Today’s Totally Random
Line(s)
The business she hath broached in the state
Cannot endure my absence.
Antony is talking to Enobarbus. They’ve just received news that Antony’s wife, Fulvia, has died, so Antony needs to go to Rome. Fulvia is the she is in today’s line. Enobarbus tells Antony that he need not grieve because there are other women that can take her place. It seems like an odd thing to say. Check it out
If there were no more women but Fulvia, then had
you indeed a cut, and the case to be lamented: this grief is crown’d with
consolation; your old smock brings forth a new petticoat:- and, indeed, the
tears live in an onion that should water this sorrow.
The tears live in an onion! What the heck do you
think of that line? And this whole bit about no need to cry over Fulvia? It
seems a bit hard-hearted. But then again, Enobarbus is a crusty old soldier. Eh?
It’s also a little bit interesting that in this
scene Antony’s lines are written in verse and Enobarbus’s in prose; I guess to
accentuate the old soldier's lack of etiquette.
A lot of times people (myself included) wonder
about the apparent inconsistency of Will’s use of verse. Much of his writing is
iambic pentameter, but there’s plenty of prose sprinkled in there too. Well, in
this scene we have both, and apparently for pretty good reason.
Anyway, that would be an interesting thing to say to someone who’s crying over something that you don’t feel is worth crying over. The tears live in an onion that should water this sorrow. If they were really upset about something and you said this, well, I’m not sure that would go over very well.
1 comment:
Woof. This guy shouldn't be writing any Hallmark sympathy cards.
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