I’m always curious to see what search terms bring people to this site. Here is a list of all of the search terms that brought people here yesterday:

how shakespeare demonstrated “religion” in his plays

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math – coins – line drawings of

saddam hussein vs. iago

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The word “shyster” does not appear in Shakespeare. There is a character named Shylock in The Merchant of Venice, and a popular anti-lawyer quote in Henry VI, Part Two.

Several United States presidents have had the letter Y in their names. First name: Ulysses S. Grant, Harry S. Truman, Lyndon B. Johnson, Jimmy Carter; Last name: John Tyler, Rutherford B. Hayes, William McKinley, John F. Kennedy; First and Last Name: Zachary Taylor; Commonly Used Middle Name: John Quincy Adams, William Henry Harrison.

As for the Ophelia thing, do your own homework.

Via News on the Rialto, we learn of an international event called Shakespeare 24:

Shakespeare 24 (S24) is an exciting worldwide Shakespeare performance event. Beginning in New Zealand and ending 24 hours later in Hawaii. 60 youth groups will stage 30 and 45 minute adaptations of Shakespeare’s plays at 7pm, local time on Shakespeare’s 444th birthday, April 23rd 2008.

It all sounds very exciting, but I have to admit that when I first saw the title of the post, I had something else in mind entirely…

MEMO: CONFIDENTIAL

SEASON SEVEN PLOT OUTLINE FOR SHAKESPEARE 24

In a prologue, Jack Bauer asks for the audience’s generosity in accepting the extremely contrived plot in the season to come, and informs them that the following events take place between 8am and 9am.

8:00am – 9:00am: On his way home from a mission, Jack is stopped by three witches, who offer cryptic prophecies of a terrorist attack to take place in the next 24 hours. After he threatens them with a belt sander, they agree to get more specific. The attack will come in the form of a virus that makes the infected people seem like they are dead for a short period of time, after which they will be perfectly fine. Jack doesn’t think that sounds so bad, but the witches assure him that it can actually cause quite a bit of trouble.

9:00am – 10:00am: In the White House, Sandra Palmer is now president. She is having drinks with a group of community activists, when she realizes that one of them is Richard Heller, long lost son of the former Secretary of Defense. She immediately welcomes him into her cabinet as the new Secretary of Defense.

10:00am – 11:00am: Richard is installed as the new Secretary of Defense. He makes a phone call and tells the person on the other end that the plan is working and that he will be president by the end of the day. Sandra Palmer mysteriously dies of a poisoning.

11:00am – Noon: The vice president is sworn in as president. The Speaker of the House, suspicious of the poisoning, leads a campaign against him.

Noon – 1:00pm: Jack is visited by the ghost of his father, who tells him there is a mole in CTU, and that Jack shouldn’t trust anyone. Jack appoints his most trusted lieutenant, Agent Iago, to head up the investigation.

1:00pm – 2:00pm: The president is impeached, and the Speaker of the House is sworn in as president. The former president is imprisoned and is later killed by henchmen working for Richard. Iago puts a suspicion in Jack’s mind that Chloe is the mole.

2:00pm – 3:00pm: The president is alerted to the terrorist threat, and must cancel his trip to the Holy Land. He asks Jack to track down the leader of the cell. Jack traces the money trail to a Jewish moneylender near Venice Beach.

3:00pm – 4:00pm: Jack arrives at the moneylender’s place, and tries to interrogate him, but kills him accidentally. He finds three caskets, and knows that two of them are rigged with explosives, and he must select the correct casket to find out the location of the terrorist base. With some help from the moneylender’s daughter, he chooses correctly.

4:00pm – 5:00pm: The president is assassinated by a sniper, hired by Richard. The president pro tempore of the Senate is sworn in as president. He gives a rousing speech and then orders an air strike against the terrorist base located by Jack, but the terrorists are tipped off by Iago – the mole in CTU. During the phone call, we finally see the leader of the terrorist cell is Jack’s nephew, Josh Bauer. Josh escapes with his top henchmen before the air strike hits.

