new posts in all blogs
Viewing: Blog Posts Tagged with: shakespeare, Most Recent at Top [Help]
Results 1 - 25 of 272
How to use this Page
You are viewing the most recent posts tagged with the words: shakespeare in the JacketFlap blog reader. What is a tag? Think of a tag as a keyword or category label. Tags can both help you find posts on JacketFlap.com as well as provide an easy way for you to "remember" and classify posts for later recall. Try adding a tag yourself by clicking "Add a tag" below a post's header. Scroll down through the list of Recent Posts in the left column and click on a post title that sounds interesting. You can view all posts from a specific blog by clicking the Blog name in the right column, or you can click a 'More Posts from this Blog' link in any individual post.
Title: Much Ado About Nothing
Writer: William Shakespeare
Director: Jack Bradfield
Performed by: Poltergeist Theatre
Seen at: The Michael Pilch Studio
Review: Shakespeare’s tale of two schemes concerning lovers – one to get a couple together, one to tear another couple apart- could conceivably happen anywhere. Jack Bradfield sets the action in a house party at the turn of the millennium, when anything might happen.
Poltergeist Theatre’s production introduces new perspectives to the characters. I liked how Hero and Claudio, who are traditionally the couple who conform to society’s gendered expectations, are the ones whose genders are played with, keeping the genders and pronouns they have in the text, whilst being played by actors and wearing clothes coded to another gender. The editing of the play blends this all together, as Claudio’s rant at the alter focuses more on the infidelity he believes Hero to be guilty of, and is less directly misogynistic, which might have felt weird coming from someone in a skirt. In addition, I enjoyed the addition of a redemption arc for Margaret when she realises her complicity in the shaming of Hero.
The cast was very strong. Alice Moore’s Beatrice was sharp and had a wide range of comic facial expressions, and Adam Goodbody’s Benedick was the least cocky I have ever seen him, even vulnerable in his love at times, and together, they make a touching couple. Benedick’s other important relationship, his friendship with Claudio. Is also well played, from their camaraderie at the beginning to seeing the conflict of issuing or receiving the challenge to the duel. Georgia Figgis plays Claudio in many states-excited in love, drunk, angry, upset- and the sadness she brings makes you feel sympathy for him, at least until he very convincingly rages again. Another standout for me was Lillian Bornstein’s Don Pedro, who looked utterly heartbroken after Beatrice refuses his marriage proposal.
Design wise, it’s tied together well. Both Georgia Bevan’s costumes and Adam Marshall’s lighting revolve around winter greens and rich purples, set against the white snow and plainer bases to the costumes. The transitions between scenes often resemble fast-forwarding in a video, keeping with the video theme in a stylised and polished way. Many a time a character is seen with drugs, a glass, or a bottle, which seems to motivate some of the more extreme reactions. The music, an original soundtrack by Alice Boyd, is melancholy, and the haunting rendition of Sign No More is particularly beautiful.
One thing emphasised in the marketing was the use of live-streaming and television. The major use of the live feed is when policemen Dogberry and Verges, perform to a handheld video camera, which shows on screen. This is an inventive way of allowing their actors, Imo Allan and Marcus Knight-Adams, to double as villains Conrad and Borachio, but the scene where the constables capture the criminals, repeatedly passing the camera between them, did seem a little clumsy. The television is also used in other parts of the play, to be played with, or for comic effect or for exposition. Its use would be greatly improved by ensuring that the audience could always see what was happening on screen- either by having a second screen that the actors didn’t interact with, and was only there for the audience, or simply by having the actors moving around instead of sitting or standing still in front of it.
The other thing that was conveyed in the marketing was the edgy perspective they would take on the play- the “death” of Hero and Benedick’s challenge to Claudio are emphasised. I was expecting a darker tone than what I normally expect from a Much Ado-but this production went beyond my expectations. Yes, there are moments of pure comedy, such as the scene when Benedick is tricked into believing Beatrice loves him, and the unexpected audience participation, but it’s a lot darker than something often played as a rom-com is. The editing of the script focusses on the sad, angry, and tense moments, and even the very last line -drawing attention to the Prince’s failure to find a wife- leaves you with a sombre mood.
If you’re going hoping for a cheery, fun, or romantic night, this is play not for you. However, if you’re going for Shakespeare performed very differently, or something to play with your mood, or a uniquely brilliant interpretation of a classic, Poltergeist’s Much Ado is one to watch.
Another edition of this review may appear on the website of the Cherwell
Round about the cauldron go;
In the poison’d entrails throw.
Toad, that under cold stone
Days and nights hast thirty one
Swelter’d venom sleeping got,
Boil thou first i’ the charmed pot.
Double, double toil and trouble; Fire burn and cauldron bubble.
Fillet of a fenny snake,
In the cauldron boil and bake;
Eye of newt, and toe of frog,
Wool of bat, and tongue of dog,
Adder’s fork, and blind-worm’s sting,
Lizard’s leg, and howlet’s wing,
For a charm of powerful trouble,
Like a hell-broth boil and bubble.
Double, double toil and trouble;
Fire burn and cauldron bubble.
