De Alvarez lecture covers politics in Shakespeare's 'Dream'
Gabbi Chee
Issue date: 11/17/09 Section: News
Fairies represent the natural order of things - at least in the world of William Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream." Dr. Leo de Alvarez of the politics department spoke to this effect in a lecture covering "politics, poetry and revelation" in the Shakespearean comedy. The lecture was held Wednesday night in Madonna Hall Lounge.
Senior politics major and Madonna Hall RA Josh Becker hosted the lecture. Becker had originally approached de Alvarez about giving a talk on politics and the Bible. But two weeks before the event, de Alvarez asked if he could change the topic.
"He felt it would be fitting with the play going on," Becker said, referring to the drama department's main stage production of "A Midsummer Night's Dream," which ran from Nov. 4 through Nov. 15.
"The argument for reading Shakespeare politically is that it is not by accident or whimsy that certain cities, kingdoms or empires are chosen as the settings for his plays," de Alvarez said on Wednesday. "The political question is, 'Who should rule?'"
But first one must answer the question, "What is best for human beings?"
"The highest good for human beings is the good of all things," said de Alvarez. He argued that, in order to understand what this good is, the characters of "A Midsummer Night's Dream" need the intervention of the fairy realm, which "is the representation of the assurance of the order of nature."
In the play, de Alvarez said, images and representations have a strong effect on reality. In particular, the four lovers-Hermia, Helena, Lysander and Demetrius-wake on the final morning not quite knowing if the confusing events that happened to them in the woods resulting from fairy charm was dream or reality, and Athenian ruler Theseus is uncomfortable admitting their account as fact.
De Alvarez suggested that the fairies' action is necessary to the message of the play with regard to the nature of reality. "Nature has blots and prodigies which require amendment. Nature is not wholly beneficent," de Alvarez said. "But it is the fairies that make possible amendment."
Senior politics major and Madonna Hall RA Josh Becker hosted the lecture. Becker had originally approached de Alvarez about giving a talk on politics and the Bible. But two weeks before the event, de Alvarez asked if he could change the topic.
"He felt it would be fitting with the play going on," Becker said, referring to the drama department's main stage production of "A Midsummer Night's Dream," which ran from Nov. 4 through Nov. 15.
"The argument for reading Shakespeare politically is that it is not by accident or whimsy that certain cities, kingdoms or empires are chosen as the settings for his plays," de Alvarez said on Wednesday. "The political question is, 'Who should rule?'"
But first one must answer the question, "What is best for human beings?"
"The highest good for human beings is the good of all things," said de Alvarez. He argued that, in order to understand what this good is, the characters of "A Midsummer Night's Dream" need the intervention of the fairy realm, which "is the representation of the assurance of the order of nature."
In the play, de Alvarez said, images and representations have a strong effect on reality. In particular, the four lovers-Hermia, Helena, Lysander and Demetrius-wake on the final morning not quite knowing if the confusing events that happened to them in the woods resulting from fairy charm was dream or reality, and Athenian ruler Theseus is uncomfortable admitting their account as fact.
De Alvarez suggested that the fairies' action is necessary to the message of the play with regard to the nature of reality. "Nature has blots and prodigies which require amendment. Nature is not wholly beneficent," de Alvarez said. "But it is the fairies that make possible amendment."
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