5:00pm – 6:00pm: The president is killed by a bomb planted by Richard, and the Secretary of State is sworn in as president. Jack learns from aerial surveillance footage of the strike that his nephew is involved in the terrorist plot. The new first lady discovers that Richard is a terrorist and tries to warn everyone, but she is dismissed as mentally unstable. She puts a curse on Richard, and calls Jack to tell him of Richard’s involvement. Then, she disappears.

6:00pm – 7:00pm: The president dies in what appears to be an automobile accident. The Secretary of the Treasury is sworn in as president. Jack goes to the White House to stop Richard.

7:00pm – 8:00pm: The president is killed. Jack is framed. Richard is sworn in as president. Jack is sentenced to death by a secret military tribunal.

8:00pm – 9:00pm: Chloe pleads to Richard, who is now the president, for Jack’s life. Richard agrees to sign a pardon for Jack if she will sleep with him. She agrees, planning to substitute a double, but the only match in the CTU database is Jack’s daughter, Kim Bauer. At first, Jack refuses to allow her participation, but when he realizes he will die otherwise, agrees to go along with the plan.

9:00pm – 10:00pm: Before she can follow through with the plan, Kim appears to die of the virus. Richard has her put in a trunk and dropped into the ocean.

10:00pm – 11:00pm: Kim washes ashore and is recovered by the owner of a brothel and his wife. Some other stuff happens, but nobody really cares. Josh gives a canister of the virus to a mercenary and asks him to attach a timing device set to release the virus at 7am.

11:00pm – Midnight: Not knowing who she can trust, Kim tries to make her way to CTU disguised as a boy, which makes her look exactly like her cousin Josh.

Midnight – 1:00am: Kim is approached by the mercenary who has completed the timing device. He gives it to her, believing she is Josh. Kim returns to CTU with the canister where she is again mistaken for Josh and arrested immediately.

1:00am – 2:00am: Jack escapes custody and heads back to CTU disguised as a bedlam beggar. Kim is interrogated by CTU agents who still believe she is Josh. The mercenary finds the real Josh, and demands payment for the timing device. Josh refuses, insisting he never received it. Hilarity ensues, and then Josh kills the mercenary.

2:00am – 3:00am: Jack and Kim reveal their disguises. Mischievous fairies put a spell on Chloe, who falls in love with Iago. Jack leaves to confront his nephew.

3:00am – 4:00am: Jack captures Josh, and discovers evidence on Josh’s cell phone that proves the mole inside CTU is Iago. He calls Chloe to tell her Iago is the mole. Chloe goes mad, sings a song, and drowns herself in a river.

4:00am – 5:00am: Jack returns to CTU to confront Iago, who at first refuses to speak until he is given immunity, but then confirms that Richard has been responsible for the day’s events. Josh reveals that Jack is his real father, and it was his bitter resentment over his bastardy that made him turn to a life of crime.

5:00am – 6:00am: Kim learns that Josh is not her cousin, but her half-brother, and goes to see him. Josh, moved by his half-sister’s compassion, repents. Jack goes to the White House and slips past Secret Service to confront Richard. Jack and Richard fight, and Richard is slain. Before he dies, he not only confesses to his crimes, but also provides a recap of the entire plot for the season.

6:00am – 7:00am: Messengers from CTU arrive at the White House and report that Josh has had a religious conversion, and has revealed the location of all of the canisters, except for the one he gave the mercenary. Jack realizes that the canister Kim was carrying is equipped with a timing device, and rushes back to CTU. The Attorney General is sworn in as the eighth president in the last twenty-four hours.

7:00am – 8:00am: Jack gets to CTU, but it is too late. Everyone at CTU has fallen to the virus. Jack, believing he has failed, delivers a monologue on the meaningless nature of brief life and commits suicide. After he dies, everyone wakes up from the virus and, seeing Jack dead, kill themselves. The new president arrives at CTU to give Jack a medal. He sees all of the bodies and laments the tragic events of the day. He then pledges to restore peace to the nation.

So I started Cymbeline with the 8th grade class today. I posted a request for suggestions yesterday, but the answer was staring right back at me from the post itself. Show the students the Taming of the Shrew video that the 11th grade students made.

