[evan]

hey, a few months ago I came across a pretty funny article online... it took hamlet's "to be or not to be" soliloquy and showed what it would be like had an editor gotten their hands on it. Anyway, my google-foo has been failing me and I can't find it. +1 internets for whoever finds it first!

(the only thing I remember about it is the "slings and arrows of outrageous fortune" line got crossed out for mismatching types and arrows was changed to bows.)

[Hassan i Sabbah]

Interesting thing.

We all know this soliloquy begins like this:

To be, or not to be: that is the question: Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, Or to take arms against a sea of troubles, And by opposing end them?

Yes, yes. Killing yourself. Serious question.

But what is up with these lines?

Or to take arms against a sea of troubles, And by opposing end them?

How do you "take up arms" against a sea? That is retarded, Shakespeare, you retard. What a bad writer Shakespeare is, everyone, hahahahaha LOL. Take up arms against a sea.

Twat.

But no, it isn't Shakespare's fault, not at all. Some retarded actor remembered it wrong.

Slings and arrows are siege weapons. You take up these arms against a siege of troubles.

Stupid drunk Elizabethan actors.

[curiousuburb]

Originally Posted by Hassan i Sabbah How do you "take up arms" against a sea? That is retarded, Shakespeare, you retard. What a bad writer Shakespeare is, everyone, hahahahaha LOL. Take up arms against a sea. Twat.

Ask King Canute.



I also recall a recent twat in Washington and a war on an emotional state

[Moogs]

Originally Posted by Hassan i Sabbah Stupid drunk Elizabethan actors.

Is there another kind?


Greatest Shakespearean Actor Moment E^@ (and I have the meme and lack of words to prove it)

[Foj]

I couldn't find the article, but I did find this.

[zippy]

Originally Posted by Hassan i Sabbah Interesting thing. We all know this soliloquy begins like this: Yes, yes. Killing yourself. Serious question. But what is up with these lines? How do you "take up arms" against a sea? That is retarded, Shakespeare, you retard. What a bad writer Shakespeare is, everyone, hahahahaha LOL. Take up arms against a sea. Twat. But no, it isn't Shakespare's fault, not at all. Some retarded actor remembered it wrong. Slings and arrows are siege weapons. You take up these arms against a siege of troubles. Stupid drunk Elizabethan actors.

I just assumed that 'sea of troubles' meant 'a whole shitload' as in, enough troubles to fill a sea. Makes sense to me. Siege would also make sense though.

[faramirtook]

Originally Posted by Hassan i Sabbah Interesting thing. We all know this soliloquy begins like this: Yes, yes. Killing yourself. Serious question. But what is up with these lines? How do you "take up arms" against a sea? That is retarded, Shakespeare, you retard. What a bad writer Shakespeare is, everyone, hahahahaha LOL. Take up arms against a sea. Twat. But no, it isn't Shakespare's fault, not at all. Some retarded actor remembered it wrong. Slings and arrows are siege weapons. You take up these arms against a siege of troubles. Stupid drunk Elizabethan actors.

I'm going to go ahead and live the rest of my life assuming that this is tongue-in-cheek.

[Hassan i Sabbah]

It is tongue-in-cheek. I revere Shakespeare, but it does seem to be possible that an actor mis-remembered a line when they were putting the First Folio together for publication after Shakespeare's death. There are many lines like that.

The Sonnets were all in manuscript from the get-go, at least in hand, but the plays would have existed only in actors' rolls in individual parts, not as complete texts. When they were compiling them for publication they literally had to get a bunch of actors together to remember their parts and someone wrote them down to give to the printer.

("A sea" can definitely mean "a whole shitload", that's true too.

[Bryson]

I always thought that line was the poster-child for mixed metaphors.

[billybobsky]

Originally Posted by Hassan i Sabbah It is tongue-in-cheek. I revere Shakespeare, but it does seem to be possible that an actor mis-remembered a line when they were putting the First Folio together for publication after Shakespeare's death. There are many lines like that. The Sonnets were all in manuscript from the get-go, at least in hand, but the plays would have existed only in actors' rolls in individual parts, not as complete texts. When they were compiling them for publication they literally had to get a bunch of actors together to remember their parts and someone wrote them down to give to the printer. ("A sea" can definitely mean "a whole shitload", that's true too.

I was mildly concerned with the use of sea in Shakespeare's time to represent a large amount of something, and indeed, while the usage was brand spanking new in that regard in the 16th century, there are several other contemporaneous authors who used it thusly.

[evan]

Originally Posted by billybobsky I was mildly concerned with the use of sea in Shakespeare's time to represent a large amount of something, and indeed, while the usage was brand spanking new in that regard in the 16th century, there are several other contemporaneous authors who used it thusly.

shakespeare also had a knack for making up new phrases/meanings/words himself...

[Boomerangmacuser]

I've often been a fan of Sir Robin of Williams' artistic interpretation:

"To be or not to goddam be
Whether it be nobler to take the ka-ka
Or sling it right back at 'em!"

[FFL]

Originally Posted by evan shakespeare also had a knack for making up new phrases/meanings/words himself...

Didn't know this until recently when I learned it from Sarah Palin....

[drewprops]

Some friends work at the Shakespeare Tavern here in Atlanta. If nobody comes up with the reference I can asketh them-eth. They tell me they're about to launch Henry the 8th, which isn't an entirely Shakespeare play and isn't done very often.


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