I have to be honest here: Macbeth scared the hell out of me. The witches, the ghosts, the brutal murders, the madness, the blood... Visualizing the three witches saying "Fair is foul and foul is fair" gave me goosebumps. I'm not sure which is more horrifying, the witches or the doublespeak. Now, many of Shakespeare's plays have violence. Othello strangles Desdemona, Cornwall plucks out Gloucester's eyes in King...
One of the most enjoyable experiences to me is finishing a book. For some, is buying a book, for others is starting it, for some crazies is beginning Chapter 5. I like all those things too, but nothing beats that final page rush. I'd say I have more or less three common but different reactions when I finish a book. The "I'm not...
I am posting one day in advance of schedule to take part on Broke and Bookish's meme Top 10 Tuesday. Today's theme is bookish people you want to meet. My list consist mostly of dead people, which isn't very realistic, but let's face it when am I ever going to meet John Green? 1) Dostoyevsky In the dispute Tolstoy versus Dostoyvesky, I say without...
Othello is one of my favorite Shakespeare plays. An interesting topic for reflection is how can the audience side with Iago - the play's wicked villain - and dislike Othello. I mean, think about it. Iago is not trustworthy. He makes Othello and Roderigo believe he is on their sides, when in reality he is manipulating both. He doesn’t really act, he spends most of...
Shakespeare is all about emotion and catharsis. Sometimes it amazes me how his plays can be as powerful as a movie. It is incredibly difficult to choose favorite scenes when all the plays are so good. But here are some scenes that made me hold on to my seat when I saw them on stage or read them in the play (by the way,...
I've just discovered Shakespeare Illustrated, a website that shows, among many things, several paintings portraying scenes from Shakespeare's plays. Some of my favorites are: William Quiller Orchardson, "If Music Be the Food of Love, Play On" (1890) from Twelfth Night William Blake, Lear and Cordelia in Prison (c. 1778-80) from King Lear Joseph Mallord William Turner, Queen Mab's Cave (1846) from Romeo and Juliet Oh, Turner... you can never really disapoint,...
