This long dead Elizabethan is the major obsession of my adulthood – as opposed to several more fleeting fixations. The 419th anniversary of his death falls tomorrow so when I saw the daily prompt today I had to answer it.
The man who signed his name Edward Oxenford is better known today as Edward de Vere, the 17th Earl of Oxford. If he is remembered at all it is by those engaged in the Shakespeare Authorship Question and is considered by many as the most likely person to have written Shakespeare’s works outside of Shakespeare of Stratford.
But why doubt Shakespeare wrote the works ascribed to him?
The most glaringly obvious reason is the works themselves: they are written for the enjoyment of the aristocracy of his day and most tellingly, they are on the side of the aristocracy. The portrayal of the working classes is: often disrespectful e.g, his dumb mechanicals; is not written from a place of understanding and empathy; can be idyllic in the pastorals although as representations noted by an outside observer.
The plays are often written in poetic verse with rich sub-texts – a form of art for those who have the education and time to decipher and enjoy them.
They works demonstrate knowledge of the law, foreign languages, classical texts, contemporary European geography, hunting hawking, gardening and music that would be enviable in one educated man but incredible, as in, in-credible in a working man of little or no education.
A mind and body chasing commercial success in agriculture, and in the investment side of theatrical enterprise wouldn’t have had the time to devote to conceiving and writing the canon of works ascribed to Shakespeare. This mind could not have belonged to the man who signed his name 6 or 7 times, Shakspere, with different spelling forms, and never as Shakespeare.
But this is only the beginning of why I’m fascinated with him.
Alan H. Nelson’s biography of Edward de Vere / Edward Oxenford reads more like a reference book than a book written by some who connected with his subject
He polarises people. He was a poet, patron of the arts, a paedophile who kept a company of boy actors, a deadbeat dad and inattentive husband, a love-cheat, a recusant, a manslaughterer, and a vain dandy and an aristocrat. Who would want him to supplant the Cinderfella from Stratford? Even his biographer couldn’t bring himself to write a sympathetic account of his life.
Who would want him to supplant the Cindefella from Stratford?
The prismatic thoughts, arguments, admiration, disgust and awe that he inspires fascinate me. Here are some of the questions that have prompted me to question any research into him that I do.
He was accused of paedophilia in a court of law. Did he? Didn’t he? Should a writer’s biography be taken into account when enjoying the product of his mind?
Are the works of an artist necessarily biographical? Should we read back from the works to understand the writer’s life. Something some who have tried to fill the gap in the historical record have fallen victim to.
If we continue to want to idolise Shakespeare, is it better to maintain the myth of the man from Stratford than uphold the truth of a man who committed many sins.
Can we forgive a person his sins – heinous though they be- if the product of his mind transcends them?
Can we not separate the works from the man?
What if the works were a group effort? Would they be less important if they were the product of many minds and not that of a genius?
Was he a genius? Should that excuse his greater sins? Should a genius or person held up as an example be perfect? Even the saints weren’t.
Why do we need to idolise Shakespeare? Why do we need heroes?
Is the search for Shakespeare really a subliminal search for self or God? If I am a group-theorist (many writers produced Shakespeare’s canon) does that make me a pagan with a prismatic pantheistic need?
He lived so long ago, does it even matter?
If he took pains to conceal his identity are we being disrespectful by trying to expose the fraud?
Does the long-dead truth matter?
Who will benefit from the truth and who will lose?
Till the End of The Moon, promo poster featuring Luo Yunxi as Tantai Jin, the Devil God and Bai Lu as Li Susu, the Lady of Spirituality, from Youku website – I regards this as fair use as it essentially helps identify the production that I am reviewing.
Spoilers – Alert
The Demon God, charismatic, omnipotent and destructive (Luo Yunxi) thrives on the pain, chaos and despair – the sins- of the world and he is on a conquering rampage taking over the Three Kingdoms and Four Continents; threatening to subdue the immortal realms as well. Ten thousand years ago he almost annihilated all the good gods in their efforts to contain him. They just barely did it but where there is sin and despair in the world there is always a way for him to break through any restraint and remerge to recultivate his evil self.
In fact, he laid the ground work for his return 500 years ago in a Machiavellian deal he struck with the Ye hue Moon tribe. A daughter of the tribe would become the enamoured wife of the King of the Jing. Together they would conceive the Demon Foetus whose life would be cursed from the moment of his mother’s death in childbirth. The Demon God ordained that the prince, Tantai Jin would be hated, mocked, lonely and underfoot from the moment of his birth. He would be raised in despair and hatred, a prisoner in the enemy Kingdom of Sheng, incapable of empathy, and cultivating a heart and mind without the need for love and light – the perfect being the Demon God could remerge as.
