The Window Of Her Soul

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Phbum0RVgNI&feature=youtu.be

Love Above Life

My favorite scene from Act Two of Romeo and Juliet is scene two also referred to as the balcony scene. The balcony scene was my favorite because it portrays spontaneous, unrealistic, romantic, young love.  

The beginning of the scene is very romantic. Both characters confess their love for each other without the other person knowing. Romeo repeatedly compares Juliet to the sun. For example, Romeo says "Would through the airy region stream so bright/ That birds would sing and think it were not night," referring to Juliet.(Shakespeare) In this quote, Romeo metaphorically says that when Juliet comes along the birds get confused and think it is daytime.  I believe that this is one of Romeo's most poetic and romantic lines, making it one of my favorite quotes. 

Romeo is very romantic and very in love with the idea of love.  On the other hand, Juliet also loves the idea of love, but rather than just loving a person  she sees that there are sacrifices.  Juliet seems to be more level-headed, however she, like Romeo, falls in love too quick.  She says “Deny thy father and refuse thy name; Or, if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love, And I'll no longer be a Capulet.”(Shakespeare) In this quote, Juliet expresses that she wants Romeo to give up his name as a Montague or to confess his love and she will give up her name Capulet. Giving up their family name means giving up everything, including all they have known their entire life.  Both characters are young and I'm not sure that they are thinking through giving up their lives.  It is very romantic and does display true love, but this is a choice that will impact the rest of their life.  Since they have lived their whole life under this name, most of the people they talk to will probably not talk to them anymore. In addition, they have never lived poor and probably have never worked.  If their relationship were to end and they were still alive, they most likely would not know what to do.  Keeping in mind that they have only known each other for a few hours, they tend to jump to conclusions and risk an unrealistic amount of their lives.

While Juliet is willing to give up more of a material life to be with him, Romeo is willing to risk his physical life to be with her. When Juliet warns Romeo that he will be killed if her family finds him, he answers, “I have night's cloak to hide me from their sight; And but thou love me, let them find me here: My life were better ended by their hate, Than death prorogued, wanting of thy love.” (Shakespeare) Here, Romeo is saying that he would rather die than not be loved by her. Romeo wants to know that he is loved by Juliet, so he risks his life to come find his answers.  If he did not come to find out whether Juliet loves him, he may not have ever found out if she loves him.  This is a huge sacrifice being only a few hours into the relationship. He is basically betting his life on her returned love for him. 

So far, the balcony scene stands out as my favorite scene in Romeo and Juliet because of this idea of true love and how the character display it.

"Oh Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo?"

Juliet is asking where is Romeo.  She loves Romeo and she is saying that she is willing to give up her name Capulet to be with Romeo. Before she does this she wants to speak to Romeo and be sure she is loved back.  She goes on to ask herself what meaning a name has. She is saying that the name itself is her enemy not the actual person. I think she is trying to make a point about the feud is just attached to the name which is attached to the person.  The feud isn't her and shouldn't define the love she feels. The love is more important.

The Drama of it All...

      Prior to reading Romeo and Juliet, I knew it was a tragedy written by Shakespeare.  Romeo and Juliet were young and in love, but they were forbidden to be together.  Their families, the Capulets and the Montagues, have an old feud.  Fate is against their love for each other.  They were so in love they killed themselves rather than living apart.

     After reading Act, 1 I have learned that Romeo did not love Juliet at first.  Instead, he thought he was in love with her cousin, Rosaline.  Romeo is a drama queen.  He thinks that he is in love with many girls.  He is also gets depressed easily when a girl doesn't like him back.  He is extremely impulsive.  Romeo appears to be more in love with the thought of love itself than the girl.  

     “Why, such is love’s transgression. Griefs of mine own lie heavy in my breast, Which thou wilt propagate, to have it pressed With more of thine. This love that thou hast shown Doth add more grief to too much of mine own. Love is a smoke raised with the fume of sighs; Being purged, a fire sparkling in lovers' eyes; Being vexed, a sea nourished with loving tears. What is it else? A madness most discreet, A choking gall, and a preserving sweet.”

      This quote shows Romeo’s over-exaggeration of love. He starts off saying that love is sitting heavy on his chest and that Benvolio adding to this sadness is too much.  This makes Romeo seem selfish.  Continuing, he describes love in a very poetic way.  He specifically describes love as “a madness.” 

       I also learned that Juliet is only thirteen years old.  She has not thought about marriage and does not know love.  A kinsman of the Prince, Paris, wishes to marry her. She does not really know how she feels about this, but her parents want her to marry him.  Juliet is being forced to mature quickly.  In her first scene she seems shy and innocent.  She goes along with her mother’s wish to meet Paris.

