Mojo, The Bard, & Me

 

I, that am curtail’d of this fair proportion,

Cheated of feature by dissembling nature,

Deform’d, unfinisht, sent before my time

Into this breathing world, scarce half made up,

And that so lamely and unfashionable

That dogs bark at me as I halt by them;-

 

-Richard

 King Richard The Third                                 Act I, Scene i, Line 20

 

This is from the middle of Richard’s soliloquy that opens the play; the soliloquy that begins with the famous line Now is the winter of our discontent/Made glorious summer by this sun of York;  You’ve probably heard that part at one time or another. But as with a lot of things, that may be all that you’re familiar with. He goes on to talk about the war being over (it’s not) and that he, because of his misshapen body, is not suited to peace time pursuits which include wining and dining and pursuing the ladies. He is rudely stampt and not made to court an amorous looking-glass. He’s so ugly that dogs bark at him. Will gives us a pretty good picture of Richard’s physical appearance. And it’s fairly important because he’s going to make Richard out to be quite the villain in this play. Many historians will tell you that the real Richard the Third was not the villain that Will portrayed him as in this play. But that’s how dramatists create drama, isn’t it? 

 

 

This pic was taken at the 100 year house party that Phil threw at 258 Balmforth. He'd asked me to pick out a little bit of Shakespeare to insert into his speech. He was talking about the house and how he had grown up there, and then he got into the soliloquy (which he wasn't familiar with). This is the part where he's saying dogs bark at me as I halt by them. Well I think Phil was starting to catch on to the fact that I had played a little trick on him, and he's looking at me in this shot. I can't remember if he finished the soliloquy or not, but I do remember that he threw that mic at me as soon as he finished talking. Luckily he doesn't really have much of an arm.