As we move into February we are met daily with reports of racism and
xenophobia both at the grass root level and the governmental. We can be
encouraged that protests are strong and widespread and we have good reason to
remind ourselves that Shakespeare, too, promoted humanism in the face of the fear
and hatred of his time. Sir Ian McKellen, as many of you know, has done many
stirring readings of the monologue Shakespeare wrote for his characterisation
of Sir Thomas More. Please listen and share:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AjEAeOshUGQ
(Starts at 2.28)
Grant
them removed, and grant that this your noise
Hath
chid down all the majesty of England;
Imagine
that you see the wretched strangers,
Their
babies at their backs and their poor luggage,
Plodding
to the ports and coasts for transportation,
And
that you sit as kings in your desires,
Authority
quite silenced by your brawl,
And you
in ruff of your opinions clothed;
What
had you got? I’ll tell you. You had taught
How
insolence and strong hand should prevail,
How
order should be quelled; and by this pattern
Not one
of you should live an aged man,
For
other ruffians, as their fancies wrought,
With
self same hand, self reasons, and self right,
Would
shark on you, and men like ravenous fishes
Feed on
one another.
O, desperate as you are,
Wash
your foul minds with tears, and those same hands,
That
you like rebels lift against the peace,
Lift up
for peace, and your unreverent knees,
Make
them your feet to kneel to be forgiven!
…
You’ll put down strangers,
Kill
them, cut their throats, possess their houses,
And
lead the majesty of law in line,
To slip
him like a hound. Say now the king
(As he
is clement, if th’ offender mourn)
Should
so much come to short of your great trespass
As but
to banish you, whither would you go?
What
country, by the nature of your error,
Should
give you harbour? Go you to France or Flanders,
To any
German province, to Spain or Portugal,
Nay,
anywhere that not adheres to England,—
Why,
you must needs be strangers. Would you be pleased
To find
a nation of such barbarous temper,
That,
breaking out in hideous violence,
Would
not afford you an abode on earth,
Whet
their detested knives against your throats,
Spurn
you like dogs, and like as if that God
Owed
not nor made not you, nor that the elements
Were t
all appropriate to your comforts,
But
chartered unto them, what would you think
To be
thus used? This is the strangers’ case;
And this your mountanish inhumanity.
Now, to the report for February.
As always I will once again mention to
visitors of this blog that Shakespeare Calling – the book is
available for purchase. Please
help promote the book by buying it, of course, and telling your friends about
it, by liking and sharing it on Facebook, Twitter, Amazon, Bokus…. And please encourage your local book shops
and libraries to buy it. Thank you. Your
support is needed to keep this project alive.
or
or
Adlibris. Or contact the publisher info@vulkan.se
Shakespeare Calling – the book is promoted by
and
Shakespeare sightings:
- In Louise Penny’s The Cruellest Month the victim and the suspects had all been involved with a production of As You Like It in school and there are other references to Shakespeare throughout.
- In Extras
- One of the actors on set is reading Frank Kermode’s book on Shakespeare for his PhD work and Maggie is very impressed (as am I!)
- Patrick Stewart is doing Prospero and Andy says to his nasty mate, ‘While you were studying Shakespeare, I was shagging birds’ (or something like that).
- In the episode with Orlando Bloom, Barry, Andy’s agent’s other client, is mentioned doing his one-man version of Romeo and Juliet.
- Andy demands a proper role from his idiot agent – in a Shakespeare play or something.
- In the final episode of The Wire, during McNulty’s fake wake, Jay says, ‘From which no traveller returns…’ but since they were faking it, McNulty returns.
Further since last time:
- Watched The Globe performance of The Tempest with Roger Allam and Colin Morgan
- Started reading aloud with Hal: Much Ado about Nothing
Posted this month
- ‘Sounds and sweet airs’ in The Tempest http://rubyjandshakespearecalling.blogspot.se/2017/02/the-tempest-sounds-and-sweet-air.html
- This report
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