Author: Ben S

The Many Faces of King Lear

On By Ben SIn King LearLeave a comment

King Lear is a role that most great Shakespearean Actors hope to play. As a result of this, many great productions of The Tragedy of King Lear have been put on. From play to musical to movie, there are countless Lear’s to choose from. Why is this, and how did this come to be?

The short answer, and often the easy answer with Shakespeare’s works, is the fact that it was written by Shakespeare, automatically granting it impromptu Hall of Fame status and an immortal reputation on the stage. I think there’s a greater, more impactful reason, though.

Kings, queens, royal courts, and political marriages are mostly things of the past, but when we take a look at the themes hidden throughout King Lear we see why the play, even in it’s original Shakespearean English, is a hit with modern audiences. Firstly, the theme of Parent-Child relations is supposed to highlight good children as those who take care of ailing parents, while others are considered the bad children. Younger members of society are supposed to inherently respect their elders, and this is something that still resonates with many audiences from many cultures today. Furthermore, the theme of Power, specifically women in power, is a big part of how this story maintains a large following with modern audiences. To have not one, not two, but three significant female characters with power and agency over not just their lives, but their land and others, is significant for the time it was written. While two of those character, the one’s with more agency, are framed as evil and monsters, they still allow for a modern audience to better connect with the character in a story since King Lear isn’t just about the ambitious power-seeking men. Finally, though this may have not been Shakespeare’s intention, the heightened level of violence and intrigue that took place in this play mimic the drama we, the modern audience, have come to know from action movies and the like. To put it bluntly, it is easier for a lay audience to enjoy a work of Shakespeare when someone’s getting backstabbed or having their eye taken out.

In the end, whether you personally loved King Lear, or never want to hear someone say “thy” again, this play is going to be remastered and remade for as long as there is an audience who will watch it.

A Snowy Morning and a Red Scarf

On By Ben SIn Poetry3 Comments

White Water Hymnal

One of the most distinctive elements of poetry is how a poet not only tells you a story, but helps you experience it too.”

White Water Hymnal” by Fleet Foxes isn’t necessarily musically complex. Its three stanzas are identical, with the section in between consisting of a simple melody, hummed. It was released as a single before being the first song of Fleet Foxes’ self-titled debut album, being a relatively non complex introduction to an entrancing LP. Despite this, whenever I listen to “White Water Hymnal”, I can’t help but become overwhelmed with a feeling of nostalgia.

Having no verse, “White Water Hymnal” consists of only 8 lines of lyrics, repeated 3 times over the course of the song. Though the writing feels purposefully abstract, a common theme found among many online is one having to do with cyclical passage of time. Specifically, how the passage of time, and the growth we experience is not isolated; we are interconnected in our stories.

While the speaker doesn’t necessarily help us come to the conclusion, the audience of the song-poem certainly does.

“And Michael, you would fall and turn the white snow red as strawberries in summertime”

This line, addressing the audience of the poem, uses vivid color imagery and simile to depict a scene where the intended audience member falls, and hurts themself, bleeding and subsequently tainting the snow. The juxtaposition of the pristine white snow and summertime strawberries creates a multidimensional image that highlights the song clearly as poetry. This contributes to the theme of the song by showing how, even though Michael would fall, and hurt himself, the speaker was always present to make the situation better, comparing the red of blood to that of a strawberry.

If the song has such a specific intended audience, though, how come it feels so home-y and nostalgic (especially with a description of a bloody accident)? Such a strong nostalgic feeling is still present because the speaker doesn’t stay on these moments for long. The narrator moves through what appear to be different moments in time, through multiple seasons and events

“I was following the pack / All swallowed in their coats / With scarves of red tied ’round their throats”

In these lines, the contrast between a winter setting and scarves is presented again. This time, interestingly, the red is not the blood of a hurt friend (the audience, Michael), but a warm red scarf. In these lines, the vivid use of visual imagery creates a sense of unity and comfort within the reader, showing the growth beyond the cold blood-tainted snow. This multidimensional language, and its repetition, builds off of that in the previously mentioned line, emphasizing the theme of the song, and showing how we are all interconnected in our journeys of growth.

The final example of multidimensional language may be a bit of a cheat. I mentioned earlier how there only existed one stanza in this song. One chorus, repeated 3 times. We examined already how the lyrics themselves experienced changes in time, moving through seasons, and as a result showed a collected growth. The lyrics even better show the theme, though, when they are repeated. If you listen to “White Water Hymnal”, you will know that you don’t get tired of the lyrics, even though they are repeated again and again. No, instead that feeling of nostalgia is hammered into your brain, and you maybe even reflect on your own winter memories… your own growth. The theme of this poem is not only shown through the lyrics, but also the way the lyrics are presented to us. The cyclical nature of the lyrics match the cyclical nature of time.

The occasion of the poem seems to be one of solemn reflection, the speaking is looking back on what they consider better times, and doing so with a friend. The reflection fills not just Michael’s mind with a bittersweet feeling of loss and beauty, but our minds too, as Fleet Foxes poetic song bring us along for the experience.

Why QOTSA’s “Straight Jacket Fitting” belongs on our The Stranger playlist

On By Ben SIn Stranger

“Come for a fitting way of life,

It’s all the rage, enslaved, in style.”

