king lear

Review: Tim Curry as William Shakespeare

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On August 25th, 2026, the world lost an incredible performer. Notable for his film roles in Clue,Muppet Treasuren Island It, the Rocky Horror Picture Show, as well as countless voice-over roles in film, TV, and audiobooks, Mr Curry had an incredible onstage personality and a versitile, commanding voice that landed itself well to slimy villains, megalomaniacal tyrants, and delicate fey characters.

If you’re familiar with his work, you probably won’t be surprised that Curry was a classically trained stage actor with equally impressive credits onstage. He originated the role of Mozart in Amedeus, played Gilbert and Sullivan’s Pirate King to great acclaim, and won numerous theater awards on both sides of the Atlantic.

For a while, I’ve wanted to honor this great performer, but I couldn’t find a way to do it on this platform. That is until I found this:

This was a 1978 British TV mini series about the life of Shakespeare, with Mr Curry as the title character. This is why I will provide a series of summaries of these episodes and discuss how Mr Curry adds to the mythos and historiography of Shakespeare

Episode 1: Dead Shepherd

We’re all dying, for poets it just comes earlier

Christopher Marlowe

We begin with Hamnet, no not Shakespeare’s ill-fated son, but Hamnet Sadler, Shakespeare’s friend from Stratford (and his son’s godfather). The fish-out-of water from Stratford has come to pass along messages (and a roasted chicken) to Shakespeare. As he delivers it, Shakespeare boasts about his success as an actor, performing in Doctor Faustus and winning the acclaim of both his fellow actors and the public. The problem is… this tale is a lie; Shakespeare is just a horse valet for the theater, while the brash and flamboyant Christopher Marlowe  (Ian McShane), is the greatest playwright in London…for now.

https://www.shakespeare.org.uk/explore-shakespeare/shakespedia/william-shakespeare/william-shakespeares-family/hamnet-shakespeare/

Dead shepherd, now I see thy saw of might;

Whoever loved, that loved not at first sight?

William Shakespeare- As You Like It

The title refers to how Shakespeare falls in love with theater at first sight, and how London immediately falls in love with his talents.

Tim Curry on Playing Shakespeare

He’s a kind of ambitious country boy who learns fast” driven by the intense, fast-paced survival energy of the Elizabethan age.

Curry’s Shakespeare is full of energy and bravado. This is best demonstrated in the scene where he gets out of a cart full of straw, jumps up to the rafters of the Globe, jumps onstage, recites Faustus, and sings! He has a fiery energy and you can see how this Shakespeare is a man of ambitious energy, yet still possessed of an idealistic soul.

Ian McShane by contrast, is witty and world-weary with a dangerous edge. He has fallen out of love with theater; more interested in court intrigue. This leads him to spy for the Queen like an Elizabethan James Bond. Unlike Bond however, Marlowe is brutally murdered by agents from his own government! While all the London theater mourns his loss, his death also sets the stage for Shakespeare’s meteoric rise as the premier poet of England.

I’ll continue reviewing each subsequent episode on this page and also my podcast. Stay tuned!

Tim Curry Starred In A Forgotten Series About Shakespeare With An Impressive Cast https://share.google/skBs5Kd5NgtOnMPrO

https://share.google/skBs5Kd5NgtOnMPrO

Period Documents

Document-specific information
Creator: Holy Trinity Church, Stratford-upon-Avon
Title: Parish Register of Holy Trinity Church, Stratford-upon-Avon
Date: 1558-1776
Repository: The Shakespeare Birthplace Trust, Stratford-upon-Avon, UK
Call number and opening: DR243/1: Baptismal register, fol. 22v
View online bibliographic record

Web

King Edward Grammar School History: https://www.kes.net/about-us/history-of-the-school/

Shakespeare’s Birthplace Trust- The Second Best Bed: https://www.shakespeare.org.uk/explore-shakespeare/shakespedia/william-shakespeare/second-best-bed/

Coffin Archive.org- The Evolution of the English Shroud: From Single Sheet To Draw-Strings and Sleeves: http://www.archive.coffinworks.org/uncategorised/the-evolution-of-the-english-shroud-from-single-sheet-to-draw-strings-and-sleeves/

How Accurate is Hamnet Part III: The Movie

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On August 11th, 1596, Shakespeare lost his only son.

Burial Registry of Hamnet Shakespeare

This very day, 2026. I sat down to watch the movie about him. I will compile my thoughts into a complete review in a while, but for now, let’s just say, it was absolutely incredible.

