False Fronts
Notes on False Fronts
Richard, Romeo, Juliet and the Sonnet
Read the NoteTwo of Shakespeare’s earliest plays, Richard III and Romeo and Juliet, open with sonnets and then employ variations on the sonnet’s structure for dramatic and poetic effect, which is not surprising. At this point in Shakespeare’s life he seems to have had dual career goals. First, he wanted to make money, which he could accomplish through theatre.
… continue reading this note
Appearance and Deception
Read the NoteA recurring theme in many of Shakespeare’s plays, and central to Much Ado About Nothing, explores how easily people are deceived not just by the false testimony of others but even by their own senses. Claudio, believing he was deceived by Don John, learned to place no trust in the words of others. With “Let every eye negotiate for itself,”
… continue reading this note
Keeping Adultery Hidden
Read the NoteIn comedy or tragedy, Shakespeare’s characters advise the prudence of spouses keeping their dalliances hidden. In Comedy of Errors, Luciana advises Antipholus of Syracuse, who she thinks is her brother-in-law, to conceal from his presumed wife Adriana, Luciana’s sister, his apparent infidelity. Iago’s observation about the adulteries of Venetian women in Othello, is similar.
… continue reading this note
Quotes including the Theme False Fronts
I learn in this letter that Don Pedro of Aragon comes this night to Messina
Read the QuoteLeonato, with a letter
I learn in this letter that Don
Pedro of Aragon comes this night to Messina.
Messenger
He is very near by this. He was not three
leagues off when I left him.
He hath borne himself beyond the promise of his age,
doing in the figure of a lamb the feats of a lion.
… continue reading this quote
Now is the winter of our discontent
Read the QuoteNowHyperbaton is the winter of our discontentMetaphor
Made glorious summerMetaphor by this son of York,Paronomasia
And all the clouds that louredMetaphor upon our houseMetonymy
In the deep bosom of the ocean MetaphorburiedHyperbaton & Ellipsis.
… continue reading this quote
Tush, never tell me! I take it much unkindly
Read the QuoteRoderigo
Tush, never tell me! I take it much unkindly
That thou, Iago, who hast had my purse
As if the strings were thine, shouldst know of this.
Iago
’Sblood, but you’ll not hear me!
If ever I did dream of such a matter,
Abhor me.
Roderigo
Thou toldst me thou didst hold him in thy hate.
… continue reading this quote
Troy, yet upon his basis, had been down
Read the QuoteTroy, yet upon his basis, had been down,
And the great Hector’s sword had lacked a masterMetonymy
But for these instances:
The specialty of rule hath been neglected,
And look how many Grecian tents do stand
Hollow upon this plain, so many hollow factions.
When that the general is not like the hive
To whom the foragers shall all repair,
… continue reading this quote
Adieu, adieu, adieu. Remember me
Read the QuoteGhost
Adieu, adieu, adieu.Epizeuxis Remember me.
He exits.
Hamlet
O all you host of heaven! O Earth!Anapodotons & Apostrophes What else?
And shall I couple hell?Pysma O fie! Hold, hold, my heart,
And you, my sinews, grow not instant old,
… continue reading this quote
Ophelia, walk you here
Read the QuotePolonius
Ophelia, walk you here.—Gracious, so please you,
We will bestow ourselves. To Ophelia. Read on this book,
That show of such an exercise may color
Your loneliness. —We are oft to blame in this
(’Tis too much proved), that with devotion’s visage
And pious action we do sugar o’er
The devil himself.
’Tis too much proved,
… continue reading this quote
O serpent heart, hid with a flow’ring face!
Read the QuoteO serpent heart, hid with a flow’ring face!Paradox
Did ever dragon keep so fair a cave?Metaphor
Beautiful tyrant!Oxymoron Fiend angelical!Oxymoron
Dove-feather’d raven!Oxymoron Wolvish ravening lamb!Oxymoron
Was ever book containing such vile matter
So fairly bound?
… continue reading this quote
My gracious lord, Henry, your foe, is taken
Read the QuoteNobleman
My gracious lord, Henry, your foe, is taken
And brought your prisoner to your palace gate.
King Edward
See that he be conveyed unto the Tower.
Nobleman exits.
And go we, brothers, to the man that took him,
To question of his apprehension.—
Widow, go you along.—Lords, use her honorably.
… continue reading this quote
In Venice they do let God see the pranks
Read the QuoteIn Venice they do let God see the pranks
They dare not show their husbands; their best conscience
Is not to leave’t undone, but keep’t unknown.
… continue reading this quote
O Hamlet, thou hast cleft my heart in twain
Read the QuoteQueen Gertrude
O Hamlet, thou hast cleft my heart in twain!
Hamlet
O, throw away the worser part of it,
And live the purer with the other half!
Good night. But go not to my uncle’s bed.
Assume a virtue if you have it not.
Assume a virtue if you have it not.
… continue reading this quote