I mentioned yesterday how my 8yr old daughter just finished The Tempest on her own (a children’s translation). Over the dinner table this produced an interesting bit of oneupsmanship(?) with her 6yr old sister:
Elizabeth: “Daddy, I just finished Much Ado about Nothing in Katherine’s book.”
Katherine: “Much Ado About Nothing isn’t even in that book!”
Elizabeth: “Well I finished something, I forget the name of it.”
Daddy: “What was it about?”
Elizabeth: “I forget.”
Daddy: “What was the name of the main character?”
Elizabeth: “I forget.”
Daddy: “Did you read the one about a girl named Rosario?”
Elizabeth: “I think I remember now. It was the story about Rosario.”
Daddy: “There’s no story Shakespeare story with a girl named Rosario. Busted.”
Katherine: “Ha!”
Elizabeth: “D’oh!”
🙂 All in good fun, of course. I realize that may sound like we were ganging up on the child, but that’s not the case.
Twenty Bits of Shakespeare Trivia You Probably Haven’t Heard Before
Bardfilm has compiled a list of unknown Shakespeare trivia. Be afraid. Be very afraid.
Twenty Bits of Shakespeare Trivia You Probably Haven’t Heard Before:
- All the plays and poems attributed to Shakespeare were really written by a little girl named Prosperina Del Factotum.
- The character of Hamlet was modeled on a large fish given to the Queen on 3 February 1578.
- When you read Hamlet’s Soliloquy backward, the words “Paul is Dead” are clearly audible.
- In addition to writing the plays, Shakespeare was also an actor. He played the ghost in Hamlet, Adam in As You Like It, and Vikki the Space Vampire in Macbeth.
- Only six of Shakespeare’s signatures survive. They range in spelling from “S-h-a-x-p-e-r” to “B-e-n-n-y.”
- None of the portraits of Shakespeare are of Shakespeare. They’re all of another man of the same name who dressed as Shakespeare to elude tax collectors.
- King Lear was originally marketed as a comedy. Audiences loved the slapstick of the storm scene, and they fell all over themselves when a senile old man couldn’t tell if his daughter was dead or alive!
- The Sonnets have always been misinterpreted. They’re really the sixteenth-century equivalent of Marley and Me.
- In his youth, he drank too much. This led to the expression “He’s as tight as Andronicus.”
- His sexual orientation is pretty clear. He was either homosexual, bisexual, or straight.
- He coined many words and phrases, including “bombshell,” “rockin’,” “Hoosier Daddy,” and “Ow!”
- Many of the words Shakespeare used had a double entendre as a secondary meaning. If you knew what “be,” “question,” “mind,” “slings,” and “arrows” meant in Shakespeare’s day, you’d never stop blushing.
- If you read every 39th word in the First Folio, you get a good recipe for Tater Tot Casserole.
- Every word in En Vogue’s “My Lovin’ (You’re Never Gonna Get It)” is taken directly from Pericles, Prince of Tyre.
- Shakespeare, Gertrude Stein, and Mark McGuire once traveled in the same car on the Orient Express.
- Contrary to expectation, Shakespeare never did. Shake a spear, that is. But he wrote many bit parts for spear shakers, which is how he got his name.
- His second trip to Hollywood culminated in two pilot episodes of The Love Boat (one that is lost).
- Shakespeare did not wear a ruff. He was half human and half Australian Frilled Lizard.
- Not long after his death, he was called “The Cygnet of the Cenotaph.” “Swan of Avon” came later.
- The original ending of Richard III had Richmond shout “Who da winter of your discontent NOW, Dickie?”
Our thanks for this guest post to kj, the author of Bardfilm. Bardfilm is a blog that comments on films, plays, and other matters related to Shakespeare.
Macbett
In googling Eugene Ionesco for a previous comment, I learned(*) that he wrote a satire of Macbeth:
Two generals, Macbett and Banco, put down a rebellion. In payment for their heroic service, Archduke Duncan promises to bestow on them land, titles and cash, but he reneges on the deal. Encouraged by the seductive Lady Duncan, Macbett plots to assassinate the Archduke and crown himself King. He tries to maintain his tenuous grip on the throne through a vicious cycle of murder and bloodshed. Meanwhile, he is haunted by the ghosts of his victims and discovers that his new wife is not all that she seems.
Anybody know anything about it?
(*) I say learned, though when I searched my own archives for mentions I found this post from July 2008 where we talked about Shakespeare fiction, and Alan Farrar brought up Macbett briefly in the comments.
