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ROMEO speaks about JULIET: (Excerpt from the first monologue of Act II, scene II) | |
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Two of the fairest stars in all the heaven Having some business, do entreat her eyes To twingle in their spheres till they return. What if her eyes were there, they in her head? The brightness of her cheek would shame those stars, As daylight doth a lamp; her eye in heaven Would through the airy region stream so bright, That bird would sing, and think it were not night. |
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JULIET speaks about ROMEO: (Excerpt from the first monologue of Act III, scene II) | |
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Give me my Romeo: and, when he shall die, Take him and cut him out in little stars, And he will make the face of heaven so fine, That all the world will be in love with night... |
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Hello Friends—
Here’s an assertion for you: No writer in English will ever be able to use the word “star-crossed” (or “star-cross'd”) without it being a reference to Shakespeare. Now send in your examples to disprove that assertion. Or: What other writers do you feel can be invoked with just a single word, who uniquely own that particular word, like (in my opinion) Shakespeare alone owns “star-crossed” — not because they invented the word, but because they used the word that unforgettably. Virginia Woolf mentions Shakespeare's “word-coining power” in a journal entry: | ||
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“I read Shakespeare directly after I have finished writing, when my mind is agape and red and hot. Then it is astonishing. I never yet knew how amazing his stretch and speed and word-coining power is, until I felt it utterly outpace and outrace my own, seeming to start equal and then I see him draw ahead and do things I could not in my wildest tumult and utmost press of mind imagine.” | |
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And, because I am very jealous of all the folks who went to see Anna Deveare Smith speak on Shakespeare’s Birthday (did I mention April 23 is his birthday yet?) at a free and open to the public event on Stanford’s campus this evening, I’ll leave you with her words on Shakespeare's influence. What most resonates with me is Anna Deveare Smith's articulation that the most valuable things we learn from studying Shakespeare are not definitive answers but the ability to question; we learn how to pursue inquiries about our human existence.
Enjoy. Ellen | ||