Spoiler Alert

By Rick Curtiss, Dramaturg

“he asked me would I yes to say yes my mountain flower and first I put my arms around him yes and dream him down to me so he could feel my breasts all perfume yes and his heart was going like mad and yes I say yes I will Yes.”

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James Joyce, Zurich 1915[/caption] That is the last—I hesitate to call it line—phrase from James Joyce’s Ulysses. It finishes a thirty page, punctuation free, stream of consciousness section which consists of the thoughts of Molly Bloom as she lays next to her husband. The last thing she remembers before the novel ends is the moment her husband proposed to her. Which is, I guess, what one could call a spoiler— But a benign one I assure you. Not that all spoilers are benign. Most novels are better when experienced without any pre(conceived)peratory information about the end, but I could go through the entire plot of Ulysses in a couple of paragraphs, every major detail displayed, and I wouldn’t consider it an offense, or even an enhancement. It is just the facts. Joyce didn’t seem concerned with the “is,” the course of action that led from one event to the next, a rubegoldbergian set up of potential disaster triumphantly avoided or tragically brought to pass. Rather, the novels richness is found in the profound internal experiences of the everyday. The experience of reading is the reward, not knowing what happens. [caption id="attachment_4928" align="alignright" width="300"]

In "Travesties", James Joyce is played by Sierra Docken (not a joke)[/caption] You could be told everything about going to Glacier National Park, but that doesn’t diminish going there. Tasting food isn’t spoiled by being told what it tastes like. It’s almost impossible to spoil Joyce’s novel by only describing its contents. But Ulysses is often spoiled. It’s been called among others things: difficult, confusing, nigh-impenetrable, not for high-schoolers, not for undergrads, hard to follow, obscene. I have little evidence to confront any of those qualifiers, but instead of being spoiled by giving away too much information, Ulysses is spoiled by not giving enough. When initially described, it becomes an esoteric icon to be read about but not to read. What is left unsaid is that Ulysses benefits from context, and preparation. Every moment in the novel doesn’t need to be understood to be enjoyed, and pausing to think, re-reading, and skipping around are not signs of incompetence in the writer or the reader. It’s difficult, yes, but a challenging read can be immensely rewarding. Ulysses is not unique in this regard. When someone asks me to sum up Travesties (full disclosure, no one has) I hesitate. I don’t want to spoil it. I want to say one hundred things, but not come across overwhelming. I want to warn of potential attitudes that could inhibit enjoyment, but don’t want create those attitudes in doing so. I don’t want to tell them the plot. Not because I want the twist to be a surprise (spoiler: there isn’t a twist), but because the plot doesn’t drive the show—not traditionally. I do want to point them to a couple of Wikipedia articles that could be helpful. And if forced to sum up Travesties in a one sentence it would be: Rarely has being completely lost been this delightful. If given two sentences, then the second would be: Rarely is a show so rewarding on each successive viewing. And If I had the luxury of a third, I would add: and hey, at least it ain’t Ulysses.

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[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="376"] Margaret Roper[/caption] Margaret More Roper: Scholar and Daughter by Adam White, dramaturg Thomas More was a family man; he was married twice and had four children with his first wife, Jane Colt. After being married for six years, Jane Colt More died, leaving More with four children: Margaret, Elizabeth, Cecily and John. However, More quickly remarried to the widow Dame Alice Middleton, marrying her within a month of his wife’s death. While many of his friends resisted the rapid nature of the arrangement, More went through with it. Thomas and Alice More would raise the four children Thomas More had with Jane, as well as Alice’s daughter from her previous marriage and a foster daughter. Certainly, More valued his family and the welfare of his children. More also valued the power of education. He insisted that his daughters be educated through rigorous schooling, and this was unusual in 16th-century England, as society at large believed women unfit for scholarly pursuits. Despite cultural and institutional norms, Margaret More, the eldest of the More children (and More’s favorite, some would argue), would grow to become one of the most educated people in all of England, a woman of great scholarly knowledge. Margaret More Roper was tutored at home and became well-known for her studies, particularly for her adeptness in Greek and Latin. Her skill in writing and speaking Latin would impress the clergy of England. This specialty is reflected in a scene in Bolt’s A Man for All Seasons where Margaret and King Henry VIII engage in a bit of Latin language sparring. She would also become the first woman who was not of royal birth to publish a translated book. In October 1524, Roper published an English translation of a book called ‘Precatio dominica’ written by Thomas More’s good friend Erasmus. This book was based on the Lord’s Prayer. Instead of translating the book directly from Latin to English, Roper would use her extensive knowledge of both languages to construct the themes and the meanings Erasmus had written in to the treatise with her own words. [caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="291"] Erasmus, Dutch humanist and good friend to Thomas More[/caption] It was Margaret who would visit the imprisoned Thomas More the most often. They were very close, writing letters to one another regularly the duration of their relationship. It was in a letter to Margaret that Thomas More confided, “I do nobody harm, I say none harm, I thinke none harm, but wish everybody good. And if this be not enough to keep a man alive, in good faith I long not to live.” We have good reason to believe that Margaret More Roper very well understood what would be her father’s fate. After Thomas More’s execution, Margaret More Roper and her husband William Roper would continue to carry on his legacy in their own ways. William Roper would write the first biography of Thomas More, a glowing and gracious document that would influence our understanding of More’s personality for hundreds of years to come. Margaret More Roper actually kept her father’s head after his beheading, pickling it to preserve it from decay. While many of us may find that historical tidbit a tad macabre, I would like to believe that Margaret More Roper had deep admiration for her father; perhaps it was out of this feeling she kept his head. Please stay tuned to the 4th Wall Dramaturgy Blog to catch clips of my interview with Mallory Gee, the actress who will portray Margaret More Roper in BYU’s A Man for All Seasons. Bibliography: Abernathy, Susan. "Margaret Roper, Daughter of Sir Thomas More." Early Modern England. N.p., n.d. Web. 04 Feb. 2014. Duerden, Richard. "A Man for All Seasons." Telephone interview. 31 Jan. 2014. "Margaret Roper." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 28 Sept. 2013. Web. 02 Oct. 2013. "Sir Thomas More Quotes and Quotations." Sir Thomas More Quotes and Quotations. Luminarium. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Nov. 2013.

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