Tag Archives: Act Five

“O you heavenly charmers,/What things you make of us! For what we lack/We laugh, for what we have we are sorry; still/Are children in some kind.”

Posted on April 6, 2014 by Dennis Abrams

The Two Noble Kinsmen Act Five By Dennis Abrams —————— Act Five: Palamon and Arcite, each accompanied by three knights, separately pray for success, while Emilia prays that whoever loves her best will emerge victorious. Back at the jail, the … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged A Knight's Tale, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Act Five, Arcite, Chaucer, Christopher Marlowe, Diana, disgust, Emilia, entertainment, Flavina, Hamlet, heavenly creatures, Hippolyta, irony, James I, John Fletcher, Julius Caesar, language, literature, Mars, Palamon, Shakespeare, Tamuburlaine the Great, The Two Noble Kinsmen, Thersites, Theseus, three knights, Troilus and Cressida, Venus, William Shakespeare, writing | 1 Comment

‘”Henry VIII’ is an elegy for Shakespeare’s world-altering achievement in poetic drama, and consciously bids farewell to the playwright’s highest powers.”

Posted on March 20, 2014 by Dennis Abrams

Henry VIII (All Is True) Act Five By Dennis Abrams ——————————— Act Five: The new Queen is soon pregnant, but the news only antagonizes the King’s secretary Gardiner, who vows to attack her and Cranmer, Henry’s virtuous Archbishop of Canterbury … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Act Five, Anne Boleyn, Anne Bullen, Archbishop Cranmer, Archbishop Thomas Cranmer, Cardinal Wolsey, Cardional Wolsey, Cranmer, drama, Elizabeth I, entertainment, finale, Funeral Elegy, Gardiner, Henry V, Henry VIII, Henry Wotton, Henry Wriothesley, history, history play, Iago, Katherine of Aragon, King Henry VIII, language, literature, Lucifer, Macbeth, orations, politics, Prospero, Queen Elizabeth I, Richard II, Shakespeare, The Tempest Shakespeare, Thomas Cromwell, Thomas More, William Shakespeare, Wolsey, writing | Leave a comment

“On the desert island the history of the world has been performed. The performance is over; history begins once more.”

Posted on March 4, 2014 by Dennis Abrams

The Tempest Act Five, Part Three By Dennis Abrams ———————————— I want to conclude our examination of The Tempest with this, from the great Jan Kott: “Who is Prospero and what does his staff signify? Why does he combine knowledge … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Act Five, Antony and Cleopatra, Ariel, Caliban, Caliban Shakespeare, Comedy, Don Juan, Elizabethan theater, entertainment, Ferdinand, Giordano Bruno, Hamlet, history, island, Jan Kott, Joseph Conrad, language, literature, Miranda, Prospero, Prospero's staff, romance, Shakespeare, The Tempest, tragedy, Victor Hugo, William Shakespeare, writing | Leave a comment

“..I’ll break my staff,/Bury it certain fathoms in the earth,/And deeper than did ever plummet sound/I’ll drown my book.”

Posted on March 2, 2014 by Dennis Abrams

The Tempest Act Five, Part Two By Dennis Abrams ————————— From Harold Bloom: “Ariel is our largest clue to understanding Prospero, though we have no similar aid for apprehending this great sprite, who has very little in common with Puck, … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Act Five, Ariel, Caliban, Comedy, drama, Endgame, entertainment, Hamlet, Harold Boom, island, language, literature, Medea, Miranda, Prospero, Prospero's staff, Samuel Beckett, Shakespeare, The Tempest, William Shakespeare, writing | 8 Comments

“But this rough magic/I here abjure.”

Posted on February 27, 2014 by Dennis Abrams

The Tempest Act Five, Part One By Dennis Abrams ————————— Act Five: Ariel reports that the spirits of Alonso and the other Neapolitans have been broken, and Prospero instructs him to release them. Ariel leads the group in by magic, … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Act Five, Ariel, Caliban, Cleopatra, Comedy, drama, Ferdiand, Henry V, language, literature, magic, Mark Van Doren, Milan, Prospero, romance, rough magic, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Shakespeare, The Tempest, William Shakespeare, writing | 3 Comments

“It is a scene which if taken prosaically is open to a flood of objections, but if taken poetically is near perfection.”

