The New York Times brings us this fun article on the history of swearing. Yes, of course Shakespeare is in it. And not just for the occasional “Zounds!” I never knew that Much Ado About Nothing is a dirty joke.

I remember reading Taming of a Shrew in 9th grade high school. There’s a line between Petruchio and Kate, near the beginning, where they are bantering back and forth. At one point she calls him a 3-legged stool and he says “Thou hast hit on it, come sit on me” or something like that. I always figured that was about as filthy as I thought it was. Later in that same conversation when they’re doing some punning on wasps and stings, Petruchio gets a chance to say (on the subject of leaving) “What, with my tongue in your tail?” I mean, good lord. I’d hate to be the English teacher trying to explain why that scene is funnier that the students think it is.

And let’s not even get started on the Nurse from Romeo and Juliet. She talks like a trucker. Does thou fall upon thy face? Thou wilt fall backward when thou hast more wit!

Technorati: Shakespeare

I wonder if Kerry will let me have this. Remember the original Batman series, with Adam West, where they would open the door to the batcave by flipping back the head of Shakespeare’s bust and throwing the switch? Well, now,

you too can have that bust! Neat. They say that it really works. I’d love to connect it up to like the garage door or something.

Not for $300, though. $50, maybe.

The Stage Online :: Newsblog – Quotes of the week….

I like it. Man’s got a point — why does everybody think that the only way to make Shakespeare accessible is to put it in the early 20th century?

I like his description of that, too — “This type of productions lacks specificity, encourages woolyy acting…It instills in me a quiet longing for death.”

For the most part when I talk about Shakespeare, I’m preaching to the choir. Odds are that the people who are coming by this blog are already fans of Shakespeare and all we can ever really hope for is an exchange of ideas / interpretations about the plays.

What I’m curious about, though, is the Shakespeare “haters”. Seems like it’s really a love/hate thing with the man. I don’t find many people that just have no opinion. I’m curious why people don’t like him, because I want to see if I can change that. Was it too hard to learn the plays in school? Did you start too early and not have the life experience? Was it all about the language? Couldn’t connect with the characters?

I’m honestly curious. I’m hoping somebody drops in and sheds some light. I think you’re missing out.

Tag: shakespeare

Nick Saban, new head coach of the NFL Miami Dolphins, quotes William Shakespeare as a source of motivation and inspiration. Unfortunately the article doesn’t mention any specific quotes! That’s no fun. The article actually says “In the days leading up to his first game…” he quotes Shakespeare (among others), so I went back a few weeks looking for what he may have said, but nobody seemed to write about it :).

Still interesting, though, that it gets a mention now. I’ll be watching closer to see if he busts out any Shakespeare during a press conference. But if it’s St. Crispin’s Day, I’m going home. That’s too cliche.

🙂