Infinite Variety

DiCaprio, Dane, Thompson, Branagh, Romeo, Juliet, Beatrice, Benedick

Every theme under the sun and moon
As a teacher I sometimes challenged students to present a situation to me from a modern TV show or film and 9 times out of 10 I could name the play where the same situation occurs between Shakespearian characters or the same theme is explored in one of the 40-ish plays or in one of his sonnets or poems.

Everything’s there:

Every kind of Love and every kind of Hate

Passion, Compassion, Rage and Destruction

Comedy, Wit, Lunacy, Folly, Insanity and Madness

Jealousy, Ambition, Greed, Hypocrisy and Fear 

Hope, Mercy, Loyalty, Courage and Strength

Parents and Children, Brothers and Sisters 

Husbands and Wives, Friends and Enemies

Neighbours and Strangers, Masters and Servants

Cross-dressing, Gender-bending

Sex and Procreation, Lust and Desire

Violence and Tenderness, Hurt and Comfort

Injury and Healing, Grief and Joy

Art and Nature, Illusion and Reality

Music, Song, Dance and Spectacle

Duels, Fights, Battles, Tricks, Robberies 

Disguises, Surprises, Spoofs and Storms

Shipwrecks, Constructions, Weather, Nature

Fields, Flowers, Moors and Cliffs

Hovels, Houses, Palaces and Castles

Ships, Sea, Islands, Deserts, Forests, Beaches

Venice, Verona, Mantua, Vienna, Messina, Milan, Rome, Florence, Padua

Sicilia, Bohemia, Athens, Ephesus, Troy, Tyre, Navarre, Paris

Britain, Scotland, Cyprus, Illyria, Belmont

Miracles and Magic, Dogs and Bears

Gods and Goddesses

Shepherds and Clowns

The Supernatural and the Down-to-earth

Dreams and Nightmares

Prophecies and Curses

The Subconscious and the Light-hearted

The Rude and the Crude

Elegance and Beauty

Disability and Power

Charisma and Humility

Winning and Losing

Revenge and Forgiveness

Glorious Triumph and Abject Failure

Medicine and Gardening

Education and the Law

Health and Happiness

Problems of Self-government and National Government

Rebellion, Riot and Conformity

Freedom and Slavery

Republicanism, the Monarchy, 

Totalitarianism, Anarchy

The Price of Fame and Cost of Responsibility

The Personal and the Universal

The Silly and the Serious

Birth and Rebirth, Murder and Resurrection

The Sadness of Disease

The Inevitability of Death

Youth and Age, Growth and Decay

The way we live our lives as individuals,

as families, as friends, as lovers, as enemies, 

as citizens under the same sun

And our search for the meaning of life

Kinnear, Lester, Iago, Othello

Happy 450th anniversary of your birth, Shakespeare. It’ll be the 400th anniversary of your death in 2016. Lucky me to have your work as a part of my retirement playground.

Sher, Richard III