Sigh...I guess it's not happening this year...

Okay, I give up. After months of neither reading Shakespeare nor writing about reading Shakespeare (which would have been a lie anyway), I concede. I am not going to read all of Shakespeare's works by the end of the year. But that isn't to say I've given up entirely. I did say I started the project because I wanted to read them by the time I was FORTY, which is still more than two years away.

So I'm making my 2014 New Year's Resolution early. NEXT YEAR is the year I read the Complete Works of Shakespeare. And look at the head start I'll have! So come back in two months (OH. MY. GOD. IS 2014 ONLY TWO MONTHS AWAY?) and I'll pick up where I left off...or something like that.

Thanks to everyone who wished me well in my quest. I'm sorry I fizzled out so completely in the middle of it. But I think we all knew that was a distinct possibility. On the plus side, I'm nearly halfway through next year's quest already. VICTORY!

To Be, or Not to Be … Notes on the Ongoing Shakespeare Authorship Debate : Harriet Staff : Harriet the Blog : The Poetry Foundation

To Be, or Not to Be … Notes on the Ongoing Shakespeare Authorship Debate : Harriet Staff : Harriet the Blog : The Poetry Foundation:

'via Blog this'

Day 190: New Play Tuesday! Henry VI, Part II

Oooh it looks like a map or a crown. Too bad the wordle is more interesting than the Henry VI plays so far...

Day 188: HA! Shakespeare movie mashups

Two Gentlemen of Lebowski by Adam Bertocci (source: wired.com)

William Shakespeare's Star Wars by Ian Doescher (source: wired.com)

William Shakespeare's Star Wars is a publication by Quirk Books, who did Pride and Prejudice and Zombies and  Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters, and was published earlier this month.

Day 187: Aww screw it

So it's like 40 degrees Celsius out there, which for all you Americans is Canadian for A MILLION FREAKING DEGREES. Seriously, it's not supposed to be this hot! So I can't think, let alone think about Shakespeare. I'M MELTING!!

Day 186: Where You Can See Shakespeare in Canada RIGHT NOW

                                                                                                                                                                             

SHAKESPEARE EVENTS HAPPENING IN CANADA:

                                                                                                                                                                          

St. John's NL: Cymbeline, Julius Caesar shakespearebytheseafestival.com

Halifax: Hamlet, Much Ado About Nothing shakespearebythesea.ca

Moncton: A Midsummer Night's Dream breadnmolasses.com

Montreal: A Midsummer Night's Dream repercussiontheatre.com

Ottawa: The Merry Wives of Windsor fools.ca

Toronto: Macbeth, The Taming of the Shrew canadianstage.com

Stratford ON: Romeo and Juliet, The Merchant of Venice, Othello, Measure for Measure stratfordfestival.ca

Winnipeg: Julius Caesar shakespeareintheruins.com

Saskatoon: The Comedy of Errors shakespeareonthesaskatchewan.com

Edmonton: King Lear, A Midsummer Night's Dream freewillshakespeare.com

Calgary: Titus Andronicus www.shakespearecompany.com

Vancouver: Twelfth Night, Hamlet, Measure for Measure bardonthebeach.org

Victoria: Merry Wives of Windsor, Measure for Measure vicshakespeare.com

Day 185: Shakespeare Quotes to impress people on the Fourth of July

Happy Fourth of July, Americans! Here are some quotes to impress people over barbecues or fireworks or whatever you crazy kids are up to today. Oh, and I straight up stole it from this website, so do check out American Shakespeare Center (and if you're the admin of that site and you'd like me to take this time, please let me know). Enjoy!

