Scribd Logo
Upload

Welcome to Scribd!

  • Fatal Cleopatras and Golden Apples

    Uploaded by

    Anirban
    39 views19 pages
    Hhbhggg

    Original Title

    Fatal Cleopatras and Golden Apples (1)

    Copyright

    © © All Rights Reserved

    Available Formats

    PDF or read online from Scribd

    Did you find this document useful?

    Is this content inappropriate?

    Report this Document
    Hhbhggg

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF or read online from Scribd
    Flag for inappropriate content
    39 views19 pages

    Fatal Cleopatras and Golden Apples

    Uploaded by

    Anirban
    Hhbhggg

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF or read online from Scribd
    Flag for inappropriate content
    of 19
    ae : ble#ay THE OXFORD HANDBOOK OF SHAKESPEARE’S POETRY ied by JONATHAN EF. S. POST CHAPTER § FATAL CLEOPATRAS AND GOLDEN APPLES Economies of Wordplay in Some Shakespearean ‘Numbers’ MARGARET FERGUSON 5.1 A MATRIX FOR LOOKING AT SHAKESPEAREAN WORDPLAYS (IN POETRY) Shakespeare’ wordplay is no county for people commited to the ide that language ‘Should bea transparent and ficient mediam of communication. Those who lit thet language plain tend to nd wordplay’ an ‘exercise of vrtwosity 10 90 prof without economy of nee or knowledge’ That description comes from Iucques Derrida, who Srges that wordplay jeu de mot) snot auxury of diversion’ but rather a necesity forall language wer Thee have been and continu tobe debates in many languages about whether wordplay like poetry, issn ornamental phenomenon that, in pinch or ins huey. we ould do without, Following Derrida, and Shakespeare swell suggest a gf Po Ds Sage Mary Ame Ferguson, Cetupher Wild supe iy rine sae "Fer ret wo pon ia ha ese Gly (ine Nera LUnrsyafNebrta Pret Desist othe y Knowle tbe Engh wp cde rants eat wold on ol poet teeth ‘Agusan cic kn Den nd cd open ste oak oo Ded. Fr tenty ‘igus the nal mot Ueto cman Aleron Te Agusta tak ob Tighten es ane. Foran iw th cna selesthan Calle, “Be cllath Pron On on Te oda ater, jonathan Cale (el) (Oxo Bs ‘htt arr begat 78 Tue Oxronp Haxos00x oF SHAKESPEARE'S PorTRY inthis ceper that wordplay is integral tothe work--or'patli—oflinguage oe: st though a re-reading of Samuel Johnsons famous tack on Shakespeare exces. Siveloveof quibbles that we an usefully approach Shakespeare practice of wordplay With specifi reference to ‘numbers one of Shakespeare’ most intresting smionyns forposey? 'As verbal practice marked both by a concer for messue'(a in sllabeor line counting) and by a tendency toward licens (sin ue-breaking and love fr exces), poetry enacts and reflects on many meanings of numbers ave selected my main ‘examples of poetic wordplay to illustrat, st the range of Shakespeare concern with ‘the conap of numbers and, second the diferent kinds and tempos of interpretive response he invites fom his audience, Some wordplay come i many part, fui Ing the interpreter ore slowly, often through notes and transitions consulted afer a performance or during ate zading. The main example I adduce here, sugested by Samuel hasan oblique reference to the myth of Atlant, requires us to consider the pace of casia allusion in Shakespear’ extended meditation onthe elation between ‘pars and ‘whole in both human and textual bodies. Another type of wordplay. ast cooklngas oppose to slow, seems to hit the reader over the head as were, with an ‘overplutof play on a single word: my main example involves the playson [WI (as ‘nou, verb and proper are) fom Sonnet 138 Fall ofcompeting names and defnition for it many rhetorical types andlor parts Shakespearean wordplay in poetyinot something that exists oot there for eadersor autos simply to dscoverOn the contrary, shakespesrean wordplay arguably comes into existence only when two or more human gents meet with the text a2 game board The educated, historically stuated writer and the audltorireader inthe pst or present create meanings fom the enormously unstable annoated text which shows Signs of composors and in some cass actors st work a¢ well a the ‘ignal writer. ‘Asan objet of attention that recall Shakespearés many pans on notin” 2 nothing ‘quibbling’can be compared to an unsettling kind of mein which the rules are not completly known: 3s Gregory Bateson suggests in hie Theory of Play and Fantasy, Some ganesare constructed sot upon the premiz "this play” bu rather round the question" thiplay?