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That was a great video. I am getting ready to embark on my long winter read, and you have given me some excellent tips for reading Ulysses.

Oh my, all so lovely!! Bet you had an awesome time in those book shops!!

I’ve never heard of her before until today. A English professor was explaining that she was a black Jewish woman and possibly writer of Shakespeare’s work. She was also known as Shakespeare lover.

I didn't knew this book by CS Lewis! I have yet to read his fiction but I love his non fiction; you'll probably enjoy his "On Stories: And Other Essays on Literature" and "The Reading Life: The Joy of Seeing New Worlds Through Others' Eyes". Both my favorites from the ones that I read, which includes "The Four Loves", "An Experiment in Criticism" and "Compelling Reason: Essays on Ethics and Theology".

I read King Lear last year, so I skipped it this time. I love the symbolism of the clothes and how you connected it to Station Eleven. I like that book a lot. I read Titus Andronicus and Cymbeline. Alas, I didn't think any of them were his greats, but I did enjoy parts of them. I also finished 1599 by James Shapiro, which was very informative and interesting. I watched the 1971 movie Macbeth, which was excellent, and Looking for Richard, a documentary by Al Pacino where he tries to stage Richard III. It was fun for people who know and love Richard III. However, Pacino is the worst Richard ever😅. At one point, when he sees collected works by Shakespeare, he says:"Wow, the anointed Shakespeare", instead of annotated. It was so cringey😂. Thanks for hosting Shaketember, Nicole!😊

The thing I keep on returning to every time I read this play (remember, it's one of my favorites) is the weather. When Lear stops being in control, the weather goes haywire. For a playwright who lived during the time when kings were divinely ordained by God to be the ruler, Lear's abdication and division of the kingdom is directly reflected in the totally bonkers weather.

Hello, Nicole! Thank you for hosting Shaketember! It's been such a fun month! For me, my favorite play I read was Macbeth. I've seen people like Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. They take something by force then live with the guilt and paranoia. I rewatched the 2015 film with Michael Fassenbender and the one with Denzel Washington. Both were well done and very different. HAPPY READING! Until next September ✌️😃

I love the clothing symbolism! I barely recognized the stripping down and changing of Edgar as an overlying theme, but you are right; it is all through it. I don’t know about Lear going mad. He has crazy moments, but he always seems to be able to come back and know where he is and what has happened, even at the very end. What is madness, I guess? He is definitely distraught. But, mad like Ophelia or Lady Macbeth? Great, informative video! Loved reading this play finally!

Oh, I forgot to ask. You mentioned referencing Johnson's dictionary. I've always been reluctant to buy one because 1) I didn't have any idea which would be good and 2), it seems all the available editions are only partial books. I'd love to have a copy, though. Any suggestions?

Your analysis of Lear is amazing. More than any other Shakespeare play, I struggle with Lear. This is my third time with it and there are still segments I can't follow. Not sure why. I loved Shaketember and appreciate you, Kelly and Jason doing it. I was surprised how much I like Cymbeline and I very much enjoyed reading Year of Lear. Thanks.

I would love to see this play adapted for a K-drama. 😊

This is so so good Nicole. Thank you.

Thank you. A very clear presentation of Salve Deus Rex Judaeorum with respect to the Bible. Ironically, during the time of Queen Elizabeth I, the nascent Church of England was quite misogynistic, and Lanyer was responding to this. While a servant of the Archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas Nashe published the misogynistic work called "Anatomy of Absurdity containing a brief confutation of the slender imputed praises to feminine perfection" (1589). While a servant of the Lord Chamberlain, Nashe published his sanctimonious 'Christ's Tears over Jerusalem" (1593), writing the following twaddle: 'Women, as the pains of the devils shall be doubled that go about hourly tempting, and seeking whom they may devour, so except you soon lay hold on grace, your pains in hell (above men's) shall be doubled for millions you tempted, millions of men you devoured. Yo you, half your husband's damnation will be imputed". Under King James I, it was no better.

