Shakespeare for Presidents (Previous Presidents Loved Shakespeare)

New York Times ^ | April 26, 2009 | BARRY EDELSTEIN

[nickcarraway]

President Obama’s conscious emulation of Lincoln is a matter of record, whether it is in announcing his candidacy in Lincoln’s hometown or taking the oath of office on Lincoln’s Bible.

Given Mr. Obama’s particular fondness for Lincolnesque oratory, it’s surprising that he hasn’t adopted one of Lincoln’s favorite habits: quoting Shakespeare.

Lincoln was a lifelong Bardolater and serial Shakespeare-quoter, as Mr. Obama noted in remarks at the recent reopening of Ford’s Theater. Lincoln regarded Shakespeare, whose 445th birthday was last week, as many things: an oracle to be consulted for wisdom; a pastor with whom to share confidences and from whom to seek comfort, a friend. He kept a “Complete Works” close at hand in the White House.

Sitting for one official portrait, for instance, Lincoln fought the tedium with a spontaneous performance of the opening soliloquy from “Richard III,” along with running commentary on how most actors he’d seen play the role had botched it.

He knew much of “Hamlet” by heart, and shared with one correspondent his still unorthodox view that the best speech by the villain Claudius, “the soliloquy commencing, ‘O, my offense is rank’ surpasses that commencing ‘To be or not to be.’ ” It was “Macbeth,” though, that seemed to haunt Lincoln. He quoted from it countless times, and the “Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow” soliloquy gripped his imagination with unusual power.

SNIP

Lincoln wasn’t the only president fascinated by “Macbeth,” although few were as compelled by its bleakness. Ronald Reagan recited the entire “Tomorrow and tomorrow” speech from memory at a school event in Tennessee. He construed the lines as a caution against the morbid mindset Lincoln found in them, telling his young audience, “I hope that none of you ever get that pessimistic or that cynical about life."

[ConservativeDude]

Obama’s favorite author is probably that murderer that got executed a few years back. I forget his name, but he was a real cause celeb. I think he was nominated on numerous occasions for the Novel Peace Prize. He had some sort of cutesey name...was it Tookey or something like that?

Anyways...that is Obama’s favorite author, I’m pretty sure.

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks nick. Obama is Othello — but who plays Iago (a much juicier character in that play, one of my favorites of the entire Shakespeare corpus) who has the hand up the sock puppet’s ass, maneuvering him into personal destruction, that’s tough to tell. Probably a group effort.

[SunkenCiv]

This?

http://www.apple.com/webapps/entertainment/turnyouriphoneintoanebookreader.html

[Peelod]

http://readdle.com/products/shakespeare

A cooperative project between Readdle and PlayShakespeare.com, the Shakespeare application puts the complete works of William Shakespeare literally at your fingertips.
The PlayShakespeare.com editions were created by Shakespeare scholars who examined the best sources for each text in order to provide the highest quality versions possible. More information on the source texts used here.
Shakespeare includes:
All’s Well That Ends Well
Antony & Cleopatra
As You Like It
Comedy of Errors
Coriolanus
Cymbeline
Edward III
Hamlet
Henry IV, Part 1
Henry IV, Part 2
Henry V
Henry VI, Part 1
Henry VI, Part 2
Henry VI, Part 3
Henry VIII
Julius Caesar
King John
King Lear
Love’s Labours Lost
Macbeth
Measure for Measure
Merchant of Venice
Merry Wives of Windsor
A Midsummer Night’s Dream
Much Ado About Nothing
Othello
Pericles
King Richard II
King Richard III
Romeo & Juliet
Sir Thomas More
Sonnets
Poems
Taming of the Shrew
The Tempest
The Winter’s Tale
Timon of Athens
Titus Andronicus
Troilus & Cressida
Twelfth Night
Two Gentlemen of Verona
Two Noble Kinsmen

[onedoug]

“Odds Bodkin, man....”