O vs. Othello

The movie "O" based on Shakespeare's Othello differs in many ways but the interpretation of Shakespeare's text into modern America is spot on. In many ways an army is like a basketball team because they both require leadership, communication, and only one side can win. This could be compared to competing for a better position on the team such as forward or a higher standing in the army such as lieutenant. The characters are perfectly intertwined in the same fashion and standing in the play:

O- star basketball player and Desi's boyfriend
Othello-general in army and Desdemona's husband

Desi- O's girlfriend and Dean's daughter
Desdemona- Othello's wife and Barbantio's Daughter
Hugo-steroid shooting underdog
Iago- ancient for Othello
Roger- in love with Desi good friends with Hugo but at times seems to be his flunky
Roderigo- good friends with Iago in love with Desdemona
Micheal Cassio- mutual friend of Desi and O and a fellow basketball player
Cassio-mutual friend of Desdemona and Othello and a Lieutenant in the army
Emily-best friend of Desi and girlfriend of Hugo
Emilia-Desdemona's attendant and Iago's wife
Dean- hierarchy of school and father of Desi
Brabantio-Venetian Senator and father of Desdemona

This movie gives a very good modern feel for the play and makes it easier for people today to understand what what going on because Shakespeare's language can be difficult at times. While minor aspects of the book were missing such as Bianca (i am not sure if she was the girl who Hugo was trying to convince that Roger shot Micheal on the road or not) maybe she was there and I missed it, but key elements such as the missing scarf and O strangling Desi to death (the plan came up in Act IV lines 226-228) and then killing himself (Act V haven't gotten to it yet but know its coming). This was a particularly good movie in my opinion and gave me something to look forward to in every act of the book to come.

Sir Thomas More

Sir Thomas More

• 1478-1535
  
• Born February 7, 1478 the son of Sir John More who was a prominent judge Archbishop Morton
  
• Went to St Anthony's School in London
• We he was younger he served as a page in the household of Archbishop Morton
• At Oxford he studied Greek and Latin Literature while also writing comedies
• One of his first publications was a Latin translation of the biography of Pico della Mirandola from Latin to english in 1510
  
• went from being a barrister to a monk to being in parliament and getting married
• knighted in 1521
• Made speaker of the house of commons in 1525
  
• refused to recognize King Henry VIII divorce from from Katherine of Aragon in 1527
  
• His fall came quickly in spite of is notable work and resigned from his law work in 1532
• More's stance with the church was a big influence seeing that he did not believe in King Henry VIII being the head of the church of England or even the divergence from the Catholic church
• More did not attend the coronation of Anne Boleyn which angered the King in 1533
• More refused to swear to the Act of Succession and the Oath of Supremacy which landed him at Tower castle where he was beheaded on April 17, 1535
• Utopia was his most famous work of Literature
• Died a martyr to the Catholic church
• Canonized in 1935 by Pope Pious XI

http://www.luminarium.org/renlit/morebio.htm
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/14689c.htm
http://oregonstate.edu/instruct/phl302/philosophers/more.html

Wife of Bath: Ambiguous?

I believe that the Wife of Bath is ambiguous. There is information in the text leaning towards her being a money grubbing whore and on the other hand she is caring, sensitive, and desires equality. Though the Wife of Bath has more bad factors than good I believe that the good and bad balance each other out. The abuse that her husbands gave and the adultery caused her to be manipulative and cruel. Every pro has a con and every cause has an effect, hers just was a bit more drastic and blatant but she was also put through more than the average person now or back in the Middle Ages.