Thanks for this lovely video. Keswick is one of my favourite places. Have you come across the Herries Chronicles by Hugh Walpole. They are set in that area during the 18th century. There’s an amazing passage which describes people streaming from all the small places surrounding Keswick because George Whitfield has come to preach.

I hadn't seen the parallel with Much Ado but it's so clear now that you lay it out! I agree that even with its happy ending Cymbeline reads as a tragedy. There is so much darkness and threat throughout and almost no lively banter or fool antics - a lot of the more tragic tragedies are actually funnier. Even the subplot isn't exactly light relief. Really appreciate how you draw out relevant quotes and comparisons from across Shakespeare's works to make things make more sense!

Really liked your comparison with Much Ado about Nothing, that hadn’t occurred to me because it is so easy to forget the dark side of that play. 🤔 I also enjoyed your discussion about why this could be seen as a tragedy but isn’t, the support Imogen has and the fact she avoids truly horrendous moments. I warmed to Posthumus by the end because of his humility in the fighting and his desire not to live for what he has done but still don’t love him 😉 and I couldn’t help noticing that everybody was forgiven by the end of the play and yet no one forgives Pisano for disobeying orders or apologizes for falsely accusing him. It feels like he’s kind of given the cold shoulder so I really appreciated your discussion of the servants and their role. Thanks for the discussion Nicole!

Thank you Nicole as always :) I've watched many of your videos and I enjoy seeing how we share our love for the Bard!Do you happen to attend Greg Doran & D.Tennant event in LDN, in Oct??

This posting was very helpful. I never recognized the Romero/Juliet reworking. And King Lear! But compared to what came before and after it, C is an A- to B+ Maybe Shakespeare had a mortgage payment due that month? Half done with Venus and Adonis, will finish tomorrow and get to Lucrece after that!

Great synopsis. It's one of my favourite books. Incidentally I guessed correctly that it was David in Saul. It's a good analogy as well who became a love-hate relationship. So could not dismiss David but he could not live with him either. The same Henchard was reluctantly bound by his commitments.

Excellent video! It is interesting how power works. Both Cymbeline and Jupiter have the power to forgive and make things right - are we seeing the Divine Right of Kings being illustrated on stage?

Brilliant.

I watched a genderbent version where Cymbeline was the queen and the queen was the queen's husband/consort so when you said 'the queen tried to kill her' I was like I don't remember Cymbeline trying to kill her daughter and then realized my mistake. Have you read All's Well That Ends Well? Because that is the fellow Shakespeare play it reminds me mist of.

That's a great point, that despite the happy ending you could never call this play a comedy. But tragedy doesn't seem apt either. I understand better than ever why the term "problem play" was coined. I really enjoyed these videos. Thank you for being the catalyst to make me read this play for the first time!

I didn't know much about this play before I watched this video. Thank you!

I finished Cymbeline yesterday and it was a mixed bag for me. I could definitely see all the similarities with Shakespeare's other plays, and it was also very fairytale-like in some parts - the evil stepmother queen with the poison and the servant refusing to obey his master and killing Imogen. Btw, in the RSC edition of the play, Imogen is called Innogen. Since Posthumus has a meaningful name (Posthumus - after death, Leonatus - Leo - lion, natus -born of lion, as well as Fidele - faithful), some scholars believe the name Innogen is more probable, because it's derived from Latin - Innocentia - innocence. While I was reading the scene where Iachimo enters Imogen's room and later describes Imogen's mole to Posthumus, I kept thinking that part was better executed than the 'handkerchief' in Othello. Though I think Othello is a better play, and Iago is definitely a better and more memorable villain, Iachimo's scheme was much more convincing. I don't know why, but I always found that part of Othello questionable. It takes so little for him to go completely mad with jealousy, while Posthumus is only convinced of Imogen's infidelity after Iachimo's description of something on her body, which would be impossible to know, unless he's seen her naked. It makes more sense to me, so that part was definitely a huge plus. I wish that was how Iago did it. Thanks for the video, wonderful as always!😊

Brilliant video, so detailed and well explained! I was definitely playing my own game of "what play does this remind me of?" too while I was reading Cymbeline. 😅

Thank you very much for good commentary and some helpful tips on the Journaling bible🙏GOD bless you👑🔥

Such a wonderful play!