Biography of Hamnet

Just like his famous father, we know very little about the life of Hamnet Shakespeare. Since infant mortality rates were high, we don’t know his exact birthday, only that he was baptized on February 2nd, 1582. Like most 11-year old boys, he probably had started going to school at the King Edward Grammer School, the same as his father. This means he spent long hours away from his parents learning to read and write in Latin and Greek. When he was home, he lived with his mother, his two sisters, and his grandparents in the house of Henley Street.

https://www.kes.net/about-us/history-of-the-school/

O’Farrel portrays the boy Hamnet as sensitive and somewhat lonely. The movie captures this

1589-1596

Never mind what I know. You must go.” She pushes at his chest, putting air and space between them, feeling his arms slide off her, disentangling them. His face is crumpled, tense, uncertain. She smiles at him, drawing in breath. “I won’t say goodbye,” she says, keeping her voice steady. “Neither will I.” “I won’t watch you walk away.” “I’ll walk backwards,” he says, backing away, “so I can keep you in my sights.” “All the way to London?” “If I have to.” She laughs. “You’ll fall into a ditch. You’ll crash into a cart.” “So be it.

O’Farrell

The novel portrays Anne Shakespeare realizing that her husband is stifled and unhappy living with his parents in Stratford, and so she suggests to his father that he go to London to ‘expand the family business,’ though in reality, she wants him to go to make his fortune and find more fulfilling work.

https://www.shakespeare.org.uk/explore-shakespeare/shakespedia/william-shakespeare/william-shakespeares-family/hamnet-shakespeare/

Gloves

A glover will only ever want the skin, the surface, the outer layer. Everything else is useless, an inconvenience, an unnecessary mess. She thinks of the private cruelty behind something as beautiful and perfect as a glove.

Hamnet

The Plague

He wants to tear down the sky, he wants to rip every blossom from that tree, he wishes to take a burning branch and drive that pink-clad girl and her nag over a cliff, just to be rid of them, to clear them all out of his way. So many miles, so much road stands between him and his child, and so few hours left.

Hamnet

In the book, the plague germs that infect Judith and later Hamnet, lie inside a box with some glass beads that the Shakespeare’s ordered from Italy to decorate a pair of fancy gloves.

Hamnet’s Death

He can feel Death in the room, hovering in the shadows, over there beside the door, head averted, but watching all the same, always watching. It is waiting, biding its time. It will slide forward on skinless feet, with breath of damp ashes, to take her, to clasp her in its cold embrace, and he, Hamnet, will not be able to wrest her free.

Hamnet

In the novel, Hamnet somehow takes the plague away from his sister and dies in her place. Though it is hardly conclusive, I do find it interesting that Shakespeare stopped writing comedies about twins for another four years after Hamnet’s death, until he wrote Twelfth Night, which unlike earlier comedies like The Comedy of Errors, has a pair of twins mourning each other’s apparent death. They seem to share one soul, and one tries to resurrect the other, like Viola mourning her brother by, (in a sense), becoming her brother.

What should I do in Ilyria? My brother is in Elysium

Viola- “Twelfth Night”, Act I, Scene ii.

ELIZABETHAN FUNERAL CUSTOMS

In the book, Anne makes a winding sheet for her son. This was a cloth of linen or wool that was wrapped around dead bodies, since at the time, coffins were re-used. This must have been a somber and deeply upsetting activity for Anne.

The act of making a winding sheet was a sort of sad family responsibility, a way of ensuring that your loved ones die with dignity, and Anne clearly takes the task of making one very seriously.

The Aftermath Of Hamnet’s Death (Spoilers)

The Women of Hamnet

The most unique thing about this novel is how it shows the interdependence of women in Elizabethan society. Since Shakespeare spends most of the novel away from Anne, her support system mostly comes from Will’s mother Mary, as well as Anne’s daughters, her sister, and all the other women of the town. Nowadays we do most of our socialization online and barely know our own neighbors, but in the 1590s, especially for women, community was a way of building strength where women got through things like childbirth, loss, the managing of households, and many other difficulties through their relationships with other women. This video below shows the kinds of home remedies that women would share and later write down during the Tudor period:

Other Mysteries Solved


Once Hamnet dies, Will buys her a new house, New Place so she isn’t forced to live with his parents and no longer has to live in the house where her son died. But Will’s success comes with a price- he still has to leave for London. he offers to move them there but Agnes won’t hear of it. This solves the riddle of why Shakespeare commuted between town and country for his entire career- she knows the plague that took her son literally came from London, and she won’t risk losing her daughter as well. She probably also sees London like another woman that took her husband away as well, and therefore refuses to look it in the face.