I wonder what ever happened to Alan. I know he was sick, he blogged about his health issues on a different site. I’m afraid he’s no longer with us.
Poetic Genius in Training
My daughter, 8, was writing poetry last night for Halloween. “Witches bats and spooky cats,” she chanted.
“DUM da DUM da DUM da DUM da,” I echoed from the next room.
After some discussion we agreed that there were 7 beats in that line, I found it too hard to get across the idea of there being a pausing beat on the end. But, 7 is fine. “So then on the next line you want to try and make it 7 beats as well,” I tell her.
“Or,” she says, “You know, close to 7, like maybe 6 or 8.”
“Or 7,” I suggest.
“And then for the next lines,” she goes on, ignoring my suggestion, “I could do like 5 beats and 5 beats….”
I guess she’s kind of getting the idea. 🙂 I want to get to the point where I get a call from her teacher asking me to explain what “trochaic tetrameter” means 🙂
Top Shakespeare Costumes for Halloween
Ok, ok, I want to play too. Over the last week or so I’ve seen lists for tv shows, family movies, horror movies – everything to get you in the Halloween mood. But what about our little corner of the world? Doesn’t Shakespeare have anything to get us into the Halloween Spirit? Here’s my contribution:
Twelfth Night
You’re a girl? Dress up like a boy. You’re a boy? Dress up like a girl dressing up like a boy. Twelfth Night’s main character spends the whole play in costume. We discovered, a few months back, that she’s not even called by her real name until the very end of the play!
Julius Caesar
Why just be any ghost, when you can be Great Caesar’s Ghost(*)? Don’t skimp on the knife wounds, or the blood. Lots and lots of blood. Or if you really want to wear a toga and don’t want to get blood all over it, dip your arms in the red stuff up to your elbows, then go as Brutus.
(*) Bonus points if you can actually convince somebody to dress up like J Jonah Jameson from the Spiderman movies, and then spend the night pointing at you and shouting that.
Hamlet
I knew Hamlet would make a good costume when my 4yr old spotted the idea on one of his cartoon shows. After random channel flipping he comes running into my office to tell me “Daddy, somebody on tv is dressed like Shakespeare!” Along comes the 6 and 8yr olds to tell me “Well, not Shakespeare – he’s dressed like Hamlet. He’s holding a skull and talking to it.”
Of course you could also go with Ophelia, although taking a quick jump in the pool before going out trick or treating might cause you to catch your death (ha!). Then again why not go as Hamlet’s father’s ghost? I’ll leave it up to reader imagination to depict how exactly you’d walk around wearing your beaver up.
Or you could do like I did, and go as Yorick.
The Tempest
A witch (although, granted, she doesn’t really make much of an appearance), a wizard, a sea monster, an airy spirit. Plenty of opportunity here to take a traditional Halloween costume and really run with it. If you want to get really creative, grab a partner and dress up as Stefano and Trinculo. I always described them as pirates to my kids, although “court jester” is probably more accurate.
Titus Andronicus
How can you not have fun dressing up like Titus? Put on a chef’s hat and bloody apron, carry a cleaver and a big stew pot. Throw a prop head in it, maybe a prop hand while you’re at it. Shakespeare’s goriest tragedy is often compared to a modern slasher movie, so why not just go completely over the top with it? Bring along your daughter. Don’t let her talk.
Macbeth
Ghosts make plenty of appearances in Shakespeare’s work, The Tempest and Midsummer are both loaded with magical goings on … but really, is there any play scarier than Macbeth? Dress up like a weird sister, dress up like Banquo’s ghost. Or maybe a sleepwalking Lady Macbeth, covered in blood? For the really inside reference, go as Macduff – carry around Macbeth’s head.
A Midsummer Night’s Dream
Fairies are timeless, in more ways than one. If you need a couple’s idea, why not Titania and Oberon? I love the idea of an entire family dressing up as Midsummer, with the kids playing the roles of Cobweb, Mustardseed and the others. Or go in a completely different direction and make an ass of yourself, literally.
Have I forgotten any? You can always throw on your monk’s outfit and go as Friar Laurence (carry around a pickaxe, crowbar or some other tomb-opening implement for extra credit), or really grab any random “Elizabethan” or “Renaissance” costume from the local store and say that you’re the lead in As You Like It, Much Ado, or any of the other romantic comedies.
What else? Who’s got the creative ideas?