™ Shakespearean wordplaysare complex effects both of syntcte ad lena choiceson thevwriter editor, printers reader's andactr pate In potictextsfsturesofmete, + fernci dcaontf Stoke number Pas an Shep nti Mamas Roan hws Cat Une Pr sot 49k pe he, Spi Sn (ann con ers crews prt ‘nips puso sgn scarica a They Wiest Wind od ehepeean Trier Maken Lage ory) 9 25-8 2rd ep efi ay Pain Adanon, Gain land and Eee el ena goes Spc (Cambhge Cambie Ui es a7) * cee Btn ee af Mid No ak Ca 97) rr rages alo su Fata CLEOPATRA AND GotoeN AvptES 79 thyme, andi shape also conributeto the wordplays mode of existence Sukerpeare wordplay rately come ing they come rather in bataens-—oringouprand shares ‘more nebulous, intertwining diferent fguresoftheorc that ofen reqs heresde code inversions of normal word order. Shakespeare's wordplay cl atenion tthe ‘opacity of thei medium or mined nai ofeomaureaton, Thesiltytoshule rom earteyeandbackaginiscrieafor students Shakespeare raphy. The reading eye (Uy), however i often neglected In crt dinusteee of ‘Stoespeawés wordplay. Theories aboot hw Shakespeare and his contemporaries po. ‘nounced words ar ofcourse crucial to our appreciation of hs many pays on words io {ferent genres sme ofthese playswere clearly meat tobe transite fom peta tage {susflto rel however. that our evidence of hakesperesacatc world lee este by Brace R-Smith, comes ey rom ween sources ome acompanid by ‘usc notation and ahers consisting of measured postings icing tho tenend inehymes close enough inetes) to bedebated sexo ner or ant? ‘Some cries define Shakespeare puns his most amous species of wordplay, simply 2 eos knot and some bev ht ety modem sealers saw puns wing 53 representation of language, not the thing tel Both views rguly latent ‘Phenomenal complet ofShaespears wordplay, which eflectawide rage of thee, ‘ies about what a ‘word is and how-—and by whot—it maybe mistaken: Separations Detween words were not marked inthe sri contin ofancen and ery reer "Panssrps; but ‘mistaking’ distinctions between words and wordparte salen sreing, sounds and leters—is considered vce’ in an ancient radon ef hems ‘al discourse that continually had to modify ts terms for and conceptions of ngelte {rtorineelation to complex processes ofculual translation nciaing translations fone ‘prec to wrthg as wells om one ngage to another’ In his Garden of over Of 1577, Henty Peacham finds an instance of dectal variation (a northon ones ‘southern pronunciton/speling~wall for wl} toilustrate the vice sntiecer ce ‘he replacing fone leter in a word by another* We shal terse example of sash 4 Scie Sth The sic id ay Mer Eg Atti the Oar {hic The Unirrsityo heg Pres 99a a Bn, Ve os Sender ‘Shopng Sondin Eri Moe Egan Phas Universite ace EO ee : Sous ein puss snd sefristnc.$.Parngton ings seam “ttl eles panne op ne rpmaaenooesonnca Ahr Keser on hepa wo sting oftauhtadiguher mre eaten ac alan peop singe ep eng shen a ene eet trent nant hen fe eure se Tene Cite Cranes Pf Wg eine (Onto Ox Unies rea 7 Osc cami Pets, etna le Maen, ee Stalin Nene ihr Langue Machin coer itn nd Cao eae ce Raatdge a9) gna Ie Gant pt. 9) en Wham Pe Tevet ‘Manson ea 207 36 Sua to Tus Oxrono Hawos00K o” SHakesPeane’s PoerRY “vice that ould als be sified 36 'vrtwous ornaments: how isthe readers 6 raw theline between prope Rigure anda sbuse? Fascinated by the border between Hcensed and unlicensed word use, Shakespeare ‘fen explores by giving ws communicative mises between spekers of cifeent social ranks and genders both gender and ankalfeced ond acess to grammar schoo teclucation, Consider fr example the moment in Two Gentlemen of Verona where the "lownishservant’ Speed asksanother servant Lance, what news with yourmastrshipt Lance falsto gasp the sony 2fSpeed's aes which promotes the servant othe mas: ‘erste andthusLancereples, Wikhmy mastersship? Why itisat se to which peed who seems to have some acquaintance with grammar schoo ules of hetorc retorts, “Wel your ld vie stil mistake the wor (Uli 276-9) Lance goeson to acuse Speed ‘of being unable to read nen thats black sin’ on the page. Speed roundly denies being an “ilerste loterr. The modern reader or auditor i invited to think about how discrepancies in lngusic ‘weak can occur a one travels fom hearing a word to reading it. Travel ofall kinds acted early modern English reader and suo understanding of pele words and of the'word' asa concept. New words were eter sng the langage constantly, sometimes a contraband low’ French and alan words for diseases, for instance, sometimes as import ofthe kind Spenser’ teacher Richard ‘Mulcastrlegtimates as enrihnensof the English tongue Shakespeare is credited ‘ith oining some 1700 new words, nt all of which tayedinthelanguage ‘One that sl exists according tothe Oxford English Dictionary bat that may wel not look ‘nati’ to most Anglophone readers today ls ‘U-ate! a i sprinted in the First Folio version of Maceo, ee printed inthe Oxford Shakespeare, dest “This push Will cheer me eve or dsseat me now’ (Vi. 22-3). or Wiliam Empson, the author of Seven Type of Ambiguity, this ea rich wordplay ilustrating an ‘inten nal creation of tnterpeeve aleratves. Empson speculates that Shakespeare wrote ‘something ite removed fom any ofthe appronimate homonyms 10st reoders] groping about ther network? We can transla ‘issea most obviously as “anv or throne Empeen argues percusivly fr addtional sections tthe word uisese disses ad Jefe witha further pla on the word sr eat, suggest Ing both Macbeth ear ofthc ost army regarded as 3 hungry ogre and the remorse already gnawing’ at Macbeth ental" Empson allows, however, thatthe new-coined + Resance rede mht csi ths sig harass (np onc) se ‘hard Lathun, A Hilt howe Ts ede: tei ef Cara Pr Stabespore prayed nero ering sey unten tis apse Nersessian gh One ch pneon ox, hes anh se Pale Bry inlets Far incahe M.S. Aled eShops and Langage Ca Cane Unters res, 00) so Sees Mage rss Soar msrp Shee seated Gran any Wels) Th Cami Copan Sakae "Richelet Pre entre Vc xr Che ofthe igh Wing fu Eh Tah came Meson US re) 8-9. * alm pn Sn ps tye Yr Now Dio 8)85. FaTaL CLEoraraas Axo GoLpew Arrtes 81 ‘verb—which Shakespeare pechaps used to spread our attention ‘over a wide map of {he was in which [the word] may be justiied™—could lok simply ikea mistake to 3 Print or tater editors (or, would 2d, to some among shakespeare fist readers or suite), How diferent is Shakespeare coinage in Macheth from Fillers adver tent bt polly rich Welsh -dalet deformation of phrase describing Aletander the Greats‘Aleander the Pi ("big Henry VIN vic 12-13)? As Margaret Tadeau-Clayion has astuely argued, the playwright ator tage and the uasltor’s page “rhymed” in early modern English eur inasmach as they both ‘onsite sites fr the production, regulation, and interrogation of the boundaries four English tongue" Wordpays often arian the tenor betmeen languages oF sllecs—two terms not ditnguished in the Renaissance inthe way they commonly se toay" This sa erty where speculative etymologies losrsh and where George Pustesham nds many instances of'lngle-mangl hs name for a broad eegory of “vce in ancient rhetoric that included both ‘unnatural word coinage’ and mises in pronunclation such ailterate’ males and females often perform in Shakespeare plays: my fevorteexample occurs when Mistress Quickly herr nouns as wounds (The ‘Merry Wivesof Windsor IV..22)." In anes between times, languages, cultures, nd diferent educated people, word- plays may easily be mistaken for something foreign and without value; they may also be simply mised, as no doubt continues to happen for Shakespeare auditors and Feadert including ditors—toda. The history of wordply ited up withthe history ‘of