English and Theatre majors, star struck lovers, and fans of Kenneth Branagh all around the world celebrate today, April 23, as the day that William Shakespeare was born in 1564 (and coincidentally also the day he died, fifty-two years later).<\/p>\n
One of the great joys of my academic life has been the opportunity to teach Shakespeare\u2019s plays, to roam around London and Stratford-Upon-Avon, and, many years ago, to design a replica of his famous Globe Playhouse for an outdoor Shakespeare Festival in Michigan.<\/p>\n
I\u2019m a fan.<\/p>\n
Interestingly, some of Shakespeare\u2019s greatest works, including King Lear, Macbeth, <\/em>and Antony and Cleopatra<\/em> may have been written when the theatres of London were closed because of the plague, and everyone was required to do the 16th<\/sup>century version of \u201csocial distancing.\u201d<\/p>\n The problem pops up repeatedly in his poems, tragedies, and comedies, like in \u201cVenus and Adonis\u201d (written during the London plague of 1593) when the Roman goddess of love, smitten by the young hunter Adonis, begs him for a kiss, \u201cto drive infection from the dangerous year,\u201d because, \u201cthe plague is banish\u2019d by thy breath.\u201d<\/p>\n The plagues of Shakespeare\u2019s time eventually ended, and life returned to some kind of normal (something we have all been experiencing ourselves for the last few years, post-COVID).<\/p>\n This morning, while thinking of my favorite Bard of Avon over a cup of coffee, I dug into the archives to find a couple short pieces I wrote celebrating Shakespeare in my \u201cweeklies\u201d a few years back.\u00a0\u00a0Hope you enjoy them.<\/p>\n Happy Birthday, Will!<\/p>\n From April 6, 2013<\/strong><\/p>\n Shakespeare is said to have written (or not to have written, depending on who you ask) thirty-seven plays, 154 sonnets, a couple of lengthy narrative poems, and a handful of epitaphs. <\/p>\n He was a great inventor of words and phrases, and whether you know it or not, you probably quote from the famous \u201cBard of Avon\u201d almost every day. <\/p>\n Imagine, for example, that you suddenly found out you have several relatives coming to visit you from far away. You haven\u2019t seen them in a while, and they plan to spend a long weekend with you. You enjoy some of them, and others you would prefer\u2014well, that they just stay home. But they are on their way and will be at your place in a few hours. <\/p>\n You are frantically trying to get ready when a neighbor comes over to borrow a cup of mead (or maybe a brace of grouse).<\/p>\n Neighbor:<\/strong> Well, you sure are \u201ca sorry sight.\u201d (Macbeth<\/em>) What\u2019s wrong?<\/p>\n You:<\/strong> I\u2019m \u201cin a pickle.\u201d (The Tempest<\/em>) My screwball family is arriving in a few hours, so I have to get everything ready \u201cin the twinkling of an eye.\u201d (The Merchant of Venice<\/em>)<\/p>\n Neighbor:<\/strong> I thought you liked<\/em> your family? That Uncle Horace of yours is hilarious! He always leaves me \u201cin stitches.\u201d (Twelfth Night<\/em>)<\/p>\n You:<\/strong> Yes, his jokes are pretty funny\u2014the first twenty times. But after that, it\u2019s \u201ctoo much of a good thing.\u201d (As You Like It<\/em>) And I swear, if he does his imitations of all forty-four U.S. presidents one more time, I\u2019m going to \u201csend him packing.\u201d (Henry IV<\/em>) I mean, Nixon and Carter are knee-slappers, but Millard Fillmore? Really.<\/p>\n Neighbor:<\/strong> Well, what about your Aunt Matilda? She\u2019s always so sweet\u2014and helpful.<\/p>\n You:<\/strong> She really \u201csets my teeth on edge.\u201d (Henry IV<\/em>) And the last time she was here, she nearly \u201cate me out of house and home!\u201d (Henry IV, Part 2<\/em>)<\/p>\n Neighbor:<\/strong> Well, what are you going to do? And why are you cutting a hole in your living room floor?<\/p>\n You:<\/strong> There\u2019s a \u201cmethod in my madness.\u201d (Hamlet<\/em>) I\u2019m not going to be made \u201ca laughing stock\u201d (The Merry Wives of Windsor<\/em>) by this crazy crew. I slipped some spirits into the tea pot. Just a few sips, and they will all be sound asleep. I\u2019ll simply lift up the rug, and \u201cvanish into thin air.\u201d (Othello<\/em>)<\/p>\n Neighbor:<\/strong> Wow\u2014sounds complicated. Why not just pretend to take a phone call and scoot out the back door?