      “I’ll look to like if looking liking move. But no more deep will I endart mine eye Than your consent gives strength to make it fly.”

      In this quote Juliet is saying that she will look at Paris and try to like him, but she will not like him more than her mother wants her too.  She is very obedient and has obviously never felt love.  Unlike Romeo, she is not impulsive and attracted to every man.  She doesn’t seem to think about falling in love at all.  

      Overall, my first impressions of the play were good.  I enjoyed the storyline once I understood it.  The Shakespearean language is very complicated.  The storyline is also more complicated than I originally expected.  I'm hoping that I will improve my understanding of the language because I am looking forward to learning more about Romeo and Juliet. Learning about Paris and Rosaline has made me curious about how Juliet and Romeo love each other at first sight. 

Source: Google images

Summary of Act 1 of Romeo and Juliet

In Act 1 scenes 1 and 2 of Romeo sand Juliet, the reader meets Romeo, Benvolio, the servants and gets a look at a few other characters briefly.  Romeo confesses to his cousin Benvolio that he loves a girl.  He does not name this girl because it will cause conflict.  Also the servant reads a letter about a dinner at the Capulet's house.  Romeo is looking forward to this dinner because he knows he will see Juliet.   

Immersion

     

           The directional team made a few choices in staging the performance of The Curious of the Dog in the Night-time. In a way their version was similar to the play and the book, but it also differed.  The most significant change the directional team made was to portray the world through Christopher’s eyes. 

           The directional team chose to make the stage round.  The goal of this choice was to make the audience feel like they were immersed in Christopher’s world.  Christopher sees the world very differently than most people.  Christopher’s brain can get easily overwhelmed by the sights, sounds and smells around him.  This is an important trait in portraying Christopher’s autism. 

          The directional team speaks about finding the right way to display Christopher.  In the play and the book, he shows autistic characteristics, but it is never stated whether he has Asperger’s syndrome.  The reader only knows of certain thoughts and actions.  This must have made it hard to portray a Christopher that completely represents the book.  It seems like the directional team did a good job of understanding this and attempting to properly display Christopher and the world he sees.

           As a result of being overwhelmed, he has never left home alone.  Throughout the play, Christopher goes on a journey.  The directional team uses many different senses to display this journey to the audience.  The train station is the biggest part of this journey.  The directional team chose to represent the train station as very intimidating.  The names of stations and displayed on the ground and there are other signs scattered around the stage.  During the scene, Christopher is moving around the stage interacting with extras.  The blocking includes lifts and motions that use all areas of the stage. The spotlight is on Christopher; however there are so many other people and signs to look at that the audience gets overwhelmed. 

            By showing the audience the story through Christopher’s mind, the directional team helps show the audience his thoughts without explicitly stating them.  The directional team’s approach is closer to the book than the play.  The book is written from Christopher’s perspective, but the play is written more objectively.  The directional team differs from the book by showing the way Christopher thinks instead of through Christopher’s narration.  For example, rather than telling the audience that the train station is loud and he can’t focus.  The audience is immersed in the train station to see for themselves.

            I like the directional team’s choice of displaying the story.   I enjoy how in some scenes the stage is shown as very plain with few props and set pieces, while others include too many details to focus. I think that this is a unique approach that is unlike the way the play and book versions are written.  I think that this achieves the directional team’s goal to make the audience understand Christopher’s autism.

            By seeing Christopher’s autistic view, the audience is more likely to appreciate Christopher’s story.  Rather than questioning some of his decisions, the audience sees how he interprets the world.  By choosing to immerse the audience, the team gives the audience an entirely new perspective on the story. 

            Overall, the directional team made a few great choices about how to display Christopher and the world as he sees it.  They also did a great job attempting to achieve their goal of showing the audience the way Christopher thinks and why he acts like he does.

It all depends on the interpretation.

Literature is “written works that are considered to be very good and to have lasting importance.”  Examples of literature would be a novel, poems, plays, and newspapers.  Performance is “an activity that a person or group does to entertain an audience.”  Examples of performance would be singing, dancing, acting, and stand-up comedy.  

In both literature and performance, there is an author trying to convey a message.  In literature the reader is reading directly what the author wrote.  In a performance, the audience is getting the director’s interpretation of what the author wrote. The message should still be evident even though the director is interpreting it.  

Both literature and performance have an audience/reader.  The audiences can be similar.  For example, there are audience members or readers who write a critique about what they liked and disliked.  These critiques are both used to tell others why the should or shouldn’t be interested in the piece of literature or performance.  This is one of the ways that an audience could share their opinions.  

