"My library was dukedom large enough." - William Shakespeare, The Tempest
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I’m not really sure why I got a sudden yen to read Shakespeare. Perhaps it’s because Eleanor Brown’s new novel, The Weird Sisters, is on my Spring to-read list. Maybe it’s because I haven’t read any Shakespeare since college. Whatever the reason, this month I’m getting my Bard on with selections that include Lear, Greer, and a few things weird.
New Release: The Weird Sisters, by Eleanor Brown. Three sisters return to their childhood home to be with their mother who’s dying of cancer, and their academic father who speaks in Shakespearean verse. The names of the daughters? Rosalind, Bianca, and Cordelia, of course.
Classic: King Lear by well, you know who. Three sisters compete for the affections of their aging father, the king. Lear bequeaths his kingdom to his two eldest and silver-tongued daughters, whom he perceives love him most. The third daughter, who loves him but refuses to flatter him, is cast out with no dowry. Lear’s poor choice is the undoing of the whole family, as well as the state of Britain
Nonfiction: Shakespeare’s Wife by Germaine Greer. A controversial history that defends Shakespeare’s estranged wife, Ann Hathaway. The link is to a YouTube lecture by Greer, who is quite funny in her scholarly way.
Juvenile: Stage Fright on a Summer’s Night by Mary Pope Osborne. My son is all about the Magic Tree House books right now. What better way to introduce him to Shakespeare?
Inspiration: Shakespeare’s Wordcraft by Scott Kaiser. An outline of conventions and language devices in Shakespeare’s verse.
