#romeo and juliet/ twelfth night

[aq2003]

grabbed all of the ebook versions of the folger shakespeare library's annotated versions of shakespeare's plays (+sonnets and poems) and put them all in one place in case anyone is interested

[transsexualcoriolanus]

obsessed with tragedies that were almost comedies and comedies that were almost tragedies and comedies in which the happy ending is actually tragic

[legendary-dumpster-fire]

RIP William Shakespeare, you would have loved neopronouns

[infinatenoise]

Shakespere plays badly described in one sentence:

Romeo And Juliet - Your "Love had different plans" writing excuse ended with a restraining order and two dead kids

Macbeth - Girlboss uses her sopping pathetic wet dog of a husband to gain political power, ends horribly.

Hamlet - Pathetic emo boy destroys career of his creepy uncle

Titus Andronicus - It's a soap opera because after you watch it you feel the need to wash yourself thoroughly

The Tempest - One man's real person ship fic saves the government from corruption

Merchant Of Venice - The way to make your play where the main villain is a jewish person portraying every negative stereotype is by making the main christian characters the biggest pricks in existance

Twelfth Night - Shakespeare was a COWARD for not making the woman marry the sister and the man marry the brother.

Othello - A commentary on racism slightly ruined by the fact that the main villain shares a name with a cartoon disney parrot

[zforzelma]

A list* of Shakespeare characters for which casting a trans actor is the strongest choice.

Take a look at your complete works of Shakespeare. You can pack so much Gender in those plays. I am of the opinion that casting should be undertaken to highlight the text and make new discoveries.

Really, any Shakespeare role can and should be played by a trans person of any variety, but there are some roles in particular that I think would unfold incredible revelations about the text. I'm leaving out magical characters and fools because that's too obvious.

Lysander - Mids; why don't you want me to marry your daughter? Say it, you coward.

Helena - Mids; This one would be psychologically intense for the actress, so really only attempt if you've got a good therapist. Having a trans woman in this role would be such a gut-punch for so much of the text, I honestly think it would make the audience uncomfortable at some parts. To which I say: GOOD.

I have so many more.

Viola - 12th; Also pretty psychologically intense with all the cross dressing, and the wow-you-look-just-like-your-brother, but her equivocation about gender in her conversations with Orsino would absolutely sing.

Orlando - As You Like It; His older brother won't let him go to college with the other men. Proves himself by winning in a wrestling match. Doesn't recognize his crush when she's cross dressing.

Mercutio - R&J; At this point I feel like everyone knows Mercutio is a nonbinary lesbian or trans masc. Right? Like, we all know that. Jokes aside, I think his difficult relationship with masculinity and honor would be interesting if interpreted by a trans actor.

Hamlet - Hamlet; Obviously. I mean duh. trans masc, trans fem, man, woman, both or neither. Any queer person probably gets Hamlet on a visceral level better than any cis straight person. Who's even casting a cis man as Hamlet in the year of our lord 2023? Yawn.

Laertes - Hamlet; Yeah I don't know what it is. This one is purely vibes based.

Macduff - Macbeth; I actually made Macduff a woman, changed all the pronouns and made him a lesbian when I directed, and I'd probably do that again. But I think Duff could also - or alternately - be trans. I think it would say something interesting about violence of his journey, the scene with future King Malcolm, and the fact that Duff is the one to behead ol' Mack.

What do you guys think? Did I miss an obvious one?

* this is not at all a comprehensive list

[unicornofthemidwest]

every time someone says that Shakespeare is better seen than read just know I am shaking and shuddering and forcing myself not to argue because GOD. God. Because yes, I mean, Shakespeare didn’t even write down his plays in their entirety; they weren’t written for publication; they were quite literally written to be performed. AND. And Every story has meaning. Every word in a story has meaning. That’s just true, and it’s inevitable that one is going to miss some of that meaning if one is watching it onstage. Acting is not meant for analysis unless one is pretentious or a theatre critic. Acting is not designed for analysis. One doesn’t even have footnotes if it’s onstage! and I personally suffer when I don’t have footnotes for Shakespeare. Footnotes are my best friend and I love them. but that would still be fine if all the Shakespeare we see onstage was good Shakespeare but oh my god there is so much bad Shakespeare in the world. Holy goddamn fuck there is a lot of Shakespeare where the actors clearly have no idea what they’re saying or sexual assault is implicitly condoned or everyone’s just reciting lines or the entire concept of the show is apologizing for doing Shakespeare or Juliet is stuck in a register three octaves above sounding like a normal person and oh my god. Oh My God. YES, reading Shakespeare is hard. YES, it’s going to be boring at some points. Everything is boring at some points. But it’s not a magic cure-all to watch it onstage. Onstage Shakespeare has a whole other set of problems. One medium does not have a monopoly on Shakespeare. One medium is not inherently better. There are different things that you will get out of what medium you experience it through. I can’t think of a good conclusion and I’m losing my gol-dern mind so I’m just going to leave it here. Read some Shakespeare. Good night.

[ink-and-pages]

[florencewelchsgrapejuice]

queer classic lit relationships according to me and me alone

Romeo and Juliet- he/him lesbian and his soft femme gf

Mercutio and Benvolio- the other tragic love story in R&J 

Hamlet and Horatio- no explanation needed

Beatrice and Benedick- the B’s in their names stand for bi 

Viola/Cesario, Orsino, Olivia, Sebastian, and Antonio- Shakespeare invented the chaotic polycule 

Helena and Hermia- who the hell are Demetrius and Lysander i only know these two sapphics 

Oberon, Titania, and Puck- they’re a triad your honor 

Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy- he’s bi, she’s demi, they’re iconic 

Anne Elliot and Frederick Wentworth- only demisexuals could have the patience these two do 

Fanny Price and Mary Crawford- get fucking WRECKED Edmund no one even likes you

Emma Woodhouse, Harriet Smith, and Mr. Knightley- Emma has two hands etc etc

Jane Eyre and Mr. Rochester- little bi freaks 

Jo March and Friedrich Bhaer- two ace dark academia nerds managed to find each other wow love is real 

Anne Shirley and Diana Barry- *looks at photo of Gilbert* sorry to this man

[narcissusinamirrormaze]

Made this in English class today. Because. Shaysparr

[i-daresay-i-have-too-many]

(pt 1)(pt 2)(pt 3)(RESULTS+superlatives)

[sweetnnaivete]

modern day shakespeare would release his plays like "did i just write the song of the summer😨😨"