Shakespeare Quotes for Your Fourth of July Party

Shakespeare loves Fourth of July. If you want to sound smart at your Fourth of July party and impress your friends, commit a couple of these quotes to memory and break them out at propitious moments. I am a foe to tyrants, and my country's friend. Julius Caesar: V.iv. I do love my country's good with a respect more tender, more holy and profound, than mine own life. Coriolanus: III.iii In right and service to their noble country. Titus Andronicus: I,i Who is here so vile that will not love his country? Julius Caesar: III,iii I thank you all and here dismiss you all, and to the love and favor of my country commit myself, my person, and the cause. Titus Andronicus: I,i Having my freedom, boast of nothing else. Richard II: I,ii Gnawing with my teeth my bonds in sunder, I gain'd my freedom. The Comedy of Errors: V,i Let's all cry peace, freedom, and liberty! Julius Caesar III,i This liberty is all that I request. The Taming of the Shrew: II,i Leave us to our free election. Pericles, Prince of Tyre: II,iv

Day 184: So I read Henry V...man, that guy's a dick

Minimalist Henry V, from my Minimalist Shakespeare series

I don't know if Shakespeare's Henry V is historically accurate, but if it is then Henry V was a jerk. He makes speeches that essentially amount to "Hey, don't blame me if I order my troops to murder all your babies and rape all the women." He has his friends killed for being thieving rogues, as though he's never even heard of hypocrisy or irony. Then he rallies troops into a potential suicide mission by saying, "C'mon guys. I thought we were friends!" (That's his famous "We the few, we merry band of brothers" speech.) Then he marries the French princess to consolidate power between France and England (she has no say in it) and when she asks him not to kiss her out of respect for propriety, he makes sexualized remarks and kisses her anyway (he doesn't kill any babies at least...well not babies). 

I guess a flawed moral compass does NOT magically correct itself once someone is given absolute power. Over all, he's heralded as a pretty good English king.

UPDATE: I realize I forgot to explain the above picture. Henry V has tennis balls. And leeks. I'm not even joking. It's hard to explain.

Day 183: New Play Tuesday! Henry VI, Part I

SCC English Henry VI Part I wordle

Wow. Talk about a lot going on. I think it's definitely time for me to start watching the BBC productions or something to keep these characters straight. Why did I plan the histories for the summer??? I'm an idiot.

Day 182: What I Learned (so far) from The Taming of the Shrew...or at least the adaptations

As I said before, I'm skipping The Taming of the Shrew for now to focus on the histories, so I haven't read it yet. But I have learned a few things about it, particularly about the adaptations it has inspired. Here are just a few:

Kiss Me Kate (1948 stage musical)

via wikipedia

The classic Cole Porter musical takes place back stage of a musical version of Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew and the actress playing Katherine is constantly fighting with her ex-husband, the director.

Kiss Me Kate (1953 film)

via moviepostershop.com

It's like the musical, but apparently with more hilarious domestic violence.

10 Things I Hate About You (1999 film)

Julia Stiles is a high school student being wooed by a young Heath Ledger with terrible hair but an endearing singing voice.  It also inspired an ABC Family TV show of the same name (which I didn't see because I'm a grownup).

The Taming of the Shrew (1929 film)

via wikipedia

This film starred real-life husband and wife Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Pickford who were actually in the process of getting a divorce during the filming, so much of the fighting is probably pretty real, though Pickford later said she didn't think the performances were very good (especially Fairbanks') and the experience was one of her worst on set. Interestingly, the film was presented as both a talkie AND a silent film, as only certain theatres were equipped with sound in 1929, so some showings were silent while others were not.

The Taming of the Shrew (1967 film)

Didn't people ever get sick of seeing Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton playing an onscreen version of their real-life tumultuous relationship? Oh right, they did--Cleopatra. They were like the Brangelina of their time except that only one of them was good looking. Nonetheless this version remains one of the most watched version of the bard's play.

The Taming of the Shrew (2005 television adaptation)

This version, part of BBC One's ShakespeaRe-Told series, was directed by Sally Wainwright and starred Shirley Henderson (Moaning Myrtle!) as a cutthroat politician seeking a husband in order to soften her public image.

Moonlighting (TV series) Season 3, Episode 7 "Atomic Shakespeare" (1986)

"Petruchio and Katerina" (aka David and Maddie) in Moonlighting "Atomic Shakespeare" (via The Most Unusual Weddings From Television)

And no discussion of Shrew adaptations would be complete without a nod to this episode of Moonlighting which cast David Addison (Bruce Willis) as Petruchio and Maddie Hayes (Cybil Shepherd) as Katerina, complete with a writing credit to William "Budd" Shakespeare. Watch the entire episode (via YouTube) below!

