sweetsilentsessions: Glenn Feole on Shakespeare

Henry V    As usual with the historic plays of Shakespeare, the chronology and plot are mostly secondary to the real issues: the interplay of characters, moral dilemmas, and commentary (poetry) about life.   As with Henry IV, Part 2, I was surprised at the ending, in this play by the romance and in the former by the pathos of the exclusion of Falstaff from the newly minted King Henry’s life.       Here are s ome iconic quotes:             Love is blind...in so many words.     “so I shall catch the fly, your Cousin, in the latter end, and she must be blind too.”   King Henry   “As love is, my lord, before it loves.”   Duke of Burgundy to King Henry.   5.2.326-328           Also ‘band of brothers”      I gravitate (so to speak) to collecting Shakespeare's comments about the moon with all ...

sweetsilentsessions.blogspot.com readingthedictionaryztoa.blogspot.com glennlouisfeole@gmail.com Macbeth     A powerful, disturbing meditation on guilt, retribution, ego and the lust for power.     For added measure, there are some thoughts on marital manipulation and gender issues included but it requires some sang froid to read this as a male.   I can’t help thinking that the violence I see and resist on TV, as much as I decrie it, is as relevant and ubiquitous today as it was 400 years ago.   Fargo, House of Cards, Game of Thrones pale in comparison…everything, that is, except The Andy Griffith Show.   I guess these shows are in actuality reality TV.    A portrayal of our human condition with all its myriad manifestions.        Despite the depth of these dark, Dantesque emotions, I still find gems of wonder and humor unsurpassed in all of literature for their elegant eloquence:    al...

Sweetsilentsessions.blogspot.com readingthedictionaryztoa.blogspot.com glennlouisfeole@gmail.com   Henry IV, Part 2        A tale of heart-breaking betrayal, as shocking as any on FX (Fargo, House of Cards).        I am not particularly interested in history, American or British aristocracy, modern or Medieval, but as usual I have read this play for the beauty of the characters and the language, the poetic images and the insights into human nature.      The ending was such a sorrowful shock that it struck me to the core.   How many dear friendships have I betrayed and thrown to the wayside?   Where has the innocence of my youth, with its happiness and exuberance, gone?   Who have I become?   (It reminds me of the quote, “I am not who I am.”)        It is no secret that Falstaff is Harold Bloom’s favorite of the hundreds of Shakespeare’s characters: ...

sweetsilentsessions.BlogSpot.com readingthedictionaryztoa.BlogSpot.com glennlouisfeole@gmail.com The Winter’s Tale      Though a tale of suspicion and jealousy, it is ultimately redemptive.   Leontes jealousy rivals Othello’s in this regard, although Harold Bloom says that Leontes is Othello, but is his own Iago, as he fans the flames of his jealousy.        There is the classic, powerful narrative of jealousy (1.2.185) that starts “Is whispering nothing?” with its crescendo of ‘nothings’. There is also the moving portrayal of the deep love of Florizel for the orphanded Perdita, who is as pure as the Shepherd who raises her.    The innocence of youth and childhood friendships is poignantly portrayed by Polixenes   (1.2.62).             The painful accusations of King Leontes against the beautiful, humorous, intelligent Hermione is heartbreaking although some of...