tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post1987939559363183120..comments2024-03-26T23:41:10.319+00:00Comments on Authors Electric: Just As We Like It by Ann EvansKatherine Robertshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17196712319655603442noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-17919023451794521432016-05-14T06:46:55.617+01:002016-05-14T06:46:55.617+01:00I meant 'the' of course.I meant 'the' of course.Dennis Hamleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15781139870037634374noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-37329775271707918362016-05-14T06:46:12.778+01:002016-05-14T06:46:12.778+01:00Was so busy yesterday I've only just seen this...Was so busy yesterday I've only just seen this. Yes, Shakespeare was the man all right and Nick's notion of why is spot on. And I do recognise that possibly not all his quotations are necessarily him speaking for the first time. But anyone who can make a universal statement by adding 'is' and 'to' to the abstract qualities of 'soul, 'wit' and 'brevity is to my mind a real genius.Dennis Hamleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15781139870037634374noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-44713458714318002932016-05-13T12:56:54.249+01:002016-05-13T12:56:54.249+01:00Just in case anyone's got the wrong end of the...Just in case anyone's got the wrong end of the stick, I'm pretty wild about Shakespeare myself. But Bardolatry (GBS, I think?) is also pretty rife. He wrote plenty of bad lines, too. She hath played the trumpet in my bed, to name but one. (or was it the trombone?)<br /><br />That's a joke, btw. Jan Needlehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15823078224282953782noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-1060337712561133982016-05-13T12:00:26.018+01:002016-05-13T12:00:26.018+01:00I agree with Nick, Shakespeare's the man, tota...I agree with Nick, Shakespeare's the man, total genius imo. It's the powerful language and how he gets into people's heads which keep him on top and part of our everyday speech. The phrases attributed to him are those whose first recorded use is in his work, some of them no doubt might have been used in speech. It doesn't matter, nor does his using plots from elsewhere, even now plots are not copyright and are recycled endlessly on films and tv, and then there was no copyright as such. It's incredible that we have so much of his work, largely due to the dudes who brought out the First Folio of which an astonishing number still survive, considering the publication date a few years after his death. Plays like Macbeth, every time I see or read them, I find new insight and sheer power. Good luck with your books based on the plays!Lydia Bennethttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09328239009863878547noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-85044718748538420402016-05-13T10:40:46.656+01:002016-05-13T10:40:46.656+01:00It's true that many phrases we use today are f...It's true that many phrases we use today are first found in Shakespeare, but even if he did invent them, I don't think that's the reason to say he's brilliant. We remember the phrases BECAUSE he was brilliant, not the other way around. His plays lasted, so the phrases fell into common use, and/or endured where others were forgotten.<br /><br />I think the thing that makes Shakespeare supreme was that he was arguably the first writer to achieve psychological realism and true character depth, rather than just tell a story. If you compare even a great playwright like Marlowe, Doctor Faustus is more a morality tale than a true character study. Only with Shakespeare do you start to get people who feel like more than fictional creations.<br /><br />The Macbeth-as-rugby-player book sounds like a brilliant idea! Must introduce that series to my two.<br /><br />Nick Greenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08191176209084540085noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-37848564090761009082016-05-13T09:08:58.635+01:002016-05-13T09:08:58.635+01:00Don't want to rain on the parade, but as old B...Don't want to rain on the parade, but as old Bill nicked most of his plots, isn't it quite likely that many of the phrases people cite as 'his' were in fact part of everyday speech at the time? It's a bit like saying Tommy Cooper invented 'not like this, like that.' Maybe, as the owner of a couple of theatres, with the actors' parts in his gift, he got sent a lot of plays to consider for performance and thought (like Burglar Bill?) 'that's a nice phrase. I'll 'ave that!' Only sayin'<br /><br />Do like the idea he invented the knock knock joke, though. That's got the ring of truth, if I may borrow a Bardism!Jan Needlehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15823078224282953782noreply@blogger.com