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Cobbe Portrait of William Shakespeare
Tag Archives: tragedy
“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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“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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“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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“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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“We are such stuff/As dreams are made on, and our little life/Is rounded with a sleep.”
The Tempest Act Four, Part One By Dennis Abrams —————- Act Four: Prospero admits that the tasks he assigned Ferdinand were to test his love for Miranda, and he now gives them his blessing to marry with a masque performed … Continue reading
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Tagged A Midsummer Night's Dream, Act Four, Ariel, Caliban, Comedy, drama, entertainment, Ferdinand, Ferdinand Miranda, island, language, law and order, literature, masque, nature, property, Prospero, Shakespeare, slave, such stuff as dreams are made made on, The Tempest, The Winter's Tale, tragedy, wedding, William Shakespeare, writing
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“A most ridiculous monster, to make a wonder of a poor drunkard”
The Tempest Act Two, Part One By Dennis Abrams ———————– Act Two: Alonso and his companions are searching for Ferdinand. Ariel, who remains invisible, send everyone to sleep except Antonio and Sebastian, Alonso’s brother. These two then plot to murder … Continue reading
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Tagged A Midsummer Night's Dream, Act Two, Ariel, Caliban, cave, Comedy, Cymbeline, drama, entertainment, island, language, literature, Miranda, New World, Prospero, Scyorax, Shakespeare, slave, The Magic Flute, The Tempest, The Winter's Tale, tragedy, William Shakespeare, writing
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“The larger, unspoken question is – what do we do about, how do we cope with, our inescapable sexuality?”
The Winter’s Tale Act One, Part Two By Dennis Abrams ————————- From Bloom: “Ideologues do not cluster around The Winter’s Tale, as they do around The Tempest, so neither performance nor commentary is much politicized, even in these bad days. … Continue reading
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Tagged act one, Comedy, drama, entertainment, Hermione, Iago, jealousy, language, Leontes, literature, original sin, Othello, Polixenes, sexuality, Shakespeare, The Winter's Tale, tragedy, William Shakespeare, writing
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“What we changed /Was innocence for innocence. We knew not/The doctrine of ill-doing, nor dreamed/That any did.”
The Winter’s Tale Act One, Part One By Dennis Abrams ————————————- MAJOR CHARACTERS Leontes, King of Sicily Hermione, Leonte’s wife Mamillius, their son Perdita, their daughter Camillo, Antigonus, Cleomenes and Dion, lord at Leonte’s court. Paulina, Antigonus’s wife Emilia, Hermione’s … Continue reading
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Tagged act one, Bohemia, drama, entertainment, Hamnet Shakespeare, Hermione, innocence, jealousy, King Leontes, King Polixenes, language, Leontes, literature, Othello, Pandosto, Polixenes, Queen Hermione, Robert Greene, Shakespeare, The Winter's Tale, tragedy, William Shakespeare, writing
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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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The Play's The Thing 