2020-03-28

Shakespeare in Star Wars: The Tragedy of Anakin Skywalker



Many of Shakespeare's greatest plays are tragedies.  The tragic genre allows the author to delve into humanity and morality at a deeper level than others.  Tragedies have the opposite pattern to comedies. Comedies begin with a problem and have a happy ending, usually a wedding.  Tragedies, on the other hand, begin with a character of high status and often great wealth before his life falls apart, and many people end up dead.  Ambition and revenge are also typical of Shakespeare's tragedies. Though many stories outside of Shakespeare fit into this pattern as well, the Star Wars Prequel Trilogy is a particularly good example of these similarities.
     A key part of tragedies is the setup.  The circumstances must be exactly right for everything to fall apart at once, and there are many circumstances hovering on the brink of disaster throughout the Prequel Trilogy.  The Phantom Menace does not contain nearly as many tragic elements as the other two movies, but some are still present.  The Jedi Order was unprepared for the return of a powerful enemy like the Sith, much as Julius Caesar did not expect hostility from the Roman politicians.  In both cases, complacency and a lack of preparation set the stage for tragic events. Another critical circumstance in setting into motion the events of Revenge of the Sith is the romance between Anakin and Padmé.  Like Romeo and Juliet, the couple are not allowed to be in love, so they marry in secret.  Weddings are usually a symbol of happiness in Shakespeare, but secret weddings foreshadow tragedy.  A wedding is a joyful occasion with feasting and fellowship, so to have one without guests is to undermine the happiness of the celebration.  In Shakespeare, a wedding without guests leads to tragedy, not joy. The same will ultimately be true of Padmé and Anakin. In addition, Palpatine carefully grooms Anakin's ambition to prepare him for his tragic role.  The evil counselor is ubiquitous within the tragedies. Lady Macbeth stokes her husband's desire for the crown. The ghost of Hamlet's father goads him to take revenge on his uncle. Iago convinces Othello to distrust Desdemona and Cassio.  This type of character actively works towards the tragic outcome and is often the main contributor to its realization. The combination of unprepared leadership, improper passion, and uninhibited ambition has all the makings of a tragic downfall.  
     The causes of tragedy, however, are not the only shared element.  The motivations and actions of tragic protagonists are also similar.  Most tragic protagonists fall into one of two categories: the vengeful hero or the ambitious villain.  Hamlet is an example of the vengeful hero archetype. He seeks to kill his uncle for murdering his father and then marrying his mother.  He loses sight of almost everything as he contemplates, and eventually succeeds in, killing his uncle. Anakin follows much the same pattern, though Palpatine convinces him to attack the wrong people.  By the end of Revenge of the Sith, Anakin views the Jedi Order the same way Hamlet viewed Claudius: as an evil usurper.  He feels betrayed, especially by Obi-wan, who, much like Gertrude, has chosen to side with his enemy.  In the process of achieving his "justice," Anakin estranges Padmé, leading to her death, just as Hamlet induces Ophelia's insanity and suicide.  The obvious difference is that Anakin's usurping Claudius is not truly the Jedi Order, but Palpatine himself. However, he does reconcile his mistake in Return of the Jedi when he finally defeats the Emperor, like Hamlet, at the cost of his own life.  The tragedies, and Hamlet in particular, are characterized by soliliquys, when a character expresses his inner thoughts and turmoil to the audience.  This is not a common element in film, but one can imagine the battle ensuing in Anakin's head as he waits for Palpatine's arrest in the Council chamber.  Often, however, Anakin's struggle is expressed in his conversations with other characters. Hamlet contemplates the nature of death, while Anakin seeks advice from Yoda.  Hamlet questions the depth of his own sorrow at his father's death whereas Anakin confides in Padmé about his reaction to his mother's. Much like Hamlet, Anakin is a vengeful hero.