We did a basic K/W/L activity on Shakespeare and the teacher was so impressed by her students’ prior knowledge that she decided to let the students choose the play. But they didn’t really know very many plays, though one student remarked that Romeo and Juliet was “so played out.”

I showed them the Shrew video, and invited them to discuss at their tables how they would do the project differently. They came up with some great ideas, and earnest critiques of the project. They also decided that they wanted to do The Taming of the Shrew. Yeah, because Romeo and Juliet is “so played out.”

We discussed some other plays, including As You Like It and Othello, which seemed to be strong contenders. One of the students asked about Cymbeline, and the teacher gave a brief description of the opening situation with Imogen, Cymbeline, Posthumous, Cloten, and the wicked Queen. I talked about how Iachimo bet Postumous that he could seduce his wife. The teacher described with some detail how Iachimo was able to “win” his bet, as it slowly dawned on me why we don’t teach this play. Still, it’s Shakespeare, and we’re totally going to get away with it. I described the beheading of Cloten, and now all the students want to do Cymbeline.

So we ended up where we started on the play, but at least the students now have ownership of the choice. I’m looking forward to seeing what they do with it.

UPDATE: The project has been completed.

I did this one already, but some felt that the O.J. Simpson reference was a cheap shot, so let’s try another anagram of the same passage.

From Othello:

Speak of me as I am; nothing extenuate,
Nor set down aught in malice: then, must you speak
Of one that lov’d not wisely but too well;
Of one not easily jealous, but, being wrought,
Perplex’d in the extreme;

Shift around the letters, and it becomes:

Othello’s wanting absolution, but too bad. Never expunge the element of the fatal. No matter how many times he explains, we will not keep it out.

Is any spoken excuse good enough to justify a murder?

I was reading recently about how Shakespeare dealt with suicide differently if he was writing about Christian characters. In Christianity, suicide is always considered a sin, while in Ancient Rome, it could be considered a noble act under certain circumstances. Shakespeare, chameleon that he was, would treat the suicide based on the culture that he was writing about.

When I first read this, it rang true for me. Hamlet laments that he wishes “that the Everlasting had not fix’d / His canon ‘gainst self-slaughter!” Macbeth asks “Why should I play the Roman fool, and die/ On mine own sword?” Meanwhile, characters like Brutus and Cleopatra get heroic suicide scenes.

But the more I think about it, the less sure I am that this holds up across the canon. Off the top of my head, I can think of about four or five (arguably six) Christian characters in Shakespeare who kill themselves. There may be others as well. So I guess the Question of the Week is in two parts:

How many Shakespearean characters can you name who are Christian and commit suicide?

Do you think Shakespeare treats his non-Christian suicides differently than he treats these suicides?

Ro has a thought-provoking post about the relationship between learning something and knowing it. Before I address that question, it might be worth taking a moment to consider what it means to know something.

What do we mean when we say we know something? For the individual, it might be the same as saying we unequivocally believe it. But is that enough? If Iago believes his wife has been unfaithful, and he has no evidence to support his belief, does that count as knowledge? Probably not.

Socrates argued that a belief must be justified to be considered knowledge. Othello might say that he knows his wife Desdemona has been faithful, because he has reason to believe in her love and trustworthiness. His belief is justified. But that doesn’t necessarily make it true, and so that probably doesn’t count as knowledge either. Knowledge must be both true and justified.

When we say someone else knows something, that might mean that they believe it and we believe it too. If Iago uses manufactured evidence to manipulate Othello into believing that Desdemona has been having an affair with Cassio, Othello can say that he knows that Desdemona has been unfaithful, because his belief is justified by evidence that has been presented to him. But we would not say that Othello knows it. He still believes it, but we do not.

Which brings us to the Gettier problem. Imagine that while Othello is being manipulated by Iago, Desdemona has been secretly having an affair with the Duke. Othello makes the statement that he knows Desdemona has been unfaithful. Does he know it? This time, his belief is both true and justified. And yet Gettier would not count this as knowledge, because Othello’s belief, while true and justified, is based on false evidence. He has no knowledge of the actual affair. Robert Nozick would point out that if the statement weren’t true, Othello would still believe it.

