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Christopher Douce

A334 Journal - September 2024

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1 September 2024

I’ve been looking through some of the databases we have access to. I had a look at the Oxford English Dictionary (OED), Early English Books Online (EEBO), Eighteenth Century Collections Online (ECCO), The Reading Experience Database (UK RED) and ProQuest One Literature (PQ1L).

I did a few random searches in EEBO and I was amazed at the number of curious books I could find. When messing with ECCO I was very impressed that it could relate textual searches to sections of manuscripts. The Defoe search was a great exercise. I found the UK RED database interesting, but a bit more curious. I’m guessing it can be useful to understand more about how texts are talked about, received (by the reader and readers) and shared. It was interesting to discover a suggestion that Austen had read Gulliver’s Travels, evidenced by a letter where she mentions horses.

What struck me about the PQ11 database is the extent to which it is possible to gain more directly access articles written by critics. For the A233 I was relying on the OU library to find critical perspectives and voices. Whilst I did okay, there this might have been a more useful (and faster) too.

This activity has also helped me to think about my day job. When I was a computing research student I remember discovering an article that related literary criticism and choosing bits of software to solve a problem. At the time, I didn’t really fully appreciate what it was going on about and why it was important. I’m now beginning to see its point. Practicing software engineers need to be critics. At this point, I’m on the cusp of digressing completely, so I need to stop. I’m noting all this down since I wanted to remember this reflection.

A final task in the morning: a listen to the audio about how the module approaches equality and diversity, and how it speaks to people from different backgrounds. A great listen.

5 September 2024

My module blocks have arrived! They are now decorating my desk, and will probably do so for a couple of weeks. This said, I’ve done couple of random bits of early ‘study’. 

I’ve leafed through the introduction to the Turkish Embassy Letters. Having once written a travelogue of my own, I have a feeling that this might me ‘my kind of book’.

I enjoyed ‘The Playhouse’ video. There’s a lot in that one; the history of The Globe and The Rose theatres. One of the things I’m going to do is to have a cycle down to the South Bank to find ‘New Globe Walk’ and ‘Rose Alley’. I need to watch this one again.

I’ve also had a watch of the Book 1 Chapter 1 video, Performing As you like it. In the introduction, Danson Brown shared the view that “the old fashioned view was that the text was king”. The director who is featured in the video asks the question about whether performance should be king.

It was also suggested that the job of a director is to make the text clear, and to help the audience believe the characters. Often, directors make some cuts of the text to make plays more accessible. In the video there are comments about the interpretation of words and the playing scenes.

An interesting comment is that As You Like It is a play about education, that “it is a practical tutorial in love”. Being new to the play, and having only been through the text once, I’ve yet to form my own view, but it’s an interesting perspective.

The key point of the video is that there’s a difference between how academics read and analyse the texts, and how directors interpret texts so they can be performed. Everything depends on your perspective.

The final thing I do is to have a quick look at the independent study section, just to get a feel for what we have in store. All the independent study sections are in a single document, which makes everything easy to navigate; there is one section for each of the block chapters. The option for the first chapter are: explore another Shakespeare comedy (which is an activity I quite like the look of), read the introduction to the set text (which is quite lengthy), read two essays (which look quite interesting), and review timelines of As You Like It (which will take quite a bit of time).

I’m clearly going to be busy.

8 September 2024

One of my lockdown discoveries was cycling. From where I live in London, I discovered that I can relatively easily cycle to most of central London. Itching for a bit of exercise, I decided to go on a mini field trip, to find the site of The Rose playhouse.

It wasn’t too difficult to find: I picked up a cycle path from Greenwich, followed the path to London Bridge, and then headed towards Southwark Bridge. When heading north, I took a left, and then took a right, and then found Rose Walk, which was featured in one of the materials on the module materials. It took me about 35 minutes to get there, which was pretty good going.

It turns out that the venue has 6 plays in a single day! On one Saturday, the programme begins with Dr Faustus by Marlowe, and then finishes with Hamlet. These are all clearly abridged; each play is said to last one hour.

