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Cobbe Portrait of William Shakespeare
Tag Archives: Macbeth
“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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‘”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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“The Tempest ends, like the other plays in Shakespeare’s last period, in reconciliation and forgiveness. But the ending in The Tempest is grimmer, and the sky is darker…”
The Tempest Act Four, Part Two By Dennis Abrams —————————- From Auden: “Falstaff’s kingdom is made up of Stephano, Trinculo, and Caliban. Trinculo recalls all of Shakespeare’s earlier clowns, Stephano resembles Sir Toby Belch, and Caliban recollects both Bottom and … Continue reading
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Tagged Act Four, Ariel, Caliban, Comedy, drama, Falstaff, Ferdinand, frank kermode, language, literature, Macbeth, masque, Miranda, Othello, Prospero, Rilke, Shakespeare, slave, song, The Tempest, tragedy, W.H. Auden, William Shakespeare, writing
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“A sad tale’s best for winter. I have one/Of sprites and goblins.”
The Winter’s Tale Act Two, Part Two By Dennis Abrams ————————— G. Wilson Knight had a special feeling for Shakespeare’s late plays, and his writings helped to bring added attention to them. This, from his The Crown of Life: ‘But … Continue reading
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Tagged Act Two, Apollo, Christian, drama, entertainment, G. Wilson Knight, Hermione, jealousy, King Lear, language, Leontes, literature, Macbeth, Mamillius, pagan, Polixenes, Shakespeare, The Winter's Tale, William Shakespeare, writing
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“Hang there like fruit, my soul/Till the tree die.”
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
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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
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“Imogen is one of the great women of Shakespeare or the world.”
Cymbeline Act One, Part Two By Dennis Abrams ——————————– From Harold Bloom first, whose dislike for the play I find rather bewildering: “Cymbeline begins with a conversation at court between two unnamed gentlemen, one a stranger, thus allowing Shakespeare to … Continue reading
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Tagged act one, Cloten, Comedy, Cymbeline, drama, Hamlet, history, history play, Imogen, James I, King Lear, language, late play, literature, Macbeth, Posthumus, Posthumus Leonatus, Shakespeare, tragedy, tragicomedy, Wicked Stepmother, William Shakespeare, writing
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He holds her by the hand, silent.
Coriolanus Act Five, Part One By Dennis Abrams ———————————————————– Act Five: Meanwhile, Rome is desperate to win back its savior, so first Cominius, then Menenius, are sent out to persuade Coriolanus to return. Both fail, but Virgilia, Volumnia, Valeria and … Continue reading
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Tagged Act Five, Aufidius, Caius Martius, Caius Martius Coriolanus, Coriolanus, drama, Elizabethan theater, Elizabethan tragedy, Hamlet, King Lear, Macbeth, mother, name, names, nature, politics, Roman Republic, Rome, Shakespeare, titus andronicus, tragedy, Volumnia, William Shakespeare, writing, Young Martius
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“…from face to foot/He was a thing of blood, whose every motion/Was timed with dying cries.”
Coriolanus Act Two, Part One By Dennis Abrams Act Two: At the Senate, the tribunes are thoroughly dissecting Martius’s many personal flaws, when Virgilia announces his triumphant return from war. Coriolanus enters the city to an enormous hero’s welcome, horrifying … Continue reading
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Tagged Act Two, blood, Coriolanus, Elizabethan theater, Lady Macbeth, language, literature, Macbeth, Mitt Romney, mother, Plutarch, politics, Roman Republic, Rome, Shakespeare, sword, titus andronicus, tragedy, voice, Volumnia, William Shakespeare, wounds, writing
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“Come, I am for no more bawdy houses. Shall’s go hear the vestals sing?”
Pericles Act Four, Part One By Dennis Abrams Scenes 15-19 (Act Four): Gower tells the story of Marina’s passage from girlhood to a beautiful young woman, and how Dionyza grew jealous of her charge, arranging to have the girl murdered … Continue reading
The Play's The Thing 