Now let’s go back and look at the question originally posed by Ro, which has to do with the relationship between knowledge and learning. If I say I learned something, that means I know it, which means I believe it. If I say you learned something, that means you believe it and I believe it. For example, President Bush got into a bit of trouble for including the following in the 2003 State of the Union address:

The British government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa.

By citing the British government, Bush’s speechwriters sought to insulate the administration from claims they already knew were false. But by using the word “learned” they implied the word “knew” which means that Bush was essentially saying that he also believed that the statement was true. It was later discovered that the statement was not true, and that the Bush administration was aware it was not true at the time the speech was written. Saying “The British government has learned” did not provide the out they were hoping it would.

Ro’s other question was whether knowing something implies that one has learned it. A strict empiricist might say yes, but even John Locke allowed for some a priori knowledge gained through reason alone. The classic example is from René Descartes: Cogito ergo sum. I think, therefore I am. Is this knowledge? Was it learned?

Finally, I can also attest that it is possible to have learned something and not know it. I demonstrate this condition several times every day.

From Othello:

Speak of me as I am; nothing extenuate,
Nor set down aught in malice: then, must you speak
Of one that lov’d not wisely but too well;
Of one not easily jealous, but, being wrought,
Perplex’d in the extreme;

Shift around the letters, and it becomes:

To augur the noble general as known ex-football player, we only meant to go to that unusual eye-opening nexus moment when O.J. Simpson kept to the text to fume “If I did this, it was because I loved her.”

At the risk of appearing like I’m trying to out-geek the Shakespeare Geek, here’s another list.

You’ve seen my top 25 favorite plays and my top 25 favorite scenes (then expanded to 50). Here are my top 50 favorite characters (or groups of characters) from Shakespeare’s plays at the present moment. Enjoy! And feel free to add to the conversation, especially if I’ve left some of your favorites out!

50. The Nurse (Romeo and Juliet) – The play may be a tragedy, but the Nurse is one of the great comic roles in Shakespeare.

49. The Duke of York (Richard the Second) – The remaining son of Edward III is so loyal to the King, he’ll turn in his own son as a traitor.

48. Sir Toby Belch (Twelfth Night) – Think Falstaff without the good manners. Half the time he’s plotting; the other half he’s drunk.

47. The Prince of Morocco & The Prince of Arragon (The Merchant of Venice) – It’s hard to tell which of these two suitors to Portia is more unsuitable, or more hilarious.

46. Dogberry (Much Ado About Nothing) – The muddled constable of the watch who bumbles his way into uncovering the evil plot!

45. Helena (All’s Well That Ends Well) – I’ll never understand what a quality woman like Helena sees in a loser like Bertram. Sigh.

44. Richard the Second (Richard the Second) – Too much philosopher, not enough king. But divine right is divine right. Isn’t it?

43. Philip the Bastard (King John) – When you’re already a bastard, who cares what people think of you? Certainly not Philip.

42. Polonius (Hamlet) – He may be a rash, intruding, doddering old fool, but his madness has a method to it. I think.

41. Beatrice and Benedick (Much Ado About Nothing) – You can’t have one without the other. Sharp banter hiding a deep affection – very cool.

40. Portia (The Merchant of Venice) – Unlike some love interests, Portia is actually worth the winning, and not just for her money.

39. Puck (A Midsummer Night’s Dream) – The mischievous sprite who doesn’t mind helping mortals at times, as long as it’s funny.

38. Mercutio (Romeo and Juliet) – The madcap kinsman to the Prince is a grave man when caught between the two houses.

37. Lucio (Measure for Measure) – This guy is a riot from beginning to end, but slandering the Duke to his disguised face rules.

36. Marc Antony (Multiple plays) – His funeral oration is a masterpiece, but his most powerful line? “I am dying, Egypt, dying.”