It is no matter,” she pants, as they struggle there, beside the guzzling swine. “I know. You are caught by that place, like a hooked fish.” “What place? You mean London?” “No, the place in your head. I saw it once, a long time ago, a whole country in there, a landscape. You have gone to that place and it is now more real to you than anywhere else. Nothing can keep you from it. Not even the death of your own child. I see this,” she says to him, as he binds her wrists together with one of his hands, reaching down for the bag at his feet with the other. “Don’t think I don’t.”

O’Farrell, Hamnet.

The Shakespeares’ Marriage after Hamnet

The ugly truth that O’Farrell highlights in Hamnet is that it must have been very hard for the Shakespeares to endure Hamnet’s death, especially since Will was probably not there when it happened, and probably didn’t stay around long after burying his son.

Hamnet and Shakespeare

Raising the Dead

Hamlet, here, on this stage, is two people, the young man, alive, and the father, dead. He is both alive and dead. Her husband has brought him back to life, in the only way he can. As the ghost talks, she sees that her husband, in writing this, in taking the role of the ghost, has changed places with his son. He has taken his son’s death and made it his own; he has put himself in death’s clutches, resurrecting the boy in his place. “O horrible! O horrible! Most horrible!” murmurs her husband’s ghoulish voice, recalling the agony of his death.

O’Farrell, “Hamnet”

References

Journals

Bray, Peter. “Men, loss and spiritual emergency: Shakespeare, the death of Hamnet and the making of Hamlet.” Journal of Men, Masculinities and Spirituality, vol. 2, no. 2, June 2008, pp. 95+. Gale Literature Resource Center, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A189052376/LitRC?u=pl9286&sid=bookmark-LitRC&xid=ea79f235. Accessed 20 Apr. 2023.

Period Documents

Document-specific information
Creator: Holy Trinity Church, Stratford-upon-Avon
Title: Parish Register of Holy Trinity Church, Stratford-upon-Avon
Date: 1558-1776
Repository: The Shakespeare Birthplace Trust, Stratford-upon-Avon, UK
Call number and opening: DR243/1: Baptismal register, fol. 22v
View online bibliographic record

Web

King Edward Grammar School History: https://www.kes.net/about-us/history-of-the-school/

Shakespeare’s Birthplace Trust- The Second Best Bed: https://www.shakespeare.org.uk/explore-shakespeare/shakespedia/william-shakespeare/second-best-bed/

Coffin Archive.org- The Evolution of the English Shroud: From Single Sheet To Draw-Strings and Sleeves: http://www.archive.coffinworks.org/uncategorised/the-evolution-of-the-english-shroud-from-single-sheet-to-draw-strings-and-sleeves/

Lots of Great classes are available on Outschool This Summer

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With summer break approaching, why not give your kids the gift of learning Shakespeare in a low-key, no-pressure scenario? I have classes on Shakespeare’s life, Romeo and Juliet, and my celebrated Stage Combat class! Sign up now for all the fun on Outschool.com!

Shakespeare and Star Wars

Class Description: Using self-paced online activities, your child(ren) will compare the plot and characters of Star Wars to Shakespeare’s plays. We will also discuss Shakespeare’s writing by looking at “William Shakespeare’s Star Wars” by Ian Doescher.

Romeo and Juliet Murder Mystery

Course Description: A flexible schedule class that teaches kids the plot and characters of “Romeo and Juliet,” in the context of a detective story where you solve the mystery of the young lovers’ deaths.

Course Descriptions

How to Write Like Shakespeare: Learn the basics of iambic pentameter, sonnet form, and Shakespeare’s dramatic structure, and practice writing Shakespearean speeches.

Get $10 off my class “Shakespearean Stage Combat” with coupon code HTHES3IB1C10 until May 4, 2026. Get started at https://outschool.com/classes/shakespearean-stage-combat-TyjzafsK and enter the coupon code at checkout.

Lots of Great classes are available on Outschool This Winter

Scan the QR code to see my list of classes.
| astronut1

With the holidays approaching, why not give your kids the gift of learning Shakespeare in a low-key, no-pressure scenario? I have classes on Shakespeare’s life, Romeo and Juliet, and my celebrated Stage Combat class! Sign up now for all the fun on Outschool.com!

Shakespeare and Star Wars

Class Description: Using self-paced online activities, your child(ren) will compare the plot and characters of Star Wars to Shakespeare’s plays. We will also discuss Shakespeare’s writing by looking at “William Shakespeare’s Star Wars” by Ian Doescher.

