no subject

[snarp]

I feel like you can't really use Shakespeare's tragedies for this, except maybe for Titus; I think the thing that makes them seem to hit harder is that you can always see ways they didn't have to end the way they did. The protagonists have their necessary Tragic Flaws, yeah - but there's always at least one character in there who seems to have a sense of perspective about shit and thus isn't affected by the Tragedy Gravitational Field, and is just kind of going "what the fuck people, calm down." If they'd been the protagonist, things would probably have been fine!

Which is not the case with Webster and Marlowe. No one is immune to the requirements of the plot in those guys' stuff. Which is fine in its own way, but it gives a very different emotional effect.

("Shakespeare is pretty good and interesting," revolutionary opinion here.)

Comments

[wordweaverlynn]

In the past few years, I've seen various productions of Shakespeare plays (after a long hiatus). I saw Hamlet and The Merchant of Venice at the Ashland Shakespeare Festival, the Kevin Spacey Richard III, and the Tom Hiddleston simulcast of Coriolanus. Oh, and the recent Much Ado about Nothing, and Helen Mirren in The Tempest.

And every time, I am amazed at the dramatic power and emotional impact of these plays. It's not just the beauty of the language, gorgeous as it is. It's the characters, the blend of humor and heartbreak, the emotional generosity.

A feeling that can be summed up as: that Shakespeare kid, he sure could have a great career ahead of him.