I also find myself short of topics because I feel as if I have a responsibility to keep this all light and positive. I’m still not used to the idea of making my life public, so I want to avoid over-sharing. Many of you have also shared good wishes for my semester here, which I very much appreciate, but which has also made me feel as if it is my job to enjoy every minute. The double effect of this is that having fun is now a responsibility, and lack of it is somehow a failure on my part. As a result, I only want use this space to share fun and interesting things or at least appear as if I am having fun, and every day that I can’t do that I feel guilty. I know this is completely irrational; a semester abroad is certainly no less stressful and aggravating than one at home, especially when you add in culture shock, financial incompatibilities, grading differences, and the need to build social connections from scratch.

It’s also difficult to stay positive because complaining is sort of my MO. It sounds strange when it’s put so plainly, but to me it’s more interesting to discuss things that I can debate about or try to improve, rather than just mention something I enjoy. And if it I’m not interested in what I’m writing I can’t expect anyone to be interested in reading it, so I’ve really set myself up for failure by restricting myself.

I still like the idea of having a blog,  but I think that blogging is better suited for expressing ideas when you aren’t looking for specific feedback. In most cases, when you write for strangers you don’t need their approval or even acknowledgment. When I contact people I already know, I’d much rather share the conversation than do all of the talking, and this just isn’t the space for that. I may keep writing here if I have something to share (I may even try to be more comfortable ranting), but this really isn’t serving the purpose I originally intended it for. I’m still on Skype and Facebook, and I have my laptop back as of yesterday, so you know where to reach me if you want to talk. I will keep posting pictures though, so check here or directly on Flickr if you are interested.

P.S.- I forgot that I had a dozen or so pictures with stories behind them, so when I have some free time I’ll add those here and maybe I can revive this thing.

Coincidence and Personal Responsibility in Romeo and Juliet

 In classic tragedy, the plot is pushed ever forward by forces that cannot be prevented, such as the inherent nature of the characters or the interference of a god-like Fate. This inevitability is the key to making an otherwise unfortunate story truly tragic, because it causes the audience to feel uncontested sympathy for the victims of the play. A character that has free will to choose his actions is held responsible for the consequences of bad decisions, but one who is flawed in nature is free from this responsibility, since he could not be reasonably expected to act against his nature. It is also important for any story to have a determined purpose or logic to it; too many intrusions inflicted upon the characters by the author make a story seem contrived and cause the audience  to disconnect from the world of the play.

In the story of Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare departs from the traditional tragic formula with mixed success. The plot is dependent on a series of events, bringing in a stronger element of chance, and the characters show enough changeability to introduce doubt to the inevitability of the lovers’ deaths. Where tragic inevitability loses its power, the role of coincidence and the audience’s expectation of character responsibility become important in determining whether the audience feels pity, annoyance, or indifference at the end of the play.

Coincidence is a tricky subject to deal with when discussing tragedy. In classical drama, chance occurrences were directed by a personified or deified vehicle of Fate, which was accepted as part of a shared belief system between the playwright and the audience. Without this mythological quality, the same occurrences become simple chance, in the case of Romeo and Juliet, ‘a gratuitous intervention by a dramatist exercising his homicidal proclivities for the joy of his audience’.[1] But by Shakespeare’s time, fate as a deity was no longer a shared belief. It is also anachronistic with respect to the setting of the play itself, a city where Christian beliefs are the norm and other figures are pointed out as silly fairy tales in Mercutio’s Queen Mab speech.[2] Shakespeare takes a huge risk in making the successful execution of the tragedy dependant on the audience’s willingness to suspend their disbelief in a mythic Fate.

In addition to multiple references to fate and fortune as an embodied concept, Shakespeare uses heavy foreshadowing, and even declares the ending of the play in the prologue.[3]  By constantly reminding the audience of the ending of the play, he is trying to strengthen the idea that the lovers are fated to die. This may work well enough on stage, when the audience is too wrapped up in the action to reflect on events, but with a closer look it is easy to show the false logic in this tactic. His argument is that Romeo and Juliet are going to die at the end of the play, therefore their death is fated. This is a circular thought pattern that could be used to ascribe any outcome to fate with no basis for the claim.