Romeo and Juliet Murder Mystery

Course Description: A flexible schedule class that teaches kids the plot and characters of “Romeo and Juliet,” in the context of a detective story where you solve the mystery of the young lovers’ deaths.

Course Descriptions

How to Write Like Shakespeare: Learn the basics of iambic pentameter, sonnet form, and Shakespeare’s dramatic structure, and practice writing Shakespearean speeches.

Get $10 off my classes with coupon code HTHESJTOUQ10 until Dec 25, 2024. Look through my classes at https://outschool.com/teachers/The-Shakespearean-Student and enter the coupon code at checkout.

RIP James Earl Jones

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Speak of me as I am, nothing extenuate- Othello

I’m sure I don’t need to tell you that one of the most iconic voices of our generation, James Earl Jones has passed away at the age of 93. I’m sure I also don’t need to mention his iconic film roles in such films as Field of Dreams, Coming To America, The LIon King, and of course, his (initially uncredited) role as the voice of Darth Vader in the Star Wars Trilogy. As I’ve written before, Jones had a powerful, authoritative voice that played kings, generals, knights, and even gods, which came directly from his training as a Shakespearean actor. So, instead of taking a look at his illustrious film career, I’d like to celebrate Jones’ contributions to Shakespeare, and how Shakespeare changed his life, and through him, changed mine.

Jones and Poetry

“I don’t mind talking about my stuttering because it’s just another example of you finding yourself with a weak muscle and you exercise it, and sometimes that becomes your strong muscle,” Jones told KCRA in 1986. “I was mute from grade one through freshman year in high school — mute because I just gave up on talking.”

-James Earl Jones in a TODAY Show interview, 1986

James Earl Jones was born in 1931 in Arkabutla, Mississippi. Not only did he struggle with racial discrimination at home and in his career, he also dealt with a debilitating stutter which, as you can see in the quote above, left him all but mute for years of his life. It was one of his teachers who helped Jones find his voice by giving him poetry to read, inspiring him to become an actor. As a Shakespearean actor who also struggles with a stutter, reading this about Jones helped me become an actor as well.

The New York Shakespeare Festival

Your voice has the power to inspire, motivate, and change lives. Don’t be afraid to use it.

James Earl Jones

Before he became a star in the Hollywood firmament, Jones was a classically trained actor who starred in many contemporary and classic plays like The Iceman Cometh, The Great White Hope, and a title role in a drama about the great Shakespearean actor, Paul Robeson. In addition, Jones was a regular performer at the New York Shakespeare Festival, starring as King Claudius in Hamlet, Oedipus Rex, The Prince of Morocco in The Merchant of Venice, and like Paul Robeson, Jones was celebrated for his dignified and powerful portrayal of Othello.

James Earl Jones as Othello and Cecilia Hart as Desdemona in a scene from the Broadway revival of the play “Othello.”
James Earl Jones as Othello and Christopher Plummer as Iago in a scene from the Broadway revival of the play “Othello” (New York 1982)

“Mr. Jones commands a full, resonant voice and a supple body, and his jealous rages and frothing frenzy have not only size but also emotional credibility,” .”

The Times wrote in a review in 1964

From Shakespeare to Strangelove

James Earl Jones made the leap from stage and TV (he was one of the first celebrity guests on Sesame Street among others), after a surprising performance. In 1964, he was playing the relatively minor role of the Prince of Morocco in Merchant of Venice at the New York Shakespeare Festival, while George C. Scott played the more iconic role of Shylock. Surprisingly, Director Stanley Kubrick saw both of them and cast them both in Dr. Strangelove, Or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying And Love the Bomb, Jones’ first film role.

This goes to show that success is often not a straight line, that sometimes it’s the people you know and the reputation you garner that gives you success in your field.

Success should not be measured by material possessions, but by the contentment and fulfillment we find within ourselves.

James Earl Jones

My Favorite Performance of Jones

Though his film roles brought him international acclaim, James Earl Jones still performed onstage well into his 80s, including many more memorable performances at the New York Shakespeare Festival, including my favorite performance of all Jones’ stage roles- his role as King Lear. I’ve written before that Jones is still my favorite Lear- he plays the characters’ rage and commanding presence extremely well, but tempers it with the frailty and foolishness of age. You get the sense that this man was a force to be reckoned with, but is now unable to command himself, much less others. Jones’ interpretation apparently changed drastically in rehearsal, as he delved into Lear’s all-too-human flaws, playing him more like a king with dementia than like Mufasa.

