[In the September issue of this newsletter, Martina Jackson began
her description of the literature course she has been teaching to women
at the Suffolk County House of Correction for the past eight years, emphasizing
in particular the way she uses videos as a means of introducing students
to Shakespeare's plays, such as Romeo and Juliet. In this, the conclusion
to her article, she discusses the other plays that her students watch and
read, discuss and write about in hercourse.-Ed.]
We set the scene, explaining that, as with Juliet, it was unthinkable for a daughter of a prominent Venetian household to elope with anyone, particularly a former Moorish slave. We reiterate that women were property, first belonging to their fathers, then to their husbands. Sheltered Desdemona is enchanted by Othello's exotic life since her own is so proscribed by her social position and degree of protection. It is hardly surprising that she falls under his spell or that he succumbs to her beauty, gentleness and kindness. His harsh life as a slave as well as his success as a general ignites her compassion and imagination. Othello has broken some of the constricting social bonds. In eloping, Desdemona attempts to free herself. Here, as in Romeo and Juliet, Othello and Desdemona fall in love with idealized versions of themselves; they really don't know one another terribly well when they elope.
Iago's jealousy and disappointment serve as an excellent weapon against
Othello's feelings of vulnerability and inadequacy as a former slave in
a white world. Othello falls easy prey to Iago's insinuations about Desdemona
and Michael Cassio because he has had no experience of women and he has
very little self-esteem. Since my students are often victims and perpetrators
of malicious rumors and gossip, they readily understand Iago's motivation
and Othello's vulnerability. At the same time, in class after class, I
am fascinated by the resentment--sometimes even anger--that my students
have for Desdemona's apparent acquiescence in her own death.
Katherine and Bianca live in Padua with their elderly, wealthy, widowed father, Baptista. Although the younger daughter, Bianca, has many suitors, her father insists that Katherine, the older of the two, must marry first. Regretably, Katherine, who is extremely intelligent and does not suffer fools or anyone else lightly, berates, humiliates, and abuses those around her. Few have the courage to tackle her as a marriage prospect. Bianca, who seems demure and compliant, is actually flirtatious and manipulative, delighting in her popularity. The comparison between the two sisters usually elicits commentary about students' families in which one sibling dominated the home. Bianca's suitors proffer Petruchio, a "gentleman" whose profligacy has left him financially embarrassed and who has come to Padua to seek a rich bride. Baptista is only too willing to pay handsomely to have Katherine off his hands, but he insists that Petruchio win her fancy. (Students are reminded that Lord Capulet was also prepared to pay a large dowry for Count Paris.) Petruchio and Katherine joust verbally and physically, and their meeting in Act II, scene 1, is a good opportunity for students to try their comic skills. Although Shakespeare's verbal surgical strikes challenge them, students enjoy the fun of the words and they throw themselves into the lead roles. Taming of the Shrew is typical of the farce genre, with mistaken identities galore. In the end, all is resolved happily.
In class discussion following Othello and Taming of the Shrew, I ask students to discuss and write about the types of men they prefer. Generally, although many of our students have been in abusive relationships, they prefer men who "challenge" them. They tend to ridicule men who are kind to them. Through discussion and writing, we explore their low self-esteem. Because abuse is familiar to many, it seems acceptable. Moreover, some women feel that their ability to withstand abuse gives them a sense of control. Following essays and discussions about the kind of men students look for, we address their concerns about the kind of men their daughters will choose. Interestingly, whomever they choose for themselves, my students want their daughters to find kind, considerate, non-abusive men.
The film War of the Roses is a comic derivative of Taming of the Shrew. (The English War of the Roses takes its name from the bitter fifteenth-century struggle between the noble houses of York and Lancaster for the British throne. The Yorkist emblem contained a white rose, whereas the house of Lancaster was represented by a red rose.) Although its "heroine," Barbara, is not tricked into her marriage to Oliver Rose, she gradually becomes disenchanted and realizes that, as has been the case since time-out-of-mind, he sees her as one of his priceless possessions; she is like one of his precious Staffordshire figurines. While Oliver has been a rising, arrogant star in a high-powered Washington law firm, Barbara has been his handmaiden, raising their twins, negotiating for and decorating the magnificent home that Oliver requires, and becoming his hostess. He is an upwardly mobile, materialistic, image-conscious boor with utter disdain for any of Barbara's independent longings for a career and income. Their lives become increasingly competitive and hostile. Oliver's determination to keep Barbara and his house--at all costs--leads to wild scenes of physical and verbal confrontation not unlike the feistiest scenes of Katherine and Petruchio.
