so often the white glow of a computer screen, our language is impacted by the Internet” (Knibbs). Although earlier instances have been found, because x seemed to take off after 26 January 2011; an off-topic forum on jalopnik.com began using the phrase “because racecar” as a sarcastic answer to any car-related question after an ad in Craigslist said the car being sold had been modified “because racecar” (Because Race Car). Soon thereafter, memes began to be created and distributed on social media. Most, but not all were car-related. The phrase moved from the jalopnik forums into other forms of social media, such as Twitter and Facebook.

There were eighty-seven instances of “because racecar” in the public twitter feed between 7 January and 22 February 2014, not including hashtag phrases. In less than three days, between 18 February and 21 February 2014, #becauseracecar appeared 100 times; there were also many instances of #because #racecar. This was approximately three years after the phrase appeared in jalopnik.com’s forums.

According to its Facebook timeline, an Entertainment page titled “Because Race Car” was created on Facebook on 30 March 2011. A similar page titled “Racecar Memes” was created on 21 February 2012. The most common usages of retain the humorous, sarcastic tone of the jalopnik forum posts; however, usage has evolved beyond this single instance.

“Because racecar” quickly evolved into because x. On the Because Race Car page in Facebook, the following was posted on 15 June 2011:

 

On Twitter, the following was posted 11 Jun. 2011: “I hate it when a friend forgot his/her close friend just because girlfriend/boyfriend” (Adilah). This usage of because x appeared again on 22 July 2011, when a user included “I do not hate you because girlfriend” (THANK YOU Austin) in a tweet.  The author is not suggesting that “because girlfriend” was the next step in the evolution of because x, simply that the usage of because x had expanded from “racecar” to other nouns.

Almost three years later, because x is still regularly found in the public twitter feed, as seen in the following recent examples:

 

 

 

 

While the humorous element of this usage still occurs, more frequently there is a new implication: no further explanation is needed because the x not only has a universal meaning, but there is an undeniable universal agreement that no further explanation is necessary.

The author was unable to find any instances of “because x” in her Facebook feed and began to suspect that this phenomenon occurred more frequently in younger generations. She eventually posted the following and received over seventy replies:

All,

Please help a girl (yes, this girl, as in me) with a little field research.

There's an interesting linguistic change happening courtesy of social media and the internet. It's called "because x" (or because NOUN) and it involves changing the use of the word "because" from a subordinating conjunction to what appears to be a preposition.

An example of this would be: “The Sun is about to flip upside down… but don’t panic it's all going to be fine because science.”

Another real life example is courtesy of one of the announcers tonight: “She was 20 just 4 years ago making her 24 for this Olympics, because math.”

So here's my question for all of you. Have you or do you ever use "because x"? If so, would you give me an example of how you've done this?

Thanks!

The responses ranged from “Never heard this before. Appalled” (Renner) to “It's used all over the school, for the most part by people aged 26 and under” (Schurr) and there was a direct correlation between the range of responses and the age groups occupied by the respondents. The use of because x tends to occur in younger people.

One English teacher responding to the post said: “Just another example of linguistic evolution. … It's nothing to get too upset over, as this sort of grammatical fad usually has little impact on the language itself. It takes quite a while for these little nuances, or irritants to some, to make their way into any lasting change. Language is a living and evolving phenomenon; words and conventions are born and die every day” (Whitworth). This response echoed the response of a linguist who suggested that the usage may be a fad.

Only time will tell if because x is a permanent or temporary change to English. For now, it is occurring frequently enough for linguists to take notice, and it is an indication of how social media may accelerate new trends in language by making them available to anyone in the world with access to the internet.

Work Cited

Adilah, Nur (hellodila). “I hate it when a friend forgot his/her close friend just because girlfriend/boyfriend. Seriously, who knows you begtter and longer. Beeetch!” 11 Jun. 2011, 10:49 p.m. Tweet.

“Because Race Car.” Know Your Meme. Cheezeburger Network. 2012. Web 31 Jan. 2014.

Because Race Car (becauseracecar). “Why Car Always Broken? Because 911 Car.” 15 Jun. 2011,

Clark, Mary M. The Structure of English for Readers, Writers, and Teachers, Glen Allen: College Publishing, 2003.

Coffee (Java_Calling). “’@Jessayelizabeth: Why is coffee icecream the best thing on this planet’ Because coffee. And ice cream. And COFFEE.” 22 Feb. 2014, 9:10 p.m. Tweet.

Hill, Denise J. (denisejhill) “All, Please help a girl out….” 19 Feb. 2014, 12:00 a.m. Facebook.

Knibbs, Kate. “Kthxbai! How Internet-Speak Is Changing the Way We Talk IRL (In Real Life).” Digital Trends. Designtechnica Corporation, 22 May 2013. Web. 1 Feb. 2014. <http://www.digitaltrends.com/social-media/how-the-internet-is-changing-the-way-we-talk/>

Longhorn Humor (longhornhumor). “RT if you don’t know what day it is…because vacation.” 2 Jan. 2014, 4:22 p.m. Tweet.

McAnulty, Heather (H____Mac). “Every 60 seconds a minute passes in Australia #BecauseSCIENCE.” 17 Feb 2014, 12:32 p.m. Tweet.

Morrow, Craig (breadczar). “She was 20 just 4 years ago making her 24 for this Olympics, because math.” –Announcer #Olympics2014 #Sochi2014.” 18 Feb. 2014, 8:52 p.m. Twitter.

My Optimal Me (RightHealth). “Excited to go to bed because coffee. And gym. Because coffee and gym. I love my life.” 5 Feb. 2014, 9:21 p.m. Tweet.

Renner, Tony (tony.renner.92). “Never heard of this before. Appalled.” 19 Feb. 2014, 12:03 a.m. Facebook.

Schellenberg, Hans C. (hanscs). “Obsessed with controlling Women #BecauseJesus and #BecauseFreedom #tcot #Teaparty #AmericanTaliban #TaliBubba pic.twitter.com/btHwFinmKC.” 28 Jan. 2014, 9:48 a.m. Twitter

Schurr, Julie (julieschurr). “This was just voted into the dictionary...so said the linguists at our last conference. It's used all over the school, for the most part by people aged 26 and under.” 19 Feb. 2014, 9:42 a.m. Facebook.

THANK YOU Austin (CaelyMahone). “@selenagomez Congratulations Justin Beieber and hopefully give you a super surprise hehe oh I do not hate you because girlfriend Justin.” 22 Jul 2011, 8:07p.m. Twitter

Whitman, Neal. “Because as a Preposition.” Grammar Girl. Macmillan Holdings, LLC. 18 Oct. 2013. Web. 1 Feb. 2014.

Whitworth, Amelia (amelia.whitworth). “Just another example of linguistic evolution. Nothing stupid about it, although I suppose most youth-driven changes in language are criticized by older generations as "stupid." It's nothing to get too upset over, as this sort of grammatical fad usually has little impact on the language itself. It takes quite a while for these little nuances, or irritants to some, to make their way into any lasting change. Language is a living and evolving phenomenon; words and conventions are born and die every day.” 19 Feb. 2014, 2:13 a.m. Facebook.