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Cobbe Portrait of William Shakespeare
Tag Archives: Henry IV
“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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“Shakespeare has no illusions. To have judged the world will not result in the world being changed.”
Coriolanus Act Two, Part Two By Dennis Abrams ————————————– To continue with the great Jan Kott, whose very political/class driven take on the play I find most interesting: “The first confrontation is provided by war. The Volscians have attacked Rome. … Continue reading
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Tagged Act Two, Antony and Cleopatra, Coriolanus, drama, Elizabethan theater, Falstaff, Henry IV, Henry V, history, King Lear, language, literature, Roman Republic, Rome, Shakespeare, tragedy, Virgilia, Volumnia, William Shakespeare, writing
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“By the pricking of my thumbs,/Something wicked this way comes: –“
Macbeth Act Four, Part One By Dennis Abrams ———————– Act Four: Desperate for information about the future, Macbeth visits the Witches. He is warned about Macduff but also told that “none of woman born/Shall harm Macbeth.” Hearing that Macduff has … Continue reading
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Tagged Act Four, Banquo, birnam wood, crack of doom, drama, dunsinane hill, Elizabethan theater, Elizabethan tragedy, G. Wilson Knight, guilt, Henry IV, history, King Duncan, Lady Macbeth, Lady Macduff, language, last vision, literature, Macbeth, macbeth act, macbeth witches, Macduff, politics, renaissance humanism, Scotland, Shakespeare, The Scottish Play, tragedy, William Shakespeare, writing
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“If she, my liege, can make me know this clearly/I’ll love her dearly, ever, ever, dearly.”
All’s Well That Ends Well Act Five, Part One By Dennis Abrams —————————— Act Five: Bertram returns to France and is pardoned by the King. When he offers an engagement ring for Lafew’s daughter, however, the King recognizes it as … Continue reading
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Tagged Act Five, All's Well That Ends Well, bed trick, Bertram, Comedy, Diana, Elizabethan theater, entertainment, Helena, Henry IV, Lafew, language, literature, Parolles, problem comedy, problem play, ring, Shakespeare, William Shakespeare, writing
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“Villain, be sure thou prove my love a whore,/Be sure of it; give me the ocular proof:”
Othello Act Three, Part Two By Dennis Abrams ————————– Othello persuades himself that he is acting rationally by demanding “some proof” of Desdemona’s infidelity, but he fails to take into account Iago’s skill at manipulation – or the mysterious workings … Continue reading
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Tagged absolute horror, Act Three, Cyprus, Desdemona, drama, Elizabethan theater, Falstaff, Hamlet, Henry IV, holy writ, Iago, jealousy, language, literature, Othello, politics, religion, renaissance humanism, Shakespeare, temptation scene, The Moor of Venice, torture, tragedy, Venice, waterboarding, William Shakespeare, writing
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“Welcome ever smiles,/And farewell goes out sighing.”
Troilus and Cressida Act Four By Dennis Abrams —————————————- Aeneas breaks the news to Troilus: Diomedes has arrived with Antenor, who is to be exchanged for Cressida With little time left, the couple tearfully exchange love tokens, and Troilus begs … Continue reading
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Tagged Achilles, Act Four, Agamem, Bolingbroke, Chaucer, Comedy, Cressida, Elizabethan theater, Elizabethan tragedy, entertainment, Faulconbridge, Hector, Henry IV, Homer, Hotspur, language, literature, Mercutio, Nestor, Pandarus, Patroclus, politics, Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare, tragedy, Troilus, Troilus and Cressida, Trojan War, Troy, Ulysses, William Shakespeare, writing
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“This is the monstruosity in love, lady: that the will is infinite, and the execution confined: that the desire is boundless, and the act a slave to limit.”
Troilus and Cressida Act Three, Part One By Dennis Abrams ————————- Act Three: Pandarus has finally arranged a meeting between Troilus and Cressida, but doesn’t exactly leave them alone. Initially nervous, the couple make a vow of mutual constancy before … Continue reading
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Tagged Achilles, Act Five, Act Three, Agamemnon, Ajax, Chaucer, Comedy, Cressida, drama, Elizabethan theater, Elizabethan tragedy, entertainment, Henry IV, history, Homer, language, literature, Pandarus, politics, renaissance humanism, Shakespeare, Thersites, tragedy, Troilus, Troilus and Cressida, Trojan War, Ulysses, war, William Shakespeare, writing
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“What’s aught but as ‘tis valued?”
Troilus and Cressida Act Two By Dennis Abrams —————————- Act Two: Ajax questions Thersites about what is going on, but is answered with insults. Achilles arrives (with his friend/lover Patroclus) and tells Ajax about Hector’s challenge, but Achilles response is … Continue reading
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Tagged Achilles, Act Two, Ajax, Cassandra, Chaucer, Comedy, Cressida, drama, Elizabethan theater, Elizabethan tragedy, entertainment, Falstaff, Hector, Helen of Troy, Henry IV, Henry V, history, Homer, language, literature, Paris, Patroclus, politics, problem comedy, problem play, renaissance humanism, Richard II, Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare, tragedy, Troilus, Troilus and Cressida, Trojan War, William Shakespeare
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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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The Play's The Thing 