Now, 500 years on, fully consubstantial with the soul of the Demon God, Tantai Jin is on the verge complete victory. In an eleventh hour initiative, the Lady of Spirituality, Li Susu (Bai Lu) is tasked with going back in time to when Tantai Jin was a mere human and stopping him. To do this she has to remove the evil bone from his heart. Having witnessed his destructive rampage on the world, her cultivation sect, and her father, Li Susu knows that she is going back to kill him. The problem is, when she meets him he is a meek, much maligned, emasculated man who has no recourse of defence in the hostile social environment he exists in – her aristocratic family home. What’s worse, she, now Ye Xiwu, is married to him and is a big source of his torment.
So begins our enemies-to-lovers journey. I’d love to say romance however, the original ending was not typical of American romances where the girl gets the transformed boy and they live happily ever after (1). This is more about the struggle of good against evil; light against dark; despair vs hope; hatred vs grace/forgiveness played out on the battlefield; between Tantai Jin and Li Susu/Ye Xiwu; and Tantai Jin and the original Demon God within. The goal is to see the transformation of Tantai Jin into an enlightened being, the romantic journey is the key modus operandi. There are lapses in continuity and character formation/motivation within the script however the performances of the actors and the magical/mythical journey and ambition of what has been presented make them easy to overlook.
Some big ideas are examined:
Destiny
Destiny, predestination, fate – call it what you will – is a biggy. Being what you are meant to be and travelling the path to what you are ordained to become is the path of least resistance – the Tao, if you like. Going against this flow is full of challenges and ultimately futile. Destiny paints Tantai Jin as evil even before he chooses this path because he cannot waiver from what’s fated for him.
With this in mind we watch as the Lady of Enlightenment in her guise as Ye Xiwu first allows him to continue kneeling in the snow for days to exact punishment from him for an act that didn’t deserve such cruelty. It allows her to deceive him with kindness and attempt to kill him despite the transformation her acts of humanity, friendship and love have wrought in him. When she makes the near-fatal attempt on his life on their wedding night he has succeeded to the throne of the Jing Kingdom, defeated the Sheng Kingdom, united both peoples as one and brought peace to the land after decades of war, provided a home and place for her family to live and dedicated himself to the daily running of his empire.
On the other hand he has also been absorbing demonic powers to increase his personal strength. Yet, he doesn’t use them for cruelty.
I couldn’t help questioning Li Susu/Ye Xiwu in the way she doggedly pursued her role with a double face. In front of him she was caring and flirtatious, yet she was plotting to kill him. To her credit she did not make any confessions of love to him but allowed him to love her. She had encounters with enlightened guides during this part of her quest and I kept expecting them to advise her to give in to her love for him; to tell her that by love the evil bone would disappear; that being deprived of love, friendship, family and belonging has harboured the evil bone and placed him on this path. This never happened. Ostensibly, we are left with pre-ordained fate that controls outcomes and prescribed evil people who do not necessary do evil acts.
Demon-Angels, Angel-Demons, Yin-yang
As a Christian this one was a hard one to get my head around. Li Susu’s revenge motivation didn’t seem fitting to a Lady of Spirituality but more fitting to a demon. Conversely, although I understand why the Demon vixen, Pianran (Sun Zhenni) would want to side with the future Demon God, why she does has more to do with her love for his General, Ye Qingyu (Geng Yeting) than purely diabolical reasons. She plays a role in encouraging the romance between Ye Xiwu and Tantai Jin and is an important General in his army. She is more an instrument of good than evil, yet she identifies as a demon and presents a veneer of herself that would fool all but her closest friends.
As an Orthodox Christian my head says, “Well, even the saints weren’t perfect,” but my Westerner peering into the East sees the yin-yang playing in their personalities.
Concepts of Identity determining behaviour and self-realization
While Ye Qingyu maintains her demon shell, she does it with effort. Her intensions are to serve the greater good, yet she is a seven tailed fox demon. She has so much going for her in terms of her ultimate sacrifice, her devotion to her deceased husband and the way she tries to protect Ye Qingyu from being hurt by her nature. I kept thinking, so what if you are a demon? It’s just a label – ok with pretty cool powers that she used for the greater good.
Gongye Xiwu struggles with the realization that in Tantai Jin’s past someone looked exactly like him, was a cultivator like him and also a military leader who fought against his friend and sect brother, Tantai Jin. He has been reincarnated and doesn’t know who he is. This need for identity may be his impetus for absorbing deposed demonic energies within himself to fight the now Demon God, Tantai Jin
For Tantai Jin, his struggle with identity was on going. As soon as he realized that he was the anticipated Demon God he refused to take on the title/identity. He worked harder at cultivating light and goodness. He was constantly fighting people’s preconceptions. During the time of his greatest temptation he used any skerrick of goodness in him to save the soul of Gonye Xiwu (Deng Wei) and recognizing his own weaknesses he created a fantasy world for Li Susu to live in if she embraced the role of his Demon Queen, and finally he sets into motion the events that will eradicate the Demon God forever. Luo Yunxi’s subtlety in portraying Tantai Jin’s self-doubts while verbally renouncing the title were so heart felt and one of many highlights of his performances.
