Perdita.
J. Hayter, from The heroines of Shakespeare, by Charles Heath, Boston, 1850.
(Source: archive.org)
An amateur illustrator takes on the Bard
Ask me anything
April 10, 2013
March 29, 2013
Beautiful rendering of Shakespeare excerpts by calligrapher Patricia Lovett
Visit the artist’s website here.
March 29, 2013
Théodore Chassériau, Desdemona Retiring to her Bed, 1849
March 27, 2013
March 22, 2013
![While Shakespeare has been regularly enlisted to fight for his home country, he’s often used by Britain’s enemies as well. Here’s a quick look at Shakespearean propaganda during World War 2, both pro- and anti-British.
[[MORE]]
In Britain:
Henry V, the story of a patriotic English hero achieving victory in battle despite insurmountable odds, is a consistent favorite to pluck up some British spirits during wartime. Laurence Olivier’s film version of Henry V is probably the most famous example of wartime Shakespeare. It’s a great movie and a masterpiece of propaganda—any line that hints at King Henry’s less heroic, more ruthless tendencies has been edited or omitted, leaving his character the most saintly, righteous, Englishest Englishman who ever Englished. Olivier pulled out all the stops to make the film, including some of the first really nice technicolor cameras, which was no small feat considering how strapped Britain was for resources. Legend has it that it was Winston Churchill who asked Olivier to make the film. Churchill himself was a huge fan of Henry V and borrowed a lot of rhetoric from the play in his famously stirring speeches.
In the U.S:
Othello on Broadway, starring Paul Robeson in the title role, was a record-breaking success. Now mostly the play was about race; it was the first time a black actor had starred as Othello in an American production. But the wartime context was not lost on the audience or the actors either. A note on the performance’s program likened Othello’s military service to the war and stressed the interracial fight against fascism, and Robeson brought it up in his commentary. Robeson was an amazing political activist, by the way, fighting against fascism on all fronts. And also he was a singer. And an all-star athlete. And had a law degree. And was valedictorian of his university. Oh and did I mention he was really really ridiculously good looking. Here, I have proof:
In Germany: Seeing as a main tenet of the Third Reich’s mission was maintaining purity of a superior German culture, the number of Shakespeare performances, and of acceptable plays, decreased throughout the war. But the anti-Semitism of The Merchant of Venice, with its particularly nasty Jewish villain Shylock,was hard for the Nazi propaganda machine to pass up. It was performed more than 80 times in 1933, the year Hitler came to power, and a radio version was aired after Kristallnacht in 1938. One of the most notorious Nazi-era productions was staged in Vienna in 1942 and starred Werner Kraus as Shylock. I hope you like pixelated photos, because this is the best one I could find, and I’m not even 100% sure it’s of Kraus but here you go:
Adjustments to the texts were subject to official regulations. For example, the marriage of Jessica (who’s Jewish by blood) to Lorenzo (a Christian) was a violation of Third Reich Law and had to be edited; all references to Jewish family love were omitted as well. Here’s a twist, though: The Merchant of Venice gradually dropped in popularity as the Third Reich’s rule progressed. The play that remained in Nazi favor till the bitter end was—wait for iiiiiit—Macbeth.](http://25.media.tumblr.com/2074fcc39ee02981625f0603c9d2ae73/tumblr_mk1sh2l08G1rex0bko1_500.jpg)
While Shakespeare has been regularly enlisted to fight for his home country, he’s often used by Britain’s enemies as well. Here’s a quick look at Shakespearean propaganda during World War 2, both pro- and anti-British.
March 19, 2013
Théodore Chassériau, Ghost of Banquo, 1854
March 18, 2013
The Simpsons do Hamlet
March 15, 2013
happy Ides of March all y’all plebeians
March 15, 2013
March 12, 2013
![Anyone who speaks English quotes Shakespeare, oftentimes without knowing it. Sometimes, though, it doesn’t mean what a lot of people think it means. Here’s another small compilation of quoted and sometimes misquoted Shakespeare:
Part One is here.
[[MORE]]
You may say: ”The game is up.” And you mean: No more tricks. And you are: right.
