Archive for the 'Shakespeare' Category

Shakespeare Anagram: Twelfth Night

Saturday, January 3rd, 2009

From Twelfth Night:

O mistress mine, where are you roaming?
O, stay and hear; your true love’s coming,
That can sing both high and low:
Trip no further, pretty sweeting;
Journeys end in lovers meeting,
Every wise man’s son doth know.

Shift around the letters, and it becomes:

Emerging wireless ads strut hotshot-emeritus Guido Daniele’s groovy hand-painting art from nations yon where you enjoy non-normative service, whether Egypt’s low runes or China’s worthy embankment.

More hand-painting ads here!

Two Years

Friday, January 2nd, 2009

This blog turned two years old yesterday. Right now, it has a Technorati ranking of 453,743, with an authority of 13. As of midnight, New Year’s Eve, there were 525 posts in 62 categories, and 1,573 approved comments. The site also had 27,055 hits. Many thanks again to all who have visited and also to those of you who have joined in the fun.

I haven’t been around much in the past week, so I’ll post a light Googleplex today. All of the following phrases are search terms that brought people to this website in the past two weeks. As always, I invite readers to respond.


how did shakespeare change history

king lear in present day

greek tragedies for teens

how many days did it take shakespeare to write macbeth

who did king henry the eighth love the most

teaching shakespeare to the elderly

Shakespeare Lipogram: The Tempest

Sunday, December 21st, 2008

When I told DeLisa I was finished with the Shakespeare Lipograms after summarizing five plays, each restricted to using only a single vowel (A, E, I, O, U), she asked “What about Y?”. I assured her that I would be unable to do it. Now, I will prove it.

Please take this with a grain of salt, but here is a summary of The Tempest, told from Prospero’s point of view, using “Y” as the only vowel. I promise that I mean no offense to Gypsys or Pygmys, but I am using “gyp” in the dictionary sense to mean one who has cheated another, and “pygmy” in the non-dictionary sense as one who is native to an island.

And as long as I get to make up what words mean, I will also use the word “syzygy” to mean a general sense of forgiveness and the restoration of order, as might be symbolized by the aligning of celestial objects. Okay?

So here it is, my summary of The Tempest, using “Y” as the only vowel.

Enjoy!

Nymph Myth

 

Spy my gyps, spry Nymph? Fly by. Slyly stymy gyps dry.

Sylph, wryly pry why. Pygmy’s by.

Nymph, spy. Sylph, try shy tryst.

Myth’s hymns try rhythm.

Gyps, cry. Psych! Syzygy.

Nymph, fly!

The Original Five Lipograms

 

Henry IV, Part One: Hal and Falstaff at War, Part A

As You Like It: Between the Trees

Cymbeline: British King

Hamlet: Forlorn Son

Measure for Measure: Just, but Unjust

Shakespeare Anagram: King Lear

Saturday, December 20th, 2008

From King Lear:

Back do I toss these treasons to thy head

Shift around the letters, and it becomes:

Knotty shoe side-shots acerbated a host.

Googleplex – 12/19/08

Friday, December 19th, 2008

It’s time once again to check in on what searches people have done to find themselves at Shakespeare Teacher, and to respond in the name of fun and public service. All of the following searches brought people to this site in the past week.

descendants of king george iii

Now we’re getting a little closer to the present. King George III was king during the American Revolution; he was the King George we were revolting against. His reign was long – over 59 years! In fact, only his granddaughter Victoria reigned longer, though Elizabeth II is likely to pass him as well on May 12, 2011. But I digress.

George III is a direct ancestor of all subsequent monarchs of England. He was succeeded by two sons, a granddaughter, a great grandson, etc. So I’d imagine he’d be a direct ancestor of pretty much everyone who we consider to be of English royal birth today, though someone with a better grasp of how all of that works may correct me. I’d also imagine that he has many descendants who are not considered English royalty, their connection to the crown being too distant. Again, I am not beyond correction on this point.

what age group is tudors for?

The Tudors is for adults.

anagrams with the word teacher

Cheater!

what historically happened when shakespeare was living

Many important historical events occurred during the 52 years of Shakespeare’s life, both in the world and in England in particular. Shakespeare was born in 1564, just two months after Galileo, and died on his birthday in 1616 on the same day as Cervantes (actually ten days later).

