1 00:00:20,880 --> 00:00:24,860 Assalamualaikum again nice to have you here 2 00:00:24,860 --> 00:00:29,600 despite the rain and the thunderstorm outside We 3 00:00:29,600 --> 00:00:33,820 continue our journey into Shakespeare and 4 00:00:33,820 --> 00:00:38,320 Shakespeare's world. Last time we had a discussion 5 00:00:38,320 --> 00:00:43,620 about some Shakespearean ideas. We mentioned how 6 00:00:43,620 --> 00:00:46,640 Shakespeare, for example, wants to be careful when 7 00:00:46,640 --> 00:00:50,520 he depicts the English kings. He doesn't want to 8 00:00:50,520 --> 00:00:54,340 offend them. He doesn't want to be punished in a 9 00:00:54,340 --> 00:00:57,200 way or another like many people were punished at 10 00:00:57,200 --> 00:00:59,420 that time. However, that's not the whole story 11 00:00:59,420 --> 00:01:01,780 because sometimes Shakespeare implicitly, 12 00:01:02,540 --> 00:01:05,700 indirectly, he criticizes kings. He presents them 13 00:01:05,700 --> 00:01:09,740 as weak, as sometimes as strong, sometimes as 14 00:01:09,740 --> 00:01:12,020 weak, sometimes as clever, sometimes as not so 15 00:01:12,020 --> 00:01:15,160 clever, sometimes as villains, sometimes as evil. 16 00:01:15,870 --> 00:01:19,130 In a way, he presents the king to us as human 17 00:01:19,130 --> 00:01:22,650 beings with flaws, with weaknesses, and also with 18 00:01:22,650 --> 00:01:29,510 strengths. The king is no longer the figure, the 19 00:01:29,510 --> 00:01:32,350 godlike figure to be feared. Shakespeare changed 20 00:01:32,350 --> 00:01:37,530 this image and introduced us to someone who, a 21 00:01:37,530 --> 00:01:40,910 person, a king who is a person like us, who has, 22 00:01:41,090 --> 00:01:45,190 again, flaws, hopes, wishes, and fears. Let's see, 23 00:01:45,790 --> 00:01:48,470 before we begin today, talking about Shakespeare 24 00:01:48,470 --> 00:01:53,310 tragedies and some of his comedies, let's see two 25 00:01:53,310 --> 00:01:57,110 students here performing something from 26 00:01:57,110 --> 00:01:58,090 Shakespeare. 27 00:02:00,230 --> 00:02:01,810 Yeah, yeah, please. 28 00:02:05,550 --> 00:02:09,250 All the walls are staged, and all the men and 29 00:02:09,250 --> 00:02:13,410 women merely players. They have their exits and 30 00:02:13,410 --> 00:02:16,880 their entrances. And one man his time plays many 31 00:02:16,880 --> 00:02:22,100 parts, his acts being seven ages. At first, the 32 00:02:22,100 --> 00:02:25,760 infant, mewling and puking in the nurse's arms. 33 00:02:26,460 --> 00:02:30,720 And then, the whiny schoolboy, with his statues 34 00:02:30,720 --> 00:02:34,560 and shiny morning face, creeping like a snail, 35 00:02:35,420 --> 00:02:39,220 unwillingly to school. And then, the lover, 36 00:02:40,040 --> 00:02:43,200 signing like fairness, with a wolf of paddock made 37 00:02:43,200 --> 00:02:47,720 to his Mistress's eyeglass. And then the soldier, 38 00:02:48,480 --> 00:02:52,420 full of strange oaths and bearded like the bard, 39 00:02:53,120 --> 00:02:55,460 jealous and honored, sudden and quick and curled, 40 00:02:55,940 --> 00:02:59,720 seeking the bubble, reputation, even in the cone 41 00:02:59,720 --> 00:03:05,180 of his mouth. And then the justice. In fair and 42 00:03:05,180 --> 00:03:08,580 billy with good cable lines, with eyes severe and 43 00:03:08,580 --> 00:03:11,600 beard of formal cut, full of wise souls and modern 44 00:03:11,600 --> 00:03:16,390 instances. And so he plays his part. The sixth age 45 00:03:16,390 --> 00:03:19,790 shifts into the lean and slippery pantaloon with 46 00:03:19,790 --> 00:03:23,390 spectacles on nose and pouch on side. His youthful 47 00:03:23,390 --> 00:03:25,890 holes will save the world too wild for his 48 00:03:25,890 --> 00:03:31,090 charming child. And his big manly voice turning 49 00:03:31,090 --> 00:03:34,650 again towards childish children pipes and whistles 50 00:03:34,650 --> 00:03:40,870 in his sound. Last scene of all, the end that ends 51 00:03:40,870 --> 00:03:46,500 this Strange, eventfully history, in sound 52 00:03:46,500 --> 00:03:52,440 childishness and mere oblivion. Sense teeth, sense 53 00:03:52,440 --> 00:03:56,460 eyes, sense taste, sense everything. 54 00:03:59,810 --> 00:04:03,850 Very good. I love this dissertation of all the 55 00:04:03,850 --> 00:04:06,150 world's stage. We mentioned this probably briefly 56 00:04:06,150 --> 00:04:08,070 before but Shakespeare was one of the most 57 00:04:08,070 --> 00:04:14,310 important poets and playwrights to present life as 58 00:04:14,310 --> 00:04:18,120 a stage. So this is all the world's stage. The 59 00:04:18,120 --> 00:04:21,500 whole world is a stage. And in Macbeth, we'll see 60 00:04:21,500 --> 00:04:25,680 how he talks about life being a tale told by an 61 00:04:25,680 --> 00:04:29,860 idiot. So very good. Probably you can do something 62 00:04:29,860 --> 00:04:33,420 like this, the rest of you. We have one more 63 00:04:33,420 --> 00:04:40,820 reading of For God's Sake. Go on. Do you want to 64 00:04:40,820 --> 00:04:46,380 stand on the chair? OK. For God's sake. Can you 65 00:04:46,380 --> 00:04:49,420 speak up? For God's sake, let us sit upon the 66 00:04:49,420 --> 00:04:52,460 ground until sad stories of the different kings, 67 00:04:53,140 --> 00:04:55,960 how some have been deposed, some slain in war, 68 00:04:56,540 --> 00:04:59,880 some hunted by the ghosts they have deposed, some 69 00:04:59,880 --> 00:05:04,040 poisoned by their wives, some sleeping killed or 70 00:05:04,040 --> 00:05:09,320 murdered. That's for within the hollow crown that 71 00:05:09,320 --> 00:05:13,140 rounds the mortal temples of a king, keeps dead 72 00:05:13,140 --> 00:05:17,880 his court. And their auntie said, scuffing his 73 00:05:17,880 --> 00:05:21,920 state and greening at his palm, allowing him to 74 00:05:21,920 --> 00:05:26,560 breathe, a little seen, to moralize, to be free, 75 00:05:26,920 --> 00:05:32,020 brave, and kill with lux, infusing him with self 76 00:05:32,020 --> 00:05:37,720 and vain conceit. As if this flesh, which walls 77 00:05:37,720 --> 00:05:42,200 about our life, we embrace impregnable and humored 78 00:05:42,200 --> 00:05:46,440 thus. Comes at the last and with a little pain. 79 00:05:47,480 --> 00:05:51,660 Bros throw his castle, castle wall, and for will 80 00:05:51,660 --> 00:05:56,280 kings and very well king. Cover your heads and 81 00:05:56,280 --> 00:06:00,620 mock not flesh and blood with solemn reverence. 