Dogs, Wives and Walnuts ...

The woman, spaniel, the walnut tree,
The more you beat them, the better they be.



Stanley Wells digs this one up in his Shakespeare and Co (to be reviewed, not too soon). It's origins are 'folk wisdom' its particular form here, care of John Taylor, ferry-boat man - who was a published author.

It's the spaniel that gets me ... hyper-linking in Elizabethan England.

This particular case is after 'The Two Gentlemen of Verona' but I think it illustrates nicely both an attitude (one assumable as common, if not provocative, even in Elizabethan England) and a process - the interlinking of images and ideas across the 'hyper-space' of the Elizabethan mindset.

nux, asinus, mulier verbere opus habent

Technorati Tags: Shakespeare, John Taylor, Two Gentlemen of Verona

On reading Stanley Wells ...

His introduction to:

'THE COMPLETE WORKS'
in

'THE OXFORD SHAKESPEARE'

(compact edition).

In the frantic moments of reading here and there, getting things down on video and audio, finishing reading texts to deadlines and generally surviving the departure of journeys (not to mention it is Easter here in Romania this week) - I took time out yesterday to sit by the Bega River and read through the 'General Introduction' Stanley Wells wrote for the Oxford Shakespeare back in 1988.

It stands up well to time.

I have to admit it did a great job in calming me down - of giving a firm platform on which to stage the plays (pun intended) and of reminding me I am here for pleasure ... this is not a duty, not work.

It is a hefty volume - I'd borrowed it from the local British Library (never got around to buying it - although I am thinking of getting my own edition, in the spirit of trophy hunting) and had it balanced on my knees as I sat on a variety of benches - moving with the sun, 'sometime too hot', 'often ... dimmed'.

The local pigeons seemed interested - especially one with a deformed foot, toes sliced off, which I thought was distinctly Shakespearean - several blackbirds took the opportunity to berate me; the sparrows: Tribal.

Wells has a clear style - and his facts are mainly just that - not an over extended 'Life'; firm-based supposition when appropriate; a good section on the theatre buildings and their relationship to the plays.

This last point again struck home - and the assertion that "the theatre" was Shakespeare's, "greatest collaborator," and, "encouraged his genius to flourish," found a warm welcome in this bosom.

Wells also provided useful information on the printing history of the plays and on the editing process - that was neither excessive nor unfitting for anyone coming to any edition of the works of Shakespeare either for the first time, or even after some acquaintance.



Technorati Tags: Shakespeare, Oxford Shakespeare, Introduction to Shakespeare