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-= Gao Er Qin Theater Class
-* Location: JSB 308
-* Teacher:
-* [[Gao Er Qin Theater Teacher's Meetings|Teacher's Meetings]]
-== October 3
-* This is a rather long synopsis however we will take it one step at a time.
-* First, you can watch an original French production of "Boule de Suif", with auto-generated and auto-translated dialogue at:
-* https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NEnV1CCdF6Q
-* {{youtube>NEnV1CCdF6Q?large}}
-* Let's talk about "Boule de Suif".
-** “Boule de Suif” was published in 1880 in a collection of short stories that included other prolific writers at the time, including Émile Zola and Joris-Karl Huysman.
-* 1. What does it mean?
-** Boule de Suif translated variously as Dumpling, Butterball, Ball of Fat, or Ball of Lard, is a famous short story by the late 19th-century French writer Guy de Maupassant, first published on or about April 15th, 1880. It is arguably his most famous short story and is the title story for his collection on the Franco-Prussian War, titled Boule de Suif et Autres Contes de la Guerre (Dumpling and Other Stories of the War). As a collection, it included other prolific writers at the time, including Émile Zola and Joris-Karl Huysman. This implies the story has a theme related to the war, or is about the war in general -- not just that it takes place during the war.
-* 2. What is the story about?
-** The story is set in the Franco-Prussian War and follows a group of French residents of Rouen, recently occupied by the Prussian army. The ten travellers decide for various reasons to leave Rouen and flee to Le Havre in a stagecoach. Sharing the carriage are Boule de Suif or "Butterball" (lit. suet dumpling, also translated as ball of fat), a prostitute whose real name is Elisabeth Rousset; the strict Democrat Cornudet; a shop-owning couple from the petty bourgeoisie, M. and Mme. Loiseau; a wealthy upper-bourgeoisie factory-owner and his wife, M. and Mme. Carré-Lamadon; the Comte and Comtesse of Bréville; and two nuns. Thus, the carriage constitutes a microcosm of French society, representing different parts of the French population during the late 19th century.
-* 3. Who is Guy de Maupassant?
-** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=beNU08slkn4
-** Henri René Albert Guy de Maupassant was a 19th-century French author, remembered as a master of the short story form, and as a representative of the Naturalist school, who depicted human lives and destinies and social forces in disillusioned and often pessimistic terms.
-** Maupassant was a protégé of Gustave Flaubert and his stories are characterized by economy of style and efficient, seemingly effortless dénouements. Many are set during the Franco-Prussian War of the 1870s, describing the futility of war and the innocent civilians who, caught up in events beyond their control, are permanently changed by their experiences. He wrote 300 short stories, six novels, three travel books, and one volume of verse. His first published story, "Boule de Suif" ("The Dumpling", 1880), is often considered his masterpiece.
-* 3b. Brief Biography of Guy de Maupassant
-** In 1850, Guy de Maupassant was born into a middle-class family in northern France. Although comfortable financially, his mother and his father fought often and his parents divorced when Maupassant was 11. His upbringing was primarily shaped by his mother, a highly literary woman who would read him Shakespeare and who arranged a tutor to teach him Latin, math, and grammar. After attending a religious boarding seminary which he detested (enough to purposefully get himself expelled), Maupassant became a student at a specialized secondary school in Rouen. In 1868 he met Gustave Flaubert, who would prove to be a massive literary and life influence. Two years later, he left his studies temporarily to volunteer in the Franco-Prussian war. Maupassant wrote avidly in the ‘80’s and enjoyed commercial success, but by 1890 his health had deteriorated due to the syphilis he had contracted many years earlier. Maupassant died at 43, but he was able to produce over 300 pieces of writing in his lifetime. He is often referred to as the father of the (modern) short story. “Boule de Suif” is one of his earliest published pieces.
-* 4. What happpens in the story?
-** Due to the terrible weather, the coach moves very slowly and by midday has only covered a few miles. The occupants initially snub Boule de Suif, but their attitudes change when she produces a picnic basket full of lovely food and offers to share its contents with the hungry travellers.
