Friday 5 - The Bard

From Friday 5, I bring you this: In honor of William Shakespeare’s birthday, here are this week’s questions!

1.  In A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Lysander says,
“Ay me! for aught that I could ever read,
Could ever hear by tale or history,
The course of true love never did run smooth…” How has this proven (or not proven) to be the case in your life?  Ha! (she laughed bitterly)  Yes, this has proven to be the case in my life.  Or at least what I thought was true love turned out to not be running as smoothly as it seemed to be.  There are lots of Shakespearian quotes about fools I imagine...


2.  In Hamlet, the title character says, “Frailty, thy name is woman!” Who in your life has proven this not to be true? And if you’re willing to share, who in your life has proven this to be completely true?  I know many strong women...my life is full of them.  My mom, my sister, my girlfriends, the women I work with.  They are not frail or if they are they are strong enough to protect themselves from being destroyed by it.  At this moment in time, as I write this, I feel weak and down.  But I have faith that it isn't a permanent state of frailty. 

 3.  In The Merry Wives of Windsor, Pistol says,
“Why then the world’s mine oyster,
Which I with sword will open.”
Ignoring the possible sexual meaning here, how do you feel about oysters?   The possible sexual meaning?  Um, okay ignoring that I am not a big fan of the oyster. 

4.  In The Merchant of Venice, Lorenzo says,
“The man that hath no music in himself,
Nor is not mov’d with concord of sweet sounds,
Is fit for treasons, stratagems, and spoils.”
Do you agree, and have you known anyone who seemed to be completely unmoved by any kind of music?  I would have to say that I do agree.  I am not sure I can think of a single person I've known who seemed completely unmoved by any kind of music.  I've known a few people with extraordinarily narrow tastes in what moved them, but at least something did!


5.  Is Shakespeare overrated, or is he truly the western world’s greatest writer?  Is there something in-between?  I don't think he's been overrated and I don't think his influence should be understated.  Is he the western world's greatest writer?  I feel less certain I could back that up with much besides the fact that, you know, it's Shakespeare, and it's bawdy, and brilliant, and beautiful.


 May the light that breaks through yonder window be the dawn of a happy weekend! < That was the closing line on the site and it's perfect. What more could I possibly say?  :-/