"his works outlasting time. But increasingly he suggests, as Theseus does in ""A Midsummer Night's Dream"", that ""The best in this kind are but shadows"" (V.i.214), that art is rather a bore. . . . I find Shakespeare particularly appealing in his attitude towards his work. There's something a little irritating in the determination of the very greatest artists, like Dante, Joyce, Milton, to create masterpieces and to think themselves important. To be able to devote one's life to art without forgetting that art is frivolous is a tremendous achievement of personal character. Shakespeare never takes himself too seriously."" ""Lectures"
"of fashion, Edwardes changed the focus of the theatre from musical burlesque to the new genre of Edwardian musical comedy. Many works of literature and theatre have been based on Sheppard's life. Perhaps the most prominent theatrical work is John Gay's ""The Beggar's Opera"" (1728). Sheppard was the inspiration for the character of Macheath, and his nemesis, Peachum, is based on Jonathan Wild. A melodrama, ""Jack Sheppard, The Housebreaker, or London in 1724"", by William Thomas Moncrieff was published in 1825. Ainsworth's popular novel was published in ""Bentley's Miscellany"" from January 1839, with illustrations by George Cruikshank. Ainsworth's novel was"
"would erect to this supremacy."" The play offers an alternative to the feudal-Machiavellian polarity, an alternative foreshadowed in France's speech (I.1.245–256), in Lear and Gloucester's prayers (III.4. 28–36; IV.1.61–66), and in the figure of Cordelia. Until the decent society is achieved, we are meant to take as role-model (though qualified by Shakespearean ironies) Edgar, ""the machiavel of goodness"", endurance, courage and ""ripeness"". The play also contains references to disputes between King James I and Parliament. In the 1604 elections to the House of Commons, Sir John Fortescue, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, was defeated by a member of the Buckinghamshire"
"upper-class. While mocking a pedantic schoolmaster, Costard uses the word ""honorificabilitudinitatibus"", the longest word by far from any of Shakespeare's works. Costard makes many clever puns, and is used as a tool by Shakespeare to explain new words such as ""remuneration"". He is sometimes considered one of the smartest characters in the play due to his wit and wordplay. Costard's name is an archaic term for apple, or metaphorically a man's head. Shakespeare uses the word in this sense in ""Richard III"". Costard Costard is a comic figure in the play ""Love's Labour's Lost"" by William Shakespeare. A country bumpkin,"
"first time, and identifies Maid Marian with 'one of the semi-mythical Matildas persecuted by King John'. The plays are complex in plot and form, the story of Robin Hood appearing as a play-within-a-play presented at the court of Henry VIII and written by the poet, priest and courtier John Skelton. Skelton himself is presented in the play as acting the part of Friar Tuck. Some scholars have conjectured that Skelton may have indeed written a lost Robin Hood play for Henry VIII's court, and that this play may have been one of Munday's sources. Henry VIII himself with eleven of"
"this in his historical novel ""Oddfish!"", which contains the text: “Workmen, too, were set to search and dig everywhere for ""Tewkesbury mustard-balls,"" as they were called—or fire-balls, with which it was thought that the Catholics would set London a-fire”. A similar line also appears in Alfred Marks' book ""Who Killed Sir Edmund Godfrey?"". Thomas Firminger Thiselton-Dyer in his book “The Folk-lore of Plants” (pub. 1889) gives evidence that the phrase “He looks as if he lived on Tewkesbury mustard” came to be used as slang in Gloucestershire for those ""who always have a sad, severe, and terrific countenance"". In Shakespeare's"
"comedies or his romance plays, and extended into his histories as well. The character portrayed by Falstaff in the Henriad, or plays dealing with Henry IV, is representative of Shakespeare's exemplary use of the comic type of character in his history plays. Several of Shakespeare's comedies, such as ""Measure for Measure"" and ""All's Well That Ends Well,"" have an unusual tone with a difficult mix of humour and tragedy which has led them to be classified as problem plays. It is not clear whether the uneven nature of these dramas is due to an imperfect understanding of Elizabethan humour and"
"famous writ. ""Sowed cockle, reap'd no corn,"" a line by William Shakespeare penned in 1594 in ""Love's Labour's Lost"", Act IV, Scene 3, most certainly has reference to blighted wheat caused by the plant parasite, ""Anguina tritici"". Needham (1743) solved the ""riddle of cockle"" when he crushed one of the diseased wheat grains and observed ""Aquatic Animals...denominated Worms, Eels, or Serpents, which they very much resemble."" It is likely that few or no other recorded observations of plant parasitic nematodes or their effects are to be found in ancient literature. From 1750 to the early 1900s, nematology research continued to"