Scale of dragon, tooth of wolf,
Witches’ mummy, maw and gulf
Of the ravin’d salt-sea shark,
Root of hemlock digg’d i’ the dark,
Liver of blaspheming Jew,
Gall of goat, and slips of yew
Sliver’d in the moon’s eclipse,
Nose of Turk, and Tartar’s lips,
Finger of birth-strangled babe
Ditch-deliver’d by a drab,
Make the gruel thick and slab:
Add thereto a tiger’s *chaudron,
For the ingredients of our cauldron.
Double, double toil and trouble;
Fire burn and cauldron bubble.
According to this online Macbeth Glosary *chaudron are entrails. Who knew?Macbeth, Act IV, Scene I
William Shakespeare, 1564 - 1616
This poem is in the public domain
By Pumpkins fat and witches lean...
By coal black cats with eyes of green,
By all the magic ever seen...
I wish you luck this Halloween..
Happy Halloween to family, friends, and all readers of my blog. Stay safe this Halloween. Me? I will be hiding under the bed covers.
I must say a very big thank you to Yvonne for this fantastic Halloween card (right). If you have not had the pleasure of meeting Yvonne, you will find her over at Melancholy and Menace or at her Etsy shop here
By: Catherine,
on 10/15/2016
Blog:
OUPblog
(
Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags:
Playwrights,
History,
Literature,
theatre,
shakespeare,
william shakespeare,
British,
playhouse,
Infographics,
*Featured,
Theatre & Dance,
Arts & Humanities,
Illuminating Shakespeare,
shakespeare 400,
English theatre,
Shakespeare's contemporaries,
Shakespeare's Contemporaries and Collaborators,
Add a tag
While it is obvious that Shakespeare drew a tremendous amount of inspiration from Christopher Marlowe (note the effect of The Jew of Malta, Hero and Leander, and Tamburlaine on The Merchant of Venice, As You Like It, and Shakespeare's history plays, respectively), this kind of borrowing and [...]
The post Shakespeare’s contemporaries and collaborators [infographic] appeared first on OUPblog.
By: Lizzie Furey,
on 10/13/2016
Blog:
OUPblog
(
Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags:
classic lit,
cousin phillis,
The Professor and Shirley,
The Winter's Tale,
The Reader,
*Featured,
Books,
reading,
Literature,
publishing,
shakespeare,
classic,
classic literature,
Goethe,
OWC,
The Sound and the Fury,
Oxford World's Classics,
faust,
lit,
Wilkie Collins,
Editor's Picks,
The Woman In White,
Add a tag
This week, Oxford University Press (OUP) and The Reader announced an exciting new partnership, working together to build a core classics library and to get great literature into the hands of people who need it most, with the Oxford World’s Classics series becoming The Reader’s "house brand" for use in their pioneering Shared Reading initiatives.
The post What do the classics do for you? appeared first on OUPblog.
By: Catherine,
on 9/24/2016
Blog:
OUPblog
(
Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags:
Arts & Humanities,
Illuminating Shakespeare,
shakespeare 400,
Shakespeare and Performance,
English theatre,
modern theatre,
History,
Literature,
theatre,
shakespeare,
william shakespeare,
plays,
British,
performance,
Infographics,
infographic,
*Featured,
Theatre & Dance,
Add a tag
In the sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries, Shakespeare's plays were performed at professional playhouses such as the Globe and the Rose, as well as at the Inns of Court, the houses of noblemen, and at the Queen's palace. In fact, the playing company The Queen's Men was formed at the express command of Elizabeth I to [...]
The post Shakespeare and performance: the 16th century to today [infographic] appeared first on OUPblog.
Title: Macbeth
Writer: William Shakespeare
Performed by: Act Three Theatre
Major cast: Josh Beecham, Ned Walkely, Simon Morgan
Seen at: Paradise in the Vault, Edinburgh Fringe
Summary: An exciting new take on William Shakespeare's Macbeth. Using the original language but set in a young offenders’ prison, it is bold, fast-paced, and performed entirely with a cast of three.
Review: The story of Macbeth is performed by three actors and set in a modern young offender's prison. I wanted to see this show because Macbeth, multiroling, and a vastly different setting to its original-what more could I ask for?
We open with Macbeth holding a titlecard/ID card, presumably having a mugshot taken, then an opening physical sequence with some impressive stage fighting to set the scene. Then the play develops in its new setting, where guards are witches and kingship is represented by a dressing gown and a paper crown.
The setting works well for the most part, prison hierarchies being a good new setting for kingdoms, and the costumes suited the production, but I did wonder where is Malcolm going when he announces leaves for England, if he's meant to be locked up.
The cast are all really good. My favourite thing about it though was the doubling, because, while necessary with three characters, makes some good links between the characters- Simon Morgan playing both Duncan and Banquo, the two direct victims of Macbeth's ambition, Ned Wakely playing both Lady Macbeth and Banquo's murderer (I know they kept Macbeth's line "Be innocent of the knowledge", but it just got me thinking of how cool it might have been if they'd kept the implication that she killed Banquo), and also Josh Beecham saying the Doctor's words in the sleepwalking scene, while still (I think) being Macbeth, adding a different, kind of caring, spin on him.