War of the Roses prompts discussion about the range of relationships
between the sexes as an ideal and in reality. In War of the Roses, neither
Barbara nor Oliver surrenders or adjusts their tactics. Hostilities escalate
until the horrific climax. Although War of the Roses is a comedy,
both Oliver and Barbara die. The unexpected ending is a conceit permissible
in today's artistic climate, but would not have been tolerated in Shakespeare's
day. The Roses' war is as funny to us as Katherine's and Petruchio's was
to a Shakespearean audience--although the comedy is admittedly many shades
darker today. Just as divorce was not legally possible for Katherine and
Petruchio, it was not psychologically possible for Oliver. At the end of
the film, students write an essay comparing and contrasting Taming of
the Shrew with War of the Roses, including personal references,
either their own or those of someone they know, to sour relationships and
possessiveness.
With Hamlet, we move into more complex Shakespearean work, dealing with multiple layers of betrayal. The student prince, Hamlet, is transformed by successive tragedies from melancholy student to decisive man of action. As his predictable, secure world disintegrates, he relinquishes the pleasures of his youth to assume the grave responsibilities of manhood and defender of his father's crown. Prince Hamlet is betrayed by his uncle, who kills his father; by his mother, who leaps into marriage with her brother-in-law six weeks into her widowhood; by his friends, Rosenkrantz and Guildenstern, who conspire with the new king against Hamlet; by Ophelia, who allows herself to be used to divine Hamlet's purpose; and, for all he knows, by the ghost of his father, who may be luring him to hell. (Hamlet's consternation at his mother's hasty marriage to her brother-in-law raises a familiar issue to an Elizabethan audience and its queen. Her father, Henry VIII, married his brother's young widow, Katherine of Aragon, and later appealed to the Pope to invalidate that marriage because under Canon law, brother-in-law and sister-in-law are considered siblings and their marriage would be incestuous. If Henry VIII had not been legally married to Katherine of Aragon, Elizabeth's mother, Anne Boleyn, would be considered the king's first wife and there would have been no question of Elizabeth's own legitimacy.)
To protect himself from his uncle, Hamlet feigns insanity, while Ophelia, who has suffered the loss of her lover, Hamlet, and the death of her father at Hamlet's unwitting hands, becomes literally unbalanced, serving as a foil for the prince. Shakespeare commonly underscores a theme by presenting it in two strands within the play. At the end, Hamlet's play-within-a-play unleashes the tragic course of events in which he kills Polonius; Ophelia becomes deranged and commits suicide; Claudius attempts to have Rosenkrantz and Guilderstern deliver Hamlet to his death, but he has them killed instead. In the last act, everyone is betrayed as Gertrude, Claudius, Laertes and Hamlet die. As the bodies mounted on stage, one of my students inquired, "Would you consider Hamlet a serial killer?"
We ask students to write about the many levels of betrayal in
Hamlet,
drawing upon personal reflections. Since many come from fragmented
families and have suffered multiple betrayals,
Hamlet speaks to
them in a familiar idiom.