82 00:06:01,540 --> 00:06:05,140 Throw away respect, tradition, firm and 83 00:06:05,140 --> 00:06:10,210 ceremonies, duty. For you have ought to stop me 84 00:06:10,210 --> 00:06:14,350 all this while. I love good friend like you. Feel 85 00:06:14,350 --> 00:06:18,750 want, taste free, need friends, subjective 86 00:06:18,750 --> 00:06:24,660 thoughts. How can you say to Very good. Very 87 00:06:24,660 --> 00:06:26,780 beautiful. Thank you. No, I'll keep it. Thank you. 88 00:06:26,940 --> 00:06:31,000 So again, we have this king portrayed by 89 00:06:31,000 --> 00:06:35,080 Shakespeare as weak, someone begging people to sit 90 00:06:35,080 --> 00:06:37,020 up on the ground and tell sad stories of the death 91 00:06:37,020 --> 00:06:39,840 of kings. We said that this is one of the kings 92 00:06:39,840 --> 00:06:42,900 that Shakespeare presents as maybe humble, maybe 93 00:06:42,900 --> 00:06:46,720 honest, maybe modest in a way. But remember when 94 00:06:46,720 --> 00:06:50,320 we discussed the text, the portrait itself, We 95 00:06:50,320 --> 00:06:54,420 said there could be something hiding behind where 96 00:06:54,420 --> 00:06:57,940 the king is not genuine, is not truthful in his 97 00:06:57,940 --> 00:07:01,160 begging because the language reveals someone who 98 00:07:01,160 --> 00:07:04,800 is still arrogant, someone who is still a king, 99 00:07:05,020 --> 00:07:07,100 someone who's distancing himself from the people, 100 00:07:07,220 --> 00:07:11,440 someone pointing the finger of accusation at the 101 00:07:11,440 --> 00:07:13,900 people themselves rather than at his own 102 00:07:13,900 --> 00:07:16,820 shortcomings. We have one more recitation. Come 103 00:07:16,820 --> 00:07:23,380 here please. For God's sake, go on. On your 104 00:07:23,380 --> 00:07:30,920 mobile, okay. Can you speak up? For God's sake, 105 00:07:31,620 --> 00:07:36,500 let us sit upon the ground and tell sad stories of 106 00:07:36,500 --> 00:07:40,460 the death of kings, how some have been exposed, 107 00:07:41,200 --> 00:07:45,060 some slain more. Some hunted by the ghosts they 108 00:07:45,060 --> 00:07:50,000 have deposed. Some poisoned by their wives. Some 109 00:07:50,000 --> 00:07:53,780 sleeping count. All murders for within the whole 110 00:07:53,780 --> 00:07:59,960 crown that round the mortal temples of a king. 111 00:08:00,880 --> 00:08:06,420 Keep this his court and the antique sites. 112 00:08:07,540 --> 00:08:12,900 Scoffing his state and grinning and running at his 113 00:08:12,900 --> 00:08:17,220 palm, allowing him a breath, a little sense, to 114 00:08:17,220 --> 00:08:21,600 marchize, be afraid, and kill with locks, infusing 115 00:08:21,600 --> 00:08:27,320 hell with self and vain consent, as if this flesh 116 00:08:27,320 --> 00:08:30,880 which walls about our life were breath, 117 00:08:32,000 --> 00:08:37,800 impregnable, and hammered thus, comes at the last 118 00:08:37,800 --> 00:08:42,050 of with a little pen, Portray through his castle, 119 00:08:42,550 --> 00:08:46,830 wall, and frail-willed king. Cover your head and 120 00:08:46,830 --> 00:08:50,810 muck nutty flesh and blood with salmon reverence. 121 00:08:51,210 --> 00:08:54,770 Throw away respect, tradition, throne, and 122 00:08:54,770 --> 00:08:59,270 salmon's beauty. For you have but mistook me all 123 00:08:59,270 --> 00:09:03,010 this while. I live with a pride like you. Feel 124 00:09:03,010 --> 00:09:06,970 want. Taste grief. Need a friend subjected thus. 125 00:09:07,210 --> 00:09:11,900 How can you say to me I am a king? Thank you, 126 00:09:12,600 --> 00:09:15,620 really thank you. So we go back to Shakespeare 127 00:09:15,620 --> 00:09:19,700 today in class three. Remember we spoke about 128 00:09:19,700 --> 00:09:23,280 Shakespeare and his tragedies and comedies and 129 00:09:23,280 --> 00:09:28,400 hysteries. Generally again, a tragedy is a play in 130 00:09:28,400 --> 00:09:31,220 which the main character or major characters die 131 00:09:31,220 --> 00:09:34,220 at the end. The themes are serious themes of 132 00:09:34,220 --> 00:09:39,170 death, of destruction, of hope, of ambition. And 133 00:09:39,170 --> 00:09:42,790 the comedies, on the other hand, are plays where 134 00:09:42,790 --> 00:09:47,510 nobody dies. And then they live happily ever 135 00:09:47,510 --> 00:09:51,810 after. However, it doesn't mean the comedies are 136 00:09:51,810 --> 00:09:54,730 less important than the tragedies. Because the 137 00:09:54,730 --> 00:09:58,350 themes entered in comedies too can also be about 138 00:09:58,350 --> 00:10:02,510 love, about death, about power, about jealousy, 139 00:10:02,710 --> 00:10:05,450 about important themes, about identity, especially 140 00:10:05,450 --> 00:10:10,840 mistaken. identity. So sometimes Shakespeare would 141 00:10:10,840 --> 00:10:14,100 use a comedy because comedy generally makes people 142 00:10:14,100 --> 00:10:17,760 laugh at their own shortcomings with no one 143 00:10:17,760 --> 00:10:23,860 bleeding or getting hurt during the like really 144 00:10:23,860 --> 00:10:25,580 seriously getting hurt because sometimes there 145 00:10:25,580 --> 00:10:29,460 could be some chaos in the play but then things go 146 00:10:29,460 --> 00:10:34,780 back to normal. Shakespeare's four great tragedies 147 00:10:34,780 --> 00:10:38,700 are Hamlet, we already mentioned Hamlet, King 148 00:10:38,700 --> 00:10:43,200 Lear, Othello, and Macbeth. They're called the 149 00:10:43,200 --> 00:10:45,600 four great tragedies because they're the most 150 00:10:45,600 --> 00:10:50,380 famous of all tragedies. Now, the themes again are 151 00:10:50,380 --> 00:10:54,380 about identity, asking what it means to be a man, 152 00:10:54,480 --> 00:10:56,640 what it means to be a king, what it means to be a 153 00:10:56,640 --> 00:11:01,600 human being, questions about jealousy, family, 154 00:11:01,800 --> 00:11:06,900 ambition, and revenge. I can't basically say, for 155 00:11:06,900 --> 00:11:09,020 example, Hamlet is about revenge, because Hamlet 156 00:11:09,020 --> 00:11:13,000 is about many things, but revenge is there. The 157 00:11:13,000 --> 00:11:14,940 same with Othello. There is jealousy, but there's 158 00:11:14,940 --> 00:11:17,860 also revenge, and there's also racism, and there's 159 00:11:17,860 --> 00:11:21,680 also a family here. King Lear is family and 160 00:11:21,680 --> 00:11:25,680 revenge and many things about identity. So these 161 00:11:25,680 --> 00:11:29,600 issues that the tragedies discuss in Shakespeare 162 00:11:29,600 --> 00:11:34,250 are serious themes. are very important themes, 163 00:11:34,330 --> 00:11:37,010 usually including the king and the queen and the 164 00:11:37,010 --> 00:11:38,770 royal family. 