censorship: editors may dea wth perceived mistake’ by cuting or emending them ‘Thehisory of wordplay also intetvined with fering modern understanding ofthe (linked nstttionsofexicography. of publishing and of eduction. Same Johnson contributed oll hee of thos institatonsin a passge that defines Shakespeare as an unthy‘travel” in the wold of words {want to sages, however. tha the famous critique of Shakespeare pssion forthe ‘quibble azo shows fohnson himself traveling {om topetotropein away that ass questions about the economy’ of wordplay. mys 93) uit ae Cylon, Scans asain jana Shaker Peer Han nd A Maer Nhs eon data archso e ° Ontetenane mesningo Us al nk ke gh itrsand de bof ingens Whi Laadan Rog, yen dry ods ite oe neces, sera amen, iy Language nap sed. Theme Hany ange ecm Cane Unt Pes 9p)» 396) * Section On ig angle nr enna act eine Tae Clo, Rare, Wa Steps and tee Testing Vegi Ear or Engr oS crt alte he! Pi Sligo so-2nen 9-6 ase opearancin Eglin the OED ube europea member skarep eal men veut cane Olt hae ues ‘gubes Al we yh sys acm charcer se dataingO Ba gli tbe ‘worst rm pens acheter yh spt te OED eset pcan he ‘ond coms tenants ator ect we iso elie eet ut SMARESMUARE § JOE TRY ta msn i Shakespear love qubbesin a a tht perias conceit Janne id ese: Or Ibn, Shakespeare verge tw tens Reeken Johnson writes reo exalng aecton, whether he be ssing tenon wah eco Seas epee but ube sprig up Eseries he Foot unin ube the golden spl fr whi ewan recs ce pesntaing of pun in takespeares (wus somevtat orci) Soca ne cae an ats ht we hae exe a pod del silincattag a Smbipalne entatted in reading poems... Ohne doci nat wan merch ween, inet inpes ington how runinededoreenwanedenis merge Inelimpose hems an hry dag our minds utter oak ‘sobvousy eel otbriging sex sill meninges an ood on eet tae Sion iy cls he mire Te dango netteprea ‘etter may bane dend an esenalis) dsncon tere a itr ape AS) sn on Supe al ten Cee Meee sr Nene ae Vahey Woe pa ‘"Enpson iia 7 Enpson ipa 2 tmpon yo) crn nent cp Re eso yin Adenoma. — Fert Cusomateas AND Gotoew Appts 63 ‘hatare unde discusion and the interpreter own discursive proseJohnson hms ofr pregnant quibble’ in is rtique of Shakepore: Cleopaes war aa in beng “both the deathand destiny of Antony" Johnsons pus nly sem safe rom and indeed. bulwark against infection by the kind of quibbles hei critiquing. His use af Tt is epistemology manageable: ‘setiates 3 wity par of meanings, nota sere sttchng off Into 3 pours wight Johnsons pun is ‘pont and performs closure, not openness both erm thetor The author ofthe verses bearsa name that comes, as Longueviles does for outside of Englands bor, ‘ers Orlando harks back othe love-mad hero of Arioste's Orlando Furloso. and the English Orlando moves his comically uncertain poetic feet ins literary zone that bath mackepicand mock Petrarchan, Not yea master of his medium, Orlando tries Pstiche, an pecially the method made famous bythe Greek pater Zeunl who allegedly painted beauifal woman by copying diferent parts of ker body from cif. ferent mode's. Orlando credits ‘Nature; but we eet Shakespeare fr having ‘se lle Rosalind hese lines; Hole check, but nother heat, Cleoptrssmajey, ‘Atala beter prt, Sid acres modesty. iss) Oi, ears 8-77 Fak ass bie.) (Cambhe, A vad Une Prsminiasci 2 Roan doc he metal antigua pot ant.) Sheen uses ‘eqmorsbiclosin te ing song or anc, Tie whee nape eee So Pateshan dsc tie bnorennas lect dlrs Vote ler ‘nde oer st meses vere a Tee 21 Oni va Yip rte dove sonnet ei Masten, ‘ie one Sls Terie Reson Rchar pe ogee Pa by acon ‘Cnn anomie cafe rer eg snsaan ek erat Cteoraraas ano Gotpew Arrtes 87 ‘What is Atlant beter par? there a play on’part a part of partner (aslover ‘orhasband)?sthere anallusion to Christ’ praise of Mary (sister of Martha} or plying, 2 god prt (or better or best part, depending onthe ranslaton) in Lk 10421 Ther, ‘par isa womans wellshosen role ina min -rara that vals an act of listening to Chriss wordsorer tolrg inthe house Johason considers nether of thee poe, but he doesindthe pre more