Day 181: What I (Eventually) Learned From Henry IV, Part 2

Falstaff and his comically tiny companion, from Henry IV, Part 2 (from wsu.edu)

I learned quite a lot actually. First of all, I think Falstaff talks about narcolepsy at one point! That's particularly exciting for me because I have narcolepsy, as does my sister and our late father (and also Jimmy Kimmell, apparently). I don't see it mentioned much in popular culture, so that was pretty cool. Plus it makes Gus Van Sant's choice to have River Phoenix fall into a "narcoleptic fit" in My Own Private Idaho make more sense, even if that part of the movie was RI-DIC-U-LOUS. But I'm not sure if the character of Falstaff actually has narcolepsy or if it's just one of his many, many excuses to avoid facing charges by the Chief Justice for crimes he definitely did commit. But he describes it as "apoplexy, a lethargy disease, a kind of sleepiness in the blood" which definitely sounds like narcolepsy!

I also found it interesting that the character of Northumberland, upon hearing about the death of his son, has a shit-fit, and appropriately so. One thing Shakespeare knew how to write was the agony of a parent losing a child, especially a father losing a son (sadly, he had personal experience). But it's the specific thing that Northumberland says that strikes me. He says:

 "And let this world no longer be a stage 

To feed contention in a lingering act"

That reminds me of a twisting of the famous line, "All the world's a stage, And all the men and women merely players" (from As You Like It). Shakespeare has his actors say a lot of things that reference the stage they're on and the play they're in, a sort of self-awareness that breaks the fourth wall, if you will. Northumberland's line both does this and rejects it at the same time. His agony over the loss of his son makes him want to reject both his life as a soldier in a war AND his life as a character in a play. Interesting.

And speaking of Northumberland, how PISSED is his wife going to be when he gets home? The only reason their son is dead is because HE failed to back the right side. The Duchess of York from Richard II would NOT have put up with that shit AT ALL.

Day 180: Ooh! Here's another Minimalist Shakespeare graffiti!

Day 179: Okay, here's the new plan...

So after falling hopelessly behind, I can almost see the light at the end of the tunnel and I think  I can catch up. But I need a plan.

Here's my plan:

I'm going to skip The Taming of the Shrew for now and read it later. I've just finished Henry IV Part 2 (thoughts and comments to come) and I've started The Merry Wives of Windsor (which stars Falstaff but otherwise isn't part of the histories). After that, I'll read Henry V and then straight on to the Henry VI plays. I'll come back to The Taming of the Shrew later.

So that's it. Hopefully I'll catch up. Stay tuned for a lot of "What I Learned" posts in the next few days (fingers crossed)!

(from memegenerator)

Day 178: The Taming of the Shrew Sock Monkey

The Taming of the Shrew sock monkey by David Jones (fineartamerica.com)

It's amazing how expressive little sock monkeys can be! I don't know...do you think it looks like Elizabeth Taylor?

Day 177: The Taming of the Shrew word cloud

The Taming of the Shrew Wordle from SCC English

Day 176: New Play Tuesday! The Taming of the Shrew

Source: zazzle.com

When I first devised my reading schedule for the year, I figured I would need to break up the histories by interspersing other plays throughout. Of course, that means it'll be even longer before I finish the histories. And the histories aren't so bad, anyway. Maybe I should just be reading them all in order. Oh well. The problem with my schedule isn't the histories. It's the fact that I haven't been reading anything for a couple of weeks now and I'm hopelessly behind.

So here I am at The Taming of the Shrew. It's one of the more famous ones, so I'm looking forward to it. Sort of. It's also very...uh...anti-woman, isn't it? I might hate it. I know Laura Bates used it as a way to talk about domestic abuse with her Shakespeare students in prison. Maybe I should re-read that part of her book. 

Oh and speaking of women named Laura Bates, you should check out this blog by (a different) Laura Bates called The Everyday Sexism Project. It's sort of on topic actually.

Day 175: What I Learned from Henry V, Part 1 of...Sigh...I don't know anymore

What have I learned? I'll tell you what I've learned. I've learned nothing because once again I haven't read the play. I'm hopelessly behind now and I think the real question is fast becoming, "How QUICKLY can I read Shakespeare, especially if I want to accomplish this goal?"