-** At the village of Tôtes, the carriage stops at the local coaching inn, and the occupants, hearing a German voice, realise they have blundered into Prussian-held territory. A Prussian officer detains the party at the inn indefinitely without telling them why. Over the next two days, the travellers become increasingly impatient, and are finally told by Boule de Suif that they are being detained until she agrees to sleep with the officer. She is repeatedly called before the officer, and always returns in a heightened state of agitation. Initially, the travellers support her and are furious at the officer's arrogance, but their indignation soon disappears as they grow angry at Boule de Suif for not sleeping with the officer so that they can leave. Over the course of the next two days, the travelers use various examples of logic and morality to convince her it is the right thing to do; she finally gives in and sleeps with the officer, who allows them to leave the next morning.
-** As they continue on their way to Le Havre, these "representatives of Virtue" ignore Boule de Suif and turn to polite topics of conversation, glancing scathingly at the young woman while refusing to even acknowledge her, and refusing to share their food with her the way that she did with them earlier. As the coach travels on into the night, Cornudet starts whistling the Marseillaise while Boule de Suif seethes with rage against the other passengers, and finally weeps for her lost dignity.
-* 5. Historical Context of Boule de Suif
-** The key historical event surrounding “Boule de Suif” is the end of the Franco-Prussian War. From 1870 to 1871, France fought the German states (primarily the kingdom of Prussia) and lost, resulting in a short occupation and the solidifying of Germany as a country. Napoleon Bonaparte III was the French Emperor at the time, and his capture and subsequent death marked the end of the Second Empire of France and the beginning of the Third Republic. Despite suffering a resounding defeat, the Bonaparte name would still remain a symbol of patriotism to many French people in the years immediately following the war. Guy de Maupassant left his studies in Paris to volunteer as a soldier in 1870, and his experience explains the common theme of war in many of his writings.
-* 6. Similar Works
-** Closely related to “Boule de Suif” are the works of Émile Zola, particularly his novel L’Assommoir. Zola was a friend of Maupassant, and his writing shares many thematic interests with Maupassant, such as a focus on class divisions and the difficulty of upward class mobility. Maupassant’s own short story “The Necklace” is also directly linked to “Boule de Suif,” because it similarly follows a kind woman with a lower-class position and concludes with an ironic tragedy. And, of course, there is Gustave Flaubert: Maupassant’s biggest literary influence (it is common to refer to Maupassant as Flaubert’s protégé). Flaubert’s Madame Bovary, set 20 years prior to the action in “Boule de Suif,” also takes place in Rouen, Normandy. Although not a critique of the inequity of war and not as firmly condemning of the bourgeois, Flaubert’s attention to character detail and his cool, omniscient narrative style can be seen throughout the works of Maupassant.
-* 7. Thematic Arrangement
-** Wealth and Hypocrisy
-*** Set during the Franco-Prussian war, Guy de Maupassant’s “Boule de Suif” depicts a group of French travelers who become stranded at a Prussian-occupied inn. Stuck in close quarters in a stressful situation, the group’s class tensions come to a boil: they are mostly upper-class couples, except for Boule de Suif (Ball of Fat), a prostitute whose real name is Mademoiselle Elizabeth Rousset. The wealthier members of the party condescend to Miss Rousset and treat her cruelly, only changing their tone when she can be useful to them. Consistently kind yet relentlessly taken advantage of, Miss Rousset is shown to be the only brave, honorable, and generous member of the group. By showing the cruelty and hypocrisy of the wealthy French elite—and the courage and dignity of the poorer Miss Rousset—Maupassant rejects the conventional wisdom of his day that wealth translates to good character.
-*** Even among people of mixed social classes, it is obvious that Miss Rousset, as a prostitute, is at the bottom of the social ladder in the carriage. Because of this, the others treat her with scorn. This is first shown when the three married women quickly take offence to Miss Rousset’s presence, uniting in “married dignity…in opposition to [those] sold without shame.” As they are all in the same situation—traveling uncomfortably in a small carriage—the only way that they can demonstrate their superiority is to shun and ignore Miss Rousset. At the end, the group uses a similar tactic in which no one will speak to Miss Rousset, even though she has just made a tremendous sacrifice for them. The women sing the praises of their other “high society” friends, which is meant to remind Miss Rousset that, no matter what she has done for these women, she is not one of them.
-*** The wealthy travelers only drop their scorn of Miss Rousset when she is useful to them, which shows their hypocrisy and selfishness. During the carriage ride, the group grows hungry. When they learn that Miss Rousset is the only passenger with food, they accept her offer to share, breaking with their previous attitude. Even so, when Mr. Loiseau says, “[e]verything goes in time of war, does it not, Madame?” he is explicitly remarking on how the wealthier travelers would not normally be speaking to a prostitute, and it’s only the extreme circumstances—their unusual desperation for food—that change their behavior.
