But I, -- who never knew how to entreat,

Nor never needed that I should entreat, --

Am starved for meat, giddy for lack of sleep;

-Katharina

The Taming of the Shrew      Act IV, Scene iii, Line 7

It’s great when we pick a line early in the scene because then the context is usually pretty easy to pick up (assuming you have some familiarity with the play) by reading from the beginning of the scene. Here, I’ll give it to you from line one:

Grumio.

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

Katherina.

        The more my wrong, the more his spite appears:

        What, did he marry me to famish me?

        Beggars that come unto my father’s door,

        Upon entreaty have a present alms;

        If not, elsewhere they meet with charity:

            But I, -- who never knew how to entreat,

Nor never needed that I should entreat, --

Am starved for meat, giddy for lack of sleep;

With oaths kept waking, and with brawling fed:

And that which spites me more than all these wants,

He does it under the name of perfect love;

 

So, what’s going on here? Well, just as in the Merchant line from last week, the first line from this play is the middle of the conversation. It’s clear from what’s being said that Kathrina has been begging Grumio to give her some food before the scene begins, but he doesn’t want to go against his master’s (Kathrina’s husband’s) orders. As far as why not? Well, do you have any familiarity with this play? If you do, you would know that Katharina’s husband Petruchio is taming her. Yes, that’s right, taming her. After all, there’s a reason why this play is called The Taming of the Shrew.

Oh boy. Before you have me cancelled for subjecting you to this senseless bit of jingoism, can we talk about this? No? Okay, cancel away.

 

How would he look, to see his work, so noble,

Vilely bound up? What would he say? Or how

Should I, in these my borrow’d flaunts, behold

The sternness of his presence?

-Perdita

The Winter’s Tale  Act IV, Scene iii, Line 23

Perdita is speaking to Florizel, the prince. These two have got a little  something going, and Perdita is telling him that the differences in their statuses is going to be a problem. The he and his in this passage is referring to Florizel’s father, the king. His work is a reference to the king’s son, Florizel, and finally, flaunts is fine clothing. There, given all that, meaning of the lines should be pretty clear.

I think the first sentence is pretty interesting when she refers to herself as vilely bounding up Florizel. It doesn't seem to express a very high opinion of herself, does it?

Comments?

Well, here's a pic that's got little to nothing to do with today's line, but a lot to do with today's date. It's Feb 14 today, and this is my valentine posing with her picture that won Honourable Mention in the art show. It's the picture on top and it's called Night Leaves. Pretty good, eh?

 

Three thousand ducats, - well.  

-Shylock

The Merchant of Venice        Act I, Scene iii, Line 1

And so it begins. This is our first glimpse of, and the first lines spoken by, Shylock. It's also the first line of the scene, and it's spoken by the infamous Shylock.

What an absolutely mesmerizing character he is. Polarizing? Maybe. Dull? Never. When most people think of this play, they think of Shylock and the pound of flesh. Of course, there’s a lot more than that to the play, and there's a lot more than that to Shylock. But it’s here in the third scene that the pound of flesh first comes up.

The scene begins in the middle of a conversation. Obviously Bassanio has already been talking to Shylock and he’s asked for the loan, but we open the scene not with Bassanio’s request, but rather with Shylock’s consideration of the request - Three thousand ducats, - well.

You can almost see Shylock stroking his chin as he says the line slowly. Three thousand ducats, - well.

No, that's not Shylock. It's me. And I'm not thinking about loaning three thousand ducats; I'm thinking about why people stroke their chin when they're thinking about something. I'll need to think about this a little more. 

 

 

We see yonder the beginning of the day, but I think we shall never see the end of it.—Who goes there?

-Michael Williams

King Henry the Fifth                     Act IV, Scene i, Line 91

Okay, good scene. Here we have the English camp on the night before the battle of Agincourt. King Henry decides to go disguised among his men to see what the mood is. He’s about to come upon Michael Williams, John Bates, and Alexander Court, common soldiers all. Before Henry shows up, the three have a few introductory lines:

 

Alexander Court-

Brother John Bates, is not that the morning which breaks yonder?

 John Bates-

I think it be: but we have no great cause to desire the approach of day.

 Michael Williams-

We see yonder the beginning of the day, but I think we shall never see the end of it.—Who goes there?

And that’s where King Henry enters.

As you can see by these three lines, the guys here are not particularly optimistic about the impending battle. That’s understandable considering how greatly outnumbered by the French they are.

It’s an interesting conversation they have with the disguised king, the undercover boss, if you will. They talk about death and what responsibility the king bears for their lives, among other things. You really should read it. It’s one of those pieces, like so much of Will’s work, that can really lead to good discussion of issues that are forever pertinent. And I’ll leave it at that.

So do yourself a favor and take a few minutes to read, and think about, the conversation these guys have. You won’t regret it.

Act IV, Scene i

Here's a link to the scene. The conversation begins around line 140, in case you want to skip ahead to it. You should read Henry's reflections after the three guys leave too. That goes to about line 335. Yup, 200 lines of Shakespeare. Think you can do it? I know you can!

 

 

Thrice nobel Titus, spare my first-born son.

-Tamora

Titus Andronicus                   Act I, Scene i, Line 120

Nope, not gonna happen. And so it begins, and it begins (it would seem appropriately) with Titus. What would have happened if he had said, ‘well, okay, you’re right. There’s no need for bloodshed here. Let the boy go.’ I suppose if he had said that, then this wouldn’t have been much of a play. Instead he says, ‘…die he must,’.  So die he does, and it’s the first of many deaths and maimings in the play.

This play was made into a movie in 1999 with Anthony Hopkins in the titular role. I’ve seen a few segments of it, but never the whole thing. It’s one of those that I’ve been meaning to catch. If you get a chance to see it you’ll have to let me know what you think.

 

titus movie - Bing video

 

Here’s a link to the movie trailer, if you’re interested.

 

 

Take thou no scorn to wear the horn;

It was a crest ere thou wast born:

-Forester

As You Like It                Act IV, Scene ii, Line 14

This is a very short scene. Jaques and company have come across a hunter with a fallen deer. They’ve set the deer’s horns upon the hunter’s head, and now one of the foresters is singing a song for him.

 

        What shall he have that kill’d the deer?

        His leather skin and horns to wear.

        Then sing him home;

 

        Take thou no scorn to wear the horn;

        It was a crest ere thou wast born:

        Thy fathers wore it,

        And thy father bore it:

        The horn, the horn, the lusty horn

        Is not a thing to laugh to scorn.

 

And that’s the end of the scene as they all parade off the stage. I told you it was short. There’s only eighteen lines in the scene, and the song is half of them. 

So, what do you think of the song?

Sorry, no pic today.

 

Clap’s into Light o’ love; that goes without a burden: do you sing it, and I’ll dance it.

-Margaret

Much Ado About Nothing     Act III, Scene iv, Line 41

There you go; that line is a bit of a tester. But I’m not going to spend any time on it, so I’m afraid you’re on your own. Let me know you come up with.

Hold on, I’ve got some decent footnotes to help you out:

Clap – break into a song

Light o’ Love – a well known ditty of the times

Burden – chorus

 

There, that should help. And here's a nice pic for you.

 

This is a delicious breakfast. Pepper and eggs with raspberry jelly toast. Yummy!