I’m going to have to come back.

11 September 2024

Towards the end of last week, I noticed a copy of Bill Bryson’s biography of Shakespeare languishing on my shelves. I can’t remember where it came from; I think it must have been either a Christmas or birthday present. I’m roughly halfway through it, and there’s a lot that I recognise that is also covered in the Greenblatt text.

One thing that really interested me was a reference to other writers. Kyd gets a mention. There was also a reference to someone called Thomas Heywood (Wikipedia) who is said to have written over 200 plays (of which only a small number are said to survive). Who is this Heywood?

13 September 2024

Continuing with independent study, I found a couple of interesting resources on BBC Sounds: an episode of In Our Time that was all about Marlowe, and short three part crime drama, which was all about Marlowe’s death. I have no idea about how they will stretch it out to three hours… If I can find the time to listen, I’ll find out.

I listened to In Our Time early one morning, but fell asleep, waking up at the moment where the presenters were discussing what evidence there is about Marlowe being a spy. I really need to give it another listen when I’m a bit more awake.

As an aside, Marlowe is buried not too far from a new bakery I regularly visit. I’m getting to know Deptford quite well, but I don’t tend to visit too many ale houses.

14 September 2024

Over the last couple of days, I watched an RSC production of Love's Labour's Lost on Drama Online.

To help with my study I downloaded a copy of the text from Project Guttenberg.

When learning plays, I tend to read a synopsis on Wikipedia to help me to figure out what is going on.

An independent study task is to compare the play with As You Like it. Some things that I’m going to look at are: characters, plot, setting, and use of language. Specifically, how verse and prose used? Also, is it a similar length to As You Like It?

I’m not going to write a lot here, since I’m going to let the play sit with me for a while. 

I really liked was the RSC’s staging, especially the context that the production used, which worked really well with the ending, amplifying the themes of the play. I also liked that it had a play within a play, which reminded me of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Two three simplistic points: there was the role of the clown (which has some similarities to As You Like It), and the role that verse plays, and there is a diversity (but a symmetry) of characters.

Another thought that crossed my mind: perhaps I could watch Dr Faustus, which is also available on Drama Online. I’ve heard it mentioned so many times. I know it only by reputation.

I’m keen to get ahead, since I know that I have a challenging couple of months in front of me, where I won’t have an environment that is very conducive to study, whilst doing my best to do my day job.

15 September 2024

As hoped, I watched a production of Dr Faustus through the Drama Online library. What follows are a rough set of notes, since I’m letting it all sit with me for a while. The production was impressive, taking place on two levels in the Greenwich Theatre, which I’ve been to a couple of time before. (I think It was by the same production company with made a version of The Dutchess of Malfi, which we covered on an earlier module).

The play had clear and direct references to scholarship and study. Faustus mentioned the disciplines of medicine, law and divinity, whilst expressing an interest in divinity. This may well link to Marlowe’s experience of being a scholar at Cambridge, and having been from Canterbury (I picked all this up through an episode of In Our Time). Faustus ignored all these subjects in favour of necromancy, where he conjured up a spirit called Mephistophilis who was a constant presence through the play.

I’ve noted down the occasional interesting line, such as “I think hell is a fable”, which I expect had a dramatic effect. There were also regular references to ‘books’, books which provide details about how to do necromancy. This reminded me quite a bit of The Tempest, where there is Prospero. Notably, towards the end of the play, I noted down the words “I’ll burn my books” when Faustus became overwhelmed by the impact of his own actions.

Remembering a discussion from In Our Time, an interesting question to ask is: could Marlowe have written comedies? There were certainly some funny moments in the Drama Online production.

Whilst I was watching Dr Faustus, I was reminded of Harry Potter, and the young wizards use of Latin sounding incantations to execute spells. The thought that is rattling through my head is: how come ghosts, spirits and magic have such a hold on art and literature? Why do they feature so regularly in depictions of the human condition? Not being spiritual at all, and not being a follower of any religion, this is something that I struggle with. This said, this might speak to why I find studying the humanities interesting.