165 00:11:41,190 --> 00:11:44,590 When we speak about the tragedies, we also speak 166 00:11:44,590 --> 00:11:49,490 about how in the play, man, the character, the 167 00:11:49,490 --> 00:11:52,090 king or the prince usually tries to go beyond the 168 00:11:52,090 --> 00:11:53,750 limits of what it means to be a human being. 169 00:11:54,150 --> 00:11:56,490 Remember when we spoke about Renaissance, we said 170 00:11:56,490 --> 00:11:57,350 in the Renaissance, 171 00:12:00,610 --> 00:12:03,030 The issue of what it means to be a man, humanism, 172 00:12:03,690 --> 00:12:07,390 was something important. And this is what it means 173 00:12:07,390 --> 00:12:10,430 to be a man. Nobody can, by the way, answer this, 174 00:12:10,550 --> 00:12:12,750 give a satisfactory answer to this question. 175 00:12:13,070 --> 00:12:16,050 Shakespeare asks this question so many times. Now 176 00:12:16,050 --> 00:12:21,110 in these plays, man tries to go beyond, not to be 177 00:12:21,110 --> 00:12:27,430 a human being, but to be a superman. And because 178 00:12:27,430 --> 00:12:30,430 man is not perfect, is anybody perfect here? Is 179 00:12:30,430 --> 00:12:34,450 anybody perfect there? No. For example, Macbeth 180 00:12:34,450 --> 00:12:37,710 kills the king so he can be the good king, right? 181 00:12:38,210 --> 00:12:42,610 Or Hamlet's uncle. But everybody fails because no 182 00:12:42,610 --> 00:12:46,190 one is perfect. Nobody succeeds in going beyond 183 00:12:46,190 --> 00:12:50,690 the limits of a human being. So mankind itself is 184 00:12:50,690 --> 00:12:57,510 not perfect. So what happens? Failure. Failure. In 185 00:12:57,510 --> 00:12:59,950 Macbeth, for example, in brief, I don't want to go 186 00:12:59,950 --> 00:13:04,770 in much detail here. Shakespeare's Macbeth is a 187 00:13:04,770 --> 00:13:10,650 play in which three witches, three witches like 188 00:13:10,650 --> 00:13:14,310 magicians or wizards come face to face with 189 00:13:14,310 --> 00:13:19,150 Macbeth and tell him three prophecies. They tell 190 00:13:19,150 --> 00:13:25,070 him the future. From these prophecies, Macbeth is 191 00:13:25,070 --> 00:13:28,490 told that he is going to be a king. He's not a 192 00:13:28,490 --> 00:13:32,690 king now. He's not a king. He will be a king. What 193 00:13:32,690 --> 00:13:34,770 does he do? He tells his wife, Lady Macbeth, he 194 00:13:34,770 --> 00:13:37,330 goes back and then, maybe I should kill the king. 195 00:13:37,690 --> 00:13:40,650 His wife was like, yeah, kill the king. And he 196 00:13:40,650 --> 00:13:45,750 kills the king. Now, does it end there? Again, 197 00:13:45,850 --> 00:13:48,590 remember how serious it is to hurt the king, to 198 00:13:48,590 --> 00:13:50,830 question the king, to kill the king at that time. 199 00:13:51,530 --> 00:13:53,850 He kills the king and everything goes upside down. 200 00:13:54,500 --> 00:13:57,320 And the king, he kills more people and more 201 00:13:57,320 --> 00:14:02,300 people, even his friends, even his kids and women 202 00:14:02,300 --> 00:14:06,240 are slaughtered because of Macbeth. Now, Macbeth, 203 00:14:06,740 --> 00:14:09,780 at some time, is told that his wife, Lady Macbeth, 204 00:14:09,820 --> 00:14:13,300 who supported him, dies. But he is at a moment 205 00:14:13,300 --> 00:14:17,920 when he has given up on life. He is just hopeless. 206 00:14:19,180 --> 00:14:23,880 Yes, he wants power. He's ambitious. But when his 207 00:14:23,880 --> 00:14:27,380 wife dies, he doesn't care that much. Maybe 208 00:14:27,380 --> 00:14:29,780 because, again, he has given up on hope. Or maybe 209 00:14:29,780 --> 00:14:34,380 because she pushed him to do this murder. And we 210 00:14:34,380 --> 00:14:39,780 come to this amazing part from Macbeth, when he 211 00:14:39,780 --> 00:14:42,800 again realizes that all his murders, all his 212 00:14:42,800 --> 00:14:45,980 crimes were useless. They're not going to make him 213 00:14:45,980 --> 00:14:51,490 a superman. And that's tomorrow and tomorrow and 214 00:14:51,490 --> 00:14:55,110 tomorrow. Very famous quote from Akbar. Creeps in 215 00:14:55,110 --> 00:14:57,370 this petty pace from day to day to the last 216 00:14:57,370 --> 00:15:00,930 syllable of recorded time out, out brief candle. 217 00:15:01,790 --> 00:15:04,210 Even light, even a candle, even the light of a 218 00:15:04,210 --> 00:15:06,990 candle is now something negative for him because 219 00:15:06,990 --> 00:15:09,730 he wants to live in darkness. Because he brought 220 00:15:09,730 --> 00:15:12,630 darkness upon himself. Because he killed the king 221 00:15:12,630 --> 00:15:17,050 and he destroyed the harmony. in the world. Out, 222 00:15:17,150 --> 00:15:20,390 out, brief candle. Life's but a walking shadow. 223 00:15:20,530 --> 00:15:23,390 Remember just now we said Shakespeare uses the 224 00:15:23,390 --> 00:15:26,770 metaphor of life as a stage? All the world's a 225 00:15:26,770 --> 00:15:29,670 stage. And here, life is a shadow. What's life? 226 00:15:29,930 --> 00:15:33,790 What's man? What do we want? It's a shadow. You 227 00:15:33,790 --> 00:15:37,170 kill and kill and kill and you lose people. But 228 00:15:37,170 --> 00:15:42,230 what do you achieve? Nothing. Except the cold 229 00:15:42,230 --> 00:15:46,680 grave. Lives but a walking shadow, a poor player. 230 00:15:46,740 --> 00:15:50,080 We go back to the metaphor of the stage. Poor 231 00:15:50,080 --> 00:15:53,840 player means... What does player mean here in this 232 00:15:53,840 --> 00:15:59,680 context? Exactly, an actor. Not a football player. 233 00:16:00,140 --> 00:16:04,720 It means an actor here. A poor player that struts 234 00:16:04,720 --> 00:16:07,360 and frets his hour up on the stage, going back to 235 00:16:07,360 --> 00:16:09,700 the stage. So how long do we live? It's only one 236 00:16:09,700 --> 00:16:12,840 hour. No matter what you do, how powerful, how 237 00:16:12,840 --> 00:16:17,580 strong, no matter how many crimes you commit, it's 238 00:16:17,580 --> 00:16:22,960 all one hour. That's life. That's life upon the 239 00:16:22,960 --> 00:16:26,100 stage. And then Nizhad, no more. It's a tale. It's 240 00:16:26,100 --> 00:16:29,700 a story. Tale. Again, a tale. Who's the narrator 241 00:16:29,700 --> 00:16:35,370 of the tale? An idiot. Imagine a story told to you 242 00:16:35,370 --> 00:16:38,410 by a crazy person, an insane person. Is it going 243 00:16:38,410 --> 00:16:40,690 to be? Probably you wouldn't believe it. Probably 244 00:16:40,690 --> 00:16:44,450 you're going to just be shocked, confused because 245 00:16:44,450 --> 00:16:47,070 things are not connected, are not related because 246 00:16:47,070 --> 00:16:50,570 the storyteller is incoherent, doesn't understand. 