Faustus had it made…then he sold his soul to the devil.

Dear Readers (who exist?)

Today I will be discussing Christopher Marlowe’s most famous play Doctor Faustus.

I went into my reading being super excited about reading it. Marlowe is a contemporary of Shakespeare and as I said before: I LOVE SHAKESPEARE. When i finished reading it the first time I was left very much unsatisfied. There isn’t really any dramatic conflict in it. Sure he sells his soul to Lucifer and in the end is conflicted but it’s not like (until the last scene) he really tries to get un-damned.

I then had to look at it like a series of vignettes, which made it a bit more clear. Each act, and too an extent each scene is a different “episode” in the 25 years that Faustus is damned and therefore I am sure each has a lesson. Honestly, I have no clue what the lessons are but I am sure that they are there.

My favorite of these episodes is probably when he meets the seven deadly sins, how dope is that pageant, am i right? It would be so fun to play them and it’s interesting that Faustus never really verbalizes his sentiments to what he’s seeing. I wonder why that is?….If i say the deadly since materialize in front of me, you can bet your bottom dollar i’d have some things to say.

One part of the text which i find perplexing is the “subplot” if you can call it that. Why is Wagner the chorus? why does robin and the other guy exist…beside being somewhat funny they don’t add anything to the plot. Well it probably does, but i don’t see it. Also I wanted Helen of Troy to talk, she is legit JUST a pretty face in this.

Mephastophilis is my fav character. I want to play him! He is just kinda there the whole time and his line in his second scene when he references that he misses God and wants the purity back is so touching. Good job Marlowe in making a demon likeable.

I think it is an ok play and brave of an elizabethan playwright to write about selling your soul but it kinda left me wanting more

Auntie gah knee

Hello Arts One Friends,

It’s time for another Seamus Fera blog. WOOT WOOT HOLLA #iamubc

So tonight at 8:23 pm I will be discussing the beautiful Sophoclean play Antigone. Hopefully I will be be able to make this funny, but if not….well you guys are reading it not me.

So there is a lot about Antigone that could be discussed by I think for now I am just going to kinda drone on about one subject to another until my thoughts somehow gather into a beautifully articulate thesis.

Upon my first reading on this translation my sympathies went directly to Antigone and the house of Oedipus. Here she is, her mother/grandmother killed herself, her father/brother blinded himself and went off to wander the earth (see Oedipus at Colonus) her two brothers slew each other and now her uncle/great-uncle.soon to be father in law is king and will most likely be a tyrant. Her life has pretty much gone down the toilet, Oedipus says in Oeudipus Rex that it would’ve been better for his children/siblings to have never been born, so Antigone is stuck in a hard place. Her sister Ismene is a nervous mousy wreck and her boyfriend Haimon is like nowhere to be seen. If you don’t feel bad for Ms.Antigone then you are COOCOO.

However once I read it for a second time, I noticed that perhaps Antigone is not as much as a martyr as one would first think. She does what she believe to be blessed by the Gods (believing she must properly bury her brother) however by doing so she is leaving behind her younger sister who evidently can’t really hold her own and Haimon. to top it off, her act results in the deaths of her fiancé AND his mother…poor Eurydice.

Quickly jumping to Eurydice now. I feel SOOOOO bad for her. She enters for about a page and has one line and then she finds out that because her husband is a self-entitle arrogant you know what and her niece is a bit of a cow, her sons go crazy and shanks himself. Her name itself brings the idea of the classic myth of Orpheus and Eurydice in which her counterpart suffers a similar fate.

I have a feeling that in our seminar debate there will be numerous discussions about the culpability of Kreon and I have to say that although he is a bit of a Pr..ck, can you blame him? Like all new rulers, he must stake his claim and assure that everyone respects and to a point fears him. I would do the same thing. His fate is similar to that of any classic Greek character, after all his follies, he is left alone destitute and alone….maybe he and Ismene will get together…follow the Oedipus tradition?

Side  note, why is every son in Greek theatre named Poly(something) ????

also, my aunt’s name is Antigone…fun fact

 

See you around Arts One

Plato needs to shut his mouth…Now…Please

Yo people,

So this isn’t one of my mandatory posts but it is 10:40 pm on Wednesday and I just sung “Human” for 3 hours so I feel that I need to vent about my favorite annoying ancient philosopher..Plato.

For anyone who doesn’t know who Plato is, he’s pretty much some smart rich roman dude who decided not to do politics and pursue philosophy (wtf) after his bro (more like a mancrush) Socrates was executed. Wah..Wah..Wah poor him.

So for Arts One we need to read his short thingamabob “Gorgias” which is a dialogue between his idol (more like obsession) Socrates (by the way for the longest time I thought it was pronounced So-Crack-ts not Saw-Cra-tease) and his friends Gorgias, Polus, Callicles and some random dude who does nothing.

Anywho I am just about to finish it for a second time and all I want to do is say.. SHUT THE F UP SOCRATES..NO ONE LIKES YOU! YOU ARE AN ANNOYING DERP WHO NEEDS TOP STOP TALKING. I cannot deny that Plato/Socrates are some of the greatest thinkers of all time (the whole Allegory of the Cave was pretty cool) but when people repeatedly tell you to stop talking because “You love to win” — yes i just quoted it — you need to stop.

I understand that Socrates is using the Socratic method to toy with the minds of his so called friends but really…dude…chill out. Doe sit matter if someone has holes in their way of thinking? Everyone does..Who is he to go all high and mighty and open a can of  verbal whop-ass on everyone. I’m sorry Plato, it just gets annoying.

I know that I should differentiate Plato and his character of Socrates but I won’t for now, he is evidently using the wall of a dead mentor to mask his own thoughts…Plato you met your match in simple, young Seamus Fera.

In conclusion I will say this…I really enjoyed reading “Gorgias”.

Peace,

Seamus Fera

 

Bonjour to you all

Hey Everyone out in cyber world,

This is my blog. This is the blog of Seamus Fera so get ready for a fun time.

I will start out by saying that I am a complete NEWB when it comes to technology. I don’t have a phone. I don’t have an Ipod. I don’t have an Ipad or a Notebook or any of those fancy gizmos. I really despise being attached to any sort of technology…albeit I am an avid Facebooker.

You may wonder why I would open my new blog with saying I hate anything technological…and I wonder that also, but c’est la vie, we will see what happens.

You may be wondering; “What does Seamus Fera like?” and I can answer that easily for you. I am a huge bookworm (hence taking Arts One) and some of my favorite novels are Wicked, Sarum, and The Hunger Games Series (I swear I’m not as big of a loner that I am making myself out to be). I am also a self professed “Shakespeare Hipster”– but more on that another day.  I am also an Actor (BFA HERE I COME) so obviously I love acting with every core of my being. Some of my favorite roles are: Gertrude in Hamlet, Bottom in A Midsummer’s Night Dream, William, Roscoe Purkapille and Indignation Jones in Spoon River Anthology, WIlly Wonka in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Music Hall Girl in Oh What a Lovely Way (I might have worn a fascinator and a kimono for it)

This blog post is getting a put long so I will cut it out now and just say that I also party and chill with friends.

To whoever comes on to UBC blogs and read random people’s blogs I would like to say….Enjoy.