Further distancing Romeo and Juliet from the tragic formula is the concept of personal responsibility. Responsibility can be discussed in relation to several different characters, as well as the society of the play in its entirety. First there are the young lovers. Their youth and innocence are emphasised as reasons why they should not be held responsible for their actions. If they escape responsibility, the tragedy of the play is preserved, but their speech and actions conflict somewhat with the notion of their naïveté.

Conflicting with this idea of youth and innocence is the depth of the passion that the two lovers express. Without this passion there is no driving force in their relationship, but when combined with their immaturity their true love appears to be false infatuation. Since the expected story is one of true love destroyed, anything that detracts from the purity of their love risks the audience’s disapproval. It is strange then that Shakespeare first shows Romeo pining for Rosalind, then quickly abandoning her when Juliet comes on the scene. In this light, Romeo is simply in love with being in love, and when Friar Laurence says ‘Young men’s love then lies | Not truly in their hearts but in their eyes’ he might be echoing Shakespeare’s own sentiments.[4] Whether Romeo may be held responsible for this fault is debateable, since it is expressed as a fault all young men are susceptible to.

Juliet has an even more confused introduction. From the beginning of the play she is shown to act contrary to her parent’s wishes and has little interest in marriage.[5] This introduces doubt to the purity of her love for Romeo, making it a possible attempt at rebellion against her parents. While this weakens the romantic aspect of the story, Juliet’s struggle for freedom in a society that limits the power of women becomes a tragedy of its own. Regardless of Romeo’s actions and Juliet’s motives it still seems that the characters are painted as victims, and thus cannot be blamed for their own demise.

Friar Lawrence, however, can be said to have a great deal of responsibility for the lovers’ deaths. He uses their passion with the intent of uniting their families, despite knowing the instability of their love, particularly Romeo’s, as he plainly states:

But come young waverer, come, go with me,

In one respect I’ll thy assistant be.

For this alliance may so happy prove

To turn your households’ rancour to pure love.

[...]

Wisely and slow; they stumble that run fast.[6]

He has good intentions, but doesn’t really consider the impact that the situation has on the children, which prompts Romeo to tell him ‘Thou canst not speak of that thou dost not feel.’[7] Despite the Friar’s words of caution, he helps to speed their marriage and concocts further schemes each time they reach a new obstacle. Laurence fails to take any precautions and must always react to the present situation rather than act in prevention of further trouble. When he sees the result of his schemes, he exclaims his simultaneous guilt and innocence and this show of shame and humility saves him from bearing the brunt of the audiences’ blame.[8]

On a larger scale, the stifling societal structure of Romeo and Juliet’s world may be considered the direct cause of their troubles, again giving the audience a target for blame rather than pity. The two characters that show the most insight into this society are Mercutio and the Nurse. In his introduction to the play, Gibbons claims that these two ‘express unquestioning acceptance of the conventions of society’ though it seems that they are just acutely aware of the rules and make their own decisions whether to accept them or not.[9] Their characters show that it is possible to side step the rules at least some of the time, but their speech and actions cause them to be coarse individuals who serve almost as outside commentators on society rather than full members of it. They are of little help to Romeo and Juliet, who do not understand or accept the rules of society and refuse to sacrifice their own characters in the manner of their companions. The parents in the play are no help either, as they cannot relate to their children’s rejection of societal norms, and are either confused or angered by their children’s behaviour. Romeo parents express concern at his melancholy, but know they cannot get through to him on their own.[10] Juliet’s parents argue with her several times, then clearly push her away when she expresses her feelings about the proposed marriage to Paris. Romeo and Juliet cannot find a suitable place in the world around them, but whose responsibility is this, if anyone’s? This causes the audience to reflect on a fundamental question relevant to any age and nation; is it the responsibility of the individual to conform to society, or for society to learn to accept the individual?