I don't know if it was intentional, but the lighting in the "Is this a dagger I see" scene and the banquet scene made the actors' eyes look black, demonic, which went well with those scenes.
The editing of the script is amazing. I think we ended slightly before the advertised hour, but the major plot points were all conveyed. Also, so much love for the delivery of "Birnam" just before the attack on Macbeth. The twist and wordplay and cleverness of getting around the prophecy was just...yes.
Overall: Strength 4 tea to a fast, intense version of Macbeth.
By: Hannah Paget,
on 9/10/2016
Blog:
OUPblog
(
Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags:
gary taylor,
New Oxford Shakespeare,
nos,
Books,
History,
Literature,
shakespeare,
Racism,
race,
British,
othello,
merchant of venice,
Zadie Smith,
*Featured,
Theatre & Dance,
Harold Bloom,
taming of the shrew,
desdemona,
Online products,
Arts & Humanities,
Illuminating Shakespeare,
Shakespeare 2016,
Measure for Measure,
Add a tag
Just as there were no real women on Shakespeare's stage, there were no Jews, Africans, Muslims, or Hispanics either. Even Harold Bloom, who praises Shakespeare as 'the greatest Western poet' in The Western Canon, and who rages against academic political correctness, regards The Merchant of Venice as antisemitic. In 2014 the satirist Jon Stewart responded to Shakespeare's 'stereotypically, grotesquely greedy Jewish money lender' more bluntly.
The post Is Shakespeare racist? appeared first on OUPblog.
By: Catherine,
on 8/6/2016
Blog:
OUPblog
(
Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags:
*Featured,
Theatre & Dance,
Science & Medicine,
Earth & Life Sciences,
Arts & Humanities,
Illuminating Shakespeare,
shakespeare400,
Shakespeare and Nature,
44oth anniversary,
natural phenomena,
Literature,
shakespeare,
nature,
science,
animals,
william shakespeare,
astronomy,
British,
Infographics,
Add a tag
It is probable that Shakespeare observed, or at least heard about, many natural phenomena that occurred during his time, which may have influenced the many references to nature and science that he makes in his work. Although he was very young at the time, he may have witnessed the blazing Stella Nova in 1572.
The post Shakespeare and the natural world [infographic] appeared first on OUPblog.
By: Hannah Paget,
on 8/4/2016
Blog:
OUPblog
(
Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags:
*Featured,
The Taming of the Shrew,
Bianca,
Arts & Humanities,
Illuminating Shakespeare,
Boethius,
Gamut,
Hortensio,
joe ortiz,
John Dowland,
london music,
musical literacy,
Renaissance England,
Renaissance English drama,
Thomas Morley,
Music,
History,
Literature,
theatre,
shakespeare,
Music History,
British,
music education,
Add a tag
It is a commonplace to say that, in Renaissance England, music was everywhere. Yet, however true the statement is, it obscures the fact that music existed in many different forms, with very different functions and very different meanings.
The post Musical literacy in Shakespeare’s England appeared first on OUPblog.
By: Hannah Paget,
on 8/4/2016
Blog:
OUPblog
(
Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags:
Thomas Morley,
Music,
History,
Literature,
theatre,
shakespeare,
Music History,
British,
music education,
*Featured,
The Taming of the Shrew,
Bianca,
Arts & Humanities,
Illuminating Shakespeare,
Boethius,
Gamut,
Hortensio,
joe ortiz,
John Dowland,
london music,
musical literacy,
Renaissance England,
Renaissance English drama,
Add a tag
It is a commonplace to say that, in Renaissance England, music was everywhere. Yet, however true the statement is, it obscures the fact that music existed in many different forms, with very different functions and very different meanings.
The post Musical literacy in Shakespeare’s England appeared first on OUPblog.
By: Hannah Paget,
on 7/30/2016
Blog:
OUPblog
(
Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags:
History,
Literature,
shakespeare,
environment,
transport,
horses,
ecology,
British,
carbon emmissions,
lit,
*Featured,
Theatre & Dance,
Arts & Humanities,
400th anniversary,
shakespeare400,
Early Modern Period,
Elizabethan energy crisis,
Shakespeare and Nature,
sonnet 44,
Todd Andrew Borlik,
Add a tag
Imagine a Hollywood film about the Iraq War in which a scene at a clandestine Al-Qaeda compound featuring a cabal of insurgents abruptly cuts to a truck-stop off the New Jersey Turnpike. A group of disgruntled truckers huddle around their rigs cursing the price of gas. An uncannily similar coup de thèâtre occurs in an overlooked episode in 1 Henry IV.
The post What would Shakespeare drive? appeared first on OUPblog.
