I’ll be so bold to break the seal for once.

-Duke of Milan

The Two Gentlemen of Verona     Act III Scene i, Line 139

 

The Duke has found a letter in the pocket of Valentine’s coat, and he’s decided to read it. The funny thing is that the Duke asked Valentine if he could try on Valentine’s coat, and consequently Valentine is standing right there. I guess if you’re the Duke you can read other peoples letters or do whatever else  you want without being questioned? I suppose it should be noted that the sealed letter is addressed to Sylvia and that the Duke is Sylvia’s father. So maybe that counts for something? I dunno.

So does this mean that if I borrow this rascal's coat and find a letter in it addressed to Nina, then I get to read that letter? Well that could be interesting. Perhaps the most interesting part of the whole thing  would be that he's writing a letter to Nina in the first place; forget about what's in it.

 

...but, sweet heart, let that pass. By the world, I recount no fable:

-Armado

Love’s Labour’s Lost             Act V Scene i, Line 100

 

Hmmm, what to say about this line? Okay, this scene is a lot of bluster and wordplay. I listened to it whilst reading it this morning and that was certainly helpful. I also read the summary before that, so I had a general sense of what was going on. Given all of that, can I explain this line to you? No, not really. I think it’s best explained by saying that it’s part of the bluster and wordplay of the scene. How’s that.

So, why did I pick this picture for today? I'll tell you why. The diversity of personalities in this picture is significant. I daresay, very, very significant. Whilst I do not remember the conversations that took place that day, or if there actually was much interchange between the members of this group, I would have to assume that if there were any conversations, they would have included some bluster and wordplay. There, how's that?

 

It is enough you know; and it is fit,

What being more known grows worse, to smother it.

-Pericles

Pericles, Prince of Tyre         Act I Scene i, Line 105

 

Oh boy. Well, if you didn’t know, we’re dealing with incest in this play. Yup.

Long story, short: Pericles must answer a riddle to win the daughter of King Antiochus. If he can’t figure out the riddle they will kill him. Pericles has figured out that the answer to the riddle is that Antiochus and his daughter are in an incestuous relationship. He’s has decided that he’s no longer interested in the girl, and more importantly that it will be in his best interest not to reveal the answer to the riddle. He’s speaking here to the king, trying to get out of giving the answer without losing his head.

So, given that, today’s Totally Random lines should be pretty clear. I can see why they don’t teach this play in schools. Oof.

Pic? No pic.

 

 

--I see their knavery: tis is to make an ass of me: to fright me, if they could. But I will not stir from this place, do what they can: I will walk up and down here, and I will sing, that they shall hear I am not afraid.            [Sings]

-Bottom

A Midsummer Night’s Dream       Act III Scene i, Line 121

 

Bottom’s head has just been transformed into a donkey’s head (I don’t think he realizes this yet), and his friends have all run away from him.

And so, he begins to sing, and it’s a song about birds: ousel-cocks, throstles, wren, finch, sparrow, lark, and cuckoo. Don’t ask me what an ousel-cock is.

        The ousel-cock so black of hue,

        With orange-tawny bill,

        The throstle with his note so true,

        The wren with little quill,

        The finch, the sparrow and the lark,

        The plain-song cuckoo gray,

        Whose note full many a man doth mark,

        And dares not answer nay;

 Birds; it’s for the birds, eh?

Okay, these are purple finch. This is a pic I took of plate 402 from my Audubon Society Baby Elephant Folio. It's a reproduction, of sorts, of Audubon's original Birds of America. No need to thank me.

 

--He could be contented,--why is he not, then?

-Hotspur

King Henry the Fourth Part I       Act II Scene iii, Line 4

 

He’s not exactly saying what you might be thinking that he’s saying. This is the opening lines of the scene. Hotspur is alone and reading a letter from some rando (we never actually get the name of the letter writer) who’s writing to tell Hotspur that he’s not going to join the rebellion. Hotspur is reading and reacting to the letter. Here’s the beginning of scene three. This opening soliloquy is written in prose:

 

Warkworth Castle.

Enter HOTSPUR solus, reading a letter,

HOTSPUR

‘—But, for mine own part, my lord, I could be well contented to be there, in respect of the love I bear your house.’ He could be contented,--why is he not, then? In respect of the love he bears our house:--he shows in this, he loves his own barn better than he loves our house. Let me see more.

Hotspur goes on to read the whole letter and react to it, line by line. Right after he finishes, his wife shows up and tries to get out of him why he’s been so out of sorts lately. Of course, it’s because he’s been working up this rebellion, but he doesn’t want to tell her about it.

I think he should have just told her what’s going on. What do you think?

 

 

Go, Biodello, bid your mistress come to me.

-Lucentio

The Taming of the Shrew              Act V, Scene ii, Line 77

 

Well, we have another interesting play here and one that could be one of the first to be singled out for book burning if we’re not careful. Do you want to hear about it? Well, I guess you’re going to whether you want it or not. Let’s see; where do we start?

I suppose the name tells a lot of the story. By the story, I mean the story of the play (a shrewish woman being tamed into a 'good' wife), and the story of why the book’s gonna get burned (because it's about a woman being tamed into a 'good' wife). So then, what’s to say? Well, let’s attack this burnability issue from a very general perspective, and that is this: 

WE NEED TO BE ABLE TO DISCUSS STUFF, PEOPLE!!

There, simple as that.

Okay, just in case it wasn't clear what I was talking about: this is a pic of my associate graduating from high school last year and posing with the superintendent of schools here in Cheshire (who by the way is the paragon of superintendents in my opinion). Now, what are we teaching in our schools, and in our universities? A lot. What are we not teaching? Apparently, anything that we might offend someone by talking about it. And that, my friend, is the problem. I can understand respecting peoples' feelings, but we gotta be able to find some middle ground here. Just throwing some stuff out is not the answer. Okay? Good. Thanks for letting me get that off my chest. 

 

But, Valentine being gone, I’ll quickly cross,

By some sly trick, blunt Thurio’s dull proceeding.

Love, lend me wings to make my purpose swift,

As thou has lent me wit to plot this drift!

-Proteus

The Two Gentelmen of Verona     Act II, Scene vi, Line 41

 

Today’s random line is the one with blunt Thurio in it. I added the line before it to make it an almost complete sentence. I added the two lines following it because they are the last lines of the scene and a rhyming couplet. And who doesn’t like a rhyming couplet.

As far as a bit of context: Proteus and Valentine are the titular gentlemen of Verona. Valentine’s got a new girl, Silvia, who Proteus just met. Thurio is another potential suitor of Silvia. Proteus decides that he wants Silvia and he spends this whole scene with a forty-three line soliloquy of why and how he’s going to get her.

Got it?

I didn't have a pic of Sylvia, so here is a pic of Lake Sylvia. It's pretty, isn't it?