The aim of this blog is to serve as a meeting point to those who study or have studied English philology and, more broadly, to all those who love literature and language.

18 Jul 2008

ETERNAL SHAKESPEARE

It is part of every person's knowledge that William Shakespeare is one of the greatest writers of all times. Shakespeare was a man who came from a modest family, with virtually no education early on, in the 16th-century-town of Stratford-upon-Avon, England, and who later wrote plays and poetry that were to win praise throughout the world. It is natural that he stole the heart of many readers, in the same way as he stole mine since the very moment I opened the Uned book of English Literature I. It seems obvious that this subject has been my favourite one along with Shakespeare Theatre and History of English Language. Thus, let me share a bit of my devotion for this great poet with you all by displaying hereunder some quotes of my favourite Shakespeare's works.

"O for a Muse of fire, that would ascend
The brightest heaven of invention,
A kingdom for a stage, princes to act
And monarchs to behold the swelling scene!"

William Shakespeare, Henry V

"Deny thy father and refuse they name! Or, if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love, and I’ll no longer be a Capulet"

William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet
"All the world's a stage,
And all the men and women merely players"

William Shakespeare, As You Like It

"What light is light, if Silvia be not seen? What joy is joy, if Silvia be not by?"

William Shakespeare, Two Gentlemen of Verona
 "We few, we happy few, we band of brothers,
For he to-day that sheds his blood with me
 Shall be my brother"

William Shakespeare, Henry V
Posted by SUSANNA GOMEZ at 17:07
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8 comments:

  1. Maite P.18 July 2008 at 20:39

    I also like Shakespeare although I think I don't appreciate his work in accordance with his popularity and renown. I've never really enjoyed some plays: King Lear, for an instance. Anyhow I'm fonder of his comedies and I also love some of his sonnets.
    From the quotes provided in this post, I particularly like the beginning of Jaques' monologue in As You Like It. A good reading of this excerpt can be downloaded from http://internetshakespeare.uvic.ca/Library/SLT/life/lifesubj+1.html

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  2. Anonymous18 July 2008 at 21:52

    Your quotes are great, but Macbeth… Oh, Macbeth! I love this miserable, tortured, despicable man! Sometimes, specially after doing a particularly horrible exam of English Syntax, Semantics, or something like that, I feel in a dark mood. Then I go to the window of my bedroom, at midnight, and I recite aloud, with a strong voice, for all the world in general (and for my neighbours in particular):
    “Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player
    That struts and frets his hour upon the stage,
    And then is heard no more. It is a tale
    Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
    Signifying nothing.”
    Macbeth, scene v
    Then, I go back to my bed and I sleep all night long, as placidly as an innocent child.
    The Reluctant Grammarian

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  3. SUSANNA GOMEZ20 July 2008 at 16:57

    Hello Reluctant Grammarian,

    I think I also have the same trouble with English Syntax. It's the only subject I have left to obtain my degree and if I don't pass in September, I'm goins to be really maaaaad.... I'm studying every day and it's driving me crazy. Howeverm I have the feeling that it is one of those subjects that, once you get more acquainted with it, you start to love it. We'll see...

    Susanna

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  4. Anonymous21 July 2008 at 09:36

    You´ve been busy this weekend!!

    How different we are about subjects! I´m really looking forward to starting English Syntax next course, but I don´t have the same feeling about Literature III...


    Regarding Shakespeare, when last year I took Shakespeare´s Theatre I missed my first year´s Shakespeare. I think I would have made more of it, later on, say, on the third course, once I learned to work deeper with texts.

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  5. Anonymous21 July 2008 at 16:26

    Susanna,
    Personalmente Sintaxis me hubiese resultado más fácil de estudiar si hubiese sido capaz de encontrarle alguna conexión con el mundo real. Como es en buena medida una cuestión mecánica, te recomiendo que repitas una y otra vez los análisis de las frases incluidas en las lecciones. Al final, lo que ponen en los examenes son variantes de dichas frases.
    Un saludo.
    El Gramático Reticente

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  6. Anonymous15 September 2008 at 02:51

    Another quote, this one on Shakespeare: read, for pleasure, a page by Jorge Luis Borges in "El Hacedor", entitled "Everything and Nothing". Possibly the best page ever written on Shakespeare.

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  7. Anonymous15 September 2008 at 02:53

    And I hope everything's been all right with your September exams. Or is going to.

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  8. Maite16 September 2008 at 22:18

    I've just read the page in "El Hacedor", which José Ángel recommends, from a post in his blog. I paste the URL here, in case someone else liked to read it too. http://garciala.blogia.com/2008/091603-la-mejor-pagina-sobre-shakespeare.php

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