Clearly the bloodiest of all of Shakespeare's plays, Titus is literally a blood sandwich in which nearly every character is maimed or murdered in the Clearly the bloodiest of all of Shakespeare's plays, Titus is literally a blood sandwich in which nearly every character is maimed or murdered in the most heinous ways. It is a double-revenge story of Romans versus Goths and just an orgy of violence end to end. Apparently, given the times when public executions were heavily-attended events, this was one of the most popular plays during Shakespeare's lifetime. It is so brutal!
Et tu Brutus. Then fall Caesar. Whether or not Julius Caesar ever spoke these words, they contain a wealth of meaning like the rest of Shakespeare’s exEt tu Brutus. Then fall Caesar. Whether or not Julius Caesar ever spoke these words, they contain a wealth of meaning like the rest of Shakespeare’s extraordinary play. Even if Cicero is speaking Greek, and for the hapless Casca, “but those that understood him smiled at one another and shook their heads; but, for mine own part, it was Greek to me,� even for readers more than four centuries later, the Bard still speaks directly to us about pride and arrogance, about hope and despair, and about the struggle of one man, Brutus, against his conscience trying to justify what he though was a righteous murder. However, this is Shakespeare, and the murder of a monarch never,ever goes well. Brutus was dumb to not also kill Antony, to let Antony speak after him and to meet Antony on the field of battle at Philippi. For my money, this is one of Shakespeare’s most straightforward narratives, one which many Americans and Europeans learned at school. The epic performances of Charlton Heston and Marlon Brando both playing Antony and haranguing the crowd with “Brutus is an honorable man� still haunt us today. When we think of the dreams and innocence that died when Kennedy was assassinated, we can try to approach the pathos that Shakespeare captures in this moment. Truly worth reading again (and again.)
If I were to assign a Shakespearean tragedy to one of each of the thresh metal Big Four, I would do so thus:
- Anthrax would be Hamlet due to the many If I were to assign a Shakespearean tragedy to one of each of the thresh metal Big Four, I would do so thus:
- Anthrax would be Hamlet due to the many changes in personnel and the mixture of genres that they have done over time, sort of like how Hamlet has moments of indecision as to which direction to take. - Megadeth would definitely be Othello with Dave Mustaine forever jealous of the enormous success of Metallica and yet still pursuing his own path. Plus Othello is the most musical of the four tragedies and arguably, Dave has the most musical (however annoying to me) voice of the group. - Slayer would ressemble Macbeth in the dark, foreboding atmosphere in their music, the anger and rage at the universe best expressed on their masterpiece, God Hates Us All. - King Lear would be be represented by Metallica in my opinion. James Hetfield is nearly as massive a personality as old Lear and certainly expresses a wide range of emotion and occasionally (see St Anger so surprising vulnerability). The raging storms in Lear reminded me of the songs on Ride the Lightning or And Justice For All in their intensity and ceaseless energy.
So, anyway, back to Lear...
I think, with The Tempest and Hamlet and maybe Macbeth, this is my favourite Shakespeare play. Grandiose, tragic with characters bigger than life, it demonstrates the Bard's absolute mastery of blank verse and extraordinary dialog. I am nearly breathless each time I finish Lear. I have, unfortunately, never seen it on stage but that is one on my bucket list!
There is so much depth here and so much at stake. The dividing of England by Lear to open the play was an immediate reminder to Jacobean audiences (those living under Elizabeth’s successor and therefore Shakespeare’s second royal sponsor, James I) recent unification of Scotland England and of the civil wars. The characters of Regan and Goneril and Edmund are all heinous and despicable, up there with Iago and the Joker (although Edmund sort of comes around at the very end). The faithfulness of Kent to Lear, the Oedipal fate of Gloucester, and the tragedy of Cordelia are so vivd.
But what takes this play to the rarefied atmosphere of the world’s greatest literature is the storm in Act III. As AC Bradley wrote in Shakespearean Tragedy in 1904, the storm and Lear become one and it is a terrifying and edifying thing to read that defies the imagination. That and the scenes between Lear and Cordelia. Wow.
Where can one even start with this magnificent tragedy? It is loaded with symbolism and overloaded with gravitas. There are nearly imperceptible tiny Where can one even start with this magnificent tragedy? It is loaded with symbolism and overloaded with gravitas. There are nearly imperceptible tiny sparks of light and humor, but it is hard to drown the cries of the dying, innocent Desdemona and those of the jealous, vengeful Othello. The manipulation by Iago is the most awful, masterful deception in Western literature from one of its most truly heinous and amoral villains. He and Heath Ledger's Joker are on the same level of violence for the sake of violence and staking everything on destroying the good guy that fate has placed in their path. For Iago, the denial of a promotion in favor of the fun-loving, but capable Cassio, and his own barely-avowed lust for Desdemona drives him to infernal heights such that Othello looks to his feet to see whether they are cloven once Iago's wife Emilia has revealed the deception. There are no sideplots, barely any diversions in this, the most straightforward of the Bard's plays. An absolute masterpiece through and through.
The genius in Shakespeare is that the text is so full of poetry and ambiguity that it can be interpreted (and often with reason) is diametrically oppoThe genius in Shakespeare is that the text is so full of poetry and ambiguity that it can be interpreted (and often with reason) is diametrically opposed ways. TS Elliott thought it was a hack job whereas Coleridge saw it as a play about melancholy and inaction, Freud says Oedipus and AC Bradley sees a hero awakening to his fate. Somewhere in there, one must read the text for oneself and revel in its beauty and violence.
This is an interesting forebodoing. But then the film was already 4h hours long...
Hamlet is a sort of porte-manteau: he carries in him all of our own insecurities: should I believe the Ghost? Is my mother who I think she is? Should this new reality push me to suicide? How can it be just for 20000 men to die for an eggshell? He hesitates during Claudius' prayer not wanting to send him to heaven and yet as he exits, the king admits that he wasn't really praying:
"My words fly up, my thoughts remain below. "Words without thoughts never to heaven go." III.iii 97-98
so it is all pointless. It takes him, as Bradley points out, four acts to move into action, but it is now too late to arrest the inexorable forward march of fate. Hamlet is also a mise-en-abime, a picture within a picture within a picture as Branagh beautifully portrays Hamlet before a mirror (behind which hide Polonius and Claudius) for the "to be or not to be" speech. And this is truly what makes it such powerful literature, such unforgettable theatre. I feel that sometimes Hamlet is trying to resist the pull of fate and in this passage, he reminds me of Michael Corleone in Godfather II (was Coppola inspired by Shakespeare in his screenwriting? Was Puzo?):
The time is out of joint. O cursèd spite, That ever I was born to set it right!" I.v 188-189
I am having a hard time writing this review because, as over four centuries have passed since it was penned, most likely in 1600-01, so much has been written about Shakespeare and Hamlet that I feel that what I am writing must sound contrived or rebaked. One thing that did strike me in any case was the sardonic sense of humor that Hamlet has, right up until the end. He displays such a range of emotions and emotional states that it makes him feel so very real.
What makes this so incredibly real is the staging. Having Hamlet expounding on existence (yeah, the one you know by heart) walking into the room with Ophelia (oh, but why did you let Claudius and your idiot father Polonius talk you into this), Hamlet exploding into a rage, “To a nunnery, go!� and then storming off. I think Branagh’s filming of this with mirrors was exquisite. It is theater right on the precipice of reality.
Loading...
