Shakespeare on the Power of Personality and Personality Type

Posted on July 20, 2012 by jimmie

every inch a kingGLOUCESTER The trick of that voice I do well remember:
Is ‘t not the king?
KING LEAR  Ay, every inch a king
(King Lear act 4, sc. 6)

Comments.  Confirm the exceptional standing of a person. You can change ‘king’ to ‘queen’, ‘prince’ or other equivalent (preferably monosyllabic) titles with equal effect. Equally effective in a negative sense, e.g. “Every inch a scoundrel.” Or a possible answer to, “Is it you?”, “Ay, every inch myself.” Comments on personalities tend to be the metaphorical double-edge sword. For example, the English writer and Clergyman Sidney Smith (1771-1845), commenting on a couple he knew, said, Continue reading →

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Shakespeare on How to Ask for a Salary Raise

Posted on July 19, 2012 by jimmie

salary raise with Shakespeare “To my unfolding lend your gracious ear,
And let me find a charter in your voice
To assist my simpleness.”
(Othello, act 1, sc. 3)

Comments.  You know all the practical reasons for asking for a raise in salary, but these lines make for a sensible introduction. This of course implies that your boss or employer may have a literary bent or at least not  be totally alien to literature. As for what comes after the introduction you are in the best position to assess your situation – how you can demonstrate your worth to your employer, tact and skill in not crossing the line of overbearingness, etc. Engage your counterpart and make sure that your conversation Continue reading →

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Shakespeare on Power, Arrogance and the Arrogance of Power

Posted on July 18, 2012 by jimmie

poud man dressed in a little brief authority“… man, proud man,
Dressed in a little brief authority,
Most ignorant of what he’s most assured,
His glassy essence, like an angry ape,
Plays such fantastic tricks before high heaven
As make the angels weep.”
(Measure For Measure act 2, sc. 2)

Tips for Use. Include the lines in a resignation email when you no longer scan stand your idiotic and arrogant boss. Very likely all of us will recall instances of proud men, or rather men very full of themselves, and dressed in a little brief authority, using it against all reason, while being ignorant of what they are most assured. Ignorance that, in turn causes them to play such incredible and fantastic tricks as to make not only the angels weep but thousands or millions of mortals. Millions? Examples are countless. Just to quote one, Continue reading →

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Shakespeare on Thank you, Thank you notes, Comebacks and Insults

Posted on July 17, 2012 by jimmie

thank me no thankings, proud me no prouds“Thank me no thankings, nor, proud me no prouds”
(Romeo and Juliet, act 3, sc. 5)

Tips for Use. Perfect repartee for insincere social expressions and an elegant way to invite the other party(ies) to cut to the chase. Particularly applicable when the thanking appears insincere or when you wish to deflect with some humor the potential embarrassment of excessive expressions of gratitude. Good also when the appearance of gratitude is but a disguise to say no or worse. Continue reading →

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Shakespeare on Relative Strengths and Weaknesses

Posted on July 16, 2012 by jimmie

troy in our weakness“To end a tale of length,
Troy in our weakness stands, not in her strength.”
(Troilus and Cressida, act 1, sc. 3)

Tips for Use. Change ‘Troy’ to any other city, state, person, situation, circumstances, where the enemy appears strong because the weaker party is incapable of organizing itself. In fact the truth is so simple that it transcends history itself. Take the case of the “Occupy” or the “I am the 99%” movement. Continue reading →

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Shakespeare on Feminism, Women Power and Free Speech

Posted on July 15, 2012 by jimmie

 I am a woman, when I think I must speak“Do you not know I am a woman?
When I think, I must speak.”
(As You Like It, act 3, sc. 2)

Tips for Use. This line is specifically addressed to and usable by the members of the gentle sex. It also shows that feminism was not totally foreign to the mode of thought of 17th century England. Or perhaps not only in England. An old German proverb says that “When a woman has no answer, the sea is empty of water.” Things may have not changed for the better in the 18th century (for women). According to Samuel Johnson, “Nature has given women so much power that the law has very wisely given them little.” Continue reading →

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Shakespeare on True Love that Never did Run Smooth

Posted on July 14, 2012 by jimmie

the course of true love never did run smooth “… for aught that I could ever read,
Could ever hear by tale or history,
The course of true love never did run smooth.”
(Midsummer Night’s Dream act 1, sc. 1)

 Tips for Use. If you are a third party witnessing a quarrel between two lovers, deliver the lines as a way to indicate that the strength of true love is not to be measured by trivial disagreements. If you are a direct party in the quarrel adapt the lines to the situation.
You may look at the page describing the book “Your Daily Shakespeare”, 1390 pages filled choc-a-block with over 10,000 situations you may find yourself in or involved with, Continue reading →

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Shakespeare on Love as a Fever and All-consuming Passion

Posted on July 13, 2012 by jimmie

Passionate love, passion love, love and passion“My love is as a fever, longing still
For that which longer nurseth the disease…” (SON 147)

Tips for Use. When you are consumed with passion and cannot give her up. Or to express the strength of your attachment. In his massive ‘Anatomy of Melancholy’, Robert Burton, writing about the prognostics of love says, “What fires, torments, care, jealousies, suspicions, fears, griefs, anxieties, accompany such as are in love, I have sufficiently said (in 190 pages written in font #8, my note). The next question is, Continue reading →

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Shakespeare on Vows, Love Promises and Promises Broken

Posted on July 12, 2012 by jimmie

vows are but breath and breath a vapour is“Vows are but breath, and breath a vapour is”
(Love’s Labours Lost, act 4, sc. 3)

Comments. The line can be interpreted in two ways, or better, adapted to two opposite circumstances. To state that vows are but breath means to deny the validity of any commitment. As such, the message has a negative tone to be deprecated  by anyone endowed with an ethical compass. Still, the line perfectly describes the attitude of politicians and others in regard to their ability or intent to fulfill promises or vows. Continue reading →

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Shakespeare on Love as an Antidepressant, Effects of Love

Posted on July 10, 2012 by jimmie

your sweet love remembered “…thy sweet love remembered such wealth brings,
That then I scorn to change my state with kings” (SON 29)

Comments. If just a thought can have this effect then it is not necessary to look for other symptoms (of love). Talking about changing one state’s with kings, King Henry VIII kept a lively and romantic correspondence with Anne Boleyn, whom however he decapitated  after Anne had delivered his daughter Elizabeth who became Elizabeth I. For example, the first letter to Anne on record starts as follows, Continue reading →

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