Holly: "My OBERON! What VISIONS have I seen! Methought I was enamored of an ass!"
Alix: MOM?! Holly said a bad word!!
Val: It's just Shakespeare, Alix.
Joan: See? Shakespeare CAN be fun!
In the book “Babe the Gallant Pig”, which my fourth graders read and loved every year, Fly is referred to as “the collie bitch”. I had to spend fifteen minutes every year explaining that one before we started reading!
When I took a class on Chaucer in grad school, we had a teacher who must had Asperger’s or something. He acted very nervous, and spoke so softly that we had to shut the classroom door, sit as close to him as possible, cup our ears, and lean forward. We read some of Chaucer aloud, with as close as possible to the original Middle English accents, and I had to read a passage that nearly gave him the vapors. Chaucer was no slouch when compared to Shakespeare.
I have a wonderful book I liked to share with my son’s teachers. Can’t remember the exact title offhand, but something like “Insults in Shakespeare.” The kids all got a kick out of various ways to insult each other.
Auld Bill put something raunchy in almost every play he wrote; he knew that he had to be poular with the people in the “cheap seats” as well as the rich folks in the real seats, which were under a roof.Hamlet has a lline about Ophelia: “That’s a fair thought, to lie between maid’s legs.”“Twelfth Night” is fairly raunchy, if you look at it right: a Countess, greiving for her late father and brother, being chased by a Duke; and falling for a women dressed as a man, then getting the cross-dressing girl and her twin brother mixed up, and marrying the male twin. And keep in mind that all the parts, male and female, were played by males back in the day – so the female twin was a guy dressed as a girl, who was disgised as a guy… To quote Neddie Seagoon, “It’s all rather confusing, really.” :)
Everyone knows an ass is a donkey. It’s in the Bible,too. I wonder if it’s true William Shakespeare and Queen Elizabeth I had a little fling? Some cling to this legend.
slug_queen over 11 years ago
Heh. The promise of using bad words with impunity will get them every time. Just wait till she discovers Chaucer!
in.amongst over 11 years ago
Holly seems to enamoured to the bard….
psychlady over 11 years ago
Whatever gets them to read and do their homework!
Tirasmol over 11 years ago
I was hooked from the moment I read Hamlet! (anyone see Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead?)
pschearer Premium Member over 11 years ago
Country matters?
riverhawk over 11 years ago
Forsooth! Love is not love which alters when it alteration finds.
Bob Blumenfeld over 11 years ago
Holly just might have found a pastime to rival basketball. And given she’s already a drama queen, who knows where this might go.
cactuslady100 Premium Member over 11 years ago
OMG Holly is doing something that requires a little bit of brain power without being forced??
bobdingus over 11 years ago
In the book “Babe the Gallant Pig”, which my fourth graders read and loved every year, Fly is referred to as “the collie bitch”. I had to spend fifteen minutes every year explaining that one before we started reading!
Doctor11 over 11 years ago
I like reading Shakespeare, too.
Gokie5 over 11 years ago
When I took a class on Chaucer in grad school, we had a teacher who must had Asperger’s or something. He acted very nervous, and spoke so softly that we had to shut the classroom door, sit as close to him as possible, cup our ears, and lean forward. We read some of Chaucer aloud, with as close as possible to the original Middle English accents, and I had to read a passage that nearly gave him the vapors. Chaucer was no slouch when compared to Shakespeare.
38lowell over 11 years ago
Cheer up!It’s not on a job application!
GSJohnson over 11 years ago
I have a wonderful book I liked to share with my son’s teachers. Can’t remember the exact title offhand, but something like “Insults in Shakespeare.” The kids all got a kick out of various ways to insult each other.
gosfreikempe over 11 years ago
Auld Bill put something raunchy in almost every play he wrote; he knew that he had to be poular with the people in the “cheap seats” as well as the rich folks in the real seats, which were under a roof.Hamlet has a lline about Ophelia: “That’s a fair thought, to lie between maid’s legs.”“Twelfth Night” is fairly raunchy, if you look at it right: a Countess, greiving for her late father and brother, being chased by a Duke; and falling for a women dressed as a man, then getting the cross-dressing girl and her twin brother mixed up, and marrying the male twin. And keep in mind that all the parts, male and female, were played by males back in the day – so the female twin was a guy dressed as a girl, who was disgised as a guy… To quote Neddie Seagoon, “It’s all rather confusing, really.” :)
Comic Minister Premium Member over 11 years ago
I agree with Alix on this one!
gosfreikempe over 11 years ago
Oh, yes, he did, didn’t he? And thank you; I’d forgotten the term for the Gallery. Obviously suffering from a lack of strong tea…
lightenup Premium Member over 11 years ago
I used to like saying “hell” in the Nicene Creed at church when I was a kid, but I’ve noticed that it now says “dead”.
iced tea over 11 years ago
Everyone knows an ass is a donkey. It’s in the Bible,too. I wonder if it’s true William Shakespeare and Queen Elizabeth I had a little fling? Some cling to this legend.
sunchaunzo almost 5 years ago
About 30 odd years ago, Reader’s Digest printed a “modern” version of Romeo and Juliet for teens titled “O, Romeo! Like, wow!”!!
Kid Covid about 3 years ago
Anything where you can carefreely say “ass” referring to donkeys is always fun.