"a play within a play, a dramatic device used frequently by Shakespeare; the drama piece has echoes of ""Anthony and Cleopatra"" and the players mention the ""Ides of June"", a reference to the Ides of March in ""Julius Caesar"". Born to Be King (Blackadder) ""Born to Be King"" is the second episode of ""The Black Adder"", the first series of the BBC sitcom ""Blackadder"". Set in late 15th-century England, the episode takes a humorous look at rivalries with the Kingdom of Scotland and centres the dramatic tension on the doubts cast over parentage of the lead character, Prince Edmund, Duke"
"one of the company's boys, doubling the role of Cordelia. Only one specific performance of the play during Shakespeare's lifetime is known: before the court of King James I at Whitehall on 26 December 1606. Its original performances would have been at The Globe, where there were no sets in the modern sense, and characters would have signified their roles visually with props and costumes: Lear's costume, for example, would have changed in the course of the play as his status diminished: commencing in crown and regalia; then as a huntsman; raging bareheaded in the storm scene; and finally crowned"
"needs"" of a humanity to which the operations of a Commodity-driven society perpetually do violence. This ""new"" thing that Shakespeare discovers is embodied in Cordelia. The play thus offers an alternative to the feudal-Machiavellian polarity, an alternative foreshadowed in France’s speech (I.1.245–256), in Lear and Gloucester's prayers (III.4. 28–36; IV.1.61–66), and in the figure of Cordelia. Cordelia, in the allegorical scheme, is threefold: a person; an ethical principle (love); and a community. Until that decent society is achieved, we are meant to take as role-model Edgar, the Machiavel of patience, of courage and of ""ripeness"". After ""King Lear"" Shakespeare’s view"
"much, but think the more"" (4.1.85) and ""Not I, my thoughts aim at a further matter:/I stay not for love of Edward but the crown"" (141.124–125); Warwick's ""O unbid spite, is sportful Edward come"" (5.1.18); the entirety of Richard's soliloquy in Act 5, Scene 6, after killing Henry (ll.61–93) and Richard's ""To say the truth, so Judas kissed his master/And cried 'All hail', whenas he meant all harm"" (5.7.33–34). The play also featured in ITV's ""Will Shakespeare"", a 1978 six-part (heavily fictionalised) biopic of Shakespeare (Tim Curry), written by John Mortimer. Episode one, ""Dead Shepherd"", focuses on Shakespeare's apprenticeship to"
"quest (Book III, canto iii). Benedick, from William Shakespeare's ""Much Ado About Nothing"", says ""But that I will have a recheat winded in my forehead or hang my bugle in an invisible baldric all women shall pardon me."" A baldric features prominently in Chapter 4 of Alexandre Dumas's ""The Three Musketeers"". The yeoman in Chaucer's ""Canterbury Tales ""is described as wearing a ""baldrick of bright green."" The baldric of Pallas plays a key part in the Aeneid, leading Aeneas to kill Turnus. In ""The Fellowship of the Ring"", Boromir is described: ""On a baldric he wore a great horn tipped"
"Young Siward Young Siward is a character in William Shakespeare’s play ""Macbeth"" (1606). He is the son of Siward, general of the English forces in the battle against Macbeth. Macbeth kills him in the final battle, shortly before his swordfight with Lord Macduff. He is based on the real-life historical figure of Osbeorn Bulax. He first appears in scene 5.2, as the English forces join with the Scottish. Lennox refers to him as one of many “unrough youths” who “protest their first of manhood.” If he is an “unrough” youth, then he is too young to grow a beard and"
"to Midnight"", set in 2132, Chopper makes a background appearance on a talkshow. The teenagers in this story are unaware of who he is, and view the show as being for adults; the POV character believes Chopper looks tired and lost, looking at footage of ""when he used to matter"". In the 2012 film Dredd, Chopper's name, along with his 'smiley' scrawler tag, can be seen painted on a wall on one of the floors of Peach Trees. He has appeared in numerous strips: Chopper (Judge Dredd) Chopper (also known as Marlon Shakespeare) is a fictional character appearing in British"
"Macduff's son Macduff's son is a character in William Shakespeare's tragedy ""Macbeth"" (1606). His name and age are not established in the text, however he is estimated to be 7–10 years of age, and is often named as Andrew, for ease. He follows Shakespeare's typical child character; cute and clever. While Lady Macduff and her children are mentioned in ""Holinshed's Chronicles"" as the innocent victims of Macbeth's cruelty, Shakespeare is completely responsible for developing Macduff's son as a character. The boy appears in only one scene (4.2), in which he briefly banters with his mother and is then murdered by"
"Gertrude) refer to them frequently by the wrong names. Because of the play's similarity to ""Waiting for Godot"", Rosencrantz is sometimes compared to Estragon (one of the tramps who wait for Godot), and who shares his dim perception of reality, while Guildenstern parallels Vladimir, who shares his analytical perception. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are characters in William Shakespeare's tragedy ""Hamlet"". They are childhood friends of Hamlet, summoned by King Claudius to distract the prince from his apparent madness and if possible to ascertain the cause of it. The characters were revived in W. S. Gilbert's satire, ""Rosencrantz and"
