literature, education, and early modern drama // the words, words, words of a (former) English teacher // all views are my own and do not represent those of my employer // Dr James Alsop (@readtheshakey)
Friends, readers, countrymen - lend me your ears! In what follows I will attempt to link the tragedy of Julius Caesar to: a grammar school education and rhetorical devices, the death of Queen Elizabeth, the lives of a penniless troupe of actors, early modern medical theory, and tenuous references to Donald Trump’s “alternative facts”. Let’s see how this goes.
One of my favourite ghost stories that I came across while researching my undead-themed PhD thesis. Don't expect too much in terms of in-depth analysis; this is all about the spooky thrills...! *insert thunder-clap here*
Critics are starting to come around to the idea that the "Bad Quarto" of "Hamlet" may have something worthwhile to offer after all - and it's a good thing too!
LADY MACBETH Here’s the smell of the blood still. All the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand. Oh, Oh, Oh! [...] Wash your hands. Put on your nightgown. Look not so pale.—I tell you yet again, Banquo’s buried; he cannot come out on ’s grave. DOCTOR Even so? LADY MACBETH To bed,… Continue reading 3-Minute Reads // “Give me your hand”: Lady Macbeth’s dying wish
Tromeo and Juliet is a schlock horror adaptation of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet that, in its own distasteful way, possesses much more charm and intelligence than one might expect from a film which transforms Juliet into a cow-monster. In this review, I sift through the grotesque humour and terrible jokes in order to uncover some interesting new perspectives on a well-studied tragedy.
In the concrete and plastic wasteland of Rufus Norris' 2018 "Macbeth", the most insignificant of gestures can offer a new perspective on a well-known marriage...
In Virginia Woolf's "The Waves" the search for identity is fraught with challenges. For Louis, the quest to retain a sense of his true "self" becomes an exercise in pain. But perhaps the pain is a necessary step...
