Monday, September 6, 2010
LORD POLONIUS: My lord, the queen would speak with you, and presently. HAMLET: Do you see yonder cloud that’s almost in shape of a camel? LORD POLONIUS: By the mass, and ’tis like a camel, indeed. HAMLET: Methinks it is like a weasel. LORD POLONIUS: It is backed like a weasel. HAMLET: Or like a […]
Thursday, August 12, 2010
For what it is worth: It now seems morally important to me to do without minor characters in a story. Any character who appears, however briefly, deserves to have his or her life story fully respected and told. —Kurt Vonnegut, in a letter to Mark Lindquist
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Fear no more the heat o’ the sun, Nor the furious winter’s rages; Thou thy worldly task hast done, Home art gone, and ta’en thy wages: Golden lads and girls all must, As chimney-sweepers, come to dust. — William Shakespeare, cymbaline
Sunday, September 7, 2008
Based on how much I’d enjoyed Bloom’s Seven Major Tragedies, I checked out another lecture series: Peter Saccio’s William Shakespeare : Comedies, Histories, and Tragedies, from the library. These lectures broadened my understanding of Shakespeare generally, and in regard to his specific works. Since I listened to Comedies, Histories, and Tragedies right after Bloom’s lectures, […]
Saturday, September 6, 2008
This series of lectures, by Harold Bloom, gave me an interest in Shakespeare I never had before. I never understood the hype, even after reading Romeo & Juliet and Hamlet in high school, and seeing a high school performance of Macbeth (which I realize may have lacked a certain… j’ne sais quois). It was ok, […]