benevolenterrancy:

“I
had rather be a canker in a hedge than a rose in
his
grace, and it better fits my blood to be
disdained
of all than to fashion a carriage to rob
love
from any: in this, though I cannot be said to
be
a flattering honest woman, it must not be denied
but
I am a plain-dealing villain. I am trusted with
a
muzzle and enfranchised with a clog; therefore I
have
decreed not to sing in my cage. If I had my
mouth,
I would bite; if I had my liberty, I would do
my
liking: in the meantime let me be that I am and
seek
not to alter me.”

– Much Ado About Nothing, Shakespeare

Last time I saw a Shakespearean production I drew art of my favourite adapted character, so I figured I would again this time around!

and holy fuck Don John as a female character is a life altering decision. Like that entire introductory monologue is just a fucking anthem and it fits the role of a female character so goddamn well. In my personal opinion, it’s a much more refreshing, interesting interpretation than the original, rather tired, “bastard child” route. I love the idea of a woman resentful at the idea of love and feeling caged and muzzled due to her gender. The whole “I
must be sad when I have cause and smile at
no man’s jests” just reminds me so much of the fury of being told to “smile :)” by men. So yeah, basically I fell a little bit in love with Dona Johnna

jumpingjacktrash: shakesankle: So let’s discuss the last scene of Hamlet, shall we? (Caution: long post.) It starts out with just Hamlet and Horatio, discussing the deceit of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. Horatio is explicitly made aware that King Claudius was at the root of the plot to kill Hamlet. Then Osric enters and informs them that…

I need the story of the Underground Shakespearian Ring

couldnt-think-of-a-funny-name: Okay, so the school I went to for 9th grade had this really bizarre grading setup that I still don’t understand- for some reason, instead of the teachers writing up and grading tests and exams and the like, all the work was sent to an unknown third party for them to grade??? It made no…

Why is Romeo and Juliet misunderstood?

leepacey: the tragedy of it isn’t that it’s a romance and they’re starcrossed lovers or whatever, it’s that children kill themselves because they hate the world they live in that much. plays and movies and stuff usually have much older actors play them (that’s how you automatically know the people making it don’t understand the…

phantomrose96: phantomrose96: I read Hamlet back in high school and to this day my absolute favorite thing about it was when Guildenstern was trying to fool Hamlet into doing something or other and Hamlet’s savvy to it but rather than saying “you’re lying and trying to trick me” instead Hamlet outta nowhere whips out this flute and…

interstellarsam: the most extra things that hamlet did in the play, in no particular order told his mother that no matter how much black he wore it could never really reflect how he felt inside had a full conversation in a graveyard with a gravedigger about death and talked to the skull of a man…

scientia-rex: sandovers: prokopetz: prokopetz: I am 100% convinced that “exit, pursued by a bear” is a reference to some popular 1590s meme that we’ll never be able to understand because that one play is the only surviving example of it. Seriously, we’ll never figure it out. I’ll wager trying to understand “exit, pursued by a…

0-ctrl-alt-del-0: whopooh: daimonie: motherfuckingshakespeare: runecestershire: runecestershire: persephonesidekick: harmonicakind: yknow if romeo had just Cried on juliets corpse for a couple hours instead of drinking poison Right Then they would have been Fine The moral of the story is: always take time to cry for a few hours before making important decisions. So I’m more or…

gery0n: here is how to do non-homophobic productions of classical texts with queer themes: take the moments of tension, when the subtext becomes most visible, the moments that are usually treated as jokes, and lean into them. treat queer love and desire with the same dignity and complexity as the heterosexual narrative. so for example,…

persephonesidekick: whopooh: daimonie: motherfuckingshakespeare: runecestershire: runecestershire: persephonesidekick: harmonicakind: yknow if romeo had just Cried on juliets corpse for a couple hours instead of drinking poison Right Then they would have been Fine The moral of the story is: always take time to cry for a few hours before making important decisions. So I’m more or…