Shakespeare References in The Filmmaker's Book Of The Dead

The Filmmaker's Book Of The Dead: A Mortal's Guide To Making Horror Movies, written by Danny Draven, contains a few Shakespeare references. The first is a reference to Hamlet, with Draven writing, "William Shakespeare once said, 'There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy'" (p. 5). That line is delivered by Hamlet in the first act after he has spoken with the Ghost of his father. Draven then writes, "This type of thinking is what keeps the horror movie industry in business" (p. 5). Soon after that there is a reference to Macbeth. Actually, the reference is in the title of a movie that Draven recommends viewing: Something Wicked This Way Comes (p. 6). That movie title is a line spoken by one of the weird sisters. Actually, the next reference in the book also comes in a movie title, with Draven writing, "Kaufman's TROMEO AND JULIET, written with James Gunn, became a theatrical and critican hit" (p. 351). That movie is mentioned again: "or they may never forget TROMEO & JULIET (1996)" (p. 352). There is also a reference to Hamlet in the interview with Lloyd Kaufman, with Kaufman saying, "You should do what you believe in and what is in your heart: 'To thine own self be true.' The mistake most filmmakers encounter is not abiding by the 'To thine own self be true' maxim, which as you know was coined by the great William Shakespeare who wrote the best-selling book, 101 Money-Making Screenplay Ideas, otherwise known as Hamlet" (p. 352). The line "to thine own self be true" is spoken by Polonius to his son Laertes in Act I Scene iii. Tromeo And Juliet is mentioned again in that interview, with Kaufman saying: "In the case of TROMEO AND JULIET (1996), we mixed eroticism and Shakespeare, horror and slapstick satire" (p. 354).

The Filmmaker's Book Of The Dead was originally published in 2010. The copy I read was from the Second Edition, published in 2016.

Shakespeare References in The Winter Of Our Discontent

John Steinbeck's The Winter Of Our Discontent contains a few Shakespeare references. Obviously, the title itself comes from the opening speech of Richard The Third, and actually the very first line. "Now is the winter of our discontent/Made glorious summer by this son of York." The book contains a reference to Hamlet, with Steinbeck having his main character, Ethan, say, "Ah! There's the rub - Shakespeare" (p. 123). The phrase "there's the rub" comes from Hamlet's most famous soliloquy: "To sleep, perchance to dream. Ah, there's the rub/For in that sleep of death what dreams may come,/When we have shuffled off this mortal coil,/Must give us pause." There is also a reference to Antony And Cleoptra, when Ethan says, "You must come to Rome! Egypt isn't big enough for you. The great world calls" (p. 150). Though, as far as I can recall, that's not a direct quote from the play. The opening lines of Richard The Third are delivered by Ethan at one point: "And I sang too: 'Now is the winter of our discontent/Made glorious summer by this sun of York.' I know it's not a song, but I sang it" (p. 158). The novel also contains a reference to Richard The Second, when Ethan says, "Must I tell you my sad story of the death of kings?" (p. 162). That refers to King Richard's line, "let us sit upon the ground/And tell sad stories of the death of kings." And the book has a reference to Julius Caesar. Ethan tells his son, "I'll not let loose the dogs of war tonight" (p. 265). That is a reference to Mark Antony's line, "Cry 'Havoc!' and let slip the dogs of war." The final Shakespeare reference is to Richard The Third again, with Ethan quoting, "Now is the winter of our discontent made glorious summer by this son of York" (p. 265). Note that the first time, the word was given as "sun" and this time as "son." Ethan's daughter Ellen replies, "That's Shakespeare" (p. 265).

The Winter Of Our Discontent was published in 1961. My copy is a First Edition.

Shakespeare Study: More Miscellaneous Books

I expect my personal Shakespeare study will continue the rest of my life. These are the books I've read in the last several months.

Orson Welles, Shakespeare, And Popular Culture by Michael Anderegg - I decided to revisit Orson Welles' Shakespeare films, or at least the ones that I have from the Criterion Collection, after finding this book at a store in Massachusetts. The book gets into not only Welles' Shakespeare film adaptations, but his stage productions and even his audio recordings as well. I would love to find those Mercury Text Records and add them to my collection. Regarding the films, however, Anderagg writes: "And Welles, as the record clearly shows, did cut corners in his Shakespeare films, employing, for example, stand-ins for reverse shots simply because he could only afford to hold on to his actors for brief periods of time. My point is simply that Welles's Shakespeare films, as marginal products, are not surrounded by the same aura of class and respectability that surrounds most Shakespeare adaptations" (pages 64-65). There is also a chapter on Orson Welles specifically as a performer, not just in Shakespeare films, but also The Third Man and The Stranger, among others. The book contains several photos. It was published in 1999.

Monologues From The Classics: Shakespeare, Marlowe And Others edited by Roger Karshner - This is a book that I bought when I was a theater student in college and needed monologues for auditions. That's the book's purpose. But it was fun revisiting it. It contains speeches from The Merry Wives Of Windsor, The Taming Of The Shrew, As You Like It, A Midsummer Night's Dream, The Winter's Tale, Romeo And Juliet, Macbeth, Othello, Julius Caesar and Richard The Third, as well as several other non-Shakespearean works from the period and from the 1700s. The book was published in 1986.

The Vavasour Macbeth by Bart Casey - This is a novel about a couple of people who discover papers in a tomb under a church, papers that are related to Shakespeare. The book, which has some basis in history, is divided into five sections (like the five acts of a play), and the sections begin with brief bits that take place in the late 1500s and early 1600s, dealing with Anne Vavasour and Sir Henry Lee, and then move to the main body of the story, taking place in 1992. It is quite a while before the story gets around to Macbeth, but early on there is a reference to the Third Folio (p. 22), and then this about Hamlet: "That was because later Tudor and Stuart writers loved playing around with language; constructing new meters, verse styles, and rhyming schemes; and enriching them with rhetorical devices, puns, and double entendres to amuse their readers, as when Hamlet tells Ophelia 'get thee to a nunnery,' which could be directing her to either a convent or a brothel" (p. 73). The Earl of Oxford also figures in this story, but don't worry, this author is not one of those idiots who think that man was behind the plays (the kook Delia Bacon is also mentioned later). The first mention of Macbeth comes more than a third of the way through the story, when Stephen takes students on a field trip to Stratford-upon-Avon, where there is "an interactive workshop on Macbeth run by the country's premier acting troupe, the Royal Shakespeare Company" (p. 143). Among the papers found beneath the church is a letter signed by "John Heminge, who was one of the actors in the same troupe as Shakespeare" (p. 179), the letter mentioning "the cut that woke the Dane," which the characters first believe is related to Hamlet, but come to understand refers to an edit of Macbeth. One of the characters has an interesting theory regarding collaboration: "But I think the plays were highly collaborative, and varied. I mean for every soliloquy there are thirty lines like 'Who goes there?' or 'Advance and be recognized' just before. Shakespeare would have focused on the high points - the soliloquies and so forth - not every word. And the plot and pacing. Then lots of people could have tinkered with the script, cutting it down or padding it up for any single version or performance" (p. 250). The scroll found among the papers is a copy of Macbeth, but with added speeches by Lady Macbeth about losing her child. As we read we can't help but think about someone finding such an artifact. How wonderful that would be! At the beginning of the fifth section of the book, Bart Casey writes that in 1622: "Anne was asked to send her shortened version of the script for the 1606 performance of Macbeth to John Heminge, who was collecting materials for a memorial edition of Shakespeare's plays, known today as the First Folio. Anne's manuscript was the only copy of that play that Heminge could find" (p. 286). This book was published in 2019.