Final thoughts

James Earl Jones would be the first to admit that Shakespeare and poetry changed his life. I would argue that the poetic qualities of his voice was what made him such a great actor. He could rumble and smash but also soothe and charm with a single sentence, and that is why I am glad that his voice is now preserved in the halls of Hollywood. Though he was a movie star, his voice was a Shakespearean through and through.

True strength is not in showing power over others, but in conquering your own fears and insecurities.

James Earl Jones

For More Information

https://news.northeastern.edu/2024/09/12/james-earl-jones-voice/

New Class: Shakespeare and Star Wars!

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Course title image

Using self-paced online activities, your child(ren) will compare the plot and characters of Star Wars to Shakespeare’s plays. We will also discuss  Shakespeare writing by looking at “William Shakespeare’s Star Wars” by Ian Doescher.

Course Description

  1. Concept: To compare and contrast the plot, characters, themes, and language of Shakespeare’s plays with Star Wars
  2. Student Description:
    1. Epic battles, quests for revenge, pirates, funny characters, powerful warriors swinging swords. Star Wars has something for everyone. But did you know that in many ways, Star Wars is based on the ideas and writings of William Shakespeare? In this course we’ll peer beneath the veil of Shakespeare and Star Wars to find the universal stories of love, revenge, power, and growing up, using games, artwork, and dramatic readings by professional actors!
    2. Did you know that Star Wars is based on the ideas and writings of William Shakespeare? This class will teach you about writing and characters though games, interactive activities and dramatic readings of both Star Wars and Shakespeare!
  3. Course organization (the class is divided into 6 parts that students can complete at their own pace over a week-long period.
https://www.thecorestandards.org/ELA-Literacy/L/9-10/

Outline

Unit 1: How Is Shakespeare Like Star Wars?

Class I- Setting the Scene

  1. That is the Question:
    1. What is Star Wars about?
    2. What parts of the Star Wars story are like Shakespeare’s plays?
    3. Are Shakespeare and the Star Wars movies saying anything similar about war? Families? Growing up?
  2. Lesson Objectives
    1. To teach about the characters and plot of Star Wars by comparing them to Star Wars
    2. To introduce the concept of archetypes, tropes, 
  3. Set the Scene
    1. Star Wars is about an evil empire trying to take over the galaxy. They have more ships, more soldiers, and a fearsome weapon that can blow up planets. The rebels on the other hand, though fewer in number, are faster, smarter, and have the advantage of fighting for a good cause. 
    2. In addition, the story is about growing up- Luke becomes a Jedi Knight. He takes revenge on the man who destroyed his father.
  4. The Players (slides)
    1. Luke
    2. Obi Wan/ Yoda
    3. Vader
    4. Leia
    5. Han
    6. R2D2 and C3PO
    7. The Emperor
  5. Words Words Words
    1. Epic
    2. Parody
    3. Theme
    4. Plot
    5. Archetype
    6. Character 
    7. Trope
    8. Theme

Class 2: The Journey of Han and Leia

  • Han and Leia vs. Beatrice and Benedick
    1. Show videos of Han before Leia
    2. Plot summary of Much Ado
    3. Clips of the bickering of Benedick and Beatrice
    4. Read blog and look at the writing.
    5. Activity- how would you write a love letter to Han or Leia?
    6. Play the scene from Jedi

Unit 2- The Prequels and Shakespeare’s Histories

  1. A Crash Course in Shakespeare’s Histories
  2. The Rise of Palpatine/ Richard III
    1. Emperor Palpatine in Star Wars rises to power through a combination of manipulation, intimidation, and by killing his opponents. 
    2. Bio of Richard III
    3. Slide- Richard’s rise to power
    4. Slide- Palpatine’s rise to power
  3. Quizlet

Unit 3- The Verse of William Shakespeare’s Star Wars by Ian Doescher

  1. What is William Shakespeare’s Star Wars
    1. Introduce the plays
    2. Explain how Shakespeare’s verse works
    3. Look at the common verse elements
      1. Sonnets
        1. Show the chorus of “Verily a New Hope”
          1.  It is a period of civil war. The spaceships of the rebels, striking swift From base unseen, have gain’d a vict’ry o’er The cruel Galactic Empire, now adrift. Amidst the battle, rebel spies prevail’d And stole the plans to a space station vast,Whose pow’rful beams will later be unveil’d And crush a planet: ’tis the DEATH STAR blast. Pursu’d by agents sinister and cold,Now Princess Leia to her home doth flee, Deliv’ring plans and a new hope they hold:Of bringing freedom to the galaxy .In time so long ago begins our play,In star-crossed galaxy far, far away
          2. Stychomichia
          3. Half lines
          4. Enjambment
          5. Title Crawl (make a gif via Canva)
  2. Side By Side Comparisons
    1. Read/ watch segments of the play
      1. To Be Or Not To Be
      2. All the World’s a Stage
      3. St. Crispin’s Day Speech
    2. Try to turn a Star Wars line into verse, and then look at the reveal.