Enlightenment, Self Will, Environment
What saves Tantai Jin is his cultivation of enlightenment. First he has to experience love, acceptance, friendship, and guidance from a father-figure, in his sect leader, to cultivate the strength to overcome his ordained destiny. It is difficult, but he is tenacious. He sees the good in all of the bad experiences and recounts them all in his exchange with the original Demon God. We learn that the Demon-God set up his environment to force him to develop into a demon. The demon-god influenced his parents, siblings, peers in the Sheng kingdom, carers and his wife – before Li Susu appropriated her body – to torment him. During that time only Prince Xiao Lin (Deng Wei) and Ye Qingyu treated him with respect and care. Presumably they were able to resist the dictates of the original Demon God because they were already cultivating enlightenment.
In this cosmology destiny can be demonic but free will is the path to enlightenment.
The story and series hangs on wonderful performances particularly of Luo Yunxi as Tantai Jin. He was believable, devastatingly scary and delicately fragile. It’s his journey that I was invested in and his portrayal excused some of the main lapses of the production.
The six main leads all gave wonderful performances. It’s unfortunate that there are inconsistencies with the writing of the character of Ye Xiwu. I would have liked to seen her struggle with loving and believing in Tantai Jin, and her duty to kill him. Bai Lu’s portrayal is missing something – not coming across as it should but I believe that’s in the writing. If she was supposed to be a femme fatale, it hasn’t come off. In fact, the story would have been poorer if that was the intention. I think she has done a wonderful job with what she had to work with and is a joy to watch. Pianran is a fuller realization of the tragic femme fatale type and is played to the T by Sun Rhenni. Deng Wei particularly shone in his third portrayal Gongye Xiwu as he struggled to find out who he was/is. A strong performance from Chen Duling as Ye Bingchang and M Wu, she brought out my ire and sympathy.
The subtitles moved quickly and can only do so much. Perhaps the lapses in the script had more to do with assumed cultural knowledge that just can’t be subtitled for the flow of the story. Perhaps the lapses would be more distracting if I had binge-watched the series but I saw it an episode at a time as it premiered on Youku’s Youtube channel?
Regardless, I loved this show. What an epic! It’s given me a taste for Xianxia. So, I’m off to watch some more… Love Between Fairy and Demon perhaps?
Till the End of The Moon, promo poster featuring Luo Yunxi as Tantai Jin, the Devil God and Bai Lu as Li Susu, the Lady of Spirituality, from Youku website – I regards this as fair use as it essentially helps identify the production that I am reviewing.
Spoilers – Alert
I have just finished watching ‘Till the End of the Moon’ and I just have to, have to, have to, talk about it. It’s my first Xianxia fantasy and it spirited me away to many different planes of reality that were uncircumscribed by eastern cosmology, mythology and philosophy for these theatrically portrayed realms live on in the realms of my own imagination and contemplation, beyond the small screen. There were so many ideas and cultural elements to immerse myself in. And it was structured like a progression through levels of a video game with the same level of excitement – read- cliff-hanging drama but remove the stats.
This narrative epic – 40 episodes – brought in aspects of Chinese mythology, Indian cosmology, Taoism, Confucianism, Buddhism, and ideas of cultivating enlightenment through a series of quests crouched in the development of a romantic relationship. No, not a romance- not in the American sense that there has to be a happily-ever-after – but an incredibly romantic story where the omnipotent Devil God – and the Universe he is about to dominate – is saved from himself by the love of the enlightened Lady of Spirituality.
And it was thoroughly enjoyable!
Xianxia fantasy is a Chinese genre of fantasy that incorporates Chinese history in the same nebulous way Game of Thrones is set in Medieval Europe. Here we have Medieval China but not necessarily in a Dark Ages experienced in the West. Xianxia is also set in a mythical world of fairies and demons where power is cultivated with enlightenment. Xianxia narratives are often referred to as Cultivation dramas referring to the quest for personal power/enlightenment. These beings experience their quest, powers intact, in the human world and in many other mythical worlds e.g., in Till the End of the Moon the quest moves from a Cosmic outer-space realm filled with asteroids, to historic China, to the dream-state of a dragon who was once a humanoid God of War living in a heavenly palace, back to China, through the sea of reposed souls, and a heavenly monks retreat, and down the Barren Abyss to the Devil Gods nether-worldly palace and a cosy wishful fantasy world conjured from the memory of family long-deceased.
Xianxia narratives can also be called Wuxia, which is more appropriate to martial arts focussed stories, however, martial arts and special effects are integral to the storytelling. The main actors in this Xianxia at least, can’t be afraid of heights as they seem to have spent a lot of time in aerial harnesses.
Martial arts are employed in executing the quest that is central to the story – finding or accruing talismen that deliver untold powers on their own or when used in conjunction with each other. The quest – journey – is also one of personal development e.g., in Till the End of the Moon, the quest embodies the question, will Tantai Jin overturn his destiny to become the Demon God by cultivating enough goodness and spiritual enlightenment to fend off the previous Demon-God’s agenda?