Shakespeare's Sisters: How Women Wrote The Renaissance by Ramie Targoff - This book is about female writers who lived at the time of Shakespeare. The book's first chapter is about Queen Elizabeth herself. There are also chapters about Mary Sidney, Aemilia Lanyer, Anne Clifford, and Elizabeth Cary. The book doesn't just dedicate one chapter to each writer and then move on to the next, but rather puts their stories into historical and political contexts, returning to each writer throughout the book. And of course Shakespeare is referred to, as in this passage: "Spenser wasn't alone in conjuring up a fairy world for Elizabeth: Shakespeare created his own version in A Midsummer Night's Dream, but his Fairy Queen, Titania, would never have won Elizabeth's praise. Neither a virgin nor chaste, the bewitched Titania ends up falling in love with a 'rude mechanical' named Bottom while he bears the head of an ass" (p. 42). Interestingly, this book mentions Anne Vavasour: "In 1581, for example, when one of the queen's maids of honor, Anne Vavasour, gave birth to a son in the maids' own chambers at court, her uncle Sir Thomas Knyvett challenged the child's father, Edward de Vere, Earl of Oxford, to a duel" (p. 61). In a chapter on Mary Sidney, Targoff writes: "What did it take for a woman in Renaissance England to enter the overwhelmingly male world of literature? Even more than her education and the wealth and title brought by her marriage, it depended for Mary on having a gifted brother whose death made space for her. For it was through Philip's legacy that Mary paved her own way, beginning her own literary career by editing and publishing his works" (p. 71). In a chapter on Anne Clifford, Targoff writes: "Anne wrote this memoir sometime after 1609 - the exact date of composition is unknown - and it represents her earliest venture in what became a lifetime habit of self-writing. The idea of keeping track of her life in this way was highly unusual, if not unprecedented, for a young woman at the time" (p. 121). Targoff notes, about Thomas Sackville, "A true Renaissance man, he was also the co-author of Gorboduc, a tragedy about divided succession that was one of Shakespeare's sources for King Lear" (p. 136). In a chapter on Elizabeth Cary, Targoff writes: "The parallels between Othello and The Tragedy of Mariam are striking: both Desdemona and Mariam are victims of vicious rumors; both have husbands who choose to murder rather than trust their wives. But if Elizabeth was thinking about Othello - and as we've seen, she would have had a chance to see it performed at court in 1604 - she decided to give it a feminist twist" (p. 165). And about A.L. Rowse's determination that Aemilia Lanyer is the dark lady of Shakespear's sonnets, Targoff writes: "The combination of Aemilia's sexual promiscuity, her ties to the court and especially to Shakespeare's sometime patron Lord Hunsdon, her Italian and possibly Jewish background (both unreliably suggesting dark coloring), and her musical family (one of Shakespeare's sonnets describes his mistress playing music for him) all seemed to Rowse to match up perfectly with Shakespeare's mysterious lover" (p. 217). And then: "As it turned out, there was absolutely no basis for Rowse's identification of Aemilia as Shakespeare's mistress. The only solid piece of evidence linking the two of them was their common acquaintance with Lord Hunsdon. In 1594, Shakespeare joined Hunsdon's new theater company, the Lord Chamberlain's Men, and the company began staging some of his early plays. But whether Aemilia attended any of these performances or was ever introduced to the playwright remains unknown" (p. 218). This book was published in 2024. My copy is from the second printing.

Shakespeare: The Man Who Pays The Rent by Judi Dench with Brendan O'Hea - This book was created through a series of conversations Brendan O'Hea had with Judi Dench about the various parts she's played in Shakespeare's works. It is largely organized by play, and by the roles within each play. Regarding her role as Lady Macbeth, and about the letter Lady Macbeth reads, Judi says, "I suspect she's read it many times, studied it, memorised certain passages" (p. 6). Regarding A Midsummer Night's Dream, she says: "The play is full of sex, which would make it tricky to edit for a Quaker school. Titania and Oberon are so randy. They're all at it like knives. You never see that in productions, do you? All the fairies should be humping each other throughout" (p. 28). When discussing her role as Viola in Twelfth Night, Judi says: "It's extraordinary how many resurrections happen in Shakespeare's plays - especially of children. He wrote only two plays which featured twins - this and The Comedy of Errors - and in both plays the twins are involved in shipwrecks. In Comedy the twins are boys. But in Twelfth Night they're a boy and a girl. Shakespeare had, of course, his own twins - Judith and Hamnet - and Hamnet died when he was eleven years old. I wonder if all these resurrections of children are Shakespeare's way of trying to bring his own child back to life" (pages 66-67). Regarding Gertrude at first refusing to see Ophelia, Judi says: "Another reason for not wanting to see Ophelia is guilt. Had Gertrude not cried out for help in the closet scene maybe Hamlet wouldn't have been alerted to Polonius' presence and killed him. And Ophelia wouldn't have lost her father" (p. 119). And regarding Gertrude's description of Ophelia's death, Judi says: "Also, suicide was against the law in Shakespeare's time. Maybe the description of Ophelia climbing the tree and the branch breaking is a way of reassuring Laertes (and the audience) that it wasn't suicide, it was an accident. Because if it was suicide, Ophelia wouldn't have had a Christian burial. Gertrude is trying to break the news to Laertes in a kinder way, to help him with his grief: Ophelia didn't suffer, her death wasn't wilful or violent, she was unaware of her own madness" (p. 121). And regarding Juliet's state when she has sent the Nurse to Romeo, Judi Dench says: "Her mind is racing, thoughts going at lightning speed. But then our thoughts do that, you know. That's why, as an actor playing this part, you have to think on the line - not before or after. It's essential. You're speaking as you're thinking. You don't think, pause, then speak" (p. 360). This book was published in 2023. My copy is a First U.S. Edition, from 2024.

Shakespeare Alive! by Joseph Papp and Elizabeth Kirland - This book first sets the scene, placing us in the shoes of a typical Elizabethan, describing the troubles, the poverty, and so on. And then it describes the Elizabethan world, drawing connections to certain of Shakespeare's characters and speeches. The authors write: "Not only was a ghostly visitation unpleasant, but it also cast the visited into a state of spiritual confusion: the Church insisted that ghosts were really just devils in disguise. If a ghost told a young man to kill his uncle, how could he be sure that it wasn't Satan tempting him to sin? This is an essential part of Hamlet's dilemma: is the ghost of his father really who he says he is?" (p. 40). Regarding information about foreign lands, the authors write: "The farther some travelers got from home, the taller their tales of other lands seemed to get. Rather than giving sympathetic and objective portraits of other countries and peoples, most of these travel accounts simply reinforced damaging - and marketable - stereotypes, perpetrating far-fetched and best-selling myths. And so it wasn't surprising that the English lacked a realistic understanding of other cultures" (p. 50). Later chapters are about theater. The authors write: "Shakespeare was constantly exploring and referring to the world of the theater - audience, scene, role-playing, the Globe itself - and exploring the gap between appearance and reality. This didn't do much to calm the palpitations in the breasts of worried moralists" (p. 118). And then: "Often, as with the classics, Shakespeare twisted biblical or religious references to suit his humorous purposes. Hamlet's reference to 'these pickers and stealers' comes from the catechism in the Book of Common Prayer, 'To keep my hands from picking and stealing'" (p. 157). This book was published in 1988.

Shakespeare by Peter Quennell - I decided to re-read this biography that I had purchased when I was in college. It begins in the preface by addressing those anti-Stratfordian morons: "Plays were often revised and rewritten, usually at short notice; and Shakespeare's fellow players, if he had been a commonplace hack, would soon have perceived that between the original text and the additions he made on the spot there was a startling discrepancy" (p. xiv). This book, in addition to providing biographical data on Shakespeare, contains quite a lot of information about Queen Elizabeth, Essex, Southampton and other important people of Shakespeare's world, as well as descriptions of life in general at that time. Regarding the sonnets, Quennell writes: "But a reader, who wishes to examine the poems' personal and autobiographical structure, should bear in mind that they also embody many purely derivative and traditional elements. Numerous themes can be traced back to Latin, Italian and French verse - as when Shakespeare, like Ovid, Petrarch and Ronsard, boasts of the immortality that his poems will confer and challenges the devouring power of Time - and not only to the works of the past, but to other productions of the Elizabethan age" (p. 137). Regarding Romeo, Quennell writes, "So long as he loves Rosaline, he is recognizably human, Mercutio's love-lorn but amusing friend; but, once he has encountered Juliet, both he and his thirteen-year-old mistress become a pair of disembodied voices, engaged in an unending beautiful debate that lifts them far above 'the realm of discord'" (p. 163). In the chapter on the histories, Quennell writes: "Action is often an escape from thought; and Shakespeare's men of action are most vividly portrayed when they happen to be least active, and he is describing, not a boldly consistent record, but the secret inconsistency of their ideas and feelings. Thus Hotspur attracts him, less as a valiant rebel, who leads a revolt against Henry IV and dies upon the field of Shrewsbury, than as a restive, irritable, impatient spirit, whose professed aversion from the intellect goes with an obstinately searching mind, who lives like a loud-mouthed soldier, yet dies a poet and a philosophic sage" (pages 217-218). Regarding Troilus And Cressida, Quennell writes: "here almost every character is a rebel and, loudly and persistently, speaks out of turn. We meet neither heroes nor villains, merely gradations of villainy, stupidity, folly. Shakespeare's own allegiance seems to remain unfocused; when he sympathizes, his interest is reserved for the weak, unworthy Troilus, victim of a violent obsession that lends his personality a distorted strength" (p. 282). And about Othello, Quennell writes, "The end is in sight when he at last achieves self-knowledge: lack of self-knowledge has been his damning weakness" (p. 301). This book was published in 1963.