This is me in the coming days/weeks/months:

via

Note: I got the above image from memegenerator.net but I don't know who created the original image (if it's you, and you'd like me to take it down, please let me know), but it sort of reminds me of Kendall's artwork from thisisnotthatblog.com, which is a fantastic blog and you should totally check it out.

Day 174: RSC does A Midsummer Night's Dream entirely on Google+ and it looks predictably awful.

Apparently the Royal Shakespeare Company has been doing a weird live-streaming concept version of A Midsummer Night's Dream on Google+ for the past three days. It relies heavily on user interaction and the assumption that anybody at all uses Google+. It looks fucking awful. The good news is that it's on Google+ so literally no one will see it.

via mashable

Day 173: New book claims Elizabethan children were kidnapped and forced to perform as child actors

source: The Independent

According to a new book by Oxford academic Dr. Bruce van Es, some Elizabethan children were kidnapped and forced to perform as child actors in the Queen's theatre company. He cites the case of Thomas Clifton, a 13-year-old boy who was snatched from his school and dragged away by a gang of men, according to court documents. 

Dr. van Es claims that William Shakespeare's Globe Theatre was opposed to the use of kidnapped child actors but that the practice was prevalent at the time.

Shakespeare's Globe Theatre (source: BBC)

Other academics refute van Es' claims, including Professor Michael Dobson, the director of the Shakespeare Institute, saying that the Thomas Clifton case was not enough evidence to claim child abduction was a widespread problem in the Elizabethan era.

You can read more about it in these articles:

New book claims child-catchers kidnapped boys for the Elizabethan stage (independent.co.uk) 

Elizabethan child actors 'kidnapped and whipped' (bbc.co.uk)

Day 172: This is going terribly

Sigh.

I have definitely hit a wall.

I'm two plays behind. Two and a half really since I haven't even started Henry V, not to mention Henry IV Part 2 or The Merry Wives of Windsor.

I've even put my other blog on hold in an attempt to catch up on my Shakespeare reading.

I don't know. I guess with the summer weather, I just don't want to curl up and read about English wars in iambic pentameter as much as I used to.

I'm almost halfway through the year. I don't want to give up just yet.

Time to rally.

Day 171: Henry V Lego

Here's another Lego Shakespeare vignette from brickshelf, this time a scene from Henry V.

Unlike the Sock Monkey Shakespeare from yesterday, this one doesn't look like the men with swords are attacking him, just waiting for his command. Hmm...maybe I'll have to actually get around to reading the play to find out which it is.

Is it just me, or do those soldiers look a little bit like Mounties?

Day 170: Henry V Sock Monkey

Sock Monkey Henry V by David Jones (fineartamerica.com)

Oh noes! They've got plastic swords! You're trapped, Sock Monkey Henry V!

Day 169: New Play Tuesday! Henry V

Henry V Wordle on SCC English

Well Henry IV is dead and Prince Hal--now King Henry V--is in charge. What could possibly go wrong? I wonder if "Pistol" is a person or if there are just a lot of people shooting pistols at him. Also, who's Fluellen? It's like someone was named "Llewellyn" but they had the flu all the time so people were making fun of him.

Day 168: What I Learned from The Merry Wives of Windsor...part 1

....
....
....
....

Well, as you can see, it's blank. I haven't read it yet. I am now TWO plays behind, which is the most I've lagged since I started this project. This isn't a good sign. Is this the end of My Year of Shakespeare? I hope not.

From "The Simpsons" Treehouse of Horror III, "Dial 'Z' for Zombies"
Episode #64 (Season 4, Episode 5), Original Airdate: October 29, 1992
gif source: tumblr.com

Day 167: Wisdom from Magda

Happy Father's Day to Will Shakespeare and all the other dads out there!

Day 166: French and Saunders do Shakespear's Sister - Destiny

If you don't remember Shakespear's Sister, here's their video for "Stay"

Day 165: 40 Shakespeare-Themed Father's Day Gift Ideas from My Shakespeare Year

Do you have a bard-loving man in your life who would love a Shakespeare-themed Father's Day? Here are some ideas! (You'll need to turn off your ad-blocker to see them) Check out the Shakespeare Star Wars tackle box...for the dad with a lot of different interests I guess.

