I just interviewed Ian Mckellen!

I just came across a gem! There is a website called Stage Work Mckellen where you can hold your own interactive interview with Ian Mckellen about Shakespeare and Richard III. How cool is that?! You can ask him questions like:

Is the play Richard III historically accurate?

Why is the play so popular?

Should we have sympathy for Richard?

But before he'll answer you, YOU have to give him your response to these questions. He also gives his own critique and interpretation of speeches and stage and film renditions of the play. Ian Mckellen as a Shakespeare professor! He explains that his version of the opening speech in Richard III  was shortened for film purposes, and that words were put that Richard said in Henry VI part 3, like we talked about in class yesterday. You can find the screenplay Ian Mckellen wrote, with more notes, at www.mckellen.com or click here for a direct link his screenplay.

If you're not interested in Richard III, you can also ask him questions about Shakespeare like:

Should Shakespeare be read so that it's obvious it's written in verse?

Is it ridiculous to make 14 year-olds study Shakespeare?

Was Shakespeare interested in politics?

If what I wrote didn't make much sense, here's a video that explains Stage Work Mckellen.
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• How does it serve the play and the study of Shakesepare? I think this site is an excellent source for those studying Richard III. Ian Mckellen provides an interpretation of the beginning speech and gives you and opportunity to ask questions about it. He also offers other versions of the speech on film and stage for you to watch and compare yourself. The questions about Shakespeare in general are a little more tailored to Ian Mckellen and his career, so it's not the best resource for Shakespeare overall. 
• How well does it use available media? It links to videos, texts, and many other resources. Just the format of the site in general makes use of all sorts of media. 
• Will this reach audiences? Referring to the literal answer to this question I'm not too sure about this, since I don't think this site is marketed very well. It was by chance that I came along and found it. Will is reach into the lives of those who do happen to find it? Yes. It combines popular culture, modern references and historical references.
• Is it just a gimmick or is this a substantial contribution to the study of Shakespeare? I think this is a substantial contribution to the study of Shakespeare. Just like our blogs, this is a way to learn about Shakespeare through someone elses eyes! Ian Mckellen is passionate about Shakespeare, and he really does know his stuff. I think this would be a perfect media to use in a classroom setting to get students involved and interested in Richard III and Shakespeare.

 Now take a look at this site! It's a unique resource about Shakespeare through the mind of someone who knows a thing or two about him, to the say the least.

Hamlet Ramblings

I chuckled to myself while reading the first scene of Hamlet:

"Holla! Bernardo!"
"Say, what, is Horatio there?"

because really, Shakespeare was a homeboy.

Seeing it this way made my husband suddenly interested in what I was reading. We searched around for Shakespeare dictionaries online and found some resources but no answers as to where "holla" came from. The site: http://www.acepilots.com/bard/ws_word.html shows you a selected amount of Shakespearean words and sayings, provides definitions and also sites a few places they're used in his literature. The creator of the website refers to Alexander Schmidt's Shakespeare Lexicon, which supposedly sites every instance of every word and in its context. Quite the gem for us Shakespeare folk. I think I might want to look into getting me a copy of that book. It would be interesting to ponder on how housewife could go from meaning "hussy, prostitute" to the image of a humble, self-sacrificing mother. But then again, these days the word housewife is regressing to Shakespeare's definition with television shows like "Desperate Housewives" and "The Real Housewives of Jersey Shore" (...or something like that).

FYI: I also found another site with a broader selection of terms(http://absoluteshakespeare.com/glossary/a.htm) that might be more helpful as a quick reference in the future. Any other suggestions or sites you know of? Our textbook has a glossary, too.


I may have just revealed my complete amateur knowledge of Shakespeare/Old English/Latin or where ever the word comes from, but come on, “Holla”? Don’t try to tell me he just misspelled “hola.”

I'm an Art history fan, so while I was reading the last scene of Act 1 where Hamlet, Horatio and Marcellus swear on their swords to keep the ghost of Hamlet’s father I couldn’t help but picture this painting…

Oath of the Horatii

…and wonder if there was a connection there. Horatio…Horatii? This painting depicts the three sons of Horatius swearing on their swords (held by their father) that they will defend Rome to the death…. Hamlet, Horatio and Marcellus each hold out their swords and swear upon them. See what I mean? “Oath of the Horatii” by Jacques-Louis David was painted in 1784, while the first edition of Hamlet appeared long before then, around 1600. That throws out the thought of Shakespeare being inspired by this painting, but I guess it could be the other way around. In any case, it’s something worth considering and I’d love to begin looking at art inspired by Shakespeare and vice versa.

A quote to end on:

Ghost: ….Remember me.
Hamlet: …Remember thee?
Yea, from the table of my memory
I’ll wipe away all trivial fond records,
All saws of books, all forms, all pressures past
That youth and observation copied there,
And thy commandment all alone shall live
Within the book and volume of my brain,
Unmixed with baser matter.

Drama queen or not, Hamlet’s sorrow and desperation go so deep that they tap into the vein of love. A fellow classmate, Martin Michalek said HERE that Hamlet is “in love with his sadness”, which I think is genius on Shakespeare’s part. What emotion has been expressed and understood through as many outlets as love? Conjoining emotions of love, sorrow and a passion for hopelessness makes Hamlet’s soliloquies a twisted sort of romantic that is heart wrenching and warming at the same time. Take these words out of context and you’ve found the key to a woman’s heart, mine at least.