Xianxia on film offers sumptuous costumes with flowing fabrics, jewelled and studded robes and tunics, elaborate headdresses and make-up. Make up is used a lot in Asia for both men and women in film. I don’t mean the kind of make-up that drops the sheen of the skin to film better. I mean theatrical make up, more subtle than in their traditional theatre forms but nevertheless obvious. Faces are whitened, eyes are enhanced and lips are coloured. In the case of Tantai Jin, the heaviness of his make-up and the colour of his robes help us identify him in when he is vulnerable as opposed to when power is in his hands (if we have missed the fireball he’s holding).
The sets are many, imaginative, gorgeous and various. This series is ambitious with the number of environments that had to be created to signify different world environments. What has been achieved isn’t uniform in terms of being realistic. The urban environments of historic China are most believable. The heavenly kingdom of the Hengyang Sect harmonises with this level of reality and even the Devil-God’s Palace meshes well, however, a couple of the other sets would have benefited from either CGI touch ups/overlays or filming on location. These are the Mohr River underwater Clam Kingdom which although enchanting, needed some CGI love; and the Barren Abyss which would benefit from location shooting e.g., if the Barren Abyss were filmed in Australia, the MacDonnell Ranges outside Alice Springs would be where I would do it – China must have an equivalent. The Clam Kingdom and the Barren Abyss looked theatrical and would be fine on stage but film demands a deeper level of reality – these two environments looked very staged and didn’t mesh with the level of reality created everywhere else.
Ultimately, if the actors stay true to character the meshing of styles of set doesn’t diminish the storytelling and that’s the case with Till the End of the Moon. I must talk about the performances, as well as the subtitles and ideas of free will vs predestination, yin-yang etc. in this wonderful drama but…
… this post is getting long, so I’ll be back with Part 2 soon.
You’re writing your autobiography. What’s your opening sentence?
As Odysseus lost his way, wind-tossed in the thrall of the labyrinth, the Minotaur lost his head in Scylla’s push and Charbyris’ pull; both perpetually outpouring their passion but never making waves.
This is a reblogged post from Dr Roger Stritmatter’s blog reviewing a very important book, Monstrous Adversary, by Alan Nelson. Its’s a biography of the foremost candidate to actually have written the works of Shakespeare, Edward Oxenford aka Edward de Vere aka the 17th Earl of Oxford. It’s a book I waited a long time to get my hands on and when finally it arrived I was bemused.
I was excited for the facts. Facts not insinuated by extrapolating his life from the timeline and instances and characters of Shakespeare’s plays but via the quixotic old fashioned way – gleening truths from letters, lists, and receipts etc.
I was disappointed with the author’s attitude towards his subject. You don’t have to read far to see that there is little attempt to understand the Earl, his weaknesses, strengths, or what made him human. When I read a biography I want to understand. If the hero/subject behaves abhorrently I want to understand or be challenged to.
No person is fully black or fully white. Whether the subject is Constantine the Great or Edward Oxenford or Putin, I want to at the very least understand what motivates them. I want to feel like their biographer is rooting for them. Alan Nelson doesn’t for Oxford at all. It’s a shame as a very good biography will touch its reader with insight into humanity.
So, what did you think of my Top 10 K-drama Romances? Agree? Disagree? The more I see the more I want to add to that list, or edit it.
If you’re looking for a good binge but are scared of the 16-20+ episode commitment and have a Netflix account, my best advice to you is to look at the three word descriptors beneath the series image and then the year of production. If the series has been online for a few years it’s because it’s popular and therefore probably really, really good. Many new series are premiered throughout the year, if they last on the Netflix menu for a couple of years they are a safe bet.
I have another 4 that was just wonderful but before I gush on about them, as this will be my final post on K-drama, I thought I’d include an index to all of my previous posts – in case you might be interested.
The brain child of writer Yoo Jung Hee, Flower of Evil blew me away. Described as a suspense melodrama, I would argue that it’s a grittier sort of romance. In a Edward Norton ala Primal Fear/ Fight Club style juxtaposition, Baek Hee-sung (Lee Joon-gi) is the perfect husband and father – loving, sensitive, aware and responsive to the needs of his wife and adoring daughter; no one would believe that he is actually the dutiful son of a long-dead serial killer.
To escape the stigma of being his father’s son he has assumed the identity of another person– and insinuated himself into that missing person’s family. His wife, Cha Ji-won (Moon Chae-Won) has no idea that he has been lying to her for their entire relationship. She is a detective – a role in which he has supported her to achieve.
Decades after his father’s death, copycat killings begin occurring and Cha Ji-won has been assigned the case. As evidence mounts to signal the existence of an accomplice serial killer, the seemingly perfect marriage is threatened. Just how much has been covered up? Is Baek Hee-sung the serial killer’s accomplice? How can the parents of a missing person play along with a stranger assuming their son’s identity? Does Baek Hee-sung really love his wife and daughter or is it all the perfect cover?
With a young, sexy and talented, all-star cast Hwarang was expected to be a knock out hit in Korea when it was first broadcast – not so. Speculation on the internet has cast the blame on the story or the competition it was up against in its airing slot – The Legend of the Blue Sea with its megastars, Lee Min Ho and Jun Ji Hyun.
