Sign no more, dear readers. It’s Bardfilm here!
A few days ago, Taylor Swift announced a new album—the first in several years. It will be called Reputation (Reputation, reputation, reputation! O, I have lost my reputation! I have lost the immortal part of myself, and what remains is bestial. My reputation, Iago, my reputation!).
Yesterday, she released “Look What You Made Me Do,” the first single from the album. In it, the narrator disclaims all responsibility for her actions, putting that responsibility on the you of the song’s title.
What character or line from Shakespeare most closely fits this song? Is it “O, I am fortune’s fool”? Or the opposite of “The fault is not in our stars but in ourselves”? Or is it more like Edmund’s speech near the beginning of King Lear? He says, “My father compounded with my mother under the dragon’s tail, and my nativity was under ursa major; so that it follows I am rough and lecherous.” Of course, he’s making fun of the idea there, but it might fit.
Any other places where people talk about responsibility in Shakespeare?
p.s. Here’s the song and its accompanying video: