Death, Despair, & Destruction. Thanks Shakespeare.

I just need to get this out there. During that entire David Tennant scene, I felt extremely uncomfortable, and I had no idea why. For some reason, David Tennant rubbed me the wrong way, and a little Googling later made me realize just why I find him so creepy....

IT'S BARTY CROUCH JR. FROM HARRY POTTER AND THE GOBLET OF FIRE.

It's a small world. 

Now that I've gotten Angelo/Barty Crouch Jr. out of the way, let's get back to what's important. Since Halloween is right around the corner, I think it's only fitting that we discuss death. Obviously. 

The subject of death is pretty prevalent in Act 3, from the Duke's pep talk in the opening of Scene 1 to Claudio's pretty graphic explanation of his fear of dying. This Scene felt like a flashback to the days of Hamlet: a lot of death, despair, and destruction as Wendelin van Draanen would put it. Claudio laments on the looming prospect of death: "Ay but to die and go we know not where,/ To lie in cold obstruction and to rot" (3.3.118-19). He notes the single most frightening part of death: its uncertainty. There's only a few things we as humans know to be true. We all were born, and one day we all must die. But what we don't know is what happens after the fact. No one's been to the other side of death and back to give us all a synopsis of what goes down. There's simply no way to know. It's made clear through Claudio's speech that he has not yet come to terms with facing this uncertainty. He even says "The weariest and most loathed worldly life...is a paradise/ To what we fear of death" (3.1.129, 131-32). Wow. This contrasts with what the Duke, oops, **Friar** had to say to Claudio about meeting his end. The Duke/Friar seems to suggest that to live in an evil world is worse than greeting death with open arms, saying "Yet in this life/ Lie hid moe thousand deaths; yet death we fear/ That makes these odds all even" (3.1.39-41). Although this is an interesting thought, Claudio and I are not convinced. After reflecting on all these lovely thoughts, Claudio seems to have an abrupt change of heart. He's actually not okay with dying so Isabella can keep her purity.

Luckily, the Duke/Friar steps in to keep this situation from getting more uncomfortable than it already is. And, of course, he has a master plan. He's just going to send in Angelo's ex-fiance to sleep with him instead of Isabella. It'll be dark, the Duke says. Angelo will never notice, he says. Allllllriiiiiight. Needless to say that once again, I'm not convinced that everything is going to work out. I hope Shakespeare has something especially clever up his sleeve.

Before I sign off I would like to apologize for the slightly dismal tone of this blog post. It's just been that kind of day. 

Goodnight and good luck to you all.