Hamlet, what would you make of this Tumblr sitch?

Here we are again and it's Tumblr day. Is it your favorite day? It is not mine, but I do like it plenty. Today, let's do only Hamlet ones, because everybody loves them some Hamlet.

No, seriously. Tumblr can't seem to get enough of that Danish angst.

XD

I mean... yeah.

Burn! Oh, wait.

I prefer this version immensely.

Well that'll do it for this round of tumblr stuffs!  I do hope you have a lovely time.

The Madness and the Sadness of King Lear

Good day, y'all.  This one's going to be about my feelings regarding King Lear, and thus, it's going to be all over the place.  I'm just going to get that out up front. So let's dive right on in, shall we?

I'd like to share one of my favorite quotes from King Lear.  There are many great quotes to be found, and so many speak to me on a human level.  But the one that chokes me up unfailingly (I am not singular in this), is what Lear says as he cradles the lifeless body of the only daughter who loved him.  These are the final words the mad king speaks before perishing, as his poor heart finally gives out from great sadness.

And my poor fool is hang'd! No, no, no life!
Why should a dog, a horse, a rat, have life,
And thou no breath at all? Thou'lt come no more,
Never, never, never, never, never!
Pray you, undo this button: thank you, sir.
Do you see this? Look on her, look, her lips,
Look there, look there!
Dies

(Act V, Scene iii, 304-309)

"Why should a dog, a horse, a rat, have life,/ And thou no breath at all?" is possibly the most poignant example of grief humanity can express.  The great "Why" of it all.  I once heard a quote along the lines of, "Humans are the only animal to cry, for they alone comprehend the difference between what is, and what might have been."  I cannot remember where it came from, but it comes to mind every time I read or hear Lear's final monologue.

Moreover, Cordelia held the purity and great promise of redemption in her.  The play could have been righted with her return, but it is not meant to be.  Hope dies with her, for Lear.  It is more than just the sharp knife of the youthful dead.  It's suddenness sends the hopeful momentum the play had been gathering into a downward spiral.  For me, the final loss of hope in this scene is what makes King Lear the great tragedy its known to be.  The moment never fails to move me.

I also love hearing different actors' interpretation of Lear's five nevers - "Thou'lt come no more,/ Never, never, never, never, never."  In such plays of great eloquence, it is, for me, the moments of ineloquence that say so much about the characters.  Hamlet has his famous four "O"s before he dies.  Othello falls into repetitive ramblings before fainting...  The men of great monologues have these delightfully poignant moments where their speech fails them at a critical time.  And Lear's five nevers fall like blows of a hammer, sealing Cordelia's fate and Lear's own hopelessness.

Then of course, there's the idea that Lear thinks he sees her breathing as he dies.  "Do you see this? Look on her, look her lips,/ Look there, look there!" What a great touch to add - the mad Lear is certainly hallucinating once more, but perhaps his final breath is one filled with hope, rather than despair.

I could go on and on, but my point is probably something like this: the final scene of King Lear is so devoid of joy that hardly any remember what comes after Lear's death.  The old king's heart just gives out.  That is how this story ends itself - not with murder, but with hopelessness.

  In a play filled to the brim with battles, storms and betrayals - described as too large for the stage upon which it must be performed - the end comes not with a bang, but with a whimper.

Performance in Theatre for a New Audience in Brooklyn.
Michael Pennington as Lear, Lilly Englert as Cordelia 

Moar Tumblr

Good day to you all!  I am back now (orly?) to share more tumblr posts with you.  Perhaps you are thinking that rather than follow a blog that's so spotty on updates, you'd rather just go to tumblr and subscribe to such things as these yourself.  Well FINE! I have no right to be butt hurt about that, but I cannot promise I won't be.

This is a bit dark. Maybe I shouldn't have lead it with.  NO! NO LOOKING BACK! So anyway, in case it was unclear, or you're unfamiliar with Hamlet (and yet still here?! I love you madly for that.), Horatio is the only person left alive at the end of this play.

These are both references to the same Inappropriate Audition Songs meme of people using songs that hit a little too close to home while auditioning for a certain part in a play.

Re-appropriation of the same quote from The Office

TRUTH.

I am just saying this list is legit.

Hugs and kisses, erebody!

I Don't Care if You Think it's Corny

I am not ashamed of myself!

Okay, maybe just a little.  This was sent to me by an old professor, and I just can't get enough of it.  

Yeeepp... I did it again.  Also from said professor.  He was not ashamed and so neither am I!*

*What I am ashamed of is my absence.  Perhaps these posts will start rolling in now? Mmm, we'll see. I am a terrible liar at the best of times.