That’s a lot of history to cover here, but I’ll give you a sampling of five of the more significant English, but non-Shakespearean, events that took place during Shakespeare’s lifetime and how they may have affected Shakespeare. I invite readers to quibble with my choices:

1588 – The English navy defeats the Spanish Armada. This sparked a new era of English patriotism which coincided with the beginning of Shakespeare’s writing career. It’s why a lot of his early plays are Histories, as that was a popular trend at the time.

1603 – Elizabeth I dies without an heir, and is eventually replaced by King James I. James became a patron of Shakespeare’s company, now “The King’s Men,” and Shakespeare will write Macbeth in honor of the new king.

1605 – Catholic conspirators attempt to murder James in the Gunpowder Plot. It is believed that there are references to the Gunpowder Plot in Macbeth.

1607 – Establishment of Jamestown colony in Virginia. The Tempest may have been inspired by the wreck of a ship that was headed for the colony.

1611 – Publication of the King James Bible. Rumors that Shakespeare worked on the project are mere speculation. Stories about Psalm 46 containing hidden messages should be taken with a grain of salt.

shakespeare julius caesar slings and arrows

The expression “slings and arrows” is from Hamlet, but I assume you’re talking about the Canadian television series. There were three seasons, each revolving around a different Shakespearean tragedy. Julius Caesar was not one of them. The plays were, in order, Hamlet, Macbeth, and King Lear.

if henry the 8th was alive today what would he look like

He would look like a 517-year-old man holding a giant drumstick.

I leave the task of responding to the remaining search terms to my readers:

at what point should you feel bad for iachimo

who were shakespeare’s teacher

shakespeare time machine professor

funny alternate endings for king lear

music for a powerpoint shakespeare music

shakespeare was not good at math

Shakespeare Lipogram: Measure for Measure

Sunday, December 14th, 2008

This is the fifth in a five-part series of Shakespeare Lipograms. For my final lipogram, I have chosen to summarize a Dark Comedy (or Problem play), Measure for Measure, using “U” as the only vowel.

Enjoy!

Just, but Unjust

Full Dutch must run, but puts up Curt Sub. Curt Sub (plus Humdrum Guru) must run Full Dutch’s turf. Curt Sub shuns lust, thus Curst Slut must shut up smut hut. Lustful Stud plucks un-nupt Cub Mum. Curt Sub busts Lustful Stud plus Cub Mum, but must snuff just Lustful Stud. Such junk luck! Numbskull Cutup hunts trump club: Trustful Nun. Full Dutch trusts Curt Sub, but must cull turf hubbub. Thus, Full Dutch turns Untruthful Church Guy, lurks hushful.

Punchdrunk Fuzz busts Pub Bum plus Dumbstruck Chum, but Humdrum Guru chucks such dumb busts. Numbskull Cutup drums up Trustful Nun. Trustful Nun must churn up Curt Sub’s ruth, but just churns up Curt Sub’s lust! Curt Sub puts crux thus: Trustful Nun succumbs, Lustful Stud’s sprung; Trustful Nun puts up fuss, Lustful Stud’s hurt. Such scum! Trustful Nun burns up, must burst truthful lungs, but Curt Sub shuts such bluffs up. Turf bunch trusts Curt Sub such, Trustful Nun’s slurs must rust. Nuts!

Untruthful Church Guy (Full Dutch) lulls jug-thrust Lustful Stud. Trustful Nun unfurls Curt Sub’s crux. Lustful Stud puts up spurn, but blurts much flux, succumbs, puts thumbs up. Trustful Nun burns up. Untruthful Church Guy lulls Trustful Nun, curbs Lustful Stud’s pluck. Punchdrunk Fuzz busts Pub Bum. Numbskull Cutup busts up jug-thrust Pub Bum. Numbskull Cutup murmurs untruthful Full Dutch slurs, stuns Untruthful Church Guy. But Humdrum Guru tuts Curt Sub, must gush Full Dutch’s surplus.

Untruthful Church Guy drums up Curt Sub’s Ur-Crush. Ur-Crush turns Untruthful Trustful Nun, humps Curt Sub. Dusk plus untruthful duds tuck up bluff. Curt Sub buys hump bluff, but burns Trustful Nun, puts up bull: Jug Grunt must snuff Lustful Stud, Curt Sub must clutch Lustful Stud’s skull. Ugh!

Gruff Thug duns Pub Bum cut Lustful Stud’s scruff plus Drunk Grump’s. Untruthful Church Guy turns Jug Grunt; Lustful Stud puffs. Drunk Grump puts up much fuss. Flu-Struck Mug punts. Such luck! Thus, Jug Grunt blurs truth, puts up Lustful Stud snuff, but trucks Curt Sub untruthful skull (Flu-Struck Mug’s). Numbskull Cutup bugs Untruthful Church Guy. Curt Sub buys skull bluff.

