December 2020

 

December 2020

 

We could say that now starts our winter of discontent, if we think about Covid 19. Or we could say that in this impending winter we will with warm tears melt the snow if these tears are of relief over the imminent ousting of Trump from the White House and the optimistic reports that vaccines are on the way. In any case, let December end this turbulent year, and let us say that true hope is swift and flies with swallow’s wings. Happy holidays! Stay safe, stay well and stay hopeful.

 

And now, a promo for the book Shakespeare calling – the book. Indie authors like myself need support more than ever when we cannot arrange book signings and lectures. Therefore, sales are down drastically. I do so hope you will help me by ordering the book online. Thank you.

The book is available for those of you in Great Britain and parts of Europe on this site:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/offer-listing/9163782626/ref=tmm_hrd_new_olp_sr?ie=UTF8&condition=new&qid=1514378301&sr=8-1

 

Also available on http://www.amazon.com/Shakespeare-Calling-book-Ruby-Jand/dp/9163782626/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1436073737&sr=1-1&keywords=Ruby+Jand+shakespeare+calling

Or in Sweden

http://www.bokus.com/bok/9789163782626/shakespeare-calling-the-book/

or Adlibris. Or contact the publisher info@vulkan.se

 

Shakespeare sightings:

• Dagens Nyheter writes that if Trump is a Shakespeare character, he is a stupid version of Richard III. To compare Trump to Lear is an insult to Shakespeare.
• In Arthur C Clarke’s classic A Fall of Moondust the passengers trapped in their tourist vessel under the dust of the moon consider their reading material, a ‘Western’ classic that is considered by some as irrelevant because it’s about an historical time, upon which a professor says that this reasoning ‘is as illogical as dismissing Hamlet on the grounds that events restricted to a small and draughty Danish castle could not possibly be of universal significance.’

 Films with a Shakespeare connection seen this month - see reviews on https://rubyjandsfilmblog.blogspot.com/ 

• The Leisure Seeker – I’ve seen Mirren in Hamlet, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, As You Like It, and The Tempest.
• Split – McAvoy plays Macbeth in the Re-Told version.
• On the Basis of Sex - Jones is in The Tempest.
• Defiance – Schreiber is in Almereyda’s Hamlet.
• Glass - McAvoy plays Macbeth in the Re-Told version.  Spencer Treat Clark is in Cymbeline and Much Ado About Nothing. 

Further since last time:

• Finished reading (to myself, alas, Hal is no longer up to listening to Shakespeare): The Merchant of Venice.
• Wrote: about Antonio or Portia and Trump’s supporters in ‘The Good People of Venice’ in The Merchant of Venice. 

Posted this month

• ‘The Good People of Venice’ in The Merchant of Venice. https://rubyjandshakespearecalling.blogspot.com/2020/12/the-good-people-of-venice-in-merchant.html
• This report

 

 

Shakespeare Calling – the book is promoted by

http://shakespearesallskapet.se/

 

Read more about my alter ego’s books, in one of which Shakespeare appears live and in person, on:

·       https://themerlinchronicles.wordpress.com/ruby-and-shakespeare/shakespeare-calling-the-book/

·       https://themerlinchronicles.wordpress.com/ruby-and-shakespeare/spoiler-merlin-and-shakespeare/

 

https://rubyjandshakespearecalling.blogspot.com/2020/11/november-2020.html

The Good People of Venice in The Merchant of Venice

The good people of Venice

in

The Merchant of Venice

 

     Antonio is a good and generous person. When Bassanio needs money Antonio says, ‘My purse, my person, my extremest means/ Lie all unlocked to your occasions’ (1.1). Bassanio later describes him as ‘the kindest man’ (3.2).

     Portia is a good and clever person. Virtuous, of course: ‘… of wonderous virtues’ (1.1). She shines as a lawyer and reminds us a bit of amiable Columbo when after a long list of reasons why Shylock should win his case, she says, ‘Tarry a little. There is something else’ (4.1).

     So. Good, generous, clever, amiable. But Antonio has repeatedly insulted and abused Shylock. Portia deliberately and coolly ruins his life. Because he is a Jew. Antonio and Portia hate Jews.

     But it was an anti-Semitic society, filled with hatred and fear, you may argue, and you would be right. But you may continue, that’s all in the past. You would be wrong.

     Four years ago, a racist and otherwise thoroughly contemptible man was elected (though he got fewer votes than his opponent) President of the United States. A few weeks ago, a majority of voters voted him out and the civilised world heaved a cautious sigh of relief.

     The problem is, millions voted for Trump. Let me tell you about three of them.

     The first one I’ll call Chichi. Like her name (even her real name)) she is a sweet, whimsical, harp-playing angelic poet who loves her little daughter very much. She posted her support of Trump on Facebook and when I expressed my dismay, she wrote that she too had once seen Trump as racist, misogynist, environmentally dangerous, etc but she had now realised that he was misunderstood and falsely maligned. She supports him because of all the good he has done.

     The second one is my cousin, let’s say she’s called Trish. We have very little contact and haven’t since we were children. Her support, also on FB, has been discreet but very clear. We haven’t discussed it at all. What puzzles me is that she is a very devout Christian. I’m naïve enough to think that religious people should promote love, not hate and contempt.

     My third example, another cousin, Laura. As far as we remember, we’ve only met once, when we were kids, but in recent years we have had a very friendly and mutually supportive relationship on FB. She has even bought and promoted my books. As far as I can tell, she loves her adopted kids. Then suddenly this summer she started posting pro-Trump memes and texts on FB. When I tried to discuss this with her, she first admitted to being confused about the situation in the US, but she hated Obama and Biden. When it became clear that Trump had lost the election, she - and especially her husband - began ranting and raving about fraud and stolen votes, spewing out hatred of Biden and Harris, and nastily abusing me with hateful insults.

     So.

     My question, simplified and perhaps unreasonable, but nevertheless, is this: Are these three people good but delusional? Good parents but bad people who understand exactly what Trump is and approves, agrees? Or are they basically bad, with streaks of goodness in them but only towards their own kind? Like Antonio and Portia?

     We know what the Christian society of Antonio and Portia led to throughout the centuries. Let’s just hope that the current 306 electoral votes will be the start of a democratic, equal and inclusive society where these kinds of questions are unnecessary.

     Maybe understanding, or at least pondering, Shakespeare will help.

    

    

Shakespeare calling – the book available here and other sites:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Shakespeare-Calling-book-Ruby-Jand/dp/9163782626/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1543817692&sr=1-1&keywords=Ruby+Jand