Though his presentation of the story is not a tragedy in the classic sense, Shakespeare succeeded in designing a tale that has lasted many generations and should last many more before it is forgotten. Classic tragedies have limited interpretations. Because they are constrained by inevitability, there is no reason for the audience to ask, ‘What would happen if…?’ Romeo and Juliet not only allows for numerous interpretations and hypothetical possibilities, it prompts viewers to consider certain moral ambiguities associated with personal responsibility that will always be relevant. These include Friar Laurence’s choice of seeking a desired end using less desirable means, the tipped balance between obedience and independence in parent-child relationships, and how far innocence can be allowed as an excuse from personal responsibility. And while the use of coincidence also detracts from this play’s tragic qualifications, it gives a sense of realism to the story. In reality, chance is not usually considered to be a divine presence, but it does have a significant effect on our lives. Life also does not always have a happy ending, so many viewers can identify with some portion of the characters’ suffering, yet still have hope from the flexibility of Romeo and Juliet that there is some allowance for a different outcome next time.

[2] William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet, ed. by Brian Gibbons (Singapore: Seng Lee Press,1980), Act 1, scene 4, ll. 53-95.

[3] Shakespeare, Prologue, l. 6.

[4] Shakespeare, Act 2, scene 4, ll. 63-64.

[5] Shakespeare, Act 1, scene 3, l. 66.

[6] Shakespeare, Act 2, scene 4, ll. 85-90.

[7] Shakespeare, Act 3, scene 3, l.64.

[8] Shakespeare, Act 5, scene 3, ll. 222-226, 265-268.

[9] Shakespeare, Introduction, p. 66.

[10] Shakespeare, Act 1, scene 1, ll. 144-153.

On a more positive note, I finally booked my trip for April! I don’t have a copy of the itinerary yet, but I know I’ll be going to Paris, Florence, and Amsterdam, among other cities. I’m super excited, and though I won’t be able to keep you updated  as I travel I’ll keep a journal and post everything when I get back. Right now I have to go work on an essay about the role of tragedy in Romeo and Juliet, but I’ll be online for most of the day, so look for me on Skype or Facebook if you want to talk.

As awesome as the 34 meal plan was last semester, I still have very little experience with cooking for myself 3 meals a day, 7 days a week. Fortunately I know my way around a kitchen better than the average exchange student, because they dumped a lot of us here without meals plans and only basic cooking tools. I also got lucky in flat assignments, because the previous occupants left us all of their cooking equipment, so in addition to the pot, pan and wooden spoon that I got in my kitchen package, I also have a strainer, two cutting boards, plastic serving spoons and spatulas, tupperware, a potato masher and about half a knife set. This is still a lot less than I’m used to, but I’m not too dependent on specialty tools and electric appliances, so I don’t really mind.

Aside from kitchen hardware, the one thing that has gotten me through the first month here is online episodes of Good Eats. In about a season and a half of randomly selected episodes, Alton Brown has taught me tricks for shallow frying, steaming and roasting; cooking rice, potatoes, eggs, carrots, brussel sprouts, and sausage. Most of the time I don’t have the ingredients or tools to follow his recipes exactly, but I’m more interested in how he describes the chemical processes that explain the reasoning behind the recipe. If I understand why carrots and parsley go well together, or how cut direction can affect the mouth feel of an onion, I can use that knowledge to make my own meals, rather than being a slave to a cookbook.

I’ve also tried out some tricks of my own, like cooking different kinds of food in different amounts to cut down on the time I spend cooking while decreasing repetition in leftovers. If I make a big batch of any kind of starch I only have to cook that once a week and I can cook smaller batches of meat and vegetables that can be varied each night. When I first tried this with rice though, I overestimated by about half, and had enough for 14 meals plus dessert and then some, so I left a note telling my roommates to help themselves (we’re sharing the cost of rice, among other things). One night at the end of the week, as I was finishing the last of it, my Chinese roommate walked by the kitchen and said, “I think you like rice more than I do!”