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Also, during this time I read:

Doctor Faustus by Christopher Marlowe - The edition I read was the Signet Classics, edited and with an introduction by Sylvan Barnet. There are several essays included, some of which mention Shakespeare and his works, particularly in relation to what precisely constitutes a tragedy. This book was first published in 1969. The edition I read was the revised edition from 2010.

Christopher Marlowe: A Biography by A.L. Rowse - This, as its title tells us, is a biography of Christopher Marlowe, but Shakespeare is mentioned quite a bit in its pages. In the preface, Rowse writes, "Among these perhaps that of greatest importance was the firm establishment of Marlowe as Shakespeare's rival, for a brief time, for Southampton's patronage - as the bulk of literary opinion has always held to be the case" (p. vii). Regarding the differences in their education, Rowse writes: "It is not to be deplored that Shakespeare did not go to the university. It could hardly have improved him,and its intellectualisation of experience might have done him some damage" (p. 24). About Marlowe, Rowse writes: "No writer was ever more autobiographical than he was - it was a serious limitation upon him, especially for a dramatist. He was an obsessed egoist, and he was young when he died. His creations are very much projections of himself - Tamburlaine, Dr. Faustus, the Jew of Malta; he put himself into the Edward II-Gaveston relationship, and not improbably into Dido" (p. 32). Rowse talks quite a bit about Marlowe's influence on Shakespeare. "As an actor Shakespeare had hundreds of lines - his own and others' - milling around in his mind; but The Jew of Malta made an unforgettable impact upon him. Not long after it, he owed a great deal of the inspiration for Aaron in Titus Andronicus to Barabas. A few years on, The Merchant of Venice was directly suggested by The Jew of Malta. And when, at the height of his powers, he created the type of dissembling villainy in Iago, that marvellously sensitive subconscious which worked for him came up with Barabas's words transformed" (p. 96). And that influence is from Marlowe's life as well as his work, with Rowse writing: "Professor Richard Hosley has made the brilliant suggestion that the fray in Romeo and Juliet among Mercutio, Tybalt and Romeo may reflect that of Marlowe, Bradley and Watson; and that Mercutio may have something of Marlowe in him, impulsive, quick on the draw, passionate in friendship" (p. 110). A.L. Rowse also gets into Shakespeare's sonnets and their relation to Marlowe. This book was published in 1964.

Shakespeare References in Mythology

Edith Hamilton's Mythology contains a couple of Shakespeare references.  The very first page, the foreword, mentions King Lear: "Twelve hundred years separate the first writers through whom the myths have come down to us from the last, and there are stories as unlike each other as 'Cinderella' and 'King Lear.' To bring them all together in one volume is really somewhat comparable to doing the same for the stories of English literature from Chaucer to the ballads, through Shakespeare and Marlowe and Swift and Defoe and Dryden and Pope and so on, ending with, say, Tennyson and Browning, or even, to make the comparison truer, Kipling and Galsworthy." Just a bit farther down the page, Edith Hamilton writes: "Faced with this problem, I determined at the outset to dismiss any idea of unifying the tales. That would have meant either writing 'King Lear,' so to speak, down to the level of 'Cinderella' - the vice versa procedure being obviously not possible - or else telling in my own way stories which were in no sense mine and had been told by great writers in ways they thought suited their subjects." Later, Hamilton writes, "The first tragic plays, which are among the best there are, never equaled except by Shakespeare, were produced in the theater of Dionysus" (p. 61).

Mythology was originally published in 1942.

Shakespeare References in Hammer Of The Gods

Hammer Of The Gods, Stephen Davis' book about Led Zeppelin, contains a couple of Shakespeare references. The first is to The Second Part Of King Henry The Fourth, with Davis writing, "Like most of the songs on this album, 'Achilles' was given strange guitar fanfares and a gloomy coda that rang its changes like chimes at midnight" (p. 263). The phrase "chimes at midnight" is spoken by Falstaff in Act III Scene ii: "We have heard the chimes at midnight, Master Shallow." The other reference is to A Midsummer Night's Dream, and the reference is actually contained in the title of a television program. Davis writes, "A few days later he taped performances for Top of the Pops and A Midsummer Night's Tube, and then went to court to prevent what he felt was an inferior performance from running on the Tube show" (p. 311).

Hammer Of The Gods was published in 1985. The copy I read is from the First Ballantine Books Edition published in 1986, and it contains another short chapter about the Live-Aid performance. 

Shakespeare References in The Western Heritage Volume B: 1300-1815

I'm going through all my books, reading them again, and finding Shakespeare references in most of them, including this history book by Donald Kagan, Steven Ozment and Frank M. Turner. The first reference is to Richard The Third: "During the reign of the Tudors a tradition arose that painted Richard III as an unprincipled villain who murdered Edward's sons in the Tower of London to secure the throne. The best-known version of this characterization - unjust according to some - is found in Shakespeare's Richard III" (p. 347). Next there is a reference to Shakespeare: "More's Utopia (1516), a criticism of contemporary society, still rivals the plays of Shakespeare as the most-read sixteenth-century English work" (p. 371). At the beginning of the fourteenth chapter is a list of topics, and Shakespeare is mentioned in this list: "William Shakespeare: Dramatist of the Age" (p. 495). Of course, Shakespeare is mentioned in the chapter. The authors write, "Shakespeare's dramas provide an insight into virtually the entire range of late sixteenth- and early seventeenth-century English world views" (p. 504). And there is a short section of the chapter on Shakespeare, which begins: "Shakespeare (1564-1616), the greatest playwright in the English language, was born in Stratford-on-Avon. He liverd there almost all of his life except for the years when he wrote in London. There is much less factual knowledge about him than one would expect of such an important figure" (p. 505). And then: "The tragedies are considered his unique achievement. Four of these were written withint a three-year period: Hamlet (1603), Othello (1604), King Lear (1605), and Macbeth (1606). The most original of the tragedies, Romeo and Juliet (1597), transformed an old popular story into a moving drama of 'star-cross'd lovers'" (p. 506). This chapter also contains a list of "Major Works Of Seventeenth-Century Literature And Philosophy," which includes "1605 King Lear (Shakespeare)" (p. 509). At the end of that chapter is a list of suggested books, including "HARDIN CRAIG, Shakespeare: A Historical and Critical Study with Annotated Texts of Twenty-one Plays (1958)" (p. 521). Shakespeare is mentioned again later in the book: "As an alternative to such dependence on the classical forms, August Wilhelm von Schlegel praised the 'romantic' literature of Dante, Petrarch, Boccaccio, Shakespeare, the Arthurian legends, Cervantes, and Calderon" (p. 716). And then: "He praised Shakespeare and Lord Byron and criticized his own countryman, the seventeenth-century classical dramatist Racine" (p. 716). And finally: "Coleridge also made major contributions to Romantic literary criticism in his lectures on Shakespeare and in Biographia Literaria (1817), which presents his theories of poetry" (p. 716). The copy I read was from the fourth edition, published in 1991.