puzaling than maceredtorsdo; whereas they usualy slssthephraein a marginal word or two that presmesconly one posible interpretive context beauty’ and/or etna) Johnson ponders (and consitie) a lrger prob- lem, wondering whether Shakespeare perhaps knew moe than ane tanta composed ot higher an lower ports fr hr, the balling word has bth physical and moral con- notations though te fomer are present onlyby eiramlocution "iow not wll what ould be the beter part of Attn ere strbed Wo Rsaind Oftheatsknia most ebated, and who therefore mete intended hee wher she hasno epithet dlserminain, the beter part semstohave been herhel andthe wore part was so badthatRolind would wot hank her lover fr the comparison ‘There more obseae Atlanta, shnzet and heroine, but ofher nahin bad ‘recorded, an therefor Eso aot which was the beter part. Shakespeare a 20 Todo ines roe ctn pac. so any ts Jt gotta ey ‘enn ine aner Don do a do bet cc cin ew a as 88 Tus Oxsona Hawo200x oF SHAKESPEARE’ PooTRY the proper name into the vortex of the wordplay sours elsewhere Shakespeare ‘eure Given the able eroticism of Toucstones very name, and his closing abigu- ‘us equaton of sweetest rose’ with Tore pric seems kl thatthe elie passage play with Roslin’ al dent 8 boy and gimaser mistress of passion 2s Sonnet 20 famously pus it As Rosalind and Ganymede bath, sbe is transformed through “Touchstones punning coupe into seal conainer and at he same ime, piece of| inter clothing fled oa fom the inside. Te couplet lasts Debra Fried argument that in many rhyming pars, the second ine gives a storied memory of the st that ‘estesap-lke wordplay: the verbal play has the potenti to retes metamorphosis iour assessment ofthe situation or characte.” ‘Alani, like Rosalind, atone time acted Uke a hoy: she may have appealed to Shakespeare a¢ a source for his meditation on Rosalind’s mukiple ‘parts’ because ‘Alalanta partclpation ina famous fot race conjures up questions about pay-ating nd bloodlines as wells about strange courtship. Moreover, ss Angelo suggest ina ‘complex wordplay In Measire for Measure—'And now 1 give my sensual ace the rei (iL ie 160)—race’ may signify not ony athletic comspetition but also ‘blood or pas- son, Aste ater, something that needs checking, reining, asa horse does or 's young women’s bodies do—specialy when they are fa rom thei father’ sight in wld forests with hear cymes wit part) lays theetening transgressive action. InBook® of the Metsmorphoser, which sone of Johnson’ ikly sources forthe more obscure’ atlanta he mentions inhi noe, Ovid deplts her a asked hunter who ‘competes inadiferent competion piting men against women: when she iFirst to ‘wound boar, she shames her msl competitors, among whom is Ancseus. ‘Armed ‘with two-headed axe he f swollen with pide and with boasfl lips The image {emminds us that par can alo signify the male ongan, hee presented asthe source of primal competition: Ancaeus commands his audience to Learn nov. how far ‘mars weapons surpass age" Ancaeu boast eas directly o his death whereas [Alalnta remains, fr atime, in a comie romance that tens only a the very end to tragedy. By comparing his Beautfl Rosalind to par of stories shout Atalanta, Cleopatra, crt and Helen, Orlando inadvertent levee the reader! spectatr with chance to ponder diferent possible outcome of Rosalind and Orland story Theinerpeter isin the middle failing tle, part raged, part comely; our situation is similar to Atanas at the moment when she consulted an oracle and veered the usual opaque ‘nessgeA bund wl be your bane He from the ntrcours of husband and yet you wll nt ee apd, though ving, you wills youself (364-66) Terfed of mar lage, she devises the race test for her suitors, Those who loze wil de and they do ‘nil Hippomenes win withthe prevosslymenioned device ofthe three olden apples. Dees od Rye Punic 8 9-9 ° Od temas Mie 96) 3 Frat Cusorarnas Axo GoLpen Arrtes 89 ‘Te balk-tke objets he throws sequently on Alan path arguably symbolize his ‘masculine paris perhaps even an excess’ of them" He symbol sacices