The biggest cooking challenge I’ve had so far was making kim bap for a dinner party that I hosted a couple of weeks ago. Kim bap is basically the Korean equivalent of a sushi roll, though it doesn’t have any raw fish in it. The fillings are spinach, egg, carrot, brisket, crab stick, and pickled yellow radish. My mother though I was crazy when I asked her for the recipe, but it turned out alright. The only problem was that I made about twice as much as I needed, and I ended up eating kim bap for the next two days. I forgot to take pictures of the preparation, but I have a couple of the final product that will go up when I have the opportunity. I’m also adding a “Recipe of the day” page so I can share some of my successes outside of the main blog here. Again, comments are welcome. This blog is for you guys, so let me know what you want to hear.

Edit: I also just noticed this went up with the wrong font. Computers are just malfunctioning around me.

As of today, I have plans in the works to tour several countries in Europe during the school’s Easter break, which is a month long. If all goes well, I’ll be travelling for 14 days in a big circle around western and central Europe. Right now the only snag is paying for the trip, since I can’t pay for the whole trip out of pocket and they can’t accept foreign credit cards over the phone. My credit card has given me no end of problems since I arrived. In Europe, they recently changed to a system where all of the credit cards have microchips to identify them instead of magnetic strips, which supposedly reduces identity theft. Since I have no such chip, my card has to be scanned differently and the cashiers always check the signature to verify my identity. You have to sign for credit purchases at home anyway, so this should be no big deal, but hardly anyone checks the signature on the back of the card. Somehow, I’ve gotten away with not signing the back of the card till now, and I’ve found that no pen made by man will leave any mark on it (Yes, I’ve tried Sharpie). So now, every time I make a purchase I have to give the casher my credit card, followed by my student ID with my signature on it, and an explanation. On top of that, I just found out in talking to my credit provider that I cannot extend my limit, which is quite low, because by current U.S. law, I wouldn’t be allowed any credit at all, if I didn’t already have a card. Apparently, anyone under the age of 21 without a personal income cannot be approved for a line of credit, even if they are dependants of their parents.

In other news, classes are still going well and I’m keeping myself socially occupied. I have two papers due in the next two weeks, but both are pretty short (less than 5 pages) and one doesn’t even count towards my grade. I really have to wonder what I’m being graded on here, with the low number of class hours and minimal graded work. I’ve found I have a lot more free time without my laptop, so I’m checking out a few more societies (their word for clubs) through the Give It A Go program. Throughout the semester, many societies offer one or two public events so curious students can see what they’re about before joining. This is because instead of a flat Activities fee like RPI, each society separately charges their members based on the cost of the activities. As I mentioned before, I’m a member of the Leeds Student newspaper, and the Stitch ‘n Bitch society, which are both free to join. I’m also looking at the Scouts and Guides society, the hiking club, and the backstage group, among others, though I don’t know if I’ll join any of them. Some of my friends are in martial arts and dance societies, so I’m looking at those too, though I think I get enough exercise walking to classes and into town twice a week.

I have a lot more I’ve wanted to post about this past week, but most of it was dependant on a bunch of pictures that I took, and the rest just doesn’t seem relevant at the moment, so I guess I’ll leave some stories to tell when I get home. This post was sort of an ‘I’m still alive’ message, so the next ones should be more interesting.

In response to an email from a reader, I’ve added a ‘What I’m reading’ section to the top of the page. I’ve considered doing something similar for my cooking adventures. I haven’t posted much about it, but I’d say about a third of my free time lately has been spent either cooking or learning about cooking. I’ve been a foodie as long as I can remember, but this is my first experience of having to cook for myself every meal of every day. It’s taken some getting used to, but I’m really enjoying it and trying to teach myself something new every day. After hearing about some of my recent experiments, Ian laughingly stated that I love food more than him. I’m actually considering developing a topic for a food article for the paper, though this was suggested to my based on my knowledge of the contents of ramen soup (noodles and flavoured salt water). If anyone is interested, I can start posting about some of the more adventurous recipes that I try, starting this weekend with kimbap for a dinner party on Saturday.

Edit: The change caused more trouble than the original. Back to the old setup for now.