"Ned Poins Edward ""Ned"" Poins, generally referred to as ""Poins"", is a fictional character who appears in two plays by Shakespeare, ""Henry IV, Part 1"" and ""Henry IV, Part 2"". He is also mentioned in ""The Merry Wives of Windsor"". Poins is Prince Hal's closest friend during his wild youth. He devises various schemes to ridicule Falstaff, his rival for Hal's affections. Unlike Hal's other principal low-life associates, who all either reappear or are mentioned in ""Henry V"", Poins disappears from the narrative with no explanation. Poins appears early in ""Henry IV, Part I"" to inform Falstaff that at Gads"
"Costard Costard is a comic figure in the play ""Love's Labour's Lost"" by William Shakespeare. A country bumpkin, he is arrested in the first scene for flouting the king's proclamation that all men of the court avoid the company of women for three years. While in custody, the men of the court use him to further their own romantic endeavors. By sending love notes to the wrong women and blurting out secrets (including that of an unplanned pregnancy), Costard makes fools of the royal court. Along with Moth the page and Jaquenetta, a country wench, Costard pokes fun at the"
"also led him to appear as a character in three plays dealing with the King James Bible, Howard Brenton's ""Anne Boleyn"" (2010), Jonathan Holmes' ""Into Thy Hands"" (2011) and David Edgar's ""Written on the Heart"" (2011). He has an academic cap named after him, known as the Bishop Andrewes cap, which is like a mortarboard but made of velvet, floppy and has a tump or tuff instead of a tassel. This was in fact the ancient version of the mortarboard before the top square was stiffened and the tump replaced by a tassel and button. This cap is still used"
"gallowglass wore a mail shirt over a padded jacket and an iron helmet; he was usually accompanied by two boys (like a knight's squires), one of whom carried his throwing spears while the other carried his provisions. Shakespeare mentions gallowglasses in his play ""Macbeth"", although along with other aspects of the play it is an anachronism, as the historical Macbeth lived in the 11th century: <poem> The merciless Macdonwald, Worthy to be a rebel, for to that The multiplying villainies of nature Do swarm upon him, from the Western isles Of kerns and gallowglasses is supplied </poem> In a paper"
"a way of holding his congregation's attention: The account of his life remained well-known through the ""Newgate Calendar"", and a three-act farce was published but never produced, but, mixed with songs, it became ""The Quaker's Opera"", later performed at Bartholomew Fair. An imagined dialogue between Jack Sheppard and Julius Caesar was published in the ""British Journal"" on 4 December 1724, in which Sheppard favourably compares his virtues and exploits to those of Caesar. Perhaps the most prominent play based on Sheppard's life is John Gay's ""The Beggar's Opera"" (1728). Sheppard was the inspiration for the figure of Macheath; his nemesis,"
"Wind in the Willows"" is a likeable and popular if selfish and narcissistic comic character. Mr Toad reappears as the lead character in A. A. Milne's 1929 play ""Toad of Toad Hall"", based on the book. In Chinese culture, the Money Toad (or Frog) Jin Chan appears as a Feng Shui charm for prosperity. Newts are traditionally associated with witchcraft. In William Shakespeare's play Macbeth, the witches use ""eye of newt"" as the first ingredient added to their cauldron. Newts rarely appear in literature, but Roald Dahl included one crucial to the story as a practical joke on the malevolent"
"Macbeth Macbeth (; full title The Tragedy of Macbeth) is a tragedy by William Shakespeare; it is thought to have been first performed in 1606. It dramatises the damaging physical and psychological effects of political ambition on those who seek power for its own sake. Of all the plays that Shakespeare wrote during the reign of James I, who was patron of Shakespeare's acting company, ""Macbeth"" most clearly reflects the playwright's relationship with his sovereign. It was first published in the Folio of 1623, possibly from a prompt book, and is Shakespeare's shortest tragedy. A brave Scottish general named Macbeth"
"a play by William Shakespeare, while some are named after characters from ""Robinson Crusoe"", ""Moby Dick"" and others after general nautical or island-based literature. The name of Beatrice, Snicket's dedicatee, may be an allusion to the poem ""La Beatrice"" by Charles Baudelaire. The poem references an ""actor without a job,"" like the actor Count Olaf. The poem also begins with the line ""In a burnt, ash-grey land without vegetation,"" similar to the Baudelaire mansion burning down at the beginning of the series. The name Beatrice could also be an allusion to Italian poet Dante. Dante dedicated all of his works"
