Monthly Archives: June 2012

“What Keats called Shakespeare’s “negative capability,” his unmatched capacity for making audiences (and readers) see things from multiple angles, here makes for a somewhat disturbing experience.”

Posted on June 28, 2012 by Dennis Abrams

The Merchant of Venice An Introduction By Dennis Abrams ———————————————————————– If you look at it one way, The Merchant of Venice is straight-up anti-Semitic propaganda: a Christian merchant becomes indebted to a stereotypically greedy Jewish moneylender, Shylock, who takes advantage … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged anti-Semitism, Antonio, Barabas, Christian, Christianity, Comedy, drama, Jew, Judaism, Keats, language, literature, Marlowe, moneylender, politics, Portia, prose, renaissance humanism, Shakespeare, Shylock, The Jew of Malta, The Merchant of Venice, William Shakespeare, writing | 1 Comment

A Shakespeare Miscellany

Posted on June 26, 2012 by Dennis Abrams

A Shakespeare Miscellany Before we start our reading of The Merchant of Venice, I thought I’d share a couple of article I’ve read recently that I thought might be of interest, and make for a nice break: Reading … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged literature | 3 Comments

“Not mine own fears, nor the prophetic soul/Of the wide world dreaming on things to come,/Can yet the lease of my true love control,/Supposed as forfeit to a confined doom.”

Posted on June 24, 2012 by Dennis Abrams

Shakespeare, Sonnet #107 SONNET 107 Not mine own fears, nor the prophetic soul Of the wide world dreaming on things to come, Can yet the lease of my true love control, Supposed as forfeit to a confined doom. The mortal … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged crescent formation, literature, poetry, prophetic soul, renaissance humanism, Shakespeare, shakespeare sonnet, Shakespeare Sonnet #107, sonnet, Sonnet 107, Ted Hughes, William Shakespeare | Leave a comment

“I am amazed, methinks, and lose my way/Among the thorns and dangers of this world.”

Posted on June 21, 2012 by Dennis Abrams

King John Act Five By Dennis Abrams ———————– Act Five: John gives in to the Pope’s wish, but Pandolf is unable to call off the Dauphin. As war breaks out, news arrives that the French reinforcements have been shipwrecked. Suffering … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Act Five, drama, Falconbridge, Faulconbridge, history play, King John, language, literature, politics, religion, renaissance humanism, Robin Hood, Shakespeare, shire | 6 Comments

“Grief fills the room up of my absent child, /Lies in his bed, walks up and down with me,/Puts on his pretty looks, repeats his words,/Stuffs out his vacant garments with his form;/Then have I reason to be fond of grief.”

Posted on June 19, 2012 by Dennis Abrams

King John Act Four By Dennis Abrams —————————– Act Four: Back in England, Hubert visits the cell where Arthur is being held, but, ultimately, cannot bring himself to use red hot irons to burn out young Arthur’s eyes. At court, … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Angiers, Arthur, blood, Constance, drama, Eleanor of Aquitaine, England, Falconbridge, Faulconbridge, France, history play, Hubert, imminent downfall, King John, language, literature, mother-son, Pandulph, peter of pomfret, politics, Prince Arthur, renaissance humanism, right, rivalary, Shakespeare, torture, William Shakespeare | 2 Comments

“Yet indiscretion thereby grows direct,/And falsehood falsehood cures, as fire cools fire/Within the scorched veins of one new burned.

Posted on June 17, 2012 by Dennis Abrams

King John Act Three By Dennis Abrams ——————————– Act Three: After the wedding, Constance berates King Philip and the Duke of Austria for their weakness but is interrupted by the arrival of Cardinal Pandolf, the papal legate. The Cardinal tells … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Act Three, Arthur, British history, Constance, drama, Eleanor of Aquitaine, Faulconbridge, King John, King Philip, language, literature, nephew arthur, Pandolph, politics, renaissance humanism, Shakespeare, Sonnet 124, theology, William Shakespeare | 4 Comments

“And now he feasts, mousing the flesh of men/In undetermined difference of kings.”

Posted on June 14, 2012 by Dennis Abrams

King John Act Two By Dennis Abrams ——————————- ACT TWO: The two armies confront each other at Angers. The French claim the city for Arthur; King John demands it as his. A citizen, acting as spokesman, vows loyalty to the … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Act Two, commodity, Falconbridge, Faulconbridge, King John, language, literature, politics, renaissance humanism, Shakespeare, William Shakespeare | 5 Comments

“But from the inward motion to deliver/Sweet, sweet, sweet poison for the age’s tooth:/Which, though I will not practice to deceive,/Yet, to avoid deceit, I mean to learn;”

Posted on June 12, 2012 by Dennis Abrams

King John Act One By Dennis Abrams —————— MAJOR CHARACTERS King John of England, brother of deceased Richard (of the lion’s heart) I Queen Eleanor (of Aquitaine), their mother. Prince Henry, John’s son (later King Henry III of England) Lady … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged act one, drama, Falconbridge, Faulconbridge, King John, language, legitimacy, literature, politics, queen eleanor of aquitaine, renaissance humanism, Shakespeare, theology, William Shakespeare | Leave a comment

“What makes Faulconbridge’s startling reality (or, if you prefer, the illusion of such reality) possible?”

Posted on June 10, 2012 by Dennis Abrams

King John An Introduction By Dennis Abrams ———————- The Life and Death of King John can be thought of as the chronicle play that got away. Set in an earlier period of medieval history than the two “tetralogies,” it is … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged act one, drama, Eleanor of Aquitaine, Faulconbridge, King John, language, literature, politics, pomp and pageantry, Richard the Lion Hearted, Shakespeare, the Bastard, William Shakespeare | 4 Comments

“For sweetest things turn sourest by their deeds;/Lilies that fester smell far worse than weeds.”

Posted on June 7, 2012 by Dennis Abrams

Shakespeare’s Sonnet #94 SONNET 94 They that have power to hurt and will do none, That do not do the thing they most do show, Who, moving others, are themselves as stone, Unmoved, cold, and to temptation slow, They rightly … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged ambivalent, poetry, sonnet, Sonnet 94, William Shakespeare, william shakespeare sonnet | Leave a comment