<\/p>\n You:<\/strong> Where\u2019s the drama in that? Now, quick, hide this saw\u2014and \u201cmum\u2019s the word!\u201d (Henry VI, Part 2<\/em>)<\/p>\n Exeunt Frazzled Host and Nosy Neighbor, Severally<\/em><\/p>\n From March 1, 2014<\/strong><\/p>\n When she is not sure what to say, or when the English language simply proves inadequate for her needs, Little Sis Z has been known to just make up words.<\/p>\n At dinner a few nights ago we were talking about some of her classics. For example, when she was only a few years old one of her grandfathers was telling her some tall tale about life on the farm that she thought may have been stretching the truth a bit, so she looked him right in the eye and declared, \u201cGrampa, that\u2019s underbelievable!<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n And at bedtime, after a kiss on the forehead and a \u201cGood Night, Z, I love you,\u201d she can get a little competitive with her affection, proclaiming, \u201cGood night, I love you morestest!<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n DAD:<\/strong> You know, Z, you\u2019re a bit like William Shakespeare. He changed around and made up a lot of words, too.<\/p>\n LITTLE SIS Z:<\/strong> Dad, how come people think William Shakespeare is so hard to understand? Did he write in another language?<\/p>\n DAD: <\/strong>Well, sometimes he wrote things to be funny, like the longest word in any of his plays: Honorificabilitudinitatibus. <\/em>That\u2019s a mouthful! He wrote in English; but he did write plays like poetry, with meter and sometimes even rhyme, and he invented words when he needed to.<\/p>\n LITTLE SIS Z: <\/strong>Well, I don\u2019t think he\u2019s so hard to understand. Try me!<\/p>\n DAD: <\/strong>OK, what do you think this means:<\/p>\n To be, or not to be, that is the question\u2014<\/em><\/em><\/p>\n Whether \u2019tis Nobler in the mind to suffer<\/em><\/em><\/p>\n The Slings and Arrows of outrageous Fortune,<\/em><\/em><\/p>\n Or to take Arms against a Sea of troubles,<\/em><\/em><\/p>\n And by opposing end them?<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n LITTLE SIS Z: <\/strong>Life has its ups and downs.<\/p>\n DAD: <\/strong>Wow, that\u2019s pretty good! I think Hamlet would agree with you. Try this one:<\/p>\n Out, out, brief candle! <\/em><\/em><\/p>\n Life\u2019s but a walking shadow, a poor player<\/em><\/em><\/p>\n That struts and frets his hour upon the stage <\/em><\/em><\/p>\n And is heard no more. It is a tale told<\/em><\/em><\/p>\n By an idiot, full of sound and fury, <\/em><\/em><\/p>\n Signifying nothing.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n LITTLE SIS Z: <\/strong>YOLO! (You only live once.)<\/p>\n DAD: <\/strong>Hmmm. A little more Carpe Diem<\/em> than Macbeth might have been feeling in that particular moment, but you\u2019ve got a point there. Here\u2019s a speech from Portia, one of Shakespeare\u2019s most famous heroines:<\/p>\n The quality of mercy is not strained.<\/em><\/em><\/p>\n It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven<\/em><\/em><\/p>\n Upon the place beneath. It is twice blessed:<\/em><\/em><\/p>\n It blesseth him that gives and him that takes.<\/em><\/em><\/p>\n \u2018Tis mightiest in the mightiest. It becomes<\/em><\/em><\/p>\n The thron\u00e8d monarch better than his crown.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n LITTLE SIS Z:<\/strong> Um\u2026The Golden Rule? Do for others what you would have them do for you?<\/p>\n DAD: <\/strong>You, daughter, are wise beyond your years. Ok, one more, from the love-struck Juliet:<\/p>\n What\u2019s in a name? That which we call a rose<\/em><\/em><\/p>\n By any other name would smell as sweet.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n LITTLE SIS Z:<\/strong> That\u2019s easy: Be yourself!<\/p>\n DAD: <\/strong>Good advice, Z; very, very good advice.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"template":"","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"class_list":["post-22346","running-the-campus","type-running-the-campus","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nAll\u2019s Well That Ends Well<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Words, words, words\u2026<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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