Shakespeare and Tumblr Part 3

Hey-ho!

Today is a tumblr day again - do you love these?  I love these.  If you do, or don't, share your thoughts in the comments!  I plan to keep doing them, because I love sharing the relevancy of Shakespeare's plays.  There is something so enlightening about connecting with people and stories from over 400 years ago.

So let'd just do it!  I will provide explanations where I fear there may be a disconnect.  If I am mistaken and there is no disconnect and you are way smarter than that, then my B, yo.

Butthurt

That Escalated Quickly  

I cam out here to have a good time and I'm honestly feeling so attacked right now

Bitch I might

15 Minutes Late with Starbucks

Do it for the Vine

Doge meme

I hope you enjoyed thoses!  My favorite is by far the first one about Ophelia - "Does she have a boyfriend?" "Not a good one."  Ah, I laughed pretty hard at that.

Anyway, until next week, friends!

Possibly the Cutest

Guys, this is adorable.  My capstone adviser told me about this video, and I cannot help but share it with you all.

The talented Brian Cox is an Emmy-award winner, a Shakespearean actor, and to boot, he apparently teaches a Masterclass to toddlers.  This is him teaching little Theo the famous "To be or not to be" speech from Hamlet.

It's a delight.

I am not ashamed. Or should I say ABshamed! ...That was bad.

Guess what everyone!

Shirtless Shakespeare is an awesome thing that happened.  Thank you, electricalice.tumblr.com and amarguerite.tumblr.com for allowing us to live in a world where these exist.

Pretty sure my shame gland is broken, and that is why I am sharing this.  In other news, Thursday is my graduation ceremony, so I'm not sure if I'll be able to post something or not.  I certainly hope so!  But we'll see how busy it gets.   In other words, yes, there is a strong chance that this is what I am leaving you with for a whole week.

I will endeavor to be more scholarly next time maybe.

Shakespeare and Brooklyn Nine-Nine

'Sup!

So, it makes me overly happy when there's a reference to Shakespeare in a current show I like - and it's something that happens a lot more than people realize, I think.  Mostly because not everyone is going to recognize everything that is a nod to the Bard of Avon, seeing that not everyone studies his plays.

How did this weird train of thought come about?  Well, I was watching Madam Secretary the other night with my parents and Tea Leoni said, "The play's the thing," and I went, "Oh snap!" Then my mother looked at me like I was a crazy person.

But that's a line from Hamlet, guys!  "The play's the thing wherein I'll catch the conscience of the king." Hamlet wants to be sure the ghost didn't lie to him, so our favorite Dane stages a play about the exact thing his ghost dad said Claudius did to see if he can get a reaction from Claudius.  Guess what: he totally get a reaction!*

Anyway, the saying was used in the show to invoke the idea of setting a trap for someone. Thrilling, huh?

Thus inspired, I decided to take one of my favorite shows and chronicle the Shakespeare references.  I am currently very into Brooklyn Nine-Nine on Fox; it's on its second season, and already there are three whole Shakespeare references.

Let's list them!

Captain Holt: How did you get everyone to help you?
Jake Peralta: I appealed to their sense of teamwork and camaraderie with a rousing speech that would put Shakespeare to shame.
(Flashback to speech. Jake talking in a bad Scottish accent) For too long, we've been put down, ridiculed, made to wear ties! But no more! For today, we defeat him!
Captain Holt: And that worked?
Jake Peralta: No.






Jake Peralta: I guess that's your new best friend now, Santiago.  Emphasis on "iago," backstabber.
Amy Santiago: I'm surprised you've read Othello.
Jake Peralta: What the hell's Othello? I'm calling you the parrot from Aladdin.

(Charles Boyle comes in for a Halloween costume contest dressed as Hamlet to get people's opinions)
Charles Boyle: To be or not to be-
Rosa Diaz: Not to be.
Charles Boyle: Thank you (leaves and changes)





Stay tuned!  I bet there will be more at this rate!  Is there a show you love that might reference the bard?  Also, are there any in B99 that I've missed?  If you too are a Shakespeare buff and somehow also love Brooklyn Nine-Nine, then you are required by law to tell me so that we can be friends.

Fun picture from the show.  Maybe you should watch it on account of how awesome it is.

*That's up to interpretation.  Like everything else in the written world.

Shakespeare and Pop Culture

Okay so,

I am a day late (!!!!), which is not really like me.  But in my defense, I audibly gasped and nearly dropped my plate of dinner last night when I realized I hadn't actually posted this yet.  Thank GOODNESS there was no one there to rush over and say, "OH MY HEAVENS, WHAT'S WRONG?!" Because "I forgot to post in my Shakespeare blog today" would have been met with... sarcasm. Yeah, let's go with sarcasm.