     Anakin is not purely a vengeful hero though.  He also has many of the characteristics of an ambitious villain like Macbeth.  Macbeth was a faithful and honorable thane, even killing MacDonwald, the leader of a rebellion against King Duncan.  It was not until three witches gave him a prophecy that he would be king that Macbeth's ambition began to take hold of him.  Similarly, Anakin Skywalker was a renowned military genius who killed the supposed leader of the Separatists, Count Dooku, before his own downfall.  Both Macbeth and Anakin killed the leaders of rebellious uprisings before becoming one themselves. Unsurprisingly, this foreshadows their own fates.  Both are awarded promotions for their victory: Anakin, a seat on the Jedi council, and Macbeth the rule of Cawdor, but each holds a flame of ambition that desires more.   In their quest for power, both Anakin and Macbeth become demented and inhuman. Their loss of humanity is demonstrated through killing of the innocent. Macbeth has Macduff's wife and son killed and attempts to kill Banquo's son as well.  Anakin shows his remorselessness by killing the younglings in the Jedi Temple. Macbeth's ambition is stoked by his wife and the prophecy that he will be king while Anakin is the subject of a prophecy of his own and a mentor's deceit. One person is skeptical of the prophecy's fulfillment however: Mace Windu.  Windu, like Banquo, warns against putting too much faith in prophecies and distrusts Anakin's counselor. In part for this reason, both Windu and Banquo are killed. Though driven by fate, both Macbeth and Anakin also seek to defy fate. Macbeth sees a vision of a line of kings descended from Banquo, and kills him to prevent it.  Anakin sees a vision of Padmé's death and does all that he can to prevent it. This selective acceptance of fate leads to each believing himself to be invincible, always a precursor to defeat. Obi-wan is Anakin's Macduff, showing up once disaster is already in motion to end its cause. Like Macduff, he faces the full extent of his enemy's delusion and desperation in a duel before brutally defeating him. Macbeth's descent into madness is not isolated however.  He is accompanied by his wife, who eventually commits suicide to escape the world her husband has thrown into chaos. Padmé too loses the will to live due to her husband's insanity and destruction. However, the wife of the ambitious villain is not the only one who is thrown into despair at his struggle for power. Many die both attacking and defending Macbeth's castle of Dunsinane, and the entire kingdom goes dark as a symbol of the usurpation of proper rule. Scotland itself bears the greatest burden of his madness.  Anakin's ambition has even graver consequences, subduing entire planets under the opression of the Galactic Empire for nearly thirty years. Macbeth is not the only example of the ambitious villain.  Julius Caesar and Coriolanus follow similar patterns.  Each time, the protagonist throws aside conventional ideas of what constitutes rightful rule to advance his own position, while ascribing to himself noble ideals.  This always brings about chaos and tyranny. Curiously, in almost every instance, the protagonist's wife commits suicide as a result. Though Anakin has the marks of the vengeful hero archetype, he is clearly an ambitious villain as well.
     How can Anakin be both hero and villain?  He obviously becomes a villain as the trilogy progresses, but the audience remembers the good man he was.  Though his actions are unquestionably wrong, the viewer holds on to the hope that there is still good in him somewhere.  He becomes a villain, but the memory of the hero remains. Although the Prequel Trilogy has become somewhat of a punchline in popular culture, it is not fitting to forget the potential that lies within it.  It has incredibly strong ties to Hamlet, Macbeth, and Julius Caesar, three of the greatest works written by arguably the greatest author who ever lived.  The tragedy genre allows the creator to dig into moral and existential issues like no other.  Though Anakin's emotion may leave something to be desired, the story of his tragic downfall is highly compelling and the perfect introduction to the redemption of the Original Trilogy.