-*** Similarly, when the group arrives in Tôtes and the inn owner announces that the German officer in charge would like to speak to Miss Rousset, the wealthier travelers have no problem asking her to put herself in a potentially dangerous situation. The group had been kinder since she’d shared her food, but, as soon as their well-being is threatened, they have no issue with “asking, begging, beseeching her to go,” since they “feared the complications that might result from disobedience.” This dynamic recurs when the wealthier travelers come together and convince Miss Rousset to sleep with the German soldier so that he will let them all leave. Despite thinking and saying cruel things behind her back, the group bands together and pretends to reason kindly with Miss Rousset to manipulate her into going against her own moral code.  Even though Miss Rousset sacrifices her morals and dignity for the group, they turn on her afterwards, which is the story’s clearest demonstration of their cruelty and selfishness. As they journey home, they realize that everybody has brought provisions except Miss Rousset, but nobody offers to share with her, even though her sacrifice is what freed them.
-*** Despite that Miss Rousset is considered the least respectable member of the group, Maupassant depicts her as the story’s most generous, kind, and dignified character. Miss Rousset can feel the coldness coming from her wealthier companions, but she still offers to share her food in the beginning of the trip. She says, “Goodness…if I dared to offer anything to these gentlemen and ladies I would,” which is a polite way of acknowledging her lesser social status while still offering to be kind. Additionally, when she is propositioned by the democrat Cornudet on their first night in the inn, Miss Rousset rejects his advance because she can’t imagine sleeping with somebody when an enemy Prussian officer is in the room next door—she’d consider it shameful. Although later she is tragically convinced to sleep with that very officer, Maupassant is showing that she is firm and patriotic, and even the egotistical Cornudet understands this and leaves her be. Finally, when the group leaves Tôtes and hypocritically refuses to share their food, Miss Rousset is devastated but tries not to show it. She ends the story crying quietly, “mak[ing] terrible efforts to prevent it.” In the face of the wealthier travelers’ disgust, she tries to maintain her dignity.
-*** Miss Rousset tries, over and over, to act honorably, even though she is the butt of relentless cruelty and has the lowest status of the group. The others not only ignore her virtue but take advantage of it every chance they get. Maupassant, in this way, sidesteps the ideology of 19th-century French society and refuses to depict dignity as being tied to wealth or class. His conclusion is that the exploitative and selfish upper-classes lack, by nature, any claim to virtue, whereas dignity, honor, and kindness are more often found among the poor.
-** Class Division in Wartime
-*** Guy de Maupassant was a patriot; he fought in the Franco-Prussian war and, in “Boule de Suif,” he extends the most sympathy towards characters who have strong patriotic beliefs. Still, this short story is in no way a celebration of war. Set in 1880 as the war is ending, with the Prussians victorious, “Boule de Suif” demonstrates how the gaping class divides within an army make the concept of “victory” empty, since the poor foot soldiers on both sides suffer greatly and gain nothing, even if they ostensibly win. Maupassant’s most evident takeaway concerning war, likely inspired by his own experience, is that soldiers on both sides of a conflict have more in common with each other than with their wealthier leaders. In wartime, no matter who is victorious, it will always be the poor who suffer the most.
-*** Maupassant’s depiction of the Prussian general shows how the wealthier officers (as opposed to the poorer soldiers) are cruelly exploiting war for their own gain. When the carriage first encounters the arrogant commander, he is described as having “an enormous mustache of long straight hairs…seem[ing] to weigh heavily on the corners of his mouth.” Since Maupassant had earlier mocked the French generals for being chosen as officers “on account of the length of their mustaches,” it is clear that this description is meant to signal that the Prussian officer (like the French generals) is decadent and unqualified for his position. Maupassant underscores this when the three wealthy men from the carriage confront the officer and ask him why he won’t allow them to leave Tôtes. The officer receives them “stretched out in an armchair, his feet on the mantelpiece…enveloped in a flamboyant dressing gown.” This image of an officer during wartime is striking: he is idle, disrespectful, and luxuriating while his troops are suffering tremendous violence. The French already see the Prussians as insolent invaders, and this general is confirming their beliefs. Finally, Maupassant shows the dynamic of wealthy officers exploiting the poor in wartime through the officer’s demand that Miss Rousset—the poorest and most vulnerable among the travelers—sleep with him. Since he refuses to free the other travelers until she does, it’s clear that this upper-level military commander is abusing his power and profiting from war in a totally inappropriate way.
