Nay, ‘tis no matter, sir, what he ‘leges in Latin. if this be not a lawful case for me to leave his service, look you , sir, he bid me knock him and rap him soundly, sir: well, was it fit for a servant to use his master so, being perhaps, for aught I see, two and thirty, a pip out? Whom would to God I had well knock’d at first, Then had not Grumio come by the worst.

-Grumio

The Taming Of The Shrew             Act I scene ii line 30

Admittedly, this is a little bit tough to read. But if you read the whole scene, and it’s not very long, it’s pretty easy to see what’s going on. And if you do read it, perhaps you’ll be like me and the first thing that will come to mind after reading it is the Abbott and Costello Who’s On First gag.

Petruchio tells Grumio, the servant, to knock at the gate of Hortensio’s house to see if he’s home. Grumio misunderstands and thinks that Petruchio is telling him, Grumio, to hit him, Petruchio, not the gate. Grumio, being the servant, is quite reluctant to hit Petruchio, and so they go back and forth with this for several lines, adding a little slapstick in for good measure. Who’s on first?

I think it’s pretty interesting that the guy who brought us the tragedy and brilliance of Lear and Hamlet is also responsible for bringing us the low brow humour of The Taming Of The Shrew, and, albeit very indirectly, being the progenitor of an Abbott and Costello routine.

And so, today’s pic is not a pic but rather a link to a short video. Here you go.

What he will do graciously, I will thankfully receive.



-Marina



Pericles                                               Act IV scene v line 59





Marina is Pericles daughter, and I believe she got separated from him in a shipwreck. At this point in the story she has somehow ended up with some hooligans who have sold her into slavery as a prostitute. But I don’t think she realizes yet that she’s supposed to be a prostitute. She’s just been asked by the guy in charge to ‘use him kindly’. The ‘him’ being referred to is a customer that has shown up at the bordello. ‘Use’ means, um, well, I suppose perform for him. You know. And I’m not sure Marina really knows what’s expected of her. Or maybe she does know. Either way, today’s Totally Random line is her answer to 'use him kindly', and it could be her answer either way, though it would have a different connotation depending on what she knew or understood. Actually, the more I look at it, the more I think she doesn’t really understand what the customer is coming in for, because I don’t think she’s willing to thankfully receive from him what he intends to give, no matter how gracious he is.


I think the misunderstandings here are being played for laughs since this is a comedy. And with this subject matter it’s a bit of a bawdy comedy, isn’t it? Whilst he may not be as direct as stuff you see and hear now a days, Will’s material can still get quite provocative. I’m thinking that the audience would really get into this.


But Graciously and Thankfully? I don’t think either of those terms really fits in here. Or maybe I’m wrong.

Today I give you a picture of my grandmother. Whilst she would not have been associated with the bawdy scene from which we pulled today's line, she will always be associated with graciousness. So here she is graciously, and I am thankful to have had her for my grandmother.

Away with him, I say! Hang him with his pen and inkhorn about his neck.

-Jack Cade

King Henry The Sixth Part II             Act IV scene ii line 105

They’re gonna hang the guy because he knows how to read and write. Ooof!

There’s been a lot written (and spoken) about how timeless Will’s works are. Looking around at the world today, and reading this line certainly affirms that notion. I’m not sure if it’s because Will was so good at writing, or if it’s just because we’ve progressed so little as a society. Either way, it can be downright depressing sometimes. Oh well, gotta keep moving forward, eh?

 

What do you think of my new license plate frame? This is what I'm moving forward with.

I escaped upon a butt of sack, which the sailors heaved o’erboard, by this bottle!



-Stephano



The Tempest                            Act II scene ii line 127



 A butt of sack is a barrel of liquor. The reason it is easy for me to remember that sack has to do with liquor is that I remember, way, way, back in the day, Frank Gifford (any of you boys and girls remember Frank Gifford?) doing a television commercial for Dry Sack Sherry. That, and the fact that I’ve been reading a bit of this Shakespeare stuff, so I probably would have picked up on it by now anyway. But there is that Gifford thing.

Okay, here's a pic of me now, and here's a pic of me around the time I would have seen that Frank Gifford Dry Sack ad. So that Dry Sack ad got stuck in that young kid's brain and it's still there in that old guy's brain. That just seems to defy logic, doesn't it?

This music makes me mad; let it sound no more;

For though it hath holp madmen to their wits,

In me it seems it will make wise men mad.

Yet blessing on his heart that gives it me!

For ‘tis a sign of love; and love to Richard

Is a strange brooch in this all-hating world.

-Richard

King Richard The Second                       Act V scene v line 62

These six lines are the end of sixty-five lines of Richard’s rambling. He’s alone in a prison cell and his cousin Bolingbroke has taken over the throne. Richard knows that his goose is cooked (in fact, he’s dead by the end of this scene) and so he’s musing about life in general. You get a pretty good idea of where he’s going with the first few lines of the soliloquy:

            I have been studying how I may compare

            This prison where I live unto the world:

            And, for because the world is populous,

            And here is not a creature but myself,

            I cannot do it;--yet I’ll hammer it out.

And it goes from there, flitting back and forth from one thing to another. Towards the end of the soliloquy some soft music can be heard playing in the distance. And then he ends with today’s Totally Random lines.

Throughout the whole thing, as he moves from one thing to another he also moves from one opinion to another about many of the different subjects he touches on. He does it in the start: how I may compare, but I cannot, and yet I’ll do it. And so he does in these last six lines. Music makes me mad, but blessing on the giver of music; It’s a sign of love, in this all-hating world. 

And just as contrasting, Richard is living now, and in a few more minutes he’ll be dead. 

It’s a pretty interesting sixty-five lines, but is this Will’s summation of existence? I hope not.

 It doesn't appear that these two coconuts in prison are ruminating about life and existence. I'd say they're just enjoying getting their picture taken. I suppose that's a good way to be. Of course, they're neither alone, nor stuck in that cell. They're just taking a tour of Alcatraz.