Unit 4- Literary Devices of William Shakespeare’s Star Wars

  1. Using the educational guide, we’ll learn about the following literary devices:
    • Extended Metaphors (Luke’s green lightsaber)
    • Anaphora (Luke’s call to action in Jedi)
    • Premonatory Dreams (Calpurnia)
    • Stichomythia Richard III vs. Han and Leia

Unit5- The Hero’s Journey of Luke Skywalker

Class 1: What is a Hero’s Journey (Slides)

  1. Learn a little about Joseph Campbell’s monomyth. using the Percy Jackson post, Crash course video about monomyth
  2. Chart Luke’s monomyth journey
  3. Activity- Mad libs- write a star wars movie!
  4.  Quiz on plot elements from the monomyth (Quizzes or Quizlet)

Class 2 :  Hamlet and Luke Skywalker

  1. Plot comparison
    • (use infographic)
    • Quote from Doescher:
      • Hamlet The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark is Shakespeare’s most famous play. It’s also the play I make the most references to in William Shakespeare’s Star Wars.
  2. To Be Or Not to Be
  • Use my video about the speech to explain the structure
  • Note how Doescher repurpuses every line in the Star Wars Trilogy:
    • Sometimes it expresses fear: 
    • Sometimes concern: 
    • Frustration: “The whips and scorns of time”
    • Hope: “The undiscovered galaxy” “Tis a consummation devoutly to be wished.”
    • Activity: write your own paraphrase of Hamlet’s speech, using the 6 beats I provided.

Unit 6- Become a Bard Warrior (Slides and Sites)

Notes

Resources:

Web: https://americanshakespearecenter.com/2011/05/in-the-force-of-his-will-shakespeare-and-star-wars/

Close Reading: Shakespeare’s Star Wars (Empire Scene) https://shakespeareanstudent.com/2024/04/17/close-reading-william-shakespeares-star-wars/ 

The Journey of Han and Leia: https://shakespeareanstudent.com/2023/06/16/new-podcast-william-shakespeares-star-wars-part-ii-the-journey-of-han-and-leia/ 

Darth Vader Does Shakespeare

Review of Jedi:

Review: “Star Wars-  the Jedi Doth Return .” by Ian Doescher

Video

  1. William Shakespeare’s Star Wars and the Power of Iambic Pentameter – Summer of Shakespeare the First
  2. The Wampa From “William Shakespeare’s Star Wars”
  3. Han Solo Does Shakespeare
  4. Emperor Shakespeare
  5. Darth Vader does Shakespeare
  6. Dagobah Cave Vision: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0otvBA0iAA0 
  7. Duel between Luke and Vader: William Shakespeare’s Star Wars excerpt: the Duel from “The Empire Striketh Back.”
  8. Comparison:
    1. 1st 10 minutes of Jedi: Star Wars Episode VI Return Of The Jedi Opening Scene HD720p
    2. Doescher’s version: Darth Vader Reads Star Wars Shakespear The Jedi Doth Return Vader Reviews

Podcast:

  1. https://open.spotify.com/episode/5BJ6TuhFO699OxWRLZNL2U?si=_cRGo7FzQjakUuZuPT0KwA 
  2. https://open.spotify.com/episode/1E3Eh9OpcR7lpMHI8edU4o?si=p-PrlRzQStqwGnoz4Y88pA 
  3. https://open.spotify.com/episode/5SFDcMAfF14ANVIki6xxr8?si=0YWtFyWoQE2CtG8fAEK22A 

https://roomescapemaker.com/u/kuhz1234/egregree#google_vignette

Happy Birthday Shakespeare!

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Me singing “Brush Up Your Shakespeare” in honor of the Bard’s birthday, 2025

Today, April 23 is the established birthday of William Shakespeare! Today I’ll share some of my favorite posts, videos, podcasts, and quirky recipes related to Shakespeare!

