Aphra Behn

            On Wednesday morning I memorized the third verse of “Rock n Rose" by Serge Gainsbourg. There's just one more to go and after that it's all repetition. 

            It was extremely dry in the apartment, even with the windows open. My guitar was once more very difficult to tune perhaps partly because of that but also because there’s something wrong with the guitar. 

            At 10:00 I logged on for my British Literature tutorial. Alexandria said she’s been having connectivity problems and was using a hot spot and so her video might go off momentarily. 

            Our entire discussion was on Othello. She asked if Desdemona and Emilia’s relationship parallels that of Othello and Iago.

            I said that the difference is that Emilia does not hate Desdemona and she is also being manipulated by her husband. 

            I was having more problems with my mic and had to hold the jack in, but after a while that didn’t even work and so Alexandra had to pass me over when I raised my hand. I discovered that I have another adaptor for my mic jack and that seemed to work. 

            Emilia plays into being manipulated but I said some of that has to do with being bound as a wife to be obedient in that era. 

            I said racism is about power and Othello is the second most powerful person in the play. The duke is not racist towards him and the only people that attack his race are pissed off at him over other things. Iago feels betrayed because he served Othello for many years and he feels his service was not recognized. There’s also the idea that if Iago can prove Othello’s judgement to be faulty then it proves that Othello judged wrong in not giving Iago the promotion. 

            The play is about appearances. Ocular proof. Wanting to be convinced of the hanky. 

            I said Iago suggests that he has a thought and pretends that he’s not going to say it, causing Othello to force it out of him. 

            At this point we lost Alexandra for a moment. 

            He convinces Othello that Othello is not what he seems to be. It is more effective to pretend not to be certain. 

            I say that if a powerless man like Roderigo had run off with Desdemona her father would have had him slaughtered on the street and no one would have cared because it's more about class than race. 

            I hate these online discussions because it’s so hard to make a point and then to be able to follow through with another. 

            I had the butt of a loaf of bread with peanut butter and two tortillas with cheese for lunch. 

            I finished reading the short novel Oroonoko by Aphra Behn, who was apparently the first English woman to ever make a living from writing. 

            The story is of an African prince who falls in love with the beautiful Imoinda and marries her but then she is claimed for the harem of his grandfather the king. But Oroonoko foils his grandfather by sneaking in and consummating his marriage. Since a wife that has had sex with one’s son is tainted the king sends Imoinda away to be sold into slavery but he convinces Oronooko that she has been killed. Later Oronooko makes friends with a European sea captain who invites he and his men to visit his ship. But it’s a trick to take them into slavery. They are sailed to Surinam where Oronooko's name is changed to Caesar. But Caesar proves himself so noble that he is barely treated as a slave and rather becomes a leader among the slaves. He learns that there is a slave woman there who is so beautiful, graceful and noble that even the white plantation managers pine for her to no avail and yet they don’t make her work either. When Caesar meets her he is reunited with Imoinda and they live as man and wife. After she becomes pregnant Caesar dreads raising his child as a slave and organizes a failed rebellion. He is whipped until almost dead and vows revenge. Knowing that Imoinda and his future child will suffer if he rebels he resolves to mercifully kill her beforehand and she happily agrees to this. After he kills her he is captured and tortured to death. Some of the European officials mentioned are real but Oronooko is fictional. Behn did however live in Surinam and her description of the place and the circumstances are accurate. 

            Although I’ve completed all the required British Literature reading and read the poetry twice I revisited Andrew Marvell's poems to find a question to write for next week's tutorial. His poem “The Garden” is curious because in some verses he doubles words to create layered internality. Innocence and tranquility are plants among plants, green thought inside of green shade and two paradises inside of one paradise. 

            I heated my last burger and had it on my last two slices of multigrain bread with a beer while watching the second episode in my download of Ivanhoe, but which is really episode twelve.

            In this story Bruno returns home after several years to find that Donella, the woman he plans to marry has been betrothed to Ragan the smith, and that their lord and Bruno’s father Sir William has given his consent. Bruno protests and so William tells his son that if he can convince Donella to marry him then he will allow it. Bruno starts by placing Donella’s father in the dungeon and then he sends his men after Ragan. But Ragan is a giant of a man and he holds off twenty of Sir William’s men until Bruno hits him from behind and he is taken away. Meanwhile Gurth and Bart take Ivanhoe to meet Gurth’s cousin Ragan but they find Ragan’s forge a wreck, Ivanhoe, posing as a minstrel and Gurth and Bart as jesters come to the wedding celebration of Bruno and Donella in order to free Ragan and Donella's father. But Bruno recognizes Ivanhoe and sets his men upon them. After a fight Gurth and Bart are captured but Ivanhoe makes his way to the dungeon where he tries to force the jailer to open the cell but he throws the key out the window. Ragan says all he needs is a lever to break the lock and so Ivanhoe gives him a sword. With Ragan free they fight their way to free Gurth and Bart. The wedding is interrupted and Sir William, with a sword at his back from behind a curtain, gives his consent to Donella marrying Ragan. 

            Donella was played by Ann Sears, who co starred in She Always Gets Their Man and had supporting roles in Bridge on the River Kwai and Tales from the Crypt, as well as a few British TV series.