 An audience at a performance also experience the show together.  Usually people in the audience are there to enjoy the show with a friend.  This differs from literature where the audience is usually one reader sitting in a quiet place.  The readers may share their thoughts on a piece of literature, but the sharing is different than the audience members who shared  the same experience at the same time.  

Another way that the audiences differ is in the connection with what they are seeing.  In literature, the author has already expressed all of their thoughts and it will be the same reading every time the book is read.  With this said, the reader's perspective may change, but the written word will stay the same.  In a performance, regardless of what type, the show will be slightly different each time it is performed. Even with the exact same actors, crew, director, lighting, costumes, etc. It could be as simple as a line is forgotten, or someone trips.  Maybe there is even a problem that isn’t the performers fault.  For example, when “Measure for Measure” was performed in the black box, one of the nights a bat started flying around.  This caused a slight interruption in the show.  This is the same with a musical performance.  If a performer plays the song twice, they may not sound exactly the same.  Unless the musician makes a big error, it is probably less noticeable than a theater performance.  

 Overall, literature and performance share some similarities, but have many differences too.  Some of the similarities are the fact that the author is trying to convey a message through their writing.  Another is that the readers or the audience write critiques to share their thoughts with others.  Audiences at performances also share their thoughts with the people around them, while a reader usually is alone or in a quiet place while enjoying literature.  Another way that literature and performance differ is that the written work does not change, while a performance will most likely change each night it is performed.  Even though literature and performance may have differences they are both written at first  Then performance takes the written work a step further.

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/performance

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/literature

"A script is obviously less than a play, while a production is more." -Ronald Hayman

A play is a written work that is meant to be on a stage or broadcast somehow. A script is the written work of the play.  A play would have a script to practice before the performance. However, a script can exist as a piece of literature without being performed. A production is much bigger than a script and even bigger than a play. A production involves many people, costumes, props, lighting, and set design.  A play can be a simple show or it can be much more involved and closer to a production.  Both a play and a production need a script as the foundation which is why the script is less than both.

"All you touch and all you see is all your life will ever be..." (Blog #1)

       World traveler. Musician. Student. Athlete. Friend. Daughter. These are just a few words that describe me. For my readers who don't know me, my name is Bryn and I am 16 years old.  I am a junior at Cheshire Academy and I live in Connecticut.
       As you can see, I consider myself an adventurous person. I went on my first vacation at three months old and have loved traveling ever since.  I have been on four continents, in 23 countries and my most recent accomplishment has been completing my 50-state United States tour.  In 2010, I set out on a goal of visiting all 50 states before I graduated high school. At the time I had been to about 30 states and I was already seeing how diverse this country is.  From mountains to the oceans, it is all beautiful. Many people ask me what my favorite place is and that is a very hard question to answer.  The world is big and beautiful with many amazing cultures and histories.
        No matter where in the world I am, music is a big part of my life. I listen to many genres of music.  As you may have noticed, I referenced "Breathe" by Pink Floyd in my title.  Besides listening to music, I play multiple instruments: violin, guitar, baritone ukulele, soprano ukulele, and I am learning to play banjo.  I also enjoy singing and am especially fond of performing acapella covers.  Music is a way that I connect with my friends and relax.

       I am a very ambitious person and this reflects in my academics.  I started off in Montessori preschool and kindergarten. Then I proceeded to public school until I arrived at Cheshire Academy as a freshman. I recently started the requirements to obtain a full international baccalaureate diploma. I know it is going to be a lot of work but I enjoy the challenge.
In addition, I enjoy pushing myself to be the best I can be in athletics.  I learned to ski at the age of four and I still spend the winter on the slopes.  I am a part of the varsity volleyball and varsity tennis teams at the academy. My volleyball team was the first to win a championship title at Cheshire. I look forward to this season to see what the team is capable of.
       All of these activities are important, but the most important part of my life is the people I share it with.  I have a great group of friends that I know are always there for me.  I love to spend my free time with them. We do photo shoots, go caroling, and eat!  My family is also very supportive.  
My dad is a mechanical engineer and my mom is a speech language pathologist. My parents inspire me to work hard and to be adventurous- including letting me go bungy jumping for my birthday. 

  B. b Overall, I always look forward to new challenges. I push myself to be the best I can be.  I don't know what I want to achieve in college yet, but I do hope to keep doing the activities I love.  My next traveling goal is to set foot on all seven continents!  Whatever I do in the future I will always try my best.