Honestly wasn't sure what I'd think of this one since it's not entirely Shakespeare's work, but I enjoyed it, and there was plenty that felt like, "AhHonestly wasn't sure what I'd think of this one since it's not entirely Shakespeare's work, but I enjoyed it, and there was plenty that felt like, "Ah yes, this is the Bard." Retelling of Chaucer's "The Knight's Tale."
It didn't feel like Shakespeare starting out (he didn't write the whole thing), but as the story kept moving along I was getting plenty that anticipatIt didn't feel like Shakespeare starting out (he didn't write the whole thing), but as the story kept moving along I was getting plenty that anticipates his masterful romances (The Winter's Tale especially). Fairy tale elements abound.
Complicated. Not in a bad way but in a way that makes this play hard to talk about in a Goodreads review. I commend Shakespeare for knowing once againComplicated. Not in a bad way but in a way that makes this play hard to talk about in a Goodreads review. I commend Shakespeare for knowing once again how to hold everything in tension. Coriolanus has genuine nobility and even by my observation acts as a Christ figure in certain ways. But he is simultaneously problematic, the dragon who must be slain.
“Our peace we’ll ratify; seal it with feasts. Set on there! Never was a war did cease (Ere bloody hands were wash’d) with such a peace.”
Five stars just “Our peace we’ll ratify; seal it with feasts. Set on there! Never was a war did cease (Ere bloody hands were wash’d) with such a peace.”
Five stars just for Imogen. What a fantastic Shakespearean leading lady. But there's SO MUCH packed into this play it would be five stars no matter what. Other standouts to me are the language (Shakespeare really had hit his stride at this point in his career), fairy tale patterns and motifs, and the echoes of earlier Shakespeare plays (with a twist, of course!), my favorite being the nods to Othello. This play’s Iago pulls off his own deception to call the wife’s chastity into question, but this time death is but a sleep, giving way to a resurrection. The couple is restored to one another, and the villain repents and is forgiven. "Pardon's the word to all."
(The Literary Life Podcast 2023 Reading Challenge – Work by Shakespeare you have never read before)
"They, looking back, all th' eastern side beheld Of Paradise, so late their happy seat, Waved over by that flaming brand. The gate With dreadful faces th"They, looking back, all th' eastern side beheld Of Paradise, so late their happy seat, Waved over by that flaming brand. The gate With dreadful faces thronged and fiery arms. Some natural tears they dropped but wiped them soon. The world was all before them, where to choose Their place of rest, and Providence their guide. They hand in hand with wand'ring steps and slow Through Eden took their solitary way."
What an achievement for English literature. Milton's Christian epic is simultaneously one of the most challenging and most rewarding classics I've read (and reread). It's not a work to be rushed, but savored. The poetry and pathos are stellar.
The particular edition I used is the Norton Critical Edition. Although I can't speak to the helpfulness of the literary criticism in the back of the book since I don't have time to read it all right now, I can say that the annotations, glossary, and modernized spelling/punctuation definitely aid understanding while reading. ...more
"Invention rest, Comparisons go play, wit use thy will: Less than the least Of all God's mercies, is my posy still."
George Herbert is one of my favorit"Invention rest, Comparisons go play, wit use thy will: Less than the least Of all God's mercies, is my posy still."
George Herbert is one of my favorite poets. This collection is full of beautiful gems in language, form, and theme. Surely some of the greatest devotional poetry ever written....more
"Let us have certainty when it’s available; let us have humility when it’s not. Let’s remember that paradox, with its attendant wonder, is its own way"Let us have certainty when it’s available; let us have humility when it’s not. Let’s remember that paradox, with its attendant wonder, is its own way into the meekness of wisdom. . . . God is the author of and, and biblical faith doesn’t always have to be ugly, strident dogmatism, thistled with either and or and prickly to the point of drawing blood."
Through no planning of my own, my recent book choices have kept pointing me back to wonder—to let go of modernity's need for certainty and learn to love mystery. This book proclaims the message once again by pointing readers to some paradoxes of the Christian faith. These paradoxes should not unsettle us. Rather, they should awe us as they direct our attention to a God so much greater than we can fathom or understand. As Michel notes, "Mystery will not leave you standing. It will force you to your knees. That’s always the place we do our best wondering—and worshiping."
