#playwrights' words

[ladythomasina]

Hansy's Spank Bank

HANSY: Have you prayed tonight, Desdemona? (He pulls a reproduction of Palma Vecchio’s Venus from underneath his shirt.) Our father, who art in Heaven? You don’t look like it, my love – rapt in your expectation of what’s coming, as in that sweet moment of budding ecstasy when I saw you lying in the window of Jonathan Schlesinger’s—your supple legs and arms, the gentle curving of your hips, your firm young breasts…

If I wanted to count them—all the departed with whom I’ve fought the same battle here!—Thuman’s Psyche—another legacy of the hatchet-faced Mademoiselle Angelique, that rattlesnake in the paradise of my childhood; Correggio’s Io; Lossow’s Galatea; then a cupid by Bouguereau; J. van Beer’s Ada, whom I had to abduct from a secret compartment in Papa’s desk in order to add her to my harem; a quivering, twitching Leda by Makart that I happened to find in my brother’s lecture notes…

But my conscience will be pacified, my body will regain its strength when you, devil, no longer reside in the red satin cushions of my jewel box. In your place I’ll invite Bodenhousen’s Lurlei or Linger’s Forsaken Maiden or Defregger’s Loni to move into this sumptuous chamber of pleasure…

-- Act 2, Scene 3 of Spring Awakening by Frank Wedekind, translated by Jonathan Franzen

So what is in Hansy's spank bank? What images would a teenage boy in provincial Germany in the 1890s be getting off to? And why has no one put together a post like this before?

Palma Vecchio's Venus...

Resting Venus by Jacopo Palma Vecchio, 1520s

Thuman’s Psyche...

Psyche am Wasserspiegel by Paul Thumann, 1890s

Correggio’s Io...

Jupiter and Io by Correggio, c. 1530

Lossow’s Galatea...

I could not find any good candidates online for this painting, but note that the wikipedia page for Heinrich Lossow (1843-1897) calls him "a prolific pornographer".

A cupid by Bouguereau...

perhaps L'amour Mouille (Wet Cupid) by William-Adolphe Bouguereau, 1891

J. van Beer’s Ada...

Portrait of Miss Ada Rehan as Lady Teazle in the "School for Scandal" by Jan van Beers, 1890s (this doesn't seem quite right but is the only candidate I could find?)

Leda by Makart...

Leda and the Swan by Hans Makart, 1868

Bodenhousen’s Lurlei...

Could not find a candidate for this either, not a lot of artwork by Cuno von Bodenhausen (1852-1931) seems to be online

Linger’s Forsaken Maiden...

Cannot find this online or even figure out what artist Hansy is referring to

Defregger’s Loni...

Loni by Franz von Defregger, 1890s

[quotelr]

If you know the art of being happy with simple things, then you know the art of having maximum happiness with minimum effort!

Mehmet Murat ildan

[thepersonalwords]

If there is a very strong love behind you that you can lean against to it, nothing can ever shake you very strongly!

Mehmet Murat ildan

[obscurescholar]

"Without alienation, there can be no politics."

— Arthur Miller

[fluffypotatey]

Wukong is very flirty physically. The popsicle, the fact he was leaning on macaque so much he almost fell when macaque moved away, the past hugs and fixing of clothes, the offered handhold.

Macaque is very flirty verbally. Gem, beloved friend, sun, always the comedian, good to see you bud, cute. Plus his tone has been very flirty at times

There has been times where mac has physically flirted (clone pile up, holding hands while fighting (you didn't have to do that mac)) and times wukong has verbally flirted ("peach", calling macaque cool though macaque wasn't there so not sure if it counts). But it's been mainly 1 strategy

with their powers combined….only then do they become….the ultimate…..SHADOWPEACH

[obscene-beans]

Remember when Zuko was complaining about how the Ember Island Players “butchered Love Amongst The Dragons every year”?

If he wasn’t a prince he would have been a theater kid

[arabdoll]

“Why do you style yourself "your worthless and insignificant brother"? You recognize your insignificance? . . . Recognize it before God; perhaps, too, in the presence of beauty, intelligence, nature, but not before men. Among men you must be conscious of your dignity. Why, you are not a rascal, you are an honest man, aren't you?

Well, respect yourself as an honest man and know that an honest man is not something worthless. Don't confound "being humble" with "recognizing one's worthlessness."

Anton Chekhov, The Letters of Anton Chekhov

[authenticity2025]

If you know the art of being happy with simple things, then you know the art of having maximum happiness with minimum effort! Mehmet Murat ildan

[eloquenthubak1982]

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. 

(28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German polymath and writer, who is widely regarded as the greatest and most influential writer in the German language. His work has had a profound and wide-ranging influence on Western literacy, political, and philosophical thought from the late 18th century to the present day. Goethe was a German poet, playwright, novelist, scientist, statesman, theatre director, and critic. His words include plays, poetry and aesthetic criticism, as well as treaties on botany, anatomy and color.

[fallensxvior]

🔞 owo

Yeshua is not as 'pure' as people think. The first time he had sex was when he and Miryam (Mary magdalene) were teenagers.

She came from a wealthy family and sponsored him in his preaching, and they fell in love relatively young because of their shared love of debate and philosophy. The Catholics like to say that he was free and unburdened by the carnal hungers of mortal men' but they are DEAD wrong.

[naneki-maid]

But, I am pretty sure that I was his best friend. We shared an intimacy that I cannot put to words except to say we saw into each other’s hearts and were in love with what we found…

The Last Days of Judas Iscariot (2005) by Stephen Adly Guirgis

[etchif]

Btw rlly love that Dinah & Greaseball's relationship issues are resolved in the end by Greaseball literally begging her for forgiveness on his knees while all broken down and publically humiliated👍 big fan of this authorial decision

[familiarquotation]

"The attention was flattering. For the first five minutes. Now I know how poems feel."

Margaret Edson, Wit

[thepersonalwords]

For a weak person, every little hill is a giant mountain; for a strong person, every giant mountain is a little hill!

Mehmet Murat ildan

[the-nameless-nerd]

this might be a controversial take:

Theater Kids and Writers are two sides of the same coin

[quotationadmiration]

'Tis deeds must win the prize.

William Shakespeare, The Taming of the Shrew