Immaculata Academy - Lilium Convallium Yearbook (Portland, OR)

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-- g gg-LILIUM CONVALLIUM 39 Shakespeare describes his characters by their own speeches and by the speeches of the other persons of the play. As an example we quote the following passages: The fairies addressing Puck: rc Either I mistake your shape and making quite, Or else you are that shrewd and knavish sprite Called Robin Goodfellow: are not you he That frights the maidens of the villageryg Skim milk, and sometimes labour in the quern And bootlcss make the breathless housewife churng And sometimes make the drink to bear no bearm, Mislead night-wanderers, laughing at their harm? Those that Hobgoblins call you and sweet Puck, You do their work, and they shall have good luck: Are you not he?'i Helena speaking of Hermia, describes her physical features as well as her character. Oli, when she's angry, she is keen and shrewd! She was a Vixen when she went to school, And though she be but little, she is fierce. The setting is very important. This play could probably not have taken place elsewhere. The old Athenian law, brought into use, with the peculiar customs of that time forms an appropriate setting for the story. Though the scene of action is ostensibly Athens, it is in reality Englandv. This again reveals the genius of the author. Athens, with its cruel laws of bygone days, its constant warfare with foreign lands, and mysteries of wondrous tales of the gods and goddesses, and England, with its beautiful scenery, its fairy-lore, and its gay spring festivals, are a wonderful and altogether appropriate setting. The theme of the drama is love. The action is within the noble and beautiful love of the Duke for Hippolyta, and the inconstant love of the Athenian youths. As a contrast We have the light and fickle love of the fairies and the mock-heroic love of the homespuns. The theme is clearly defined and effectively illustrated by the actions of the play. The author does not wish us to be melancholy or serious while reading this drama. The music and laughter keep us constantly delighted. Throughout the play, Shakespeare uses beautiful figures of speech. . . . . she lingers my desires, Like to a step-dame or a dowager Long withering out a young man's revenue. The fairy dances and songs are especially beautiful. They arouse our imagination and we feel that we too are in that beautiful forest in the springtime. The Midsummer Night's Dream is indeed a play that all enjoy. The beautiful music of the lines and the lightness and gaiety must have a delightful effect upon even the most melancholy reader. It shows us that all the little misfortunes of life are not necessarily tragic, and that they should be accepted with a smile. -THERESA HEUP, 327.

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38 LILIUM CONVALLIUM A Midsummer N ight is Dream: An Appreciation Shakespeare's comedy, A Midsummer Night's Dream, is perhaps the most original of his dramas. Most of his plots are taken from other stories, but this plot is his own. In creating the fairies, he was, no doubt, influenced by his knowledge of fairy folk-lore, the other characters he drew from classical tradition. But in no other story are these widely different characters brought together. The structure of this play leads critics to believe it was written for some private celebration, most probably for the wedding of some nobleman, and was not written to be produced on the public stage. The ridiculous, if some- times incredulous, actions of the characters do not detract from the drama but make the story much more humorous. Besides the main plot, the complicated love affairs of the Athenian youths, there is also the minor plot, the quarrel of the fairy king and queen. The first act introduces us to one group of characters and tells us what the play will be about. The words of Theseus give us the keynote, mirth, and tells us the play will be merry and light. Stir up the Athenian youth to merrimentsg Awake the pert and nimble spirit of mirth: Turn melancholy forth to funerals, The pale companion is not for our pomp. Four days intervene until the Duke's wedding and until this event we are to pleasantly dream away the time. How pleasantly Shakespeare lets us dream away the time! A fairy song and dance, a joke played by mischievous Puck, or a ridiculous situation of a leading character keep us continually amused. The action is very swift. The author fairly rushes us through the scenes of action and leaves us almost breathless at the end. The flight of Hermia and Lysander into the forest starts the rising action. Rapidly Shakespeare brings all the other characters together in that forest, and how expertly he does it! Sometimes he uses almost impossible means to gain his end, but he does it so skillfully that we do not notice the improbability of the actions of the characters. The real genius of the dramatist can only be appreciated when we look at the variety of unlike characters he brought together in this drama. An Athenian nobleman, an Amazonian queen, two pairs of Athenian lovers, a group of clownish artisans, the classical Pyramus and Thisbe, and the king and queen of a fairyland in India attended by a jester native of England, all take part in this play. As we look back over the widely different groups, does it not seem impossible that they could be brought together in the credible scenes of this one action? But Shakespeare does bring them together and in such a way that their very difference forms a delightful variety and contrast. Shakespeare at the very opening of the drama introduces us to the leading characters, Hermia, Helena, Lysander and Demetrius. In the second act he introduces the minor characters: Oberon, Titania, Puck, and the artisans. Puck is the most important of the minor characters, the one who causes the plot complications. The characters in this play are not so striking as in other Shakespearean dramas. The plot is developed more by comic situations than by the action of any particular character. The characters do not stand out as any particular type, but could be anyone in general. There is not so much outstanding character portrayal, but rather a detailed description of comic situations.

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40 LILIUM CONVALLIUM Jlllll : . E : ' I jig, E arf' T. f I ll 5 i il l N Y p I .A 'llm I 9 E A i 0 nfs! l 5' ,, . - Q T li Fe: ' ' XE il ' la a QM? J '. ill ,..-rl Ili ' - .4 - QQ -C ------ e N N ,f fs i fi illlilllllalllillillTllllmllllallilmiiailllllillllLlA:ll:lI r F Editorials Golden Fifty years ago a tiny slip from the Dominican family tree J was transplanted from its home plot in Brooklyn, New York, and U I ee struck root in sunny California in the city of St. Francis. Only three Sisters made the new foundation which the Lord has signally blessed dur- ing the golden years of its existence. And for more than forty-eight years, it was the late Reverend Mother M. Pia who cultivated the Congregation com- mitted to her care . The many tributes paid to her by distinguished persons testify the esteem in which she was held by all. The members of her spiritual family are striving to continue her work along the lines so wisely laid down. They are now making a special effort to erect in her memory a much needed addition to the Motherhouse and Gothic chapel which will substantiate her own plans. To accomplish this they must appeal to the generosity of friends. It is hoped that the response will be such, that during the jubilee festivities, steps may be taken to inaugurate work on the new buildings. A great source of joy to its members in the celebration of the Golden Jubilee of the Congregation of the Queen of the Holy Rosary is the fact that their mode of life is irrevocably sanctioned by Papal approbation. And how dear this was to the heart of their Foundress is evident in her last will and testament: I bequeath to my dear daughters in Christ the approved Constitutions, which are, so to say, the fulfillment of my heart's desire, my life's work. Dominican In 1916 the Dominican qrdeil ciebrated ir seventg Ad t 27,23 centenary. During tmese seven iun re years it as sprea ap a 1 y over all the countries of the world and has become one of the most illustrious of the four great Orders of the Church. Like the Fran- ciscan Order, that of St. Dominic has three branches: the First Order, known as the Friars Preachersg the Second, cloistered nunsg the Third Order divided into two classes, secular and conventional tertiaries. These latter, like .