Mojo, The Bard, & Me

One, but painted thus,

Would be interpreted a thing perplext

Beyond self-explication.

-Imogen

Cymbeline                          Act III, scene iv    Line 7

I’ve got a new way of working with these lines. I’ve completed downloading all the Shakespeare Arkangel cd’s on to my PC. So now I have at my fingertips every line of every play acted out. This morning’s line didn’t make too much sense right out of the chute. It’s not complete gibberish, but not the clearest. So I read the play summary to see what’s going on (Imogen’s husband thinks she’s cheating on him and so he’s sent Pisanio to kill her. Imogen’s line above is directed to Pisanio who is there to kill her, but doesn’t want to kill her. She doesn’t realize yet that he’s there to kill her). Just having an idea of what’s taking place helps a lot. But then listening to Imogen and Pisanio talking adds even more. What Imogen is saying to Pisanio is that he looks extremely perplexed. And he is. He’s been tasked with killing Imogen and he doesn’t want to, or perhaps doesn’t feel he’s able to. Apparently Pisanio is a servant of Imogen’s husband. Since I’ve not read this play I don’t know what kind of guy Imogen’s husband is. I guess we can assume he’s not all that forgiving for one thing. I’m also not sure whether or not Imogen is guilty as charged either, though from reading further on in the scene I’m guessing not. And also I don’t know how much Pisanio knows about Imogen’s guilt or innocence of the charge. Lots of unknowns!

So let’s just stick with the line, shall we?

You look more perplexed than can be explained, even by you, the one who is perplexed.

That’s what Imogen is saying. Fairly simple. And again, Pisanio is quite perplexed and who can blame him. He has orders from his master to kill this woman, and he does not/cannot kill her. That is perplexing.

Have you ever seen someone who looked perplexed beyond explanation? Perplexed beyond the point that even the perplexed one could not explain why he/she was perplexed? I really feel like I’m that perplexed sometimes. I wonder if people see me that way or if my perplexiveness is apparent or not. Yeah, I really feel like I spend an inordinate amount of time being perplexed. Why do you suppose that is?

So it’s a good line for me. Or at least quite relevant. I’m guessing I won’t be hearing it too soon. But maybe sometime real soon I’ll hear someone say ‘Hey Pete, you look really perplexed.’ And if I do, I can reply, ‘Well do I look like one, but painted thus, would be interpreted a thing perplext beyond self-explication?’ Then they would be the one perplext!

This is Spike. He can't figure out that he can get past this gate just by going around it. He thinks he's stuck. You can't see the expression on his face, but if you could you might say one, but painted thus, would be interpreted a thing perplex beyond self-explication.