The last play that we have read in Shakespeare class is Pericles. I’m not even quite sure what to say about it. It was weird and interesting at the same time. I don’t mean a bad kind of weird but a good kind. I wanted to know what would happen if anyone other than Cleon found out about what Dionyza had done. She killed Leonine because he was a witness to what she had planned for Marina. I got the feeling especially when Act 4, scene 3 was acted out in class, that if Cleon were to even mention telling about what had been planned, Dionyza would kill him for it.
I loved the ending of this play and I was glad it was acted out in class. I really love endings that are happy and when family can reunite and finally be a family and not have to wonder who each other are. Like Marina finally gets to meet her father and mother even though she knew of them, she gets to see/hear them and get to know them on a more personal/intimate level. Pericles has went through so much throughout this play and he gets his happily ever after. He gets to meet his daughter who he left as a baby and then was told she was dead. He also gets to reunite with his wife who he thought was dead.
One thing I find crazy about Antiochus is how the only way someone could marry his daughter was to figure out the riddle. Once Pericles does, he wants to kill him because he know’s Pericles will tell about the incest. I believe he just hoped no one would figure out the riddle so the incest could continue but he had to fake trying to marry his daughter off so no one would suspect what was really going on. We never do see Antiochus’ wife in the play and do not get her perspective on what is happening. Maybe she does not know or she is like some of the women we have seen in Shakespeare’s plays, like Ophelia who is obedient and does not say anything unless she is told to.
Throughout this semester, we have read some interesting plays and I have gained knowledge about Shakespeare and some of his plays. I was kind of worried coming into this class that I would leave and still not understand a single piece of information from these plays, but I was wrong and have enjoyed this semester. One thing I was really worried about in this class was when I found out we had to act out scenes in the plays. At first, I really did not like the idea and did not understand what it really meant when we would be acting. I finally did find out what it meant and to be honest, I enjoyed the days when we did act because I felt like I learned more during those days. If we would have had more time, I think each play should have been acted out from front to back and I feel I would have learned a bit more that way. No matter what though, I had a fun semester in this class and do feel like I am on the way to understanding Shakespeare a little more each time I go back and look at the plays.
