Today’s Totally Random Line(s)

           

And call it excellent: thou wast told thus;

 

-Apemantus

Timon of Athens             Act IV, Scene iii, Line 215

 

Man, there’s a lot going on here. Apemantus, who's listed in the cast of characters as a churlish philosopher (rude in a mean-spirited and surly way: that’s the MW definition of churlish) shows up in the very first scene of the play and starts proving his churlishness right away. He hates everyone. Now, here in Act IV, he’s back and come to check out Timon, because Apemantus has learned that Timon has spurned society. Apemantus doesn’t believe that Timon is truly the man-hater that he himself is. I’m afraid I’m going to have to give you Apemantus’s whole speech:

  This is in thee a nature but infected;

  A poor unmanly melancholy sprung

  From change of fortune. Why this spade? This place?

  This slave-like habit; and these looks of care?

  Thy flatterers yet wear silk, drink wine, lie soft;

  Hug their diseased perfumes, and have forgot

  That ever Timon was. Shame not these woods, 

  By putting on the cunning of a carper.

  Be thou a flatterer now, and seek to thrive

  By that which has undone thee: hinge thy knee,

  And let his very breath, whom thou’lt  observe,

  Blow off thy cap; praise his most vicious strain, 

  And call it excellent: thou wast told thus;

  Thou gravest thine ears like tipsters that bid welcome

  To knaves and all approachers: ‘tis most just

  That thou turn rascal; hadst thou wealth again, 

  Rascals should have’t. Do not assume my likeness.

 

So, what’s he saying? Heck if I know. Actually, the first part of the speech is pretty easy to understand. Apemantus just doesn’t believe that deep down Timon is a man-hater. The second part of the speech seems to be just a continuation of that, basically just telling Timon to be the same as he was before, ending with 'don't try to be like me'.

Yah, Timon of Athens is a pretty good play. It’s somewhat simple, if you want it to be. At its heart it’s a play about real friends as opposed to phony ones, and about society in general. It’s another one of those plays that I think would be well placed in a high school curriculum. Lots of food for thought, or food for discussion, that is very relatable to today's world.

Two reasons for this pic:

Tomorrow is this young lady's birthday (don't worry, I'll post another pic of her tomorrow (If I have time to post tomorrow)).

And, as long as I have her, I will never have to worry about having Timon's fate. 

 

Today’s Totally Random Line(s)

           

Why, now you have done me right.

 

-Sir John Falstaff

King Henry the Fourth Part II    Act V, Scene iii, Line 70

 

But what about the next line. Here’s the full piece from the text

Falstaff

        [To Silence, seeing him take off a bumper]   

        Why, now you have done me right.

Silence

        [Singing]

        Do me right,

        And dub me knight,

        Samingo.

 

Interesting, eh? Lots to discuss.

We’re near the end of this play. In the scene previous, Henry IV has died, and Hal has met with the king’s counselors and assured them that he’s no longer Hal, he is now King Henry V.

Then we switch over to Shallow’s orchard where Shallow, Falstaff, Bardolf, and Silence are getting drunk. Silence is singing throughout the scene.

So a bumper is a large, full glass. Falstaff is addressing Silence and the fact that he just drank a bumper when he says you have done me right. And Silence responds to that with his three lines of song. Samingo might be a bastardization of Sir Mingo, whoever that is.

These guys are about to learn that Hal is now King Henry V, and they’re going to celebrate this fact thinking that their drinking buddy is now king. What they don’t know is that King Henry V is no longer Hal, and that these guys will not have a friend in King Henry V. Oh well.

Do me right, and dub me knight, Samingo.

I like that. Do me right, and dub me knight, Samingo. It’s catchy, even without a tune.
It reminds me a little of JT's 

Do me wrong, but do me right. 

Tell me lies, but hold me tight. 

Save your good-byes for the morning light. 

But don't let me be lonely tonight.

I wonder why JT doesn't mention Samingo?

Here you go.

(8) James Taylor - Don't Let Me Be Lonely Tonight (Live at the Beacon Theater) - YouTube

 

 

Today’s Totally Random Line(s)

           

Every letter he hath writ hath disvouch’d other.

 

 -Escalus

Measure For Measure     Act IV, Scene iv, Line 1

 

It’s another short scene, this time with Angelo and Escalus (the two guys that Duke left in charge) being a bit confused about Duke’s instructions relating to his return. This is the first line of the scene. Escalus exits soon after, and Angelo has a short soliloquy regretting some of his actions whilst Duke was away, ending with, you guessed it, a rhyming couplet.

    Alack, when once our grace we have forgot,

    Nothing goes right,- we would, and we would not.

And yes, Angelo did a pretty good job of forgetting his grace.

That line makes me think of Claudius’s

    That we would do, we should do when we would.

But that second line seems to have a whole different meaning, even though it’s also got the we would thing going for it.

I know, different play; but I couldn’t help myself.

Here's a pic of the cutest little monkey ever!