Since our students are unfamiliar with the intricacies of the War of the Roses (1455-1487) and the complexities of royal succession, we prefer to use the 1995 film version of Richard III, starring Ian McKellen, Annette Benning and Robert Downey, Jr., among others. Although this version is set in a 1930s pro-fascist-era Britain, and the production takes a number of liberties with the original text, it absolutely captures the essence of Shakespeare's perspective. Surprisingly, our students, mostly women under forty, find the material accessible and have no trouble understanding the plot and the language. By way of relating the concept of royal succession to the present, we explain that the current House of Windsor is not directly descended from any of Tudor English monarchs. The present Queen Elizabeth is a direct descendent of several German royal families because, over time, the direct British royal line died out. (Princess Diana was, in fact, more English than her in-laws.) It is their German heritage which likely inspired the 1930s pro-fascist setting for this Richard III. In this version Ian McKellen portrays the Yorkist king as a Hitler clone--ruthless, diabolical, destroying everything and everyone in his way, particularly his nearest relations. Richard's eldest brother, Edward, succeeded to the throne as the result of one of the battles in the War of the Roses. Edward and his wife, Queen Elizabeth, have three sons, all of whom take precedence over Richard in the event of Edward's death; they also have a daughter, Princess Elizabeth, who would become Queen if her brothers die. In addition, Richard's other older brother, George, Duke of Clarence, would become king if anything happened to King Edward's children. Clearly, Richard-the-would-be-king has his work cut out for him. The film begins by showing Richard leading the Battle of Towton, killing Lady's Anne's husband and father-in-law, King Henry VI (which actually did not happen). Thereafter, Shakespeare's Richard plots to discredit his brother, the Duke of Clarence, reminding us and presumably the king that there is a prophecy that the king will die through the actions of someone whose name begins with "G;" the Duke of Clarence's given name is "George." (Of course, Richard is the Duke of Gloucester, which also begins with the letter "G.") As the plot unfolds, we watch in shocked fascination as Richard lures people into helping him to commit unspeakable crimes. At the same time, we are incredulous at the people who trust Richard; in this way he is very like Iago.
Early on, we have a chance to appreciate Richard's apparently irresistible charm, when he woos Lady Anne, whose father-in-law and husband he has just killed. Unbelievably , he tells her that he killed them because he loves her, and although she knows him to be a monster, she falls under his spell. Luring potential supporters by promises of property and power when he becomes king, Richard manipulates Edward's council into backing his claim to the throne and killing those who oppose him. We hear the townspeople speak of him in dread. Richard himself is beset by horrible dreams in which he appears as a boar. Shakespeare's plays are full of omens and dreams foretelling disaster. Ultimately, as in all good morality plays, Richard's evil deeds catch up with him. Richmond kills Richard and marries Princess Elizabeth, for whom Richard has killed his wife, so that he may marry his niece and have a stronger claim to the throne. Richmond replaces Richard on the English throne, becoming the first Tudor king, Henry VII.
We ask students to write an essay analyzing Richard's character, including
whether they agree with Shakespeare that his physical disabilities were
a manifestation of his psychological predilections. Students are asked
to comment on his approach to women and whether they know people like Richard
and Iago.
From the first, the king is "blinded" by the belief that all his daughters hold him in the high regard to which they attest and to which he believes he is entitled. Rather daringly, Shakespeare makes the point that monarchs are surrounded by sycophants who will tell them what they want to hear and will literally "bow and scrape" because monarchs expect that. King Lear offers an opportunity to explore the reality behind the "show." We look at Lear and at situations today and discuss hype--what is the difference between seeming to be loyal and being loyal, and how does power corrupt people? As with Richard, we realize that royal and noble families don't have the same family relationships as the rest of us, but as we discover in Jane Smiley's A Thousand Acres, which we see and read after King Lear, on some level property and personal gain taint every family.
Throughout the play, Shakespeare uses physical blindness and mental illness as foils. As in Hamlet, he compares those who use mental illness as protection and those who are genuinely ill. However, in King Lear, Gloucester sees the truth about Edgar's loyalty and Edmund's evil only after Cornwall blinds him; and Lear learns the true meaning of love and loyalty only after he loses his mind. Edgar protects himself from Edmund and the death sentence by pretending to be a mad beggar, and the Fool is the wise man in the play. Lear's older daughters, Goneril and Regan, who swear they love him above all else when he is about to apportion his kingdom among them, become the embodiment of everything evil when trying to jettison him, and they turn on one another because of Edmund.
