Wednesday, September 26, 2012

Julius Caesar week 1 thought question 6

When in conference with Casca and Brutus, Cassius is informed that during the procession, Caesar fell to the ground foaming at the mouth.  When Brutus asserts that Caesar "hath the falling sickness"
(meaning he is prone to seizures) Cassius says, "No, Caesar hath it not, but you and I, and honest Casca, we have the falling sickness."  While this may refer to Caesar reflecting the rest of Rome,
for my part all I can say is, "I know not what he means by this."

Antony and Julius-week 1 thought question 3

Right from the beginning of the play, we see a strong mentor-student like friendship between Antonius and Caesar that was formed between them during the Gallic Wars.  Caesar holds a deep respect for Antonius as a consultant, asking him to "come on my right side and tell me truly what thou think'st of him." (the him being Cassius)  and Antonius shows his deep respect for Caesar by offering him a coronet during the procession.

Tuesday, September 18, 2012

Lesson 4 Thought Question 6 and Mirror of All Christian Kings?

After the battle of Agincourt, in a conference with the king of France, queen Isabella, the duke of burgundy and princess Katherine,  King Henry Says that the only way for France to recover its former peace is "...with full accord to all our just demands..."  but behind these words and other ones there lies a threat of further attacks on France and the imminent destruction of it.

For example, when Henry says to Katherine, "no, it is not possible that you should love the enemy of France, But in loving me you would love the friend of France, for i love France so much that i will not part with a single village of it. I will have it all mine..."  there is an underlying threat to that statement as if to threaten that if Henry cannot own France by marrying Katherine, he will not hesitate to revert to more brutal and military ways of obtaining France. 

These exchanges are some of the instances in which Henry's title of "the mirror of all Christian Kings" is called into question,  and if we look back at the play,  Starting a war simply to maintain the churches political power,  having defeated prisoners of the battlefield slaughtered, and basically bullying the King of France and Princess Katherine into letting him marry Katherine with the base goal of obtaining France, not true love, hardly seem the actions of a mirror as in role model for all Christian kings, but rather a mirror as in the opposite of a Christian king!