I couldn't think of what pic would go with today's post, so I decided to go with the Totally Random theme. I reached into one of my boxes of pics, and this is what I pulled out. And I have to say, that this is a perfect example of the second we would line. I decided what I would do, and I just did it. That I would do, I did when I would. Which is obviously what I should have done. 

Did you get all that?

 

Today’s Totally Random Line(s)           

                                       

    I would not have my father

See me in talk with thee.

 

-Jessica 

The Merchant of Venice     Act III, Scene iii, Line 9

 

It’s a short scene, only seventeen lines with Jessica and Launcelot Gobbo. Jessica is leaving home to run away with Lorenzo, and Launcelot is leaving this same home to take a new job with Bassanio. They are both leaving Shylock, and they both paint him as a bit of a devil. But is that really fair?

I’ve said before that this is a complicated play, and that it presents and lot of things and characters as something that they are not. Is Shylock a bad guy? Is he bad because he’s a Jew? It’s easy to argue that this play would answer both those questions with yes. But does it really? Does the play really say that about him? I don’t think it’s nearly as simple as all that. In fact, I’m quite sure it’s not.

But I’ve got to check out of this room in forty-four minutes. I too am leaving (not Shylock’s house, but I am leaving), and forty-four minutes is not nearly enough time to properly get into a discussion of what this play says about Shylock. I think I would need about a week for that. .

How about you?

 

Not my usual environs.

Where in the world is Pete?

 

 

Today’s Totally Random Line(s)           

                                       

For ‘tis the sport to have the engineer

Hoist with his own petar: and ‘t shall go hard

But I will delve one yard below their mines,

And blow them at the moon.

  

-Hamlet

Hamlet                          Act III, Scene iii, Line 207

 

What a great line! This is the scene in Gertrude’s chamber where Hamlet inadvertently kills Polonius and then sees his father’s ghost.
But right now he’s talking to his mother about the fact that R&G are set to escort him to England, and that he’s going to turn the tables on them. A petar is a bomb, so Hamlet is talking about the bomber being blown up with his own bomb. I really like the part about delving one yard below their mines and blowing them at the moon. 

When I read that I couldn't help but think of Tolkien's use of delve when Gandalf (I'm not sure, but I think it was Gandalf) talks about Durin delving too deep in Moria and disturbing the Balrog. But of course, delve is a very common word, and it's often used when talking about mining, so we mustn't assume that Tolkien had any influence from Will. No.

Just the same, delve one yard below their mines, and blow them at the moon. Where on earth did Will come up with that? Wow!

I don't remember who this friendly guy is, but apparently he wanted to see whatever I was looking at in the telescope. Was it someone being blown at the moon? Again, I don't remember.

 

Today’s Totally Random Line(s)      

                                  

And why, I pray you? Who might be your mother

That you insult, exult, and all at once,

Over the wretched? What, though you have no beauty,--

As, by my faith, I see no more in you

Than without candle may go dark to bed,

Must you be therefore proud and pitiless?

 

-Rosalind 

As You Like It              Act III, Scene v, Line 36

 

I like this speech. Silvius is pleading with Phebe to give him a chance with her, but Phebe wants no part of him. Silvius has just asked Phebe to take pity on him because he loves her, and she has replied that she will not return that love or take pity on him. And that’s where Rosalind comes in. She starts in with today’s lines, laying into Phebe, and continues for another twenty-three lines, ending with

Cry the man mercy; love him; take his offer;
Foul is most foul, being foul to be a scoffer.—
So, take her to thee, shepherd:—fare you well.

Rosalind obviously has no high opinion of Phebe.

Remember now, that Rosalind is dressed as a man and, you guessed it, Phebe falls for him/her, or should I say them. Lots of cross-dressing in Will’s works, eh? Kind of gets me to wondering about what was going on back there in merry ol’ England in the 1590’s.

Today's lines could get us into a long and serious discussion about sexuality, transgenderness... you name it. But that would be way too much for me to get into this morning. How about for now we take a look at these guys and gals and ask the question: Do we think that any of them are attracted to one of their mates who's not traditional in their sexual orientation? Of course, that leads to a more interesting question: If they were so attracted, who's going to tell them that they're wrong for that? Not me!

 

 

Today’s Totally Random Line(s)           

                                   

Fear me not, man; I will not break away:

I’ll give thee, ere I leave thee, so much money,

To warrant thee, as I’m ‘rested for.

 

-Antipholus of Ephesus

The Comedy of Errors         Act IV, Scene iv, Line 1

Line one, but deep into the play so that if you don’t know a bit about what precedes this, then the line isn’t going to mean much, is it?

So, do we want to get into context, this far into the play? Nah. How about something with the three line sentence that we’ve got? Hmmm. I can’t see much in it that really excites me. How about you?

Why don’t we just say Happy Birthday Jessica and see if we can’t find an appropriate pic for the day, since that's the only thing the birthday girl looks at anyway.

Happy Birthday Jess!