http://blog.askmisspriss.com/?p=61 This simple question gets a very lengthy answer, including quotes from Keats, Coleridge and Herman Melville, a shout out to Harold Bloom, and a good summary of something I’ve always said: It’s long been observed that one of the best measures of literature is when you can discuss the characters of a story, or play, as if those characters were real people: when you can talk about their personalities ; when you can psychologize over them, their choice of careers and deeds; when you can pick their brains and discuss their addictions and predispositions, as if these characters were actual human beings. I never really thought about it being “long observed”, but that certainly gets to the heart of what I get out of Shakespeare.

http://musecatcher.com/2008/04/04/resurrecting-ophelia/ I love finding stuff like this to link to.  Here, an artist works on a series of “underwater self-portraits” using Ophelia as inspiration.   Warning, the images are a bit disturbing in that they are, in fact, pictures of a girl underwater who, if it’s supposed to be Ophelia, is also a dead girl underwater.

http://english340.wordpress.com/2008/04/02/writing-assignment-three/ I stumbled across this blog the “English 340” class is using to organize their assignments.  It is from the University of Kentucky, thankfully – for a minute I was afraid these were high school questions: Choose one for a short paper of 2-3 typed, double-spaced pages: 1.  Lear declares that he is “more sinned against than sinning.”  Consider his remark and write a brief discussion of whether you think it is accurate.  What “sins” have occurred in the play? 2.  Just as manliness is a live issue in Macbeth, characters in King Lear return repeatedly to the idea of what is “natural.”  Choose one character and discuss his or her relationship to nature and the natural in the play. I am honestly not sure how to answer either question meaningfully.  I don’t know if I’ve just been out of school too long, or if I don’t understand the play well enough, or I’m just offended by the oversimplification implicit in the questions.  I hope this question comes after the students have demonstrated a clear understanding of the overall plot, character development, that sort of thing – that they actually get the story, first and foremost.  Then we can talk about all this meta nonsense not about what the character of Lear meant, but what Shakespeare was really trying to say.  Because as we all know, whenever we in real life say something particularly poignant, it was because we were making a statement on the whole of humanity. Having said that, I really want to take a stab at answering the questions, but I don’t really have the time to do 2-3 typed double-spaced pages :).  I think I would have picked #1.  “Sin” is more character-driven than “nature”.

http://www.bardblog.com/shakespeare-blog-carnival-1/ While I love the visual that conjures up, I’m really talking about a “link carnival” hosted by Gedaly over at The Bard Blog where we Shakespeare Geeks all try to drum up each other’s traffic by aggregating a bunch of good links all in one spot.  Go check it out!  And if you run a Shakespeare site, make sure to get in on the action next time!

http://turnpaige.com/2008/04/01/ophelia-by-lisa-klein/ Just stumbled across this mini-review of a young adult novel that appears to be a retelling of Hamlet, from Ophelia’s point of view.  Not really my cup of tea, but I thought I’d put it out there in case it looks interesting to folks.  I don’t know if the reviewer keeps calling Ophelia Hamlet’s wife because she’s simply mistaken about the plot, or if the author of the book has gone ahead and taken that liberty. The questions at the end, by the way, are complete spoilers.  Just in case you’re thinking about getting it. Then again, who knows, the spoiled bits might make it look intriguing enough to get anyway. Back in college, in my playwrighting days, I started a project of a similar nature.  I did a Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead take on Hamlet, where the whole play is done from Ophelia’s perspective.  The gimmick being that when she’s “offstage” she’s speaking in modern English, but as a character from the play comes on stage she falls back into character to deliver her lines.  I did not muck with the story – my reverence for the text dates back at least that far 🙂 – but I did make the leap that Ophelia was in on Hamlet’s feigned madness and just playing along…until she realizes that he has actually gone mad, or at least, she can’t tell the difference. Never finished it.