Its international success has earned it a sleeper hit status – think Eddie and the Cruisers – an 80’s video rental sensation that was missed at the box office.
This series is brilliant and a step away from the Confucian principles that underscore many, if not all historical k-dramas. Thematically, it’s the most Western of all historical K-dramas that I have watched.
Although criticism from Korea aimed at the plot focussing on the older generation’s feud underpinning the drama as well as its musical editing and perceived sudden plot development, these criticisms can be made of many K-drama series. For the K-Pop Herald these criticisms may reflect the feelings of its young readership. For its more mature audience I would hazard a guess that it’s actually the portrayal of the older generation behaving in a way that doesn’t deserve respect.
The plot revolves around a boy-king, Sammaekjong (Park Hyung-Sik) who isn’t allowed to show his face, ostensibly for his personal well-being. He is the unknown/absent/ invisible king. In his place, his mother controls the realm until he comes of age. He appears before her at this time as a weak-willed, philosophical individual who cannot wrest power away from her. We watch his spiritual growth from the sidelines as we follow the pursuit of a young peasant without a name, calling himself Dog-Bird (Park Seo-joon) who stays in the city to avenge the murder of his best friend, Seon-u. Seon-u was killed for accidentally seeing the boy-king’s face. Both Dog-Bird and Sammaekjong assume other identities and become inductees to a training academy to become unknown boy-king’s bodyguard. And, of course, there’s plenty of romance and sub-plots in the stories of some of the other trainees.
What makes this a very Western storytelling is that it is a coming of age story that’s actualised when the 2 main male leads learn to discern when to follow parental authority and when to flout it for their own well-being and that of the best interests of the kingdom – thereby keeping Confucius well in sight. When young characters blindly listen to authority of their elders and community leaders they suffer.
With comedy, romance, action, history and a wonderful ensemble cast this is one not to miss.
Ever seen Woody Allen’s Purple Rose of Cairo or that Charmed episode when Rose is sucked into the pages of someone’s unfinished noir detective novel and writes the ending by living it? Were you captivated in a vortex of reality that is a story within a story where the characters traverse each other’s universe and pose existential questions that you could ask of your own state of being alive?
Too deep? Well, this is K-drama so you can enjoy the ride without plunging beneath the surface and enjoy the beautiful scenery, or you can ponder the reason for existence and whether our world began in the imagination of a virally adored webtoon author/illustrator in another world.
Down-and-out webtoon artist/illustrator, Oh Sung-moo (Kim Eui-sung) creates a character Kang Chul (Lee Jong-Suk), who possesses heroic character traits that he lacks himself – foremost is a strong self-will but Kang Chul is also intelligent, athletic, altruistic, talented, handsome, and quickly amasses enormous personal wealth. He has so much appeal that fans of the webtoon are hooked on his plight- he is wrongfully imprisoned for the murder of his family in the first episode.
He is, in fact (or our imagination) so head strong that when he doesn’t like the way his storyline is headed – he changes it. At first his creator, Oh Sung-moo, believes that he makes the changes himself in his oft drunken state – until he notices them when he is sober. The realisation terrifies him and he decides to end the series by killing off his main character. Then he disappears.
When Oh Sung-moo’s daughter, Oh Yeon-joo (Han Hyo-joo) comes to check on her missing father and sees a bleeding-out Kang Chul on the computer screen she is devastated until the desperate Kang Chul pulls her into the webtoon through the screen to save him. She, of course, is in love with the charismatic Kang Chul and so begins a romance and race for survival where Kang Chul and Oh Yeon-joo try to overwrite the destiny that Oh Sung-moo has set into motion at the outset of his webtoon by moving between both worlds using the rules and writing techniques of writers of serials and soap operas.
This is a very clever story that works on three levels – the surface plot – an investigation into genre and series writing – and a philosophical questioning of what is reality, who we are and why we are. Not all of the questions are clearly answers but the ride is fast paced, slick and addictive.
This series, like Boys Over Flowers has such strong universal appeal that its story has been retold several times across Asian TV. Unlike Boys Over Flowers, it doesn’t devolve into hyperbolic plot twists that prolong the ending. In fact, the version of You Are My Destiny I’m referring to is the 2014 Korean remake starring Jang Nara, Jang Hyuk and Choi Jin-hyuk. On Viki it’s called Fated to Love You.
If you like the comedy of Jim Carrey you will love the outrageous antics of Jang Hyuk as the CEO, Lee Gun. Lee Gun heads a chemical company that is closing down a factory on Kim Mi-young’s (Jang Nara’s) home-island. With negotiations falling apart and out of desperation, Kim Mi-young’s brother-in-law and his friend follow Lee Gun to Macau where he plans to propose to his long-time girlfriend. There they plot to drug him, and film him in a compromising position with a prostitute to give them leverage to force him to change his mind and keep the factory open.