Happy Birthday Shakespeare
Did Shakespeare Eat Birthday Cake 🎂?
2024 Shakespeare Celebrations in Stratford Upon Avon, England (Shakespeare’s Birthplace)

Special Promo!

Shakespeare Week March 21-27
Some of my Shakespeare classes on Outschool.com

Get $10 off my classes with coupon code Get $10 off my classes Wizard Science for Kids!” with coupon code HTHES4KG1E10 until May 23, 2026. Get started at https://outschool.com/classes/wizard-science-for-kids-KmqzT8U0 and enter the coupon code at checkout.

Shakespeare On Dragons

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Tonight is the Chinese New Year, beginning the Year of the Dragon. I’ve talked before about the fascinating relationship between Shakespeare and China, and I thought I’d illustrate it here by talking about a shared cultural mythology- the concept of dragons. Both Western and Eastern cultures use dragons in their myths, but as you’ll see, they have very different cultural meanings.

Quotes from Shakespeare About Dragons

Before thee stands this fair Hesperides,
With golden fruit, but dangerous to be touch’d;
For death-like dragons here affright thee hard:

Antiocus, Pericles

Sometimes we see a cloud that’s dragonish;
A vapour sometime like a bear or lion,
A tower’d citadel, a pendent rock,
A forked mountain, or blue promontory

Antony and Cleopatra

In Western myths, dragons are symbols of wrath and fierceness. In ancient Greek and Viking myths, dragons are often guards of treasure, (and sometimes in modern stories like Harry Potter). In the myth of Hercules, a multi-headed dragon guarded the golden apples of the Hesperides, (the apples that kept the gods young and immortal). King Antiochus wants to scare Pericles by comparing his daughter to the apples; if he fails to win her love, he’ll be devoured as Hercules almost was.

Coriolanus and Dragons

His CORIOLANUS is grown
from man to dragon: he has wings; he’s more than a
creeping thing.

Coriolanus

Shakespeare’s Roman general Coriolanus is frequently compared to a dragon in Shakespeare’s play. According to Dr. Peter Saccio of Dartmouth College, this is because the general is unable to relate to other humans- he is solitary, violent, jealous of his power and wealth, and prefers to strike first, then retreat from other people when the battle is won. This is why he utterly fails to get the Roman people to elect him consul in this scene from Ralph Fiennes’ movie. I find it ironic that Fiennes has played not only this character, (who is associated with dragons), but with Lord Voldemort, (who controls several large serpents), and also Francis Dollarhyde in the film Red Dragon:

Swift, swift, you dragons of the night, that dawning
May bare the raven’s eye! I lodge in fear;
Though this a heavenly angel, hell is here.

Cymbeline

Sometime he angers me
With telling me of the mouldwarp and the ant,
Of the dreamer Merlin and his prophecies,
And of a dragon and a finless fish,
A clip-wing’d griffin and a moulten raven,
A couching lion and a ramping cat,
And such a deal of skimble-skamble stuff
As puts me from my faith. 

Hotspur, Henry IV, Part I

A thousand hearts are great within my bosom;

Advance our standards, set upon our foes

Our ancient word of “courage,” fair Saint George,

Inspire us with the spleen of fiery dragons!

Richard III

St. George and the Dragon

In the medieval story of St. George, the titular knight defeats a dragon, which is basically a stand-in for Satan. George was seen as the ideal knight- virtuous, devoted to his cause, strong, and patriotic. His defeat of the dragon was an allegory for how knights should devote themselves to protecting their lords, ladies, and the innocent against evil. Therefore, it’s intentionally unsettling that Shakespeare has Richard III telling his soldiers to act not like the virtuous St. George, but like the cruel and violent dragon. Richard is Shakespeare’s most villainous king, so it makes sense in context that he would side with the dragon, and thus his defeat would seem even more like a triumph of good over evil. In addition, the real King Richard flew this flag with a dragon on it during the actual Battle of Bosworth Field.

Royal standard of Richard III, using the dragon of St. George

Peace, Kent!
Come not between the dragon and his wrath.

King Lear

Dragons and Chinese Culture

None of the animals is so wise as the dragon. His blessing power is not a false one. He can be smaller than small, bigger than big, higher than high, and lower than low.”

–Chinese scholar Lu Dian (AD 1042-1102)

Qualities of Dragons

Dragons didn’t have the negative connotations of Western myths. In China, they were symbols of good luck, strength, and success. They were also known to be proud and temperamental-sometimes kind but sometimes vengeful to people who didn’t show them proper respect. In a sense, the dragon was like the ancient Greek gods- they should be viewed with respect and gratitude as well as fear.