This is from Cymbeline, when Belarius decides to reveal the true identity of his adopted sons, because up until this point he’s been lying to everyone. People say this when they have been lying and want to confess, or when they want to call someone else out on a lie (or some kind of deceptive behavior). Not to be confused with “The game’s afoot,” which is from Henry V and means:
You may say: (“Thingamajig, thingamajig), wherefore art thou, (thingamajig)?” And you mean: Where is (thingamajig)? And you are: wrong.
As you probably know, this is from Romeo and Juliet—and as you also probably know, the real line is “wherefore art thou Romeo?” but people usually customize this when they quote it, and insert the name of something or someone they can’t find. Which is technically incorrect because wherefore doesn’t actually mean “where”, it means “why.” In this bit Juliet is not wondering where her Romeo is (surprise! he is creeping in the bushes while she’s saying this). She’s wondering why he is Romeo, rather than some more convenient lover who’s not, y’know, her family’s mortal enemy. This is the quotation that some people will really jump down your throats about if you screw it up, and get really indignant if someone jokingly quotes this. Guys. Don’t be those people. I was really close to being scared off from Shakespeare because of those people.
You may say: ”Star-crossed lovers” And you mean: a couple destined to be together And you are: wrong.
Also from Romeo and Juliet. “Star-crossed” does refer to destiny, but not a good destiny. Fate was thought to be written in the stars, so if your stars are crossed, you’re in for a bad time. Star-crossed lovers may be fated to get together—but then they’re gonna die. Or at least be tragically separated or something.
You may say: ”The first thing we do, let’s kill all the lawyers.” And you mean: The first thing we do, let’s kill all the lawyers. And you are: ….(um)…..
(Siiiiiiiigh) I don’t know, man. I don’t think quotations have to be 100% in context all the time, and I’ve mostly heard this as a frustrated or ironic attack on lawyers being useless or deceitful. Like, “let’s kill all the lawyers, then the world will be a better place.” Which I personally think is a fine way to use this. But keep in mind the context: in 2 Henry VI, this is said by a bad guy. Lawyers are the first line of defense against disorder; eliminating lawyers is step one of his diabolical plan that will lead to chaos and destruction, mwahahahaha.
You may say: ”Screw your courage to the sticking-place” And you mean: Be strong. And you are: right.
This is said by Lady Macbeth as she’s egging her husband on to commit murder. There’s a little debate as to what “sticking place” refers to; some people think it means a peg, others think it’s a part of a crossbow. Whatever the literal meaning of the line, the metaphorical meaning is generally agreed to be this:
Go. Confront the problem. Fight. Win! And call me when you get back, dahling, I enjoy our visits.
You may say: ”a piece of work” And you mean: a pain in the ass. And you are: R…ight…? Right.
This is an example of a quotation’s meaning doing a complete 180 over time—it’s so wrong it’s become right. I honestly have no idea how the meaning changed so much. See, originally, Hamlet says “What a piece of work is a man!” to mean “Wow, people sure are amazing!” But I have never ever heard anyone use this quotation to mean what Hamlet meant. So maybe stick with the more modern meaning of “pain in the ass” and ignore the original context. Though I guess if someone called you a “piece of work,” you could be like, “Why thank you, I am noble in reason, infinite in faculties, express and admirable in form.” Protip, though: if you actually answer like that, you probably are a piece of work. Not the good kind.
You may say: ”If you prick us, do we not bleed?” And you mean: We share a common humanity, despite our differences. And you are: Right (to a point)
This is a speech by Shylock, the villain in The Merchant of Venice. He is constantly treated as less than human because of his race and religion (he’s Jewish) and expresses his frustration in this speech about how Jews and Christians are not all that different. It’s the most often-quoted bit of the play, and very moving. Well, mostly. Shylock is the bad guy after all, the rest of the speech shows his nasty side. It gets to a part that says “and if you wrong us, shall we not revenge?” Then it turns into a speech about how the need for vengeance is the real shared point of humanity. No one really quotes that bit though.](http://24.media.tumblr.com/90743ce8c18340ef0ba04ece79e7bc15/tumblr_mji8uaT2jI1rex0bko1_1280.jpg)
Anyone who speaks English quotes Shakespeare, oftentimes without knowing it. Sometimes, though, it doesn’t mean what a lot of people think it means. Here’s another small compilation of quoted and sometimes misquoted Shakespeare:
Part One is here.
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