35. Viola (Twelfth Night) – Her disguise-as-a-boy plan plunges her in over her head, but she handles it all with grace.

34. Brutus (Julius Caesar) – This was the noblest Roman of them all, deeply conflicted and ultimately his own undoing.

33. Cloten (Cymbeline) – Proud, arrogant, foolish, entitled, and a bully, Cloten is nothing but a suit and a title. Fun!

32. The Earl of Kent (King Lear) – Deeply loyal to the King who has banished him, Kent has something to teach us all.

31. Malvolio (Twelfth Night) – He didn’t really deserve what he got in the play, but he is a Puritan, after all.

30. Jacques (As You Like It) – He’s probably bipolar, but he’s a deep thinker and a keen observer of the human condition.

29. Caliban (The Tempest) – Caliban’s antics are a lot of fun, but I’m more interested in his backstory and its meaning.

28. The Weird Sisters (Macbeth) – Do you think the three witches predict the future? Or do they cause it?

27. Tranio (The Taming of the Shrew) – A servant, who we mostly see playing gentleman. At the end, he’s back to waiting tables.

26. Lewis the Dauphin (Henry the Fifth) – We’re shown Henry’s suitability to be the next French king by seeing a weak Dauphin.

25. Isabella (Measure for Measure) – After all she’s been through, the Duke gives her one final impossible test. She passes.

24. Petruchio & Katherine (The Taming of the Shrew) – When an irresistible force meets an immovable object, somethin’s gotta give…

23. Emilia (Othello) – She’d make her husband a cuckold to make him a king, but won’t cover for his wickedness.

22. Iachimo (Cymbeline) – This “Little Iago” is clever and dishonest, and starts up way more trouble than he means to.

21. Enobarbus (Antony and Cleopatra) – A loyal soldier who can’t support Antony’s self-destructive course, and dies of shame.

20. Goneril & Regan (King Lear) – The wicked ones turn on their father, their husbands, their sister, and finally, each other.

19. Jack Cade (Henry the Sixth, Part Two) – This rough-hewn pretender to the throne would abolish money and kill all the lawyers.

18. Helena (A Midsummer Night’s Dream) – My heart just goes out to Helena, who is such a sweet person and gets rotten treatment.

17. Prospero (The Tempest) – The Duke of Milan, and wise old master of knowledge, books, and the elements of nature.

16. Hamlet (Hamlet) – The melancholy Dane helps us understand that murky place between thought and action.

15. Queen Margaret (Multiple plays) – With an amazing character arc that spans four plays, Margaret puts the “It” back in bitch.

14. Rosalind (As You Like It) – Let’s face it – Rosalind carries the whole plot on force of personality. We like her, so it works.

13. Macbeth (Macbeth) – From noble warrior to homicidal maniac, Macbeth experiences an incredible transformation.

12. Bottom (A Midsummer Night’s Dream) – The megalomaniac actor! We can all recognize him, but do we recognize ourselves in him?

11. Cleopatra (Antony and Cleopatra) – She’s a strong, empowered woman who’s not above using sex as a political tactic.

10. Edmund (King Lear) – A charming villain – all honor on the outside, and evil on the inside. What a bastard!

9. Othello (Othello) – A complex and passionate character, who loved (and trusted) not wisely, but too well.

8. Sir John Falstaff (Multiple plays) – A drunk, a theif, a liar, a glutton, and a pure hedonist. And those are his good points.

7. Duke of Gloucester/ Richard the Third (Multiple plays) – Since he cannot prove a lover, he is determined to prove a villain!

6. Shylock (The Merchant of Venice) – The Jewish moneylender may be the villain, but Shakespeare shows us his human side.

5. King Lear (King Lear) – Is dying the worst thing that can happen? What about having it all and watching it fade?

4. Prince Hal/ Henry the Fifth (Multiple plays) – Shakespeare traces England’s great hero from his wayward youth to his victory in France.

3. Lady Macbeth (Macbeth) – An equal partner in evil to Macbeth, and a force to be reckoned with. But then she breaks.

2. The Fool (King Lear) – The Fool balances that fine line between jesting clown, and sharp commentator on events.

1. Iago (Othello) – The hands-down, pure evil incarnate, puppet master general. But why does he do it?

Based on the overwhelming response to yesterday’s post listing my top five and twenty favorite scenes from Shakespeare, I’ve decided to post my next five and twenty favorite scenes from Shakespeare. The standard disclaimers apply.

