Today’s Totally Random Lines

 

Now, how  dost thou look now? O ill-starr’d wench!

Pale as thy smock! When we shall meet at compt,

This look of thine will hurl my soul from heaven,

And fiends will snatch at it. Cold, cold, my girl!

Even like thy chastity.

 

Othello

Othello                 Act V, Scene ii, Line 275

First off, the word compt at the end of the second line refers to reckoning, or the day of judgement. I know, it seems like an odd little word to have that meaning, but it’s what my on-line Shakespeare glossary says, and it makes sense.

So, what we have here is Othello, alone with the dead body of Desdemona. He killed her earlier in this scene and shortly after he did, he was brought to the realization by Iago’s wife Emilia that Desdemona had been faithful to him. Iago then killed Emilia and ran off. Now Othello is left alone to think about what he did.

In Today’s Lines he’s talking to the dead body of his wife. This look of thine will hurl my soul from heaven, and fiends will snatch at it. That’s a great line that creates a vivid image of him falling. I can picture the fiends grabbing at him. I can’t quite decide, though, what the look on her face is that causes his fall. Is it some sort of look of contempt. No, now that I think about it, it’s probably the look of complete innocence, and the look that her dead face is now showing. Othello (or should I say Will) does not attempt to describe that look, does he? How dost thou look now? O ill-starr’d wench! Pale as thy smock! That’s all he gives us. She’s ill-starr’d and she’s pale. Ill-starr’d is just saying that she’s unlucky, but that doesn’t really give us an idea of how she dost look now. I guess it’s just the look of innocence on a dead face, but I suppose you’ll have to decide that for yourself, won’t you.

I wanted to find a look on a face that might represent Desdemona's,  but I decided that was a lost cause. 

So I'm giving you this picture of Antonio and his arresting officer: a couple of good looks that fall somewhere between a snarl and a sneer.

 

Today’s Totally Random Lines

 

What storm is this that blows so contrary?

Is Romeo slaughter’d, and is Tybalt dead?

My dear-loved cousin, and my dearer lord?-

Then, dreadful trumpet, sound the general doom!

For who is living if those two are gone.

 

Juliet

Romeo and Juliet       Act III, Scene ii, Line 65

Romeo has killed Juliet’s cousin Tybalt in a fight and has consequently been banished. This is what Nurse has come to tell Juliet, but it’s going to take her a while to get the full message out. At the point that she’s speaking Today’s Lines, Juliet thinks that both of the guys are dead. This will be clarified momentarily, but Romeo’s banishment does not make her much happier than the thought of his death, and she’ll go on for another half page of moaning.

Funnily (at least I found it a little funny), a few lines up when Nurse is talking about Romeo she says O Romeo, Romeo. Whilst it’s not Romeo, O Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo, it’s still close enough to Juliet’s famous words to give pause. At least, it was enough to give me pause; I don’t know about you. But let’s face it, there are lots of things that give me pause.

Well, what on earth is giving me pause here?

Oh, that's right; it was these shoes that I saw when I was out and about yesterday. Thems is some stylin' wheels, eh? In fact, it looks like something that Romeo might wear!

 Today’s Totally Random Lines

 

That Julius Caesar was a famous man;

With what his valour did enrich his wit,

His wit set down to make his valour live:

Death makes no conquest of this conqueror;

For now he lives in fame, though not in life.

 

Prince

King Richard the Third     Act III, Scene i, Line 86

Richard has suggested that the prince reside in the Tower of London until his coronation, and so begins a discussion of the tower and Julius Caesar who, ostensibly, began the construction of it. Of course, at this point the prince, who is just a boy, has no inkling of Richard’s plans to eliminate him. The prince’s mother, on the other hand, has lots of inkling, and has taken herself and the prince’s brother into sanctuary somewhere outside London. It’s an interesting scene. Will paints a picture of an evil man who was able to fool a lot of people, not just young princes. It might be considered a cautionary tale. You should read it. Here, I’ll make it easy on you.

 

Richard the Third (Modern) :: Internet Shakespeare Editions

 

Today’s Totally Random Lines

 

Now is my turn to speak. Behold this child,--

[Pointing to the CHILD in the

arms of an ATTENDANT]

Of this was Tamora delivered;

The issue of an irreligious Moor,

Chief architect and plotter of these woes:

The villain is alive in Titus’s house,

Damn’d as he is, to witness this is true.

 

Marcus Andronicus

Titus Andronicus             Act V, Scene iii, Line 121

Well, it’s a fairly long sentence, that’s for sure; nothing new about that. This is from the last page of the play. It’s line 159 with this final scene ending on line 204.