"he could have stopped the series of events that has brought him to this point. He disappears as well. The final scene features the last few lines from Shakespeare's ""Hamlet"", as the Ambassador from England announces that Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are dead. Metatheatre is a central structural element of ""Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead"". Scenes that are staged as plays, dumb shows, or commentaries on dramatic theory and practice, are prominent in both Stoppard's play and Shakespeare's original tragedy ""Hamlet"". In ""Hamlet"", metatheatrical elements include the Player's speech (2.2), Hamlet's advice to the Players (3.2), and the meta-play ""The Mousetrap"""
"Society's Award of Garden Merit. ""Chromatomyia aprilina"" (honeysuckle leaf miner) In William Shakespeare’s play ""A Midsummer Night's Dream"" he refers to woodbine/honeysuckle twice: It seems probable that the first quotation is referring to the honeysuckle ""L. periclymenum"", a common sight in hedgerows in Shakespeare’s time. The second quotation is somewhat more confusing. It is thought that on this occasion, “woodbine” refers to a species of ""Convolvulus"", also very common but nowadays called “bindweed”. Lonicera periclymenum Lonicera periclymenum, common names honeysuckle, common honeysuckle, European honeysuckle or woodbine, is a species of flowering plant in the family Caprifoliaceae native to much of"
"Henriad Henriad is a common title used by scholars for Shakespeare's second historical tetralogy, comprising ""Richard II""; ""Henry IV, Part 1""; ""Henry IV, Part 2""; and ""Henry V"". The plays depict the destabilising effects of the violation of political continuity with the overthrow of Richard II of England followed by the growth of Henry V of England from a wild youth to a great war leader in ""Henry V"". Although it was the second tetralogy to be written and performed, the subject matter comes chronologically before the first tetralogy comprising the three ""Henry VI"" plays and ""Richard III"". The term"
"English names. On the Elizabethan stage, the role of Flute and the other Mechanicals was intended to be doubled with Titania's four fairy escorts: Moth (also spelled Mote), Mustardseed, Cobweb, and Peaseblossom. Francis Flute Francis Flute is a character in William Shakespeare's ""A Midsummer Night's Dream"". His occupation is a bellows-mender. He is forced to play the female role of Thisbe in ""Pyramus and Thisbe"", a play-within-the-play which is performed for Theseus' marriage celebration. In the play Flute (Thisbe) speaks through the wall (played by Tom Snout) to Pyramus (Nick Bottom). Flute is a young, excited actor who is disappointed"
"The Scottish Play The Scottish Play and The Bard's Play are euphemisms for William Shakespeare's ""Macbeth"". The first is a reference to the play's Scottish setting, the second a reference to Shakespeare's popular nickname. According to a theatrical superstition, called the ""Scottish curse"", speaking the name ""Macbeth"" inside a theatre will cause disaster. A variation of the superstition also forbids quoting it within a theatre except as part of an actual rehearsal or performance of the play. Because of this superstition, the lead character is most often referred to as the ""Scottish King"" or ""Scottish Lord"". Lady Macbeth is often"
"Nash. These poems were often featured in newspaper Sunday supplements in a feature called ""Armour's Armory"". Many of Armour's poems have been repeatedly and incorrectly attributed to Nash. Probably Armour's most-quoted poem (often attributed to Nash) is the quatrain: """"Shake and shake / the catsup bottle / none will come / and then a lot'll."""" Another popular quatrain of his, also usually attributed erroneously to Nash, is: """"Nothing attracts / the mustard from wieners / as much as the slacks / just back from the cleaners."""" Armour also wrote satirical books, such as ""Twisted Tales from Shakespeare"", and his ersatz"
"warn the wearer of attempts to poison them. Shakespeare mentioned this in ""As You Like It"": Mr. Toad Esq. is one of the main characters in the children's novel ""The Wind in the Willows"", by Kenneth Grahame. This has been dramatized by several authors including A. A. Milne who called his play ""Toad of Toad Hall"". Mr. Toad is a very conceited, anthropomorphic toad and in the book he composes a ditty in his own praise which starts like this: George Orwell in his essay ""Some Thoughts on the Common Toad"" described the emergence of the common toad from hibernation"
"of the death of Socrates after drinking hemlock. By comparison, in ""The Merry Wives of Windsor"", Falstaff is presented by Shakespeare as the buffoonish suitor of two married women. Though primarily a comic figure, Falstaff still embodies a kind of depth common to Shakespeare's major characters. A fat, vain, boastful, and cowardly knight, he spends most of his time drinking at the Boar's Head Inn with petty criminals, living on stolen or borrowed money. Falstaff leads the apparently wayward Prince Hal into trouble, and is ultimately repudiated after Hal becomes king. Falstaff has since appeared in other media, notably in"