Picture Me Wednesday - Shakespeare

Photo taken by Ms. C.

Why Shakespeare, you ask?  A few months ago I visited Stratford-Upon-Avon with E.  I absolutely *loved* my stay in Stratford - which is incidentally the city of Shakespeare's origins.  I bought this pin from the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust.  Quoted here is a famous line from Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream. 

Chaucer Fuss - The Clerk's Tale

"The Clerk's Tale" is a story that I secretly love. Why secretly? Because this work seems simultaneously degrading and progressive for women.

The Clerk's Tale focuses on the relationship within a nuclear family. The husband is shown exercising ultimate control over his wife's actions... including persuading her to agree to the murder of their two children.

Chaucer Fuss - The Wife of Bath's Tale

I think most people vision medieval England as an era of strict morality, high religion, and chastity belts. And, to be honest, medieval England does not bear a resemblance to the highly sexualized culture of contemporary England. However, the England of the 1300s was sexualized in its own way.

"The Wife of Bath's Tale" portrays the sexual life of a woman from Bath. Morality and virginity were important aspects of medieval culture. Yet, culture is a fluid concept and there remained a flexibility for women to exert dominance within these confines.

Chaucer Fuss - The Reeve's Tale

Chaucer's "The Reeve's Tale" continues the theme of illicit sexual activity in medieval England while providing an account of a traveling scholar.

A few months ago I read The Time Traveller's Guide to Medieval England. Within those pages Ian Mortimer suggested that England's medieval population often helped neighbors in plight. Chaucer's story seems to be constructed on a subversion of this notion. "The Reeve's Tale" portrays travellers as mischievous and deviant. It is the traveling scholar seeking hospitality who attacks the honour and respect of the family providing his room and board.

Chaucer Fuss - The Miller's Tale

We are quickly introduced to the miller in Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales. The miller, described as an athletic and charismatic man, tells a graphic tale of adultery. The wit and sexual capabilities of an intellectual and tradesman are pitted against each other within this work.

Chaucer Fuss - The Knight's Tale

"The Knight's Tale," Chaucer's first character-led story in The Canterbury Tales, explores gender relations and notions of marriage in medieval England.

The Knight, a man of chivalry and little means, tells the tale of an ancient love triangle. For, as luck should have it, two men imprisoned in a jail cell fall in love with the same woman, Emily. Locked in their cell, the men may only steal glances of Emily as she walks outside their prison window. The Knight provides an account of each man's escape from prison, search for Emily, and battle to win her heart.

Chaucer Fuss

I had heard of the British Library's special collections and exhibit marked "Treasures of the British Library" before leaving for England in April. The exhibit was said to be a room full to the brim of sacred texts, historical documents, and beautifully crafted manuscripts. There was no choice. I had to make a visit while in London, as any eager and upcoming librarian would do.

Cranford

This has got to be one of the driest books I have read (*ouch* sorry Gaskell). There's no other explanation for my behaviour.

Elizabeth Gaskell's Cranford, first published in book form in 1853, is merely 138 pages (the Dover Thrift Edition). It has taken me over three months to read. In fact, I would have given up reading if Gaskell had not been part of the Wordsworth Classics Reading Challenge 2011.

Catching Up

Wow, it feels like I haven't written on here in weeks! I've got news... and I'm not even sure where to start.

1. A few weeks ago I stopped in Victoria for a little getaway. I seriously love Vancouver Island and Victoria especially. It has this Englishness to it that I find undeniably attractive. While I was there this February with E, we stumbled across an antiques store with National Socialist artifacts. Being the hardcore 20th century European History major that I am, you can only imagine my excitement. We left the store with 1944 Reichsmarks, a 1938 postcard, and a 1943 stamp illustrated with Hitler's portrait.

2. E brought a wonderful book along with him in January. I finished reading it the night he flew back... and I'll be reviewing it shortly.

3. What ever happened to those 2011 reading challenges? In January I was so set on completing 15 historical fiction novels and 5 classical fiction works. I'm halfway through reading Elizabeth Gaskell's Cranford and a little bit stuck. Is there such a thing as reader's block?

4. I have a feeling I'll be reviewing The Zookeeper's Wife before Cranford reaches Coffee Tale Reviews. I started The Zookeepers Wife a few hours ago. I'm only 100 pages in and it's addictive!

5. I recently received a letter from my university. The news? I now have a B.A. With Distinction :)

6. I'm going to Europe! I am so so so stoked to be visiting E in April.

Wordsworth Classics Reading Challenge 2011 - Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

My second Wordsworth Classics Reading Challenge 2011 book comes in the form of Robert Louis Stevenson's dark tale The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Written in 1884, Stevenson's novel is short and addictive. You've been warned.

Wordsworth Classics Reading Challenge 2011 - North and South

The first time I read North and South was during the Fall of 2010. Elizabeth Gaskell's work was on the syllabus for one of my university courses and, due to time constraints, I had to read through it very very quickly. After finishing my classes (and joining the Wordsworth Classics Challenge 2011) I wanted to read more Victorian work... and I thought a thorough read of North and South would be a good place to start.

North and South depicts a wealthy southern family's move to the manufacturing town of Milton during the 1800s. Gaskell expertly describes tensions between northern and southern regions of England, religious denominations, the education system, science and technology, and society's increasing scrutiny of the role of mothers in a child's upbringing. Gaskell's work both highlights these themes and, through doing so, provides a pertinent window into nineteenth-century English society and culture.

Whoso List to Hunt

There's just something about poetry - it can say so much and yet so little at the same time. It is blatant, to the point, and metaphorical. It is a complex and yet beautifully simple form of art.

I adore poetry and yet it is not something that I frequently read. But with a snowstorm heading towards my town, the fireplace roaring, and coffee in hand (yes, at 10:30 PM), I've fallen into a poetry kind of mood.

Wordsworth Classics Reading Challenge 2011

I've decided to take on *one* more reading challenge for 2011.

After completing a nineteenth century British history class last month I have the biggest urge to read material from that time era. The Deranged Book Lovers' Wordsworth Classics Reading Challenge 2011 provides me with the perfect motivation to do so.