50. Antony and Cleopatra: Act 5, Scene 2
The captured Cleopatra has been placed on suicide watch. But she has a poisonous asp smuggled in, and delivers the fatal wound to her bosom. “Does thou not see the baby at my breast,/That sucks the nurse asleep?”

49. Macbeth: Act 5, Scene 5
In the heat of battle preparations, Macbeth receives news that his wife has died. He allows himself a reflective moment where he ponders the meaninglessness of brief life. And for that moment, we remember that this monster was once a human being with the capacity for reason and love.

48. Richard the Third: Act 3, Scene 7
In the final stages of his plan to seize the crown, Richard orchestrates a show where his friends and lackeys beg him to be king, and he says no. Finally, he relents. “I am not made of stone”

47. Henry the Fourth, Part Two: Act 5, Scene 5
Now that his buddy Prince Hal has become King Henry the Fifth, Falstaff thinks that he’s going to play a very important role in the new administration. Falstaff has another think coming.

46. As You Like It: Act 3, Scene 2
This is a somewhat varied scene, and a lot of fun things happen in it, but the main point is that, having discovered that Orlando is writing love poems to her and hanging them on trees in the forest, Rosalind decides to allow him to believe she is a boy, and offers to cure him of his love by pretending to be his love.

45. Henry the Sixth, Part One: Act 2, Scene 4
In the Temple garden, partisans of the King and of Richard Plantagenet pluck red and white roses respectively to show their support. Could this lead to war? And what might we call such a war?

44. Macbeth: Act 1, Scene 3
Returning from battle, Banquo and Macbeth are greeted by three witches who predict that Macbeth will become Thane of Cawdor and then King. Then, messengers from the King arrive and tell Macbeth he has just been named Thane of Cawdor. Things that make you go hmmm…

43. Hamlet: Act 3, Scene 2
Unsure whether or not to trust the ghost’s word, Hamlet stages a play mirroring the circumstances of his father’s death, so he can watch his uncle’s reaction. Does the plan work? Big time. And Hamlet’s famous advice to the players is in this scene, too.

42. Henry the Sixth, Part One: Act 4, Scene 5
The great Lord Talbot fears that his forces will be defeated in tomorrow’s battle. So he sends for his son, young John Talbot, and tells him to flee before the battle. John refuses, and they debate in rhymed couplets. It’s not a long scene – go read it.

41. King Lear: Act 1, Scene 4
The banished Kent returns in disguise and offers to serve Lear. We meet the Fool, whose jests reveal both a fondness for Lear and a bitter disapproval of his actions. Lear’s curse on Goneril at the end makes the scene extraordinary.

40. Henry the Fifth: Act 2, Scene 2
Henry has discovered three traitors among his officers. Before revealing this, he asks them what the penalty should be for traitors. His own oratory in this scene is powerful.

39. Julius Caesar: Act 4, Scene 3
Brutus and Cassius, having murdered Caesar, now lead an army against his partisans. In this scene, the growing tensions between them explode, and lead to an unexpected outcome.

38. Henry the Fourth, Part Two: Act 4, Scene 5
Prince Hal finds his father asleep, assumes he’s dead, and helps himself to the crown. When Hal returns, Dad’s awake, and the two of them have at it. And at the end of the scene, the prophecy he’s been talking about since like two plays ago is fulfilled.

37. Othello: Act 4, Scene 3
A quiet scene between Emilia and Desdemona before all hell breaks loose. This is a study in contrast between the innocent naif Desdemona and the world-wise Emelia.

36. Macbeth: Act 5, Scene 1
Lady Macbeth has been a rock through all of the killing and deception that put her husband on the throne. But now she’s sleepwalking, and everything comes out. Except for that spot of blood.

35. King John: Act 4, Scene 1
King John has sent Hubert to murder the young Arthur to eliminate his challenge to the throne. But the boy talks Hubert out of it. Shakespeare wrote this play after losing his own young son to the plague.

