Hell is empty and all the devils are here. Here we are, on the final shore. (Almost) literally and figuratively. The Tempest is the last play Shakespeare wrote; he finished it around 1611, five years before his death. After Tempest, he contributed to two, possibly three, plays by John Fletcher, who was becoming the resident … More Shakespeare Saturday: The Tempest
Pardon’s the word to all. Cymbeline is a play full of fantastical (or fantastically convoluted) plot twists, creative character names and sort of knowing winks to his earlier plays. There’s a cross-dressing woman! Mistaken identities! Evil Queens! And a title that is ever so slightly inaccurate – in fact, so much so that when staging … More Shakespeare Saturday: Cymbeline
Though I am not naturally honest, I am sometimes so by chance. The Winter’s Tale is another work hovering somewhere between “late pastoral romance”, comedy and a problem play, having a somewhat problematic structure – the first three acts are a dark, somber tragedy, a portrayal of the madness of King Leontes that results in … More Shakespeare Saturday: The winter’s tale
The web of our life is of a mingled yarn, good and ill together All’s well that ends well is another problem play, though it’s more comedic than Measure for Measure or Troilus and Cressida – a traditional comedy in appearances, but with a resolution that will leave something of an aftertaste. Like in many … More Shakespeare Saturday: All’s well that ends well
Some rise by sin, and some by virtue fall Measure for Measure is another problem play – a dark comedy that leaves something of a bitter taste in one’s mouth. It’s a morality play, a study on human nature, and perhaps also a satire on the corrupting effect of power and the hypocrisies of the … More Shakespeare Saturday: Measure for Measure
Journeys end in lovers meeting Twelfth Night is – would you believe it? – Shakespeare’s last true comedy. The later comedic plays tend to be described as “problem plays” – although they traditionall are grouped with the comedies, they tend to have elements that make them hard to classify as purely such. Twelfth Nihgt has … More Shakespeare Saturday: Twelfth Night
The fool doth think he is wise, but the wise man knows himself to be a fool. As You Like It is often considered one of Shakespeare’s best comedies – if not the best. It is certainly important enough to have given name to the series of scholarly editions of his plays, The Arden Shakespeare … More Shakespeare Saturday: As you like it
I had rather hear my dog bark at a crow, than a man swear he loves me. Confession: for the first time ever, I forgot that I’m supposed to be doing a post today. Hence today’s post has been put together with the Oxford Shakespeare, the Amazon rental of the Joss Whedon adaptation and my … More Shakespeare Saturday: Much ado about nothing
I will find you twenty lascivious turtles ere one chaste man Sandwiched between the two parts of Henry IV is a fairly pointless comedy featuring Sir John Falstaff, in a different but nonetheless recognisable guise of lecherous old knight fancying himself a bit of ladies’ man. Falstaff has arrived in Windsor, where he’s making himself … More Shakespeare Saturday: The merry wives of Windsor
You speak an infinite deal of nothing. The Merchant is another oddity of a play. Like many Shakespeare plays, it has two parallel storylines – that of Portia and her marriage woes, and that of Shylock the Jew. One is a romantic comedy. The other is… an uneasy tragedy of horrifying proportions. The romantic comedy … More Shakespeare Saturday: The Merchant of Venice
Shakespeare for absolute beginners 