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Cobbe Portrait of William Shakespeare
Tag Archives: Richard II
“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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“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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‘”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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“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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“…nor have I time/To give thee hallowed to thy grave, but straight/Must cast thee, scarcely coffined, in the ooze…”
Pericles Act Three, Part One By Dennis Abrams —————————————————– Scenes 10-14: Pericles and his pregnant wife Thaisa set sail for Tyre, but during a terrible storm (or tempest if you will), Thaisa appears to die in childbirth and the superstitious … Continue reading
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Tagged Act Three, drama, Elizabethan theater, ephesus, Herman Melville, King Lear, language, late plays, literature, Marina, Pericles, Prince of Tyre, Richard II, romance, Shakespeare, Thaisa, Tyre, William Shakespeare, writing
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“Master, I marvel how the fishes live in the sea./Why, as men do a-land: the great ones eat up the little ones.”
Pericles Act Two By Dennis Abrams ————————————————- Scenes 5-9: As news arrives regarding Trailart’s plot, Pericles once again leaves, but is shipwrecked in a storm. He is washed up on the shore near Pentapolis, where he is looked after by … Continue reading
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Tagged Act Two, drama, entertainment, Gloucester, Hamlet, intelligence, King Lear, language, late plays, literature, Macbeth, Pericles, Prince of Tyre, Richard II, romance, Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare, tempest, The Merchant of Venice, Twelfth Night, Tyre, William Shakespeare, writing
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“See what breeds about her heart./Is there any cause in nature that makes these hard hearts?”
King Lear Act Three, Part Two By Dennis Abrams ————————————– From Tony Tanner: “But of course foldings and pleatings and wrappings directly evoke clothing, and not for nothing are Goneril and Regan ‘gourgeously’ arrayed. There is much changing of clothes … Continue reading
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Tagged Act Three, Albany, Cornwall, drama, Edgar, Edmund, Elizabethan theater, Goneril, heath, Kent, King Lear, language, Lear, literature, Othello, politics, Regan, Richard II, Shakespeare, the Fool, William Shakespeare, writing
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“Blow, winds, and crack your cheeks!”
King Lear Act Three, Part One By Dennis Abrams ——————————————– Act Three: Lear appears with the Fool, raging against the storm and his daughters’ cruelty. Kent arrives and tries to persuade them to shelter in a nearby hovel, where the … Continue reading
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Tagged Act Three, and crack your cheeks, blow wind, blow winds, drama, Edgar, elemental forces, Elizabethan tragedy, Hamlet, heath, history, Kent, King Lear, language, Lear, literature, memorable images, politics, Richard II, Shakespeare, storm, storm scene, the Fool, thunder strike, tragedy, William Shakespeare, writing
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“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
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“It will have blood, they say; blood will have blood.”
Macbeth Act Three, Part Two By Dennis Abrams ——————————- I can’t tell you how much I’m enjoying this reading of Macbeth: Bloom is right, in its directness and speed, with not a single unnecessary line, it’s a remarkable experience. One … Continue reading
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Tagged Act Three, Banquo, dagger, drama, Elizabethan theater, Elizabethan tragedy, equivocation, Fleance, history, Lady Macbeth, language, literature, Macbeth, murder, politics, renaissance humanism, Richard II, Shakespeare, Shakespeare's Language, the Porter, tragedy, William Shakespeare, writing
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The Play's The Thing 