kewlbeanzbruh-blog

[kewlbeanzbruh-blog]

WELCOME TO MY BLOG

[kewlbeanzbruh-blog]

Margaret Edson

[kewlbeanzbruh-blog]

Connections between Donne and Edson

These two are about four centuries apart, how could they possibly be connected? Well believe it or not, they are, and here’s why.

For starters, Edson studied the Renaissance during her schooling years where she learns about Donne, she connects this to her play in which Vivien Bearing, a professor of English literature is known for her extensive knowledge of metaphysical poetry, especially the Holy Sonnets of John Donne. Both John Donne’s poetry as well as Margaret Edson’s Wit are connected in their exploration of issues related to human mortality. The play makes direct mention to four of John Donne’s holy sonnets including: Death be Not Proud, If Poysonous Mineralls, This is my Playes Last Scene and A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning. Both Donne and Vivien seem to be familiar with the concept of death as Vivian says “I know all about life and death. I am, after all, a scholar of Donne’s holy sonnets, which explore mortality in greater depth than any body of work in English language.” [W;t pg.6] Donne and Vivien show no fear in the face of death: “ Death be not proud, though some have called thee. Mighty and dreadfull, for, thou art not soe.” [Death be not proud] The boldness of the first line matches the poem’s intention in undermining Death’s power to remind humanity of their strength. “Proud” implies an arrogance that death possesses. Donne further undermines death by stating that he is not “mighty and dreadful”, therein denouncing the fear-inspiring persona, “KELEKIAN: You must be very tough. Do you think you can be tough? VIVIAN: You needn’t worry.” This tells us that Vivian shows no sign of cowering in the face of death, instead she remains strong and unphased.

Quite the tough cookies these two are. Or so you thought!

Even though Donne’s writings were death obsessed, he was still a huge believer of the importance and power of human compassion and mere love. This is evident through ‘A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning’, where he uses an analogy of gold in “a breach, but an expansion like gold” to suggest that even when hurt, love is malleable and will remain intact and strong in its forces. Edson’s play ‘W;t’ demonstrates a shift in thinking, as while the new era is obsessed with individualism, it leads to a lack of humanity. This is showcased through the characterisation of Vivian Bearing, who initially contains a superior outlook of herself due to her stance in literature. However, it is evident that this can change though suffering when Vivian is nearing death and becomes ironically discontent. Feeling helpless and alone, she changes to no longer value literature over humanity, demonstrated in: “Now is not the time for verbal swordplay, now is the time for simplicity.” She thus metamorphoses and begins to crave human care instead, this is evident in “Susie, you are still going to take care of me, aren’t you?”. This shows the intertextuality between Donne’s poetry and Edson’s W;t.

Yeahhh, this was a lot to read, hope you had a coffee and some biscuits with you lol

[kewlbeanzbruh-blog]

Interesting article I found, give it a read!

[kewlbeanzbruh-blog]

Sp00ky :o

[kewlbeanzbruh-blog]

This is her play W;t!

Must read!!!

[kewlbeanzbruh-blog]

Who is Margaret Edson?

‘W;t’ was a spectacular play, loved it. Give it a go if you haven’t already, the theatre version of course for more realness!

What does this have to do with Margaret Edson you ask? She was the one who wrote the play! Margaret Edson is a modern-day author who graduated magna cum laude in Renaissance History from Smith college, America. She wrote W;t while completing a masters degree in English literature :O. In the West, the late 20th century saw an increase in personal freedoms and social tolerance including sexual revolution and more humane treatment towards divorce and homosexuality, by the way, Edson herself has a Female partner. The life expectancy has also increased thanks to the advancement of technology and better living conditions, although human mortality remains a concern. Yeah, you can’t exactly just become immortal out of nowhere. Religion is not given as much a regard as opposed to Donne’s time due to society becoming more materialistic and secular, the development of postmodernism has also come about during the late 20th century. These are all evident in Margaret Edson’s play: W;t, where the play is not about her, but still addresses issues revolving around her life. Gender issues are a significant factor to the play with the medical hierarchy still being male dominated, the constant thought of death, in this case, a search for a ‘cure for cancer’ is evident, lack of religion is apparent as Vivien (the main character) is an atheist, and postmodernist ideas are obvious in some techniques Edson uses in the play, for example scenes where two speeches occur simultaneously suggests that no view of reality is more justifiable than another.

[kewlbeanzbruh-blog]

Young John Donne XD

[kewlbeanzbruh-blog]

Who was John Donne?

If you’re someone who digs poetry, then you might want to take a look at some of Donne’s work. Who is John Donne? .... I’m glad you asked😉.

John Donne was a 16th-17th century poet who lived in England during the Elizabethan period soon followed by the Jacobean, real fun times, believe me.  He was a very religious man born into a deeply catholic family, although when it came to women, he could rarely keep ahold of the reigns and would not give up a chance to indulge in sexual conduct, quite the philanderer you see, although he did have a wife whom he loved deeply. By the standards of most areas in the modern world, England in the 17th century was a place unhealthily fascinated by death, reasons being are obvious: mortality rates were high, and centuries before the invention of vaccines meant threats such as bubonic plague, smallpox, and other diseases were deadly. It is of no surprise that Donne had close personal experience of death, many people close to him died including five of his children in infancy…yikes. These experiences, as cruel as some may be were what gave life to his holy sonnets which are extensively studied today.