College of St Marys of the Springs - Yearbook (Columbus, OH)

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Wu will ww Q wwf , :wig . :swf 1 swf 5 :swf 1 N045 f the Gamut of Friendship N perusing the Shakespearean drama that which strikes the mind most forciby is the poet's ability to depict and interpret vividly 'X'X'W7f Wfm and accurately every phase of human life. Always a master, he is nowhere more markedly so than in dealing with man in that l noblest of relations-friendship. Shakespeare has treated friendship in its every guise and has left nothing untouched that . , would show us its beauty, sweetness and power when true, and 5- : ,, , iz? , ,, :A rf' and its danger when perverted. Thus at times the friendship is ska'-fsewfffif' .1 f 1 d ' ' ' - h T epgrgkgi, T presente as a se, I esignmg, cunning, at ot ers. as mercenary, T s BA? T self absorbed, self interested, or again as suspicious, doubting, distrustful. Then on the other hand, he has sympathetically dis- closed it in its true light, with all its channing attributes and has shown us how and when the loyal friendship is found and used. If we take the friendship presented in Cymbeline, we have an excellent example of the false type. Here to some extent the unworthy friendship is manifested in the queen's actions towards Posthumus and lmogeng yet more fully is the perfidious friend exploited in the per- son of lachimo. Keenly, cunningly he wove his web entangling Posthumus firmly within its silken threads. Posthumus not being of a doubting nature did not at all suspect the stranger, with whom he had entered into intimate relations, to be plotting against him Yet, this cun- ning friend after receiving in token of confidence the diamond, given as a pledge by Imogen to Posthumus, departed, secretly planning within his heart some unjust method of entrapping Imogen, the wife of Posthumus Iachimo led Posthumus to believe that he wished to place as implicit faith in womankind as did lmogen's husband, while his design was in reality to sever the bonds that held Pos- thumus so strongly to his consort and to destroy the husband's faith in human friendship and love. This design he craftily fulfilled. By bribing the attendants at the home of Cymbeline, lmogen's father, he gained what he wished, an entrance to the house, an interview with Imo- gen and the assistance of several of the servants to help him in his project. After thoroughly examining the sleeping apartments of Imogen and taking from her arm the bracelet, given to her by Posthumus, he returns to the husband and under the guise of deep friendship, adduc- ing his apparent proofs of her infidelity, he expresses his .seeming sympathy and offered words of advice. Yet, after all, what did his plotting, scheming and crafty cunning gain for him? As is generally the case, at first, success: but designing amlty having no foundation at all to support it, failed when the goal was almost attained and the coveted prize almost within its grasp. This is ever the grand finale of false friendship. Not far removed from false friendship. is the mercenary type. This devotion with all its feigned interest and assumed regard Shakespeare' has plainly unveiled Jin his tragedy, Julius Caesar, in the attitude of Caius Cassius to Brutus. The two men are friends throughout the play, but we feel that the affection of Brutus .is wholly sincere, while that of Cassius is largely assumed. Cassius needs Brutus, needs his influence with the people, his re- putation for honor and uprightness, to give weight to the COHSPIFHCY aSaiHSf Caesar and Sets about to win him over by flattery and protestations of esteem. I-Ie' succeeds only too well. 9 , nfl his

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CAMPUS ENTRANCE TO COLLEGE

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ww . guy: pup: Q twig I time . guyz g guy: , NHC . :Wig . Brutus, though perhaps blindly, is led to the commission of a grievous wrong and finally meets his doom through hearkening to the counsel of an unworthy friend. The next form of imperfect friendship, presented is the suspicious. An excellent and enduring example of the ,untrusting friend is given in that sweetest of Shakespeare's comedies, The Winter's Tale. Here Leontes, the king of Sicily, furnishes the type. He suspects first his wife, then Polixenes, who has been his unseparable companion from youth. In the beginning of the drama we see Leontes in all the vigor and strength of manhood and we hold him as an exemplar to humanity, as the ideal husband, but when he entertains unjust suspicions of his consort Hermione and his loyal friend, he begins to lose in favor and by his jealous and distrustful nature he drags himself down almost too low to rise. Had he only trusted and loved as did his wife and friend, how very different would their lives have been! But when sus- picion has once effected an entrance into the mind, it is seldom that the one in fault realizes his blindness and injustice, until too late. Thus we see how very much better it would be to form no friendship at all, if it cannot be void of groundless and unreasonable suspicion. But behind these travesties of friendship vainly has been striving to appear the one and only friendship of the world-the true. Search where we may, nowhere can we find so true a type of the thoroughly loyal friend as in Antonio The Merchant of Venice. Here, the love that binds a man to one in particularamong his fellows, has its most beautiful exemplifi- cation, for Antonio was the truest, most loyal and self-sacrificing of friends. It was for Bas- sanio that he staked his life, and it was for Bassanio that he would have given it willingly and without a pang. No artful cunning, no self interest, no suspicions, prompted this free offering. No, nothing, nothing but the true and honest friendship felt by Antonio for his cherished com- panion motived this almost super-human act. Antonio shows, in the following lines, his deep love for Bassanio. Give me your hand, Bassanio: fare you welll Grieve not that I am fallen to this for you, For herein Fortune shows herself most kind Than is her custom: it is still her use To let the wretched man out live his wealth, To view with hollow eyes and wrinkled brow An age of poverty: for which lingering penance Of such misery doth she cut me off. Commend me to your honorable wife: Tell her the process of Antonio's end: Say how I loved you, speak me fair in death, And when the tale is told bid her be judge Whether Bassanio had not once a love. Repent but you that you shall love your friend: And he repents not that he pays your debt: For if the J ew do cut but deep enough, I'll pay it presently with all my heart. Thus has Shakespeare given us friendship in its every guise. p He has shown us the wiles and the punishment of the false friend, the end destined for those who think only of self, the heart aches and wretchedness of those who are suspicious and the true and priceless worth of those who are loyal. HELEN K. Dl'I'I'OE., 'l3. 10