By: Hannah Paget,
on 7/22/2016
Blog:
OUPblog
(
Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags:
Music,
Literature,
shakespeare,
playlists,
macbeth,
Henry V,
hamlet,
beyonce,
emo,
classical music,
juliet,
*Featured,
Audio & Podcasts,
Theatre & Dance,
spotify playlists,
titania,
Arts & Humanities,
Illuminating Shakespeare,
death metal,
gym tunes,
Hermia,
Add a tag
Shakespeare's characters can often appear far-removed from our modern day world of YouTube, Beyoncé and grime. Yet they were certainly no less interested in music than we are now, with music considered to be at the heart of Shakespeare’s artistic vision. Of course our offerings have come a long way since Shakespeare's day, but we think it is a shame that they never had a chance to hear the musical delights of Katy Perry or Slipknot.
The post What music would Shakespeare’s characters listen to? appeared first on OUPblog.
Twelfth Night. William Shakespeare. 1601. 220 pages. [Source: Library]
Twelfth Night is not in my top three list of plays by Shakespeare. But I often forget that I do really enjoy it all the same. For one thing, it is a comedy. And I just love how this one opens. I must admit that the line, "If music be the food of love, play on" is a great, great line.
So. Essentially this one is about a shipwreck and the romantic misunderstanding that arise from that shipwreck. Sebastian and Viola are twins. Each think the other perished in the wreck. Viola, with a little help from a sea captain, decides to "become" a man and seek employment with Orsino the Duke of Ilyria. Her new name is Cesario. Sebastian is rescued by a man named Antonio, who also happens to be a sea captain, but not the same that rescued Viola. These two will not realize that the other is alive for most of the play. Olivia is the "love" of Orsino's life. The problem? Olivia is mourning because of her brother's recent death, and, she really can't be bothered with the Duke's attempts of wooing and courtship. Most of the characters in the play are from Olivia's household. (Also the Duke's household.) Feste, a clown, bridges the two together in a way. He's in scenes at both houses. (He may just be my favorite character from this play).
So what is the misunderstanding? Well, Olivia falls madly, deeply in love with Cesario at first sight. Cesario is the Duke's messenger. Viola herself falls head over heels in love with the Duke. It seems love will make a fool of all three since there can be no happy ending as matters stand. There are further misunderstandings, but, this is the big one.
One of the comic elements of this play involves a practical joke of sorts in Olivia's household. Malvolio, her steward, is led to believe that Olivia is madly in love with him. He believes this easily, and, soon becomes a very, big fool all in the name of love.
I think I appreciate this one more having seen it performed when I was in college.
Favorite lines:
Anything that's mended is but patched. Virtue that transgresses is but patched with sin, and sin that amends is but patched with virtue. ~ Feste, Act I, scene V
Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon'em. ~ Malvolio reading a letter "from Olivia" Act II, scene V
Love sought is good, but given unsought is better. ~ Olivia to Cesario, Act III, scene I
© 2016 Becky Laney of
Becky's Book Reviews
Today at Strange Horizons, I write about Russell T. Davies's adaptation of Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream for the BBC. It was a bit of a surprise to me that this film even existed--whatever promotion there was for it seems to have been swallowed up by the media blitz for the second season of The Hollow Crown. And as I write in the review, this turns out to have been massively unfair,
By: Hannah Paget,
on 5/26/2016
Blog:
OUPblog
(
Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags:
Religion,
shakespeare,
macbeth,
extract,
Marina Warner,
*Featured,
Other Worlds,
Theatre & Dance,
Art & Architecture,
Arts & Humanities,
Illuminating Shakespeare,
400th anniversary,
Dr Faustus,
Fantastic Metamorphoses,
Other Worlds: Ways of Telling the Self,
Shakespeare and Magic,
Shakespeare and the Supernatural,
Books,
Literature,
Add a tag
Human beings are subject to a continual process of bodily transformation, but shape-shifting also belongs in the landscape of magic, witchcraft, and wonder. Marina Warner, in her award-winning essays Fantastic Metamorphoses, Other Worlds: Ways of Telling the Self, explores this idea ranging from Ovid to Lewis Carroll. In the extract below she looks at Shakespeare's use of magic and demons
The post “Aery nothings and painted devils”, an extract from Fantastic Metamorphoses, Other Worlds appeared first on OUPblog.
By: Helena Palmer,
on 4/23/2016
Blog:
OUPblog
(
Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags:
Arts & Humanities,
Marisa R. Cull,
Shakespeare's Princes of Wales,
Illuminating Shakespeare,
Henry VI,
Shakespeare's Plays,
early modern theatre,
British Isles,
Shakespeare's Globe,
Books,
Literature,
shakespeare,
william shakespeare,
*Featured,
Theatre & Dance,
Add a tag
In 2012, when the world tuned in for the opening ceremony of London’s Olympic Games, they were witness in part to a performance of one of Shakespeare’s most famed speeches, delivered by one of today’s most revered Shakespearean actors. Kenneth Branagh, dressed as English engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel, offered lines from The Tempest in the spirit of the ceremony’s larger theme, “The Isles of Wonder”.
The post Shakespeare’s Not-So Sceptered Isle appeared first on OUPblog.