247 00:16:51,840 --> 00:16:57,200 told by an idiot full of sound and fury signifying 248 00:16:57,200 --> 00:17:00,560 nothing. What does it mean? Nothing. You kill and 249 00:17:00,560 --> 00:17:03,380 you kill and kill. And at the end of the day, you 250 00:17:03,380 --> 00:17:05,400 don't achieve anything. And this is, again, a 251 00:17:05,400 --> 00:17:08,060 concern by Shakespeare at that time. People were 252 00:17:08,060 --> 00:17:10,980 asking these questions. What does it mean to be a 253 00:17:10,980 --> 00:17:14,080 man? What does it mean to go beyond the limit of 254 00:17:14,080 --> 00:17:20,080 man? It means nothing. Because it's a tale told by 255 00:17:20,080 --> 00:17:24,970 an idiot. because we have a poor player that 256 00:17:24,970 --> 00:17:28,630 spends one hour and then is heard no more. You've 257 00:17:28,630 --> 00:17:33,430 gone forever. Okay, beautiful story, beautiful 258 00:17:33,430 --> 00:17:35,930 play, Macbeth, one of the most beautifully written 259 00:17:35,930 --> 00:17:38,550 plays by Shakespeare. Probably you can go to 260 00:17:38,550 --> 00:17:42,110 YouTube and watch some productions of this. I'll 261 00:17:42,110 --> 00:17:45,370 leave the story here. I'm not going to spoil it 262 00:17:45,370 --> 00:17:45,830 for you. 263 00:17:48,660 --> 00:17:52,260 Now, generally, what happens in tragedies at the 264 00:17:52,260 --> 00:17:57,640 end is again death and destruction and chaos. So 265 00:17:57,640 --> 00:17:59,660 what does it mean here? It means that there is 266 00:17:59,660 --> 00:18:05,900 darkness, there's pessimism, there's hopelessness 267 00:18:05,900 --> 00:18:09,020 and helplessness, there's despair, there's 268 00:18:09,020 --> 00:18:12,500 sadness. Now, generally, even in tragedy, 269 00:18:13,040 --> 00:18:15,480 Shakespeare gives us some hope for the future. 270 00:18:17,060 --> 00:18:19,860 Remember Hamlet? How many people died in Hamlet? 271 00:18:20,780 --> 00:18:28,220 Almost everyone. Except his friend, Horatio, to 272 00:18:28,220 --> 00:18:30,940 tell the story. Remember? Shakespeare loves 273 00:18:30,940 --> 00:18:35,620 stories and storytelling. Horatio wanted to drink 274 00:18:35,620 --> 00:18:38,780 the poison. He said, no, don't tell my story. And 275 00:18:38,780 --> 00:18:41,720 then there is a new king. So even in tragedies 276 00:18:41,720 --> 00:18:45,850 where almost everybody dies, There is hope for the 277 00:18:45,850 --> 00:18:48,730 future. Someone to tell the story. Or there is 278 00:18:48,730 --> 00:18:51,770 usually a young person, a young king in 279 00:18:51,770 --> 00:18:55,170 particular, or young people. We have this in 280 00:18:55,170 --> 00:18:57,890 Macbeth, new king. We have this in Hamlet. We have 281 00:18:57,890 --> 00:19:00,630 this like in many other plays. However, there's 282 00:19:00,630 --> 00:19:07,430 one very dark, very bleak, very, very, very gloomy 283 00:19:07,430 --> 00:19:11,130 play by Shakespeare. One described by some critics 284 00:19:11,130 --> 00:19:16,460 as the most pessimistic, and the darkest. And this 285 00:19:16,460 --> 00:19:18,620 play is King Lear. 286 00:19:22,040 --> 00:19:24,620 There are many things to say here, but let's just 287 00:19:24,620 --> 00:19:28,500 focus on what we have to say in the book. King 288 00:19:28,500 --> 00:19:31,880 Lear, at the beginning of the play, he decides to 289 00:19:31,880 --> 00:19:34,200 give up his kingdom and his power to his 290 00:19:34,200 --> 00:19:37,790 daughters. But he says, OK, if you love me, Tell 291 00:19:37,790 --> 00:19:40,570 me how much you love me and I'll give you that 292 00:19:40,570 --> 00:19:44,890 much you share. And to the daughters, General and 293 00:19:44,890 --> 00:19:48,890 Reagan, they say we love you the most, more than 294 00:19:48,890 --> 00:19:52,170 the waves and the stars and bigger than the sea 295 00:19:52,170 --> 00:19:55,790 and the oceans and we love you because you are the 296 00:19:55,790 --> 00:20:00,640 best in the world. But Cordelia, the honest, He 297 00:20:00,640 --> 00:20:05,220 says the truth. He says, I love you as much as any 298 00:20:05,220 --> 00:20:08,120 ordinary daughter loves her father. You're good to 299 00:20:08,120 --> 00:20:13,400 me and I love you. And he was like, go. He disowns 300 00:20:13,400 --> 00:20:17,960 her. He kicks her out. Long story short, at the 301 00:20:17,960 --> 00:20:22,220 end of the play, fast forward, we have King Lear 302 00:20:22,220 --> 00:20:26,750 in one of the last scenes. with his misunderstood 303 00:20:26,750 --> 00:20:32,210 daughter Cordelia dead, lifeless in his arms. 304 00:20:33,890 --> 00:20:39,610 That's how it ends. When he realizes he has been a 305 00:20:39,610 --> 00:20:42,090 fool all along. Remember in the play there is a 306 00:20:42,090 --> 00:20:45,150 fool character, a gesture. He's wiser than the 307 00:20:45,150 --> 00:20:47,090 king. That's again Shakespeare trying to say that 308 00:20:47,090 --> 00:20:50,870 sometimes a fool can be better than, wiser, 309 00:20:51,390 --> 00:20:55,470 smarter than the king. And this is one of the last 310 00:20:55,470 --> 00:21:00,470 scenes, very heartbreaking, very sad in so many 311 00:21:00,470 --> 00:21:07,090 ways. No, no, no, no life. Why should a dog, a 312 00:21:07,090 --> 00:21:11,950 horse, a rat have life? And thou, no breath at 313 00:21:11,950 --> 00:21:17,570 all, thou will come no more. Never, never, never, 314 00:21:18,250 --> 00:21:18,730 never. 315 00:21:22,630 --> 00:21:27,190 Can someone read? Try to depict the sadness here, 316 00:21:27,270 --> 00:21:32,230 please. No, no, no life. Why should a dog, a 317 00:21:32,230 --> 00:21:35,810 horse, a rat have life? And dog, no brain at all. 318 00:21:36,170 --> 00:21:39,410 There's cow, no horn. Never, never, never, never, 319 00:21:39,550 --> 00:21:43,620 never. You forgot one never, I guess. You 320 00:21:43,620 --> 00:21:46,800 shouldn't be laughing. This is, this is sad. I 321 00:21:46,800 --> 00:21:49,480 shouldn't be cracking jokes even. Speak up, 322 00:21:49,580 --> 00:21:52,920 please. No, no, no. Like, why? Okay, no, no, no. 323 00:21:53,160 --> 00:21:56,480 Can we get the sadness and the frustration and the 324 00:21:56,480 --> 00:22:01,780 pessimism and the hopelessness? Like, no, no. No 325 00:22:01,780 --> 00:22:07,440 life. Why should a rat, why should a dog, a horse, 326 00:22:08,160 --> 00:22:12,360 a rat have life and thou no breath at all thou 327 00:22:12,360 --> 00:22:19,920 will come no more? Never, never, never, never. 