A critically acclaimed production of Othello starring Ewan Macgregor as Iago and Chiwetel Ejiofor as Othello. Please bring in a USB - memory stick to have this copied. It is an excellent version word for word. A link to the Donmar Warehouse where it was performed with some videos of the actors, director, designers discussing the play.
# An Othello of the first rank' Guardian # 'This is a terrific Othello' Independent # 4 Stars4 Stars4 Stars4 Stars 'hottest theatre ticket in town' The Times # 'An extraordinarily fresh and new-minted production' Independent # 'It is a most powerful, memorable performance.' Daily Express # 4 Stars4 Stars4 Stars4 Stars 'Ejiofor puts himself into the front rank of modern Othellos.' Guardian # [Kelly Reilly as Desdemona] 'I shall long remember her vulnerability: when struck by Othello, she registers a shocked disbelief and she is incredibly touching in the "willow" scene.' Guardian # 'the production finds two actors (Chiwetel and Ewan) who can go against the grain of current notions of how these roles should be played and who can furnish us with new insights into the hero's downfall.' Independent # 'Michael Grandage is directing with his usual flair, care and respect for the text.' The Times # 'First-rate support from Tom Hiddleston's posh, rank-pulling Cassio and Michelle Fairley's fierce and indignant Emilia' Independent # [Ewan McGregor] 'He’s vigorous, hard, mean and he does hate, really hate. Hate enough to give us Shakespeare’s play as it poignantly, painfully should be.' The Times # 4 Stars4 Stars4 Stars4 Stars 'Extraordinary theatrical charge' Sunday Express # 4 Stars4 Stars4 Stars4 Stars 'Kelly Reilly's sensual, soft and exquisitely delicate Desdemona' Mail on Sunday # 4 Stars4 Stars4 Stars4 Stars 'Ejiofor and McGregor... it's a mouthwatering combination that doesn't disappoint' Sunday Telegraph # 'An Othello for our times... magnificant' Observer
Please note carefully that an allegorical story is not intended to be taken as literal as in the case of Patrick Suskind's allegorical novel Perfume:
Here is the Merriam-Webster dictionary definition of an allegory:
allegory Main Entry: al·le·go·ry Pronunciation: \ˈa-lə-ˌgȯr-ē\ Function: noun Inflected Form(s): plural al·le·go·ries Etymology: Middle English allegorie, from Latin allegoria, from Greek allēgoria, from allēgorein to speak figuratively, from allos other + -ēgorein to speak publicly, from agora assembly — more at else, agora Date: 14th century
1: the expression by means of symbolic fictional figures and actions of truths or generalizations about human existence ; also : an instance (as in a story or painting) of such expression2: a symbolic representation : emblem 2
Please note the phrases "symbolic fictional figures and actions"..."speak figuratively" and "generalisations about human existence"
I felt that the rhetorical questions posed by Dorfman in his afterword really resonated with many things that are going on and have gone on in the world. Though his questions stemmed from a Chilean point of view, they certainly are universal.
"How to heal a country that has been traumatised by repression if the fear to speak out is still omnipresent everywhere?"
This is a question that in my opinion is at the very core of Death and the Maiden. On the one hand, we have Gerardo who seems quite willing to let the past lie and ruffle the least amount of feathers, despite his position on the truth Commissions. On the other hand we have Paulina, who is willing to take matters into her own hands and find justice herself - to go to the extreme and kill a man in order to find justice.
One could say that Gerardo is a representation of the masses just after the fall of a dictatorship - wanting a sense of unity, justice and peace, but suffering from too much fear and paranoia to be outspoken and vocal about their opinions.
Paulina, despite being much more forceful about her convictions in the play is just like Gerardo (the masses) in a sense. She herself suffers from fear and paranoia, though of a different kind. She decides to exact justice upon Roberto because of her mistrust of the judiciary system, and conviction that they are useless. But where does this mistrust come from? People may disagree with this, but I think that Paulina's judgement has more to do with what she perceives as a never ending cycle of corruption than any concrete knowledge of legislation. Due to years of silence and repression at the hands of a corrupt government, Paulina is no longer able to see that life could possibly turn out any other way.
