English 432
Dr. Desmet
Winter 1997
In this exercise I have keyed the exercises to particular plays, and to particular paper topics within those plays. Sometimes I will refer you to a previous exercise. Feel free to think of other words that might be relevant to a particular search!
II. Twelfth Night
1. For question #2, on the issue of female power in TN, you might begin by checking on Viola's status in relation to other people.
By entering the appropriate speech prefix (e.g., VIO for Viola) you can look at all of a character's speeches. You might try using Vio as list one and beginning a new list with thou and you to find out
(1) If there's any consistency in what Viola calls people.
(2) When she shifts from "you" to "thou" for Orsino or Sebastian.
(3) If her pronoun use suggests anything about her attitude to those around her.
Now use VIO and SEB as your first word list and the words father, daughter, brother for the second one; learn all you can of Viola and Sebastian's family background.
2. For question #2, you might also want to see how the nature of women is represented at different points in the play. Try crunching on:
wom* (or woman and women)Crunch also on some opposite terms:
femal*
sister*
daughter*
mother*
lady
ladies
any references at all to "girl"?
Penthesilea (as an amazon)
boy*
man*
lord*
eunuch
Which characters are, by the way, are associated with the figure of the eunuch. Think also about the importance of different characters' attitudes toward women. How do Orsino and Malvolio, for instance, characterize the feminine gender? Finally, in a doggie vein, why is Maria characterized as a "beagle"?
3. For question #4, see Wordcrucner on music for MND. You might also crunch on words associated with music or song, since the sung word is powerful in this play. Crunch on:
music*On the issue of singing, who sings the most in this play and what sort of songs are generally sung? The easiest way to find out is to enter the word sings and then look for its use in stage directions. What do the listeners seem to be doing--or do they simply listen? When the Duke tries to pay Feste for his singing at one point, what sort of unusual response does Feste make (unusual for Feste, that is)? Who in the play first proposes singing to the Duke and what is said about sexuality in that line? Does that character actually sing? What's going on here?!?
song
sung
catch*
breath*
tune
lips
also "dispute"
Finally, what about smiling as a form of communication? Try crunching on smil*.
4. For question #5, crunch on the following words:
eye*
blind*
mark* (for noticing something)
not* (for note or notable)
look*
light* and dark*
5. For question #6, to look at the play's sea imagery, try a word list that includes
seaBrowse through these passages and decide if the play suggests that the sea is simply a body of water or if the sea has other, metaphoric associations. Next, go back out and look at sea imagery in all of the plays. Press the F4 key and choose number 1. That will show you a list of frequencies. Which of the comedies uses the sea image most often?
seas
waves
tempest*
drown (in the ocean as well as in drink!)
6. Is disguise a wickedness in TN? Use single lists and then a combined list to if, when, and how often the two words appear together? Who is the play is concerned with these two issues--disguise and wickedness?
Disguise is also akin to acting in a drama or plain old playing.
The word "play" can refer to putting on a drama, taking part in a game, or producing music. Enter "play" and its variants (play*) and see which use is most common, which least common in this play. How come?
7. I have not worked out any combinations for question #11, on the issue of hierarchies and inversions. As part of this question, you might consider the role of the Fool, who is in a sense outside this social hierarchy.
An important image pattern is the one associated with fools, especially professional fools or jesters like Feste. Enter
Fool*Again, use the F4 key to check the frequency with which the terms are used. Decide if that word pattern is peculiar to TN. Why?
Folly
Follies
Go back to the word list. Enter clo (the speech prefix for clown or Feste) as list one and then start a second list (F2) for fool*. What sort of things does Feste say of fools?
Is there another comedy in which a clown occurs? Does that clown say much about fools?