Wednesday, April 1, 2009

I get bored by the various 'discoveries' of pictures of Shakespeare, as if what he looked like is really that important. However, I am intrigued, and possibly convinced by this latest image, which makes me think we may indeed be seeing that face of the man himself.
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4 comments:

John B-R said...

Once again, an error based on wrong interpretation. Since, in Ulysses, Stephen Dedalus contends that that Shakespeare associated himself with Hamlet's father, not with Hamlet, and since what you point to is **clearly** a picture of Hamlet, then the picture you will find here is in fact Shakespeare's true likeness. Please note that much is known about Shakespeare's life, in spite the mythomania that suggests the contrary. You will learn much if you read the bio you will find along with the picture.

April 1, 2009 at 8:34 AM
Alan Baker said...

That's interesting John. I've also found this article on Shakespeare's green credentials.

April 1, 2009 at 9:17 AM
John B-R said...

I wonder if he was doped like everyone in the Tour de France etc. ...

Anyhow, I begin to wonder whether Alfred Jarry was in fact the author of Shakespeare's plays (this does not throw the authenticity of his bike riding into question, cf. Jarry's *Supermale*, which actually proves the point) From a blog called The Eastside View:

"Ubu Roi is probably the oldest Absurdist play to hold the stage—though now that I type that I realize there's nothing Absurdist about it; it's simply a totally realistic, moralistic, objective updating of just about any Shakespeare historical play.
[JBR Note: !!!!!]

Ubu, fat, stupid, and utterly without morals, overthrows the Polish king, converts the national phynancial system into pure personal gain, taxes the peasants to death, and ultimately takes on the Whole Russian Army. At one point he announces his agenda in the tersest of terms:

Avec ce système j'aurai vite fait fortune, alors je tuerai tout le monde et je m'en irai. (Thank you, Project Gutenberg.)

(With my system, I'll soon be rich, then I'm gonna kill everybody, then I'm going away).

You can see that, like Shakespeare, Ubu Roi has the misfortune always to be relevant."

Coincidence? I think not.

April 1, 2009 at 10:09 AM
Aidan Semmens said...

Brilliant literary detective work there, Alan - but the obvious startling conclusion seems to have been missed by everyone: HOMER WROTE SHAKESPEARE! So now we know that Troilus & Cressida did not involve any hint of plagiarism, merely an updating of his own story!

April 4, 2009 at 8:01 AM

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