Another aspect of King Lear is that the plain-speaking characters--Cordelia, Edgar, Kent, the Fool, as well as the King of France--are honest and loyal. Shakespeare, the master of the verbal flourish, here equates honesty with simplicity. With a raging storm as a favorite Shakespearean backdrop, Goneril and Regan turn out their father. When Gloucester expresses pity for him, they blind him. The mad king and the blind nobleman discover their true friends while their enemies fall on one another for even greater gain. Edgar rescues Gloucester; Kent, the Fool and Cordelia attempt to rescue King Lear. Fortunately, in King Lear, Cordelia and her father are reunited before they die--she by hanging and he by the stress of his torments. Regan poisons Goneril. Gloucester dies reconciled with Edgar. Cornwall is killed by a servant after he blinds Gloucester, and Edgar avenges his father and himself by killing Edmund in a joust.
Having watched the film, we assign an essay dealing with the nature of the parent-child relationship and what parents owe their children. We also ask students to discuss and write about relationships with parents and siblings, with special emphasis on who is the favorite and how everyone reacts to the favorite. Why do parents favor one child over another? Students are asked to consider the nature of power and write about it from the perspective of the plays they have read and seen and their observations of their own world. In addition, students are asked to consider the importance of saving face and self-esteem.
Jane Smiley based her Pulitzer Prize winning novel, A Thousand Acres, on King Lear, but included several significant twists. Bland, compliant, uncomplaining Ginny, the eldest daughter, is the story-teller and has two younger sisters Rose (Regan) and Caroline (Cordelia). Their father, Larry Cook, a tyrant, is also the most successful farmer in his region of Iowa. He suddenly decides to relinquish his farm to his daughters and their husbands, two of whom already live there. Caroline, a lawyer in Des Moines and not yet married, worries that there might be some legal problems. Her hesitation so enrages her father that he immediately shuts her out. Once the farm is in their hands, Larry loses his focus. Rose and Ginny take turns caring for their father, while their husbands run the farm. Ginny is childless, having had a number of miscarriages, while Rose has had two girls but recently underwent a mastectomy. Their mother died many years before, leaving them to raise Caroline. Into this complex mix a neighbor's son returns from many years of living away. The neighbor, Harold, is the Gloucester figure, and his sons Loren, who lives with him, and Jess, the returnee, are like Edgar and Edmund.
Larry Cook's attitude towards his family changes as soon as the land is theirs--he drinks heavily, behaves irrationally and becomes more demanding. Ginny has a brief affair with Jess, who leaves her for Rose; Rose's husband, Pete, who has beaten her on occasion, dies in a truck accident; and Caroline marries in Des Moines without telling the family. In the course of their new dealings with one another, Rose reminds Ginny that their father repeatedly committed incest with them, a fact which Ginny, who is always resolutely cheerful, has "forgotten." Although they don't wage a literal war for the land, Larry joins forces with Caroline, who initiates a lawsuit charging Ginny and Rose with mismanagement of the farm. At the end of the day, Ginny and Rose retain the farm but their lives are altered forever. At the peak of her rage against Rose, Ginny makes jars of poisoned pork sausage hoping Rose will come upon them in the basement some day. She needn't have worried because Rose dies of a recurrence of breast cancer, leaving the girls to her.
With the viewing and reading of A Thousand Acres, I ask students
to write a short story about a family situation which shows the relationship
between parents and siblings. They also write an essay about King Lear's
destructive demands on his daughters and Larry Cook's demand on his children,
considering how each father saw his daughters, how fathers treat daughters,
and the reasons fathers commit incest. I also ask students to write about
ways to turn negative into positive, including changes they can make in
the course of their lives and what they would be if they could be anything.
Regretably, we do not have access to a good library, nor do the women have computers at their disposal. Word-processors would lubricate the creative muscles and stimulate interest, as would a traditional library. Would that my students might discover the wonders contained in well-stocked, well-catalogued shelves inviting the reader to roam at will in search of a deeply satisfying book. At a minimum, I hope that, once back in the community, they will seek the solace and enchantment awaiting them at their public libraries. Beyond discovering the balm of reading beautiful words, I urge students to explore post-prison educational opportunities at local community colleges or continuing education programs. I want them to know that caged birds can break free and soar to unimagined heights. That is what I wish for each of them.
* * * * * *
Martina Jackson has been a volunteer teacher at the Suffolk County
House of Correction for the past eight years. Before that, she worked as
a public school reading teacher.