There is a poem in the back of a play or anthology or somesuch of Shakespeare’s work, that basically says something like ‘If his face was as beautiful as his writing… something something something… unfortunately it isn’t.’
Ach. If you know it you will know it. It basically says ‘look, the guy is ugly as hell, but he’s still pretty awesome, eh?’.
Any ideas?
Wow… cool answer. Unfortunately its not what I’m looking for – there was a poem written by a contemporary of Shakespeare, about him.
Poet/critic Robert Greene hated Shakespeare. His most famous lines are
"There is an upstart Crow, beautiful in our feathers, that, with his tiger’s heart wrapt in a player’s hide, supposes he is as well able to bombast out a blank verse as the best of you, and, being an absolute Johannes Factotum, is, in his own conceit, the only Shakescene in the country. Oh, that I might entreat your rare wits to be employed in more profitable courses, and let these apes imitate your past excellence, and never more acquaint them with your admired inventions."
March 10th, 2010 at 5:13 am
Richard III
But I, that am not shaped for sportive tricks
Nor made to court an amorous looking-glass;
I, that am rudely stamped, and want love’s majesty
To strut before a wanton ambling nymph;
I, that am curtailed of this fair proportion,
Cheated of feature by dissembling nature,
Deformed, unfinished, sent before my time
Into this breathing world scarce half made up,
And that so lamely and unfashionable
That dogs bark at me as I halt by them –
Why I, in this weak piping time of peace,
Have no delight to pass away the time,
Unless to spy my shadow in the sun
And descant on mine own deformity.
And therefore, since I cannot prove a lover
To entertain these fair well-spoken days,
I am determined to prove a villain…
In Richard III, Shakespeare conforms to the false view of Richard III concocted by Holinshed and other historians that Richard was deformed, a hunchback. Shakespeare has Richard go through his ugliness like a litany. Performances of Richard III have emphasized this trait, with Antony Sher adopting long, black, two-pronged sticks with which to scuttle about the stage like an insect–reminding one of the famous opening lines of Kafka’s Metamorphosis, "Gregor Samsa awoke one morning from uneasy dreams to find he had been turned into a gigantic insect." As Kafka’s insect is despised by characters within the story, the mere appearance of Richard III in Sher’s performance is intended to repulse the audience. His appearance is enough to decide he is somehow unwholesome, dangerous.
The normal-looking Richard III In fact Richard III’s deformity was an invention of political opposition to his reign. Shakespeare used the notion for dramatic reasons. One of which is apparently a causal link between being ugly and being evil, "And therefore, since I cannot prove a lover…I am determined to prove a villain…" Although Richard’s soliloquy is hardly reliable, Shakespeare has him draw a link between his own inability to find love as an ugly man and his decision to be a villain. Richard III’s villainy, of course, involves his taking the throne by scheming and murdering; one wonders if sexual frustration is sufficient, if the relationship between his ugliness and his evil is more metaphysical. On the other hand, Richard twice attempts a seduction in the course of the play, succeeding once, suggesting that perhaps Richard’s frustrations are sexual and that there is a relationship between the drive to power, the drive to sex and beauty.
References :
http://hubpages.com/hub/OnBeauty
March 10th, 2010 at 5:54 am
i love Shakespeare but that doesnt ring a bell.. :/
There are many good sites though you could take a look at:
http://absoluteshakespeare.com/
http://www.shakespeare-online.com/
References :
March 10th, 2010 at 6:24 am
Sonnet 130
My mistress’ eyes are nothing like the sun;
Coral is far more red than her lips’ red;
If snow be white, why then her breasts are dun;
If hairs be wires, black wires grow on her head.
I have seen roses damasked, red and white,
But no such roses see I in her cheeks;
And in some perfumes is there more delight
Than in the breath that from my mistress reeks.
I love to hear her speak, yet well I know
That music hath a far more pleasing sound;
I grant I never saw a goddess go;
My mistress when she walks treads on the ground.
And yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare
As any she belied with false compare.
References :
March 10th, 2010 at 7:00 am
Poet/critic Robert Greene hated Shakespeare. His most famous lines are
"There is an upstart Crow, beautiful in our feathers, that, with his tiger’s heart wrapt in a player’s hide, supposes he is as well able to bombast out a blank verse as the best of you, and, being an absolute Johannes Factotum, is, in his own conceit, the only Shakescene in the country. Oh, that I might entreat your rare wits to be employed in more profitable courses, and let these apes imitate your past excellence, and never more acquaint them with your admired inventions."
References :
http://www.theatrehistory.com/british/shakespeare024.html