328 00:22:23,320 --> 00:22:26,780 You shouldn't be laughing. I'm not gonna act it 329 00:22:26,780 --> 00:22:30,560 that good, but okay. Try. No, no, no life. Why 330 00:22:30,560 --> 00:22:35,020 should a dog, a horse, a rat have a life? And 331 00:22:35,020 --> 00:22:38,060 thou, and thou, no breath at all. Thou come no 332 00:22:38,060 --> 00:22:42,360 more. Never, never, never, never, never. Please. 333 00:22:44,120 --> 00:22:49,020 No, no, no life. Why should a dog, a horse, a rat 334 00:22:49,020 --> 00:22:53,650 have life? And thou, no breath at all. You forgot 335 00:22:53,650 --> 00:22:57,790 one never. 336 00:22:59,290 --> 00:23:04,880 You forgot two nevers? It's lesson. Now this is a 337 00:23:04,880 --> 00:23:07,460 king who committed a foolish mistake. Why would 338 00:23:07,460 --> 00:23:09,820 you give up your... Why wouldn't you understand if 339 00:23:09,820 --> 00:23:13,040 a king doesn't understand his daughters? In a way 340 00:23:13,040 --> 00:23:15,740 he deserves this but we feel sad, we feel sorry 341 00:23:15,740 --> 00:23:20,640 for him because again of the lifeless body of 342 00:23:20,640 --> 00:23:24,620 Cordelia. See the emphasis on no, no, no, never, 343 00:23:24,860 --> 00:23:30,180 never, never. How dark. Regression. The ending is 344 00:23:30,180 --> 00:23:35,120 very depressing, very sad. The pessimism is 345 00:23:35,120 --> 00:23:38,320 overwhelming there. Why should it unfair? Life is 346 00:23:38,320 --> 00:23:41,880 unfair because you, the king, you are unfair. You 347 00:23:41,880 --> 00:23:44,840 were unfair. You didn't treat your daughter 348 00:23:44,840 --> 00:23:49,700 justly. Again, what does thou mean? Thou? The. 349 00:23:50,140 --> 00:23:54,820 Thou? That. Thou means? You. Thou. Thou. What does 350 00:23:54,820 --> 00:24:00,380 it mean? You. That. Thou means you. Thou, here 351 00:24:00,380 --> 00:24:07,120 thou well. You well. So far we had thou in Middle 352 00:24:07,120 --> 00:24:13,240 English meaning you. And thee meaning also you but 353 00:24:13,240 --> 00:24:16,840 for object. So shall I compare thee to a summer's 354 00:24:16,840 --> 00:24:21,120 day? Shall I compare thee? And the second line 355 00:24:21,120 --> 00:24:26,030 says thou art, you are. You are. You are. Yes 356 00:24:26,030 --> 00:24:32,070 please. I can't understand. He said that I'll give 357 00:24:32,070 --> 00:24:36,110 you how much you love me and I'll give you an 358 00:24:36,110 --> 00:24:38,650 equal amount. She said that I love you like a 359 00:24:38,650 --> 00:24:41,430 normal daughter that loves her father. He should 360 00:24:41,430 --> 00:24:46,370 have gave her what he sees that is fair not to get 361 00:24:46,370 --> 00:24:50,600 her out. And now he's being punished? But the 362 00:24:50,600 --> 00:24:54,460 punishment is like when you take candy from 363 00:24:54,460 --> 00:24:56,800 somebody when you just don't give them extra 364 00:24:56,800 --> 00:24:59,930 marks. But this is the punishment he has, so 365 00:24:59,930 --> 00:25:03,810 heartbreaking, because it includes death. Now, 366 00:25:04,290 --> 00:25:07,850 when we move from King Lear to Othello, again, 367 00:25:07,970 --> 00:25:11,210 remember, King Lear is said to be one of the 368 00:25:11,210 --> 00:25:13,070 darkest, most pessimistic, because there's no 369 00:25:13,070 --> 00:25:17,290 hope. Everybody dies. Heartbreaking. Now, Othello, 370 00:25:17,430 --> 00:25:21,490 in brief, is one of the major black characters in 371 00:25:21,490 --> 00:25:23,750 Shakespeare. In all English literature, by the 372 00:25:23,750 --> 00:25:28,020 way. He isn't the first. Black. He's originally 373 00:25:28,020 --> 00:25:31,500 from Africa. And when we say he is a black 374 00:25:31,500 --> 00:25:37,040 character here, it brings issues of race. Listen, 375 00:25:37,140 --> 00:25:40,420 we believe wholeheartedly that all people are 376 00:25:40,420 --> 00:25:43,240 equal regardless of their color, of their origin, 377 00:25:43,400 --> 00:25:45,840 of their race, of anything. We treat people as 378 00:25:45,840 --> 00:25:50,610 human beings. The worst thing It's for anybody to 379 00:25:50,610 --> 00:25:52,950 be racist, to hate somebody, to dislike somebody 380 00:25:52,950 --> 00:25:55,550 because of their color, sometimes how they speak, 381 00:25:55,670 --> 00:26:00,510 where they are from, or their religion. And this 382 00:26:00,510 --> 00:26:03,990 is what literature teaches us. We learn about 383 00:26:03,990 --> 00:26:08,250 these experiences from literature. Now, Othello is 384 00:26:08,250 --> 00:26:11,110 a Christian. He becomes a Christian. And he's a 385 00:26:11,110 --> 00:26:15,350 leader in the army in Venice. And he marries the 386 00:26:15,350 --> 00:26:19,810 most beautiful white lady in Venice. He deserves 387 00:26:19,810 --> 00:26:22,570 this because he works hard for it. He's a strong 388 00:26:22,570 --> 00:26:27,490 fighter. But Iago, the villain, the antagonist, 389 00:26:27,590 --> 00:26:31,630 hates him mainly because of his color. And again, 390 00:26:31,730 --> 00:26:34,470 this is Shakespeare 400 years ago discussing 391 00:26:34,470 --> 00:26:35,530 racism. 392 00:26:37,510 --> 00:26:41,330 And because you treat somebody unfairly, unjustly, 393 00:26:41,490 --> 00:26:45,620 because of his color, We have one of the, again, 394 00:26:46,120 --> 00:26:50,400 really darkest tragedies of all. In Othello, 395 00:26:50,520 --> 00:26:53,320 again, harmony is lost. And that's why harmony, 396 00:26:53,440 --> 00:26:56,120 you know, because we should be treating each other 397 00:26:56,120 --> 00:27:00,940 equally. But because someone is mistreated only 398 00:27:00,940 --> 00:27:04,780 because of the color of his skin, and this causes 399 00:27:04,780 --> 00:27:09,540 a lot of destruction and death. He kills his wife, 400 00:27:09,900 --> 00:27:14,430 his Demona, Othello. Because he was jealous. 