No, no, forsooth; I dare not, for my life.

-Grumio

The Taming of the Shrew        Act IV, Scene iii, Line 1

 

This is the first line of the scene, so that anyone reading or hearing it will know just as much as anyone else, which is not much. We have to carry on further into the scene to find out exactly Grumio is talking about. The only other thing we know so far, from reading or from sitting in the theater, is that Grumio and Katharina are the only ones in the room as the scene opens.

Okay, well I guess I’ll tell you. Grumio is saying no to Katharina because she’s asked him to get her some food. Grumio knows that Petruchio would not want him to get her food, so he’s not going to do it. Simple as that.

I looked up ‘forsooth’, by the way, just to know officially what it means. I got ‘in truth, certainly, truly, and indeed.’

No, no, indeed.

No, no, certainly.

No, no, truly.

No, no, in truth.

I suppose all of them work to one degree or another, though I think I prefer No, no, indeed. How about you?

Forsooth, that looks pretty good. I don't know what it is, but it looks pretty good. Do you think Katharina would be interested in that?

 

Most radiant, exquisite, and unmatchable

 beauty,-- I pray you, tell me if this be the

lady of the house, for I never  saw her: I would be

loth to cast away my speech; for, besides that it 

is excellently well penn’d, I have taken great 

pains to con it. Good beauties, let me sustain no 

scorn; I am very comptible, even to the least 

sinister usage.

-Viola

Twelfth Night          Act I, Scene v, Line 169

 

First off, a few notes to help you understand today’s line. Con means learned by heart. Comptible to the least sinister usage means susceptible to unkind treatment.

Context? Okay, if you insist. Viola is a  woman disguised as a man, and she has been sent to Olivia by the Duke of Illyria to try to woo Olivia for the Duke. Viola has just walked in the door of Olivia’s house and the latter is standing there with some of her women in waiting. Viola is trying to figure out which one is Olivia.  

There, now did that help, or did it just confuse you further? Maybe you should go see the play. I’m going to. I’m going all the way to Nashville, TN to see it. What the heck do you think of that?

Yup, this is where I'm going; back to the farm in Tennessee. Okay, so I'm not going there just to see the play; I'm going there to see my daughter. But I am going to see the play as well. And no, I've not taken the time to con the play.

 

If thou do pardon, whosoever pray,

More sins, for this forgiveness, prosper may.

This fester’d joint cut off, the rest rest sound;

This let alone will all the rest confound.

 

-Duke of York

King Richard the Second            Act V, Scene iii, Line 83

 

We're near the end of the play, and Bolingbroke has now supplanted Richard the Second. So what we have here is the Duke of York advising Bolingbroke/King Henry IV to have the Duke of Aumerle executed for treason. It should be noted that the Duke of York is the father of the Duke of Aumerle, so that's a bit cold. The mother of Aumerle is about to enter the scene to beg for the life of her son.

A couple of things:

This passage and, for the most part, this scene is written in rhyme. I’m not sure why Will gets into rhyme from time to time, but he sure does.

This particular four line passage sounds a bit like it might be Yoda speaking. Again read it, and you’ll what I mean hopefully see.

 

 

 

Okay, it's not Yoda. But you have to admit that the Nuts has a little bit of a Yoda look about her. Think you, don't?

 

Up Fish-street! Down Saint Magnus’-corner!

 Kill and knock down! Throw them into

 Thames!

-Jack Cade

King Henry VI, Part II            Act IV, Scene 8, Line 1

 

Yup, first line of the scene. I think I’ll give you the setting as it’s stated in the play

SCENE VIII

Southwark.

Alarum and retreat. Enter again CADE and all his rabblement.

 

That’s right, Jack Cade enters with his rabblement. There’s a good word, eh?

Jack Cade is some peasant-type guy who claimed to be of royal descent (historians pretty much agree that he wasn’t) who led the common folk in an uprising against the throne, specifically Henry VI. He caused a bunch of trouble and took over parts of London before being vanquished. This scene is towards the end of Jack’s short rebellion. He and his rabblement are in London, but the party’s about to come to an end. A couple pages down the road in Scene X, we’ll find Jack hiding in someone’s garden outside London, and he meets his demise there between the tomatoes and the arugula.