I liked Dr Faustus. Without using too many words, I found it a pretty scary play. The Drama Online struck me as the Elizabethan version of a horror movie.

16 September 2024

I’ve found a series on BBC Sounds called The Shakespeare Sessions. I recently listened to an episode called Exit Burbage which I thought was really interesting. I do recommend it. There’s a reference to an archive in Washington, a recreation of the Blackfriars Theatre in Virginia, a reference to a painting of Burbage in the Dulwich Picture Gallery, which I’ve never visited.

Looking on a map, the road next to Dulwich Picture Gallery is called Burbage Road.

I need to make a visit.

18 September 2024

I’ve finally finished the Bryson book. I enjoyed it. I particularly liked the section where he talks about Shakespeare’s changing reputation over time. There was also a reference to the Folger library, which was mentioned in the podcast I listened to.

Next steps: continue to have a listen to the BBC Sounds series that I found, and finally get onto reading the first chapter of the module block. After this, I’ll return back to the module website to see what else is coming up.

I’m very mindful that I need to continue to get ahead, but I’m also mindful that the module starts soon.

20 September 2024

I went to see a production of Hamlet last night. It took place at a local theatre. I was really looking forward to it. I had been to the ‘studio’ bit of my local theatre, but not the main one, which has a capacity of eight or nine hundred. I was intrigued about what it was going to be like. I was also in for an unexpected surprise; the box office had upgraded my ticket (to make sure the audience gets a bit closer to the stage).

The production was by a company called The Lord Chamberlain’s Men; a name of a company that is mentioned in the module materials (but it obviously wasn’t the same one, having been founded in 2005).

The performance lasted just over two hours, which meant that there were clearly some sections that were cut. Plus, all the actors had to speak pretty quickly to get through all the action. Being a ‘traditional’ company, all the women were played by men. Whilst they did a pretty good job of it, I did question this particular nod towards authenticity.

The pace had a curious effect on how Hamlet came across. The actor who played the miserable prince was positively cheery. This said, he was very good at fencing.

The performance made me reflect on how I related to the play. It’s themes of grief and loss resonated, and its conclusion emphasises potential consequences of it were to become all encompassing. Grief is about life, but grief can cast a shadow over light.

I think I’m beginning to ‘get’ the cathartic role of tragedies.

24 September 2024

A fellow student from our WhatApp group said “it’s starting to get real” after announcing that it was possible to book on tutorials.

I’ve booked onto pretty much everything I could. My diary is now jam packed with interesting sounding events.

It is starting to get real.

25 September 2024

An email from my tutor, which had a link to a very reassuring and thorough introductory video. 

Interestingly, I don’t make a video recording for my undergrad students (yet), but I do for my postgrad students, where make an Adobe Connect empty room recording. 

As a part of his video, he asked two questions: what I was looking forward to (Shakespeare), and what I wasn’t looking forward to (Austen).

No study today; I’ve been too busy marking exams.

30 September 2024

A couple of days ago I heard from my tutor; we exchanged a couple of friendly emails.

I’m aware that this pre-start month is slipping through my fingers and the module is just about to begin. I’ve not done anything of note over the last week, other than vaguely identifying which lever arch file I’m going to use for all my notes.

Next week I’m going to try to start a regular study habit. Before I login to my work inbox, I’m going to spend a bit of quality time with my module materials. There. I’ve written it. I’m hoping to make myself accountable. To myself.

Good luck to all fellow A334 students!

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Christopher Douce

A334 Journal - August 2024

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Edited by Christopher Douce, Thursday, 29 Aug 2024, 08:12

This month has been challenging for a whole host of personal reasons (which I’m not going to be going into). Amidst my personal challenges, I did manage to get away for a two week break, which much needed. During those two weeks I went cycling, tried to do some swimming (I’m not good at swimming) and do some reading for A334.

One of the first things I managed to do was to finish an audio book of Pride and Prejudice. I feel as if I did rush listening to it, since there are bits of the story that I don’t quite grasp, but I do appreciate that there were all kinds of shenanigans happening in Brighton.

