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Cobbe Portrait of William Shakespeare
Tag Archives: drama
“We look back at Shakespeare and regret our absence from him because it seems an absence from reality.”
Conclusion to The Play’s The Thing Part Two By Dennis Abrams ———————————- Honestly, I can’t believe it’s over. For two and half years, We’ve been reading and talking and thinking about Shakespeare. And to help bring this to a close, … Continue reading
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Tagged A Midsummer Night's Dream, All's Well That Ends Well, Antony and Cleopatra, As You Like It, Comedy, Coriolanus, Cymbeline, drama, Falstaff, Hamlet, Henry IV, Henry IV Part I, Henry IV Part II, Henry V, Henry VI Parts One Two and Three, Henry VIII, Julius Caesar, king henry iv, King John, King Lear, language, Love's Labour's Lost, Macbeth, Measure for Measure, Much Ado About Nothing, Othello, Pericles, Prince Hal, problem play, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Richard II, Richard III, Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare, sonnet, The Comedy of Error, The Merchant of Venice, The Merry Wives of Windsor, The Taming of the Shrew, The Tempest, The Two Gentlemen of Verona, The Two Noble Kinsmen, The Winter's Tale, Timon of Athens, titus andronicus, tragedy, Troilus and Cressidas, Twelfh Night, Victor Hugo, William Shakespeare, writing
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“Who besides Shakespeare can continue to inform an authentic idea of the human?”
Conclusion to The Play’s the Thing Part One By Dennis Abrams It’s hard to believe it’s been two and half years since we started our journey through Shakespeare’s plays. For me, it’s been incredibly educational, fulfilling, inspiring, and downright fun. … Continue reading
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Tagged A Midsummer Night's Dream, Antony and Cleopatra, Cleopatra, Comedy, conclusion, drama, Elizabethan theater, Falstaff, Hamlet, Henry IV, history, king henry iv, King Lear, language, Lear, literature, Macbeth, Prince Hal, romance, Shakespeare, the play's the thing, tragedy, William Shakespeare
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“It is a falsehood she is in, which is with falsehoods to be combated.”
The Two Noble Kinsmen Act Four By Dennis Abrams Act Four: The Jailer’s Daughter, now completely mad, is reunited with her father. Observing her behavior, the Doctor advises that the only possible remedy is if a former suitor (the Wooer) … Continue reading
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Tagged A Midsummer Night's Dream, Act Four, adaptation The Rivals, All's Well That Ends Well, Arcite, charles lamb, Comedy, drama, Duke Theseus, Emilia, Hamlet, Helen, Hippolyta, Jailer's Daughter, John Fletcher, language, literature, Palamon, Palamon and Arcite, Polonius, Shakespeare, the Restoration dramatist William Davenant, The Two Noble Kinsmen, the Wooer, two kinsmen, William Shakespeare, writing
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“I saw her first.”
The Two Noble Kinsmen Act Two By Dennis Abrams Act Two: In jail in Athens, Palamon and Arcite are busy consoling themselves with the closeness of their friendship when Palamon suddenly sees the beautiful Emilia (Hippolyta’s sister) gathering flowers outside. … Continue reading
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Tagged Act Two, Amazon Hippolyta, Arcite, Comedy, drama, Duke Theseus, Emilia, entertainment, Hippolyta, language, literature, Love's Labour's Lost, Palamon, Palamon and Arcite, Queen Hippolyta, Richard II, romance, Shakespeare, The Two Noble Kinsmen, Theseus, titus andronicus, William Shakespeare, writing
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“His purposes here are very enigmatic, he abandons his career-long concern with character and personality and presents a darker, more remote or estranged vision of human life than ever before.”
The Two Noble Kinsmen An Introduction By Dennis Abrams After the political intrigue of Henry VIII, it would be difficult to imagine a play more different than the one which followed it onto the stage. The Two Noble Kinsmen concluded … Continue reading
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Tagged A Midsummer Night's Dream, Arcite, Chaucerian Talbot Donaldson, drama, Falstaff, Hamlet, Hippolyta, hymen, Introduction, John Fletcher, King Lear, Knight’s Tale, language, literature, Palamon, Pirithous, Shakespeare, The Two Noble Kinsmen, Theseus, Three Queens, tragicomedy, William Shakespeare, writing
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‘”Henry VIII’ is an elegy for Shakespeare’s world-altering achievement in poetic drama, and consciously bids farewell to the playwright’s highest powers.”
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
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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
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“Men’s evil manners live in brass; their virtues/We write in water.”
Henry VIII (All Is True) Act Four By Dennis Abrams —————————- Act Four: The coronation of Anne takes place with great ceremony, but her triumph cruelly coincides with Katherine’s decline. Lying sick at Kimbolton, Katherine has a vision of celestial … Continue reading
“And when he falls, he falls like Lucifer/Never to hope again.”
Henry VIII (All Is True) Act Three By Dennis Abrams —————————– Act Three: The case stalls until Katherine decides to relent following a visit from Wolsey and Campeius. But a further hold-up occurs when deceitful letters sent from Wolsey to … Continue reading
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Tagged A Man For All Seasons, Act Three, All Is True, Anne Boleyn, Anne Bullen, Buckingham, Campeius, Cardinal Wolsey, Church of England, divorce, drama, Duke of Buckingham, Elizabeth I, entertainment, Henry VIII, history, history play, Holinshed, Katherine of Aragon, language, literature, politics, pope, religion, Richard II, Richard III, Rome, Shakespeare, Sir Thomas More, six wives, The King, Tudor politics, William Shakespeare, Wolsey, writing
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“It seems the marriage with his brother’s wife/Has crept too near his conscience.” “No, his conscience/Has crept too near another lady.”
Henry VIII (All Is True) Act Two By Dennis Abrams —————————————– Act Two: As Buckingham heads to his execution, rumors begin circulating that Henry plans to divorce his wife Katherine with Wolsey’s approval, and in fact Cardinal Campeius has traveled … Continue reading
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Tagged Act Three, All Is True, Anne Boleyn, Anne Bullen, Blackfriars, Bloody Mary, Buckingham, Cardinal Campeius, Cardinal Wolsey, Charles Laughton, Church of England, divorce, drama, Elizabeth I, Frank Kermod, Henry VIII, history, history play, Holbein, James I, Katherine of Aragon, King Henry, King Henry VIII, Lady Anne Boleyn.’, language, literature, Mary I, politics, Princess Elizabeth, religion, Shakespeare, The Private Life of Henry VIII, Thomas Cranmer, William Shakespeare, writing
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“I come no more to make you laugh. Things now/That bear a weighty and serious brow,/Sad, high, and working, full of state and woe…”
Henry VIII (All Is True) Act One By Dennis Abrams —————————— MAJOR CHARACTERS PROLOGUE AND EPILOGUE King Henry VIII of England Katherine of Aragon, Henry’s wife, soon to be divorced Anne Boleyn, Katherine’s maid-of-honor and Henry’s soon to be second … Continue reading
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Tagged act one, Anne Boleyn, Cardinal Wolsey, Cromwell, drama, entertainment, falls, First Folio, Henry Guildford, Henry VIII, Henry Wotton, history, history play, Katherine of Aragon, King Henry, King Henry VIII of England Katherine of Aragon, language, literature, Lord Chamberlain, politics, prologue, sadness, Shakespeare, Thomas Cranmer, tragedy, William Shakespeare, Wolsey, wrenching, writing
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The Play's The Thing 