But for now, he’s enjoying having the crowd, I should say rabblement, at his command.

Here you go. That top pic is St. Magnus the Martyr Church, and the bottom one is looking across the street from the church up Fish St. towards the Fire of London Monument. How about that? This might be the spot Jack Cade was talking about, albeit looking a little different than it did in Jack's time.

These pics, by the way, are compliments of Google Maps. I usually use my own pics, but today I decided to JUST USE THE GOOGLE. Hmmmm, wonder where I got that idea?

 

I pray you, daughter, sing; or express yourself in a more comfortable sort.

 

-Volumnia

Coriolanus             Act I, Scene 3, Line 1

 

Since this is the first we see of Volumnia, Coriolanus’s mother and an important figure in this play, I’m going to give you her whole opening piece. She’s speaking to her daughter-in-law Virgilia, Coriolanus’s wife. Virgilia is worried about her husband who is off at war. Volumnia, not so much. It’s a little long, but pretty easy.

I pray you, daughter, sing; or express yourself in a more comfortable sort. If my son were my husband, I would freeller rejoice in that absence wherein he won honour than in the embracements of his bed where he would show most love. When yet he was but tender-bodied and the only son of my womb, when youth with comeliness plucked all gaze his way, when for a day of kings’ entreaties a mother should not sell him an hour from her beholding, I, considering how honour would become such a person, that it was no better than picture-like to hang by the wall, if renown made it not stir, was pleased to let him seek danger where he was like to find fame. To a cruel war I sent him; from whence he returned, his brows bound with oak. I tell thee, daughter, I sprang not more in joy at first hearing he was a man-child than now in first seeing he had proved himself a man.

So this is Volumnia (I can’t think of any female person I know who would like to have that name) speaking about her son. I think Will is trying to immediately lets us know what she’s all about, because she’s pivotal in this play, especially near the end. She comes off right away, at least to me, as a pretty cold-hearted bitch. She seems more fit to be a general than a mother, don’t you think? Just for the heck of it, let’s compare Volumnia to another of Shakespeare’s mothers, Constance, in King John. We heard from Constance back in January 2017 (wow, was it that long ago?). Here’s the link:

https://totallyrandomdailyshakespeare.blogspot.com/2017/01/thenhave-i-reason-to-be-fond-of-grief.html

What do you think? There’s a little bit of difference between the two mothers, eh?

 

Well, I was looking for a picture of opposite things to exemplify the difference between Volumnia and Constance, and I came across this pic of Scout and Sam. I was thinking of size difference, but then I realized that these are two of the best dogs I've ever known, so that they are more alike than different. Oh well, still a good pic.

 

 

7/12/21

Sir Hugh, persuade me not; I will make a Star-

Chamber matter of it: if he were twenty Sir

 John Falstaffs, he shall not abuse Robert

 Shallow, esquire.

-Shallow

The Merry Wives of Windsor          Act I, Scene i, Line 1

 

It's said that The Merry Wives of Windsor was written simply as a vehicle for Will to bring back the character of Falstaff because of this character’s incredible popularity. That being the case, the fact that the very first line of the play is a reference to Falstaff and his rapscallion behavior should come as no surprise. The audience is told as once, that if they came to see Falstaff they will not be disappointed.

Will was a consummate writer, a poet, and a dramatist; the best the world has ever known. But Will was also a businessman and a pragmatist. His greatest works pleased the audience because they were spectacular, and their greatness lay in the fact that he was writing what he felt was the best. Like all great artists, he was creating to and for himself. In the case of The Merry Wives of Windsor, however, he was perhaps more than any other of his works, writing not for himself, but to please the audience.

Having said that, it’s still Shakespeare, and like they say ‘A bad day of fishing (or in my case, golfing), is still better than a good day of work.'

And here I am out on the course. That's Howth Castle behind me, and beyond that the Irish Sea. This was actually a pretty good day of golf.