“… he will lie, sir, with such volubility,that you would think truth were a fool”All’s Well That Ends Well, act 4, sc. 3
Readers will no doubt have noticed the stony silence of both the regime media and of the Administration about the investigation on how flight MH17 was brought down and by whom. Continue reading
“I will no more trust him when he leers, than I will a serpent when he hisses.”Troilus and Cressida, act 5, sc. 1
Dr. Johnson used to say that the excellence of aphorisms consists not so much in the expression of some rare or abstruse sentiment, as in the comprehension of some obvious and useful truths in a few words. Continue reading
“… hie thee from this slaughter-house,(King Richard III, act 4, sc. 1)
In Aug 1914 millions of young people marched to their death as merry as the singers in the stars. Hamlet would say,
“…I see
The imminent death of twenty thousand men,
That, for a fantasy and trick of fame,
Go to their graves like beds…”
In a previous blog (http://yourdailyshakespeare.com/shakespeare-murder-sarajevo/equalities), we examined the Austrian characters of the Sarajevo tragedy. Here we will touch on the Serbians who plotted the assassination of the heir Continue reading
“Here’s the smell of the blood still: all the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand.”(Macbeth, act 1, sc. 5)
Part 1
During this summer of our discontent, much has been said and written about the massacre of the Palestinians in Gaza, the civil war in Ukraine and the downing of the Malaysian Airliner. To those whose “eyes are not like their judgments, blind!” (1) or whose “eyes are not made the fools o’ the other senses” (2) the thread linking these abominable Continue reading
“…and begin(Macbeth, act 5, sc. 1)
When to the session of sweet silent thought, we summon up remembrance of things past… we may recall the name of Rachel Carson, marine biologist, writer and author of the epoch-making “Silent Spring”. Continue reading
“The cannons have their bowels full of wrath,King John, act 2, sc. 1
This year’s July features two important anniversaries. On July 14th, 1789, the people of Paris stormed the prison of the Bastille, triggering the start of the French Revolution. 2014 is its 225th anniversary. And on July 28, 1914, following the assassination of the Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the throne, the dual monarchy of Austria and Hungary declared war on Serbia, thus starting World War I. It was the first European Civil War, resulting in 8.5 million dead, 22 million wounded, almost 8 million prisoners or missing, with a total of 37.5 million casualties. Continue reading
“… lend me ten thousand eyes,Troilus and Cressida, act 2, sc. 2
The migration of unaccompanied children from Guatemala, Honduras and San Salvador to the United States has caught for an instant the eye of the regime media. For reference, there are 1600 miles from Guatemala City to El Paso, Texas, 1730 from Tegucigalpa and 1650 from El Salvador. Continue reading
“…Believe my words,(King Henry VI part 1, act 1, sc. 2)
So says the Duke of Orleans after explaining to the King of France that Joan of Arc is really endowed with supernatural powers.
In a somewhat similar vein, the opening words of the American Declaration of Independence have the ring of an infallible truth, produced by the self-evidence of evidence, the presence of God in the script and the trinity of rights that rhythmically conclude the first sentence – life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Continue reading
ARVIRAGUS Are we not brothers?(Cymbeline, act 4, sc. 1)
“…Methinks I see my father”, says Hamlet. “Where my lord?” asks Horatio. “In my mind’s eye”, replies Hamlet.
And it is in our minds’ eye that, at times, we see flashes of truth on subjects we may not routinely think about. But our intuitions are often distant from our personal knowledge related to the matter and seem too vague to rely on them with conviction. Continue reading
“Obedience: for so work the honey bees,(King Henry V, act 1, sc. 2)
At the end of the 19th century Leo Tolstoy directly observed instances of sheer (Russian) state brutality. He documented them and made them an occasion for reflections applicable then and, in some way even more so, today.
Continue reading