Shakespeare References in Travels With My Aunt

Graham Greene's Travels With My Aunt contains several Shakespeare references. Actually, before the novel even begins, there is a Shakespeare reference on the first page, the page with quoted passages from reviews: "It is as if Shakespeare, after the tragedies, had chosen to write not 'The Tempest' but 'Charley's Aunt.'" That is from Time. Then, in the novel itself, the first reference is to Hamlet. Greene writes: "I remember once when I was in Tunis a travelling company was there who were playing Hamlet in Arabic. Someone saw to it that in the Interlude the Player King was really killed - or rather not quite killed but severely damaged in the right ear - by molten lead. And who do you suppose the police at once suspected? Not the man who poured the lead in, although he must have been aware that the ladle wasn't empty and was hot to the touch. Oh no, they knew Shakespeare's play too well for that, and so they arrested Hamlet's uncle" (p. 58). The next reference is also to Hamlet. Greene writes: "What did the truth matter? All characters once dead, if they continue to exist in memory at all, tend to become fictions. Hamlet is no less real now than Winston Churchill, and Jo Pulling no less historical than Don Quixote" (p. 67). After that, there is a reference to The Merchant Of Venice: "You were condemned if you chose the wrong one, like those poor men in The Merchant of Venice" (p. 99). The novel also contains a reference to Macbeth: "I nearly became a Roman Catholic once. Because of the Kennedys. But then when two of them got shot - I mean I'm superstitious. Was Macbeth a Catholic?" (p. 112). And then there is a reference to As You Like It, and to Shakespeare himself: "I can't think why you persist in calling it a theatre. 'All the world's a stage,' of course, but a metaphor as general as that loses all its meaning. Only a second-rate actor could have written such a line out of pride in his second-rate calling. There were occasions when Shakespeare was a very bad writer indeed. You can see how often in books of quotations" (p. 121). An insane thing for someone to think, of course, but those are the thoughts of one character. And Greene goes on to write: "I was a little shocked by her unexpected attack on Shakespeare. Perhaps it was because he wrote verse dramas like Mario" (p. 121). This book was published in 1969. The Bantam edition was published in 1971.

Shakespeare Reference in The Bridge Across Forever

Richard Bach's The Bridge Across Forever contains a reference to Romeo And Juliet. Leslie is playing music that Richard is not familiar with. She tells him it's Prokofiev. He asks the name of the music. "'Oh, Richard,' she gasped, wiping tears. 'It's Romeo and Juliet...'" (p. 170). This book was published in 1984. My copy was from the February 1986 reprinting. 

The Aaron Play (Independent Shakespeare Company/Coin & Ghost 2025 Production) Theatre Review

Titus Andronicus is one of William Shakespeare's earliest plays, and his bloodiest. There are several villains in that play, including Aaron, who seems an out-and-out villain, taking pleasure in cunningly causing harm and even bragging about it. Even as he faces his doom, he expresses a wish that he could have caused yet more harm. His final lines in the play are these: "If one good deed in all my life I did,/I do repent it from my very soul." And yet, when it comes to the matter of his infant son, we see a more human side to this character, which is all the more striking because of the great contrast to everything else we've seen of him. And so there is the question of whether we can really take those final lines of his at face value. We can't help but question our initial impression of him, at least to some extent. The Aaron Play, a wonderful new play written by Zachary Bones, begins where Titus Andronicus ends, focusing on Aaron as he suffers the punishment ordered by Lucius Andronicus. 

The Independent Shakespeare Company delivered an excellent production of Titus Andronicus in 2018, that production apparently providing the initial inspiration for this new play. So how perfect it is that the world premiere of The Aaron Play should be held at the Independent Shakespeare Company's theater, a co-production with Coin & Ghost. Directed by Carly DW Bones, and featuring Bruce Lemon Jr. in the title role, the play offers a captivating and often hilarious look at the effects of vengeance and the question of justice, with a keen eye on the present as well as the past. In addition to Bruce Lemon Jr., this play stars Brian Monahan and William Gray as the two soldiers tasked with overseeing Aaron's slow execution by starvation, and Camila Rozo in multiple roles (including Messenger, Young Lucius, Tamora and Lavinia). All four actors turn in fantastic performances. 

As we in the audience take our seats, facing us on the stage is a sheet with an image of a variation of the Hanged Man Tarot card, with two soldiers added, leaving us to ponder the various meanings of that card. As the performance begins, that sheet is removed, and Aaron, buried up to his shoulders in dirt, is revealed, with a soldier on either side of him. One soldier comments to the other, "Crazy times we're living in, huh?" And immediately we in the audience are aligned with them. We are easily brought into their world, because it is our world. Perhaps that line could apply to any time, but it seems especially relevant now. As the soldiers begin to discuss rumors regarding the Andronicus family, anyone familiar with Titus Andronicus will begin to pick out errors in their understanding of events. They have bits of information, but lack the full and correct picture, and again, we automatically relate that to our own times (though perhaps not to ourselves). What's fascinating, however, is that as the play goes on, we begin to feel that we ourselves (those of us who have seen Titus Andronicus) lacked the full and correct picture, and that it is, at least to some extent, a matter of perspective. The question is, Do we carry that too into our present?

The soldiers get to know each other, with Guard One (Brian Monahan) expressing annoyance at the assignment. "This is going to take forever." Guard One has been around for a while, and relaxes, while Guard Two (William Gray) is younger and is more of a by-the-books sort of soldier. They speak to each other over Aaron, largely ignoring him at this point. And when Guard One says he landed this assignment as punishment for accidentally killing a kid, we hear in his description the voice of a modern police officer. While the modern parallels are obvious (and appreciated), they are not dwelled upon, and are not delivered in a heavy-handed way. There are references to illegal immigration, and the two soldiers realize they come from opposite political factions, one having supported Saturninus, the other Titus in the last election. There is also mention of how Saturninus encouraged his followers to take up arms to defend his claim to the throne, with strong shades of the events of January 6th, 2021. And again, it is delivered with plenty of humor, as when one of the guards comments, "This execution's killing me."

The soldiers are not deliberately cruel people, but as they thoughtlessly pass a water flask over the head of the starving and dehydrated Aaron, we can't help but feel for the prisoner. We also can't help but be delighted, as Aaron is, by the misinformation the soldiers have received regarding how Titus lost his hand (Aaron says, "Actually, that was me"). Guard One is eager to hear the real story of what happened the previous night, and asks Aaron to tell him. Aaron at first refuses, but then says, "I have absolutely no idea," adding that he wasn't even there. Interestingly, there is then a lighting change, as Aaron delivers a soliloquy to the audience, drawing us into his confidence. Here he admits to being the villain of this piece, saying he embraces the role. And so it seems that he is playing a role for the benefit of the soldiers, but as the play progresses, we realize that he was also playing a role for us too. And perhaps for himself. For it is later that he does open up, and we see another side of him. And, as in Shakespeare's play, it is at first related to his son. His voice changes then, his expression softens, as he says that holding his son in his arms for the first time was the happiest moment of his life. And then, suddenly remarking on the beauty of the sunrise, he says, "Rome does shine against the summer sunrise." But interestingly, it is later when talking to Guard Two about the war they both fought in (though on opposite sides) that he seems even more human. And we have a desire to lose sight of what we know of Aaron, that he is a master manipulator. It is in that scene that we learn something of Aaron's childhood, giving us a greater perspective on him.

The play does a great job of showing the reality of approaching death by making things less real, first with the shadow of Aaron's son (older than he is at this moment), and then with the entrance of Tamora, who was killed in Shakespeare's play. "How I did grieve when I heard of your death," Aaron says to her. And when he tells her that their son lives, she reacts, excited, and soon kisses him, leading him to declare that he must live. He seems delirious, but determined, as he talks about his son. Tamora soon visits Aaron again, kneeling by his side. And a little later Lavinia (who was also killed in Shakespeare's play) appears to him. It is as Lavinia that Camila Rozo especially shines. There is also in this play something of how this cycle of vengeance affects the next generation, here presented in the person of Young Lucius, who is caught up in the anger and violence, wanting to kill Aaron himself with a purloined dagger, yet at the edge of tears. Young Lucius proves himself something of a manipulator too. As we in the audience learn more, we might find ourselves wondering, Who is the villain here? Or, Who isn't a villain? And, Is there forgiveness? And, How do we emerge from this cycle? Perhaps there is hope in the actions of Guard Two. Or perhaps he was just expertly manipulated. The play is completely engaging, a lot of fun, and it leaves us with much to think on.

This world premiere production of The Aaron Play was originally scheduled to run through November 16th, but has already been extended to November 23rd. I highly recommend attending. There is one intermission. During that intermission, by the way, the image on the sheet is changed to the reversed Hanged Man card, with its own set of meanings. Also, if you enjoy alcohol, be sure to order the special concoction created for this play at the concession stand. It's delicious. The Independent Shakespeare Company's theatre is located at 3191 Casitas Avenue, #130, in Los Angeles, California. There is a free parking lot next to the building (a rarity in this city). 

