Sorry I’m so late, but I did want to think everybody for playing my Christmas Carol Contest. The question was, can you spot the fairly obvious Shakespeare reference “right smack in the middle” of Dickens’ A Christmas Carol? Apologies to those who I misled with “middle”, I did not expect you take me literally. The reference I was looking for is only about 4 paragraphs in: The mention of Marley’s funeral brings me back to the point I started from. There is no doubt that Marley was dead. This must be distinctly understood, or nothing wonderful can come of the story I am going to relate. If we were not perfectly convinced that Hamlet’s Father died before the play began, there would be nothing more remarkable in his taking a stroll at night, in an easterly wind, upon his own ramparts, than there would be in any other middle-aged gentleman rashly turning out after dark in a breezy spot — say Saint Paul’s Churchyard for instance — literally to astonish his son’s weak mind. As I mentioned previously, this paragraph is almost always snipped from productions, so don’t feel bad if it’s completely foreign to you. It is, however, on page 1 of the text :). Bonus points to reader Deb for finding a Measure for Measure reference (“a vain man in his little brief authority”), and Carl for digging up a Twelfth Night connection when Scrooge goes visiting with the ghost of Christmas present. Winners have been notified, and copies of Manga Macbeth and Manga Julius Caesar will be going out in the mail this week! Thanks again for playing, and hopefully 2009 will bring lots of new PR reps who like to send me free books that I can give away.
