Ok, here’s the game. You’ve been handed the DVD of a Shakespeare movie you’ve never seen. You’re also about to get on a plane to a foreign country and won’t be able to watch it for months because of regional issues. So before you go, you pop it in and bring up your favorite scene, because you want to watch the best 5 minutes of the play. What play, and what scene? You like beginnings, endings, or something in the middle? You like a tragedy or a comedy?
A while back, inspired by something I read here, I posted my favorite 25 scenes and then my next favorite 25 scenes. I don’t think my tastes have changed much since then.
Based on my top picks, it looks like I gravitate away from the plot-based scenes in favor of the scenes that resonate with the themes of the play, and scenes that use the elaborate wordplay that Shakespeare did so well.
Wow, this sounds exciting.. 🙂
It’ll have to be King Lear, but I have quite a few favourite scenes: From Cordelia’s brutally honest expression of filial love for her dad, (the disguised) Kent’s return to Lear, Edgar’s (moving) caretaking of Gloucester at the cliffs of Dover, up ’til Lear’s final cries of woe over his dear Cordelia’s death..
While I prefer the Bard’s tragedies (eg. King Lear or Othello) to comedies, I don’t have an actual preference for either beginning, middle or end. Am fine as long as the underlying themes are beautiful enough to warrant readers’ rapt attention across boundaries as time/culture.
You’ve got a truly lovely blog on Shakespeare here. 🙂
Thank you for dropping by my place & for leaving your awesome note, too.
Do take care & Stay cool,
minerva*