A Bard’s Eye View

Even those of us who opposed the Iraq war remember with some fondness the first Iraqi election in that nation’s history, which took place about 15 years ago, when jubilant Iraqis waved their ink-stained blue thumbs in the air, the ink offering proof that its possessor voted only once. Our election technology here in the U.S. is more advanced, but clearly less effective, indeed to the point of embarrassment. (The joke running across South America right now? The Americans can choose our presidents faster than they choose their own.) And …

‘Awaked an evil nature’: Prospero, the Tempest and our Tempestuous Republic Read More »

Larvita McFarquhar is a single mother who owns Haven’s Garden, a bar and restaurant in Lynd, Minnesota, population 448. After the state’s governor issued an order, of questionable authority under the state constitution, closing all bars and restaurants, Ms. McFarquhar announced that Havens Garden would remain open. For those of us who believe that this quarantine should, like every other one in history until now, involve the sick and not the healthy, Haven’s Garden is a haven of freedom, indeed. In King Lear, the king’s youngest daughter, Cordelia, remained similarly true to …

‘Thy truth then be thy dower’: King Lear and Defiance of a COVID Shutdown Order Read More »

The Elizabethans were more stalwart than we are when it comes to fatal diseases. London was stricken with the bubonic plague repeatedly during Shakespeare’s time, specifically in 1563, 1578, 1582, 1592, and 1603. The first and the last of these each killed roughly one-fourth of London’s population. And when the plague took a break, smallpox would be as likely to stalk the land, claiming no less a victim than Elizabeth herself when she was 29, leaving her with deep scars requiring that famous white makeup, and taking away with it …

‘A plague on both your houses!’: Shakespeare’s Tough-Minded Attitude Toward Plagues Read More »

Shakespeare anticipated the democrats’ justification to use illegal means to capture the executive in Julius Caesar, when he plumbed Roman history for the story of Caesar’s assassination, and the transition from a Roman republic, which dated back to the 6th century B.C., to a dictatorship. Here’s Cassius, seeding a plot to overthrow Caesar, and insinuating to Brutus that Caesar’s power has grown so great that before he becomes a dictator, they need to destroy him and install a triumvirate of dictators themselves: Cassius: “Why, man, he doth bestride the narrow …

Upon what meat doth this our Caesar feed?: Julius Caesar and the U.S. Election Read More »