34. Romeo and Juliet: Act 2, Scene 2
Well, what can I say? It’s the balcony scene.

33. Much Ado About Nothing: Act 4, Scene 1
Hero is disgraced by Claudio at their wedding and her cousin Beatrice is beside herself. Claudio’s friend Benedick stays to comfort her. And amid this emotional turmoil, they confess their feelings for each other. He tells her he’ll do anything for her. Her response: “Kill Claudio.”

32. Hamlet: Act 5, Scene 2
Talk about a big finish. This scene is so imprinted on our collective psyche that it almost turns invisible when making a list like this. Almost.

31. Julius Caesar: Act 3, Scene 1
I really like the pacing of the lines just before the assassination. After the deed, the killers are so sure of history’s favorable judgment. And finally comes Antony’s stirring monologue. But my favorite part of this scene is the first two lines.

30. The Taming of the Shrew: Act 2, Scene 1
The first meeting between Petruchio and Kate. Need I say more?

29. King Lear: Act 4, Scene 7
Lear is rescued by and reunited with the daughter he banished. His mind is nearly gone by now, but as he begins to recognize her, he is deeply ashamed of his earlier behavior.

28. Macbeth: Act 3, Scene 4
King Macbeth sees the murdered Banquo at a banquet, but nobody else can see him. Is this the ghost of Banquo come to haunt him, or another hallucination brought on by guilt?

27. Twelfth Night: Act 1, Scene 5
Here we see the first meeting between Olivia and the disguised Viola. At first, Olivia toys with the youth, but then realizes that there’s more to this young “man” than meets the eye.

26. Richard the Second: Act 4, Scene 1
Richard’s reluctant abdication paints a portrait of a man who never asked to be king, but can’t quite give it up. It’s a moment in English history that sparked enough strife for no less than eight Shakespearean histories.

The Top Five and Twenty

As long as we’re making lists, how about our top five scenes? I made my list (see below), feel free to play along in the comments, or on your own blog, or both. As before, this list is based on my own personal preferences at this particular moment. I’ll be using the scene divisions from Bartleby.com.

And, as before, my top five list has twenty-five entries. Enjoy!

25. A Midsummer Night’s Dream: Act 5, Scene 1
I had to include the Pyramus & Thisby performance at the end of Midsummer. The happy ending to the real story has already come, and now we can just relax and enjoy the show.

24. Hamlet: Act 3, Scene 4
The effect of Hamlet’s berating his mother in her bedchamber, and raising the tension until it is released by his killing Polonius, is devastating on stage. When the ghost arrives, we must listen.

23. King John: Act 1, Scene 1
Robert Faulconbridge claims that his brother Philip is a bastard, not entitled to his father’s lands. King John and his mother recognize the madcap Philip as natural son to the late King Richard, and welcome him into the royal family.

22. Richard the Third: Act 1, Scene 2
Richard has killed Anne’s husband and his father. He woos her and wins her hand, reveling in overcoming impossible odds. There is some really elegant use of language in this scene.

21. The Comedy of Errors: Act 3, Scene 1
This scene cracks me up. Antipholus of Ephesus is locked out of his house, because his wife thinks he’s inside. Actually, it’s his long lost twin brother. The rolling verse makes the scene.

20. Twelfth Night: Act 2, Scene 4
Viola is in love with Orsino, but he thinks she’s a boy. She tells him of her love using a supposed sister. Orsino is in love too, and both of their passions are stirred by a song. This scene “gives a very echo to the seat where love is throned.”

19. Measure for Measure: Act 2, Scene 4
Angelo has sentenced Isabella’s brother to death, but he offers to release him in exchange for sex. She tells him to stick it. But now she’s in a bind. In the hands of talented actors, this scene kills.

18. Henry the Sixth, Part Three: Act 1, Scene 4
The Duke of York has made a claim to the throne, but now is captured by Queen Margaret who taunts him with a paper crown and a napkin dipped in the blood of his dead son. He curses her, and she has him killed. “Off with his head!”