Cymbeline (Antaeus Theatre Company's 2025 Production) Theatre Review

The new season of the Antaeus Theatre Company has opened with William Shakespeare's Cymbeline, a play that is not produced as often as it should be. It is a play that mixes elements of tragedy, comedy and romance, and includes some beautiful passages as well as some difficult-to-believe coincidences and plot devices, all adding up to a wonderful ride. It deals with themes of jealousy and fidelity, and of misguided leadership. And of forgiveness. Shakespeare, as is often said, is always relevant. This new production is set in the American West in the 1800s, though maintains the text with its references to Britain and Rome. But as is generally the case with Shakespeare, it really doesn't matter where it's set. What matters is the story, the poetry and the performances. And the performances here, especially by Elinor Gunn as Imogen and by Teodora Avramovic as Guiderius, are excellent. This production is directed by Nike Doukas, who is also the company's artistic director.

For the opening of the play, the entire cast is on stage, and the conversation between the two gentlemen in the text becomes a way of introducing the characters, with different characters stepping forward as they're mentioned. Everyone acts as a sort of Chorus here. Interestingly, Cymbeline (Bernard K. Addison) himself delivers the lines, "He had two sons" and "Some twenty years," which stresses the importance of their disappearance on his subsequent life, setting up the notion that perhaps all his mistakes stem from that event. Cymbeline is dressed in a black hat and coat, and wears a sheriff's badge, though he is still referred to as King. Posthumus (Peter Mendoza) interestingly is also dressed in black, giving the impression that the two are in some way aligned. And so they are, for they both love Imogen. As Posthumus and Imogen exchange their tokens of love, JD Cullum enters and plays guitar, a score to their intimate scene. JD Cullum (who was fantastic as Caliban in Antaeus Theatre's 2023 production of The Tempest, and delivered another strong performance in this year's Corktown '39 at Rogue Machine) plays several parts in this production, distinguishing each character not by a change of costume (except with a pair of glasses or hat), but with changes to his voice and posture. At one point, he remains on stage for three consecutive scenes, portraying a different character in each scene, and keeping each clear for the audience.

Both Peter Mendoza as Posthumus and Gerard Joseph as Iachimo do nice jobs in the scene where Iachimo proposes testing Imogen's fidelity. Iachimo's delivery of the blunt "Yours" (in answer to the question, "What lady would you choose to assail?") is funny, and Iachimo steps toward Posthumus on that line as a further challenge. And in his scene with Imogen, on her "to my demands," Imogen goes to him, even placing her hand on his shoulder, for he has turned his back to her. So he gets her to touch him first, which is brilliant. Gerard Joseph is particularly good in the scene in Imogen's bed chamber, and as he violates her by moving the sheet to view her body, the ticking of a clock strikes an ominous note. While Iachimo is a villain, and takes a certain joy in his wager, the Queen (Eve Gordon), by comparison, takes a particular delight in being a villain, and her delivery of "shall quite unpeople her," with that pause before "unpeople," is especially telling in that regard (and gets a big laugh from the audience). Cloten (Randolph Thompson) is another villain in the play, but one whose arrogance comes across as funny, and in this production we can't help but like him on some level because of that. Randolph Thompson is particularly good at finding the humor, heard in his delivery of a line like "I had rather not be so noble as I am." And his delivery of the "I love her and hate her" speech is excellent. In that scene, he makes a seat of Pisania. Cloten also gets a moment to sing to JD Cullum's guitar accompaniment, something else that endears him to us. Truly terrible people don't sing, right? 

The entire cast is good, but, as I mentioned, Elinor Gunn is especially magnificent as Imogen. She is fiery and spirited, not shrinking back before Cymbeline in the scene where Posthumus is banished. And she is absolutely adorable when talking about Posthumus to Pisania. Yes, Pisanio, servant to Posthumus, in this production becomes Pisania (Desiree Mee Jung), which helps to focus more strongly on that character's service and friendship to Imogen. It gives a different feel to the scene where Pisania hands the letter to Imogen. Imogen is so cheerful, so excited at getting a letter from Posthumus. Her happiness is almost over the top, giving her the greater distance to fall, and making the contrast with Pisania's expression all the more extreme. Imogen is great in the scene where she is assailed by Iachimo, not an easy scene. She pauses before answering "All's well, sir," which is needed, showing she is not so easily swayed, showing she thinks before speaking. And when frantically searching for her missing bracelet, Imogen all but ignores Cloten, finding him a minor annoyance and not worthy of her attention, which is wonderful. Her line "all the hairs above thee" gets a greater laugh than normal, as Cloten is bald. And when dressed as a boy (yes, this is one of Shakespeare's plays where the main female character disguises herself as a boy for a while), she is delightful. Her first line as a boy, "I see a man's life is a tedious one," gets a deserved big laugh. And her delivery of "Such a foe, good heavens" (with knife raised) is hilarious. She is dressed in a pants and a flannel shirt, but no hat, her long hair in a ponytail, which makes it perhaps a bit far-fetched that Cymbeline doesn't immediately recognize her at the end. But no matter.

Peter Mendoza is particularly good in the scene where Iachimo tells him that Imogen has been unfaithful. Iachimo's biting, scathing line "Not a whit, your lady being so easy" doesn't sway Posthumus, who remains joyful, not believing him. And Posthumus' line "O! no, no, no, 'tis true" contains an entire arc of its own the way that Mendoza delivers it. Each "no" has its own meaning, its own point. That is a fantastic moment between the two of them. And after Posthumus runs off in a state, Iachimo's "With all my heart" is delivered with a sudden compassion, and we sense a change in him then. That prepares us for the play's ending.

As Pisanio becomes Pisania in this production, so too does Belarius become Belaria (Eve Gordon), which gives a somewhat different feel to the relationship between her and the two sons. For in the play, Belarius is a replacement father figure (replacing Cymbeline), where here the character becomes a mother figure, which is complementary to a father (so at the end, we could imagine all being together, if we wished). Eve Gordon does a tremendous job as Belaria. Interestingly, the two sons are played by women in this production (though the gender of the characters is not changed), and both - Teodora Avramovic as Guiderius, and Anja Racić as Arviragus - are absolutely wonderful in the roles. In fact, Teodora Avramovic turns in one of the production's best and most enjoyable perfomances. Teodora Avramovic is especially wonderful when going off to take care of Cloten and calling "Yield" (their fight is done off stage in this production), and coming back with that sack. I love how sure of himself this Guiderius is. His line "the law protects not us" stands out in these uncertain days when our Supreme Court is corrupt and not to be trusted. Avramovic gives such a delightful reading of the line "And tell the fishes he's the queen's son" as Guiderius gathers up the sack and exits. Both brothers deliver a moving rendition of the "Fear no more the heat o' the sun" song, with JD Cullum coming out to accompany them on guitar.

As the first scene was delivered, so too is the battle scene done with all the actors delivering the lines, acting as a Chorus, all of them together, with hands raised, speaking the added line, "Cymbeline is rescued." Cymbeline's transformation at the end is one that we feel can feel in ourselves, so moving is Bernard K. Addison's performance there. Another line that especially stands out in the strange days we find ourselves in is "A most incivil one," which Guiderius says of the prince Cloten. It is a line that reminds us that leaders should not be respected just for their station. But it is the play's final message that really sticks with us, a message of forgiveness, which comes not only from Cymbeline, but also from Posthumus, who tells Iachimo, "Live and deal with others better."

This production of Cymbeline runs through November 17, 2025. Check the theatre's website for the complete schedule. There is one intermission, which comes at the end of Act III scene v. Antaeus Theatre Company performs at Kiki & David Gindler Performing Arts Center at 110 East Broadway in Glendale, California.

Shakespeare Reference in Joyland

Stephen King's Joyland contains one Shakespeare reference, and it is to Romeo And Juliet. The character Rozzie says: "I'm not talking about psychic sight, kiddo, I'm talking about ordinary woman-sight. You think I don't know a lovestruck Romeo when I see one?" (p. 104). This book was published in 2013.

