Thursday, April 30, 2009
For Credit: Manfred and Conrad?
(h/t to Cayla for e-mailing me the URL for the Youtube clip and bringing it up in class!)
Note that we also get a possible representation of Jaquez and Diego here as well.
Reflect on Walpole's use of comic servant characters in this novel. As you have read in the reviews (and the second preface), it was a point of some contention whether such characters aided or undermined the novel. What do you think? Support your claims with evidence from the text.
Deadline: Monday (5/4), 10am.
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8 comments:
I personally enjoyed the comic aspects of the novel. As a few people mentioned in a previous blog, they could see this movie being done by Monty Python, which says something about the content of the story. Though the novel is supposed to be creepy and scary, there are also enough WTF moments that create a certain balance to it all. Even certain "dramatic" parts, such as the death-by-giant-helmet cannot always be taken seriously.
The servant characters were hilarious in the way they stumbled and talked over each other. I think their presence not only provides comic relief, but they also provide a good juxtaposition to that crazy kook Manfred. I think it was important to see Manfred's angry reaction to his servants as a means of developing his character.
I think the servants in the novel, like the ones in the video clip, undermine the novel a little. When Manfred is asking what they saw while looking for Isabella, I wanted them to quit babbling as much as Manfred did. I don't think they provided that much comedic relief either. The scene from Monty Python is humorous, but maybe that is appealing to a modern idea of comedy rather than an 18th century perspective. Not that I think the servants should be hushed up in the novel, but it is centering around Manfred and his family and the legacy of the castle more than is focuses on the servants. It adds to the confusion of so many names and smaller run-off plots.
It's hard to say whether or not the use of comic servants aids the book. On the one hand, we have to realize that, by today's standards, most of the action and so-called "dark" story elements are cliched. The Gothic and horror genres have substantially advanced since 1764 and many "terrifying" scenes from the novel are comical to us because of the more gruesome examples of horror we have today. In that case, the use of comic servants does aid the story because we have a satirical view of the book already. However, if the reader of the late 18th century did not see the novel as comical, he/she might feel the use of these characters detracted from the novel.
The use of comic servants in Monty Python is different because of Monty Python's overwhelmingly farcical nature. Viewers expect these types of jokes and versions of comedic relief and therefore it helps the story.
I think the root of this argument is based in weather or not the reader takes this novel to be serious and creepy, or intended for comedy. Either way I feel that the obviously comical characters only improve the story. If you see the story as serious then the characters serve as good comic relief, the servents are much like Rozencrantz and Guildenstern from Hamlet. But if you feel that a giant helmet falling out of the sky and landing on someone cannot produce a serious story then the comic servant characters fall right in line with the rest of the novel.
Kamron summed up my opinion about Jaquez and Diego. They seem to be written in the same tradition as R&G, as well as the gravediggers (if anyone forgot them, they played around with bones in the graveyard while they were burying Ophelia, another "why this formulation" moment) I'm not sure if the comic servant is a deliberate tradition in novels, or if it is just a trope that has been repeated because it is popular. In the case of the novel, I thought that the two servants maintained the ludicrous tone of the plot. Their dialogue was the character equivalent of the giant helmet and saber.
Kamron summed up my opinion really well about Jaquez and Diego. They maintained the ludicrous tone of the plot by counterbalancing the over-the-top seriousness of Manfred's marriage plot. I'd like to think that their dialogue is the equivalent of the giant helmet and sword. I want to know if the comic servant is a deliberate tradition in novels, or if it is just a trope that has survived because it is popular.
In the end the servants don't play a huge part in the story, yet we are still given a slew of names that only adds to the confusion of the book. With the clip we are given a very comedic moment in a movie that is meant to be very comedic, but the servants sometimes take away from the tension that is building in the book. At the same time this is a story that created a entire genera of fiction and because of this many of the elements have been done so often that no the whole story comes off slightly satirical. Personally I laughed when the helmet came crashing down, so if the story itself cannot produce that feeling of dread, I might as well laugh the groundlings.
I agree with Cayla in that, I wished most of the time that the servants would stop babbling as much as the other characters. Not only does this problem appear in the scene with Manfred and his two blubbering fools, but with Matilda and Bianca. Bianca rattles on and on about a marriage that Matilda does not want, and then after a long while begins musing about Alfonso. Although her character reveals plot points, like that of Jaquez and Diego, I find that she is a draw back from the plot and other character development. The novel is the first of its kind, and it is meant to illicit danger and suspense, but these characters pull away from the tone the book takes. They however I will admit, do add a character balance to the plot WTF moments.
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