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Cobbe Portrait of William Shakespeare
Monthly Archives: July 2013
“O, reason not the need! Our basest beggars.Are in the poorest thing superfluous.”
King Lear Act Two, Part One By Dennis Abrams —————————————– Act Two: Edmund tells Edgar of their father’s anger and persuades him to flee, at which point Edgar decides to disguise himself as a beggar. Meanwhile, Kent has attacked Goneril’s … Continue reading
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Tagged Act Two, Ancient Britain, Cordelia, drama, Edgar, Edmund, Gloucester, Goneril, goneril and regan, Kent, King Lear, language, Lear, literature, madness, masterwork, natural man, nature, nothing, old age, politics, Regan, religion, renaissance humanism, retinue, Shakespeare, th air, the Fool, tragedy, William Shakespeare, writing
2 Comments
“Who is it that can tell me who I am?” “Lear’s shadow.”
King Lear Act One, Part Three By Dennis Abrams ————————– A couple of things of interest: 1. I talked in my introduction to Lear about the fact that there are really two different versions of the play: the Quarto and … Continue reading
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Tagged act one, Ancient Britain, Cordelia, drama, Edmund, Elizabethan tragedy, G. Wilson Knight, Goneril, Jan Kott, King Lear, language, Lear, literature, nothing, politics, Regan, Richard II, Shakespeare, tragedy, William Shakespeare, writing
2 Comments
“In cities, mutinies; in countries, discord; in palaces, treason; and the bond crack’d ‘twist son and father…We have seen the best of our time.”
King Lear Act One, Part Two By Dennis Abrams ——————————— A couple of things to watch for and think about: 1. Patterns of verbal imagery in the play, including those related to seeing, blindness and insight; the use of terms … Continue reading
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Tagged act one, Ancient Britain, blindness and insight, Cordelia, drama, Edmund, Elizabethan tragedy, Falstaff, Gloucester, Goneril, goneril and regan, Hamlet, Jacobean tragedy, King Lear, language, Lear, literature, pagan, politics, Regan, religion, renaissance humanism, Shakespeare, the Fool, tragedy, verbal imagery, William Shakespeare, writing
7 Comments
“Nothing will come from nothing. Speak again.”
King Lear Act One, Part One By Dennis Abrams ———————– MAJOR CHARACTERS King Lear of Britain Goneril, Lear’s oldest daughter Duke of Albany, Goneril’s husband Regan, Lear’s second daughter Duke of Cornwall, Regan’s husband Cordelia, Lear’s youngest daughter Duke of … Continue reading
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Tagged act one, Cordelia, drama, duke of albany, duke of burgundy, duke of cornwall, earl of kent, Edmund, Elizabethan theater, Elizabethan tragedy, Faulconbridge, fortune, Goneril, goneril and regan, Hamlet, Jacobean tragedy, King Lear, language, Lear, literature, politics, Regan, rival factions, Shakespeare, the Fool, William Shakespeare, writing
9 Comments
“‘King Lear’ gives one the impression of life’s abundance magnificently compressed into one play.”
King Lear An Introduction By Dennis Abrams ———————————— We are now, I think, at the peak of Mount Shakespeare. King Lear has long had a reputation as the ultimate in tragedy – this tale of a difficult father driven mad … Continue reading
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Tagged Ancient Britain, charles lamb, Cordelia, drama, Edmund, Elizabethan tragedy, evil, G. Wilson Knight, Geneva Bible, genius, good, Hamlet, Introduction, James I, Jan Kott, King Lear, language, Lear, literature, nahum tate, politics, Shakespeare, shakespeare king lear, shakespearean play, the Fool, tragedy, william hazlitt, William Shakespeare, writing
13 Comments
When my love swears that she is made of truth I do believe her,/though I know she lies…”
Shakespeare Sonnet #138 SONNET 138 When my love swears that she is made of truth I do believe her, though I know she lies, That she might think me some untutor’d youth, Unlearned in the world’s false subtleties. Thus vainly … Continue reading
“It is a tale/Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,/Signifying nothing.”
Macbeth Act Five, Part Three By Dennis Abrams ———————————– To conclude Stephen Booth’s look at Macbeth from King Lear, Macbeth, Indefinition, and Tragedy: “I said earlier that an audience to Macbeth cannot keep itself within the category dictated by its own … Continue reading
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Tagged Act Five, Banquo, Banquo's Ghost, drama, Duncan, Elizabethan theater, Elizabethan tragedy, entertainment, Hamlet, Jan Kott, King Lear, Lady Macbeth, language, literature, Macbeth, moral judgments, politics, Richard III, Shakespeare, stephen booth, The Grand Mechanism, theatrical terms, tragedy, William Shakespeare, writing
1 Comment
‘Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow/Creeps in this petty pace from day to day/To the last syllable of recorded time…”
Macbeth Act Five, Part Two By Dennis Abrams ———————————— The world is still deceived with ornament. In law, what plea so tainted and corrupt, But, being seasoned with a gracious voice, Obscures the show of evil? The Merchant of Venice, … Continue reading
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Tagged Act Five, Banquo, drama, Elizabethan theater, Elizabethan tragedy, Hamlet, history, king and his court, Lady Macbeth, language, literature, Macbeth, macbeth act, Malcolm, merchant of venice, perfumes of arabia, politics, Ross, Scotland, Shakespeare, show of evil, The Scottish Play, tomorrow and tomorrorw and tomorrow, tragedy, tragic hero, William Shakespeare, writing
7 Comments
“Double, double toil and trouble,/Fire burn, and cauldron bubble.”
Macbeth Act Four, Part Two By Dennis Abrams ——————————————– Why is Macbeth seemingly cursed? Why do people in (and out) of the theater refer to it as “The Scottish Play?” It is, perhaps, inevitable that a tragedy that lends witchcraft … Continue reading
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Tagged Act Four, Banquo, court masque, curse, drama, Elizabethan theater, Elizabethan tragedy, Hamlet, history, King Duncan, Lady Macbeth, Lady Macduff, language, Laurence Olivier, literature, Macbeth, Macduff, Malcolm, renaissance humanism, Scotland, Shakespeare, The Scottish Play, tragedy, Weird Sisters, William Shakespeare, witches, writing
5 Comments
The Play's The Thing 