Book 10 of 100 – A Midsummer Night’s Dream by William Shakespeare

Just like a previous post of mine that you can find here about Titus Andronicus, I read this play for my Shakespeare class. However, I have already read this before. In fact, I performed this play in High School. I played the very interested character of Helena, and had a great time with it. Because the two characters of Helena and Hermia are supposed to have a very pronounced height difference, they cast me (5’6” at the time) as Helena and a small friend of mine (5’1” at the time) as Hermia. However, they did the casting for the fall play at the beginning of the summer and when we got back to school in the fall, Hermia had grown a few inches after a wonderful summer growth spurt. So to help create the physical height difference that was now not quite as pronounced, I had to wear a pair of very tall heels. Unfortunately, heels and paper mache hills don’t always go so well together. Long story short, I fell a lot and lost all of the trust I had for chicken wire, glue, and strips of paper.

As much as this play hurt me, I still love it. There are so many ways to approach this play. You can enjoy it for its comedic surface, its political statements, its large amount of imagination, or even its semi-feminist character. It is a fun one to read and play around with. I would highly suggest this play to anyone who wants to dabble in some of good ‘ol Shakesy’s work and have a good time doing it.

Book 5 of 100 – “Titus Andronicus” by William Shakespeare

I’ll admit, I am VERY behind on this book challenge. It seems that starting a new full time job and getting back into the swing of things at school has thrown me for a loop. However, I am determined to catch up and I have a few books started currently. So, expect an influx of blog posts starting NOW!

Titus Andronicus by William Shakespeare

OH! Titus Andronicus! I had to read this play (I’m still considering it a book) for my Shakespeare class. I know you must be thinking that I never actually do the reading for classes, but since this is the only class I need to graduate this semester I figured I would give it my best shot and actually read the first required play.

As soon as I started working on Titus Andronicus, it became my favorite of Shakespeare’s plays. This play is known as ‘ol Shaksey’s only revenge tragedy. That’s right, revenge tragedy. There is loads of blood, murder, rape, secrets, plots, and most importantly, revenge.  The play starts off with a murder, ends with a bunch of murders, and has murders and even a terrible rape in the middle. There is so much to be read about it and everything that is discussed in; if you aren’t going to read this play, at least watch one of the many AWESOME YouTube summaries.

Favorite Quote:

“Vengeance is in my heart, death in my hand, Blood and revenge are hammering in my head”