So my profoundest of apologies, dearest readers, as I know you await these posts with avid anticipation.

Let's continue, shall we?

This is another tumblr post, where I share gems of funny Shakespeare conversations I've found on tumblr.  I  get so excited when I see Shakespeare referenced in pop culture today, especially with regard to new memes or sayings that are popular.

And as a pretext, I want to say that I know that humor is much like a frog: you can dissect it, but it will die in the process.  With that in mind, I don't want to belabor where these references come from, but I do want to provide some context for two hella important reasons:

1. Maybe not everyone spends as much time on the internet as me and doesn't get them.
2. In 3 years, there's a strong chance that I won't even remember what these jokes were referrencing.
3. In scholarly work (such as this blog), it's important to provide context and clarity.
4. For your very own pop culture edification?

That looks like four reasons.  Turns out I can't count.

Anyway, if you get them, cool.  Ignore the little explanation link.  If not, then you're welcome maybe?

Okay, I'm going to stop pre-apologizing/excusing what I do on this blog and just get on with it.

Yeah.

From Pitbull and Ke$ha's song, "It's going down"

"I came out to have a good time and I'm honestly feeling so attacked right now" meme.

"You had one job" meme.

TV show "30 Rock" episode and ongoing joke.

"Bitch I might be" meme.

Hope you enjoyed!  I just love it when the youths talk about Shakespeare!

To Be or Not To Be - That is the Adventure!

Howdy, good brethren!

Today I cannot help myself and so I am endorsing a most delightful book.  It's a choose-your-own-path Hamlet adventure story, and it's by the infallible Ryan North.  I was lucky enough to catch this project back during its Kick-Starter phase, and so I threw all my moneys at it.  It was the most successful Kick-Starter campaign ever at the time, raising over 2,000% of its goal!  Now, it's a full-fledged book and it is SO enjoyable I almost can't even.

You can play as Hamlet, Ophelia, or King Hamlet; but wait, there's more!  Each ending comes with artwork from one of 65 artists. You can follow Yorick skull markers to stick closely to Shakespeare's plot, or explore alternative possibilities. And trust me, there are some crazy fun off-script endings.  But no matter which way you chose, every path is full of Ryan's casual, hilarious prose, and rife with jokes and cultural references.

I'm going to give you a little sample here, where North whips out some Fresh Prince of Bel Air.  Because I care about you all, and I want this for you. I CANNOT sell this enough.

Aside from this, it's full of lines such as, "Anyway: this ghost. You can see through it, but only a little? It’s weird. And I’ll tell you what the frig else: this ghost does look like your dad." Buy it immediately!  If you're interested, that is.  This is a no-pressure environment. I want you to feel safe here.

Later taters!
(That's a direct quote from King John, and you can't prove me wrong because there's no way you've read it... no one has.)

Shakespeare's Ladies Coulda Used a Sassy Gay Friend

Good dawning, sweet reader!

As you may or may not have noticed, I've reverted to Monday-Thursday updating.  Things are a little hectic right now and I need a teeny bit of a buffer.  So there.  I'm sure I'll go back to MWF as soon as things slow down in my work, personal and scholarly life.  But until then, I must regrettably offer you less Shakespeare than you have become accustomed to of late.  My deepest and most sincerest apologies.

Enough of that, let's go back to Shakespeare!

In case no one has shared this with you before, let me be the first.  The Second City Network on YouTube came out with a series of Sassy Gay Friend videos for a multitude of famous women, including a number of Shakespeare's heroines.  "This could have been prevented if she had a sassy gay friend."  Do enjoy.

Juliet, of Romeo & Juliet

Ophelia of Hamlet

Desdemona of Othello

Lady Macbeth from Macbeth

Honestly, it starts getting weird when they suddenly got sponsored by Mio, but I still dig it.  Hope you did too! 

Until next time, dudes.

That's Shakespeare? Who Knew...

Happy Monday, everyone!

Let's talk about Shakespeare some more. (que sorpresa!)  More accurately, let's talk about all the things in this world that are references to Shakespeare that maybe you didn't know about!  Yes, these are the things that keep me up at night; fretting over whether or not people are fully comprehending all the of references that are out there.  They are like movie Easter Eggs, but in our society!