Full Dutch turns up. Trustful Nun sums up Curt Sub tumult. Full Dutch murmurs Curt Sub’s just, thus Trustful Nun must trump up slurs, busts Trustful Nun. Truthful Church Guy plus Ur-Crush pump up Trustful Nun’s crux, but Full Dutch trusts Curt Sub. Full Dutch must run. Untruthful Church Guy turns up. Numbskull Cutup slurs Untruthful Church Guy. Humdrum Guru busts Untruthful Church Guy. Numbskull Cutup tugs Untruthful Church Guy’s duds, thus unfurls… Full Dutch! Curt Sub must blush. Numbskull Cutup must skulk.

Full Dutch busts Curt Sub. Curt Sub must nup Ur-Crush. Curt Sub nups Ur-Crush, but Full Dutch must snuff Curt Sub: “Pull Lustful Stud’s plug, pull Curt Sub’s plug. Snuff plus snuff. Rust crusts up rust, plus trust burns such trust. Lust churns up lust, but just turns much unjust. Thus, trust us, truth must snuff Curt Sub. Rush!” Ur-Crush sulks, duns Trustful Nun murmur ruth. Trustful Nun succumbs, murmurs much ruth.

Trustful Nun stuns Full Dutch, but Full Dutch must snuff Curt Sub. Full Dutch hurls Jug Grunt bum’s rush. Jug Grunt must blush, but drums up Drunk Grump, plus… Lustful Stud! Trustful Nun jumps. Curt Sub puffs. Ur-Crush bursts. Full Dutch bumps Humdrum Guru plus Jug Grunt up turf rungs. Lustful Stud must nup Cub Mum. Drunk Grump’s sprung. Numbskull Cutup’s sunk, must suck up just lumps, must nup Smut Punk. Trustful Nun’s up, up, up!

But nun-lust struck Full Dutch. Full Dutch sums up crux. Um…

Bonus Lipogram: The Tempest

Shakespeare Anagram: Julius Caesar

Saturday, December 13th, 2008

From Julius Caesar:

Let me tell you, Cassius, you yourself
Are much condemn’d to have an itching palm;
To sell and mart your offices for gold
To undeservers.

Shift around the letters, and it becomes:

Once a scandal fully surrounds some Democratic governor, the other side could smugly flaunt it every time one of them plays as foul.

Googleplex – 12/12/08

Friday, December 12th, 2008

It’s time once again to check in on what searches people have done to find themselves at Shakespeare Teacher, and to respond in the name of fun and public service. All of the following searches brought people to this site in the past week.

googleplex fridays
This feature happens to share its name with the headquarters of Google Inc., located in Mountain View, California. I have no idea what goes on there on Fridays.

how come king james didn’t like macbeth
I don’t grant your premise, unless you are referring to the historical figure and not the Shakespeare play. In fact, you might say that the play was actually written specifically to appeal to the new king. Witches were a fascination for James, so he’d have been intrigued from the start. Also, James was a direct descendent of both the historical Malcolm and the historical Banquo. Notice that the witches make a prophecy that doesn’t actually come true in the play, which is an odd dramatic convention. They prophecy that Banquo will not be king, but will instead be the father to a line of kings. Later, Macbeth is shown a vision of eight kings along with the ghost of Banquo who points at them for his. The eighth king is meant to be King James, as he is the eighth king in the house of Stewart. The prophecy doesn’t come true in the play; it comes true in the audience.

presidents with the letter x
So far, it’s just Nixon, but the night is young.

shakespeare film 2010
You do realize you’re skipping over a whole year, right? No interest in The Tempest with Helen Mirren as Prospero? Not anxiously awaiting the new Hamlet with Screech and the Chocolate Rain guy? Okay. From what I can tell, the Shakespeare film event of 2010 will be King Lear with Anthony Hopkins in the title role and Naomi Watts, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Keira Knightley as his three extremely beautiful daughters. Also, Eddie Murphy – I kid you not – is planning to do a version of Romeo & Juliet. I imagine he will be playing both roles, but that’s pure speculation.

shakespeare king henry lambasts hal
I was amused to see this one because I used the phrase “lambasts Hal” in my first Shakespeare Lipogram, and I chose the verb because it only has the vowel “A” in it. But I wonder if you’re really looking for that scene from Henry IV, Part One, or if you’re actually looking for this scene from Henry IV, Part Two. It’s one of the great scenes from one of Shakespeare’s lesser-known works and was even listed as #38 on my Top 50 scenes in all of Shakespeare.