401 00:27:15,110 --> 00:27:18,950 Because Iago made him think that she was cheating 402 00:27:18,950 --> 00:27:22,370 on him. And then Iago kills his wife. And then 403 00:27:22,370 --> 00:27:25,490 he's killed himself. And then Othello dies at the 404 00:27:25,490 --> 00:27:29,750 end. So he says, chaos has come again. You know 405 00:27:29,750 --> 00:27:35,180 chaos? Chaos, destruction. It is said that there's 406 00:27:35,180 --> 00:27:36,900 the Big Bang theory. I'm not sure if you studied 407 00:27:36,900 --> 00:27:39,580 this in school, Big Bang theory, how the world 408 00:27:39,580 --> 00:27:42,600 created by a Big Bang. And before the Big Bang, 409 00:27:42,680 --> 00:27:46,260 there was chaos. There was nothing. And the theory 410 00:27:46,260 --> 00:27:49,280 says that the world is going to end in a Big Bang. 411 00:27:50,100 --> 00:27:54,920 So chaos has come again. Life has no meaning when 412 00:27:54,920 --> 00:27:58,420 someone is mistreated because of his religion or 413 00:27:58,420 --> 00:28:03,170 something. So why does Iago hate Othello? Because 414 00:28:03,170 --> 00:28:07,210 only because, yes, he took up the position, but he 415 00:28:07,210 --> 00:28:10,270 deserves it because he is a black man who married 416 00:28:10,270 --> 00:28:14,030 the white beautiful lady, Desdemona. And Iago is 417 00:28:14,030 --> 00:28:19,010 said to be the scariest character in Shakespeare. 418 00:28:22,330 --> 00:28:25,670 Now, we move from Othello to The Merchant of 419 00:28:25,670 --> 00:28:27,270 Venice. Now, listen, The Merchant of Venice is not 420 00:28:27,270 --> 00:28:30,520 a tragedy. I'll tell you in brief what it is 421 00:28:30,520 --> 00:28:33,680 about. But when I speak about Othello and speak 422 00:28:33,680 --> 00:28:36,500 about race, because Othello is an outsider, you 423 00:28:36,500 --> 00:28:40,120 know outsider? We speak about Europe, all white, 424 00:28:40,340 --> 00:28:44,240 all Christian, all European, right? Now Othello is 425 00:28:44,240 --> 00:28:47,460 an intruder, is an outsider. Now in the merchant 426 00:28:47,460 --> 00:28:52,120 of Venice, there is also an outsider and his name 427 00:28:52,120 --> 00:28:53,960 is Shylock. 428 00:28:56,150 --> 00:28:59,070 The Merchant of Venice. I'll briefly tell you what 429 00:28:59,070 --> 00:29:00,950 what goes on in The Merchant of Venice and 430 00:29:00,950 --> 00:29:03,210 probably read this and stop and comment next 431 00:29:03,210 --> 00:29:06,770 class. Now The Merchant of Venice is a story about 432 00:29:06,770 --> 00:29:11,090 Antonio and his friend Bassanio. Bassanio wants to 433 00:29:11,090 --> 00:29:15,020 marry Portia. Bassanio doesn't have the money. He 434 00:29:15,020 --> 00:29:17,740 goes to the merchant of Venice, Antonio, to give 435 00:29:17,740 --> 00:29:21,280 him money. But he doesn't have much money now 436 00:29:21,280 --> 00:29:25,240 because all his money is at sea doing, you know, 437 00:29:25,600 --> 00:29:29,780 abroad business and trade. So where does he go? 438 00:29:31,660 --> 00:29:36,730 Where does he go to lend, to borrow money? He goes 439 00:29:36,730 --> 00:29:41,730 to Shylock. Who's Shylock? A Jewish money lender, 440 00:29:42,010 --> 00:29:46,510 a Jewish guy, again an outsider. So there is also 441 00:29:46,510 --> 00:29:50,070 another issue, theme of humanity and race here. 442 00:29:51,280 --> 00:29:54,780 And then Shylock says okay okay Antonio you want 443 00:29:54,780 --> 00:29:58,500 me to give you money Antonio you always insult me 444 00:29:58,500 --> 00:30:02,500 you always spit on my face you always tell people 445 00:30:02,500 --> 00:30:06,120 not to take money from me Antonio now you want the 446 00:30:06,120 --> 00:30:09,100 money I will give you the money Antonio because I 447 00:30:09,100 --> 00:30:14,720 am good now Shylock is a money lender he gives you 448 00:30:14,720 --> 00:30:18,890 money and you return the money with extra this is 449 00:30:18,890 --> 00:30:22,670 called interest you know extra money when you 450 00:30:22,670 --> 00:30:27,650 borrow money from from like a bank now and he says 451 00:30:27,650 --> 00:30:31,130 okay let's sign a contract in the contract he says 452 00:30:31,130 --> 00:30:34,190 I want to give you the money if you don't pay it 453 00:30:34,190 --> 00:30:37,630 back in some time I think two months I will take a 454 00:30:37,630 --> 00:30:43,280 pound of flesh A pound of flesh, a piece of your 455 00:30:43,280 --> 00:30:47,180 body, of your flesh. Pound is like half a kilo. 456 00:30:48,080 --> 00:30:50,900 That's a lot, right? And then Anthony was like, 457 00:30:51,000 --> 00:30:53,840 what? He said, don't worry. This is Mary's fault. 458 00:30:53,940 --> 00:30:58,120 It's just for fun. It's just for fun. And then he 459 00:30:58,120 --> 00:31:04,200 signs. And then when the time comes, give me my 460 00:31:04,200 --> 00:31:06,800 money back. He says, my ships were destroyed. I 461 00:31:06,800 --> 00:31:11,930 lost all my money. Okay, give you my money. Let's 462 00:31:11,930 --> 00:31:13,910 go to court." And now everyone was like, Oh, 463 00:31:14,030 --> 00:31:17,070 Shiloh, you shouldn't wait for him. Forgive him, 464 00:31:17,210 --> 00:31:19,290 Shiloh. He said, why should I forgive him? He has 465 00:31:19,290 --> 00:31:22,930 always treated me like crap. He's always 466 00:31:22,930 --> 00:31:26,970 mistreated me. He insults me. He spits in me only 467 00:31:26,970 --> 00:31:30,850 because I am a Jew. And now that I have the right, 468 00:31:30,950 --> 00:31:35,610 the time to take revenge. Now he's saying no, and 469 00:31:35,610 --> 00:31:40,640 they go to the court. At this time, Bassanio and 470 00:31:40,640 --> 00:31:44,280 his wife Portia know about the story, and Portia 471 00:31:44,280 --> 00:31:47,760 dresses up as a man, as a lawyer. Remember, in 472 00:31:47,760 --> 00:31:50,480 Shakespeare, women were not allowed to be on 473 00:31:50,480 --> 00:31:56,460 stage. Only men. Because they didn't have a big 474 00:31:56,460 --> 00:31:59,380 role at that time. Women didn't have many rights. 475 00:32:00,160 --> 00:32:04,160 So who plays women characters? A man, a beardless 476 00:32:04,160 --> 00:32:07,390 man with a soft voice. So imagine this, how 477 00:32:07,390 --> 00:32:10,050 Shakespeare is doing this. So who's playing 478 00:32:10,050 --> 00:32:14,030 Portia? A man dressed up as Portia for the play. 479 00:32:15,030 --> 00:32:18,710 And now Portia dresses up as a man, as a lawyer. 