I remember learning that during the Shakespearean era, men often played women’s roles. Does that mean that the character of Viola/Cesario was a man playing a woman playing a man? I’m curious to find out how the character was portrayed.
I think it’s really interesting how many of Shakespeare’s plays involve cross-dressing and disguise in the form of the opposite gender. Weren’t his plays considered radical during his times? How was he such a popular playwright?
Why must Viola must go through all the trouble of disguising herself as a male to get a job? Could she not have worked some place else to hide herself? Why was it so important she hid herself until the “right moment”?
The character of Herbert White is so creative and vivid, despite how outlandish he would seem to be in-concept as a necrophiliac child killer. How does Bidart create such a person? How does he craft this deeply complex and psychologically intriguing character? What preparation or studying did he do when formulating the poem? Or, does he know from first-hand experience…?
This poem is succinct but poignant and it seems as if he is pondering through the subject of girlhood even as he is writing the poem, as he switches perspectives in the middle. But why is it that he is writing about girlhood instead of boyhood? Nothing about the poem is distinctly about girls, so why did Galassi title it “Girlhood”?
For both Bidart and Galassi, what’s the similarly between their appreciations to poetry?
I was wondering why Frank Bidart would write a poem about anorexia. Anorexia is a sickness that is misunderstood today but through his poem Bidart puts us into the shoes of someone that has anorexia and shows us how she feels. Also, could have Bidart felt the desire to not be what he was and that’s why he wrote the poem, to show that everyone has problems with themselves? Could the poem be about self-esteem issues in general and not only anorexia?
From my understanding, Jonathan Galassi is widely known for his publishing and translating of Italian poetry (I did read additional information and found that he is a poet himself). Although many people compliment his ability to translate poetry well, I wonder if there is anything that is “lost in translation”? Often times there are things that do not translate to English directly, and poetry is so heavily dependent on structure and form, are there moments when what the original author intended is lost in the English translation, such as emotion, tone or even message?
Bidart’s characters are initially appalling. But by the end of each poem, in a crazy, distorted way, they seem to make “sense.” Is that what makes these two poems so powerful?
