#arden shakespeare

[ardenrosegarden]

The next sign that Lavinia gives has been obscure even to the play’s editors. After Aaron’s ludicrously cruel deception of Titus, the heads of Quintus and Martius are brought onstage. There is, as Bate says, an implied stage direction at this moment, for Marcus says to Lavinia: ‘‘Alas, poor heart, that kiss is comfortless / As frozen water to a starved snake’’ (3.1.251–52). Samuel Johnson introduced a direction for Lavinia to kiss Lucius, which subsequent editors changed to Lavinia kissing Titus. Bate, however, acutely realized that Lavinia must here kiss the heads of her brothers: such a kiss earns Marcus’s sad comment on its lack of consolation, but this comment shows, in turn, how easily Lavinia’s signs are misread, or ignored. Her kissing of the heads intends not comfort, but expiation, a demonstration of the brothers’ innocence that remains an uncertain fact in the minds of her uncle and father.

Lorna Hutson, Rethinking the ‘‘Spectacle of the Scaffold’’: Juridical Epistemologies and English Revenge Tragedy

[jonismitchell]

if your favourite shakespeare play is merchant of venice i do not trust you

[weirdmixofweirdness]

Someone in my Shakespeare class: “Hamlet was the original Blorbo.”

[the-fluffiest-trainer]

Hey, Arden, thoughts on the works of Shakespeare? The textbook I've got for my class on him is apparently named after you.

Who? I mean, yeah, sure, lots of thoughts. So many thoughts that it's totally natural for someone to name a book on this person after me, because of all my thoughts. It's definitely not named for any other Arden out there.

Psst, hey, Twilight, you heard of this Shakespeare person? What'd they do?

[lgbtqreads]

Fave Five: Shakesqueer, Part II

For part I, click here. Teach the Torches to Burn by Caleb Roehrig (historical m/m YA Romeo & Juliet) Twelfth Grade Night by Molly Horton Booth (text), Stephanie Kate Strohm (text), and Jamie Green (art) (contemporary YA fantasy graphic novel Twelfth Night) Ben and Beatriz by Katalina Gamarra (pan m/f contemp rom Much Ado About Nothing) The Death I Gave Him by Em X. Liu (sci-fi…

[britneyshakespeare]

you know i don't use amazon but something i often think about. several years ago my mom ordered me some books for my birthday on amazon and one of them i asked for was the oxford world's classics edition of the rover and other plays by aphra behn edited and with an introduction by jane spencer. it was supposedly new but when it got to me, the cover (paperback) was folded at an angle and the edges of the pages were dirty like they were left somewhere contaminated. and you see i don't mind like a not-pristine book at all; most of my books are used. but what the fuck was that.

[clonerightsagenda]

Now that I’m considering the ethical issues with an in-universe podcast retelling of Dracula I desperately want an Arden season on Dracula.

[libraryleopard]

Queer YA graphic novel retelling of Twelfth Night

When Vi transfers to public school while her twin brother remains at private school, she balances the freedom and loneliness of forging her own identity and becomes entangled in a complicated love triangle

Set in a urban fantasy world with fairies

Whimsical, colorful art

[alectology-archive]

I do genuinely believe that if you read twelfth night as a kid it probably altered your psyche permanently.

[gendzl]

is it just me or does it look really fucking weird shortened like that

[fivedayshakespeare]

5/5/2024-5/9/2024: Arden of Faversham

Oxford says that Shakespeare may have written scenes four through seven, or possibly four through eight. They might be right. The writing is much fancier in those scenes.

The play itself is cheerfully tawdry. Arden's wife wants to get rid of him so she can be with this other guy, and they hire two scumbags named Black Will and Shakebag to kill him. Then a series of coincidences repeatedly save Arden from being murdered, and a lot of comedy ensues. I assume. I mean, I guess it could be played straight, but it seemed to me while reading it that these two fell down a lot, which is usually a sign of a comedy.

There are a couple of other accomplices, and eventually Arden does get murdered and everyone involved immediately gets caught and executed. It's based on a real story, which is fun, but the basic concept of somebody accidentally avoiding being murdered repeatedly probably predates this play.

I think this was pretty popular in its day (1591), although I can't find the source of that belief at the moment. It allegedly invented the genres of both "domestic tragedy" and "black comedy," depending on who you ask, so that's pretty impressive no matter who wrote it.

I enjoyed it, but it didn't really feel Shakespearean most of the time. Still, it's nice to check in on the other plays of the era.

Next Up: King John (starting the History plays chronologically)

[anyataylorjoy]

Ophelia (2018) // November Nights, Arden Mae // House of the Dragon (2022-) // Persephone Returns, Emily Rose Cole // Ophelia, Friedrich Wilhelm Theodor Heyser // Mystery of Love, Sufjan Stevens // Fire with Fire (1986) // Spring and All, Cathy Park Hong // On-drakón (2015) // The Complex Sentence, Tony Hoagland // The Musketeers (2014-2016) // [from a letter], Sylvia Plath // 1883 (2021-22) // The Leaving Season, Jihyun Yun // Dorian Gray (2009) // The Lady of Shalott, Alfred Tennyson // Anne of Green Gables (1985) // Advantages of Being Evergreen, Oliver Baez Bendorf // Ophelia, John Everett Millais // Hamlet, William Shakespeare // Melancholia (2011) // Wild Geese, Mary Oliver // Revenge of the Sith (2005) // Summer Morning, Mary Oliver

[gainesha]

Arden Season 2 is one of my favorite works of fiction, I miss my complicated, obsessed Dana Hamill (the show's take on Hamlet... oh yes, have I mentioned it's a fake true crime podcast retelling of Shakespeare with queer will-they-won't-they protagonists, containing a deep well of tragedy and loss paired up with absurdist hijinks and DUCKS?????)

anyway, this is one of Dana's haunting songs

[devonellington]

Tues. Oct. 4, 2022: Determined Writing Time

Tues. Oct. 4, 2022: Determined Writing Time

image courtesy of Nicole via pixabay.com Tuesday, October 4, 2022 Waxing Moon Pluto, Saturn, Neptune, Chiron, Jupiter, Uranus Retrograde Mercury DIRECT as of Sunday the 2nd (phew) Mars still in Gemini (until March) Cloudy and cool Doesn’t it feel ever so much better to have Mercury direct? I was feeling crushed by it on top of the other retrogrades and Mars in Gemini. Friday seems so far…