Of Royalty and Power

Throughout this course, we are asked to watch a few movies that are adapted from the plays that we studied in class. The first movie was Elizabeth: The Golden Age. We watched this movie so that we can get an idea or two about the life and culture of the Elizabethan people. I personally enjoy this movie because she is a figure in history that will never be forgotten. Her father fought with the Catholic Church so that he can marry Elizabeth’s mother; all for the sake of getting male heirs to the throne. It’s an irony because after the reign of King Henry, female rulers start emerging in the monarchy. Elizabeth was a tough queen who refused to succumb to any other power and did everything she could for the sake of her country. An example would be that she defeated the Spanish Armada. What I learn from this movie is that the rulers should put the people before themselves. It is their job to protect the people from all harm. Another thing that I would like to point out is the importance of making decisions. Elizabeth made a decision to behead her cousin to eliminate the arising problems and her decision provokes the Spanish King to declare a Holy war with England.

The following movie was Macbeth. It is not a play that we did for this course but we have done it before during our Foundation Course years. This is my first and favourite Shakespearean play. I find Macbeth an interesting character who craves for power. But my favourite character is his wife, Lady Macbeth. She is one lady who would do anything to get what she wants. She planned for the murder of King Duncan and decided what to do to cover the deed. Her famous line, “Unsex me here” shows that she does not want to be perceived as a female. Greediness is the feeling to be avoided. Greed for power will lead to self-destruction.

The movie Oedipus Rex was not that clear, unfortunately. I was enthusiastic to watch the adaptation but I was disappointed by the quality of the movie. Nevertheless, I watched the movie till the end and enjoyed it. However, I wished that the movie would be more gruesome when Oedipus blinded himself. The actors in the movie played their roles well minus the club foot. Oedipus is a man who tries to lead his own life and avoiding the prophecies as stated by the oracles. I salute his attempt but Fate is already written by the gods. After knowing his incestuous sins, he punished himself by blinding himself with Iocastê’s brooches. I find this punishment too heavy for him to bear. I would rather have him kill himself like what Iocastê did. But I think that it would be worst for him if he died because he will have to meet his slain father in the afterworld.

The next movie was King Lear . It is a good adaptation from the original play. Now that I’ve read the play, I realized that this movie closely follow the real play. The movie gives me the visual representation of the play and helps me understand more about the play. I can finally put faces to the characters. King Lear teaches me about the Natural Order that the people believe in. King Lear went against the order by abdicating and giving his throne to his treacherous daughters. This world is made in order so that things would not go astray. Basically, this whole play is about defying the Natural Order and the consequences the characters have to face.

The last movie we watched is Streetcar Named Desire. At first when I knew that it would be in black and white, I was disappointed. I thought that it would be so ancient that it would be boring. But my thoughts were wrong. When I read the play, I tend to imagine how the characters look like and what they wear, how they react to each other while playing poker or arguing with each other. The movie, though an old one, lived up to my expectations. Being in black and white did not stop me from understanding the play. I pity Blanche. Is she really mad from the beginning of the play or is she just pretentious who ended up being mad after the rape case? I keep on wondering about that. Anyways, I do not like Blanche’s perception towards Stanley. She is so high and mighty and thinks that he isn’t suitable for her sister, Stella. I learnt that one should not be bias or prejudice towards others of different background. We all have red blood after all.