I was given a lovely gift for my birthday: a text called Will in the World, by critic Stephen Greenblatt. You could say I devoured it in a couple of sittings. I don’t read many biographies, but when I do, I really enjoy them. This text is what you might call a biography that extensively draws upon Shakespeare’s plays. I really liked it.

I managed to find a BBC Radio 3 production of The Spanish Tragedy, which I listened to whilst reading the recommended course text. The radio production was abridged, which meant that I regularly got lost. I have no idea (yet) what to make of it, but I quite liked what I read, and what I listened to. I have yet to make any notes, or to buy any extensive amounts of stationary to facilitate the making of my notes.

Next up was reading though a version of The Country Wife by William Wycherley. I got completely lost and had no idea what was going on. The most I understood was that there was some cross dressing going on. I’m hoping the module materials (when I got stuck into them) will help me to figure it all out.

Before my holiday, I managed to download a copy of Gulliver’s Travels by Swift. Although I think there is a bit of guidance from the module team about which books to focus on, I found myself reading the whole text. Whilst reading, I remembered a recent television documentary which caused quite a sensation (BBC culture website). Whilst reading Gulliver’s Travels, I remembered of the tone of the documentary, and how its enthusiasm and energy reminded me of Swift’s writing.

What I really loved about Gulliver’s Travels was his summary of academia; there was a lot that I could recognise. A real surprise was that the text has something to say about generative AI, which can be found in his description of something called The Engine (Wikipedia). All this took me on a short journey to Swift’s Wikipedia biography, which was fascinating.

Two texts that I did want to delve into (but didn’t have the time) was The Turkish Embassy Letters (but I had forgotten that there wasn’t a Project Guttenberg version I could download to my Kindle), and the Arabian Nights’ stories.

Since I had watched a production of As You Like It and Julius Caesar before travelling away, I next gave these plays a read. It was interesting reading these plays almost back to back; a contrast between light and dark. Shakespeare really ratchets up the tension in Julius Caesar a bit at a time. I don’t think I would have been able to get as much out of reading the plays if I hadn’t seen two really good productions.

I did have a plan to read Hamlet on a very long train ride, but I found that I had run out of mental energy.

One of the other things that I did was download an audio book version of Persuasion. I think I got up until chapter 5 before losing track of what was going on. I have some very long drives ahead of me in forthcoming months, so I’m sure I’ll be able to find the time, but I might restrict myself to just the bits I need to read for the module materials.

Another thing that I managed to do is to briefly look through the blocks. I have mixed feelings about the poetry in the second block, and was mildly shocked at some of the more racy verses that we have in store a bit later on.

A few days after getting back from my holiday, I finally found my way to the module website, where I started to look at the module guide. I was surprised by the bit that said there was 40% of our weekly study time is going to be spent on independent study. There was also a mention of (potentially) using a blog too. This is going to be interesting.

Perhaps my time spent reading Greenblatt was time very well spent.

I’m worried about one thing: the need to find both the quiet and the time to study everything. I’m in a situation where I can’t get “quiet time” easily, since there’s such a lot going on. Reflecting on this, my approach might well be to get up early in the morning.

My next steps: continue to read the module guide, watch some of the module videos, and start to find my way around the module website.

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Christopher Douce

A334 Journal - June 2024

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Edited by Christopher Douce, Thursday, 29 Aug 2024, 08:02

With months to go before the start of my next module, I thought I would summarise where I’ve got to with my pre-reading (or pre-studying).

I began by downloading as many of the course texts to my digital reading device as I could, and then by watching different productions of the plays that feature within the first block.

To be honest, I’m a bit intimidated by this module. There are books in the reading list that I’ve started and have never finished, as well as plays that I’ve seen, but I’ve never thoroughly understood. The key question is: can I make it to the other side, getting a good grade?

6 June 2024

My set books have arrived!

I bought a set of second hand text from a former A233 student. It’s quite a package. I am now officially scared.

I’ve watched one production of As You Like It from Drama Online. It took me a bit of time to figure out what it was about (it’s all about love). There’s one soliloquy by Jacques that I recognised immediately. 