So let's start with 3 things that come from Shakespeare that you (possibly) didn't know:

The Sound and the Fury

Do you remember that book you had to read in high school/college by William Faulkner?  Well, he got the title from the play, Macbeth.  It's one of the most devastatingly beautiful and existential soliloquies there is, in my humble opinion.  Macbeth has just learned that his wife has killed herself, and he says,

To-morrow, and to-morrow, and to-morrow,

Creeps in this petty pace from day to day,

To the last syllable of recorded time;

And all our yesterdays have lighted fools

The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle!

Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player,

That struts and frets his hour upon the stage,

And then is heard no more. It is a tale

Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,

Signifying nothing.

Macbeth Act V, scene V, 19–28 

Sometimes when I read it, I think it's the most loving thing he could have said - such sadness at the state of the world, the emptiness of it all.  Anyway, Faulkner took it and ran with it.  And I don't know if you noticed, but his book has that same eerie tone, of a life devoid of meaning and purpose.

"What Dreams May Come" 

This was a lovely Robin William movie based off a novel of the same name by Richard Matheson.  After dying in a car crash a man searches the afterlife for his wife.  The title is derived from Hamlet's famous "To be or not to be" speech on death and what comes after.  Below is the segment:

To die, to sleep,

To sleep, perchance to Dream; Aye, there's the rub,

For in that sleep of death, what dreams may come,

When we have shuffled off this mortal coil, (hey, that part's my blog name!)

Must give us pause. There's the respect

That makes Calamity of so long life:

Hamlet, Act III, Scene i, 1757-62

Sting's Album, "Nothing Like the Sun"

Sting is actually quite the Shakespeare fan, and the inspiration came to him when a drunk man said to him "How beautiful is the moon?" and he replied, "Nothing like the sun."  It comes from my favorite sonnet, number 130.

My mistress’ eyes are nothing like the sun;
Coral is far more red than her lips’ red;
If snow be white, why then her breasts are dun;
If hairs be wires, black wires grow on her head.
I have seen roses damasked, red and white,
But no such roses see I in her cheeks;
And in some perfumes is there more delight
Than in the breath that from my mistress reeks.
I love to hear her speak, yet well I know
That music hath a far more pleasing sound;
I grant I never saw a goddess go;
My mistress when she walks treads on the ground.
     And yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare
     As any she belied with false compare.

Beautiful, right?  See, what he's doing here is taking a popular genre of poetry in his day (a blason) that enlisted the practice of praising a woman by singling out different parts of her body and pairing them with metaphors for compare.  e.g. your eyes are like two stars, your hair is like rows of golden wheat, etc.  But he's turning it on its head and saying pah! I am better than all the poets and all the writers in all the world.

Perhaps I'm paraphrasing.

Anywhoo, stay tuned for more things you didn't know were originally Shakespeare's.  Thanks, public domain!

Shake & Tumble

Greeting, travelers!

No time for a real post today... but I hope some of these gems from tumblr will make up for it.  I swear, tumblr is the weirdest, bestest place.

Alas, Poor Yorick! This shirt is the best, Horatio.

Happy Friday, dudes.

Look what I got!  By far the best shirt I own.  It's about to be out of print, so if you want one, better jump on it!  She also has other great shirts for sale that are very funny in nature, albeit non-Shakespearean.  But if you are into Shakespeare shirts like me, you can also check out some of the other awesome designs below.

Come Hither!

 Fierce!

Homeboy

Dramatically Correct

Welcome to Shuffling this Mortal Coil!

This is the very first post in my new Shakespeare blog.  Let's get introduced!

Hello,

My name is Khaki and I am a graduate student working on a Masters in English with a focus on everyone's favorite bard.  Why? Mostly because I just plain wanted to.  Isn't that a great reason?  I do it for love of the craft - which is almost as good as getting paid!  Which I don't.  Not for this. Definitely not for this.

"But Khaki, what does 'Shuffling this Mortal Coil' even mean?"  I'll tell you, dear reader.

In Hamlet's famous "To be, or not to be" monologue, there is a segment that goes,

For in that sleep of death what dreams may come 

When we have shuffled off this mortal coil, 

Must give us pause.

(III.i.74-6)

He's talking about dying, and the fear of not knowing what come after we kick it.  Shuffling off your mortal coil means shedding this husk of of chaos we call a body - e.g. to die.  Serious stuff, folks.  But someone misquoted it to me once and said "shuffling this mortal coil," which would pretty much mean to dance. I laughed and laughed... aaand I was the only one.

Anyway, this expensive hobby has been a joy for me, and I have come across so many great Shakespeare related things on these here internets; now I have a place to share them!

So I hope you enjoy.  And if you don't, well that's okay; I'll just have to enjoy it enough for the both of us.

So for now,

"Adieu, adieu, adieu. Remember me" (Hamlet I.v.91)

Khaki

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