Having a few cold ones with Will Shakespeare. Ask us anything.

[Aristus]

[Iris]

1. For starters,

to be or not to be?

[Aristus]

2. To be.

Will isn't big on suicide.

[Sedona]

3. Hamlet crazy?

or just pretending to be?

[Aristus]

4. Nah. He was faking it in order to throw Claudius off of his game.

Orson Welles once remarked: " 'What a rogue and peasant slave am I' That's a divinely sane thing to say."

Will just said: "Welles was the best Falstaff ev-AR! Welles ROCKED!"

[fleur-de-lisa]

5. What does Aristus think about all the wild speculation over the years

that Shakespeare was, in fact, illiterate, and therefore, very unlikely to have been the author of the body of work attributed to him?

[Aristus]

6. Well, the speculation is not necessarily unfounded.

Will's father, John, was known to be illiterate, although it didn't prevent him from being a fairly successful businessman and local office-holder. For a time, he was High Bailiff of Stratford, equivalent to mayor these days.

And there's no record of Shakespeare's children receiving formal education. Although his children who lived to adulthood were both girls, who wouldn't have had much education anyway.

There is strong anecdotal evidence, although no direct evidence, that Will attended Stratford Grammar School. It was one of the best schools in England at the time, and the curriculum, which included mathematics, Latin, Greek, and astronomy, among other subjects, would challenge a modern college student.

Although no manuscripts of the plays exist in Shakespeare's handwriting, he is known to have been the author of the Sonnets and narrative poems attributed to him. So the charge of illiteracy is a pretty weak one.

[Graybeard]

13. Watch the Michael Wood PBS special.

"In Search Of Shakespeare" is a wonderful investigation of his life. It puts to rest any speculation that he was not the author. Just two examples of his evidence:

Some of his characters have the same names as families in the town where Will grew up. Also references in a play to how someone was "like leather" able to be stretched and pliable. Will's father was a glover and worked with leather. Anyone else writing the plays would not have these references. Many more.

In Search Of Shakespeare-Michael Wood PBS (2004)
.
.

[Aristus]

14. I'll have to take a look at that. It sounds very interesting.

I've heard the textual evidence of knowledge of glove-making before. It's pretty convincing, if not 100% irrefutable proof. But then, I don't need proof like that. I have no doubts that Shakespeare is the man who wrote the plays attributed to him.

Thanks for the PBS recommendation.

[Graybeard]

32. It convinced me.

I'd be interested to know how Will reacts to this journey back into his childhood, love life and turbulent career.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

7. Do you or Will have any idea when I might feel like myself again???

This is just an excuse for a question.....I don't expect a serious answer!

[Aristus]

8. Will just held up his tankard and said:

"Pegeen, love! May your tomorrow be much brighter than your today. I kiss my hand at you!"


What a charmer...


Hope you feel better soon, CalPeg...

[CaliforniaPeggy]

9. Please tell Will how much I appreciate his tender consideration!

Thank you, my dear Aristus...I hope so too.....pretty sore today.

[Aristus]

10. Will also apologizes about the crack a few weeks back

about writing the role of Innogen in "Much Ado About Nothing" for you.

It was a lame joke.

Wait...he's still apologizing...

I think he's apologizing in sonnet form...

Oh hell, I'm not going to try to transcribe it. Suffice it to say, he is very eloquently sorry...

[CaliforniaPeggy]

11. Omigod, I'd forgotten that!

Tell him that it's OK, no apology needed.........It's really an honor to be teased by such a famous writer!



I need to get some dinner together......Later!

[Aristus]

12. Will and I left the tavern and headed to his place: New Place.

Now enjoying some warmed rum, and watching the wind blow through the branches of the mulberry tree just outside the window.

Cozy...

[KamaAina]

15. But soft! What light through yonder window breaks?

[Aristus]

16. It is the East. And Juliet is the sun.

It's a metaphor. Get it?

Truth is, Will never liked comparing women to the sun, or to a rose, or anything else obvious like that. He recommends the Sonnets to you. His descriptions of The Dark Lady are not necessarily flattering. Talk to Will about beauty, and he won't talk about how radiant, or entrancing, or spell-binding it is, but about how brief it is. How quickly youthful beauty turns to the decay of old age. He's kind of a buzzkill on the subject. But, as always, an eloquent buzzkill:

"Come kiss me, sweet and twenty;
Youth's a stuff will not endure."

[WI_DEM]

17. Will, what is your favorite movie adaptation of one of your plays?

[Aristus]

19. Kenneth Branagh's "Henry V" was pretty good.

The one with Lawrence Olivier was ridiculous. Yeah, it started out okay, showing what a play was like at The Globe, but Agincourt? Please! The battle was not fought on a croquet pitch in the bright sunlight the way it looks in Olivier's film! Branagh did it much better. Mud, blood, confusion, chaos. That was warfare back then.

Richard Loncraine's "Richard III" with Ian McKellan was mostly pretty good, bringing it into the 20th Centry like that. Back in my day, we rarely wore period-appropriate costuming. Too much research and tailoring to do when you've got three days to rehearse and prepare a play. I didn't like how old the principles were. The real Richard III was 33 when he was killed, not in his 60's, the way it looks in the film. Still, quite a good film.

[UrbScotty]

18. Aristus, Aristus, wherefore art thou Aristus?

[Aristus]

20. Why am I Aristus?

Because that's the user name I chose for myself when I registered at DU.

[Grantuspeace]

21. Mayo or Miracle Whip?

And be very, very cautious!

[Aristus]

24. Will doesn't go for all those fancy French sauces.

Mayonnaise, like Dijonnaise, Hollandaise, and other sauces inspired by or named for European locations, stem from 19th Century French haute cuisine.

It's all a bit much for a guy who likes his Warwickshire comfort foods...

[Enrique]

22. shall I compare thee to a Summer's Eve?

[Aristus]

25. Are you calling me a douche?

[struggle4progress]

23. What is so rare as a steak in June?

[Aristus]

26. A barbecue not hot enough to cook it properly.

[struggle4progress]

29. Churchy LaFemme said: "Well, the 29th of February is plenty rare, but

the 57th of November is even rarest."

[Paulie]

27. History, Comedy or Tragedy?

#!

[Aristus]

28. Shakespeare should always be experienced in the original Klingon!

You should see Will: he just shot me a gesture that must be the local Warwickshire version of 'up-your-plumbing'...

[Denninmi]

30. How, why, were humans given the capacity to be so cruel at times?

?

[Graybeard]

31. '...and the women you will wow.'

.
MOBSTERS:

The girls today in society
Go for classical poetry.
So to win their hearts one must
quote with ease
Aeschylus and Euripides.
But the poet of them all
who will start 'em simply ravin'
is the poet people call
the Bard of Stratford-On-Avon.

Brush up your Shakespeare
Start quoting him now.
Brush up your Shakespeare
and the women you will wow.
Just declaim a few line from 'Othella'
and they'll think you're a helluva fella.
If your blonde won't respond when
you flatter 'er
Tell her what Tony told Cleopaterer.
And if she still, to be shocked, she
pretends well,
Just remind her that,
"Alls Well That Ends Well".

Brush up your Shakespeare
And they'll all kowtow.

Cole Porter
"Kiss Me Kate"