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Cobbe Portrait of William Shakespeare
Monthly Archives: February 2013
“If this were played upon a stage now, I could condemn it as an improbable fiction.”
Twelfth Night Act Five Conclusion By Dennis Abrams ————————- Boy oh boy, do I love this play. After doing the reading for my posts, I sat down and reread the whole thing – just for the sheer enjoyment of it. … Continue reading
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Tagged Act Five, Comedy, Derek Jacobi, Donald Sinden, Elizabethan comedy, Elizabethan theater, entertainment, Feste, language, literature, Malvolio, Olivia, Orsino, renaissance humanism, Shakespeare, Sir Andrew Aguecheek, Sir Toby Belch, Twelfth Night, William Shakespeare
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“One face, one voice, one habit, and two persons!/A natural perspective, that is, and is not!”
Twelfth Night Act Five, Part One By Dennis Abrams ————————– Act Five: Confusion mounts when discussion between Cesario/Viola and Orsino is interrupted by Olivia. As the Duke attempts to win his lady one last time, she triumphantly announces (is there … Continue reading
“Are all the people mad?”
Twelfth Night Act Four By Dennis Abrams ——————— Act Four: Sebastian is talking with Feste, who believes him to be Cesario, when he is attacked by Sir Andrew – who ALSO thinks that he is Cesario. Sebastian retaliates and Sir … Continue reading
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“O, if it prove,/Tempests are kind, and salt waves fresh in love!”
Twelfth Night Act Three By Dennis Abrams —————————– Act Three: Olivia confesses her love to Cesario/Viola but Viola lets her know that it cannot be returned. Noting Cesario’s apparent success with Olivia, the frustrated Sir Andrew is persuaded by Toby … Continue reading
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Tagged Act Three, Ben Jonson, bisexuality, Comedy, drama, Elizabethan comedy, Elizabethan theater, eunuch, Falstaff, language, literature, Malvolio, Olivia, renaissance humanism, Sebastian, Shakespeare, Sir Andrew Aguecheek, Sir Toby Belch, Twelfth Night, twins, Viola, William Shakespeare, writing
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“Dost thou think, because thou art virtuous, there shall be no more cakes and ale?”
Twelfth Night Act Two By Dennis Abrams ————————– Act Two: Sebastian has survived (surprise!) – rescued by Antonio – although he, too, thinks his twin is dead and resolves to head for the court of Orsino. Meanwhile…Viola/Cesario has fallen in … Continue reading
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Tagged Act Two, Antonio, bisexual, clown, Comedy, drama, Elizabethan theater, entertainment, Falstaff, Feste, hermaphrodite, language, literature, Malvolio, Olivia, renaissance humanism, Sebastian, Shakespeare, Sir Andrew Aguecheek, Sir Toby Belch, Twelfth Night, Viola, William Shakespeare, writing
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“If music be the food of love, play on,/Give me excess of it, that surfeiting,/The appetite may sicken, and so die.”
Twelfth Night Act One By Dennis Abrams ————————- MAJOR CHARACTERS Orsino, Duke of Illyria Valentine and Curio, Orsino’s servants Viola, a shipwrecked lady (later disguised as Cesario) Sebastian, her twin brother A Sea Captain Antonio, another sea captain Olivia, a … Continue reading
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Tagged act one, Ben Jonson, bisexuality, Cesario, Comedy, drama, Elizabethan theater, entertainment, eunuch, Freud, humours, if music be the food of love, Illyria, language, literature, love, Malvolio, Olivia, Orsino, renaissance humanism, romance, Shakespeare, Sir Andrew Aguecheek, Sir Toby Belch, transvestism, Twelfth Night, Viola, William Shakespeare, writing
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“Bittersweet, lyrical, and deeply emotional, “Twelfth Night” has long been thought of as perhaps Shakespeare’s most “perfect” comedy.”
Twelfth Night An Introduction By Dennis Abrams Bittersweet, lyrical, and deeply emotional, Twelfth Night has long been thought of as perhaps Shakespeare’s most “perfect” comedy. Written shortly after Hamlet and As You Like It, its mood is delicately posed: while … Continue reading
“Thou art as tyrannous, so as thou art, As those whose beauties proudly make them cruel;”
William Shakespeare Sonnet #131 ————————- SONNET 131 Thou art as tyrannous, so as thou art, As those whose beauties proudly make them cruel; For well thou know’st to my dear doting heart Thou art the fairest and most precious jewel. … Continue reading
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Tagged Elizabethan poetry, elizabethan sonnets, entertainment, language, literature, poetry, renaissance humanism, Shakespeare, Shakesperean sonnets, sonnet, Sonnet 127, Sonnet 131, The Black Lady, The Dark Lady, William Shakespeare, william shakespeare sonnet, writing
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“…the rest is silence.”
Hamlet Act Five, Part Five By Dennis Abrams ———————————- And here we are…at the end of Hamlet. Not that it ever ends, really. As Bloom says, “His play of some four thousand lines is Shakespeare’s longest and yet is not … Continue reading
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Tagged Act Five, As You Like It, Claudius, Cleopatra, drama, Elizabethan theater, Elizabethan tragedy, end of hamlet, Falstaff, Fortinbras, Gertrude, Grave-digger, Hamlet, hamlet act, hamlet and gertrude, Henry IV, Henry V, James Joyce, king claudius, Laertes, language, literature, Measure for Measure, Mistress Quickly, politics, reading hamlet, renaissance humanism, Rosalind, Shakespeare, tragedy, William Shakespeare
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“Now, literature, philosophy, and thought are Shakespearized. His mind is the horizon beyond which at present we do not see.”
Hamlet Act Five, Part Four By Dennis Abrams —————————— There’s so much to say about Hamlet (and Hamlet), so many different ways of seeing him (and the play). I hope I haven’t overwhelmed you all – I just want to … Continue reading
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Tagged Act Five, Claudius, drama, Elizabethan theater, Elizabethan tragedy, Fortinbras, Gertrude, Hamlet, history, king claudius, Laertes, language, literature, Monty Python, Northrop Frye, Ophelia, politics, renaissance humanism, Shakespeare, shakespeare character, the mousetrap, the rest is silence, tragedy, William Shakespeare, writing
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The Play's The Thing 