By: Hannah Paget,
on 4/17/2016
Blog:
OUPblog
(
Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags:
Literature,
shakespeare,
william shakespeare,
*Featured,
Theatre & Dance,
ben jonson,
the Globe,
Arts & Humanities,
Illuminating Shakespeare,
early modern theatre,
400th anniversary,
Chris Laoutaris,
elizabethan theatre,
shakespeare and the countess,
shakespeare institute,
Thomas Dekker,
Add a tag
It’s 1608. You are passing by the bookstall of the publisher Thomas Pavier on Cornhill, a stone’s throw from the elegant colonnades of London’s Royal Exchange, when something catches your eye: a sensational play dramatising a series of real-life gruesome domestic murders. A Yorkshire Tragedy has that enticing whiff of scandal about it, but what persuades you to part with your hard-earned cash is seeing the dramatist’s name proudly emblazoned on the title-page: “Written by W. Shak[e]speare”.
The post “What’s in a name?”: Was William Shakespeare popular during his lifetime? appeared first on OUPblog.
By:
Becky Laney,
on 4/16/2016
Blog:
Becky's Book Reviews
(
Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags:
classics,
Shakespeare,
plays,
favorite book,
favorite authors,
adult romance,
1599,
books reviewed in 2016,
books reread in 2016,
charity book,
Add a tag
Much Ado About Nothing. William Shakespeare. 1599/2004. SparkNotes. 256 pages. [Source: Bought]
Much Ado About Nothing is without a doubt my favorite, favorite, FAVORITE, FAVORITE William Shakespeare play. To put it into perspective, I enjoy a handful of his comedies, and, even now and then a tragedy--though not Romeo and Juliet.
So what do I love about Much Ado About Nothing?
I love the movie. Even if you have no intention of ever reading the play, you SHOULD see the movie adaptation starring Kenneth Branagh and Emma Thompson.
I love the soundtrack, the score, by Patrick Doyle. It is probably one of my favorite scores ever. (Perhaps I should do a top ten list sometime!)
I love the characters of Benedick and Beatrice. I do. I love, love, love them both as individuals and as a couple.
I love the humor and the romance.
I love how quotable it is. Down below, I'll be sharing my top ten quotes from the play!
Now, I don't necessarily, love, love, love the "romance" between Hero and Claudio. Hero is perfectly fine as a character--not fiery, not memorable, not delightful--but fine. Claudio, on the other hand, deserves to be yelled at more than a couple of times.
My top ten quotes from Much Ado About Nothing. The first three are my favorites. The rest are in the order of the play itself.
***BENEDICK
[Coming forward] This can be no trick: the
conference was sadly borne. They have the truth of
this from Hero. They seem to pity the lady: it
seems her affections have their full bent. Love me!
why, it must be requited. I hear how I am censured:
they say I will bear myself proudly, if I perceive
the love come from her; they say too that she will
rather die than give any sign of affection. I did
never think to marry: I must not seem proud: happy
are they that hear their detractions and can put
them to mending. They say the lady is fair; 'tis a
truth, I can bear them witness; and virtuous; 'tis
so, I cannot reprove it; and wise, but for loving
me; by my troth, it is no addition to her wit, nor
no great argument of her folly, for I will be
horribly in love with her. I may chance have some
odd quirks and remnants of wit broken on me,
because I have railed so long against marriage: but
doth not the appetite alter? a man loves the meat
in his youth that he cannot endure in his age.
Shall quips and sentences and these paper bullets of
the brain awe a man from the career of his humour?
No, the world must be peopled. When I said I would
die a bachelor, I did not think I should live till I
were married. Here comes Beatrice. By this day!
she's a fair lady: I do spy some marks of love in
her.
***
BEATRICE
[Coming forward]
What fire is in mine ears? Can this be true?
Stand I condemn'd for pride and scorn so much?
Contempt, farewell! and maiden pride, adieu!
No glory lives behind the back of such.
And, Benedick, love on; I will requite thee,
Taming my wild heart to thy loving hand:
If thou dost love, my kindness shall incite thee
To bind our loves up in a holy band;
For others say thou dost deserve, and I
Believe it better than reportingly.
***
BALTHASAR (singing)
Sigh no more, ladies, sigh no more,
Men were deceivers ever,
One foot in sea and one on shore,
To one thing constant never:
Then sigh not so, but let them go,
And be you blithe and bonny,
Converting all your sounds of woe
Into Hey nonny, nonny.
Sing no more ditties, sing no moe,
Of dumps so dull and heavy;
The fraud of men was ever so,
Since summer first was leafy:
Then sigh not so, & c.
***
BENEDICK
That a woman conceived me, I thank her; that she
brought me up, I likewise give her most humble
thanks: but that I will have a recheat winded in my
forehead, or hang my bugle in an invisible baldrick,
all women shall pardon me. Because I will not do
them the wrong to mistrust any, I will do myself the
right to trust none; and the fine is, for the which
I may go the finer, I will live a bachelor.
***
CLAUDIO
Thus answer I in the name of Benedick,
But hear these ill news with the ears of Claudio.
'Tis certain so; the prince wooes for himself.
Friendship is constant in all other things
Save in the office and affairs of love:
Therefore, all hearts in love use their own tongues;
Let every eye negotiate for itself
And trust no agent; for beauty is a witch
Against whose charms faith melteth into blood.
This is an accident of hourly proof,
Which I mistrusted not. Farewell, therefore, Hero!