Meanwhile, a mousy, accommodating and altruistic, Kim Mi-Young wins a holiday at the same resort in a work raffle and is duped by her co-worker, and love rat, to take him along as her date. Lee Gun’s girlfriend doesn’t show up and unknowingly both Lee Gun and Kim Mi-Young imbibe the drug. Mistaking the room number on Lee Gun’s door for her own, Kim Mi-Young spends the night with him where she is found by her brother-in-law in the morning. Soon after, Kim Mi-Young discovers she is pregnant.
The story then follows a marriage of convenience/enforced togetherness trope where the added pressures of this cross class relationship begin to shape the personalities of both characters. The journey is funny, the romantic elements at times hilarious, and we have the satisfaction of seeing Kim Mi-Young blossom into a self-determined, confident individual by the end of the series.
Since seeing this series it’s become my favourite contemporary romance.
Oops! This was supposed to be my final word – so I shouldn’t do another K-drama post but… What was I thinking? How could I have left out the dazzling historic rom-com with a message, Love in The Moonlight and the charming, bet-you-can’t-see-it-just-once, enemies-to-lovers mod classic, One Percent of Something?
A dramatic monologue for an older actress. I meant to capture Antonina in a 10 minute performance but she is such a rich character that I kept going. There are a lot of beat changes and I hope to have written a vehicle to show off an actress’ range from high status to low as well as the breadth of experience of this fascinating woman’s life – burlesque dancer/wanton, patrician, mother, schemer, murderess, lover, indispensable wife and adulteress.
As a performance piece it can go over a minimum of 10, 15 or 20 minutes but stopping at these points. Of course, to realize this in live performance an actress adept at using silence together with the natural process of transferring the written word to the stage, may see the piece run longer. The time estimates are based on my own audio rendition of it which are placed in italics through the text at the closest natural finish.
William Etty’s, Candaules, King of Lydia shews his wife of as she goes to bed to Gyges, one of His Ministers, 1830, Public Domain.
Theodosius, you take my breath away. You know, you do. You know you are unique, don’t you? Unique and precious and indispensable. Dear, dear boy. Tell me again, how I drive you wild with the wanting of me, all of me, all of my luxurious, ample, self – how my breasts were made to be cupped in your palms and my round, ripe, bottom the soft, easy, handle of the stirrup for your ride. Ride and ride and ride. This is why I invite you to my bath. I can’t get enough of you – your energy, your boldness, your vitality, your desire to please me, pleasure me: come for me, relish in my experience. Let me teach you the fringe benefits I learnt in burlesque.
Theodosius, what a fitting name – God’s gift. Yes, you are. God’s gift to me. Come suckle at my breast once again.
Theodosius? Why do you shrink away? Who frightens you? Come back!
Hello. Hello. Who approaches? Who dares?
Lucia! I said we were not to be disturbed. Who? Soldiers? Flavio? Here? Now? He is supposed to be with his army in the East.
Perfume! Now. Strong perfume! Hurry! And Lucia, do not let him in here until I am ready to receive him. Go, quickly.
He mustn’t suspect.
The fool.
What is he doing back so early? I sent missives that I would be heading out at month’s end. Someone has been in his ear. It couldn’t be Constantine this time. Silencing him was a trifling afternoon well spent. The egotist, thinking he could besmirch me, to Flavio. If I could bring down the Pope with a little diplomatic entanglement what challenge was a boy masquerading as a Byzantine General?
Hmm. Perhaps it was one of the bond-slaves, but who? After the example I made of poor, timid, little Macedonia? May the snitch spend eternity searching for her tongue in Hell.
Breathe, Antonina, breathe. Flavio worships you. When have you failed at turning the head of that simpleton? I should have suspected the softness of what that armour enclosed. I thought I was marrying a god, a famous general, a champion of the people – victorious in the East – rich in the plunders of war – baron of his own making. And what did I get? The armour of a warrior hiding a simpering soul, abject, apologetic, forgiving, god-fearing servant of Christ ready to run back at my beck and call.
Sh! Listen. Can you hear it? Footsteps. A weighted tread. Still in armour?
But you did. Just look at you. Were you in such haste to see me that you left the battlefield fully armed? Photi? Is there a coup going on in the capital and no one’s told me?
Smile. I’m teasing you. Why so dour? Aren’t you pleased to see your Mama? Come here and take my hands. Put that spear down, you could poke an eye out with it.
My eye. I hope that’s not your point? My darling son, is it?
Of course, not. My boy, how I’ve missed you.
What? Where’s Theodosius? Why he’s here, in Constantinople. I’m not privy to his every movement. Why do you ask? You’ll see him soon I’m sure.
Now, I will not have you wearing armour in the house. Not in the capital
You need a bath. The water hasn’t gone cold. I’ll leave you to it and see you in the dining hall. We’ll have a suckling pig to celebrate your arrival. Ioannina will be so excited to see her big brother and hear all your news.
Now really, you must bathe. I’ll not have you… Photius where are you going?
I told you Theodosius isn’t here. Come back. Stop banging doors. What do you mean he has to answer to Flavio?
