LITERATURE AND PEACE A Project towards Awareness

TO FIND OUT HOW LITERARY TEXTS MAY PROMOTE PEACE LEARNING OBJECTIVE

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

A SYMBOL OF PEACE

The concept of peace is nowadays one of the hottest all over the world. The conflicts in Israel, Palestine and Africa, the religious persecution in the Far East and in South Africa, the situation in Afghanistan and in Iraq provide daily proof of the difficulty to keep peace. The global community is aware that the problem is an urgent responsibility for everybody. PREFACE

Peace versus War

It is not so difficult to see similiarities between problematic situation in Shakespeare ‘s Macbeth and many of the reasons that underlie the difficulty to reach peace today. Its characters, in their complexity and contradictions, are still true and they express disturbances and weakenesses also present in the modern society that may lead to neglect peace in favour of war. Shakespeare’s Macbeth

Even if he describes people with different natures, each character in Shakespeare’s play ends up searching something she or he can’t reach: that is the situation they believe will give them peace. MABETH’S CHARACTERS AND PEACE

I’m going now to illustrate why and how Macbeth provides a good example for reflection on peace. At the beginning, Duncan’s kingdom seems to be in perfect order: his general Macbeth fights for him loyally. Unfortunately human beings are always subjects to contradictory passions and conflicts that often drive them to choose the wrong direction. This is just the case with Macbeth.

Macbeth is tempted by his ambition, his fear of not seeing his courage and valour recognized; so he and Lady Macbeth decided to kill Duncan. You can see the end of peace in Macbeth starts from the moment when the hero decides to believe in the witches’ prophecy without a tangible proof. AMBITION versus PEACE

After becoming king of Scotland and after committing a lot of crimes, Macbeth himself is not happy because he has not found the peace he was looking for Everything results vain if our satisfied wishes are not accompained by pleasure. As a matter of fact it is better to die rather than living a happiness full of anxiaties; as Lady Macbeth says in the second scene of Act III. HIS WRONG CHOICES

By reading the play the reader reflects about how often man, under the influences of his passions and greed, is only interested in but, once he obtains them, he realized that they don’t give him peace. By reading the play the reader reflects about how often man, under the influences of his passions and greed, is only interested in material things but, once he obtains them, he realized that they don’t give him peace. REFLECTION

Power, fame and riches are not everlasting and to keep them man has to struggle and he therefore risks to sacrify values which are much more important. FORGETTING VALUES IS DANGEROUS

REFLECTING with Hamlet

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

Hamlet enters and pronounces his famous monologue “To be or not to be”. “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 and them?”. What does “to be” mean? In Hamlet death is seen as the end of aan unbearable life, full of hurt and humiliation. Hamlet wonders, reflects but he can’t find and answer. Maybe he does not search immediate answers but a peaceful life in his surrondings.

In Hamlet peace is inner peace. The character looks for it be he cannot find it. Hamlet thinks over and over: he wants to kill his mother’s husband but he hasn’t got the courage for such action. He prefers to kill his thoughts that will continue to give him torture. So the character won’t find the peace he dreams of. PEACE IS A NEVER-GRANTED CONDITION

WHEN NO PEACE IS WAR

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

In this poem there are three voices: the poet, the soldiers and the Bishop. “They” underlines the opposition between the point of view of the soldiers and the one of Bishop. In the poem there are both dialogue and narration. The Bishop uses dialogue and the boys use narration. The Bishop has an ideal vision of the War because he speaks about “a just cause” and “honourable race”. The point of view of the boys is in opposition to the Bishop’s one: they condemn war. The Bishop uses a religious language to speak about the politics. After such knowledge what forgiveness “After such knowledge what forgiveness” T.S.Eliot

The boys favour peace because “ you’ll not find a chap who’s served that hasn’t found some change”. The last line is ironicol and it recalls the Bishop’s first words. This line could be understood as a parody by soldiers because God changes people who have fought. The poet uses words like weapons; they promote reflection about war and about the urgency of peace. Peacethe Young In Touch With Reality Peace is for the Young and they who are In Touch With Reality

WOMEN AND WAR

GLORY OF WOMEN 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.

In the poem the speaking voice addresses women referring to them with the subject pronoun “you”. The anaphoric construction of the first three stanzas sticks in the reader’s mind on the word as if it were a warning. The reader gradually understands the voice speaking represents the point of view of soldiers. Their women seem to have a distorted view of war. According to the speaking voice, women see war as a sort of heroism, where soldiers can get decorations, be consider heros or receive prizes. In the sestet, on the contrary, a different vision of the War is provided: the one those who really fight in war and see its horrors. “you can’t believe…” the speaking voice illustrate the imaginary vision women have of war. THEY versus “You”

REFLECTION PROMOTED The message that the poet wants to communicate is that the peace is not guaranteed: to work for it not to fight for it is our duty.

FUTILITY

FUTILITY 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 can be considered something materialistic and useless. I think “futility” underlines men’s vices. In the first stanza the key words “gently” and “sun” are used by the poet to introduce the theme of love. The positive aspect is that 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 faraway. The tone becomes sad in the second stanza where “the clays of a cold star” removes all warmth and human love from the poem and introduces some angry questions in the third stanza which deals with death and gives vent to the poet’s anger. Sun beans are seen in a negetive way now because they can’t transmit their warmth to the boy anymore.

AN ORDINARY VISION

A POET ’S STATEMENT 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 first important piece of information the text gives the reader is that poetry doesn’t mean to celebrate heroes. Poetry as a literary genre is not suitable to speak about heroes. The poet is conviced that poetry should not speak about all those ideals that are generally connected to war or better to a paternalistic and rhetoric vision of War. The reader immediately understands the contradiction is made on purpose. As a matter of fact it’s seems as if poetry could only speak about war. The reader will also realize the words poetry and war are both capitalized as if they wanted to draw the reader’s attention. A PREFACE AS INTENTION DECLARATION

Further on, the poet states that is not interested in poetry. This message is of course a parody in the poet’s mouth therefore the reader should wonder why such words were chosen. The answer comes immediately afterwords when the poet says he is interested in discussing and speaking about war and pity. “War” is one of the most frequent lexical choices in the statement and therefore the reader understands that the poet wants to draw the attention of the audience on the horrors of War. The final message is therefore “All the poet can do to-day is to warn. That is why the true Poets must be truthful.” WE WANT TO JOIN IN SUCH WARNING A SUITABLE PROJECT CONCLUSION