2020-03-20

Shakespeare in Star Wars: A Comedy of Blasters


          All's well that ends well.  This is perhaps the simplest way to sum up a Shakespearean comedy.  Today, a comedy is usually thought of as a story full of jokes. This is certainly true of Shakespeare's comedies, but it is not what links them as a cohesive group.  The comedies are stories of redemption. No matter how bad things may be at the beginning or in the middle of the story, there is always a happy ending. This pattern is what defines a classical comedy.  However, there are many other shared elements in Shakespeare's comedies as well, such as romance, deception, and plotting. Nowhere in Star Wars are these elements more clearly seen than in the Original Trilogy.  It shares not only plot elements with Shakespeare, but character qualities and relationships.  
     Perhaps the most defining feature of Shakespeare's comedies is the ending.  Almost every one ends in a wedding. A comedy must end in joy and resolution, and what better way is there to express that than a wedding with joy and feasting?  Weddings represent union and harmony, the antithesis to the conflict and chaos that takes place beforehand. A wedding is the ultimate happy ending. Star Wars is of course a very different kind of story.   The Original Trilogy is a comedy on a galactic scale.  The stakes are not the lives or happiness of individuals alone, but of galaxies.  Its ending, therefore, is not a wedding celebration, but a celebration of freedom from tyranny.  The Ewoks feast and dance as fireworks announce their victory. In later editions, there are celebrations on many planets set to joyful music, an appropriate addition.  The audience is not left without a hint of a wedding however, as Han and Leia finally give up their bickering and kiss after the Battle of Endor.  
     Another ubiquitous characteristic of the comedies is disguise and deception.  In Much Ado About Nothing, Hero fakes her death.  Hermione does the same in A Winter's TaleA Comedy of Errors is full of mistaken identity as two pairs of identical twins roam the streets of Ephesus, completely unaware of each other.  Many of Shakespeare's deceptions are present as well in the Original Trilogy. One of the most common of these is a woman disguising herself as a young boy.  Portia poses as a lawyer in The Merchant of Venice.  Viola becomes Cesario in Twelfth Night.  Leia disguises herself in a similar manner in Return of the Jedi.  Like Rosalind in As You Like It or Julia in Two Gentlemen of Verona, Leia dresses as a man to deter trouble.  She knows she would not be taken seriously in Jabba's hive of scum and villainy, so she dresses to intimidate until she is unmasked and taken captive.  Another common "deception" in Shakespeare is the disguising or apparent loss of family members who are revealed later near the end. The pairs of twins reunite with each other and their parents at the end of A Comedy of Errors.  Perdita returns to her parents after sixteen years in A Winter's Tale.  In a similar way, Luke and Leia discover that they are twins in Return of the Jedi, but not until after the painful revelation of their parentage in The Empire Strikes Back.  Though Vader is revealed as Luke's father on Cloud City, their reunion does not take place until his death near the very end of Return of the Jedi when Anakin Skywalker finally appears.  Reunions, like weddings, are joyful occasions, which is why they are so common in the endings of the comedies.
     One final story element of Shakespeare's comedies is plotting.  Many of the plays involve a convoluted plot that must be executed perfectly to achieve some end.  Often there is a villain with a counter-plot who must be foiled. In Much Ado About Nothing, for example, many of the characters join together to trick Benedick and Beatrice into falling in love.  Don Jon then plots to make Claudio publicly disgrace Hero, who is then restored by the plans of the priest.  Plotting is the central element of this play, and is present in many of the others. It is unquestionably present in the Original Trilogy as well.  In A New Hope, Luke and Han attempt to stealthily deliver the Death Star plans to the Rebel Alliance, which mounts a carefully contrived attack to destroy the space station.  In The Empire Strikes Back, Vader uses his cunning to lure Luke into a trap.  Return of the Jedi, like Much Ado About Nothing, is essentially made up entirely of plotting.  First the protagonists infiltrate Jabba's Palace and escape.  Then the Rebels go on a stealth mission to Endor, only to discover the Emperor's plan to destroy them.  Plotting is a key element of comedies because it increases the payoff at the end. To see the protagonists overcome difficulties along the way builds drama and makes the celebration that much more rewarding.
     Plot devices, however, are not the only thing Star Wars borrows from Shakespeare.  There are many similarities between the characters in them as well, especially between the three main protagonists in the Original Trilogy and the four in Much Ado About Nothing.  For most of A New Hope, Luke treats Leia much like Claudio treats Hero in the beginning of the play.  Smitten, he idealizes her and is jealous when Han expresses interest. Unlike Claudio, however, Luke is not unreasonable.  Fortunately, Leia takes to Han instead. Their relationship is reminiscent of Beatrice and Benedick's. They hide their feelings for each other behind insults and squabbling until a crisis encourages them to open up.  For a time during The Empire Strikes Back, however, Han and Lando compete for Leia's attention much like Proteus and Valentine pursuing Silvia in Two Gentlemen of Verona.  
     Correlations between characters do not have to be exact.  If they were, the stories would be the same and of little interest.  The similarities between characters must be strong, however, to justify a comparison.  For example, Obi-wan is not much like Prospero in The Tempest, despite the fact each is a father figure with magical powers mentoring a child to adulthood in relative isolation.  Though they are somewhat similar, their roles are very different. Obi-wan does, however, serve much the same role as the Shepherd from A Winter's Tale.  Both look after a child (Luke and Perdita) who has been sent away to avoid the wrath of a villainous father. (Vader and Leontes)  Like the Shepherd, Obi-wan helps pave the way for Luke to return and face his father. However, Unlike Luke, Perdita seems to be content with her status as a shepherd's daughter.  In a way, Luke is more like Orlando of As You Like It, who leaves the family farm, despite discouragement from his brother, in order to seek fame and fortune like his late father.  The motivations, ambitions, and personalities of characters are what link them, not merely their state in the world.
     Clearly there are many similarities between Shakespeare's comedies and the Original Star Wars Trilogy, but why?  The reason lies at the heart of classical comedy itself.  As stated at the beginning, comedies are stories of redemption; there is always a happy ending.  In a classical comedy, all's well that ends well, but that means it must start out unwell in some way.  Every comedy must begin with a bad scenario and characters who have the ability and opportunity to improve it.  While this can take many forms, it should be no surprise that there are similarities between these characters. They are driven to make the world better, and in the end they succeed.  In a comedy there may be setbacks, but nothing can go truly wrong. For all the world's a stage, the men and women merely players, and the Force is always with them.

