In an earlier post, I asked myself whether Henry VI was being portrayed as a childish or childlike figure. In the context of all three plays, I must say the latter. I view the cycle as being ultimately tragic; certainly the ominous signs of Richard III's subsequent rise to power are not a happy ending. I must point out though that while Henry VI is certainly never portrayed as being an effective ruler, he is certainly a sympathetic one, and that in general the house of Lancaster got a better rap than the house of York.
Yup, I'm back from my assault of laziness which has apparently besieged me the past couple of weeks! The beginning of summer can do that to a person. If I can drudge up any more cool or halfway-insightful things about Henry VI, I'll do so, if not, I'll plow right ahead with Richard III.
My goal by this time in July is to be done with Richard III, Two Gentleman of Verona, and all of the poems except for the Pheonix and the Turtle. If I can add in The Taming of the Shrew in there, I might. Is this a faster pace than I've done thus far? Certainly, but I definitely can do it, and I fully expect you all to heckle me if I don't. Obviously I have no desire to rush through the canon, but I'm finding it all too easy to forget about in the stresses of Life, and therefore I figure a certain degree of scheduling is in order. All right, onward!
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4 comments:
I've got another amazing question for you o great bardolator.
where do YOU think Shakespeare got the inspiration for the titles of the plays?
For the titles... well, the tragedies and histories are named after their main characters. The comedies are a bit more varied, and I must say I've never really read any speculation as to why Shakespeare chose them. So my uneducated response is that he thought they sounded cool. :-D
if they're not named after the main character(s), he probably threw a dart at a wall of words. (I mean who REALLY never gets Alls Well that Ends Well, Much Ado About Nothing, As You Like It, Comedy of Errors, etc all confused?)
Anywhoo, I love the histories and I'm glad you're reading them. I like them the best cuz there's no clear happy ending or sad ending. You mostly get to decide who to root for or sympathize with. =D keep posting!
-G
Comedy of Errors at least is descriptive... but As You Like It? What's that supposed to mean, anyway? It's like all those twentieth-century novelists who came up with such descriptive titles as "The Sun Also Rises", "The Grapes of Wrath", and "The Catcher in the Rye"...
(I do like those books, and the titles, but they aren't nice, simple descriptive titles like "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" or "The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark". you know what you are getting into in those books.)
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