Category Archives: Shakespeare

REASONS FOR QUESTIONING A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM. Judith Fleming elaborates on her question by saying that “It has three scarcely related actions….Its characters are walking contradictions.” It is hard to imagine another playwright— then or later—combining three such different sets … Continue reading →

IS A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM “NOT A VERY GOOD PLAY”? I saved a review in the March 5 2010 Times Literary Supplement which Juliet Fleming begins by asking: “Could it be that A Midsummer Night’s Dream is not a very … Continue reading →

“…BARE RUINED CHOIRS…” Kids, you may know how much of an impression SEVEN TYPES OF AMBIGUITY made on me when I was young. Here is a famous example of Empson’s criticism: “To take a famous example, there is no pun, … Continue reading →

THE AMBIGUITY OF “AH, SOLDIER!” William Empson in SEVEN TYPES OF AMBIGUITY says that “The fundamental situation, whether it deserves to be called ambiguous or not, is that a word or a grammatical structure is effective in several ways at … Continue reading →

EXPLICATING “AH, SOLDIER!” I too am moved by the two words “Ah, Soldier!”, but I have no simple explanation for why. Frank Kermode points out that the scene represents ” a critical moment in world history.” He also points out … Continue reading →

“AH, SOLDIER!” I noted here that there are 7 Shakespeare plays that I have not yet seen. I have recently finished reading Antony and Cleopatra, which is one of them. So I took a particular interest in an article by … Continue reading →

SEAM AND GREASE (COMMENT). I think that Professor Liberman’s association of “unseaming” with “guts” remains valid. My OED gives the usage of “seam” for “fat” or “grease” going back to 1200, with examples from 1483, 1513 and 1541. I think … Continue reading →

SEAMS AND SEWING (COMMENT). I posted here on Professor Biberman’s observation that in the phrase “he unseamed him from the nave to th’ chops”, Shakespeare’s audience would be familiar with the use of “seam” to refer to “guts.” Trent commented … Continue reading →

“THE SEAMY SIDE” IN SHAKESPEARE. I sent Mary Jane Professor Biberman’s article, and she was reminded of some of Emilia’s lines in Othello. (Mary Jane played Emilia in college). Emilia is protesting to Iago against the accusation that Emilia has … Continue reading →