***
DON PEDRO
Come, lady, come; you have lost the heart of
Signior Benedick.
BEATRICE
Indeed, my lord, he lent it me awhile; and I gave
him use for it, a double heart for his single one:
marry, once before he won it of me with false dice,
therefore your grace may well say I have lost it.
DON PEDRO
You have put him down, lady, you have put him down.
***
BEATRICE
Speak, count, 'tis your cue.
CLAUDIO
Silence is the perfectest herald of joy: I were
but little happy, if I could say how much. Lady, as
you are mine, I am yours: I give away myself for
you and dote upon the exchange.
BEATRICE
Speak, cousin; or, if you cannot, stop his mouth
with a kiss, and let not him speak neither.
DON PEDRO
In faith, lady, you have a merry heart.
BEATRICE
Yea, my lord; I thank it, poor fool, it keeps on
the windy side of care. My cousin tells him in his
ear that he is in her heart.
CLAUDIO
And so she doth, cousin.
BEATRICE
Good Lord, for alliance! Thus goes every one to the
world but I, and I am sunburnt; I may sit in a
corner and cry heigh-ho for a husband!
DON PEDRO
Lady Beatrice, I will get you one.
BEATRICE
I would rather have one of your father's getting.
Hath your grace ne'er a brother like you? Your
father got excellent husbands, if a maid could come by them.
DON PEDRO
Will you have me, lady?
BEATRICE
No, my lord, unless I might have another for
working-days: your grace is too costly to wear
every day. But, I beseech your grace, pardon me: I
was born to speak all mirth and no matter.
DON PEDRO
Your silence most offends me, and to be merry best
becomes you; for, out of question, you were born in
a merry hour.
BEATRICE
No, sure, my lord, my mother cried; but then there
was a star danced, and under that was I born.
Cousins, God give you joy!
***
DON PEDRO
By my troth, a pleasant-spirited lady.
LEONATO
There's little of the melancholy element in her, my
lord: she is never sad but when she sleeps, and
not ever sad then; for I have heard my daughter say,
she hath often dreamed of unhappiness and waked
herself with laughing.
DON PEDRO
She cannot endure to hear tell of a husband.
LEONATO
O, by no means: she mocks all her wooers out of suit.
DON PEDRO
She were an excellent wife for Benedict.
LEONATO
O Lord, my lord, if they were but a week married,
they would talk themselves mad.
***
BENEDICK
Lady Beatrice, have you wept all this while?
BEATRICE
Yea, and I will weep a while longer.
BENEDICK
I will not desire that.
BEATRICE
You have no reason; I do it freely.
BENEDICK
Surely I do believe your fair cousin is wronged.
BEATRICE
Ah, how much might the man deserve of me that would right her!
BENEDICK
Is there any way to show such friendship?
BEATRICE
A very even way, but no such friend.
BENEDICK
May a man do it?
BEATRICE
It is a man's office, but not yours.
BENEDICK
I do love nothing in the world so well as you: is
not that strange?
BEATRICE
As strange as the thing I know not. It were as
possible for me to say I loved nothing so well as
you: but believe me not; and yet I lie not; I
confess nothing, nor I deny nothing. I am sorry for my cousin.
BENEDICK
By my sword, Beatrice, thou lovest me.
BEATRICE
Do not swear, and eat it.
BENEDICK
I will swear by it that you love me; and I will make
him eat it that says I love not you.
BEATRICE
Will you not eat your word?
BENEDICK
With no sauce that can be devised to it. I protest
I love thee.
BEATRICE
Why, then, God forgive me!
BENEDICK
What offence, sweet Beatrice?
BEATRICE
You have stayed me in a happy hour: I was about to
protest I loved you.
BENEDICK
And do it with all thy heart.
BEATRICE
I love you with so much of my heart that none is
left to protest.
BENEDICK
Come, bid me do any thing for thee.
BEATRICE
Kill Claudio.
BENEDICK
Ha! not for the wide world.
BEATRICE
You kill me to deny it. Farewell.
BENEDICK
Tarry, sweet Beatrice.
BEATRICE
I am gone, though I am here: there is no love in
you: nay, I pray you, let me go.
BENEDICK
Beatrice,--
BEATRICE
In faith, I will go.
BENEDICK
We'll be friends first.
BEATRICE
You dare easier be friends with me than fight with mine enemy.
BENEDICK
Is Claudio thine enemy?
BEATRICE
Is he not approved in the height a villain, that
hath slandered, scorned, dishonoured my kinswoman? O
that I were a man! What, bear her in hand until they
come to take hands; and then, with public
accusation, uncovered slander, unmitigated rancour,
--O God, that I were a man! I would eat his heart
in the market-place.
BENEDICK
Hear me, Beatrice,--
BEATRICE
Talk with a man out at a window! A proper saying!
BENEDICK
Nay, but, Beatrice,--
BEATRICE
Sweet Hero! She is wronged, she is slandered, she is undone.
