We ❤ Shakespeare Week ~ The Tag!

Hello!
Today is the second day of Hamlette's week long party celebrating The Bard! I am not the #1 fan, but I do enjoy his plays a lot! Go check out the Master Post HERE.

The Questions:
1. When and how did you first encounter Shakespeare's plays?

I seriously can't tell you. I have been watching his plays for as long as I can remember. I think it started with The Merry Wives of Windsor, but the first one I remember is either The Merchant of Venice or Two Gentlemen of Verona (I know I've seen both of them, I just always get those two mixed up).


2.  What are your favorite Shakespeare plays?  (Go ahead and list as many as you like!)

Know that I am not familiar with all of them, only a few! This is not in any particular order.:

~Macbeth (I'm still figuring it out, but it is pretty powerful!).
~A Comedy of Errors (Classic!).
~A Midsummer Night's Dream.
~Much Ado About Nothing.
~Twelfth Night.

Source

3.  Who are some of your favorite characters in his plays?  (Again, list however many suits you.)

Again, no particular order:
~Don Pedro (Much Ado About Nothing).

~Pretty much every other character in Much Ado About Nothing.
~Puck (A Midsummer Night's Dream) [He is hilarious!].
~Viola (Twelfth Night).
~Pretty much every other character in Twelfth Night.
~Horatio (Hamlet)


4.  Have you seen any of his plays performed, whether live or on film?

*cracks knuckles* Mwahaha, I've seen a lot.

I have seen performed live (note, a lot of these were a long time ago):
The Merry Wives of Windsor (Though I remember nothing about it).
Two Gentlemen of Verona.
The Merchant of Venice.
Julius Caesar.
Twelfth Night (I've seen it twice!).
Romeo and Juliet.
A Comedy of Errors.
Hamlet.
Macbeth.

I have seen films of:
Hamlet (1996).
A Midsummer Night's Dream (1999).
Much Ado About Nothing (1993). The best!!!!!

This is the best part of the whole movie.

And part of Romeo and Juliet (2013).
And many other spin-offs.


5.  Have you read any of his plays?

I have read one: Twelfth Night. I was really disappointed because there was this part in the first play I saw that I really loved, but wasn't in the actual play or the second play I saw! It must have been from something else, but I don't know what.

Oh, and I've read the first act of Macbeth while I was waiting one time.

I know, I know, I need to read more!


6.  Share a dream cast for one of your favorite Shakespeare plays.

This kind of question is always so hard! Twelfth Night with Kenneth Branagh as Sir Toby Belch, though, he is probably too old. I have no clue for anyone else.

7.  What draws you to Shakespeare's plays?  (Language, themes, characters, the fact that they're famous, whatever!)

I have always loved being able to watch a live play, so being able to do that has been really great! The tragedies are really powerful, and the comedies (though they sometimes have the same elements) always make me laugh! It is amazing that they have lasted this long and still have such impact!

8.  Do you have any cool Shakespeare-themed merchandise, like t-shirts or mugs or bookmarks, etc?  Share pictures if you can!

I actually don't! Both my sisters do.


9.  How do you go about understanding his language?  (Do you prefer copies with translation notes, look things up online, or just read so much stuff written in Elizabethan English that you totally know what everyone's saying?)

With watching the plays you can sort of figure it out because it is in context, but reading was harder. I usually ask my mom or sister (aka the English language specialist) if I can't figure it out.

10.  What are some of your favorite lines from Shakespeare?  (Maybe limit yourself to like ten, okay?)

"If music be the food of love, play on, give me excess of it;

that surfeiting, the appetite may sicken, and so die." 

~ Opening line of Twelfth Night.

"And though she be but little, she be fierce." 

~ A Midsummer Night's Dream.

"For there never was yet philosopher that could endure the toothache patiently." 

~ Much Ado About Nothing.

"If we shadows have offended,

think but this and all is mended--

That you have but slumb'red here

While these visions did appear.

And this weak and idle theme,

no more yielding but a dream,

Gentles, do not reprehend." 

~ A Midsummer Night's Dream.

"There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio,

Than are dreamt of in your philosophy." 

~ Hamlet.

"Who would fardels bear,

To grunt and sweat under a weary life,

But that the dread of something after death,

The undiscover’d country from whose bourn

No traveller returns, puzzles the will

And makes us rather bear those ills we have

Than fly to others that we know not of?

Thus conscience does make cowards of us all;" 

~ Hamlet.

Okay, story time. After I saw the play, I was able to go to a workshop and it was all about the famous soliloquy. I had never actually given much thought to it and was surprised to learn what it was really about! They broke it down and this part has been my favorite part since. There is a reason that it is so famous, Shakespeare had a way with words!

"Can honour set-to a leg? No.

Or an arm? No.

Or take away the grief of a wound? No.

Honour hath no skill in surgery, then? No.

What is honour? A word.

What is that word honour? Air." 

~ King Henry IV. 

I haven't seen or read this, but the quote is fabulous!

"He hath a heart as sound as a bell and his tongue is the clapper; for what his heart thinks his tongue speaks."

 ~ Much Ado About Nothing.

"If I were as tedious as a king, I could find it in my heart to bestow it all upon your worship."
~Much Ado About Nothing.

"We came into the world like brother and brother,

And now let's go hand in hand, not one before another." 

~ A Comedy of Errors.

My sister and I say this almost everyday.

There you have it! Make sure to go check out the other posts HERE.

Hamlette is also hosting a giveaway! There is some pretty neat stuff there (dibs, it's all mine. [Just joking!]), so go check that out HERE.

And just head on over to Hamlette's Soliloquy for games and all other kinds of cool stuff!

Sorry that this post is kind of boring image wise! I couldn't find any images that I liked. Thanks for reading!

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