The librarian asked me what I was doing here. I was visiting it for the first time anyway. When she heard that I was looking for the information about the Shakespearean play, she literally laughed.
«I wonder if you study Shakespeare’s biography and plays in the first year.»
I told that we did. She laughed again. And then, she rolled her eyes. I think she was asking herself what teacher sent me to the library to look for the information about Shakespeare.
But nonetheless, I liked her. She was a kind woman. She always helped me when needed.
When I was about to leave, she asked:
«I wonder if you should begin with studying the ancient English literature.»
Wait, the ancient English literature? Did it exist?
Anyway, where was the man’s logic? We should’ve started with the old times, not with Shakespeare.
Something was wrong here.
I spent the whole night writing out all the information about the play called «Julius Caesar.» Actually, I’d found something interesting. I was going to read it out loud in front of Andrew the following day. And add colour to his weird principles.
«Well, okay. Who’s ready to give the answer to my question? What do you know about the play?»
I raised my hand.
«Sorry, forgot your name.»
«Ella.»
«Ella… Hmm… Interesting…» he seemed to be lost in his thoughts.
Then, he woke up and said, «Tell us all you can say.»
I started: «In this play, there are many characters present: Julius Caesar himself as a main character, Octavius Caesar, Mark Antony and Lepidus. We also come across conspirators against Caesar: Marcus Brutus (Brutus), whose speech you gave us at the previous class, Cassius, Casca, Cinna, Metellus Cimber, Trebonius, Caius Ligarius, Tribunes, Flavius and Marullus. Moreover, we have some Roman Senate Senators, for instance, Cicero, Publius and Popilius Lena. As for the citizens…»
«Stop it! Stop it! Stop-p-p it-t-t!» he interrupted me.
«What’s wrong with that?»
«Nothing. But: you mustn’t read it. Tell us all about the play WITHOUT reading and even looking at your notes.»
I was struck. How come I couldn’t read anything at all?
«Well, and how am I going to do it?»
«I don’t know. Some-how, I’d say.»
I was struggling to remember at least a bit of what I wrote last night. But in vain.
«Hmmm… And what shall I do with you? Give you a „D“?»
«N-n-no. Why should you?»
«Because you’ve come to the class unprepared.»
«I am!»
«I don’t see it, judging by your eyes trying to find something in the notebook. How many pages have you written?»
«Ten.»
«And how many have you learnt?»
I fell silent.
«I’ll answer the question for you: you’ve learnt none. None! Can you imagine that?»
He was loose in the beans. High time to go to the asylum.
«So, for this class, Ella will get a „D“.» He said this in a sarcastic manner and then looked at me.
«Okay, if you aren’t ready, continue reading.» He put the stress on the word «reading’.
«Sure!» I said calmly.
I went on READING, as he told me to.
To be honest, I didn’t remember where I stopped, so I started with what my eyes fell on:
The main source of the play is Thomas North’s translation of Plutarch’s «Lives’. Shakespeare makes Caesar’s triumph take place on the day of Lupercalia instead of six months earlier. For dramatic effect, he makes the Capitol the venue of Caesar’s death rather than the Curia Pompeia. Caesar’s murder, the funeral, Antony’s oration, the reading of the will and the arrival of Octavius all take place on the same day in the play. However, historically, the assassination took place on 15 March, the will was published on 18 March, the funeral was on 20 March, and Octavius arrived only in May. Shakespeare has Caesar say «Et tu, Brute?» («And you, Brutus?») before he dies. Shakespeare deviated from these historical facts to curtail time and compress the facts so that the play could be staged more easily. The tragic force is condensed into a few scenes for heightened effect. The play contains many anachronistic elements from the Elizabethan era. The characters mention objects such as doublets (large, heavy jackets), which did not exist in ancient Rome.
«Okay. Enough,» he said, smiling and showing his white teeth.
At that moment, I saw how handsome he was. His smile was magnificent. He’d got dark hair. And he wore quite a decent (!) suit. Of course, all our university teachers had to wear decent suits, not to get fired.
And, well, he had an aquiline nose. A Roman one. It meant he entered my life as a conqueror of my heart!
He did.
I don’t know what happened. I started to like him. No, I even began to adore him. How strange of me! To like the crazy man who laughed at every single mistake of yours.
We listened to the other students. Then, Andrew said:
«Okay. The facts about William Shakespeare were a warm-up. What you’ll have to do for the next time is to find information about the English literature before the Norman conquest. So, the Anglo-Saxon and the Anglo-Norman literature. Is the task clear?»
Frankly speaking, I didn’t understand a word. What should we find? Which period was given..?
I had to do something about that.
«The Anglo-Saxons, whoever they were…»
«The Anglo-Saxons, whoever they were, did many things for us. Not for us as Americans, but for us as a whole population. That is, the humans. And what they did you’ll find at home. Or at the library, as you like.»
Smart words.
So, I went to the library again. This time, I needed to find something about Old English. And, seemingly, English during and after the Norman conquest. Hmm…
What I found evaded any explanation. I understood practically nothing.
Well, at least, I had to write it all down:
Old English, or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlers in the mid-5th century, and the first Old English literary works date from the mid-7th century. After the Norman conquest of 1066, English was replaced, for a time, as the language of the upper classes by Anglo-Norman, a relative of French. This is regarded as marking the end of the Old English era, as during this period the English language was heavily influenced by Anglo-Norman, developing into a phase known now as Middle English…
Quite a long writing. It took good ten pages.
Wait, I’d found even more! (I had to make a brilliant display in front of our professor):
Englisc, from which the word English is derived, means ’pertaining to the Angles’. In Old English, this word was derived from Angles (one of the Germanic tribes who conquered parts of Great Britain in the 5th century). During the 9th century, all invading Germanic