Kent

One of the characters I admired for their loyalty was Kent. He is one honest man who has the best interest of the king at hand. I think it is interesting that the portion that we have so far read it seems Kent has been betrayed by his good honest nature. The reason the king banished him and the reason he was punished was because of his inability to tolerate dishonest people and it seems that these strength is as well his weakness.

P.s. I commented on becca's

What a Guy

While reading King Lear, one character who really stood out to me was Kent. As the story went on I really began to admire him for his loyalty and honesty. Even though it gets him into trouble, Kent remains an honest and outspoken character while remaining extremely loyal to King Lear the whole time. One of the most amazing things to me was how he disguised himself after being banished by King Lear so that he could go on serving him. This made me think of Psalm 84:10- "Better is one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere; I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of the wicked." Although not quite the same, Kent's mindset was something like this. That is what I found to be so admirable about him, that he was so loyal to King Lear that he would rather be a servant to him than go on living anywhere else.

PS I commented on Molly's "Bad Rulers"

Know Your Audience

Since class of Tuesday, I have thought a lot about Julius Caesar.  It never once occurred to me before that the tragedy was actually the fall of Rome, and this intrigued me. I can't help but relate this to the modern world.  With the rapid improvements in technology in the past few decades, information an ideas spread more quickly than ever.  This is not the world our parents grew up it, and many of the  views on morality, justice, and truth are significantly different from what we were taught, especially those of us who grew up in Christian homes.  The world is changing.  The question is, are we still speaking like Brutus spoke to the Romans?  Do we really know our audience, or do we just think we do?

PS, Commented on Molly's "Bad Rullers" 

We should all just stab Caesar!

Brutus is a really impressive guy. He is great friends with Caesar yet a dedicated Roman citizen. He cared so much for his country that he voluntarily gave up his friendship and his friend for the sake of his country. Brutus’s ability to compartmentalize is so impressive. The fact that he can put down his own interests for the sake of his country is a quality most leaders lack. He is a far better leader than Caesar who seems to only be in it for his own personal power gain.  

I commented on Jasmine's

Friends, Romans, Honors bloggers.....

I thoroughly enjoy the play Julius Caesar, and the way that Shakespeare makes all of the characters real to people.  When the Brutus and Antony speak at the funeral, I believe that it shows a huge part of Roman society.  The main way to gain power in Rome was through oratory, and that is the one thing that sways the crowd throughout this play.  It's almost disgusting how fickle the common people of Rome are, as they are constantly swayed by one speech after another.  Throughout the speeches of Antony and Brutus we see this most strikingly, but before that we see the fickleness from the fight and win over Pompey, the convincing of Brutus, and every other scene involving the commoners.

P.S. Commented on Danielle's

Tragic Hero?

In class it was suggested by Dr. Abernathy, I believe, that Brutus is not the tragic hero in Julius Caesar, but that the true tragic hero is the whole society of Rome.  We blamed the people for first raising up Caesar who they thought would take care of them, but them choosing the Senate who promised freedom.  Personally, I do not think it is right to blame the Roman citizens.  They are only interested in what will help them the most in life, almost like Americans today.  Personally, if a monarchy was the government that promised the most for myself and other citizens, I would be all for it!  Plato him says that the best government possible is one with one perfect leader who rules over everyone.  I believe that the biggest problem in Julius Caesar is that it is government is fighting within itself.  The people are ready to go for whatever will be best, but the people in charge can't stop killing each other.

I commented on Jannah's post.

-Susan Berner

Frustration

Class was fun today, and it was interesting reading some classic Shakespeare.  To be completely honest, i've never read Shakespeare before, so this was very new to me.  He has some incredible skill in detailing speech within a text.  Briefly we spoke upon a certain speech that Edmund spoke during the story.  The speech was fueled by his frustration of being a "bastard" son. The speech is thought provoking and complex in emotion. Edmund states in scene two,

 "Legitimate Edgar, I must have your land: Our father's love is to the bastard Edmund As to the legitimate: fine word,--legitimate! Well, my legitimate, if this letter speed, And my invention thrive, Edmund the base Shall top the legitimate. I grow; I prosper: Now, gods, stand up for bastards!"

This blog for me is simply a question, what does Edmund really want. Out of the two acts we read this was a driving question for me.  It seems that he simply wants revenge for some kind, or is he trying to make some kind of point. In class we spoke of the various characters, who, would hide themselves under false persona's for the possible reason that they could not show their true selves. Is Edmund speaking against the facade that these characters put up?  Is there a major secret of these royal characters that we do not know about? I know my question is very simple, but it is left unanswered because it seems that we did not reach a legitimate conclusion in class. Tell me what you think!

P.S. I commented on Jasmine's "Why not Cordelia?"