I'm thinking about auditioning for Shakespeare in the park next year. I took one class on Shakespeare in college and it was on Saturday mornings and lasted all day (or 3 hours in non-freshman time). It was amazing. I had so much fun learning all about the characters and time period and cleverness. I wish I could remember more from that class but my biggest take away was this: "In a Shakespeare tragedy everyone dies, and in a Shakespeare comedy one person is allowed to live" I've always loved that. [Edited to clarify the class was not a one off]
I guess King Lear is a comedy then because Kent is alive at the end and Edgar -- but EVERYONE else is dead dead dead. There's so much death that when Edmond (the bastard son of Gloucester) who caused so much trouble dies, the comment is "That's but a trifle here." In Hamlet, pretty much everyone dies. MacBeth too. If you're interested, read my blog about the difference between Comedy and Tragedy in Shakespeare.
That is a great post lil, I really enjoyed it. I never took the quote too seriously but you really broke down the differences there. In particular the quote at the end is both truthful and fitting good find. How do you feel about adaptations of shakespeare?
I don't hate the Romeo and Juliet modern film but its moved down from my favorites. Scotland, PA http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0265713/
Ran http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0089881/?ref_=nm_knf_i2
Much Ado About Nothing http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2094064/?ref_=nv_sr_1
thanks for asking mknod. I love Shakespeare adaptations -- even weird and loose adaptations. I'm not always thrilled when women play Richard III or Prospero - but I think it's wonderful to fit Shakespeare into all kinds of clothes, times, and places. It just proves the timelessness and universality of the stories. I particularly liked Baz Luhrman's Romeo and Juliet, and not just because Mercutio was in drag. I also liked the teen-age version of The Taming of the Shrew called Ten Things I Hate About You