Comments on: Don’t Rationalize Shakespeare http://www.calibansisland.org/shakespeare/dont-rationalize-shakespeare/ Shakespeare Mon, 06 Sep 2010 16:33:18 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6 By: msbourbeau http://www.calibansisland.org/shakespeare/dont-rationalize-shakespeare/#comment-15 msbourbeau Mon, 09 Jun 2008 17:29:00 +0000 http://nicepirate121182.wordpress.com/2008/04/29/dont-rationalize-shakespeare/#comment-15 I think the words are almost always critical, and actors, at least, certainly mustn't over-think Shakespeare, for fear of staying so far in their heads that the immediacy, and thus the impact, is lost. However, I think the words do need a framework to inhabit, and I think Shakespeare has given that to us, not just in the storyline, or in the characters themselves per se, but in the multi-leveled irony of the world, and the place in it physically, emotionally, and rhetorically, that those characters represent. In my view Shakespeare is first and foremost a master of irony. When Shakespeare is done well, it comes across, and it is the irony in the twists of plot and personal pain and pleasure that interests us; that we viscerally sense as having universal effect, and therein lies its most compelling force. I think the words are almost always critical, and actors, at least, certainly mustn’t over-think Shakespeare, for fear of staying so far in their heads that the immediacy, and thus the impact, is lost. However, I think the words do need a framework to inhabit, and I think Shakespeare has given that to us, not just in the storyline, or in the characters themselves per se, but in the multi-leveled irony of the world, and the place in it physically, emotionally, and rhetorically, that those characters represent. In my view Shakespeare is first and foremost a master of irony. When Shakespeare is done well, it comes across, and it is the irony in the twists of plot and personal pain and pleasure that interests us; that we viscerally sense as having universal effect, and therein lies its most compelling force.

]]> By: what we feel most has no name http://www.calibansisland.org/shakespeare/dont-rationalize-shakespeare/#comment-14 what we feel most has no name Fri, 02 May 2008 03:17:00 +0000 http://nicepirate121182.wordpress.com/2008/04/29/dont-rationalize-shakespeare/#comment-14 hear, hear! i completely agree. if only more people felt this way...or were able to realize this Very important lesson. grown-ups are in touch with their emotions and they feel them, whatever they may be. that's what it means to be vulnerable and in that vulnerability we are able to get close to others--to really let them in...and make real connections. our society promotes logic as far more valid than feelings...when that's not how we can get to know one another. <br/><br/>looking forward to seeing you as David! hear, hear! i completely agree. if only more people felt this way…or were able to realize this Very important lesson. grown-ups are in touch with their emotions and they feel them, whatever they may be. that’s what it means to be vulnerable and in that vulnerability we are able to get close to others–to really let them in…and make real connections. our society promotes logic as far more valid than feelings…when that’s not how we can get to know one another.

looking forward to seeing you as David!

]]>