Blogging the Renaissance

The Dark Backward

Wednesday, February 22, 2006

Today's lesson: Angelo wants to raze Isabella's sanctuary.

Such sweet uncleanness, indeed.

At 2/23/2006 01:00:00 PM, Hieronimo wrote…

That's a good play for weirding students out. The other great moment is when I do Othello's "I'll love thee after" speech and talk about necrophilia, which prompted one memorable student to leap up and say, "Wait a minute! Are you saying he wants to have sex with a dead chick? That is freaky."
At 2/23/2006 02:22:00 PM, Simplicius wrote…

Weirding them out? The play weirded me out, and teaching it left me with the queasy feeling that I needed a shower.

That being said, it was sweet when some of the students in my morning class said they thought Angelo saw a potential soul mate in Isabella. Disabusing them of that idea was fun, if dirtifying, as was our discussion of Angelo's initial hapless attempts at broaching the topic of sex for her brother's life: "Nay, but hear me. / Your sense pursues not mine." I likened his moves to those of high school student--e.g., "Let's say, just for the sake of argument, that you and I were in my basement, and let's say, again for the sake of argument, that I were to lean over and try to kiss you..."--they seemed to find that funny.

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