-*** However, Maupassant makes it clear that there is another side to the Prussians: unlike the cruel, exploitative general, the poorer foot soldiers act kindly towards the French townspeople. Despite their perception that the Prussians are an awful enemy, a group from the carriage come across soldiers in Tôtes being extremely helpful to the working-class French people with whom they’re supposedly at war. They see soldiers “paring potatoes…cleaning the hairdresser’s shop…even washing the linen of…an impotent old grandmother.” None of these images line up with the stereotype of a cruel and lazy enemy. In fact, when the richest traveler questions a poorer townsperson about what is going on, the French townsman replies “those men are not wicked; they are not the Prussians we hear about…they have left wives and children…it is not amusing to them, this war…they work [here] as if they were in their own homes.” By showing the kindness and sacrifice of these soldiers, Maupassant contrasts the cavalier, disgusting behavior of the privileged German commander with the hardworking and solemn attitude of the poorer Prussian soldiers.
-*** This dynamic of the poor suffering disproportionately while the wealthy profit does not only exist on the Prussian side; it’s true for the French, as well. For example, the poorer Miss Rousset left Rouen for very different reasons than her wealthier traveling companions. Her house was stocked with food and she could have stayed, but she felt so patriotic that looking at the Prussians made her “blood boil with anger.” Her choice to leave her life behind was, in other words, a sacrifice made for moral reasons. By contrast, the wealthier travelers talk vainly about the “havoc” the war had caused on their businesses and the “losses” they suffered. They are leaving because they think there are better commercial opportunities in La Havre, which shows the wealthy finding ways to profit in wartime. In terms of the French army, Maupassant opens “Boule de Suif” by describing the “long and filthy” beards of the French army men—with their “uniforms in tatters,” their bodies “worn-out and back-broken.” This physical suffering parallels the grief of the Prussian foot soldiers in Tôtes, who have left their families and “weep for their homes.” This demonstrates how there is shared pain among the poorer members of both countries in times of war. In the army, as in the carriage, the wealthy have only selfish concerns while the more moral poor suffer physically and mentally.
-*** War is complicated and horrible, but Maupassant wants to make it clear that it is far worse for some than it is for others. The Prussian and French foot soldiers leave behind their lives to wear ragged clothes, bear the brunt of the fighting, and serve lazy, selfish generals—all without the promise of any personal gain. Meanwhile, the French and Prussian officers are underqualified for their jobs, spared the worst of the fighting, and they personally benefit from the luxuries that their roles afford. From this, it’s clear that the main division in the story is not one of nationality, but of class. The poor French and Prussian foot soldiers, in other words, are collectively the victims of a war fought for the benefit of the wealthy.
-** Men, Women, and Power
-*** “Boule de Suif” is fundamentally a story about power, and the women Maupassant depicts enjoy very little of it. Six of the story’s ten French travelers are women: two nuns, three married ladies, and a single prostitute—Miss Rousset, or “Ball-of-Fat.” All of these characters suffer for being female, although they suffer differently based on their class background. Miss Rousset, who is poor, disreputable, and unmarried initially has more autonomy than the married women around her because she has no husband to control her life. However, being unmarried also makes her vulnerable; the group targets her, first with their scorn and then with their demand that she sacrifice herself by sleeping with the Prussian officer—both of which would be unimaginable were she traveling with a husband. By showing men manipulating and exploiting Miss Rousset—and by showing the wealthier women around her aligning with the men—Maupassant suggests that male power damages women twofold: by subjecting them to manipulation and violence, and by undermining the possibility of female solidarity.