Now you may say that Paulina has every right to think the way she thinks and act the way she acts given her circumstances - but if we looked at the bigger picture, how would a country ever heal if every man and every woman thought the way Paulina thought and acted the way she acted? If a country's people have no faith that they can change their own government for the better, then nothing will change and they will continue to be stuck in a limbo between dictatorship and democracy. When I thought about Paulina's actions in this way, I realised that what she did was particularly selfish as it benefited only herself. If she had found a way to present her case to the Truth Commission before killing Roberto she could have helped countless other torture victims and maybe have helped her country to move in the right direction. Killing Roberto will not change anything for Paulina because no one knows what happened her, and so her suffering still remains a "secret" to her government and her country. She may be appeased for sometime after Roberto's death, but it is my belief that in the long run she will never be truly healed.
"Ariel Dorfman is probably best known for Death and the Maiden, the play he wrote in Chile during that country's transition to democracy in the summer of 1990. Since its first production in Chile, the story of Paulina Salas, a woman who kidnaps the man she suspects tortured her more than 20 years ago, has been staged in more than thirty countries. In Germany alone, in 1993 there were more than 50 different productions all running at the same time. Taught in colleges and high schools, still performed around the globe, Death and the Maiden is a classic example of the coming together of art and the struggle for human rights." The play won the Laurence Olivier award for Best New Play of 1992. From the Duke University website where Ariel Dorfman is a distinguished professor: http://www.adorfman.duke.edu/
The top accolade of literary prizes, the Nobel Prize in Literature is awarded to writers who have spent a lifetime dedicated to producing literature and providing the world with insight into others' lives and plight through the production of their life's work. Read 2000's Laureate Gao Xingian's thoughts on writing literature.(Just click on his name for the hyperlink)
Take notes and see if there is anything that he says which resonates with your own ideas or helps to prompt or establish new ideas. Please add comments on the blog to show you are engaging with subject matter. You should regard this type of inquiry as a body of knowledge that you are constantly adding to - to help you with your overall understanding in the IB course. The more you engage with ideas and think about things, the more you will find the elements of your IB course overlapping and crystallising.
For English A1 you need to have a carefully considered grasp of the functions that Literature can serve. You need to consider all of the points presented to you in class, keep an open mind and add new information to your growing understanding of the subject area. Your aim is not to make rash judgements based on first reactions. It is to think about the deeper message that is being communicated rather than the superficial appearance of what is first imagined - to allow flexibility or change of thought when new knowledge is added to the body of knowledge you already have. The IB learner profile traits which follow are needed to do this effectively - please note the overarching aim of the IB student at the top of the document.
(CLICK ON TOGGLE AT TOP RIGHT FOR FULL SCREEN VIEW)
Here are some carefully considered thoughts of intellectuals, writers, peacemakers for you to think about:
“The answers you get from literature depend on the questions you pose” Margaret Atwood (Canadian Writer, b.1939)
“Literature is where I go to explore the highest and lowest places in human society and in the human spirit, where I hope to find not absolute truth but the truth of the tale, of the imagination and of the heart.”
“Books are humanity in print.” Barbara W.Tuchman (American historian, writer, academic 1912-1989)
“Books are the carriers of civilization. Without books, history is silent, literature dumb, science crippled, thought and speculation at a standstill. They are engines of change, windows on the world, lighthouses erected in the sea of time.” Salman Rushdie(Indian born British Writer, b.1947)
“We read to know we are not alone.” C.S. Lewis (British Scholar and Novelist. 1898-1963)
"The difficulty of literature is not to write, but to write what you mean” Robert Louis Stevenson(Scottish Essayist, Poet and Author of fiction and travel books, 1850-1894)
“Literature adds to reality, it does not simply describe it. It enriches the necessary competencies that daily life requires and provides; and in this respect, it irrigates the deserts that our lives have already become.” C.S. Lewis(British Scholar and Novelist. 1898-1963)
“What is wonderful about great literature is that it transforms the man who reads it towards the condition of the man who wrote."
