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Cobbe Portrait of William Shakespeare
Monthly Archives: December 2012
The Universality of “Hamlet” (and Hamlet)
By Dennis Abrams Harold Bloom, in The Western Canon, writes that “If we could conceive of a universal canon, multicultural and multivalent, its one essential book would not be a scripture, whether Bible, Koran, or Eastern text, but rather Shakespeare, … Continue reading
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Tagged apartheid south africa, books, drama, Hamlet, Japan, language, literature, National History Magazine, politics, renaissance humanism, Shakespeare, Shakespeare in the Bush, shakespeare our contemporary, titus andronicus, Tiv, universality, West Africa, William Shakespeare
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The Pleasure of Shakespeare
By Dennis Abrams Hope everybody is enjoying their holiday season. And while I know I wasn’t going to post anything until next week, I was reading Zadie Smith’s recent piece in The New York Review of Books on “Joy” (a … Continue reading
My mistress’ eyes are nothing like the sun;/Coral is far more red then her lips’ red…’
William Shakespeare Sonnet #130 ————————– SONNET 130 My mistress’ eyes are nothing like the sun; Coral is far more red than her lips’ red; If snow be white, why then her breasts are dun; If hairs be wires, black wires … Continue reading
‘It was very powerful, very exciting to play. Like skipping on water.’
As You Like It An Actor’s Perspective By Dennis Abrams ——————————— We’ve looked at As You Like It from every conceivable angle. Except for one. In the book Shakespeare on Stage: Thirteen Leading Actors on Thirteen Key Roles, actress Rebecca … Continue reading
“The fool doth think he is wise, but the wise man knows himself to be a fool”
As You Like It More Perspectives…Continued By Dennis Abrams ————————————— In my last post, we looked at Marjorie Garber’s perspective on As You Like It, ending with the first answer to the question: “Why doesn’t Rosalind reveal her identity to … Continue reading
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Tagged As You Like It, boy actors, Celia, Comedy, drama, Elizabethan theater, entertainment, Jaques, language, literature, Oliver, Orlando, pastoral, Phoebe, politics, renaissance humanism, romance, Rosalind, Shakespeare, Touchstone, William Shakespeare
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“Last scene of all,/That ends this strange eventful history,/Is second childishness and mere oblivion,/Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything.”
As You Like It Another Perspectives By Dennis Abrams ————————— From Marjorie Garber: “The Forest of Arden, then, is a golden world, an Eden, an Arcady, and in some sense a tongue-in-cheek parody of all these. But what is it … Continue reading
“I can live no longer by thinking.”
As You Like It Act Five By Dennis Abrams ———————————- Act Five: Touchstone, meanwhile, has decided to marry Audrey, and rejects William, her current suitor. For his part, Oliver has fallen for Celia/Aliena, and agrees to marry her in front … Continue reading
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Tagged Act Five, As You Like It, Audrey, Celia, Comedy, entertainment, Forest of Arden, hymen, Jaques, language, literature, masque, Orlando, pastoral, Phebe, renaissance humanism, Rosalind, Shakespeare, sonnet, Touchstone, William Shakespeare, writing
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“Men have died from time to time, and worms have eaten them, but not for love.”
As You Like It Act Four By Dennis Abrams ————————————— Act Four: Rosalind/Ganymede has convinced Orlando to take a more realistic view of love, but complicates things still further by taking on the personality of Rosalind while still dressed as … Continue reading
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Tagged Act Four, As You Like It, celebrities, Celia, Comedy, courtship, Elizabethan comedy, Falstaff, Jaques, language, literature, love, marriage, Orlando, oscars, renaissance humanism, Rosalind, Shakespeare, sonnet, Sonnet #29, Touchstone, William Shakespeare, writing
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“But what talk we of fathers when there is such a man as Orlando?”
As You Like It Act Three By Dennis Abrams ————————– Act Three: Orlando is pining away for love, leaving poems about Rosalind throughout the forest. When Rosalind appears with one such poem, Celia teasingly reveals who the poet is; when … Continue reading
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Tagged Act Three, As You Like It, beautiful boy, bisexuality, Celia, Comedy, dark lady, drama, homoeroticism, homosexuality, Jaques, language, literature, Orlando, Portia, renaissance humanism, Rosalind, Shakespeare, sonnet, Touchstone, transvestiem, Twelfth Night, William Shakespeare
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“All the world’s a stage,/And all the men and women merely players.”
As You Like It Act Two By Dennis Abrams ———————————— Act Two: Word quickly spreads of the cousins’ disappearance, and Duke Frederick recruits Oliver to join in the search. Hearing that his brother intends to kill him, Orlando flees. In … Continue reading
The Play's The Thing 