Day 164: Live in New Orleans? You can go see 'The Merry Wives of Windsor' RIGHT NOW

Photo credit: John Barrois -- Starring in Tulane Shakespeare Festival's production of 'The Merry Wives of Windsor' are Anne Page, played by Susan Lanigan, and Fenton, played by Joey Pilka. Source: The Advocate

If you're anywhere near New Orleans this month, you can check out "The Merry Wives of Windsor" as part of the New Orleans Shakespeare Festival at Tulane University. It opens today for a total of 11 performances over three weekends, ending on June 29.

For more details, check out this article in The Advocate:

http://theadvocate.com/utility/homepagestories/6171843-129/merry-wives-of-windsor-kicks

Day 163: Merry Wives of Windsor word cloud

I can't get enough of these Shakespeare word clouds! I like how this one is arranged all helter skelter. It reminds me of a bunch of dropped sewing needles. MISTRESS must be said a lot!

Day 162: New Play Tuesday! The Merry Wives of Windsor

I think I'll take a break from the heavy histories* with another comedy, The Merry Wives of Windsor. It couldn't be more appropriate, since the character of Falstaff, introduced in Henry IV (possibly a combination of the real Sir John Fastolf, who appears in Henry VI, and John Oldcastle, who had living relatives at the time of Shakespeare that apparently stopped him from writing about their beloved buffoon of an ancestor) has a starring role in this one. Rumour has it Queen Elizabeth I herself requested Shakespeare write the play, so as to give Falstaff a love life. Fantastic! 

Serena Evans, Christopher Benjamin and Sarah Woodward in The Globe Theatre's 2008 production of The Merry Wives of  Windsor
via

How can you not love a play that has reindeer antlers? (Not to mention multiple female roles, which not every Shakespeare play does)

*It's not REALLY a break, since I'm still behind on the histories and have to finish Henry IV Part II.

Day 161: What I Learned from Henry IV, Part II...Part 1

Sigh. I'm tired this week. And I just discovered a new TV show that I love (Rizzoli and Isles), and I'm trying to reorganize the house, and I still haven't come up with a Father's Day present for Mike, and... Bottom line: I haven't read this play yet.

I'll get back to you. In the meantime, here are some pictures of Angie Harmon, my TV girlfriend.*

*p.s. Yes, I know she's a right wing, Christian, Republican, conservative in real life, but I don't even care. 

p.p.s. Also, I know this has nothing to do with Shakespeare. I also don't even care. 

Day 160: Well, it's happened

Yup. This Shakespeare project has finally turned me into the sort of person who posts cat pictures on the internet. I'm so, so sorry. In my defense, it's totally on topic!

Though can I just say, it's "Henry IV Part II" not Part III. There is no Part III to Henry IV. But Henry VI does have 3 parts. I know, I know, it can be confusing. And it is just a little cat after all. It's okay if he got confused.

Day 159: The Hollow Crown

Hey, did you know there's a BBC show based on Shakespeare's Richard & Henry plays (Richard III, Henry IV, Parts 1 and 2, Henry V)? But Jeremy Irons plays King Henry IV so I'm guessing they've added a creepy sexual predator element to the original material. I'm not saying that Jeremy Irons is secretly a sexual predator. I'm saying that all of his characters are, whether it's in the script or not. 

Here's a clip:

Day 158: Henry IV, Part II, a la Monty Python and the Holy Grail

Oops! I forgot to write a post AGAIN today. So instead, here's a post I'm sharing from BardFilm about the "Subtitles for People Who Don't Like Film" in Monty Python and the Holy Grail, which are actually just lines from Henry IV, Part II. See? Topical!

You can read it here.

Day 157: Minimalist Shakespeare

I've started a new series of Shakespeare drawings using Facebook Graffiti called "Minimalist Shakespeare." So far I have illustrations for the 22 plays I've read this year. What do you think? If you like them, feel free to share them, just please credit and link back to me.