Zodiac

Dragons & Tigers (Part I: Chinese Sayings)

The Chinese calendar goes by a cycle of years, not months. It has 12 animals that represent various qualities and those qualities will characterize the coming year. So hopefully a year of a dragon will be a year marked with courage, good fortune, and justice.

IV. What would a Chinese Lear look like?

Looking at the quotes I showed you earlier, it’s interesting that King Lear calls himself a dragon, and it made me think- Lear is a powerful warlord who demands absolute loyalty from his children. Would a Chinese version of King Lear work?

2017 Chinese Language production of “King Lear” at the Royal Shakespeare Company.

There was a Chinese production of King Lear back in 2017, where the translator and director traveled to the Royal Shakespeare Company in England and worked with the actors and directors of a London production to make their production gain insight into the characters’ motivations. However, I wonder how successfully they translated the Western ideas and values of the play for a Chinese audience. One of the reviews from China Daily.com describes the play like this:

Originating from old British legend, King Lear is one of Shakespeare’s four most famous tragedies. Through the internal disorder of the royal family, the rise and fall of King Lear’s fate and the final punishment of evil powers, Shakespeare expresses his optimistic views in the future of society, thereby adding the glory of strong idealism into his work.

ChinaDaily.com

The last word I would use to describe King Lear is “optimistic”. It is the only tragedy where not only does everyone die, but the entire future of the monarchy is in question. Nevertheless, reading about this production makes me interested in imagining my own version of King Lear, one that emphasizes Chinese values, but also questions them.

Many Chinese stories stress family loyalty, communalism, and respect for elders. You could portray King Lear as a story about the disastrous consequences of self-interest. After all, Regan and Goneril cast their father out and dismissed his followers, and it led their kingdom into civil war. In that version, Lear is like the Dragon King, who in Chinese folklore, was a powerful ruler of the seas, (giving new meaning to the lines “Blow winds, and crack your cheeks”). As a bonus, historically, many imperial Chinese rulers decorated their palaces with images of dragons, and the emperors themselves were associated with the creature, (especially during the Han Dynasty), so when Lear says “Come not between the dragon and his wrath,” In his mind, he literally is a dragon.

Han Dynasty watercolor print of a Han warrior whose clothing is embroidered with dragons.

In 1736, Jean-Baptiste Du Halde wrote about the Emperor: “His clothing is embroidered with dragons: they are his emblem, and only He can wear dragons with five claws – any infringement to this rule is punished severely.”

Cornell University: Emblems and Mascots of Rulers:
Chinese Imperial Dragons

That said, some dragons were associated with bad luck and ill omens. I’ve said before that Lear’s biggest flaw is that he fails to take time to examine himself or think about the consequences of his actions until it is too late. Maybe Lear thinks of himself as a benevolent dragon, but really is a bad man cursed with bad luck; he is not a dragon, he just has one on his back. So, in short, a Chinese re-imagining of King Lear could be a fascinating look at Chinese culture and give a fresh re-imagining of Shakespeare’s tragic story.

I hope you enjoyed this look into dragons in Shakespeare and Chinese culture. Joseph Campbell said that all cultures share and interpret archetypes to understand their own culture, but also to grasp what makes us all human. For whatever reason, every culture on Earth has some kind of large serpent- Chinese dragons, European dragons, The Aztec god Quetzalcoatl, the Viking Yormungand, even the Piasa of the native tribes of the Mississippi. and they can mean many different things to many different people, which means that we as humans are in some way tied to gether through all these dragon tales (no pun intended).

V. Sources

  1. https://www.kennedy-center.org/whats-on/explore-by-genre/young-audiences/2023-2024/dragon-kings-daughter/#:~:text=Chinese%20dragon%20mythology%2C%20martial%20arts,inspiring%20songs%20by%20Marcus%20Yi.
  2. https://www.historyskills.com/classroom/year-7/chinese-dragons/#:~:text=Another%20well%2Dknown%20legend%20involves,benevolent%2C%20divine%20force%20in%20nature.
  3. https://www.amnh.org/exhibitions/mythic-creatures/dragons/asian-dragons
  4. https://www.topchinatravel.com/china-guide/chinese-dragon-language.htm
  5. https://studycli.org/chinese-culture/chinese-dragons
  6. https://rmc.library.cornell.edu/AnimalLegends/exhibition/emblems/dragons.html#:~:text=Already%20a%20royal%20symbol%20in,and%20his%20brother%20Yan%20Di.