|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Sat Jan 27, 2007 9:21 pm
Before we read Romeo and Juliet in class, we read this article talking about how they believed shakespeare was a drug addict and how it could explain things like random characters in different scenes, and even small plot lines that went no where randomly strewn into the script. What do you guys think???
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Jan 28, 2007 10:39 am
I'd like to see the original article.
But I think that's rather silly. And I've always suspected the random plot lines were supposed to be important, but forgotten about, or removed for the sake of brevity or whatever.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Jan 28, 2007 11:12 am
Shakespeare a drug addict? Thats just stupid.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Jan 28, 2007 12:44 pm
Freya_Crescent I'd like to see the original article. But I think that's rather silly. And I've always suspected the random plot lines were supposed to be important, but forgotten about, or removed for the sake of brevity or whatever.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Jan 30, 2007 9:22 am
I don't have the article, although I could ask my old english teacher if he still has a copy.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Jan 30, 2007 3:57 pm
Please do. I'm interested in seeing the article.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Feb 01, 2007 2:58 pm
A possible explanation came up in a rehearsal for Midsummer recently- we were running through the scene where Bottom is ordering around the fairies.
First, he tells Peaseblossom to scratch his head, then for Cobweb to go kill him a red-hipt humble bee (atop a thistle!)-- but then tells Mustardseed to join Cobweb scratching his head.
The explanation- he didn't have too much time to write down his plays carefully, so he made a few mistakes.
If you get the article, though, I'd be interested in seeing it.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Feb 18, 2007 9:53 am
There were three different theories about the death of Shakespeare. I think that was one of the reasons for his death. I remember my english class doing a project on Shakespeare. One of the groups had something about Shakespeare's death and controversies about him.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed May 30, 2007 12:19 pm
Well, pot was acceptable at the time.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Jun 12, 2007 7:56 pm
Maybe random characters and plot lines were just there to help reflect real life. i.e. in real life you always meet random characters that have nothing to do with your life and their own storys you only get to here part of. Anyway that's just my idea.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Jun 15, 2007 2:25 pm
I don't think he was a drug addict, even though some of his stuff can be just simply weird. Couldn't the random people who's plots go nowhere just be a good way of keeping the overall plot going, to keep the pace up?
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Jun 26, 2007 10:39 am
Sometimes random characters and plot lines can supply comic relief. There is a method to his madness.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Jul 03, 2007 1:30 pm
Well as a historical perspective, it is true that Shakespeare smoked opium. However, this was at a age and time where taking in the excess of foreign trade and consume the consumables with reckless abandon was common. There was no concept of drug addiction, there was no rehab, there was no "this is bad for you." During the London Plague of 1665, children were encouraged to smoke tobacco and opium because people thought it might keep the plague away. That occured several years after Shakespeare's death.
So yes, it's true that Shakespeare smoked opium, however so did everyone else. And it's hard to conceptualize addiction when the British navy gave each man a quart of brandy a day. (Yes, they didn't go with rum until after they captured Jamacia, until then it was brandy.) So I don't think he was addicted to it, and even if he was, it would be very hard to prove.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Jan 02, 2008 9:00 pm
Maybe. Drug addiction, especially among starving playwrights/poets, was common back then.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Mar 28, 2008 7:03 am
Yeah, I really do agree that it all depends on the times. I mean, how many of us that write use caffiene? I can barely function without tea in the morning, and chocolate always helps me write love scenes ( 4laugh ). Caffiene is technically classified as a drug. Who knows? Many moons from now, people could be looking back at us and thinking that the randomness in our stories was directly related to the caffiene we consumed.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Reply