Michel is biblical without slipping into just the kind of dogmatism that kills the wonder and mystery of what she discusses. She makes insightful observations, whether the paradox is one I have considered many times before or not at all. Lastly, she writes exceptionally well, weaving biblical interpretation, personal anecdotes, and striking turns of phrases together in such a way that I found myself highlighting early and often. ...more
One of Shakespeare's problem plays, the foremost problem seemingly—what form is it? Despite the more nebulous and cynical qualities of this play, I stOne of Shakespeare's problem plays, the foremost problem seemingly—what form is it? Despite the more nebulous and cynical qualities of this play, I still felt like I was reading Shakespeare. You've got Ulysses with a brilliant monologue expressing the essence of medieval cosmology (even if he and the other characters fail to live up to it), lots of callbacks to Romeo and Juliet, and an artistic order created by various parallels and juxtapositions of characters and scenes that screams Shakespeare through and through.
A fun comedy with Shakespeare once again elevating his female characters. Here for the language-based humor a“Wives may be merry, and yet honest too.”
A fun comedy with Shakespeare once again elevating his female characters. Here for the language-based humor and the hilarity of Falstaff having to escape twice as dirty laundry and a fat aunt. Please know that I am also an incredibly simple person who loves certain Sam Gamgee and Mr. Collins movie scenes so much that I got a real kick out of Falstaff’s “Let the sky rain potatoes” line in Act V. Really loved all the A Midsummer Night’s Dream vibes in the final act too.
"The quality of mercy is not strain'd, It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven Upon the place beneath: it is twice blest; It blesseth him that gives a"The quality of mercy is not strain'd, It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven Upon the place beneath: it is twice blest; It blesseth him that gives and him that takes: 'Tis mightiest in the mightiest: it becomes The throned monarch better than his crown; His sceptre shows the force of temporal power, The attribute to awe and majesty, Wherein doth sit the dread and fear of kings; But mercy is above this sceptred sway; It is enthroned in the hearts of kings, It is an attribute to God himself; And earthly power doth then show likest God's When mercy seasons justice. Therefore, Jew, Though justice be thy plea, consider this, That, in the course of justice, none of us Should see salvation: we do pray for mercy; And that same prayer doth teach us all to render The deeds of mercy."
The first time I read this play, I was all about the Shylock storyline. I just love Shakespeare's exploration of two different ways of life that shape not only how one views wealth but also everything else. And the way Shakespeare explores and resolves the mercy vs. justice tension is wonderful.
However, I was so much about that storyline and so ignorant of the brilliance that is Shakespearean structure that I disliked Act V and thought the play should have ended with Act IV. Silly modern me, got too caught up in the story within the story. Still a lot to explore in this play, but I understand it much better now and love to see how Shakespeare is also exploring the tension between marital love and friendship.
(Lit Life Patreon SIAY 2023-2024)
(Read for the 2017 Tim Challies Christian Reading Challenge: A play by William Shakespeare)...more
"What is it ye would see? If aught of woe or wonder, cease your search."
To see how great a play this is and know at this point in his career Shakespear"What is it ye would see? If aught of woe or wonder, cease your search."
To see how great a play this is and know at this point in his career Shakespeare still had even better plays to write—the Bard is truly a genius. The atmosphere and structure of this one are just excellent.
Things that jumped out on this reread: Hamlet as a big riff on part of the Hercules myth, Hamlet and Laertes as foils, the play within a play structure (not just the obvious part in Act III but also the twist on it in Act V).
A wonderful play in its own right, but also considered as a capstone to Shakespeare's career (this is said to be the last play he wrote on his own) anA wonderful play in its own right, but also considered as a capstone to Shakespeare's career (this is said to be the last play he wrote on his own) and the end of my Shakespeare in a Year plan, it's even more special. The Bard worked such magic with his imagination.
"Every wink of an eye some new grace will be born."
Shakespeare, you brilliant man. This play, one of his last, showcases a great author at the height "Every wink of an eye some new grace will be born."
Shakespeare, you brilliant man. This play, one of his last, showcases a great author at the height of his craft. The seamless blending of tragedy and comedy, Christianity and mythology, winter and spring is outstanding. The play's structure is outstanding. The themes and motifs of imagination, art, redemption, and resurrection are outstanding. Furthermore, because this play comes toward the end of Shakespeare's writing career, we get to see Shakespeare synthesize a host of elements from earlier plays, to great effect.
Is the ending improbable, even for Shakespeare? Absolutely. But if it were anything less incredible, the redeeming, reconciling, restoring grace that saturates the final act would not be nearly so potent, beautiful, or worthy of being called grace. Wonder-fully done.
I've read this play enough times now to know it's genuinely my favorite. But Othello is still genuinely my favorite. So co-favorites it is.
(The Literary Life Podcast's 20 for 2020 Reading Challenge - A Shakespeare play)
There's a complexity to this play I can't quite articulate. Also a cosmic grandeur conveyed by the language Shakespeare uses, especially in reference There's a complexity to this play I can't quite articulate. Also a cosmic grandeur conveyed by the language Shakespeare uses, especially in reference to Antony and Cleopatra. Quite a bit of emphasis on love and the heart, with people and things set in tension in such a way that I kept being reminded of "No man can serve two masters."