Shakespeare References in The Teachers' Book Of Wisdom

The Teachers' Book Of Wisdom, a book of quotations compiled and edited by Criswell Freeman, contains a few Shakespeare references (no surprise there). The first is a reference to Hamlet, coming in a quotation from A. Whitney Griswold: "Could Hamlet have been written by a committee, or the Mona Lisa painted by a club? Could the New Testament have been composed as a conference report? Creative ideas do not spring from groups. They spring from individuals" (p. 69). This is a strange quotation, as we know that playwrights often worked together. And has A. Whitney Griswold never seen a film? The next references comes in the introduction to a chapter: "Pupils are advised to contemplate the words of Shakespeare's Cassius, who admitted, 'The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, but in ourselves...'" (p. 103). The introduction to the next chapter likewise contains a reference to Shakespeare: "If classroom discipline were solely dependent upon subject matter, teachers everywhere could quiet their students with a few verses from Shakespeare" (p. 111). Actually, it contains a second mention of Shakespeare: "The ideas contained in this chapter will not resolve all classroom difficulties, but they will help. And, if all else fails, try Shakespeare" (p. 111). The final reference comes in a quotation from Laurence Olivier: "I think a poet is a workman. I think Shakespeare was a workman. And God's a workman. I don't think there's anything better than a workman" (p. 143). 

This book was published in 1998.

Shakespeare References in Becoming Manny

Becoming Manny, a book about Manny Ramirez written by Jean Rhodes and Shawn Boburg, contains a few Shakespeare references. The first is a reference to Hamlet: "The basic premise behind cognitive psychology is, to quote Hamlet, 'There is nothing either good or bad but thinking makes it so'" (p. 186). That is a line, by the way, that I return to often, for I believe that there is nothing that is inherently good or bad. It is all perception and opinion. The next reference is both to Shakespeare and The Comedy Of Errors: "The fans may indulge in a few refrains of 'Sweet Caroline,' but as anyone who has ever soaked up the Fenway ambience knows, it's back to business when the music stops. Boston Herald sportswriter Mike Barnicle once quipped, 'Baseball isn't a life-and-death matter, but the Red Sox are,' and Manny's first few seasons in Boston played out like a Shakespearean tragedy cum comedy of errors" (p. 196). There is also a reference to Much Ado About Nothing: "So the deal died, much ado about little, just like all the others before it" (p. 248). The final reference is to The Tempest, and specifically a phrase from Ariel's song: "Then Globe columnist Gordon Edes noticed the sea change" (p. 275). Ariel sings, "Nothing of him that doth fade/But doth suffer a sea change."

Becoming Manny was published in 2009. The copy I read was the First Scribner hardcover edition from March 2009.

Shakespeare References in Mind Game

Mind Game: How The Boston Red Sox Got Smart, Won A World Series, And Created A New Blueprint For Winning contains a few Shakespeare references. The first comes on the first page of the acknowledgments. Editor Steven Goldman writes, "Not only did Jonah Keri contribute three chapters, despite having just finished his own grueling work as co-editor of Baseball Prospectus 2005, but he acted as Horatio to my Hamlet (or maybe that's Jester to my Lear), offering assistance, guidance, sagacity, and even some tough love at key moments" (p. vii). Then on the first page of the first chapter there is another Shakespeare reference: "The White Sox have not only waited longer, but carry a burden of a tragedy worthy of Shakespeare, that of the manipulated, manipulating Black Sox of 1919" (p. 1). There is also a reference to The Tempest: "Since 2000, however, there has been a sea change in pitchers' workloads" (p. 86). The phrase "sea change" comes from Ariel's song, in which he sings, "Nothing of him that doth fade/But doth suffer a sea change." The final reference is to Falstaff's famous line from The First Part Of King Henry The Fourth: "On a rational basis, though, with millions and millions of dollars at stake, another eighty-six games to run in the schedule, and the Yankees nearly certain of a return to the postseason, a little discretion can buy a lot of later valor" (p. 156). Falstaff says, "The better part of valor is discretion, in the which better part I have saved my life."

This book was published in 2005.

Shakespeare Reference in Summer Of '49

David Halberstam's book about the 1949 baseball season focusing on the Red Sox and Yankees, Summer Of '49, contains a Shakespeare reference. It comes in a passage quoted from Red Smith, regarding the change television brought to the game: "Today, conscious of the great unseen audience, they [the umpires] play every decision out like the balcony scene from Romeo and Juliet. On a strike they gesticulate, they brandish a fist aloft, they spin almost as shot through the heart, they bellow all four parts of the quartette from Rigoletto" (p. 229).

This book was published in 1989. The first Perennial Classics edition was published in 2002, and the copy I read was from reissue in Harper Perennial Modern Classics in 2006.

Shakespeare Reference in Here Beside The Rising Tide

Jim Newton's Here Beside The Rising Tide: Jerry Garcia, The Grateful Dead, And An American Wakening contains a reference to Macbeth. In the chapter that tackles 1967 and the band's first album, Newton writes: "To Lesh, the album felt like 'sound and fury buried in a cavern'" (p. 130). So, yeah, the Macbeth reference actually comes from Phil Lesh's Searching For The Sound, quoted here. Anyway, "sound and fury" is a phrase used in what is probably my favorite speech in all of Shakespeare's work. The speech ends with these lines: "Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player/That struts and frets his hour upon the stage/And then is heard no more. It is a tale/Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury/Signifying nothing." In the Notes section at the back of the book, Jim Newton says where the quote comes from : "'sound and fury buried in a cavern': Phil Lesh, Searching for the Sound, p. 99" (p. 465).

Here Beside The Rsing Tide: Jerry Garcia, The Grateful Dead, And An American Wakening was published in 2025. The copy I read was an advanced uncorrected proofs edition, in paperback.

Shakespeare References in Season Of The Witch

David Talbot's book about San Francisco, Season Of The Witch: Enchantment, Terror, And Deliverance In The City Of Love, contains a few Shakespeare references. The first is a reference to A Midsummer Night's Dream. Talbot writes, "Coquettish in dark eyeliner, bare feet, and a white muslin caftan, he looked like a cross between Marlene Dietrich and Puck from A Midsummer Night's Dream" (p. 99). The second is a reference to Hamlet: "A lifetime later, Fayette Hauser could still see method in her friend Nancy's madness" (p. 117). That is a reference to Polonius's line "Though this be madness, yet there is method in 't." The book also contains a reference to Macbeth. Talbot writes, "But Moscone shrugged off the sound and fury" (p. 260). He is referring to my favorite speech from Macbeth (and perhaps all of Shakespeare), which ends with this line: "It is a tale/Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,/Signifying nothing." A little later there is a paragraph that mentions Shakespeare as well as a line from Julius Caesar: "The son of a dairy farmworker, Dean was raised to appreciate the rich language of the Bible and Shakespeare. 'My parents always read us stories,' he explained. 'Finding the true meaning of Shakespeare under all those flowery words was always a mind twister for me.' Dean was fond of quoting inspirational lines from Shakespeare in the 49ers locker room. One of his favorites was, 'Cowards die many times before their deaths. The valiant never taste of death but once'" (p. 369). That is a line that Caesar speaks to Calpurnia.

Season Of The Witch: Enchantment, Terror, And Deliverance In The City Of Love was published in 2012. The copy I read, from the library, was the First Free Press hardcover edition of May 2012.

Shakespeare References in The Amazing Adventures Of Kavalier & Clay

Michael Chabon's novel The Amazing Adventures Of Kavalier & Clay contains a few Shakespeare references. The first is a reference to Romeo And Juliet, with Chabon writing, "They got him doing Romeo Rabbit for thirty dollars a week" (p. 96). Next there is a reference to Macbeth, specifically to a famous production by Orson Welles: "In high school, she and a friend had gone uptown to see the booming, voodooistic Macbeth, and she had loved it" (p. 354). There is also mention of Shakespeare himself: "lying down with it under a fir tree, in a sun-slanting forest outside of Medford, Oregon, wholly absorbed into that primary-colored world of bad gags, heavy ink lines, Shakespearean farce, and the deep, almost Oriental mystery" (p. 575). This book was published in 2000.

