Objective

MATERIALS: W. SHAKESPEARE, Macbeth (English and Italian version), Mondadori 1990 W. SHAKESPEARE, Hamlet, Act iii. Sc. 1., 57-87vv, from handout. S. SASSOON, They from War Poetry, he wrote the poem during World War I. S. SASSOON, Glory of Women from War Poetry, he wrote the poem during World War I. W. OWEN, Futility from The Collected Poems by C. Day Lewis, 1963 W. OWEN, A Poet’s Statement from the Collected Poems by C. Day Lewis, 1963

“PEACE” = a psychological sense of inner peace generally coinciding with “peace of the mind”. Social aspect = concerned with absence of direct violence between individuals and common organisations. PEACE BETWEEN NATIONS depends on people’s will and their commitment to defend it. MEANING

ONU = = organisation whose task is to work for peace. Peace = a value recognized by everybody Peace = must overcome any social and religious barriers to prevent disaster.

Peace is a wish in everybody’s heart without differences of culture. We must cancel the falseness in the world so as not to pollute the relationships. We should start to speak about peace. You can find peace when you will be able to look abut the world with different eyes when we will decide not to build a materialistic empire when we will decide not to choose the “lex talionis” to solve problems

what is the meaning of life peace or conflicts? I think peace will be hard to reach because in spite of everything: the technological progress fosters wars causing by wickedness of people. SOME CONSIDERTIONS

A Shakespearean Play

I’m going to speak about peace in the world and in literature and exactly I will consider peace in Macbeth. Peace in the world and in literature

Beginning of play = Macbeth a brave and capable warrior Immediately afterwards = personality changes after meeting the three witches  future thane of Glamis and then king of Cawdor.

They upset him  physical courage + ambition  self doubt and inner turmoil. Role of Predictions

Before killing Duncan, Macbeth  tormented by fear and doubts. Lady Macbeth pushes him into bad deed. But then, when After Duncan’s death Lady Macbeth’s strong personality vacilates, Macbeth feels more alone with his inner turmoil.  alternates moments of self-confidence to moments of pessimism, especially after his wife’s death. MACBETH’S PARABOLA

Macbeth surrounded by enimies  almost relieved He can finally be the brave warrior of his previous life. Forgetting his ambition and retorning to the battlefield will help him die as a hero. END OF PLAY

In Macbeth you can find peace at the end when Macbeth returns to be a great warrior Macbeth’s evil actions are also influenced by his wife. She kills herself at the end  to find peace), in my opinion. Peace is the opposite to war Inner peace is the most important character of the play. MESSAGE

To be, or not to be: that is the question: Whether ’t is nobler in the mind to suffer The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, Or to take arms against a sea of troubles, And by opposing end them? To die: to sleep: No more; and by a sleep to say we end The heartache and the thousand natural shocks That flesh is heir to,—’t is a consummation Devoutly to be wish’d. To die, to sleep; To sleep: perchance to dream: ay, there ’s the rub: For in that sleep of death what dreams may come, When we have shuffled off this mortal coil, Must give us pause: there ’s the respect That makes calamity of so long life; For who would bear the whips and scorns of time, The oppressor’s wrong, the proud man’s contumely, The pangs of despised love, the law’s delay, The insolence of office and the spurns That patient merit of the unworthy takes, When he himself might his quietus make With a bare bodkin? who would fardels 13 bear, To grunt and sweat under a weary life, But that the dread of something after death, The undiscover’d country from whose bourn No traveller returns, puzzles the will And makes us rather bear those ills we have Than fly to others that we know not of? Thus conscience does make cowards of us all; And thus the native hue of resolution Is sicklied o’er with the pale cast of thought, And enterprises of great pith and moment With this regard their currents turn awry, And lose the name of action. 13

“To be or not to be” linked to human beings’ existence. Title elicits philisophical investigation Recalls an inner problem. HAMLETS’ FAMOUS QUESTION

“To be or not to be”  Hamlet’s famous monologue. Hamlet oppressed by terrible doubts Is it right or not to on living and bear life troubles ? Is it better to put an end to our sorrows?

Death = the best solution. It erases as the pangs Death = no one has ever returned from “the undiscovered country” LIFE and DEATH

Human-beings are cowards  Unable to make the final decision They prefer to live and face all problems connected with everyday life. Do they do the same even with war ? POSSIBLE ANSWER

The Bishop tells us: "when the boys come back They will not be the same; for they'll have fought In a just cause; they lead the last attack On Anti-Christ; their comrades' blood has bought. New right to breed an honourable race, They have challenged death and dared him face to face" "We're none of us the same" the boys reply. "For George lost both his legs; and Bill's stone blind Poor Jim's shot through the lungs and like to die And Bert's gone syphilitic: you'll not find A chap who's served that hasn't found some change". And the Bishop said: "The ways of God are strange!"

