Monthly Archives: June 2013

“I am in blood/Stepp’d in so far that, should I wade no more,/Returning were as tedious as go o’er.”

Posted on June 30, 2013 by Dennis Abrams

Macbeth Act Three By Dennis Abrams —————————- Act Three: Although Banquo has doubts about his friend Macbeth’s role in recent events, he agrees to celebrate the coronation at a banquet. But Macbeth wants Banquo dead, and arranges for assassins to … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Act Three, Banquo, Banquo's Ghost, blood, dagger, dagger of the mind, demiurge, drama, drops of blood, Elizabethan theater, Elizabethan tragedy, history, King Duncan, King Lear, Lady Macbeth, language, literature, Macbeth, macbeth act, murder, narrative poem, politics, Shakespeare, sleep, three witches, tragedy, Weird Sisters, William Shakespeare, writing | 1 Comment

“Is this a dagger which I see before me,/The handle toward my hand?”

Posted on June 27, 2013 by Dennis Abrams

Macbeth Act Two, Part Two By Dennis Abrams ———————– I hope you’re all enjoying Macbeth as much as I am. Having read as much Shakespeare as I’ve done (and as you’ve done) over the last year and a half, I … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged AC Bradley, Act Three, Banquo, dagger, drama, Elizabethan theater, Elizabethan tragedy, James I, King Duncan, Lady Macbeth, Lady Macduff, language, literature, Macbeth, macbeth act, macbeth banquo, Macduff, politics, Scotland, Scottish play, Shakespeare, tragedy, William Shakespeare, writing | 2 Comments

“Will all great Neptune’s ocean wash this blood/Clean from my hand?”

Posted on June 25, 2013 by Dennis Abrams

Macbeth Act Two, Part One By Dennis Abrams ———————————– Act Two: As Macbeth moves towards Duncan’s chamber, his resolve falters as he comes across Banquo and then is troubled by strange hallucinations. Nonetheless, as Lady Macbeth waits and Duncan’s drugged … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Act Two, apt symbol, Banquo, blood stained hands, dagger, donalbain, drama, Elizabethan theater, Elizabethan tragedy, Hells Gate, history, Jacobean tragedy, King Duncan, Lady Macbeth, literature, Macbeth, macbeth act, politics, Porter, renaissance humanism, Shakespeare, Thomas de Quincey, tragedy, visible world, William Shakespeare, writing | 3 Comments

“I would, while it was smiling in my face,/Have plucked my nipple from its boneless gums/And dashed the brains out, had I so sworn/As you have done to this.”

Posted on June 23, 2013 by Dennis Abrams

Macbeth Act One, Part Two By Dennis Abrams ———————— It would be fascinating to know what James I – or any of his contemporaries for that matter – made of the other strong female character in the play – the … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Act Two, Banquo, Elizabethan theater, Elizabethan tragedy, entertainment, Gunpowder Plot, James I, joan la pucelle, joan of arc, Lady Macbeth, language, literature, Macbeth, macbeth act, macbeth shakespeare, politics, renaissance humanism, Shakespeare, tragedy, Weird Sisters, William Shakespeare, witches, writing | 24 Comments

“When shall we three meet again?/In thunder, lightning, or in rain?/When the hurly-burly’s done,/When the battle’s lost, and won.”

Posted on June 20, 2013 by Dennis Abrams

Macbeth Act One, Part One By Dennis Abrams ————— MAIN CHARACTERS King Duncan of Scotland Malcolm, Duncan’s elder son Donalbain, Duncan’s younger son A Captain in Duncan’s army Macbeth, Thane of Glamis Lady Macbeth, Macbeth’s wife Porter at Macbeth’s castle … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged AC Bradley, act one, Banquo, drama, Elizabethan theater, Elizabethan tragedy, entertainment, James I, Lady Macbeth, language, literature, Macbeth, macbeth banquo, politics, queen of the witches, renaissance humanism, Scotland, Shakespeare, The King's Men, The Scottish Play, tragedy, usurpation, Weird Sisters, William Shakespeare, witchcraft, witches, writing | 1 Comment

” The triumph of ‘Macbeth’ is the construction of a world, and nothing like it has ever been constructed in twenty-one hundred lines.”

Posted on June 18, 2013 by Dennis Abrams

Macbeth An Introduction By Dennis Abrams ——————————– It’s Shakespeare’s shortest tragedy. And his darkest. But more than 400 years after it was written, it still retains its ability to shock. “The Scottish Play,” as it is superstitiously known in the … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged drama, Elizabethan tragedy, James I, Lady Macbeth, language, literature, Macbeth, politics, Scotland, Scottish play, Shakespeare, tragedy, William Shakespeare, witches, writing | 7 Comments

“Thou blind fool, Love, what dost thou to mine eyes,/That they behold, and see not what they see? “

Posted on June 16, 2013 by Dennis Abrams

Shakespeare Sonnet #137 SONNET 137 Thou blind fool, Love, what dost thou to mine eyes, That they behold, and see not what they see? They know what beauty is, see where it lies, Yet what the best is take the … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged blind infatuation, dark lady, Elizabethan sonnet, elizabethan sonnets, language, literature, love sonnets, pride of place, psychological basis, renaissance humanism, sexual appetites, Shakespeare, shakespeare sonnet, sonnet, Sonnet #137, William Shakespeare, writing | Leave a comment

“…Timon of Athens is a puzzle. Is it a tragedy? It is the strangest of Shakespeare’s plays.”

Posted on June 13, 2013 by Dennis Abrams

Timon of Athens Act Five By Dennis Abrams ————————– Act Five: The Poet and the Painter head out to the forest in hope of payment, but Timon drives them away. By this time Alcibiades is threatening Athens itself, and two … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Act Five, drama, Elizabethan theater, Elizabethan tragedy, entertainment, Jacobean tragedy, King Lear, language, literature, misanthropy, renaissance humanism, Shakespeare, Timon, Timon of Athens, tragedy, William Shakespeare | 6 Comments

“There’s nothing level in our cursed natures,/But direct villany. Therefore, be abhorr’d /All feasts, societies, and throngs of men!”

Posted on June 11, 2013 by Dennis Abrams

Timon of Athens Act Four By Dennis Abrams ——————————– Act Four: Although his servants remain loyal to him, Timon is now driven insane with anger; he curses the city and its residents, and leaves to lives in the woods. While … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Act Four, Athens, drama, Elizabethan theater, Elizabethan tragedy, entertainment, language, literature, renaissance humanism, satire, Shakespeare, syphllis, Timon of Athens, tragedy, Troilus and Cressida, venereal disease, William Shakespeare, writing | 4 Comments

“Uncover, dogs, and lap.”

Posted on June 9, 2013 by Dennis Abrams

Timon of Athens Act Three By Dennis Abrams ———————— Act Three: One by one, Timon’s so-called “friends” refuse to help him, all making the feeblest of excuses. As the servants of Timon’s creditors move in pressing their claims, Timon enters … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Act Three, cannibalism, Christ figure, drama, Elizabethan theater, Elizabethan tragedy, eucharist, grace, language, literature, Measure for Measure, Shakespeare, the last supper, The Merchant of Venice, Timon, Timon of Athens, tragedy, William Shakespeare, writing | Leave a comment