30 June 2024

I had a long drive to visit my parents. Before setting off, I downloaded Pride and Prejudice from Audible. As well as listening to it, I’ve been starting to watch a dramatized version which can be found on BBC iPlayer, starring Colin Firth as Darcy. I’m gradually making a bit of progress, but it’s taking a bit of time. I’m quite liking Mr Bennett.

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Christopher Douce

Preparing for the summer: A334 reading list

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Edited by Christopher Douce, Sunday, 31 Mar 2024, 09:46

In some ways, this short blog follows on from a blog I wrote last year, which has a similar title: Preparing for the summer: A233 reading list.

I’m writing this blog after having my registration for A334 English literature from Shakespeare to Austen confirmed. I'm probably getting ahead of myself since I still have a quite a lot to do on A233; one more TMA and an EMA, which I'm not really started to think about. 

Just like last year, to get ahead, I’m going to try to do a bit of reading over the summer. What follows is a reading list that I’ve liberated from the module information page. Where possible, I’ve provided a link to a version from Project Guttenberg which can be downloaded to an e reader (which is something that I’ll just before I go on holiday). Do note that the version that is linked to is, of course, different to the text that is referenced.

If you do make use of the Guttenberg version, do note that there may well be significant differences between the text that is officially recommended by the module team, and the downloaded version. The editorial that the officially recommended is often useful.

I’m clearly not going to get through all these in one summer since some of these texts are unfeasibly long. One thing that I have learnt from the study of the OU literature modules is that the reading is often quite directed. In this list there are some novels that I have always wanted to find the time to read; I’ve started reading the Austen novels a couple of times, so that is probably where I’m going to start.

I’ve adjusted the format of the reference to make them a bit more like the official CiteThemRight Harvard format which the university adopts.

Montagu, M. W. (2012) The Turkish Embassy Letters. Edited by T. Heffernan and D. O'Quinn. Broadview Press. ISBN 9781554810420

Kyd, T., (2009) The Spanish Tragedy. Edited by A. Gurr and J.R. Mulryne. (New Mermaids) Methuen. ISBN 9781408114216

Swift, J., (2002) Gulliver's Travels. Edited by A.J. Rivero. Norton. ISBN 9780393957242

Wycherley, W. (2014) The Country Wife. Edited by T. Stern, (New Mermaids) Methuen. ISBN 9781408179895

Molière (2008). The Misanthrope, Tartuffe and Other Plays. Edited by M. Slater. Oxford World's Classics. ISBN 9780199540181

Austen, J. (2019) Pride and Prejudice. Oxford World's Classics. ISBN 9780198826736

Austen, J. (2008) Persuasion. Oxford World's Classics. ISBN 9780199535552

Mack, R.L. (ed) (2009) Arabian Nights' Entertainments. Oxford World's Classics. ISBN 9780199555871

Daniell, D. (ed) (1998) The Arden Shakespeare: Julius Caesar. Methuen. ISBN 9781903436219

Shakespeare, W. (2009). As You Like It. Edited by M. Hattaway. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521732505

Rousseau, J.J. (2008) Confessions. Edited by P. Coleman. Oxford World's Classics. ISBN 9780199540037

Thompson, A. and Taylor, N. (eds) The Arden Shakespeare: Hamlet. Bloomsbury. ISBN 9781472518385

Additional note: judging by the reading list it does look like both Hamlet and Julius Caesar may well be studied. I have no idea what the two Arden Shakespeare study books contain. To prepare, I’ve provided links to ebooks for both of these plays:

Shakespeare, W. (2019) Hamlet. Project Guttenberg.

Shakespeare, W. (2023) Julius Caesar. Project Guttenberg.

A final note is that I'm sure whether the link to Arabian Nights' Entertainments is correct, but I'm sure I'll figure it out when I get to the study materials.

Acknowledgements

This reading list has been directly liberated from the A334 module website. I have no connection with the module team, and it is entirely possible that this reading list may change. Always rely on the recommendations from the module team, rather than any materials that are mentioned in this blog.

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