Here we are at the end of March, and I’m one quarter of the way through my goal of reading all things William Shakespeare in 2021.
Some observations:
Titus Andronicus is the most horrifying, gruesome story I have ever read in my life. I’ve no need to see this play because what I’ve read has left images in my head that I’m afraid I’ll never unsee.
Taming of the Shrew I found offensive and rude and if William Shakespeare is in Heaven, and I get there too, he and I are going to have a little conversation, and I’m bringing Esther and also Eve with me because I know the three of us will have a few “thou arts” to give. Jesus can come as well. I mean, it IS his house.
I love Queen Margaret. She shows up in all the Henry plays as well as Richard III. I’ve done a little bit of reading on her and as I suspected, she is perceived as power hungry, manipulative, and villainous, while the men in the plays get labeled as deeply flawed, ambitious, and while they did disgusting things, there’s always a reason for it. “Well, I had to chop of their heads. I had to quarter them. THEY WERE BEING BIG MEANIES.”
Romeo and Juliet is my favorite play so far, partly because of the memories it holds, but also, of all the plays, this one shows the nuances of human beings in a palpable way. We are so stupid. And we love so deeply.
I don’t know if I’ve become used to the language or not, but Julius Caesar was the easiest play for me to understand. Or, it could be that it’s just another twist on the following theme: men behaving badly and the women are left either heartbroken, insane, mutilated, or dead.
I’ve heard before that Shakespeare’s plays showed what brilliant insight he had into the human psyche. I agree. In stunningly beautiful language he tells us over and over again: “Y’all are dumb-dumbs.”
How I’m organizing my reading:
The first hour of my day is devoted to reading Shakespeare. I try to read an Act a day, Monday – Friday. Saturdays and Sundays I read books from my library stack, or, whatever I feel like reading. I was worried I wouldn’t have time for other reading, but so far since January, I’ve read: Daring Greatly by Brene Brown, The Best of Me by David Sedaris, Dumplin’ by Julie Murphy, We Are Okay by Nina LaCour, and The Sun Is Also A Star by Nicola Yoon.
I keep a journal and try to write one page of notes when I read. Mostly I copy down lines I love and then write what is going on in the play when the line was said, and then try to riff and make my way into a connection to my life or the world. It’s a good exercise but I often feel like Charlie Brown’s Lucy when she’s writing a book report on Peter Rabbit, and she can’t think of anything to say so she writes about Robin Hood instead.
The 6-7am hour has proven to be my favorite time of day. Here is an hour when no one else is up, and I am allowed to face the confusing, scary, sorrowful, maddening, and the lovely, too, with no pressure to understand it all, and with no pressure to apologize for what I lack. It is an hour of something like walking through a blueberry field, and not because you’re there out of necessity, but because you want to listen for the hush sound they make when you pluck them from the stem, or the soft thunk they make when they fall into the basket you are carrying. You could make a pie, or a tart, muffins and perhaps pancakes with them, but it isn’t so much about the outcome, as it is about the possibility and the experience of being in the presence of something delicious and complicated, being willing to stand there and notice, and to return again.
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