11 Feb 13
I love language and discovering new ways to say anything. Currently, I'm taking an English Lit with emphasis on British literature from the Reformation period to the Glorious Revolution. We are now reading Marlow's Faustus, which can be excruciating due to words I have not seen or used before. However, in my attempts to do more than simply pass the course, I'm enjoying learning a few new words. Here is the first, along with its definition:
quiddity
quid·di·ty
/ˈkwidətē/
Noun
The inherent nature or essence of someone or something.
A distinctive feature; a peculiarity: "his quirks and quiddities".
Synonyms
essence - substance - gist - pith - marrow - inwardness
11 Feb 13
1 edit
Originally posted by hakimaArchaic language is always awesome. What a great course. Which university? Glad to see you want to do more than pass said course. In college friends and I made an exercise of inventing new words out of archaic words and had great fun.
I love language and discovering new ways to say anything. Currently, I'm taking an English Lit with emphasis on British literature from the Reformation period to the Glorious Revolution. We are now reading Marlow's Faustus, which can be excruciating due to words I have not seen or used before. However, in my attempts to do more than simply pass the course, uirks and quiddities".
Synonyms
essence - substance - gist - pith - marrow - inwardness
11 Feb 13
Originally posted by scacchipazzoA small university in Texas--Tarleton State. I'm fifty years old and FINALLY beginning to realize the ambition that has eluded me my entire adult life. So far, so good...I've made the Dean's list twice...something I probably wouldn't have done at age 19.
Archaic language is always awesome. What a great course. Which university? Glad to see you want to do more than pass said course.
11 Feb 13
Originally posted by hakimaGood for you! My mother got her undergrad in her mid fifties and finally her graduate school degree in English immediately afterwards. Congratulations and may you realize your dreams! I used to love helping my mother when things got tough for her. She did both with a 4.0! Congrats on making the deans list!
A small university in Texas--Tarleton State. I'm fifty years old and FINALLY beginning to realize the ambition that has eluded me my entire adult life. So far, so good...I've made the Dean's list twice...something I probably wouldn't have done at age 19.
11 Feb 13
3 edits
Originally posted by hakimaMarlowe's Dr Faustus is a great play, and can be put on a footing with some of Shakespeare's best plays, and is far better than many of them. I would also argue that Edward II is better than many of Shakespeare's histories.
I love language and discovering new ways to say anything. Currently, I'm taking an English Lit with emphasis on British literature from the Reformation period to the Glorious Revolution. We are now reading Marlow's Faustus, which can be excruciating due to words I have not seen or used before. However, in my attempts to do more than simply pass the course, uirks and quiddities".
Synonyms
essence - substance - gist - pith - marrow - inwardness
I also have a personal pet theory as to why Marlowe was Shakespeare. Shakespeare tackled most of the great love stories but not arguably the greatest of them all, Dido and Aeneas. Why? Because he had already written it under his name of Marlowe! Shakespeare also didn't write a play called Edward II - I rest my case. (I wouldn't go around mentioning this theory in your studies, by the way. Your teachers will look at you strangely.....).
I sympathise with you on the language. It is tough stuff at times.
Does the edition you use have footnotes at the bottom of the page so that you can easily see the meaning? Some editions I used at school and university either had none, or they were at the back, which was a real pain. At least if you move swiftly to the bottom you can get the sense without having to interrupt the flow of your reading more than you need to.
But I promise you it gets easier, and with your attitude you will find yourself getting to grips with it sooner than you think.
I will give some thought to favourite words.
Originally posted by Rank outsiderEr... would it be possible that Shakespeare didn't write a play called Edward II because he admired and respected the play that Marlowe had already written? Shakespeare obviously did respect the earlier writer: much of his early work is Marlovian in style, including many of the early plays about English history and Titus Andronicus (which almost seems like a parody of Marlowe). Shakespeare even pays explicit tribute to Marlowe in As You Like It with the line 'Dead shepherd, now I find thy saw of might: “Who ever loved that loved not at first sight?"' - a quotation from Hero and Leander. That would be a rather strange thing to write if Shakespeare actually was Marlowe, but quite understandable if he admired and had been influenced by Marlowe.
Marlowe's Dr Faustus is a great play, and can be put on a footing with some of Shakespeare's best plays, and is far better than many of them. I would also argue that Edward II is better than many of Shakespeare's histories.
I also have a personal pet theory as to why Marlowe [b]was Shakespeare. Shakespeare tackled most of the great love storie ...[text shortened]... is name of Marlowe! Shakespeare also didn't write a play called Edward II - I rest my case.[/b]
Marlowe was a fine playwright, but I find his work lacks the depth and compassion of Shakespeare at his best. As Shakespeare emerged from Marlowe's shadow, he transcended him. Edward II is a fine history play, but it is as profound a response to the problems of leadership as the Henry IV plays? Faustus is a powerful tragedy, but does it really say as much about the human condition as Othello, Hamlet, King Lear or Anthony and Cleopatra? Could Marlowe have matched the daring mixture of moods in The Tempest or The Winter's Tale?
11 Feb 13
1 edit
Originally posted by hakimaIt's great that you're achieving that ambition! I studied Eng Lit at Cambridge when I was 19 - and had the happiest three years of my life so far. Partly because I was young, of course, but also because of the sheer delight of spending so much time in direct contact with "the best that has been thought and said".
A small university in Texas--Tarleton State. I'm fifty years old and FINALLY beginning to realize the ambition that has eluded me my entire adult life. So far, so good...I've made the Dean's list twice...something I probably wouldn't have done at age 19.
11 Feb 13
1 edit
Originally posted by mikelomHardly conclusive. My Latin was always better than my Greek. I know the Aeneid better than the Odyssey and Iliad. Sounds like William was the same.
Shakespeare rarely referred to the Greek Gods, and therefore it appears he had little knowledge of them. Perseus' referral in Faustus is prominent, and therefore I would conclude that it was not written by Shakespeare at all.
-m.
My hypothesis stands intact for the moment. Aside from it being a crock, of course.
🙂
13 Feb 13
Originally posted by hakimaFrissons
I love language and discovering new ways to say anything. Currently, I'm taking an English Lit with emphasis on British literature from the Reformation period to the Glorious Revolution. We are now reading Marlow's Faustus, which can be excruciating due to words I have not seen or used before. However, in my attempts to do more than simply pass the co ...[text shortened]... is quirks and quiddities".
Synonyms
essence - substance - gist - pith - marrow - inwardness
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cold_chill
(Old French)
16 Feb 13
Forsobbed: soaked or penetrated
Can it be guessed what I am reading now?
By the way...thank you all for your insights...I have finished a first reading of Faustus...and now must formulate a paper comparing it to Everyman, within the framework of religious certainty and uncertainty at the period of the Reformation in England.