In what way, in God’s Name, has Theodosius offended Flavio? Don’t look at me with accusing eyes. What have I done to offend? Well, speak up. Out with it. Tell me my sin. Blasphemy? In God’s Name… Really? Again? You’ve travelled a thousand stades to tell me to watch my tongue?
Oh, Flavio wills me to return with you to the East at the end of the week? First you have business with Theodosius?
Well, he’s not here. Whatever you are holding against him, resolve it before dinner. I’ll not have you ruining your welcoming feast.
On second thoughts, go. Go and wash in the Bath of Zeuxippus. I’ll not have you muddy my water. May the waters of Zeus cleanse your ungrateful, sanctimonious soul.
Mosaic of Justinian and court in the Church of San Vitale Ravenna. Belisarius stands to our left of Justinian with the eunuch Narses on between Justinian and the Bishop of Ravenna, Maximianus Public Domain.
Devil take them both – father and step-son – traitor son. He’s my boy. Flavio had no part in his making but he’s made the boy his creature. Treats him like his own. Favours and shields him on the battlefront. He’s making him soft in his own image. A true believer. The boy disdains his own mother in favour of Flavio the faithful, the warrior, the benevolent, the pious soft cock.
Flavio actually believes all that religious tripe he spouts, “The alliance of God follows those who put justice forward.” He doesn’t just pray before a battle, he fasts and he expects the men to follow his example.
What? No alcohol! Try telling that to his Huns! The fool did, and then had to kill a couple of them for insubordination. Ha! How Christianly is that? Ok, so manslaughter amongst the ranks can’t go unpunished – but really, that’s what Huns do – get drunk and kill each other. If he doesn’t like it then hire different mercenaries – surely they aren’t the only warriors to handle a bow on the back of a horse?
Some …may blame me. But I’m not the cause of his officer’s insubordination. He knew what I was when he married me … and forgave me, as good Christians do.
He never asked if I wanted to be forgiven.
No, I’m not to blame for the paucity of his officers’ respect. I know the temperature of his men, personally. Have I not followed him into every theatre of war, thus far? He should look to his strictures over them. The fool prohibits his men their due – plunder should always follow victory. Emperor Justinian tarries with their salaries, and then Flavio reprimands their plundering. Hasn’t someone told him that that is what soldiers do after a siege – sack the city, take its riches, humble it!
He’ll need an act of God to prevent them raiding for their spoils in Persia. Persia’s no small theatre of war bounded by sea nor hemmed intro a strip by desert. Am I to be accused of sleeping with every Roman soldier that faces Khusro?
(c. 10 mins)
But Flavio is the Great Belisarius, the protector of the people – the shepherd who has brought Carthage and Italy back into the fold – resurrecting the Roman Empire of old, the Catholic West rejoining the Byzantine East. He could be more than a mere general but he denies his ambition.
Don’t think he hasn’t any. Why else did he sup on Vittigis’ table, sitting in Vittigis’ throne and wearing his barbarian crown? Vittigis saw it, as I did and as did the men. He sat there. The sceptre was on his table. His highly effective fighting militia flanked him at the feast – taking their places like noblemen, unable to claim a permanent seat. Those spoils were for Justinian to mete out. Where was the victory for them? Instead, the great and honourable Belisarius denied them and like a monk retreating from the world denied himself and denied me, my due.
Theodora and her court ladies and chaplain/eunuchs from the mosaic in San Vitale Ravenna. Antonina is said to be on our right of the Empress. Edisonblus / CC BY-SA (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)
You see, I deserve to be Empress. I’d be a great Empress. A brave Empress. The crown would finish my coiffure just as well – no, better than hers! My eyes would twinkle like living jewels between the crown’s tresses of pearls that would frame my face? And my face – so more deserving of the honour than Theodora’s clumsy nose and owlish eyes. How can she do those gems justice when my face would draw a better picture ensconced in that crown?
A pity she hooked Justinian before I did -that whitewashed palace-boy, timid of his own shadow. Who would have thought he could survive as Emperor? He should have gone down in the riots. Who is he but the nephew of a usurping pig-farmer peasant-emperor? Poor Hypatius was the rightful heir.
He was relegated to the role of diplomat, couldn’t control an army in his dreams, shivers at the thought of combat – I should know – he talked in his sleep.
Justinian thanked God for his mercy during the riots – but really he should have lit a candle to Belisarius’ perversity – who wouldn’t take the crown when it’s there for the taking? His army in the capital raring to go – so close to the palace. The people were rising and the Emperor was preparing a ship to slink away in defeat.
No. My husband swore an oath of loyalty to his Emperor before his God.
What about his loyalty to me? He would save the people of the former empire but would massacre our own in the Hippodrome. My people – my city- my confederates – my family -in my Hippodrome. Were not my father and grandfather the best charioteers in the city? Did my brother not compete? Did I not learn to dance alongside Theodora there? Did the great Belisarius have to massacre all of the trapped rioters – all of my people whose life the Hippodrome defined? He wasn’t husband enough to save them.
He wasn’t husband enough to give me the crown I deserve. Theodora should be kissing the hem of my robes, yet here I am subject to her bidding. Theodora – too squeamish to carry out her own commands. She could never do what I have done.