Bad

• Line 6 "Housbondes at chirche dore I have had fyve" saying that she's had five husbands was heinous back then and even frowned upon today in a womans case.
• Lines 10-13 "That sith that Crist ne wente nevere but onis, To weddyng, in the Cane of Galilee, That by the same ensample taughte he me, That I ne sholde wedded be but ones" this basically says that one should follow in Christs footsteps and only marry once as he did in Galilee but she has gone against her own advice and married five times.
• Lines 212-214 "And sith they hadde me yeven al hir lond, What sholde I taken keep hem for to plese, But it were for my profit and myn ese" basically says that they have my hand in marriage and they have given me there land, why should i pleasure them without her profit and pleasure. If it's your husband you should have sex with him because he is your husband and you love him. Or maybe it means that she should receive pleasure from it too the meaning itself is not clear.
• Lines 222-223 "They were ful glad whan I spak to hem faire, For, God it woot, I chidde hem spitously" means that they were happy when i spoke to them pleasantly because she often scolded them. Why would you scold your husband or not speak to them pleasantly?
• Line 408-412 "Ther wolde I chide and do hem no plesaunce, I wolde no lenger in the bed abyde, If that I felte his arm over my syde, Til he had maad his raunson unto me, Thanne wolde I suffre hym do his nycetee" the Wife of Bath would deny pleasure to her husband until he gave into her every desire. This type of manipulation is terrible and uncalled for.
  

Good

• Lines 231-242 "A wys wyf, if that she kan hir good, Shal beren hym on honde the cow is wood, And take witnesse of hir owene mayde, Of hir assent. But herkneth how I sayde:,`Sire olde kaynard, is this thyn array?, Why is my neighebores wyf so gay?, She is honoured overal ther she gooth;, I sitte at hoom; I have no thrifty clooth.,What dostow at my neighebores hous? ,Is she so fair? Artow so amorous?What rowne ye with oure mayde? Benedicite! Sire olde lecchour, lat thy japes be!. Basically says that the wife of her neighbor is happy because she has everything she needs and the Wife of Bath has to wear less than nice clothing and also calls the maid a lecher which means she might be sleeping with her husband.
• Lines 243-246 "And if I have a gossib or a freend, Withouten gilt, thou chidest as a feend, If that I walke or pleye unto his hous!Thou comest hoom as dronken as a mous." Saying that she is not allowed to have friends or she is scolded and when she does visit a friend her husband comes home drunk and abusive. She is lonely and has done nothing to deserve this.
  
• Lines 371-378 "Thou liknest eek wommenes love to helle, To bareyne lond, ther water may nat dwelle, Thou liknest it also to wilde fyr, The moore it brenneth, the moore it hath desir, To consume every thyng that brent wole be, Thou seyest, right as wormes shende a tree, Right so a wyf destroyeth hire housbonde, This knowe they that been to wyves bonde." This is a tangent of verbal abuse from her husband saying comparing a womans love to that of hell and her company to a barren wasteland and a woman destroys her husband as the worm destroys the tree. It is not the Wife of Bath's fault that she is manipulative since she has been hurt over and over again by someone who is supposed to love her.

The Wife Of Bath

In Chaucer's tale The Wife of Bath women's roles as being secular come into play. It is said that the heaviest influence on women in the Middle Ages where that of the Virgin Mary. The Virgin Mary also represented the church and marriage, since she was only married once it was accustomed to follow in her footsteps.
http://www.unc.edu/depts/chaucer/zatta/wife.html

Chaucer was born as the sun of a wine merchant. In his lifetime he served time as a courtier, Justice of the Peace for the Duke of Kent, and even spent a bit of time in the military. He lived the black death and the peasants revolt which was quite extraordinary since it killed off a third of Europe's population. The Canterbury tales was Chaucer's most noted and popular work of literature.Chaucer was one of the first poets to be buried in Poets' Corner in Westminster Abbey.
http://www.universalteacher.org.uk/poetry/wifebath.htm

The Catholic Church was not only a governing power but help sustain an "ideal"of morality. The furthest records indicate that the Celtic community had respect for women only because of the church. This helped form the building blocks for the "doctrine of marriage, virginity and equality of sexes could be built."Being monogamous was the most common relationship found but polygamy was not unheard of but most commonly found in the Danes and Northmen. Divorce and re-marriage were less common if found at all while concubinage was never forbidden it ceased to be legal, in certain circles it was found and tolerated.
http://www.medieval-spell.com/Roles-Of-Women-In-The-Middle-Ages.html