We few, we happy few...
Had a very good day today, spent hanging out with Beth, which is always most entertaining. We started out just kind of sitting on the couch and being snide but eventually went shopping. I attempted to buy a really neat pair of Doc Marten boots, except they didn't have them in my size, and a Riverside Shakespeare for next semester, except that Borders didn't have any in stock except for the overly expensive leatherbound edition.
In the end I bought two books, one of them Andrew Gurr's The Shakespearean Stage, which I've been wanting for a while, and the other an amusing little volume called Henry V, War Criminal? And Other Shakespeare Puzzles -- it focuses on weird questions like whether Lady Macbeth really faints after the murder of Duncan or is just pretending, how exactly Desdemona is supposed to be killed, whether or not Bottom and Titania have sex, and wtf Prince Hal is talking about when confusing Francis the tapster. I wasn't sure about it, but ultimately I bought it, because of things like the essay that compares the fluid chronology in Richard II to faster-than-light travel on Star Trek, and this bit from the title essay:
"On the next occasion on which we see him on-stage, Henry has evidently (and belatedly) been apprised of the slaughter of his rear-line innocents. It has made him very cross."
Regardless of whether or not any of these questions matters (I don't think the chronology/ages of the characters in Richard II are as problematic as Sutherland and Watts think they are) it's very entertainingly written. ;)
So instead of spending a huge wad of cash I spent a moderately-sized one. But after all, books are a professional investment!
After that, we had Chinese takeout and watched Henry V, as Beth had only seen it once and her husband hadn't seen it at all. And I can't pass up the chance for enjoying the goodness that is Kenneth Branagh. Much fun was had by all (and much giggling broke out at certain lines, most notably the French King's "Go down upon him!" line. So many comments, so little time...)
Though I never seem to watch movies with people who get as sappy about things as I do. Ah, well. ;)
So I got nothing productive done today, but it's okay, as I had fun (though my poor overtaxed credit card took some more abuse). And we had some great conversation about books that could be worked into articles, and the problems of feminist criticism -- namely, that it's hard to write anything involving women for any number of reasons (Beth brought up the point that every interpretive gesture made about a female author is taken as appropriation for instance -- she's seen this writing about Anne Askew, and I writing about the Kenilworth pageants. Not to say this never happens, but I don't see it in either of these cases). I know I've hesitated in the past to write about gender issues because everyone expects women critics to do it. Although I've been sort of breaking out of that hesitance lately -- which I guess is a good thing. In any case I've got a paper idea floating around in the back of my head which entails gender roles, Shakespeare's histories, and Elyot's Governour which would totally rock...
Oh, and we also attempted to come up with a Tudor Twelve Days of Christmas (four Lord Chancellors, three wives named Katherine, two childless daughters, and a fat syphilitic old goat!) but ran into trouble in the double-digit parts of the song. Pity. ;)
In the end I bought two books, one of them Andrew Gurr's The Shakespearean Stage, which I've been wanting for a while, and the other an amusing little volume called Henry V, War Criminal? And Other Shakespeare Puzzles -- it focuses on weird questions like whether Lady Macbeth really faints after the murder of Duncan or is just pretending, how exactly Desdemona is supposed to be killed, whether or not Bottom and Titania have sex, and wtf Prince Hal is talking about when confusing Francis the tapster. I wasn't sure about it, but ultimately I bought it, because of things like the essay that compares the fluid chronology in Richard II to faster-than-light travel on Star Trek, and this bit from the title essay:
"On the next occasion on which we see him on-stage, Henry has evidently (and belatedly) been apprised of the slaughter of his rear-line innocents. It has made him very cross."
Regardless of whether or not any of these questions matters (I don't think the chronology/ages of the characters in Richard II are as problematic as Sutherland and Watts think they are) it's very entertainingly written. ;)
So instead of spending a huge wad of cash I spent a moderately-sized one. But after all, books are a professional investment!
After that, we had Chinese takeout and watched Henry V, as Beth had only seen it once and her husband hadn't seen it at all. And I can't pass up the chance for enjoying the goodness that is Kenneth Branagh. Much fun was had by all (and much giggling broke out at certain lines, most notably the French King's "Go down upon him!" line. So many comments, so little time...)
Though I never seem to watch movies with people who get as sappy about things as I do. Ah, well. ;)
So I got nothing productive done today, but it's okay, as I had fun (though my poor overtaxed credit card took some more abuse). And we had some great conversation about books that could be worked into articles, and the problems of feminist criticism -- namely, that it's hard to write anything involving women for any number of reasons (Beth brought up the point that every interpretive gesture made about a female author is taken as appropriation for instance -- she's seen this writing about Anne Askew, and I writing about the Kenilworth pageants. Not to say this never happens, but I don't see it in either of these cases). I know I've hesitated in the past to write about gender issues because everyone expects women critics to do it. Although I've been sort of breaking out of that hesitance lately -- which I guess is a good thing. In any case I've got a paper idea floating around in the back of my head which entails gender roles, Shakespeare's histories, and Elyot's Governour which would totally rock...
Oh, and we also attempted to come up with a Tudor Twelve Days of Christmas (four Lord Chancellors, three wives named Katherine, two childless daughters, and a fat syphilitic old goat!) but ran into trouble in the double-digit parts of the song. Pity. ;)