Shakespeare References in NTC's Dictionary Of Word Origins

It should come as no surprise that a book on etymology would mention Shakespeare, and NTC's Dictionary Of Word Origins contains quite a few references. The first mention of Shakespeare comes in the book's introduction. Author Adrian Room writes: "Exceptions to this rule are for quotations from those familiar old English classics, the Bible and Shakespeare. For biblical quotations, the texts are those of the Authorized Version of 1611, which many people still regard as the 'real' English version of the Bible. For Shakespeare, the quotations have been taken from the Oxford Standard Authors edition edited by W. J. Craig, first published in 1905 and since reprinted several times in different formats" (p. 7). Then we get into the actual words themselves. In fact, the very first entry, the word "abominable," contains a Shakespeare reference. Room writes: "For many years from medieval times it was believed that the word derived  from Latin ab homine, 'from a man', in the sense 'inhuman', 'unnatural', and Shakespeare punned on the word with this supposed origin in Love's Labour's Lost where Holofernes, talking of Don Adriano's strange pronunciation, says: 'This is abhominable, which he would call abominable'. (See Act V, Scene i for some whimsical language play.) In fact the word comes from Latin abominari, 'to regard as an evil omen', from ab-, 'from' and omen, 'evil omen'" (p. 11). The next reference comes in the entry for "accomplice." "An accomplice is not so called as he is an 'accomplished' criminal, but because he is 'a complice', or simply an associate. This is now an obsolete word, but was still in use in the time of Shakespeare, where in Richard II Bolingbroke says that Bristol Castle is held by 'Bushy, Bagot, and their complices' (the 'caterpillars of the commonwealth')" (pages 11-12). Then in the entry for "aghast," Room writes: "The h was added, however, under the influence of 'ghastly', which means that the early spelling of the word was agast. This comes from the Old English verb gaestan, 'to frighten'. In Henry VI, Part I, Shakespeare makes a messenger, speaking of the overthrow of Talbot, say that 'All the whole army stood agaz'd on him', as if the origin was in gaze" (p. 12). In the entry for argosy, Room writes: "The word is a historic one, as is the concept. Only nine lines into Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice, for example, there is a mention of 'argosies with portly sail'" (p. 16). In the entry for "baggage" Room writes, "Shakespeare was one of the first to use the word in its 'worthless woman' meaning, and at the very beginning of The Taming of the Shrew (the 'Induction'), Christopher Sly, when called a rogue by the Hostess, retorts, 'Y'are a baggage: the Slys are no rogues'" (p. 19). The entry for "bastard" of course contains a reference to King Lear, with Room writing: "The designation is often thought to derive from 'base'. Certainly Shakespeare seemed to think so, when in King Lear Edmund, the bastard son of the Earl of Gloucester, declaims: 'Why bastard? wherefore base?... Why brand they us With base? with baseness? bastardy? base, base?'" (p. 22). The very next entry, "bated," also contains a Shakespeare reference: "The verb 'abate', meaning 'diminish' (originally 'beat down', from Old French abatre), was formerly often shortened to 'bate', and occurs in this form several times in Shakespeare, for example" (p. 22). The entry for "coign" also contains a reference to Shakespeare: "This particular phrase became memorable when it was used by Shakespeare in Macbeth, and Banquo describes Macbeth's castle in Inverness as a building favoured by the 'temple-haunting martlet' (i.e. swift): no jutty, frieze,/Buttress, nor coign of vantage, but this bird/Hath made his pendant bed and procreant cradle" (p. 44). The next entry, for "coil," also refers to Shakespeare: "Because of Shakespeare's 'shuffle off this mortal coil' (in Hamlet's famous 'To be or not to be' speech), a mental picture emerges of some kind of encircling loop like a binding coil of rope. When you 'shuffle off the mortal coil' you die, of course, and this even more suggests an escape from some kind of mortal chains" (p. 44). The entry for "doll" also mentions Shakespeare: "The original meaning of 'doll' was 'mistress', hence Shakespeare's Doll Tearsheet in Henry IV, Part II" (p. 55). There is an entry for "fell," as in "at one fell swoop," which is all about Shakespeare. Room writes: "The word suggests 'fall', like the swoop of a pouncing bird of prey. In this Shakespearean phrase, however, 'fell' has the sense, now poetic in English, of 'evil', and the word is thus related to 'felon'. Probably the wrong association with a bird of prey is strengthened by the mention of particular birds in the extended quotation containing the phrase in the original, where in Macbeth the anguished Macbeth, learning of the murder of his wife and children, exclaims: 'All my pretty ones?/Did you say all? O hell-kite! All?/What! all my chickens and their dam/At one fell swoop?'" (p. 62). And yes, that entry contains a mistake. What Room meant to write was "the anguished Macduff," not "the anguished Macbeth," for it was Macbeth who ordered those murders. Macbeth is also mentioned in the entry for "fitful": "The word is said to exist in English simply because of its single occurrence in Shakespeare's Macbeth, where Macbeth, speaking of the dead Duncan, says that 'After life's fitful fever he sleeps well'" (p. 63). The entry for "halt" mentions Shakespeare: "This old-fashioned word, found in the Bible and (as a verb) in Shakespeare, is not related to the 'halt' that means 'stop', as if a halt person were one who constantly had to halt" (p. 78). The entry for "harebell" contains a Shakespeare reference: "In Shakespeare's Cymbeline, the 'azur'd harebell like thy veins' mentioned is actually a bluebell" (p. 80). The entry for the word "leave," as in "permission; holiday," refers to Shakespeare: "This is because it originally meant 'obtain permission to depart', and it occurs in this sense in Shakespeare's Richard II, where Bolingbroke says to the Lord Marshal, in the presence of the king: Then let us take a ceremonious leave/And loving farewell of our several friends" (p. 99). The word "manner," as in "to the manner born," refers to Shakespeare too: "But the phrase, which comes from Shakespeare, did not originally mean this, but 'destined to be subject to (whatever it is)', which is not quite the same thing. Here is the original, in which Hamlet refers to the king's habit of revelling at midnight: But to my mind - though I am native here/And to the manner born, - it is a custom/More honour'd in the breach than the observance. He means 'Although I was born here, and so have been obliged to accept the native way of doing things'" (pages 106-107). The entry for "marry," the exclamation, unsurprisingly mentions Shakespeare: "This famous Shakespearean word is nothing to do with the word that means 'get married'. It was used mainly for emphasis, and also to express agreement" (p. 107). The entry for "pansy" has contains a reference to Shakespeare. Room writes: "This tradition is referred to in poor, deranged Ophelia's words in Hamlet, when she says: 'There's rosemary, that's for remembrance; pray, love, remember: and there is pansies, that's for thoughts" (p. 124). Another flower word, "pink," contains a Shakespeare reference: "Such phrases as 'in the pink' and 'pink of condition' and even 'tickled pink' all derive indirectly from the plant, which was seen as a sort of 'flower of perfection'. The first recorded use of its name in this metaphorical sense comes in Shakespeare, where in Romeo and Juliet there is a nice little interchange:
     Mercutio. Nay I am the very pink of courtesy.
     Romeo. Pink for flower.
     Mercutio. Right." (p. 132)
The entry for "pregnant," meaning "meaningful," contains a Shakespeare reference: "This was frequently used of an argument, and meant 'compelling', 'well-reasoned', even simply 'obvious'. Shakespeare used it in this sense in Othello, when Iago, seeking to discredit Cassio, Othello's lieutenant, says to Roderigo: 'Now, sir, this granted, as it is a most pregnant and unforced position, who stands so eminently in the degree of this fortune as Cassio does?'" (p. 138). In the entry for "rest" (in the phrase "God rest you merry, gentlemen"), there is a Shakespeare reference: "The greeting or wish expressed in the line was a standard one in Shakespeare's day, and in fact occurs in As You Like It, for example, where the 'country fellow' William takes his leave of Touchstone with the words, 'God rest you merry, sir'" (p. 148). The entry for "roam" also contains a Shakespeare reference: "Shakespeare, too, puns on the two words, as in Henry VI, Part I, where the following exchange occurs:
     Bishop of Winchester. Rome shall remedy this.
     Earl of Warwick. Roam thither then." (p. 149).
The entry for "shock-headed" contains a reference. Room writes: "One possibility is in the obsolete 'shough', 'shock' or 'shock-dog' that is mentioned in Macbeth, where Macbeth lists a variety of dog breeds and types: As hounds and greyhounds, mongrels, spaniels, curs,/Shoughs, water-rugs and demi-wolves, are clept [i/e/ called]/All by the name of dogs" (p. 158). The entry for "trump card" contains a reference as well: "Shakespeare uses the word in this sense, although metaphorically, in Anthony and Cleopatra, where Anthony says to his friend Eros, talking of Cleopatra: 'she, Eros, has/Packed cards with Caesar, and false-play'd my glory/Unto an enemy's triumph" (p. 176). And yes, Room writes "Anthony" rather than "Antony." The entry for "utterance" (as in the phrase 'to the utterance") contains a reference to Macbeth: "The now archaic phrase means 'to the bitter end', 'to the utmost limit', with one of its best known occurrences in Shakespeare's Macbeth, where Macbeth, defying Banquo, says: Rather than so, come fate into the list,/And champion me to the utterance!'" (p. 178). The entry for "while away" also contains a Shakespeare reference: "This variant spelling seems to have been additionally influenced, in former times, by association with such phrases as Shakespeare's 'beguile the day', 'beguile the time' (as in Twelfth Night, where Antonio recommends that Sebastian should 'beguile the time' by 'viewing the town' while he arranges food and board), as well as with similar phrases in other languages" (p. 185). The next entry, for "whippet," also contains a Shakespeare reference: "thus appearing rather incongruously, to modern eyes, in Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing, where Borachio says: 'I whipt me behind the arras'" (p. 185). 