Harold Goddard tells us that this brilliant tragedy is “the culmination of Shakespeare.” Amen. From Goddard we also get this compe“See better, Lear.”
Harold Goddard tells us that this brilliant tragedy is “the culmination of Shakespeare.” Amen. From Goddard we also get this compelling description:
“What is a king?” I once asked a little girl out of pure curiosity to see what she would say. Looking up at me with shining eyes, she replied without a moment’s hesitation: “A king is a beautiful man.” She was in her fairy-tale stage. Shakespeare would have understood—for King Lear is the story of how a king in the worldly sense became a king in the fairy-tale sense, of how a bad king became a beautiful man.
Grasp what Goddard is saying, and this play will cease to look like possibly the most hopeless thing Shakespeare ever wrote, a play in which Gloucester miserably declares, “As flies to wanton boys are we to th’ gods, / They kill us for their sport.”
While this play is assuredly a tragedy, it is not hopeless. Lear and Gloucester both see better in the end. Gloucester’s blinding, perhaps the most violent scene in the Shakespearean canon, is the violent grace that leads to true sight. And Lear’s sight comes through his madness, before culminating in a sight of the heavenly world. The bad king who was told he is everything becomes a beautiful man as he learns what the Fool meant when he said, "Thou art nothing."
This is the genius of Shakespeare.
(The Literary Life Podcast’s 2 for '22 Reading Challenge: Drama – Tragedy)
All things being accounted for, I don’t think Othello is Shakespeare's best play, but it is my favorite. The stellar production mThis play. THIS PLAY.
All things being accounted for, I don’t think Othello is Shakespeare's best play, but it is my favorite. The stellar production my university put on no doubt factors into it. It’s been over ten years now, but I still remember that night—thousands in attendance, but you could've heard a pin drop as we helplessly watched the story move to its heartbreaking conclusion. Yes, I give credit to the actors and the staging, but in the end, I know it's the story that sucked us all in that night. I mean, Iago has got to be one of the best worst villains you will ever meet. Seriously. He evokes Dolores Umbridge levels of rage in me. And the intimacy that comes from this play being a domestic tragedy just heightens the pain and tension even more.
Those reasons alone were enough years ago to make Othello my favorite, but as I have returned to the play with better reading skills and some excellent guides (check out the Literary Life Podcast), I have found even more to love about it. Iago is the storm, the war, the devil, the chaos come to wreak havoc with his words. He tempts Othello, succeeds, and in so doing incites the destruction of innocence, peace, and goodness itself clothed in the form of Desdemona. No wonder the tragic turning point for Othello takes place in a garden. Another fall once happened in the garden. This truly is the tale as old as time. But justice endures, and we can always count on Shakespeare to restore order in the end, and that reminds us that the Story we’re still living in will one day get there too, thanks to an even greater Storyteller....more
Merchant of Venice explored the tension between justice and mercy well, but I think this one goes even deeper.
I quite like how Act II, scene i ends wMerchant of Venice explored the tension between justice and mercy well, but I think this one goes even deeper.
I quite like how Act II, scene i ends with Escalus saying, "But yet, poor Claudio; there is no remedy." Then scene ii has Isabella giving this beautiful speech, my favorite lines in the Shakespearean canon:
Why, all the souls that were were forfeit once, And He that might the vantage best have took Found out the remedy. How would you be If He, which is the top of judgment, should But judge you as you are? O, think on that, And mercy then will breathe within your lips, Like man new made.
So there's a description of God figuring out the remedy, and the Duke parallels that throughout the play, actively working to right the situation.
Then in Act V, when Angelo realizes Claudio is still alive, he gets "a quick'ning in his eye." Which I know from my KJV English is a bringing to life. So there at the end, Angelo has his "Like man new made" moment, thanks to mercy.
At one level, the fairy tale elements and by extension gospel images are so palpable in this story I love it. But then I read literary criticism from At one level, the fairy tale elements and by extension gospel images are so palpable in this story I love it. But then I read literary criticism from people whose insights I usually find helpful and don't know what to make of the argument that Shakespeare is poking at the comic form. I trust the Bard, so I choose to believe this is a good play no matter what he's aiming for with it.
Because of the separated twins/mistaken identities motif, it's a bit like if Comedy of Errors were a comedy proper rather than a farce. Lots of characBecause of the separated twins/mistaken identities motif, it's a bit like if Comedy of Errors were a comedy proper rather than a farce. Lots of characters caught up in excess of one kind or another, but Viola and Sebastian's arrival ultimately bring Illyria back to order.
Feste's great too! Like the prelude to Lear's Fool.
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