some Portion ofhis masculine prowess in order o win er sexual favours This mythologieal ‘couple is thus an iteresting analogue both fr Antony and Cleopatra and for Orlando and Rosalnd—and fra theory of wordplay a enabling potential ic crosings of boundarles between bodies nd gendersas well aslanguages By following Atalanta gure out of fons’ preface into the semantically an rhe. toily fuzir realm of the footnote and We Shakespearean and Ovidian parse), {have attempted to dramatize my ehieconcera inthis essy, whichis with those ‘moments when the quibbles aumbers, 3 woul ket cil them Become too many 'o control with single explanatory andor evaluative net. Such moments ceste epi temologiclquensnes—wha the French cll mise n abn. Shakespeares writing in numbered measures especialy but nt only ia metrical lines bonded by thyme, makes aspet of poetic form cross dramatically with conceptual ses pertaining to the com petition beween artistic and bio-social forme of Yeproduction nd with concepts of *eepng ar osng control. the final segment of hi eesay | want to consid aev= eral Renaisancedlicusions of pun-lke tropes as frames fr thinking about Sonnet 135 an intensely puting small per that seems to offer a type of fast ating wordplay that contrais with the slow, vapourish tral we hae examined with Johnson’ help in ‘Aalanta beter part both of my main examples the question of pars and wholesis thematically aswell formally important. 5.3 WoRDPLAys IN OVERPLUS Inthe Renassance grammar school, pupils were repeatedly sent to Latin poetic txt to practice theartof double translation Through this at. and is accompanying de. ng in noting and judging rhetorical ropes itor ‘ilk students became involved ‘with the dificules of rhetorical taxonomy Those dificulties were dramatized nthe terminologl and evaluative sippages between multiple version ofan enterprise that volved bo nding the ame’ terms across the English Latin border an siltnes ‘ously iingushing good tropes from ‘improper’ ones "The rules were numerous Gn a seen den etn skeet 1 se Wan 992) nib asain see Don, ery atti aie Ramee (haga ests o Pres) 44 eo Marin yt Mods chs Wats od ‘in ith Rote ac Camel Vien Met) sas. The Veo ee, Far compre worl tht wh aie ae er sence (esque guano nlc), Te Oa Edson "ck el soins) (Conbpe ba Harard Une) 9. 90 Tus Oxroro Haxonook oF SuaxesPeane’s PosreY ‘variably ransaed from diferent asia sources, and of cours inconsistent; poetry moreare was typelly3erhal rane where the ruler wre lackaned hough not ‘ut repeated expressions concern about how uch poetilicense wastoo much, This large diursve eld about wopes (which spends arose discussions oflogie, grammar, and posryaswellashetoric) provides heuristirame fr tinking abou wordplay in ‘Sonnet 1352 poem that explores precisely the conceptual ares where good figures (it theyexisatal) metamorphose into espace! Sophie Read ofers 2 ued analysis ofthe thre asia tropes that she thinks come closest to corresponding othe wordplay types known in English ae qubbleclenck ‘etc, and—after Shakespearés death—as ‘pun Her chokes are poronomasa (Puteahans the nicknamer)santanacess(Putenhais the rebound’) and slp (Patten the double suppl). Read sees he dfeence between the omentatre ofthe hetoricians andthe slang terms" (she doesnt mention Putenhamis moe dec: ‘orous Exglish transition) as one of ‘precision, and of pretige Precision perhaps, though the rhetoric definitions as I've been suggesting canbe bafling Cultural Prestige also something hard to estimate in retrospect. While for modern readers ‘anlanacsi' may carry more cltral capital than ‘inc, we cannot be sare how read ‘sin Shakespeare time would have measured the phenomena Histestsar (ll par- ‘ies of hose whose smal Latin and ess Greek lads then into types of ornate diction considered vicious andthe cultural interest etorcl exces could wellhave helped determine whether a wordplay under any particular name smelled sweet or weedy “The naming of topes is cleriy important to how modern etc select early modern

    You might also like