2020-03-17

Viral




The state of the nation in jeopardy
We all know it's bad, but to what degree?
Millions will die in a matter of weeks.
That's what I heard on the news at least.

Stock market tanked twelve percent today.
Grocery stores empty, that's what they say.
President telling us all to pray
Looks like it's not gonna be okay

Fear and hysteria
Over a matter of
Weeks it begins 
To invade your mind.

Fact isn't part of it.
Cut to the heart of it.
Look at the cause,
What do you find?

Just look what happened to Italy.
Sickness will prey on the elderly.
Hospitals over capacity
Think we'll fare better?  Just wait and see.

Stay quarantined in your house a while.
Don't ask me how long, just nod and smile.
Not crazy, just going the extra mile.
Don't make this such a trial.

The rising pandemic
Is so emblematic 
Of panic,
The world that we all live in.

Yes, it's problematic,
But hide in your attic,
And you're the one
Wearing the Joker grin

Government dropping the interest rate
Schools are all closed, and don't touch your face.
Everything comes to a stop in LA.
The world is on lockdown for 15 days.

Air travel grounded till it all ends
Nervously watching the graphs and the trends
Hoping the shutdown won't have to extend
We anxiously all attend.

"Apocalypse"
Is on the lips
Of some
Although it shouldn't be.

It could get bad,
But where we're at,
Hysteria
Is the real disease.

This problem will not just blow away,
But don't stockpile groceries until mid-May.
From groups and the elderly stay away.
Don't need more insanity on display

Precautions don't mean that the world will end,
But vulnerable people we try to defend.
Flatten the curve, that's what they recommend,
But we don't have to pretend

That the world won't keep spinning.
Humanity's ending
Is not resting on
The edge of a knife.

Can be overwhelming,
But they're overselling.
Be careful, but still,
You can live your life.

But you won't hear that on the news.
They are trying to keep you confused.
The more searching and clicking you do,
To them it's just ad revenue.

We all panic and follow the virus,
But the fear is already inside us.
We're infected and highly contagious,
And that fear is what's really gone viral.