Hal finds his deathly-ill father asleep, assumes he’s dead, and takes the crown off with him. When he returns, the King’s awake, and lambasts Hal. They reconcile, and Henry gives his son advice for how to be king. The language is… there’s no adjective I could use that you wouldn’t say “Well, yeah, it’s Shakespeare” but the language is particularly rich and evocative in this scene. I did an anagram of a quote from it a while back, but I’m surprised I still haven’t done the most timely quote of them all: “Be it thy course to busy giddy minds/ With foreign quarrels; that action, hence borne out,/ May waste the memory of the former days.” It’s even got a “Q” in it. I’ll have to save that one for a rainy day.

is macbeth is worth reading
Most definitely. I suggest gathering a group of friends together, dividing up the roles, and reading it out loud. Trust me on this one. That’s how to read Macbeth.

I leave the task of responding to the remaining search terms to my readers:

why is shakespeare is one of the founding fathers
what did the tudors bring back to England

was shakespeare a teacher?

slings and arrows on demand time warner

which president read macbeth before he die

how did shakespeare die on youtube

 

All’s Well that Ends Well

Wednesday, December 10th, 2008

Well, I finally got the reading group started up again. A member generously offered to host in January, I got the invites out, and we’ve already got enough RSVPs to hold the reading (any less than four, and I cancel).

We’ll be reading All’s Well that Ends Well, which is a play that’s pretty far down the list of plays that I’m familiar with. I think I’ve read it only twice, but both times I had the chance to discuss the play with others: once in a graduate course, and once for a discussion group I was part of. We’ve never done a reading of it, even though my group has been doing monthly readings for over six years now. I have also never seen a production of it, though I may check out the BBC DVD before the reading.

The bottom line is that I’m pretty excited to revisit a play that I remember enjoying very much but don’t necessarily remember why. It didn’t make my Top 25 plays last year, which is not surprising given my limited recollection of the story, but somehow Helena made my list of Top 50 characters, so I guess I’m not completely out to lunch.

One of my favorite scenes (though apparently not one of my Top 50 scenes in Shakespeare) was the scene where Parolles is blindfolded and the soldiers speak in a made-up language to convince him that they are enemy soldiers speaking a foreign language.

Anyway, are there any big All’s Well fans out there? Let’s make some noise. What about this play does it for you? What do we have to look forward to?

Shakespeare Lipogram: Hamlet

Sunday, December 7th, 2008

This is the fourth in a five-part series of Shakespeare Lipograms. For my fourth lipogram, I have chosen to summarize a Tragedy, Hamlet, using “O” as the only vowel.

Enjoy!

Forlorn Son

Two on post show Old Crown Lord’s Ghost to Bosom Cohort, who looks on spook from top to bottom. Bosom Cohort knows to show Ghost to Forlorn Son. Forlorn Son dons low moods, won’t show known Crown Lord props. Forlorn Son broods:

“O God! O God! How worlds rot! How’s Pop forgot so soon? Not two months lost, no, not so, not two. So good to comfort Mom. Now – oh no! – to go from joy to sorrow. Crown Lord mocks protocol to hook control of stronghold so pronto to follow Pop’s drop-off. Took Mom for consort too soon, too soon. O, Mom shows so hollow! So not cool.”

Cross Hotblood told Moon Tot not to grow too fond of Forlorn Son, for Moon Tot’s born too lowbrow to show Forlorn Son how to don crowns. Top Lord told Cross Hotblood world-won words: “Son, do not borrow – not from, nor to – for to do so oft shows not gold nor cohort to follow.” Top Lord told Moon Tot not to grow too fond of Forlorn Son too, for boys’ vows oft show too hollow. Moon Tot conforms.

Bosom Cohort shows Ghost to Forlorn Son. Ghost told Forlorn Son to follow. Ghost shows Forlorn Son books of sorrow, from Ghost’s own bro, Crown Lord. “Son, for honor, go knock on Crown Lord’s door, who took to rob Pop of crown, of growth, of consort – lost! Do not scold Consort Mom. Now go!” Forlorn Son opts to go from low moods to mock fool.