They decide that Titus’s son (Marcus’s nephew) Lucius will be the new emperor. Pretty much everyone else who wasn’t already dead got killed earlier in this scene: Titus, Saturninus, Tamora, Lavinia…who did I miss? They will also decide, momentarily, to bury Aaron up to his neck so that he can starve, and to throw Tamora’s body to the carrion fowl. And then the play ends with a rhyming couplet,

Then, afterwards, to order well the state,

That like events may ne’er it ruinate.

Try as I might to not think about (and I do try very hard), these last two lines got me to considering our current political situation. Do you think we’ll ever get to the end of this nightmare that our state now endures? And if we do, will we put in place safeguards That like events may ne’er it ruinate?

God, I hope so.

 

Today’s Totally Random Lines

 

I write good creature; wheresoe’er she is,

Her heart weighs sadly: this young maid might do  her

A shrewd turn, if she pleased.

 

How do you mean?

Widow/Helena

All’s Well That Ends Well      Act III, Scene v, Line 69

The first three and a half lines are the Widow’s and the last half line is Helena’s. They’re talking about Helena’s predicament with Bertram, though the widow doesn’t realize that it’s Helena she is speaking with. As such, she’s being blunt, forthright, straight, and plain-spoken, because she has no reason to be otherwise. In other words, she’s being round with Helena.

I hope you realize the I used yesterday’s word today.

 

Today’s Totally Random Lines

 

Pray you, be round with him.

Polonius

Hamlet                       Act III, Scene iv, Line 5

Blunt, forthright, straight, and plain-spoken: those are the meanings given for round in my on-line Shakespeare Glossary. This is Polonius talking to Gertrude. She’s called Hamlet to her room to question him about his odd behavior, and Polonius is about to hide behind the curtain to listen in on the conversation. But first he’s got to give Gertrude some advice, of course. I say of course because giving advice is Polonius’s main occupation.

Sometimes I feel like I’m married to Polonius, because I’m constantly getting advice on what to do and how to do it, especially when I’m driving. Oh well.

It's a good thing I don't do that to you, isn't  it, Mr. Blagys. 

Now, can you come over here and sit with me and rub my belly?

 

Today’s Totally Random Lines

 

Base slave, thy words are blunt, and so art thou.

Duke of Suffolk

King Henry the Sixth Part II     Act IV, Scene i, Line 69

 

Today is Labor Day, 2026, and since that is a celebration of the worker, I think that I will take off on the word slave in Today’s Line. After all, who is a harder worker than a slave?

Nowadays, here in the United States, in the world of 2026, the word slave has been under attack. I use the phrase under attack very purposefully. Words are important, and the proper use of words is important. In the case of the word slave, this word has been used historically to refer to pretty much any human being who has been enslaved by another human being. By enslaved, we mean that they have been subjugated and controlled by another human being and forced to do whatever this subjugator wanted them too. This has usually meant work, and lots of it. By historically, I mean to say the word slave has been used to refer to enslaved people for thousands of years.

Now, sometime in recent years, someone decided that the word slave was demeaning. Well, it is. They decided that slaves were people and should be recognized as such, and so they decreed that it would be good if we referred to them as enslaved people. In fact, they decided that it was so important that we do this, that we should not ever use the word slave; we should use the words enslaved person.

So, what do we gain by this. Well, on the one hand we give the folks in this country who are the descendants of slaves/enslaved people some consideration, or so they say (I am reminded of the time several years ago when I asked my daughter-in-law, who was born and bred in China if she found the word Oriental offensive; she asked me what I was talking about). On another hand we give many people, like myself, pause: the pause that comes when we stop to think about something to try to figure out what it means, and if it makes sense or not. Finally, on another hand we give some folks on the far-right of the political spectrum more fodder for their rants against the woke left, and that's the last thing they need.

Make no mistake, replacing the word slave with the words enslaved person is well intentioned. I can understand and sympathize with the intent. I think, though, that when we go so far as to trying to eradicate the word slave, and by extension the word master, well, I’m not sure we’re doing much good. If in conversation I say “I’ve always been a slave to my emotions”, do I need to be apologetic? If I refer to my bedroom as the master bedroom, am I wrong?

I don’t think I ever said to an apparent descendant of an American slave or ex-slave, “Hey Michelle, were your descendants slaves?” Why would I ever say that? Conversely, if for whatever strange reason I were to bring it up to Michelle, I probably would use the words enslaved people. But by the same token, I am not going to be eradicating any words from my vocabulary any time soon.

Well, I guess this has become a rant, and that’s the last thing I wanted it to be. I think I simply wanted to say that that sometimes when we attempt to show consideration for people by policing our language, we end up weaponizing that language more. And that’s not a good thing.

Yeah, I think that’s all I wanted to say; that, and Happy Labor Day.

Speaking of eradicating words: I'm pretty sure this guy eradicated the word labor from his vocabulary a long time ago (as if it was ever there to begin with).