2020-03-09

Shakespeare in Star Wars: Return of the Archetype



     It is no longer any secret that stories composed across millenia share common archetypes and themes.  The idea of common narratives shared across cultures but with different features has been around at least since Joseph Campbell's The Hero With a Thousand Faces was published in 1949.  It is only since then, however, that those narrative principles could be consciously applied to new stories to ensure that they would have the same impact as those ancient archetypes.  
     George Lucas was one of the first to do so.  He came across Campbell's work while writing what we now know as A New Hope and intentionally implemented the themes he read about into his script.  Many would point to the power of special effects to transport viewers to another world or to nostalgia for times past as the feature that makes the Star Wars saga so captivating, but it is the ancient archetypes in the story that hold the rest of the film together and form the universe we know and love.  Lucas was both an innovator and a writer who knew the value of ideas that had stood the test of time. This combination of the novel and the ancient is what made the Star Wars saga so impactful on our culture.
     We live in the age of Star Wars, but perhaps the most influential author who ever existed lived 500 years ago.  Shakespeare was another master of combining the new and the old. His plays are full of the archetypes that have dominated storytelling for thousands of years.  It should not be any surprise then that Shakespeare's plays have much in common with Star Wars.¹  Those similarities are precisely what this series will examine.  This is merely an introduction. Future installments will examine each of the categories of Shakespeare's plays and the strengths they lend to the Star Wars saga.  The conclusion will explore what happens when those influences are cast aside.  
     "All the world’s a stage, And all the men and women merely players; They have their exits and their entrances; And one man in his time plays many parts."  So too is the world of storytelling. One story may be rekindled time and time again through the ages, and those similarities give light into what makes stories meaningful.  The stage is set. Let's meet the players.


1 In fact, those similarities inspired an entire book series.  It is called, fittingly enough, William Shakespeare's Star Wars, and I highly recommend that you read it.

2020-03-05

Glass Half Full




Glass Half Full
By Samuel Hammock

On a table sat a glass of water
Filled just up to the halfway mark.
Soon it would be a source of conflict 
As water glasses seldom are.

 “It's halfway full!” said the Optimist
 With a tone of joy and cheer.
But the Pessimist interjects “Nonsense!
It's half empty from right here.”

The Statistician calmly states
 “It's at fifty percent capacity.”
 But the Engineer interrupts to say
 “It's just twice as big as it needs to be.”

 The Wise Guy in the corner smirks
 “It's full, but half is air.”
 “An atom’s mostly empty space.“
His Snobby Twin declares.

The Blind Man doesn't understand 
The escalating brawl.
The Skeptic questions if the glass 
Holds anything at all.

 “How is the word halfway defined?”
 Demands old Socrates.
 “It should be fuller than it is!“
The Idealist clearly sees.

 “The glass is either full or not!”
 The Logician shouts aloud.
The Stoic will not let the glass 
Affect his conduct proud.

The Empiricist taps on the glass
Just to be sure it's there.
The Marxist says the glass should be
Divided, to be fair.

The Fascist says the one who
Takes the glass is always right.
The Existentialist demands 
They let the glass decide.

To Perspectivists, the water is 
Surrounded by a glass.
The Physicist just wants to find
The glass’s total mass.

The Nihilist, depressed and sad 
Cries out “It doesn't matter!”
 The Paranoia-riddled One
Suspects it isn't water.

The Darwinist declares the glass
Was just an accident.
The Fruedian says that social norms
Will make it discontent.

Postmodernists say “You decide.
It's your truth after all.”
The Surrealist sees a big green
Llama-rider waterfall.

The Politician claims the glass 
Is his opponent's fault.
The Food Critic complains that it
Could use a bit of salt.

With empty glass in hand,
The Opportunist parts the fray.
 “Boy, I was thirsty.
Why are you guys arguing today?”

2020-03-02

What is Nature and is it Right?