The bibliography lists a book whose title is a Shakespeare reference: "Owen, Denis, What's in a Name: A Look at the Origins of Plant and Animal Names, BBC Publications, London, 1985" (p. 193).

NTC's Dictionary Of Word Origins was published in 1991. My copy is a first edition hardcover.

Doctor Faustus (Independent Shakespeare Company's 2025 Production) Theatre Review

The Independent Shakespeare Company, as the group's name suggests, focuses on the works of William Shakespeare. But these folks do not limit themselves to those thirty-seven plays (thirty-eight, if you count The Two Noble Kinsmen), and last night held the official opening of Doctor Faustus, a play written by Shakespeare's contemporary Christopher Marlowe. It is the classic story of a man who sells his soul to the devil for power and knowledge. This company delivers an absolutely fantastic and fun production, with plenty of humor and a bit of horror, and a completely delightful original musical number (actually, there are two good songs). The production is directed by Melissa Chalsma, and stars David Melville in the title role and Kalean Ung as Mephistopheles.

While construction continues on the company's permanent Griffith Park stage, performances are located just a bit farther up the hill (which actually means more shade for the audience). The set-up for this production is similar to that of Love's Labour's Lost, which closed a couple of weeks ago, done in the round, with the main platform spanning the dry creek, and a secondary, curtained platform to the side. While the main platform was painted green for the Shakespeare play, this time it features a circle with the zodiac signs at its outer edge and other symbols within. Much of the performance happens on that main stage, but the actors make great use of the surrounding space, sometimes moving through the audience (before the performance began, Melissa Chalsma warned us that spirits would be roaming the park). When we first meet Doctor Faustus, he is seated in his study, dressed in black. On "And live and die in Aristotle's works," he gets up, indicating a book at one corner of the stage, which he then retrieves. On "farewell," he tosses the book off the stage, and takes up another. One by one, he tosses the books, giving the sense that he has gotten all the knowledge he can from these tomes and requires something else for his desired growth in knowledge. David Melville, known for his comedic talent, is quite funny right from this first scene, particularly in his delivery of a line like "The reward of sin is death: that's hard." And when he is visited by both a good angel (Natalia Echeverria) and a bad angel (Daniel DeYoung), from his reaction we have no doubt to which one he will listen. And it is not long before he, ready with a staff, begins to conjure the spirits. David adds delightful touches to the performance. When he first steps into the center of the circle, there is some uncertainty, perhaps even fear, and then relief when nothing bad has happened. And then, now with certainty of purpose, he begins his work. It's a wonderful moment. 

When Mephistopheles enters, she is sexy (or should I say hot?), in a red dress (not presenting herself as a Franciscan Friar, as in the text). Yes, we get a female Mephistopheles here, and that works quite well. For a moment, perhaps, we are reminded of Elizabeth Hurley as the devil in the remake of Bedazzled, itself an adaptation of the Faustus story. Faustus has met his match here, for Kalean Ung is magnificent in the role. That will come as no surprise to those who saw the company's 2022 production of Macbeth, for she was phenomenal as Lady Macbeth. Mephistopheles holds out the knife to Faustus so that he can draw blood, and she kneels before him in that moment; that is until he takes the blade, a nice touch. Doctor Faustus understandably hesitates in cutting himself, and when he does do it, this production does not shy away from the use of blood. And when Faustus states that one of his stipulations is that Mephistopheles come to him in whatever form or shape he pleases, Mephistopheles smiles, seeming both intrigued and pleased, another wonderful touch. On her "when all the world dissolves," the turns around, taking in the world around her. And on her "take this book," the book she hands him is red, matching her dress, which is perfect. Later, when Doctor Faustus requests knowledge of the celestial bodies, other characters appear in the audience bearing glowing globes representing those bodies.

While David Melville and Kalean Ung turn in remarkable performances, the entire cast is strong. Patrick Batiste and Natalia Echeverria and wonderful together as Wagner and Robin respectively, especially as Wagner tries to convince Robin to be his disciple for seven years. The two devils poking Robin with their pitchforks are funny too, and even funnier when Wagner dismisses them, one of them delivering a disappointed "Oh" before exiting. And one of the production's most delightful and thrilling moments involves the entire cast. The scene with Lucifer (Brent Charles) and the Seven Deadly Sins is done as an incredible musical number, with each Sin receiving an introduction and taking a verse. Carene Rose Mekertichyan is especially good as both Pride and Sloth. Isaac Ybarra is Wrath, Daniel DeYoung is Envy, Erick Valenzuela de Campos is Gluttony, Patrick Batiste is Greed, and Natalia Echeverria is Lust. They and Lucifer are clearly having a great time. And some of the song's original lyrics refer to the audience. Was there ever a better sales pitch for sin? 

During the speech about Doctor Faustus being flown by a dragon, both he and Mephistopheles wear aviator goggles, a humorous touch. Other characters manipulate the dragon's wings, which is actually kind of beautiful. Scenes of great comedy are always handled well by this company especially when David Melville is at the center of the action. And so the scene where Faustus torments the Pope (Brent Charles) and other religious figures is a delight. Plus, and maybe especially these days, it is enjoyable to watch those in positions of power being brought down a few pegs. Doctor Faustus, made invisible by Mephistopheles, teases the Pope by repeatedly sitting on the Pope's chair, before then taking his food and drink. It's wonderful how much fun Faustus is having here, and the audience is completely on his side, enjoying the Pope's discomfort and fear. There is also a lot of fun in the scene with the Emperor (Erick Valenzuela de Campo, who is wonderful in the role). Faustus' line "These are but shadows, not substantial" reminds me of Prospero's speech in The Tempest. And there is more delightful physical comedy in the scene with Robin, Dick (Daniel DeYoung) and the cup, the cup at one point being handed to someone in the audience.

And as I mentioned earlier, there are elements of horror as well, including, in addition to the drawing of blood by Faustus, a beheading scene. Of course there is comedy to this too, as characters toss the head around. It is so wonderfully creepy as Doctor Faustus holds his own head. As the play moves toward its conclusion, it becomes more serious, and there is a nice moment when Wagner expresses concern for Faustus (Patrick Batiste is excellent there). Doctor Faustus is on his knees for the play's most famous lines ("Was this the face that launched a thousand ships..."), as Helen (Carene Rose Mekertichyan) circles him. And he again falls to his knees a little later when trying to wipe away the symbols from the circle. David, again known for his comedic skills, truly excels in that final scene. It is a side of him we don't see quite as often, and he delivers some impressive work. Kalean Ung is also excellent in this scene, the two of them engaged in a delicious dance of the damned. What a fantastic ending!

Doctor Faustus runs through August 31, 2025. Visit the Independent Shakespeare Company's website for the complete schedule. There is one intermission. The performances are free, but donations are encouraged, especially in this difficult time when the arts are under attack and government funding is dubious at best. There are also T-shirts, sweatshirts, tote bags and other items for sale at the merchandise table, so there are plenty of ways to support the company.