"Fie upon this quiet life! I want work."

[brynnmck]

troyswann and I went to see the Bard on the Beach productions of the Henry IVs (smooshed into one play, which they titled Falstaff) and Henry V this weekend, and they were WONDERFUL. The acting was uniformly excellent (Alessandro Juliani played Hal, and he was so good, funny and stirring and heroic by turns), and it was fascinating to see those shows staged

Comments

[fahye]

can we note the "thee" and "thou" action in that little speech

I wasn't aware it could express intimacy! I thought it was a subject/object distinction. EDUMACATE ME, I am intrigued.

(I am also SO JEALOUS, obviously, and thinking I should maybe...read the Henry IVs for once :D)

[brynnmck]

Thee/thou is actually the informal (like tu vs. vous in French, say), so it can either indicate intimacy or contempt, depending on the context. Like when Hal says it about Hotspur, it's intimacy (I assume, since Hotspur is--spoiler!--dead at the time and Hal is praising him); when Kent says to Lear, "What wilt thou do, old man?" it's a total OH NO HE DIDN'T moment. So with Shakespeare, anyway, those thee/thou moments are often significant in one way or another, and it's fun to think about. :)

You should read them! Or better yet, you should see them if you ever get the chance--beautiful as the text is, and super-smart as you are, I am such an evangelist for how plays really need to be SEEN in order to express their full flower of awesomeness. *g* But. Yes, I highly recommend the reading! If for no other reason than the excellent Hotspur/Lady Percy banter. :D

[fahye]

But wouldn't it be gramatically incorrect to say 'What wilt thee do?' or 'the earth that bears thou dead'? Thou = nominative, thee = objective. Wikipedia is only confusing me more, unfortunately, because it thinks the use of 'thou' to express intimacy or contempt was when it was used in place of 'you'.

I think I missed them when Bell Shakespeare did them last :( When I am a rich doctor I plan to be a PATRON OF THE ARTS and donate large sums of money to Bell Shakespeare, and perhaps I can use my Donor Influence to nudge them in the direction of the plays I'd like to see :D

[brynnmck]

... I think we're talking about two different things? You're right, afaik (grammatical terms are not my strong point at ALL), it would be incorrect to say it like that. But when a character is using the "thee" instead of "you," or the "thy" instead of "your," that's the red flag. So Hal could have said, "The earth that bears you dead bears not alive..." but instead he says "The earth that bears thee dead." Ditto Kent saying, "What wilt thou do" instead of "what will you do." Does that clarify, or am I misunderstanding what you're asking?

Ahahahaha. Using your powers for good! I LIKE THIS.

[fahye]

AHA, yes, crossed wires there.

Seriously, what is the point of having money if you can't then use it to make Shakespearean actors DANCE FOR YOUR PLEASURE? Rosencrantz and Guildenstern would agree with me, you know.

[brynnmck]

I think that is about as excellent a use of money as I can imagine! *g* I believe Sal and I had a fairly similar conversation on Saturday night, in fact. Hee.