A few weeks ago our class read The Tragedy of Mariam, The Fair Queen of Jewry, a closet drama from the Jacobean period that deals in part with the female act of speech. While our class read the material with the role of women in mind, there is also an ethnic/religious component to the play. This is most prominent in the moral abhorrence of Edomites from the perspective of Israelites. The titular character and her family belong to the Israelite lineage, while Mariam’s cruel husband Herod and his family are descended from Edomites, amplifying the hostility between the two parties.
While I had heard of Israelites before, the term Edomite was new to me. The edition I read contained helpful glosses to many of the Biblical references, but the play does make repeated allusions to people within this lineage, so I found it useful to make another… drumroll… CHARACTER CHART!
(Image via Wikimedia Commons)
While I didn’t find it necessary to update my Trojan War chart when our class read Chapman’s Achilles’ Shield, I was in desperate need of one while reading this closet drama! This is not only because of the Biblical references, but because you could also view it as a historical drama. Elizabeth Cary based the play off of Thomas Lodge’s 1602 translation of Josephus’ The Wars of the Jews and The Antiquities of the Jews, which are historical accounts from Roman-controlled Judea.
This brought me to the realisation that of the two character charts I felt compelled to make, both were historical or at least pseudo-historical. If I were reading a text about current events, I wouldn’t encounter this issue for the most part, however as a modern person, I often don’t have the required schema to understand the subtext of these references. I simply don’t have the same knowledge that would be expected of contemporary audiences, who would have been familiar with the stories of Herod and of course the Biblical references. I was more familiar with the Roman characters in the play, and with Cleopatra, as these are more culturally relevant to us and are still taught in grade school, whereas the tales of Herod are more obscure in contrast.
(Jean-Léon Gérôme, Cleopatra and Caesar, 1866, oil on canvas, private collection)
I think that another contributing factor is that I have ADHD and enjoy visual learning. With many texts I can keep track of characters in a mental map, but when there are too many characters introduced at once, characters with similar names (I’m looking at you, Wuthering Heights), or characters whose backstories are not fully explained because a contemporary audience would have already known that information, it becomes too chaotic to juggle mentally. My thoughts are already jumbled enough as it is!
I find that when I make character maps, I feel more at ease throughout the reading experience, as I am not wasting mental energy trying to keep track of excess information, and the creative and tactile act of organising characters on a page helps to make the information stick. I know this because I have more successful outcomes when I create my own character chart rather than using someone else’s (although I sometimes reference these when making my own and that work is, of course, appreciated!).
I suppose it is a similar to the idea that if you are trying to memorise information, it is helpful not just to read it on a page, but to write that information down or to speak it aloud as you read. It is providing your brain with extra pathways to reach that information, and strengthens existing neural pathways. This is how I feel when making decisions on how to organise my character charts—it is cementing the information about each character every time I draw lines between them or relegate them to an area of the page.
(Image via riadbenamar123, Pixabay)
This is especially the case for what I would term ‘limbo’ characters—characters whose connections are not immediately clear, but by slowly tying the characters together find their place. The sons of Babas are one such case. I knew Constabarus prevented their execution by Herod, but I kept wondering: Who is Babas? Why did Herod want to execute them? Why did Constabarus help them? Basically, what is going on!? After some searching, I discovered that in Josephus’ account, Babas’ sons were deemed the last of the Hasmonaeans and supporters of Aristobulus’ birthright. Once I found that out, it made so much more sense! Then, I could categorise them with Mariam’s family, although I left them unconnected as the relation is unspecified.
So without further ado, here it is!
Again, you can find an easier-to-read version here:
I apologise, as I still have not figured out how to upload these character charts as images without losing quality so that the words become pixelated. But with that minor inconvenience aside, I can explain some of the choices I made in creating this chart.
You may notice that Doris and her son Antipater are within the yellow box, but are left white. I did this as a visual representation of the fact that they have been denounced by Herod. I have also represented the hierarchy of Herod’s servants spatially. I used transparent layers to imply when people are in multiple groups this time, for instance how Mariam is within Herod’s court, but is also within the Israelite lineage. This round, I also added information such as a map, a key, and a reminder of the source material.
I found the map helpful to visualise the different competing territories. ‘Idumea’ is the Greco-Roman name for Edom, the kingdom of the Edomites. Judea is to the North, and Nabataea to the West. These territories end up being taken by the Empire (see image below), and one can see how Herod was used to do this: Herod, controlling Idumea by birthright, seizes Judea, as a vassal to the Empire. Therefore as Herod increases his own power, he increases the Empire’s. It was also interesting to see how these areas are somewhat enclosed by Roman territory, visually signally that ever-present threat.
(Image via DEGA MD, Wikimedia Commons)
It might seem superfluous, but I think looking into this information helped me conceptualise the context of this tragic drama, and the relationships between and motivations behind the characters. I now realise that this has been a pattern for me throughout my studies, even going back to my undergrad. Did I need to make a character chart for A Midsummer Night’s Dream? No. Did I need a character chart for Richard III? YES! Growing up in America, I had never studied the War of the Roses, and needed to familiarise myself with that historical context. However, as mentioned before, I don’t make character charts exclusively for historical dramas. When our class read The Taming of the Shrew this year, I drew a more casual character chart. This was mainly for the purpose of keeping track of characters and their many alter egos. The drawn version sufficed for that text, however The Tragedy of Mariam required a bit more dedication and organisation.
As you can see, I’m a huge fan of colour-coding! I often use colour-coding when planning essays, as well, especially longer or more complex ones. Because of my ADHD, I find it rewarding to put in extra time in the planning stages of essays. When I forgo this crucial step, I find it difficult to retrieve quotes or concepts from my memory, to stay grounded in the structure of the essay, and to keep track of my progress, i.e. which points I have made or need to make, which quotes I’ve used, page numbers, etc. A good example of this was the essay I wrote on the Harley MS 2253:
Look at all that colour coding!!! I do go a bit feral, I have to admit, but it is really necessary for me to write the best essay that I can. In this case, I wanted to touch on so many entries in the MS, it would have been impossible for me to keep that information organised only in my mind. The colour coding guides my eyes across a lot of information, so that I am not bombarded with all the information on the page at once.
There are many tricks that I’ve picked up over the years as a neurodiverse (and perfectionistic) student, and they are really invaluable. Character charts are just one of the tools that I enjoy using as someone whose thoughts wiz around their mind like a tornado, wielding chaotic power that can often be destructive if not prepared for.
With that being said, I hope this blog post gave a little bit of insight into the inner workings of my mind (God bless). Sadly, this will be my last ‘normal’ blog post, but don’t worry! You can still look forward to my dissertation literature review, and one final wrap-up post! I hope ye have enjoyed this online snippet of my journey throughout my MA, what a stressful joy it’s been!
Yours truly,
Meg
(Image via S K, Pixabay)
