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Cobbe Portrait of William Shakespeare
Tag Archives: romance
“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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“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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“On the desert island the history of the world has been performed. The performance is over; history begins once more.”
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
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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
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“But this rough magic/I here abjure.”
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
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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
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“Here we meet the truly extraordinary thing: we are now considering as possible something directly contradicted by our own experience.”
The Tempest Act Three, Part Two By Dennis Abrams ————————— From A.D. Nuttall: “Meanwhile the civilizing agents in the drama are a morally dubious lot. Stefano and Trinculo are vulgar as Caliban himself could never be, and even Prospero is … Continue reading
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Tagged Act Three, Ariel, Caliban, Comedy, drama, entertainment, island, Julie Taymor, language, literature, Miranda, Prospera, Prospero, romance, Shakespeare, The Tempest, William Shakespeare, writing
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“The isle is full of noises,/Sounds, and sweet airs, that give delight and hurt not.”
The Tempest Act Three, Part One By Dennis Abrams ——————————- Act Three: Prospero has enslaved Ferdinand and made him carry logs, but the young man does so willingly in order to serve his beloved, Miranda. Secretly watched by Prospero, the … Continue reading
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Tagged A Wrinkle in Time, Act Three, Ariel, Caliban, Christopher Marlowe, cloven pine, Comedy, Dr. John Dee, drama, Ezra Pound, Ferdinand, Giordano Bruno, Gonzalo, island, language, literature, Milan, Miranda, Montaigne, Northrop Frye, prison, Prospero, Prospero's island, romance, Shakespeare, slave, storm, The Tempest, William Shakespeare, writing
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“But what the world is cannot be said in a sentence. Or even in a poem as complete and beautiful as ‘The Tempest.’”
The Tempest An Introduction By Dennis Abrams ——————————– The Tempest is one of Shakespeare’s most cherished works. Yet, at the same, it can seem his most abstruse, and even at time unfathomable. It recounts the story of an exiled Italian … Continue reading
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Tagged Ariel, coloniialism, Comedy, drama, entertainment, Introduction, language, late plays, late romance, literature, magic, Montaigne, On Cannibals, Prospero, romance, Shakespeare, The Tempest, William Shakespeare, writing
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“It is a scene which if taken prosaically is open to a flood of objections, but if taken poetically is near perfection.”
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
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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
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“Music awake her; strike./‘Tis time, descend, be stone more. Approach./Strike all that look upon with marvel.”
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
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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
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“Daffodils,/That come before the swallow dares, and take/The winds of March with beauty…
The Winter’s Tale Act Four, Part One By Dennis Abrams ————————– Act Four: The action is restarted sixteen years later by the figure of time – Perdita has grown up in Bohemia as the daughter of the Shepherd. More recently, … Continue reading
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Tagged Act Four, Autolycus, Bohemia, clown, Comedy, dance, drama, Elizabethan theater, entertainment, Florizel, Hermione, joy, King Leontes, language, literature, nature, pastoral, Perdita, Polixenes, Prince Florizel, romance, Shakespeare, sheep-shearing, Shepherd, The Winter's Tale, The Winter’s Tale Act Four, William Shakespeare
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The Play's The Thing 