Madison's Commonplace Blog

First of all, allow me to say this: scene 5 of A Midsummer's Night Dream  had me laughing out loud. The hilarious performance and the other characters' reactions to it provide for some serious comic relief, and I thoroughly enjoyed reading this part of the play. However, Shakespeare blows us away once more by inserting profound remarks into the middle of a humorous scene as Lysander makes this statement: "It is not enough to speak, but to speak true" ( A Midsummer's Night Dream, 5.1.127-28) Recently I've been working on thinking about what I'm going to say before speaking, which may be the reason why this line stuck out to me as much as it did. So much of the time, the things that come out of my mouth are automatic. For example, a friend might be telling me a story and I'll insert an "oh really?" or "oh my goodness!" without really thinking about it, because I know that that's a reaction that friend is looking for. However, what...

After being attacked by Andrew and Toby, Sebastian is reasonably confused and angry, but Olivia, stepping in to stop the conflict, offers Sebastian some wise advice: "Let thy fair wisdom, not thy passion, sway/In this uncivil and unjust extent/Against thy peace" (Twelfth Night, 4.2.55-57). Something that has been on my mind a lot recently is thinking before I speak. Strong emotion can bring us to strong words that we often regret later when the emotion has left but the sting of the words remain. And beyond applying to intense, anger-driven situations, I think this idea of allowing wisdom to guide us also has implications for everyday conversation. Often, I become a casual listener to people, and I easily respond with, "oh wow" or "haha that's awesome" without really considering what someone has just told me. In other words, Olivia's words here have reminded me to refocus myself while I'm interacting others. If something annoys or irritates me, ...

 In the middle of all of the chaos of the final scene of Othello , Othello says something that I found quite profound: "But why should honor outlive honesty?" (5.2.293). Despite the fact that Othello has just killed his wife, despite all of the disorder that is surrounding him at this very moment, Othello makes this interesting observation that people are often known for being honorable for much longer than they are actually honorable. Once again, this ties into the theme of outward appearances, though in a different way. I think that I often do good things to impress people or make a nice show of being a good person, rather than out of a desire to actually love those around me. This is a good thing for me to consider when I go about trying to serve: am I doing this for their sake, or for mine? Am I doing this to be an honorable person, or to have the reputation of being honorable? It's interesting that Othello makes this observation when it is too late; after he has kill...

By act 1, scene 3 of Othello , Brabantio's life is quite different than he probably imagined it would be when he had gone to bed that night. After waking up and finding out that his daughter had married without his knowledge, and now standing in front of the duke, trying to prove that his daughter must not have truly deserted him, Brabantio has many reasons to be pessimistic. And yet, when the duke brings up the idea of smiling in the face of something hard or tragic, Brabantio can't help but agree with him, saying, "We lose it not so long as we can smile" (1.3.242). This small exchange between the duke and Brabantio fascinates me, because both men are on the verge of losing something they value very much - the duke worries about losing to the Turks, and Brabantio worries about losing to Othello. However, despite their worry, both the duke and Brabantio agree that one who doesn't stop smiling is one who is not truly defeated. This is a lesson we hear over and over...

 When Othello arrives safely at Cyprus, his joy at seeing Desdemona, and her joy at him in return is quite a happy scene. As they call out and run to each other, Othello cheerfully says, "If after every tempest come such calms, may the winds blow till they have wakened death" (2.1.201-02). The contrast between Othello's fear during his dangerous travel to Cyprus and the joy he feels at seeing Desdemona once again is one that makes Othello appreciate his wife more than he would have if his journey had been perfectly smooth. This idea of valuing something more when it is lost (or almost lost) is found in both Othello  and Much Ado About Nothing , and yet these plays conclude with completely opposite endings. It seems almost like they demonstrate this idea in reversed ways from one another: in Much Ado About Nothing , Cassio does not appreciate his love for Hero until he thinks she is dead, but then is joyful when he finds out she is no. In Othello , Othello knows his love f...