BENEDICK
Beat--
BEATRICE
Princes and counties! Surely, a princely testimony,
a goodly count, Count Comfect; a sweet gallant,
surely! O that I were a man for his sake! or that I
had any friend would be a man for my sake! But
manhood is melted into courtesies, valour into
compliment, and men are only turned into tongue, and
trim ones too: he is now as valiant as Hercules
that only tells a lie and swears it. I cannot be a
man with wishing, therefore I will die a woman with grieving.
BENEDICK
Tarry, good Beatrice. By this hand, I love thee.
BEATRICE
Use it for my love some other way than swearing by it.
BENEDICK
Think you in your soul the Count Claudio hath wronged Hero?
BEATRICE
Yea, as sure as I have a thought or a soul.
BENEDICK
Enough, I am engaged; I will challenge him. I will
kiss your hand, and so I leave you. By this hand,
Claudio shall render me a dear account. As you
hear of me, so think of me. Go, comfort your
cousin: I must say she is dead: and so, farewell.
***
BENEDICK
Do not you love me?
BEATRICE
Why, no; no more than reason.
BENEDICK
Why, then your uncle and the prince and Claudio
Have been deceived; they swore you did.
BEATRICE
Do not you love me?
BENEDICK
Troth, no; no more than reason.
BEATRICE
Why, then my cousin Margaret and Ursula
Are much deceived; for they did swear you did.
BENEDICK
They swore that you were almost sick for me.
BEATRICE
They swore that you were well-nigh dead for me.
BENEDICK
'Tis no such matter. Then you do not love me?
BEATRICE
No, truly, but in friendly recompense.
LEONATO
Come, cousin, I am sure you love the gentleman.
CLAUDIO
And I'll be sworn upon't that he loves her;
For here's a paper written in his hand,
A halting sonnet of his own pure brain,
Fashion'd to Beatrice.
HERO
And here's another
Writ in my cousin's hand, stolen from her pocket,
Containing her affection unto Benedick.
BENEDICK
A miracle! here's our own hands against our hearts.
Come, I will have thee; but, by this light, I take
thee for pity.
BEATRICE
I would not deny you; but, by this good day, I yield
upon great persuasion; and partly to save your life,
for I was told you were in a consumption.
BENEDICK
Peace! I will stop your mouth.
Kissing her
DON PEDRO
How dost thou, Benedick, the married man?
© 2016 Becky Laney of
Becky's Book Reviews
By: Catherine,
on 4/16/2016
Blog:
OUPblog
(
Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags:
Literature,
shakespeare,
william shakespeare,
othello,
linguistics,
*Featured,
Theatre & Dance,
first folio,
bart van es,
Arts & Humanities,
Illuminating Shakespeare,
Shakespeare Today,
Alexander Shurbanov,
British culture,
Royal Shakespeare Company,
Shakespeare facts,
Add a tag
Certain facts surrounding Shakespeare, his work, and Elizabethan England have been easy to establish. But there is a wealth of Shakespeare knowledge only gained centuries after his time, across the globe, and far beyond the Anglophone realm.
The post Five random facts about Shakespeare today appeared first on OUPblog.
By: Carolyn Napolitano,
on 4/10/2016
Blog:
OUPblog
(
Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags:
Dictionaries & Lexicography,
Edwin Battistella,
Sorry About That,
Between the Lines with Edwin Battistella,
The Language of Public Apology,
Alfred Hart,
Buffy the Vampire Slayer<,
Measure for Measure,
Neology,
Shakespeare and new words,
Books,
Literature,
shakespeare,
Language,
oed,
oxford english dictionary,
Linguistics,
a midsummer night's dream,
*Featured,
Add a tag
William Shakespeare died four hundred years ago this month and my local library is celebrating the anniversary. It sounds a bit macabre when you put it that way, of course, so they are billing it as a celebration of Shakespeare’s legacy. I took this celebratory occasion to talk with my students about Shakespeare’s linguistic legacy.
The post Shakespeare’s linguistic legacy appeared first on OUPblog.
Wow, busy April! The 400th anniversary of Shakespeare's death is almost upon us and things have been very hectic here in the studio, hence my silence on the blog.
Will's Words: How William Shakespeare Changed the Way You Talk was officially launched on 22nd March in the USA, and widely distributed in the UK.
Written by Jane Sutcliffe, illustrated by yours truly.
ISBN 9781580896382, 40 pages long
Published by
Charlesbridge (Penguin/Random House US), and distributed in the UK through
PGUK.
Following my previous collaboration with Jane Sutcliffe
Stone Giant, this book was another very involved project which occupied a great part of my activity last year. I've always had a big fascination for the 17th Century, so it's no surprise the research alone completely sucked me into the era (more on this in a future post!)
The narrative describes London in 1606, how the Bankside theatres were the entertainment focus points of their day, and one playwright stood out more than any other - William Shakespeare.
However, as Jane relates the story of The Globe, she finds that whatever she tries to write William 'gets in the way' - the text is punctuated with words and phrases coined by Shakespeare himself. Expressions such as 'excitement', 'a sorry sight', 'wild goose chase', 'cold-blooded', 'amazement', these all come down to us from Shakespeare through his plays to become 'household words' (another expression invented by the Bard). Jane uses these and many other Shakespeare expressions and explains their origins in the plays, while my illustrations form the background and setting of London life and the Globe in the early 1600's.