Detail of Empress Theodora and her Court ladies from the mosaics in the Church of San Vitale, Ravenna. Antonina is directly next to the Empress and her Ioannina, the daughter of Antonina and Belisarius is next to her. Edisonblus / CC BY-SA (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)
Did I not dispose of Silverius, the Vicar of Christ? Theodora charged us with this duty for the protection she offers Flavio. “Get rid of that priest, “she commanded, “He offers impediments to my Justinian’s vision.” Flavio was mortified. He could not believe that she would go so far.
Flavio would defend the Church to the point of stupidity, weakening his forces, fragmenting his army marching north, compromising his strength to answer the call for aid from every insignificant priest who appealed to him. There was no way that he could bring about the death of the Pontif. Not even to unite the Church.
No, the shirker, the weakling, false man. Even the eunuch Narses has more balls.
He left the Pope to me.
I had to keep us in Justinian’s good graces.
I had to order the men to find witnesses to accuse Silverius of betraying our forces to the Goths.
I manoeuvred Silverius to stand trial.
When the wind blew in Silverius’ favour, I was the one to poison his cup. So simple, so difficult for Flavio.
He couldn’t choose his emperor over his god. The coward. He couldn’t put his immortal soul on the line but he didn’t mind if his wife did.
And I did.
I sacrificed my soul.
(15-16 mins)
Let me go to perdition, then how would he survive? He thanked me for it afterwards but what are a few clumsy kisses from a man positioned to be Emperor who can’t even seize the day when it’s handed to him? He took Sicily and Naples in his stride on the way to the Pincian Palace in Rome where he ran the campaign for a year and then he was handed Ravenna with the Gothic crown… and he grasped it with both hands… and gave it to Justinian.
Such an exasperating fool. And I pandered to him…
Shall I prepare for your triumph Flavio? Shall I make ready for a feast? Flavio? No? What? Chastised and sent to fight the Persians?
Don’t go Flavio. The atmosphere is torpid in the capital. It will only change when a fresh gust surges through the palace. A gust that will blow away the discontent and leave a new emperor on the throne. They are calling for you. Byzantium needs a strong military man on the throne. One who has seen the extent of the empire and knows its people and their needs. A hero who will be respected – who reunited the empire with his own sweat. My hero. My husband. My lover. My king.
No, No you’re not a simple soldier. Don’t make me laugh. You, are a great tactician. The way you sum up the enemy on the battlefield you can sum up the senate just the same.
No? Then let me tell you how it will go. We will have the support of the people – they worship you and despise Justinian and his taxes and his laws, and the support of the Patricians – John the Treasurer is preparing to fund a revolution – why let it be someone else when it could be you? You have the alliance of God.
Flavio? Where are you going? Sheath your sword. Justinian can wait. He’s no fool. He won’t think you are behind any of this, I will see to it. Go face Khusro’s army, far away from the city. When you are deep in battle I will take care of matters. No one will ever think you were involved in any coup. I will tell Theodora. We will set a trap for the treasurer. Justinian will never suspect you. Leave me in the capital to manage matters.
Come away East and don’t get involved? Really, Flavio, I think it better if I stayed. I could be of better use to you here.
The East is safe enough away from the capital? Yes, but…
Is there another reason why I don’t want to come with you?
Truth be told, I’m tired, Flavio.
I’m tired of sieges and living on horseback and eating dust – dragging my children from one end of the empire to the other. They are not all like my Photi to follow in your footsteps. Ioannina will need a husband. Your godson, Theodosius, is too fragile for life in the saddle, too sensitive for the rumours of your men – their innuendo. It’s hurtful – too dreadful to think about. The accusations, the jeering behind his back. It hurts me Flavio. Am I not a faithful wife? Have I not stood through all of your campaigns the sounding board of your most private thoughts? Have I not organised and ordered your water and supplies? Have I not spoken for you, of your concerns to Theodora?
And now you don’t trust me to stay in the Capital.
No, no, I’m not crying. You don’t understand me. Of course I am not as young as you are. You don’t understand. But you will never understand, never having children, how a woman’s body is ravaged by child birth. I haven’t the will to go east another time. I can’t do it right now. Please Flavio, take pity on my situation, my health
Yes, maybe I’ll feel better if I tarry in the Capital. Have therapeutic baths, wait on Theodora in the Palace. I’ll see about finding Ioannina a most suitable husband.
What did you say?
Find a bride for Theodosius?
He is old enough to form a marital alliance.
Release him from our household? Oh, but I couldn’t right now, he relieves my wilted spirit. He is such a comfort to me. Take Photius. Leave young Theodosius with me. We will follow in a few weeks when I am feeling rejuvenated.
Fool!
But why does he send me Photius, now? What’s Flavio’s envious little shadow up to? Why has he left his father’s side? Why does he seek Theodosius?
Has Flavio woken up?
Will I be reduced to begging his mercy?
No, I think not.
Perhaps… Procopius is right. Perhaps, I really am a witch.
crafty theatre 