The daunting *9* minute song opens with the above lyrics, shortly after the listener is thrust into a heavy, punchy riff. Initiating the motif hinted at in the title, the idea of being stuck in a straight jacket as a form of societal constraint immediately should be familiar to those who have read Albert Camus’ The Stranger.

The theme of Straight Jacket Fitting, while not confirmed by the band, is heavily implied to have to do with not fitting into a new world, one where you’re no longer accepted by social norms. An example of this comes in the song’s pre-chorus, where we hear how “the old world melts like a candle… A flickerin” out,” before the song crescendos into its chorus. While Meursault in The Stranger isn’t necessarily a victim of a changing world no longer accepting him, the idea of being told that you’re out of place in your own society would undoubtedly invoke similar reactions no matter what the context.

Straight Jacket Fitting is the capstone song for the In Times New Roman, and for good reason. Already have been an emotionally charged parade of songs, ITNR’s ending was perfect, with (lead singer) Josh Homme’s overflowing anger with his place in society being shown perfectly in Straight Jacket Fitting’s “Middle 8” (a section of the song, usually in the middle, that tends to be eight bars in length).

I feel that Straight Jacket Fitting, being this angry final entry fits perfectly into a playlist about Albert Camus’ The Stranger, because, throughout the story, Arthur Meursault exhibits very little emotion. This being a significant piece of his character, both being the first thing we notice about him and the driving point for much of the conflict in the story, one might disagree that such a song deserves a comparison. In response, however, I would point to near the end of Part 2 in The Stranger, the scene where Meursault is poked and prodded by the Chaplin until he flies into a fit of rage, grabbing the Chaplin’s collar, and insulting him.

This sudden rush of emotion is mirrored in Straight Jacket Fitting, where, like Meursault, prior to this anger, there is a sad acceptance. Furthermore, during his rage, Meursault claims that he is more of a person than the Chaplin, because at least he is sure of his life and death. In insulting the Chaplin this was, Meursault was simultaneously insulting society, as in The Stranger, religion is used to represent society as a whole, with examples of this being the Magistrate and the Chaplin.

At the height of their stories, at their respective climaxes, both Meursault and John Homme are furious with the way society has framed them as outcasts, and while Meursault was seemingly only expressing this emotion for a moment, throughout the story he has reflected on what he would change with society if he could, hinting at a larger agitation.

Where the story and the song diverge in their meanings though is in their endings. Where Meursault realizes how death is inevitable, and accepts his death with peace. He doesn’t accept the straight jacket, he doesn’t change himself to meet societies expectations, and dies because of it. Straight Jacket Fitting ends with a line accepting society, its straight jacket-like constraints, and the authority the world has over us.

In the last line of his song, John Homme highlights the binary between the “normal” in society, and the “others,” and how those others are doomed to their oppression:

“Good dogs lay down”

How Abnesti Exerts Control Through Language in “Escape From Spiderhead”

On By Ben SIn Short Stories1 Comment

Our introduction into the world of Escape From Spiderhead is framed as a question: “‘Drip On?’ Abnesti said over the P.A.” After giving a verbal go-ahead to Abnesti, our narrator is introduced to two drugs, the first affecting the way he perceives his garden setting, and the second being Verbulance, a drug the narrator is familiar with.

Verbulance is framed by Abnesti, the head scientist at Spiderhead, as necessary for gathering more information, more data, about the studies being conducted.

It becomes clear early in Escape From Spiderhead that the narrator, Jeff, has no issue expressing himself verbally, this being shown first when he storms into the Spiderhead to correct his suspicions about nearly being Darkenfloxx-ed. While Abnesti tells Jeff to leave, and makes threatening remarks to him, Jeff from this point on is very keen to speak his mind, without any Verbulance, much to the chagrin of Abnesti. So if these characters are capable of free and complex communication on their own, why are they having their communication increased artificially?

In reality, Verbulance isn’t only necessary for science. The drug is another way language and communication is used to enforce the power dynamics seen in the story.

The fact that the ability to freely communicate can be given to subjects as much as it can be taken away highlights the loss of authority, and importantly the lack of authenticity in a character’s words.

If someone you know, who had a generally negative opinion of you (as Abnesti would have over his criminal-origin test subjects), was given the ability to regulate your ability to communicate, you would likely not speak out against this individual, since the threat of losing your words is in most cases worse than something you might want to protest.

This is the case in Escape From Spiderhead, where it seems fruitless to Jeff and Rachel, who had just fallen deeply in love, to try and protest that love being taken away.

It’s also important to highlight language for the purposes of consent, in the story. As seen in the opening line, and expanded on later in the story, Abnesti is required to ask for verbal consent from the subjects of the experiments before administering mind-altering drugs. This gives the appearance of more autonomy, more power, for our narrator, but it’s revealed to the reader that this verbal consent isn’t actually required, since Abnesti can just sign a waiver and use an obedience drug to make Jeff do whatever he wants.

Abnesti views Jeff and the other subjects as two things, lab rats, and criminals. He has, in his mind, stripped the subjects of his experiment of humanity, enough to the point where he gets to control what they “consent” to and what the don’t.

While it is made clear from the first line that Abnesti is the one in control, it is developed throughout Escape From Spiderhead that he doesn’t just control through fear of Darkenfloxx, he also controls heavily through the manipulation of one’s ability to communicate, and the threat of taking that ability away.