-*** The initial carriage ride depicts Miss Rousset as having more autonomy than the married women around her, since she has no man to control her. The three married women in this story are literally “installed” into the carriages by their husbands. They have no say as to whether or not they leave their homes in Rouen—instead, they are uprooting their lives because their husbands decided that they should. By contrast, Miss Rousset herself has chosen to leave, and she explains this choice to others, showing that she is independent in her actions and thoughts. That the married women do not weigh in suggests that their opinions about the move don’t matter. In addition to being more autonomous than the married women, Miss Rousset seems to have more power than the two other single women in the carriage, who are nuns. These women have given their lives to religion (and to a church hierarchy controlled by men). One is “pitted with smallpox” while the other has “a disease of the lungs,” descriptions that make them “appear like martyrs” for their religion. Maupassant does not develop the characters of these women beyond their martyrdom, which draws out Miss Rousset’s vivacity and self-sufficiency by contrast. Perhaps most important, when Miss Rousset produces a basket of food that everyone eventually shares, she experiences a brief moment of unusual power, as the whole group—even the wealthier men—are dependent on her.
-*** While Miss Rousset initially appears to be the most powerful woman in the party, her unmarried status eventually makes her vulnerable to predatory men. When the slimy German officer demands that Miss Rousset sleep with him, he is not seeing her as an autonomous businesswoman: he sees her as a lowly prostitute, a woman without a man to defend her. He does not care that she despises him, demonstrating how he places no importance on her desires or opinions. The Count—a member of her own traveling party—degrades Miss Rousset in a similar, albeit subtler, way. He consistently reminds Miss Rousset of her “place,” bending her to his will by emphasizing how little power she actually has compared to the men around her. When she at first refuses to even meet with the Prussian officer, the Count says “[i]t is never worth while to resist those in power.” He is referring to the officer, but he also means himself. This foreshadows when, towards the end of the story, the Count is the critical voice pressuring Miss Rousset to sleep with the officer for the benefit of the group.
-*** As the men exploit and manipulate Miss Rousset, the other women never stick up for her; in fact, they support the men. Mrs. Loiseau, for example, tries to justify the situation by saying that the Prussian officer “respects married women.” This implies that Miss Rousset, as a single woman, has no right to her own body. Implicitly, Mrs. Loiseau wants to believe that her marriage protects her from male violation, so it’s not in her interest to stick up for Miss Rousset. In addition, Mrs. Loiseau says of the officer that “we must remember too that he is master. He has only to say ‘I wish,’ and could take us by force with his soldiers.” This shows that, deep down, Mrs. Loiseau understands the gendered aspect of the officer’s demand; he is simply asking from Miss Rousset what he could otherwise violently take from any of the women. In the face of this threat, though, the women choose not to stand up for their collective interest, but rather to protect themselves by justifying Miss Rousset’s sacrifice. Mrs. Carré-Lamadon, for instance, tries to convince herself that sleeping with the officer isn’t so bad: she thinks to herself that it is a pity the German is “not French, because he would make a pretty [well-dressed commander], one all the women would rave over.”
-*** While the married women’s choice to throw Miss Rousset to the wolves is cynical and self-serving, it does, sadly, protect them: by sacrificing Miss Rousset and aligning with the more powerful men, all of the married women emerge with their bodies and dignity intact. This bleak ending, in which Miss Rousset has lost control of her body while the married women still cannot control their lives, shows how men maintain power. They encourage the divisions between women, all the while controlling those women for their own benefit.
-== September 27
-* No class today due to test.
-* As I recall the same last week.
-== September 13
-* 20min Teacher will introduce the topic using video instruction in Chinese.
-* 15min Appledog will teach in English on how to make a script.
-** Start with simple A and B script, "It's a conversation, but it is intended for acting".
-** Next, how to do stage direction. Use italics in brackets.
-=== Dialogue and Stage Direction
-There are TWO PARTS.
-* Dialogue
-** This is the speaking.
-* Stage direction
-** This is the actions and emotions.
-=== Example 1
-<code>A: Aha! I have finally caught you! Now I will take the gold!
-B: I don't think so!
-A: Oh no!
-B: Oh Yes!</code>
-Question: WHat's going on? We need to fix the script! We need to add //stage direction//.
-<html><pre>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<em>[Speak slowly, as if to a child.]</em><br>
-A: Aha! I have finlly caught you! Now I will take the gold!<br>
-<br>
-&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<em>[Pull out a gun. "Click!"]</em><br>
-B: I don't think so!<br>
-<br>
-&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<em>[A is suddenly afraid. Shakes hands.]</em><br>
-A: Oh no!<br>
-<br>
-&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<em>[Shakes the gun aggressively.]<em><br>
-B: Oh Yes!<br>
-</pre></html>
-== September 20
-There is no class today because of the test.
-== Sep 27
-No class because they are not finished their script.