I'll post about some of the research and processes shortly, in the meantime the first reviews are in!
"Shelley’s meticulously detailed painted pen-and-ink drawings brim with life and convey a clear sense of 1606 London, “a bustling, jostling, clinging, singing, stinking, head-chopping, pickpocketing wonder of a city,” while still managing to individualize the personages both onstage and off. They are perfectly married to Sutcliffe’s concise, humorous, fact-filled prose" (School Library Journal starred review, Spring 2016 selection)
"Shakespeare could turn a phrase, and Sutcliffe brings a number of them to readers' attention, smartly worked into a vestpocket history of London theater during Shakespeare's days. Shelley's artwork is a lively accompaniment, delicate in color and linework but bustling as only a big population in small confines can be." (Kirkus Reviews)
"Each spread is crowded with intricate, colorful details that seem to spring to life in, for instance, a cutaway of backstage actions, the crowd arriving for an afternoon's performance, how different social classes positioned themselves during the play, London street scenes, and so on. These watercolor and pen-and-ink images invite endless searching of the crowds' unique faces and Thames River vistas" (Booklist)
As the Shakespeare anniversary approaches I plan to be out and about with
Will's Words in the UK, so do get in touch if you'd like me to be involved in your Shakespeare celebration! Jane Sutcliffe is touring New England bookshops this month, if you're in the US please check the
upcoming events page of her website for dates.
By: Hannah Paget,
on 4/10/2016
Blog:
OUPblog
(
Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags:
Hilary clinton,
Donald Trump,
david cameron,
*Featured,
Theatre & Dance,
first folio,
Arts & Humanities,
Emma Smith,
Illuminating Shakespeare,
Four Centuries of an Iconic Book,
Shakespeare's First Folio,
shakespeare 400,
shakespeare in our time,
shakespeare's death,
Books,
Literature,
shakespeare,
william shakespeare,
Add a tag
We’ve heard a lot lately about what Shakespeare would do. He’d be kind to migrants, for instance, because of this passage from the unpublished collaborative play ‘Sir Thomas More’ often attributed to him: 'Imagine that you see the wretched stranger / Their babies at their backs, with their poor luggage / Plodding to th’ports and coasts for transportation (Scene 6: 84-6).
The post What would Shakespeare do? appeared first on OUPblog.
By: Hannah Paget,
on 4/9/2016
Blog:
OUPblog
(
Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags:
interactive map,
Illuminating Shakespeare,
first folio tour,
Four Centuries of an Iconic Book,
isle of bute,
mount stuart house,
Shakespeare's First Folio,
*Featured,
Theatre & Dance,
first folio,
book history,
Arts & Humanities,
Emma Smith,
first folio discovery,
shakespeare,
william shakespeare,
Books,
Literature,
World,
Maps,
Add a tag
The first collected edition of Shakespeare's plays printed in 1623 - known as the First Folio - has a rich history. It is estimated that around 700 or 750 copies were printed, and today we know the whereabouts of over 230. They exist in some form or another, often incomplete or a combination of different copies melded together, in libraries and personal collections all over the world.
The post Copies of Shakespeare’s First Folio around the world [map] appeared first on OUPblog.
By: Hannah Paget,
on 3/27/2016
Blog:
OUPblog
(
Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags:
Books,
Literature,
Videos,
shakespeare,
Language,
william shakespeare,
david crystal,
Linguistics,
OP,
*Featured,
Theatre & Dance,
philology,
historical linguistics,
the Globe,
original pronunciation,
Arts & Humanities,
Illuminating Shakespeare,
Ben Crystal,
early modern theatre,
received pronunciation,
The Oxford Dictionary of Original Shakesperean Pronunciation,
Add a tag
Since the groundbreaking Original Pronunciation productions at Shakespeare’s Globe in London in 2004-05, OP has captured the imagination of performers, directors, and the play-going public. Going back to the pronunciation of the late 16th and early 17th centuries reveals nuances, puns, and rhymes that otherwise lie completely hidden, and gives fresh dynamism to productions.
The post Why people enjoy hearing Shakespeare in Original Pronunciation appeared first on OUPblog.
By: Catherine,
on 3/26/2016
Blog:
OUPblog
(
Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags:
Literature,
shakespeare,
digitization,
research,
adaptation,
william shakespeare,
performance,
globalization,
*Featured,
Theatre & Dance,
Quizzes & Polls,
Arts & Humanities,
Illuminating Shakespeare,
modern Shakespeare,
Shakespeare Today,
Add a tag
You may know Christopher Marlowe and Richard Burbage, The Globe Theatre and The Swan, perhaps even The Lord Chamberlain's Men and The Admirals' Men. But what do you know of modern Shakespeare: new productions, new performances, and ongoing research in the late 20th and 21st centuries? Shakespeare has, in many ways, remained the same, but actors, directors, designers, and other artists have adapted his work to suit the needs of the world and audiences today.
The post How well do you know 21st-century Shakespeare? [quiz] appeared first on OUPblog.
View Next 25 Posts
Writer: William Shakespeare
