Posted on 04/23/2016 8:31:19 AM PDT by PJ-Comix
Exactly 400 years ago on this day, William Shakespeare passed this mortal coil. His effect on the English language was YUUUUUGE. Therefore I am asking for general observations on The Bard.
p.s. PLEASE DON'T post conspiracy theories about how the true author of the Shakespeare plays was really somebody else. That stuff is old AND annoying. It was SHAKESPEARE who wrote it.
Henry VI:
“The first thing we do, let’s kill all the lawyers”
KING. What’s he that wishes so?
My cousin Westmoreland? No, my fair cousin;
If we are mark’d to die, we are enow
To do our country loss; and if to live,
The fewer men, the greater share of honour.
God’s will! I pray thee, wish not one man more.
By Jove, I am not covetous for gold,
Nor care I who doth feed upon my cost;
It yearns me not if men my garments wear;
Such outward things dwell not in my desires.
But if it be a sin to covet honour,
I am the most offending soul alive.
No, faith, my coz, wish not a man from England.
God’s peace! I would not lose so great an honour
As one man more methinks would share from me
For the best hope I have. O, do not wish one more!
Rather proclaim it, Westmoreland, through my host,
That he which hath no stomach to this fight,
Let him depart; his passport shall be made,
And crowns for convoy put into his purse;
We would not die in that man’s company
That fears his fellowship to die with us.
This day is call’d the feast of Crispian.
He that outlives this day, and comes safe home,
Will stand a tip-toe when this day is nam’d,
And rouse him at the name of Crispian.
He that shall live this day, and see old age,
Will yearly on the vigil feast his neighbours,
And say ‘To-morrow is Saint Crispian.’
Then will he strip his sleeve and show his scars,
And say ‘These wounds I had on Crispian’s day.’
Old men forget; yet all shall be forgot,
But he’ll remember, with advantages,
What feats he did that day. Then shall our names,
Familiar in his mouth as household words-
Harry the King, Bedford and Exeter,
Warwick and Talbot, Salisbury and Gloucester-
Be in their flowing cups freshly rememb’red.
This story shall the good man teach his son;
And Crispin Crispian shall ne’er go by,
From this day to the ending of the world,
But we in it shall be remembered-
We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;
For he to-day that sheds his blood with me
Shall be my brother; be he ne’er so vile,
This day shall gentle his condition;
And gentlemen in England now-a-bed
Shall think themselves accurs’d they were not here,
And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks
That fought with us upon Saint Crispin’s day.
Henry V
I don’t know why scenes from “The Dresser” popped into my mind when I saw this thread-—I haven’t seen the movie in about 30 years-—but any Shakespeare fan who hasn’t seen it, should. There’s some really funny stuff in that otherwise sad movie.
One scene was when Tom Courtenay found Albert Finney all made up in blackface for Othello, when that evening’s performance was supposed to be King Lear. In another, a young female actress believes that Finney is in love with her because he picked her up and whirled around the room with her in his arms. But he was actually only looking for a Cordelia that weighed less than his wife. :D
The first thing we have to do is to kill all of the lawyers.
High school kids hate Shakespeare (in general) because they’re told they are supposed to hate it
Also because Shakespeare is not supposed to be read. It is acted out
When kids get up on their feet... Everyone has a role, Dover classic in hand reading lines. Makes a difference
And then reading lambs summary first, so they know what the story is about
You get a bunch of seventh grade boys hurling insults as the montagues and capulets with cardboard weapons - they’ll watch the movie
Should a lawyer happen to pass,
I will feign to kick his ass.
Pity it tho, he has more gold,
than found within me that so bold.
“out, out, damned spot”.
Apparently Shakespeare was a dog owner.
CC
The entire speech really is better
Right after the bible, Hamlet is the greatest piece of writing in the English language
Brush up your Shakespeare, start quoting him now!
Brush up your Shakespeare, and the women you will wow!
If they say your behavior is heinous,
Kick them right in their Coriolanus!
“Brush up you Sakespeare” from “Kiss me Kate”.
CC
I’m glad I read through the whole thread, because that was the quote I was going to post. I find it surprising that it took 60 posts before that quote was cited.
When I was in the fifth grade, the principal of my school was a Mr. Hugh Broadberry, a tall, graying Brit with an elegant bearing and a distinguished mustache. Mr. Broadberry was a great fan of Shakespeare, and that April the entire school celebrated the 400th anniversary of the birth of Shakespeare.
Mr. Broadberry would often perform segments of Shakespeare’s plays in the classroom, reciting every part from memory.
(googling & learning as I go)
Christopher Marlowe (d. 1593) wrote in Modern English. The Great Vowel Shift which transformed spoken English into what we know today was complete by 1550.
Maybe it was that the standardization of Modern English was firmly & inalterably established mainly by the dissemination of the KJV and the works of Shakespeare & other poets, aided by the rapid improvements of the printing process at the time.
Sorry don’t care for WS - the following being the one exception
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bvFHRNGYfuo
Shakespeare smuggled sexuality into his work in devious ways.
In Romeo and Juliet, Romeo expounds on the appearance of the folds in one of Juliet’s ears in such a manner that would have required him to not only be extremely close to her, but lying on top of her.
I love Shakespeare and have ever since I had the good fortune to have a teacher in high school, Mrs. Marshall, who made Shakespeare come alive for all her class. I’ll bet those of us still around can quote some lines of Shakespeare even after all these years.
The St. Crispin’s Day speech is my favorite as I feel it encompasses the best qualities of manhood....honor, sacrifice, faith, etc.
Hamlet holds forth.
There's another. Could that be a lawyers skull? Where's all his razzle dazzle legal jargon now? Why does he allow this idiot to knock him in the head. Instead of suing him for assault and battery.
Act 5 scene 1 page 5
Shakespeare muses on what all human beings are finally reduced to. Their power and influence no more.
“House of Cards” = “Richard III”
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