Writing a Commentary

What Does X do? I don’t know. I spent all of my 2019 Fall semester trying to figure this out, and I honestly still don’t know. Shakespeare after 1600, taught by Dr. Rocklin, gave me both trauma and amazing insight on how to both write a commentary and develop my overall writing skills further. The main aspect of writing one of these heart stopping pieces is to first pick a passage from the text you are reading. In this case, it was Shakespeare’s Two Noble Kinsman. After I found a piece I liked, I asked myself “what does this say about the characters and the play?” After I felt like I answered that question, I asked the dreaded “what does X do?” Although I can’t articulate the answer to this, I was somewhat able to implement it to this commentary and receive a good enough grade to feel confident enough to incorporate it in this website. Aside from the analysis side of writing a commentary, there are also subtle structural aspects you have to take into account. Formatting the passaging is a must. Make sure the prose is correct, have a title, and cite the passage, which is as follows: Play name, Act.Scene.line(s). After all of that you got your commentary, and it is out of your hands as to whether or not it is good, because it is up to Rocklin decide that. So, without further adieu, here is my commentary:

Declaratively Declaring Declaration

Pir. For mercy. 

Hip.                   Mercy.

Emil.                              Mercy on these princes. — The Two Noble Kinsman, III.vi.211

————

The. Sad lady, rise.

Hip.                        Stand up. 

Emil.                                       No knees to me — The Two Noble Kinsman, I.i.35

         In III.vi, Pirithous, Hippolyta, and Emilia are asking Theseus to grant mercy for Arcite and Palamon, whereas in I.i, Theseus, Hippolyta, and Emilia are telling the three queens to act with more dignity. In both instances, three characters share one consecutive line, by which, Emilia has the last word however; they divulge in the fact that Pirithous begins the shared line in III.vi and Theseus in I.i.. This repetition shows the symmetry that these four characters have with each other when speaking, and the declarative finality that Emilia holds. The first two sentences in each scene are essentially synonymous with each other, in that, the second speaker repeats what the first speaker says. It is not until the third sentence spoken, in both instances by Emilia, that the action of what the other two speakers are trying to initiate is declaratively said. Her finalization of the speech acts bring clarity to the audience as well, because she is eloquently iterating what is objectively being said in both scenes. Furthermore, due to the fact that Emilia holds the lowest class in both scenes, her final words in these instances ironically showcase the articulate effectiveness that she has over the other characters in the play.