Tag Archives: Shakespeare

Jeanne d’Arc, part 1.

I’ve always been highly conscious of lingering energy, though part of it may be my imagination, I’ve been to where Martin Luther King was shot, and it made me shiver a little, even at age 8, not because of what had occurred there, but because I knew without a doubt that he had been thereContinue reading “Jeanne d’Arc, part 1.”

drama: Molière – The Misanthrope (1666)

Amidst the calls of John McCain in the last debate, “now, there’s just another example of Senator Obama’s eloquence” it’s rather fitting to read Alceste making the same arguments just about now, and to consider how Molière presents him. A friend mentioned that she’d heard Molière described as the French Shakespeare–I disagree, because Shakespeare, in myContinue reading “drama: Molière – The Misanthrope (1666)”

film: Nichols: Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966)

I read this in one sitting. Back when I had concentration. It was brutal, I didn’t like it one bit, and I followed it up with a good dinner, having spent the afternoon sitting in a cafeteria corner flipping pages. The film–even more brutal, like a series of terrible volleys, leaving me unable to breathe,Continue reading “film: Nichols: Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966)”

film: Branagh: Frankenstein (1994)

Frankenstein has long held a place in my heart because it deals with the reckless life of a poet, and its destructive tendency,  and thus I see myself in it, and I grow concerned, wondering if such tragedy really is so tragic. Considering Frankenstein at any point after WWI turns Mary Shelley into a prophetContinue reading “film: Branagh: Frankenstein (1994)”

film: (Chaplin) – Tillie’s Punctured Romance

I don’t care if it is the first feature-length comedy ever, because it still sucks–which, I mean to say, is that it contains everything I never liked about American comedies. The majority of its humor is from slapstick violence, some of it’s from alcohol, and a lot is because Tillie’s a real beast. I supposeContinue reading “film: (Chaplin) – Tillie’s Punctured Romance”

film: Walters – Please Don’t Eat the Daisies (1960)

I suppose it’s rare that one can watch a lengthy portion of a film and miss every shred of context. Something that has angered me for years: the general perception of the ending to the musical Pippin. Wikipedia sums it up: “Pippin realizes that he has given up his extraordinary purpose for the simplest andContinue reading “film: Walters – Please Don’t Eat the Daisies (1960)”

film: Olivier: Richard III (1955)

Olivier’s Richard III assumes great independence of the text, including, though I haven’t checked for sure, lines from Henry VI part 3 as the introduction (as I seem to recall the play ending on a generally optimistic note, York now holding the throne, and the audience privy to Richard’s ill intentions). But these are changesContinue reading “film: Olivier: Richard III (1955)”

poetry: Byron: Hours of Idleness (1807)

Four selections from a book of poems I find a somewhat tedious read of sporadic quality: “Love’s Last Adieu”–I nearly didn’t make it through this, every line, I mean, was difficult to make sense of, even after spending the past hour working through Shakespeare’s Venus and Adonis. Granted, it can’t be easy to write somethingContinue reading “poetry: Byron: Hours of Idleness (1807)”

poetry: Shakespeare: Venus and Adonis (1593)

I recall reading this in Northampton in the Haymarket, late one evening, at a small table, with my teapot, and a small dim light over my book, and I was waiting many hours for R—- to arrive, and nothing could keep my focus on this poem, though I tried with all my might to enjoyContinue reading “poetry: Shakespeare: Venus and Adonis (1593)”