Started reading Shakespeare's Richard III in preparation to see the play tomorrow at the Shakespeare Festival. Forgot what a great villain he is. Is there another villain to compare? Wooing a woman over the dead body of her father-in-law... all the while she knows he has killed both her husband and the dead man in front of her... Wow. And that's only the second scene of the first act.
On a different note, I have long held the belief that Shakespeare's women are almost invariably weak (what's-her-face from the Merchant of Venice being the only exception I can think of). However, a recently stumbled-upon book title and a comment from my mother-in-law made me realize that there may be people out there who think that Shakespeare's women are strong. Can they be serious? I want to try seeing it from a different perspective so I'm thinking of that concept in this reading of Richard III. So far, no luck. Lady Anne is convinced by that hedgehog's (love that) (Act I Scene 2 Line ?) penitent act he puts on to gain her trust (his supposed repentance and his wooing are both in the same scene, again, literally over her father-in-law's dead body). Wow. Can you be any more gullible?
Now I just need to find my book so I can finish it before tomorrow's show.
Ooooh I just love Shakespeare
