Shakespeare makes life better.
Alas, nobody offered me any freebies for the Blu-ray release of Luhrman’s Romeo+Juliet (apparently arriving today).
BUT! I think we’ve found a kindred spirit over at Hollywood Crush, who not only serves up a “making of” clip from the Blu-ray but also gushes all nostalgic about that extra little addition to the already brutal ending:
I mean, I was prepared for their deaths! We all know it’s coming. I was NOT prepared for that artful, yet agonizing addition. Cried. my. eyes. out.
Lucky duck.
This article is almost certainly exactly what it says it is : Shakespeare words you didn’t know. Not words you didn’t know Shakespeare invented, or cliches that came from Shakespeare that have changed over the years (I’m looking at you, glister/glisten).
Nope, this is words that you almost certainly never saw before. That is, unless you’ve played one of these parts or, you know, study this stuff for a living.
How about Gongarian? Or maybe crants, or tranect?
I’m sure I’ve skimmed over all of them (crants is apparently in Hamlet) and never really thought much about it. But I’ve certainly never heard of any of the ones listed. Your mileage may vary (hence, “almost exactly what it says”, since I’m sure a number of you have in fact seen at least some of these words).
Something occurred to me this weekend, while mowing the lawn.
How come when a movie actor wants to portray his project as having quality, he’ll say that it’s like Shakespeare (I’m thinking of the Spiderman reboot, although there are other examples)… but if you went up to the average moviegoer and said “Hey, you want to go see a Shakespeare movie?” most of them would look at you like you were crazy? It’s as if “like Shakespeare” means “very good”, but “actual Shakespeare” means “I won’t like it.”
My theory is that it has to do with our own lack of confidence in ourselves. We’ve all been taught that Shakespeare is the pinnacle of literature. The best of the best. So to compare yourself to such a high standard inherently puts you up there near it, at least. And that’s pretty good.
But, at the same time, we also think that Shakespeare is therefore out of our own reach. That it is too difficult for us to understand. We fear that we will not be able to appreciate it, to discuss it and offer our opinions afterward. So pre-emptively we decide that just wouldn’t like it to begin with.
That makes me sad. People want “like Shakespeare”. But they’re afraid of actual Shakespeare, because they don’t think they can handle it. I wonder how to bridge that gap?
This article is little more than the announcement of a particular show, but I like the way they spun it. This particular interpretation will focus on the Macbeths as one of Shakespeare’s great romantic couples.
“Our director Iam Coulter kept telling us she wanted Macbeth and Lady Macbeth to light up every room when they walk in. They’re dynamic, they’re sexual and they’re very much in love,” says Konchak.
What do you think? I know we’ve discussed Shakespeare’s best couples in the past, but sometimes it’s fun to revisit topics for the new geeks.
Are the Macbeths an example of a wonderful couple, or are they incredibly dysfunctional?
The author of Bardfilm thought it would be fun to compose a guest post here at Shakespeare Geek. And I thought it would be fun to let him! Here we are, then:
Bardfilm’s list of the Top Twenty Shakespearean Faux Pas:
- Inviting Lady Macbeth to a dinner party and constantly telling her where she can wash up.
- Inviting Macbeth to a dinner party and constantly saying, “What a great Banquo!” instead of “What a great Banquet.”
- Asking Henry V “Whatever happened to Richard II? We hardly ever see him around anymore!”
- Telling Rosalind she looks just like a boy actor playing a girl pretending to be a boy acting like a girl.
- Asking the two noble kinsmen which one is the noblest.
- Casually mentioning to Macduff that your wife and children weren’t butchered by a desperate
megalomaniac.
- Inviting Claudius to see Agatha Christie’s The Mousetrap with you.
- Trying to compliment Hamlet by referring to him as “The Great Dane.” He hates that.
- Shouting “No! It’s your imagination!” whenever Macbeth starts on that “Is this a dagger?” nonsense.
- Answering all of Hamlet’s rhetorical questions in a sarcastic tone of voice (viz. “What’s Hecuba to him? He dated Hecuba in high school!”).
- Standing in the way of Richard III’s ascent to the throne.
- Offering Othello a handkerchief after he sneezes. It’s kind of like offering Lady Macbeth a moist towelette.
- Singing the Beatles’ “I Want to Hold Your Hand” when Lavinia (from Titus Andronicus) is in the room.
- Slipping a fake spider into the martini glass of Leontes (from The Winter’s Tale).
- Referring to Gertrude as “Hamlet’s father’s brother’s wife.”
- Requesting the pianist at a bar to play “We Don’t Need Another Hero” when Claudio is right there.
- Showing up at a social occasion wearing the same cloth-of-gold of tissue dress as Cleopatra.
- Serving Caesar a salad . . . over and over again . . . every single time he comes to your place.
- Proposing marriage to Isabella—even though you know she’s almost finished taking her vows to be a nun.
- Asking King Lear about his 401(k).
Our thanks to kj, the author of Bardfilm. Bardfilm is a blog that comments on films, plays, and other matters related to Shakespeare in a relatively-informal manner.