“Every man's memory is his private literature.” Aldous Huxley(English Novelist and Critic, 1894-1963)
“Good children's literature appeals not only to the child in the adult, but to the adult in the child”
“The decline of literature indicates the decline of a nation.” Johann Wolfgang von Goethe(German Playwright, Poet, Novelist and Dramatist. 1749-1832)
“The difficulty of literature is not to write, but to write what you mean; not to affect your reader, but to affect him precisely as you wish.” Robert Louis Stevenson(Scottish Essayist, Poet and Author of fiction and travel books, 1850-1894)
“While thought exists, words are alive and literature becomes an escape, not from, but into living” Cyril Connolly (English critic and editor, 1903-1974)
“The crown of literature is poetry.” William Somerset Maugham.
“Whoever is able to write a book and does not, it is as if he has lost a child” Rabbi Nachman
“Literacy is a bridge from misery to hope. It is a tool for daily life in modern society. It is a bulwark against poverty, and a building block of development, an essential complement to investments in roads, dams, clinics and factories. Literacy is a platform for democratization, and a vehicle for the promotion of cultural and national identity. Especially for girls and women, it is an agent of family health and nutrition. For everyone, everywhere, literacy is, along with education in general, a basic human right.... Literacy is, finally, the road to human progress and the means through which every man, woman and child can realize his or her full potential.” Kofi Annan(Ghanaian diplomat, seventh secretary-general of the United Nations, 2001 Nobel Peace Prize.)
“Great literature is simply language charged with meaning to the utmost possible degree” Ezra Pound(American Editor, Poet, Translator and Critic, 1885-1972)
“The two most engaging powers of an author are to make new things familiar, familiar things new.” William Makepeace Thackeray(Indian born English Author and Novelist of 'Vanity Fair', 1811-1863)
“When I read great literature, great drama, speeches, or sermons, I feel that the human mind has not achieved anything greater than the ability to share feelings and thoughts through language.” James Earl Jones
One of the main elements of the final exam paper in Paper 2 is for students to show that they have a solid and knowledgeable understanding of what the craft of literature involves - its amazing variety in construction, theme, purpose.
IB English A1 students were asked to come up with questions to ask a visiting writer about the craft of writing. Their thoughtful and insightful questions follow. (Note -some questions were merged as they were similar in idea)
Mai - When crafting your work, do you know straight away where you want your written work to go or do you discover that when you are writing? Do you base your work on personal viewpoints or try to tackle issues beyond your perspective? What would you say is the most important thing to consider when crafting new ideas for your writing? Dung - What elements make good literature? Rhys – What made you choose novels as a form of expression over music, drama or writing film? Lillian – In your opinion, what does a good novel comprise of? How long does it usually take to you to complete a novel? May – How long have you been writing literature? Why did you start? What has been the biggest challenge you have encountered so far in your career? Christian – What is the hardest thing about crafting literature? Are your stories inspired by true life experiences of your friends and family? Are there certain things you have difficulty writing about and why? Are your protagonist mainly men or women? Why? Frances – What happens when you finish writing a story – do you decide when it ends? Does a story ever end? Anahita – Does punctuation play a large role in shaping your work? Do you think of the tone before you think about the storyline? What usually inspires you to write? Ruben – Do you write for pleasure or to deliver a message? Do you hope to teach a moral through your work? Do you write on your own or like to share your ideas with others? Where do your ideas come from? Do you think about your audience when you are writing? Julia – When researching the setting of a place do you visit it? Do you plan everything before you write it or do you let things evolve? What comes first for you? – character, theme or storyline?