Crown Lord now longs to know roots of Forlorn Son’s odd moods. Top Lord shows Crown Lord how Forlorn Son’s soft spot for Moon Tot grows odd moods. Consort Mom looks to how Forlorn Son sobs for Pop for roots of Forlorn Son’s odd moods. Forlorn Son shows two old school cohorts (who snoop for Crown Lord) how loss of Pop’s crown grows odd moods. Crown Lord knows not of Ghost’s words. Top Lord shows Show Troop to Forlorn Son. Show Troop shows off for Forlorn Son. Forlorn Son shows Show Troop how to form shows to work on crooks.

Crown Lord snoops on Forlorn Son. Top Lord snoops too. Forlorn Son broods solo: “To go on, or not to go on? Moot. To drop off? To nod down to stop lots of wrongs? Or to go to post-worlds of doom? No! Horror works on lots of cold-foot poltroons. So, do go on. Do go on. Soft! How now, Moon Tot?” Moon Tot confronts Forlorn Son. Forlorn Son scorns Moon Tot to go to God’s fold.

Crown Lord cottons to go to Show Troop’s show “Knock Off.” Crown Lord holds no joy to look on Show Troop’s show. Crown Lord opts to go, so Forlorn Son now knows. For Crown Lord to go off shows proof of Ghost Pop’s word. Top Lord told Forlorn Son to go to Consort Mom’s room. Forlorn Son looks on Crown Lord’s stoop to roods. Forlorn Son won’t knock off Crown Lord to go to God. Forlorn Son holds on. Forlorn Son shocks Consort Mom. Top Lord snoops. Forlorn Son swords… Crown Lord? No, Top Lord. Oops. Forlorn Son scolds Consort Mom, so Ghost Pop shows to stop Forlorn Son short.

Crown Lord books Forlorn Son’s two old school cohorts to convoy Forlorn Son to London. Forlorn Son looks on Oslo Lord’s troops. Oslo Lord’s honor grows on Forlorn Son. Cross Hotblood shows to look for Crown Lord’s blood. Lots of townsfolk show for Cross Hotblood. Crown Lord knows to look to Forlorn Son for Cross Hotblood’s honor. Cross Hotblood looks on Moon Tot, who shows odd moods. Cross Hotblood vows to knock off Forlorn Son. Moon Tot drowns.

Forlorn Son bolts both old school cohorts. Morons. Forlorn Son shows tomb-lot to Bosom Cohort. Two Tomb-lot Clowns fool to Forlorn Son. Both show Old Fool’s crown to Forlorn Son, who broods: “Forsooth, poor Old Fool. Known to stronghold folks, Bosom Cohort. How oft Old Fool told stronghold folks how to roll. How doom follows Old Fool now. Go to Mom’s room, Old Fool, show how fools rot. Mom won’t howl. Bosom Cohort, follow. Lords or lowbrows both go to worms’ food, or for chocks to stop hooch pots. Soft! Crown Lord shows!” Forlorn Son looks on Crown Lord, who comforts Consort Mom. Cross Hotblood sobs to go down to Moon Tot’s tomb. Forlorn Son hops down to confront Cross Hotblood. Both opt for swords.

Cross Hotblood blots hot sword. Crown Lord blots strong port. Both form doom for Forlorn Son. Forlorn Son shows. Forlorn Son bows to Cross Hotblood for Top Lord boo-boo. Both hold swords for sport row. Both go. Crown Lord holds port to honor Forlorn Son. Forlorn Son longs not for port. Consort Mom downs strong port. Oops.

Forlorn Son shows strong to notch two blows on Cross Hotblood. Cross Hotblood swords Forlorn Son. Ow! Forlorn Son swords Cross Hotblood, who drops hot sword. Forlorn Son now holds Cross Hotblood’s hot sword. Cross Hotblood now holds Forlorn Son’s cold sword. Forlorn Son swords Cross Hotblood, who knows both now look on doom. Consort Mom drops from strong port. Cross Hotblood told Forlorn Son of hot sword, of strong port, of Crown Lord’s non-honor. Forlorn Son swords Crown Lord, floods Crown Lord’s gob of strong port. “Follow Mom!” Crown Lord drops off.

Forlorn Son looks to Cross Hotblood. Both smooth off storms of loss for honor. Cross Hotblood drops off. Forlorn Son stoops down. Forlorn Son sponsors Oslo Lord to hold crown now. Forlorn Son drops off. Bosom Cohort croons: “Good morrow, good crown lord’s son. Go to God on good songs.” London Lord shows to post word of Forlorn Son’s two old school cohorts lost. Oslo Lord shows, now top dog. Both sob for loss. Oslo Lord drops word for troops to go shoot.

Next Lipogram: Measure for Measure