This is why I love reading Shakespeare:
Prince Hal: "This sanguine coward, this bed-presser, this horse-back breaker, this huge hill of flesh."
Falstaff: "S'Blood, you starveling, you elf-skin, you dried neat's-tongue, you bull-pizzle, you stock fish. Oh for breath to utter what is like thee! You tailor's-yard, you sheath, you bow-case, you vile standing tuck!."
Prince Hal: Well, breathe awhile, and then to it again." Henry IV, Part I
I have been busy preparing for an upcoming conference end of this month where I will be expected to have something to say about four of Shakespeare's histories, the British monarchy, and conditions of Liberty. It is these hilarious moments with Prince Hal and Falstaff that have provided much needed interludes of fun amid the seriousness of note-taking and researching.
Art: Johann Heinrich Fusili: "Falstaff in the Laundry," 1792
Midori Snyder is the author of nine books for children and adults, published in English, French, Dutch, and Italian. She won the Mythopoeic Award for The Innamorati, a novel inspired by early Roman myth and the Italian "Commedia dell'Arte" tradition....