480 00:32:18,730 --> 00:32:21,270 Not only a man, but a lawyer. Women were not 481 00:32:21,270 --> 00:32:23,910 allowed to be lawyers at that time, because many 482 00:32:23,910 --> 00:32:26,570 believed that women are less intelligent, less 483 00:32:26,570 --> 00:32:28,870 intellectual than men. And Shakespeare is changing 484 00:32:28,870 --> 00:32:32,870 this, is making fun of this concept. Because she 485 00:32:32,870 --> 00:32:36,450 comes to the court and she says, OK, wait. Oh, 486 00:32:36,790 --> 00:32:39,890 this contract is valid. It's correct. Is this your 487 00:32:39,890 --> 00:32:42,990 signature? Yeah. So yeah, give him the money. I 488 00:32:42,990 --> 00:32:45,430 don't have the money. And then she tries to beg 489 00:32:45,430 --> 00:32:48,910 Shylock. Shylock, please forgive him. We'll give 490 00:32:48,910 --> 00:32:50,750 you your money. He says, no, I'll give you double 491 00:32:50,750 --> 00:32:52,690 the amount, triple the amount. And Shylock says, 492 00:32:52,750 --> 00:32:57,630 no, I want a pound of flesh. She says, OK, go on, 493 00:32:57,930 --> 00:33:02,600 go on. And he starts sharpening the knife. And in 494 00:33:02,600 --> 00:33:07,340 a very ugly scene, he doesn't use probably a brick 495 00:33:07,340 --> 00:33:12,000 or the wall. He uses his shoe to sharpen the 496 00:33:12,000 --> 00:33:16,960 knife. Disgusting, ugly act of revenge. And when 497 00:33:16,960 --> 00:33:20,440 he approaches Anthony just to take probably from 498 00:33:20,440 --> 00:33:27,370 near his heart, Portia says, wait. Take the pound 499 00:33:27,370 --> 00:33:30,790 of flesh, not less, not more. And when you do, 500 00:33:31,230 --> 00:33:37,210 don't drop any blood, not even one tiny drop of 501 00:33:37,210 --> 00:33:41,850 blood. Is it possible? No, no. So he feels that, 502 00:33:42,070 --> 00:33:45,650 oh, I can't. And then he says, OK, OK, give me the 503 00:33:45,650 --> 00:33:48,270 triple amount. You just said no. Give me the 504 00:33:48,270 --> 00:33:50,870 double amount of money. He says no. OK, give me my 505 00:33:50,870 --> 00:33:55,400 money. You just said no. He says OK. God forgive 506 00:33:55,400 --> 00:33:57,660 you Anthony and peace be upon you. They say wait a 507 00:33:57,660 --> 00:34:02,600 minute, wait a minute, come back. In Venice, if 508 00:34:02,600 --> 00:34:06,380 someone, if an outsider tries to kill a Venetian, 509 00:34:07,400 --> 00:34:12,800 his money has to be taken away and he has to 510 00:34:12,800 --> 00:34:17,880 convert to Christianity. So at the end, Shylock, 511 00:34:17,880 --> 00:34:20,300 like earlier, lost his daughter. She became a 512 00:34:20,300 --> 00:34:23,240 Christian. Now he lost all his money. And of 513 00:34:23,240 --> 00:34:25,740 course the good white Christian Antonio says, 514 00:34:25,860 --> 00:34:29,690 okay, I don't want my half. take it back and he 515 00:34:29,690 --> 00:34:33,530 loses most of his money he loses his right to take 516 00:34:33,530 --> 00:34:37,610 revenge and he becomes a christian he is forced to 517 00:34:37,610 --> 00:34:40,490 become a christian but for portia bassani and 518 00:34:40,490 --> 00:34:44,370 antonio they live happily ever after now in the 519 00:34:44,370 --> 00:34:47,110 past this was considered a comedy because the 520 00:34:47,110 --> 00:34:51,290 european white people are victorious but is it a 521 00:34:51,290 --> 00:34:54,250 comedy for shylock no Is it a comedy of a child? 522 00:34:54,310 --> 00:34:58,250 It's not. He lost his daughter. He lost his 523 00:34:58,250 --> 00:35:00,790 religion. He lost most of his money. That's why 524 00:35:00,790 --> 00:35:05,330 now people consider this a dark comedy, tragic 525 00:35:05,330 --> 00:35:08,790 comedy, serious comedy, trouble comedy, whatever, 526 00:35:09,350 --> 00:35:13,350 because there are issues of race and anti-Semitism 527 00:35:13,350 --> 00:35:16,270 here. Now, in the middle of the play, when they 528 00:35:16,270 --> 00:35:19,770 were begging Shylock not to take the pound of 529 00:35:19,770 --> 00:35:23,380 flesh, He says this, one of the most beautiful 530 00:35:23,380 --> 00:35:27,720 things in Shakespeare. Maybe some of you can read 531 00:35:27,720 --> 00:35:30,680 it next time. They tell him, what do you want to 532 00:35:30,680 --> 00:35:33,480 do with a pound of flesh for God's sake? What do 533 00:35:33,480 --> 00:35:35,740 you want to do with the flesh? You can't eat it. 534 00:35:36,460 --> 00:35:38,020 And he says, I don't care. I want to feed it to 535 00:35:38,020 --> 00:35:41,890 the fish. I don't care. When he insulted me, when 536 00:35:41,890 --> 00:35:44,750 he spat on my face, when he told people not to 537 00:35:44,750 --> 00:35:47,010 take money from me, nobody interfered, nobody told 538 00:35:47,010 --> 00:35:49,550 him no. Don't do that, Antonio. Now that I have 539 00:35:49,550 --> 00:35:51,470 the chance to take revenge, you're telling me 540 00:35:51,470 --> 00:35:55,990 don't? So to bait fish with it, if it will feed 541 00:35:55,990 --> 00:36:01,080 nothing, it will feed my revenge. He hath 542 00:36:01,080 --> 00:36:03,360 disgraced me and hindered me half a million, 543 00:36:03,540 --> 00:36:06,580 laughed at my losses, mocked at my gains, scorned 544 00:36:06,580 --> 00:36:09,620 my nation, my nation because he's a Jew, thwarted 545 00:36:09,620 --> 00:36:12,300 my bargains, cooled my friends, heated my enemies. 546 00:36:12,680 --> 00:36:16,840 And what's his reason? I am a Jew. There's no 547 00:36:16,840 --> 00:36:19,240 reason. It's not because I'm bad. It's because of 548 00:36:19,240 --> 00:36:22,260 my religion. Like Othello, it's because of his I 549 00:36:22,260 --> 00:36:27,210 am a Jew. Hath not a Jew eyes. What's had? Has. 550 00:36:28,110 --> 00:36:31,010 Has not as you see how beautiful it is. Has not as 551 00:36:31,010 --> 00:36:35,150 you eyes. Has not as you hands, organs, 552 00:36:35,390 --> 00:36:39,270 dimensions, senses, affections, passions, fit with 553 00:36:39,270 --> 00:36:42,310 the same food, hurt with the same weapons, subject 554 00:36:42,310 --> 00:36:46,130 to the same diseases, healed by the same means, 555 00:36:46,390 --> 00:36:49,650 warmed and cooled by the same winter and summer. 556 00:36:49,910 --> 00:36:55,980 As a Christian, the answer is yes. The second 557 00:36:55,980 --> 00:37:01,000 part, if you prick us, if you injure us, do we not 558 00:37:01,000 --> 00:37:06,840 bleed? If you tickle us, do we not laugh? You tell 559 00:37:06,840 --> 00:37:10,320 jokes, crack jokes, do we not laugh? If you poison 560 00:37:10,320 --> 00:37:16,300 us, do we not die? We're humans. Again, shared 561 00:37:16,300 --> 00:37:20,160 humanity as a theme, Shakespeare. And if you wrong 562 00:37:20,160 --> 00:37:24,050 us, shall we not revenge? If we are like you in 563 00:37:24,050 --> 00:37:27,650 the rest, we will resemble you in that if a Jew 564 00:37:27,650 --> 00:37:29,910 wronged a Christian, what is the humility? 