     An argument often heard today is that if something is natural, it must be right.  Essentially, this makes nature the standard for morality. But what is nature, and what does it mean for something to be right?  Nature is the way something is without outside influence, its uninhibited characteristics. What is right is that which is morally good.  These terms are often conflated. For example, when debating homosexual or transgender issues, the argument is usually made that "that's just how they are, and it's wrong to try to change that."  This argument asserts first that these are natural phenomena, which will be discussed later, and second that all natural phenomena are inherently morally right. This second assertion is very problematic.  Nature is essentially the way things are. If the way things are is inherently right, then the idea of right and wrong loses its meaning. A thing cannot be different than how it is, so everything must be right.  When nature is right, everything is right. Clearly nature and "right" are not the same thing, but are they related, and if so, how?
     An object's natural state is its uninfluenced state.  It is how it is when nothing interferes with it. This definition is perfectly fine when it comes to almost everything in the world except humanity.  Our natural state is difficult to pinpoint because the way we are has changed. "So God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them." Gen. 1:27  "And God saw everything that He had made, and behold, it was very good." Gen. 1:31  
At Creation, humanity was good.  We had no tendency to sin. Then came the Fall.  Adam disobeyed God's command and brought rebellion into humanity.  
     In his book Mere Christianity, C.S. Lewis describes human nature as "what human beings ought to do, and do not." (Lewis, 28)  In other words, human nature is our inherent knowledge of what is right and our tendency to ignore that knowledge.  This is a very accurate and succinct way to sum up what we call human nature, but is it truly natural? Humanity was created for a purpose.  God's purpose for mankind, as stated by the Westminster shorter catechism, is to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever. The rebellion that is human nature cannot be called truly natural when it goes so against the purpose for which humanity was created.  Since it is in direct opposition to our purpose, it is perhaps the least natural thing about us. Humanity is an unusual case. Our natural state is how we should be, and our "human nature" is how we are. They are both natural in at least some sense of the word, though they remain in direct opposition.  
     Does any of this relate at all to what is right or wrong?  Right was defined at the beginning as that which is morally good, but there is disagreement even on what this means.  Many would say that what you want to do is what is right for you. Your desires determine what is right. In other words, human nature is right.  As stated at the beginning, this destroys the concept of "rightness.” If whatever a person wants to do is right, then everything can be right. Not only is this idea nonsensical, it is exactly the opposite of the truth.  Human nature, our tendency to rebel, is wrong. "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?" Jer. 17:9 There must be a standard for what is right. It must be absolute in order to have any meaning.  Many standards have been proposed, but the only true standard is the Bible.
     What is right and what is natural are both absolutes.  Things are how they are, and should be how they should be.  Human nature is peculiar. It is neither right nor truly natural.  It is the way things are and shouldn't be, or as C.S. Lewis put it, ”what human beings ought to do, and do not."


Works Cited
Lewis, C.S. (1943) Mere Christianity. New York, NY: The Macmillan Company
Grudem, W. (2011) The ESV Student Study Bible. Wheaton, IL: Crossway

2020-03-01

Go Lick a Swingset



Go Lick a Swingset
By: Samuel Hammock

A thing that doesn't kill you makes you stronger.
That's how the saying goes.
A thing that doesn't kill you makes you stronger.
Go lick a swingset, kids.

A thing that doesn't kill you makes you stronger,
Though it may make you weak.
Recovery will follow in the future,
And it brings with it strength.

A city was invaded, its walls broken;
Survivors scavenge streets.
In time, the city was rebuilt, a new age,
And stronger than before.  

A thing that doesn't kill you makes you stronger.
That's how the saying goes.
A thing that doesn't kill you makes you stronger.
Go lick a swingset, kids.

We vaccinate our kids to keep them healthy,
Injecting sicknesses.
It helps them all to build up antibodies,
Immunization's goal.

We ponder all the wrong ideas and worldviews
That people sometimes hold.
In entertaining arguments opposing,
We make our defense bold.

A thing that doesn't kill you makes you stronger.
That's how the saying goes.
A thing that doesn't kill you makes you stronger.
Go lick a swingset, kids.

A man once lost his job and livelihood,
Deep in depression dove,
Back from the brink returned to face the future,
God's fortitude in soul.

A child is taking her first steps on two legs.
She falls and cries aloud.
The next time she will stagger that much further.
Her skill will come in time.

A thing that doesn't kill you makes you stronger.
That's how the saying goes.
A thing that doesn't kill you makes you stronger.
Go lick a swingset, kids.

Experience should always make us better,
And failure teaches much.
The risks both small and great that we encounter
Are opportunities.

It is important to know our own limits,
Just how far we can go.
The best way to learn life is just to live it.
It's too short to go slow.

A day that doesn't end you makes you wiser:
That's how the living goes.
A thing that doesn't kill you makes you stronger.
Go lick a swingset, kids.

A Poet's Guide to the Philosophy of Lawnmowing

        Mowing the lawn is such a chore. It makes my body tired and sore. Why do we persist in insisting so That grass can't be allowed ...