Hello, I am new to Shakespeare, I am however a bible scholar, and quickly saw how this incredible writer as you stated, held up a mirror to the society around him. The corruption, greed, lust, ambition and vanity. His plays to me anyway, seem like divinely orchestrated retelling of Saul/David, Samson and Delilah or a myriad of characters in kings. The book of Job is in there as to Judas betrayal (do you betray the son of man with a kiss? - I see Goneril flattering the father she will ultimately betray). If you have not read the Holy Bible page to page (as Shakespeare himself did) please do. Reading it in the King James version also presents it in a similar tongue to the Bard. It continually makes me smile as one going in a linear direction to arrive at Shake spear (a blessing for sure!) to then circle back to my favourite of all literature, and have to remind myself the former did indeed come before the latter, even though at times it can even look the reverse! A prophet of his time and yet another quill of the ultimate stage Director (God), Shakespeare affronts what is around him, holding the hounds nose to its urine, and then rubbing to reveal the stench. Pockets of light emerge, often to be drowned by the darkness,, but to remerge at a later date, the light shines in the darkness but the darkness did not understand it
Excellent essay! Although I wish you had spent more time on my favorite character Prospero. So much to be said about the way he battles with the dualities of being human: good vs. evil, forgiveness vs. redemption, the corpus vs. the spirit.
All one can really say is: we call him The Bard for a reason. While Shakespeare did write sonnets, it's an interesting thing about English that while most European cultures had a poet as their great Bard, we in English had a playwright. Only the French are comparable with Moliere and, to a lesser extent, the Spanish with their legendary playwrights Lope de Vega and Felipe de la Calderon.
I've got a couple translations by them on my shelf, but they are drops in the ocean. These guys were like factories. 70 plays from Calderon, and a whopping 500 from Lope de Vega. This sentence says it all: "Although [Lope de Vega] has been criticised for putting quantity ahead of quality, nevertheless at least 80 of his plays are considered masterpieces."
I agree with your assessment of Shakespeare. The older I get the more awed I am by his genius. The philosophy, the complexity of the dramatic structures, the vibrancy of the characters. It's amazing and timeless. Thanks for another lovely article, Mike. This series of posts is sitting in an imaginary file in my head, I have so enjoyed them!
I like tracing a direct line from modern cinema to the corresponding Shakespearean play, to the corresponding greek myth. The overlap is like higher brain —» mammalian brain —» reptilian brain. With Shakespeare, master of the Limbic system/mammalian brain. Thanks for this primer Mike.
Interesting, Paul. I've never developed any real interest in ancient mythology, but I've learned from you this past year that there is some enduring value there.
Maybe not as rich storytelling as Shakespeare or modern cinema but it does yield precisely what the evolutionary psychologists are uncovering about our ancient instincts. One of the best examples of science meeting story.
Hello, I am new to Shakespeare, I am however a bible scholar, and quickly saw how this incredible writer as you stated, held up a mirror to the society around him. The corruption, greed, lust, ambition and vanity. His plays to me anyway, seem like divinely orchestrated retelling of Saul/David, Samson and Delilah or a myriad of characters in kings. The book of Job is in there as to Judas betrayal (do you betray the son of man with a kiss? - I see Goneril flattering the father she will ultimately betray). If you have not read the Holy Bible page to page (as Shakespeare himself did) please do. Reading it in the King James version also presents it in a similar tongue to the Bard. It continually makes me smile as one going in a linear direction to arrive at Shake spear (a blessing for sure!) to then circle back to my favourite of all literature, and have to remind myself the former did indeed come before the latter, even though at times it can even look the reverse! A prophet of his time and yet another quill of the ultimate stage Director (God), Shakespeare affronts what is around him, holding the hounds nose to its urine, and then rubbing to reveal the stench. Pockets of light emerge, often to be drowned by the darkness,, but to remerge at a later date, the light shines in the darkness but the darkness did not understand it
A very interesting and astute perspective, Jack! Thank you.
Excellent essay! Although I wish you had spent more time on my favorite character Prospero. So much to be said about the way he battles with the dualities of being human: good vs. evil, forgiveness vs. redemption, the corpus vs. the spirit.
Thank you, Zach. Ah yes, Prospero is one of the great characters of literature.
This is refreshing! Keep it coming!!! Wonderful read and vey informative. Thanks for enlightening me. Francisco
Thank you, Francisco. Glad you're finding these posts meaningful.
All one can really say is: we call him The Bard for a reason. While Shakespeare did write sonnets, it's an interesting thing about English that while most European cultures had a poet as their great Bard, we in English had a playwright. Only the French are comparable with Moliere and, to a lesser extent, the Spanish with their legendary playwrights Lope de Vega and Felipe de la Calderon.
I wish a lot more plays by Calderon and de Vega were translated into English. Neither of them gets his due in our cultural history.
Interesting point about poets and playwrights.
Geez. I mean Pedro Calderon de la Barca. XD
I've got a couple translations by them on my shelf, but they are drops in the ocean. These guys were like factories. 70 plays from Calderon, and a whopping 500 from Lope de Vega. This sentence says it all: "Although [Lope de Vega] has been criticised for putting quantity ahead of quality, nevertheless at least 80 of his plays are considered masterpieces."
I agree with your assessment of Shakespeare. The older I get the more awed I am by his genius. The philosophy, the complexity of the dramatic structures, the vibrancy of the characters. It's amazing and timeless. Thanks for another lovely article, Mike. This series of posts is sitting in an imaginary file in my head, I have so enjoyed them!
Wonderful, Julia, and thank you. Means even more coming from a British citizen.
I like tracing a direct line from modern cinema to the corresponding Shakespearean play, to the corresponding greek myth. The overlap is like higher brain —» mammalian brain —» reptilian brain. With Shakespeare, master of the Limbic system/mammalian brain. Thanks for this primer Mike.
Interesting, Paul. I've never developed any real interest in ancient mythology, but I've learned from you this past year that there is some enduring value there.
Maybe not as rich storytelling as Shakespeare or modern cinema but it does yield precisely what the evolutionary psychologists are uncovering about our ancient instincts. One of the best examples of science meeting story.
Evolutionary psychology interests me a lot, so I'm glad you write about it regularly.