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William Shakespeare, Playwright and Poet, Is Dead at 52

nytimes.com

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Re: William Shakespeare, Playwright and Poet, Is Dead at 52

#11

Post by DonHopkins »

themartorana wrote: post #6
icebraining wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Of the six signatures, three are abbreviations, and the other three don't coincide among themselves. Besides, he did use the modern form when he wrote his name in print, just not in his signature. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spelling_of_Shakespeare's_name

Oh be quiet with your logic and evidence. In the Romantic and Victorian eras the spelling "Shakspere", as used in the poet's own signature, became more widely adopted in the belief that this was the most authentic version. I guess I lean this way. (I do acknowledge what you said about the man himself spelling his own name differently, makes me wonder why...) But I have always been perplexed about different spellings…

Well, you know, Prince changed the spelling of his name, too. [1]

[1] http://milk.com/wall-o-shame/bruce_font.html

Re: William Shakespeare, Playwright and Poet, Is Dead at 52

#12

Post by na85 »

gavinpc wrote: post #2

Miss Hathaway had as a lover That infamous son of a glover Whatever Will said In their second-best bed She edited cover to cover A sort of rambling article from NYT whose most notable feature was a beautiful sidenote style and the lack of a scrollbar. For those interested in Shakespeare and new media, here's a thing I've been working on http://gavinpc.com/project_willshake.pdf

Contrarily, I found it engrossing.

Re: William Shakespeare, Playwright and Poet, Is Dead at 52

#14

Post by mirimir »

> “To be or not to be,” said Hamlet, prince of Denmark, “that is the question.” Yesterday, Hamlet’s creator was; today, he is not. Of that there is no question.

OK, so I'm moved to quote Samuel Butler:

> To himself everyone is immortal; he may know that he is going to die, but he can never know that he is dead.

I got that (as I recall) from Peter Watts' Echopraxia.

It's rather comforting, because I can always imagine that I will awaken ;)

Re: William Shakespeare, Playwright and Poet, Is Dead at 52

#16

Post by whateveridunno »

ams6110 wrote: post #13

Sadly (?) the only memories I have of Shakespeare are the forced readings in my sophomore (Julius Caesar) and junior (King Lear) years in high school, both of which I hated and for which Cliff's Notes were my crutch to get through.

I thought it was illegal not to have read Hamlet by 21?

Seriously though, give it another try. Shakespeare's wide-ranging enough that there's likely to be something to your taste. And with his comedies, especially, I'd recommend watching Shakespeare and not reading him- that's how his plays were meant to be experienced. Although it's nice to read an annotated version and discover all the (often dirty) jokes you didn't get.

Added benefit to reading Shakespeare: you'll understand about 40% more literary allusions (read the Bible, Ovid, Homer, and Virgil to get the rest).

Re: William Shakespeare, Playwright and Poet, Is Dead at 52

#17

Post by dclowd9901 »

mirimir wrote: post #14

> “To be or not to be,” said Hamlet, prince of Denmark, “that is the question.” Yesterday, Hamlet’s creator was; today, he is not. Of that there is no question. OK, so I'm moved to quote Samuel Butler: > To himself everyone is immortal; he may know that he is going to die, but he can never know that he is dead. I got that (as I recall) from Peter Watts' Echopraxia . It's rather comforting, because I can always imagin…

When I wake up and my first thought is "I'm alive!" It's actually going to be a good day.

Re: William Shakespeare, Playwright and Poet, Is Dead at 52

#19

Post by justinmk »

gavinpc wrote: post #2

Miss Hathaway had as a lover That infamous son of a glover Whatever Will said In their second-best bed She edited cover to cover A sort of rambling article from NYT whose most notable feature was a beautiful sidenote style and the lack of a scrollbar. For those interested in Shakespeare and new media, here's a thing I've been working on http://gavinpc.com/project_willshake.pdf

Your PDF is thought-provoking, as was the NYT article.

Re: William Shakespeare, Playwright and Poet, Is Dead at 52

#20

Post by Apocryphon »

ams6110 wrote: post #13

Sadly (?) the only memories I have of Shakespeare are the forced readings in my sophomore (Julius Caesar) and junior (King Lear) years in high school, both of which I hated and for which Cliff's Notes were my crutch to get through.

Try watching Shakespeare: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bsYrGIQnmxo
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