Well, we’re here. The last of Shakespeare’s 38 plays. The Tempest is one of those that has a special place in my heart. I read it for the first time on a family vacation (in the battered old copy of the Complete Works of Shakespeare that had no footnotes or explanations) and liked it well enough at the time. The more…
Tag: literature
Hamlet: Trying and living well
What is there to say about what could easily be considered the most famous play of all time – and one of the greatest plays of all time to boot? Of all the Bard’s work, I think I have returned to Hamlet more than any other. This is in part because there are some really great film adaptations, and also because…
Coriolanus: Judgment and Doubt
Coriolanus reminds me of Timon of Athens in some ways. It has a lot to say about trust and the way we judge others. Of the whole play, the part that struck me the most is when the citizens begin to doubt Coriolanus. It was remarkable how quickly and easily they reversed their opinion of him. It seems to make…
Pericles: On why bad things happen to good people
Throughout Pericles, I couldn’t help but think of Oedipus Rex. There are quite a few similarities, so it’s a slightly obvious connection, perhaps, but a fascinating one to me for one particular reason. In Pericles, we see bad things happen to good people and bad people. But in the end, everything works out quite conveniently for the good people—rather miraculously…
Two Gentlemen of Verona: Nostalgia and Objectivity
When I was something like fourteen years old, my grandmother gave me an old volume of the collected works of Shakespeare. I was very excited about this and was determined to make my way through it. At that point, I think the only plays of the Bard that I had read were Macbeth, Taming of the Shrew, and possibly Romeo…
Troilus and Cressida: The Influence of Medium
I decided to listen to an audio recording of Troilus and Cressida rather than read it. This has not worked out too well for me in the past, because my mind wanders and then I miss things and end up only paying half attention – especially when it’s work I’m not already familiar with, like this play. And that’s exactly what…
My Review of Titus Andronicus
No. Just, no. The End.
Um…I’m…I’m pretty sure that Shakespeare won’t have any upcoming releases…
Cymbeline: Thoughts on a writer’s progression
Cymbeline is an interesting play, though I don’t entirely think I can describe its themes, or even its plot, very well. The thing that I kept thinking about pretty much through the whole thing was progression. This play seems to consistently be listed as one of the last plays Shakespeare wrote. This was interesting because part of it felt very…
Measure for Measure
Measure for Measure feels the most unique out of all of the Shakespeare plays I have read so far, although I’m not sure I can quite put my finger on why. Perhaps because of the role religion plays in it? Perhaps because it feels like a tragedy until the end when no deaths have occurred? Perhaps because it brings “problematic” to…