17. As You Like It: Act 5, Scene 4
Rosalind and Celia reveal their true identities to their astonished lovers. And if four weddings and some songs aren’t enough of a happy ending, the banished Duke is restored. I couldn’t resist including it.

16. King Lear: Act 1, Scene 1
This scene could be a play unto itself. Cordelia refuses to participate in flattering her father for his land and is banished. But then she weds the King of France and lives happily ever … no, wait.

15. Othello: Act 3, Scene 3
Through subtle innuendo and hints of suspicion, Iago brings Othello from being completely free of suspicion toward Desdemona, to a jealous rage against her.

14. Measure for Measure: Act 5, Scene 1
Shakespeare spent the whole play setting up the dominoes and lets them fall in this final scene. Isabella has a big choice to make, and she takes the high road. But what about her final choice? Shakespeare doesn’t say.

13. Macbeth: Act 5, Scene 7
The prophecies have all come true, but Macbeth isn’t ready to give up the crown yet, let alone the ghost. In defiance of law, of country, of nature, and of fate itself, he fights. And he dies.

12. Hamlet: Act 5, Scene 1
Hamlet jokes and reflects on death with a gravedigger and Horatio before learning the grave is to be Ophelia’s. And the gravedigger started working the day Hamlet was born. Think about that for a moment.

11. Macbeth: Act 1, Scene 7
Lady Macbeth goads Macbeth into regicide by attacking his manhood and questioning his love. He’s against killing the king on moral grounds, until she presents a plan with a good chance of working, and then he’s in.

10. Henry the Fourth, Part One: Act 2, Scene 4
A fun tavern scene with Jack Falstaff telling tall tales, and a role-playing exercise that turns sour.

9. King Lear: Act 5, Scene 3
The sisters undo themselves. Edgar defeats his treacherous brother Edmund. And then Lear dies with Cordelia in his arms. Good has triumphed over evil, but what spoils are left for the victor?

8. Richard the Third: Act 5, Scene 3
The ghosts of all Richard’s victims disturb his rest the night before the decisive battle. In the morning, he and Richmond deliver orations to their troops, contrasting their different leadership styles.

7. Hamlet: Act 3, Scene 1
The “To be, or not to be” soliloquy is great, but the scene with Ophelia that follows is what makes the list. Love has turned to resentment and bitter mistrust. He must continue to play mad, but his actual sanity is now at risk.

6. Julius Caesar: Act 3, Scene 2
At Caesar’s funeral, Antony, who has promised not to speak ill of the conspirators, delivers an oration that turns the crowd against them. It’s a testament to the power of good rhetoric, and the power of love and loyalty.

5. Othello: Act 5, Scene 2
Othello murders Desdemona and then discovers the truth of the plot against him. Othello’s passionate speeches of angst and remorse are contrasted with Iago’s dispassionate demanor after being caught.

4. A Midsummer Night’s Dream: Act 3, Scene 2
The four lovers, giddy with love’s madness, quarrel to the shock and amusement of the fairies. After going to much trouble to set it up, Shakespeare doesn’t let us down. This is just pure fun.

3. Macbeth: Act 4, Scene 1
Obsessed with succession, Macbeth demands answers from the witches, who tell him much more than he really wants to know. The witches’ brew part alone is for the ages. “Double, double, toil and trouble…”

2. King Lear: Act 4, Scene 6
The mad Lear meets the blind Gloucester. Lear’s speech is filled with sense, and yet is nonsense. Gloucester, who has by now realized he was blind when he had eyes, now says he sees the world feelingly. Also notable is Edgar pretending to lead his blind father to the edge of a cliff. Heartbreaking.

1. Richard the Third: Act 4, Scene 4
By the fourth scene of the fourth act of the fourth play in the series, most of the bad stuff that was going to happen has already happened. The widows gather and compare their losses. Then Richard, the cause of their misery, enters. He recieves a blistering rebuke from his own mother. He is then left on stage with his sister-in-law, whose two sons he has murdered. And he asks her for the hand of her daughter, his niece, in marriage. Now that’s chutzpah!