“They”  a short poem by Sassoon. “They” refers to some people the poet wants to speak about. Perhaps he wants to underline a group of man or women who have influenced his life. PEACE versus WAR

The poem is divided into two stanzas of six lines each Rhyme  “back-attack”, “fought-bought”, “race-face”, “reply-die”, “blind- find”, “change-strange”. Language = simple. Direct and Reported speech One metaphor = “Anti-Christ” people who deny Christ and the Church. Main character  the bishop. The bishop exhorts the young-men to fight for a right cause  they will face Death and challenge Fate  they will be heroes whose sacrifice will generate a better race. The soldiers’ words  sadness and disappointment towards the church. After war  they come back hurt in their body and mind with a lot of doubts that the bishop can’t give an answer to. THEY

Two lines “they will not be the same” and “we’re none of us the same” different meaning  The second statement disillusionment towards the church and any institution promoting war. MESSAGE

You love us when we’re heroes, home on leave, Or wounded in a mentionable place, You worship decorations; you believe That chivalry redeems the war disgrace. You make us shells. You listen with delight, By tales of dirt and danger fondly thrilled. You crown our distant ardours while we fight, And mourn our laurelled memories when we’re killed. You can’t believe the British troops ‘retire’ When hell’s last horror breaks them, and they run, Trampling the terrible corpses – blind with blood. O German mother dreaming by the fire, While you are knitting socks to send your son His face is trodden deeper in the mud.

Glory of Women The title of Glory of Women may refer to women in general their positive attitude towards something they consider right and important

Only one stanza of 14 lines Rhyme scheme  ABAB-CDCD-ABCABC. IS IT A SONNET? WHY?

The poem is about war seen from women’s eyes unreal vision of a war not personally involved so, think of their sons as heroes to worship decorations, to listen to their stories of dirt and danger to knit their clothes.  mourn, memories, killed, hell, horror, corpses, blood Second part  situation described words like “ mourn, memories, killed, hell, horror, corpses, blood” underline the consequences of a war which he perhaps has experienced.

Last three lines high-light the ignorance of those women who did not take active part in the conflict. Sassoon wants to underline Germany still hoped to win the war and most of them didn’t know how near to he end they were. MESSAGE

Move him into the sun- Gently its touch awoke him once, At home, whispering of fields unsown. Always it woke him, even in France, Until this morning and this snow. If anything might rouse him now The kind old sun will know. Think how it wakes the seeds- Woke once the clays of a cold star. Are limbs, so dear-achieved, are sides Full-nerved, still warm, too hard to stir? Was it for this the clay grew tall? O what made fatuous sunbeams toil To break earth's sleep at all?

 “Futility”  something human beings might not praise.  “Futility”  a materialistic and useless thing. I think Futility recalls men’s vices TITLE

First stanza = key words “gently” and “sun” introduced the theme of love. The sun is compared to a loving mother who wakes her son up and takes care of him in a very gently and sweetly way. She is always present whether the boy is at home or far from it. POSITIVE ATTITUDES

Second stanza tone becomes sad “the clays of a cold star” removes both warmth and human love Some angry questions (3 rd stanza) dealing with death and giving vent to the poet’s anger. WAR versus PEACE

The “sunbeams” are seen in a negative way now because they can’t transmit their warmth to the boy anymore.

This book is not about heroes. English Poetry is not yet fit to speak of them. Nor is it about deeds or lands, nor anything about glory, honour, dominion or power, except War. Above all, this book is not concerned with Poetry. The subject of it is War, and the pity of War. The Poetry is in the pity. Yet these elegies are not to this generation, This is in no sense consolatory. They may be to the next. All the poet can do to-day is to warn. That is why the true Poets must be truthful.

The poet’s intention: he does NOT mean to celebrate heroes. Poetry is not sui table to speak about heroes. DECLARATION OF INTENTION

Poetry should not speak about the paternalistic and rehtoric vision of War or better to a vision of War. War or better to a vision of War. WAR and POETRY

The poet is interested in discussing and speaking about War and pity. The word “War” is one of the most frequent in the statement The reader understands the poet wants to draw the attention of the audience to the consequences of War. MESSAGE