10 March 2011

Shakespearean March Madness: Round 1, Part 4

Today we welcome the last set of competitors to the arena for the final battles of Round 1.

First off, the four competitors from Round 1, Part 2 who will be advancing to the next round: Iago wins handily over Doll Tearsheet (54-8); our feisty wench might get in a scratch or two, but against this crafty combatant, she's down for the count. Match 6 surprised me; I thought this one would be closer than it ended up, but Edmund wins a 42-16 victory over King Claudius and advances. Queen Margaret flattens poor Hermia, 56-5, squashing the vixen with as little thought as she would swat a fly. Edmund will have good company going into Round 2, as Goneril defeats Siward in a match which indicates that our voters feel cunning and malice win out over sheer military might (39-15). So, to sum up, advancing to Round 2 we have: Iago, Edmund, Queen Margaret, and Goneril.

Match 13: Henry V vs Katharina Minola

Who wins the battle?

View Results
Create a Blog Poll


Match 14: Macduff vs Cleopatra

Who wins the battle?

View Results
Create a Blog Poll


Match 15: Macbeth vs Tamora

Who wins the battle?

View Results
Create a Blog Poll


Match 16: Enobarbus vs Coriolanus

Who wins the battle?

View Results
Create a Blog Poll


My picks (skip over if you want to vote un-influenced): Henry over Kate, easy. She may be full of fire, but he's England's greatest warrior-king. No contest. Cleopatra's another feisty minx, but as wonderful as I think she is in many ways, let's face it, she's not much of a warrior, and Macduff's got righteous fury on his side. Nothing beats righteous fury. Macbeth will take out Tamora, as we already know he has absolutely no qualms about going for women and children. She'll be too busy imitating anthropomorphic beings to notice that he's destroying her. Enobarbus vs Coriolanus is, in my opinion, this round's toughest to determine. Both are capable generals, both trained in the Roman style. I'm going to give the edge to Enobarbus, just because, hey, I like that guy better. Think I'm wrong about any of my picks? Tell me (and everyone else) why!

These polls will be open till next Thursday. On the Ides of March, we'll start in on Round Two.

8 comments:

  1. I agree with you on all except Macbeth v. Tamora. Yes, Macbeth has no problem going for the women and children, but he's also shown that he is easily manipulated by strong women. I'm pretty sure he'd be putty in the hands of Tamora.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Well, that brings up the question of what act do we think he's fighting in? Act 1, yeah, your point is valid. Act 4? Enh, he's thrown off the apron strings by then. So there's another judgment call for each voter to make for herself. ;)

    ReplyDelete
  3. He also didn't actually kill Mama!Duff and Baby!Duff himself, but sent murderers to do it.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I'm going with the underdog and backing Kate over Henry. We know how awkward he gets around women who can hold up their side of an argument- witness a scene involving another Kate. Our Kate, while Henry's thrown off, wouldn't hesitate to go for the eyes.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Coriolanus would steamroll Enorbarbus. Enobarbus is a hardened warrior, but he's "working for the weekend." He fights because he has to, but he'd rather dance the Egyptian Bacchanals. Coriolanus, by contrast, lives and breaths war and destruction. He is awkward off the battlefield because slaughter is his life. When leading the Volscians, he's described as "their god: he leads them like a thing/ made by some other deity than nature,/ That shapes men better. And they follow him/ Against us brats with no less confidence/ That boys pursuing summer butterflies,/ or butchers killing flies." Also, "When he walks, he moves like an engine and the ground shrinks before his treading." Enobarbus is a great guy, but he' got nothing on this.

    ReplyDelete
  6. 10 points to Alexi for using the text to tell me why I'm wrong. I love it! :D

    ReplyDelete
  7. Macduff's weakness is his lack of ruthlessness, and Cleo would take every advantage of that. Unlike Macbeth, Macduff would of course have compunctions about killing women and children. WIth this in mind, Cleo would bring little Ceasarian along, and, during Macduff's momentary hesitation, stab him in the neck with an asp venom-laced dagger.

    (Sorry for the double-post)

    ReplyDelete
  8. Cleopatra only got as far as she did by seducing powerful men. Macduff is made of sterner stuff than Caesar or Antony. Macbeth, on the other hand, is pretty vulnerable to mind games. Tamora, all the way.

    ReplyDelete