565 00:37:31,010 --> 00:37:33,710 Revenge. If a Christian wronged a Jew, what should 566 00:37:33,710 --> 00:37:36,810 his sufferance be by a Christian example? Why 567 00:37:36,810 --> 00:37:42,390 revenge? The villainy The villainy, you teach me, 568 00:37:42,570 --> 00:37:45,810 I will execute and execute, and it shall go hard, 569 00:37:46,250 --> 00:37:49,170 but I will better the instruction. I learned this 570 00:37:49,170 --> 00:37:53,030 bad deed, this bad deed. I learned this villainy 571 00:37:53,030 --> 00:37:57,610 from you, from Antonio. I will treat you the same. 572 00:37:58,150 --> 00:38:01,550 You made me the man I am. But I will better the 573 00:38:01,550 --> 00:38:05,190 instruction. I will better the instruction. 574 00:38:05,750 --> 00:38:09,050 Wonderful. Yes. In a way, many people accuse 575 00:38:09,050 --> 00:38:14,710 Shakespeare of being anti-Semitic. Did I write 576 00:38:14,710 --> 00:38:17,170 anti-Semitism here? Can you see the term, this 577 00:38:17,170 --> 00:38:22,710 term? Anti-Semitism. Semitic from Sam. The Jews 578 00:38:22,710 --> 00:38:26,790 and many Muslims are originally the son of Sam, 579 00:38:26,930 --> 00:38:31,870 son of Noah. So we are sematic, sematic, sematic, 580 00:38:31,930 --> 00:38:33,370 sematic, sematic, sematic, sematic, sematic, 581 00:38:33,370 --> 00:38:34,570 sematic, sematic, sematic, sematic, sematic, 582 00:38:34,710 --> 00:38:37,390 sematic, sematic, sematic, sematic, sematic, 583 00:38:37,410 --> 00:38:40,050 sematic, sematic, sematic, sematic, sematic, 584 00:38:40,050 --> 00:38:41,450 sematic, semiatic, semiatic, semiatic, semiatic, 585 00:38:41,450 --> 00:38:46,290 semiatic, semiatic, semiatic, semiatic, semiatic, 586 00:38:46,430 --> 00:38:49,230 semiatic, semiatic, semiatic, semiatic, semiatic, 587 00:38:49,230 --> 00:38:49,530 semiatic, semiatic, semiatic, semiatic, semiatic, 588 00:38:49,530 --> 00:38:49,870 semiatic, semiatic, semiatic, semiatic, semiatic, 589 00:38:49,870 --> 00:38:53,260 semiatic I would say many Jews support Israeli 590 00:38:53,260 --> 00:38:56,500 occupation and the disposition of Palestinians, 591 00:38:56,640 --> 00:39:01,340 but not all Jews are supportive of Israel. That's 592 00:39:01,340 --> 00:39:04,820 why we speak about the Zionist regime, the Zionist 593 00:39:04,820 --> 00:39:07,280 project, the Zionists, the Israelis. As 594 00:39:07,280 --> 00:39:13,660 Palestinians, we don't hate Jews because they are 595 00:39:13,660 --> 00:39:16,700 Jews. We hate those people because they occupy us, 596 00:39:16,800 --> 00:39:19,480 kill us, humiliate us, deprive us of our rights. 597 00:39:21,790 --> 00:39:24,650 Even if the occupiers of Palestine are Muslims, we 598 00:39:24,650 --> 00:39:28,570 will fight them and resist them the same. So it's 599 00:39:28,570 --> 00:39:30,450 not a matter of Jews and Muslims. This is not a 600 00:39:30,450 --> 00:39:34,050 war between Jews and Muslims. It's, again, a 601 00:39:34,050 --> 00:39:36,930 legitimate fight. Palestinians occupied, 602 00:39:37,390 --> 00:39:39,930 oppressed, colonized against the colonizers who 603 00:39:39,930 --> 00:39:44,730 happen to be Jews. Okay? So in this play, is 604 00:39:44,730 --> 00:39:49,730 Shakespeare depicting Shylock as evil? As ugly? 605 00:39:49,850 --> 00:39:51,710 Probably yes. Some people say yes. Some people 606 00:39:51,710 --> 00:39:55,930 hate Shakespeare because he is anti-semitic. Or he 607 00:39:55,930 --> 00:39:59,130 is anti-feminist. Remember feminism? Feminism? 608 00:39:59,810 --> 00:40:03,190 Anti-feminist. Or because he's a racist. But some 609 00:40:03,190 --> 00:40:06,170 critics say no, no, no, no. Shakespeare wasn't 610 00:40:06,170 --> 00:40:10,330 being racist or anti-semitic. Or anti-feminist. He 611 00:40:10,330 --> 00:40:14,270 was reflecting a society that was racist, anti 612 00:40:14,270 --> 00:40:18,450 -feminist, and probably anti-semitic. So we can 613 00:40:18,450 --> 00:40:21,650 find solutions. We can find answers for this. We 614 00:40:21,650 --> 00:40:26,270 can look for answers. The Merchant of Venice is a 615 00:40:26,270 --> 00:40:29,410 play about shared humanity. about what it means to 616 00:40:29,410 --> 00:40:33,170 be a human being, about racism, about anti 617 00:40:33,170 --> 00:40:35,470 -Semitism. And Shakespeare, now these are 618 00:40:35,470 --> 00:40:38,070 important questions now here in the 20th, 21st 619 00:40:38,070 --> 00:40:42,430 centuries. But Shakespeare discussed this over 40, 620 00:40:42,590 --> 00:40:45,050 100 years ago. And this is how beautiful, how 621 00:40:45,050 --> 00:40:48,330 amazing Shakespeare is. If you have any question, 622 00:40:48,470 --> 00:40:50,690 please ask and we can continue the discussion next 623 00:40:50,690 --> 00:40:53,810 class. You want to say something? You want to add 624 00:40:53,810 --> 00:40:59,040 something? Do you want to read some of this? for 625 00:40:59,040 --> 00:41:01,900 next time can you prepare two or three of you can 626 00:41:01,900 --> 00:41:06,520 you prepare doing this reading this here okay so 627 00:41:06,520 --> 00:41:09,700 we'll start next class from again Shylock and his 628 00:41:09,700 --> 00:41:12,520 speech but before we do this do you notice 629 00:41:12,520 --> 00:41:18,280 anything about the text okay 630 00:41:18,280 --> 00:41:21,600 look at this this is tomorrow and tomorrow and 631 00:41:21,600 --> 00:41:28,450 tomorrow okay and then there is No, no, no life. 632 00:41:29,510 --> 00:41:32,090 And then there is this. Do you notice something 633 00:41:32,090 --> 00:41:35,370 different between the anything? 634 00:41:38,150 --> 00:41:42,530 Oh, thank you very much. This is poetry. In 635 00:41:42,530 --> 00:41:47,210 poetry, we capitalize every line, the beginning of 636 00:41:47,210 --> 00:41:49,070 every line, the first letter from every line, 637 00:41:49,230 --> 00:41:51,590 capital, capital, capital. This is a rule in 638 00:41:51,590 --> 00:41:57,570 poetry. But here, this is what? It's a paragraph, 639 00:41:57,770 --> 00:41:59,970 it's prose, thank you. Remember Shakespeare's 640 00:41:59,970 --> 00:42:03,750 plays were mostly written in verse. But sometimes 641 00:42:03,750 --> 00:42:06,770 there are prose characters, characters who only 642 00:42:06,770 --> 00:42:10,890 speak prose. Shylock is one of them. Unimportant 643 00:42:10,890 --> 00:42:13,690 characters, messengers, you know, bad people 644 00:42:13,690 --> 00:42:17,830 usually speak prose. Not verse. We can talk 645 00:42:17,830 --> 00:42:20,810 probably more about this. Thank you very much. If 646 00:42:20,810 --> 00:42:22,030 you have a question, please do ask.