Posted on February 2, 2014 by Dennis Abrams

The Winter’s Tale Act Five, Part Two By Dennis Abrams ————————————— From Harold Bloom: “The great advocate for the ‘law and process of great nature’ in The Winter’s Tale is the fierce and courageous Paulina, to be widowed when her … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Act Five, art, Autolycus, bear, Bohemia, Comedy, drama, Hermione, Hermione and Perdita, language, Leontes, literature, nature, Paulina, Perdita, Polixenes, Presumably Shakespeare, Prince Florizel, romance, seacoast, Shakespeare, Sicilia, statue, The Winter's Tale, William Shakespeare, writing | 1 Comment

“Music awake her; strike./‘Tis time, descend, be stone more. Approach./Strike all that look upon with marvel.”

Posted on January 30, 2014 by Dennis Abrams

The Winter’s Tale Act Five, Part One By Dennis Abrams ————————- Act Five: In Sicily, Leontes, still in mourning for Hermione, vows not to marry again without Paulina’s consent. When Florizel and Perdita arrive Leontes is captivated by the young … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Act Five, Autolycus, Ceres, drama, entertainment, Florizel and Perdita, Hermione, language, late play, Leontes, literature, nature, Northrop Frye, Ovid, Ovidian, Paulina, Perdita, Proserpina, Pygmalion, romance, Shakespeare, statue, the real world, The Winter's Tale, The Winter’s Tale Act, Thomas Mann, William Shakespeare, writing | 2 Comments

“‘Cymbeline’, it seems to me, is the most extraordinary play that Shakespeare ever wrote. How does he do it? Staggering!”

Posted on January 5, 2014 by Dennis Abrams

Cymbeline Act Five, Part Two By Dennis Abrams ———————————— Let’s end with this from Garber: “Imogen/Fidele’s double identity as woman and boy, Briton and Roman, resurfaces in the climactic political scene of the play (5.6), a scene not unlike the … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Act Five, Belarius, Cymbeline, drama, Elizabethan theater, entertainment, history, Iachimo, Imogen, language, Last Plays, late play, literature, metaphor, Pandora, Posthumus, Prometheus, religion, romance, Rome, Shakespeare, tragicomedy, William Shakespeare, writing | 3 Comments

“Hang there like fruit, my soul/Till the tree die.”

Posted on January 2, 2014 by Dennis Abrams

Cymbeline Act Five, Part One By Dennis Abrams ———————————————- Act Five: Deep breath: Convinced that Imogen is dead, Posthumus repents and joins the British side: disguised as a peasant, he saves Iachimo (who doesn’t recognize him). Belarius and his “sons” … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged A Midsummer Night's Dream, Act Five, Belarius, Ben Jonson, Comedy, Cymbeline, Cymbeline King of Britain, drama, Falstaff, god Jupiter, Iachimo, Imogen, language, Last Plays, late play, literature, Macbeth, Posthumus, religion, revenge, romance, Shakespeare, theatrical exit, tragicomedy, William Shakespeare | 2 Comments

“Coriolanus did not love the people. But this does not mean that Coriolanus should be condemned. In that sentence there is in a nutshell the bitter drama of Renaissance humanism; of any humanism, in fact.”

Posted on December 3, 2013 by Dennis Abrams

Coriolanus Act Five, Part Two By Dennis Abrams ———————————- From Jan Kott: “But Shakespeare’s world is crowded, and there are no empty spaces in it. There are just patricians, plebeians, and enemies of Rome. Coriolanus can only choose his place … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged A.C. Bradley, Act Five, Coriolanus, drama, Elizabethan tragedy, Jan Kott, language, Laurence Olivier, literature, Mussolini, Peter Hall, politics, Roman Republic, Rome, Shakespeare, Stratford, tragedy, Volumnia, William Shakespeare, writing | 4 Comments