Arguably Shakespeare greatest. Saw this live at Stratford.whenever I see the play takes me weeks to recover from melancholy. Great understanding of a complex play

This video reminds me of the video that had me hooked to your channel, featuring your visit to the London globe theatre watching Much Ado Abt Nth! Your travel vlogs always feel like i am travelling with a well informed and passionate guide! ❤

I've been enjoying Cymbeline so much with my buddy reader, Jo. I knew nothing about it before starting. Your video is so helpful. Thank you!

Thank you, Nicole. King Lear was the first play I watched (Ian McKellan), the first I read by choice, the first to make me cry, the one that is my favorite. You put my thoughts into words. Thank you!

I love this play so much. It has so many powerful speeches and mediations on order vs disorder, madness vs sanity. It also has one of my favorite lines of Shakespeare, a line of Goneril's, "Put on whatever weary negligence you prefer." Besides being utterly beautiful to say on the mouth, as someone who worked in a front-facing job for a while, I often wished to put on weary negligence when things got stressful.

I saw Lear twice before reading it. First Lawrence Olivier in a British TV version and that was a billion years ago . Then I saw Ran, Kurosawa's altered Lear, and was stunned! The movie was all Shakespeare and all Kurosawa. When I finally read King Lear a year ago I was amazed at how bleak it is. The play isn't just Lear's tragedy, it's everybody's tragedy. A critic compared Hamlet and Lear as extreme opposites. Hamlet is all intelligent self knowledge and Lear is just a big bag of feelings, and only changes in the last act. I was reminded of Ester Summerson and Lady Dedlock, in Bleak House. Ester is thoughtful and considers others. Lady Dedlock sees no one but herself and the mission she's on. Dedlock's end is even more "tragic" than Lear's!

Thanks Nicole for this interesting and well made review of Act I.. I'm so far enjoying my Lear experience even though i find it sometimes difficult to understand (I'm a native speaker too .) but i use a notes companion book which is helpful. I got quite worried at the start when i thought you were giving away the plot. Would you believe I've managed to avoid (mostly) learning too much about it. It's not easy though. Glad you were only providing historical context..... Thanks and look forward to the next installment....🤓📖

This was such a great play! Children can be terrible! Lear was prideful, but they are greedy and jealous and mean. The jealousy of Edmund, too, is like a fast-growing disease. Families have always been complicated. You chose great quotes to clarify the story. So much action and adventure and tragedy.

I also watched the 2018 production this week - a great adaptation. Kent is my favourite too, and the presentation of the character in that production is spot on. Lear is like a potted argument for primogeniture. If he had had a son! I liked how you drew attention to the details of the opening scene including the reference to how Lear will "unburdened crawl towards death" and that he aims to prevent future strife by dividing his kingdom in advance - sadly ill-judged on both counts. Aside from Kent and perhaps Edgar there is no good character here. Cordelia could have compromised slightly, Lear could have been less riotous, Edgar's father could have had a shred more faith in his son. This is one of my favourite plays and the height of Shakespeare's power.

Hello, Nicole! Thank you for this video. It's one of my favorite tragedies. I got to see King Lear performed at the Shakespeare Theater of New Jersey. It was amazing! I look forward to your next video! ✌️😃

Enjoyed your analysis! The fool in King Lear is a personal favorite of mine. That production you watched sounds really good-I like the sound of how they did the opening scene.

I am enjoying reading 1606 by James Shapiro alongside Lear - many things to think about. Shakespeareportrayed the English and England in his Elizabethan period but goes over to Britain and British with Janes I as the idea of union was so important to him and Parliament was being very slow about formally approving it - so a play about the dangers of a divided kingdom was very topical.

I think King Lear is my favourite Shakespearian tragedy. It is indeed hard to endure the two daughters’ atrocious behaviour. I also find that the ”blinding scene” as it is elegantly called in which Gloucester is blinded is nowadays quite aptly presented as a real torture scene, which didn t use to be the case in earlier productions. And as I am getting older, I really sympathise with Lear....actually I do agree with people who find Lear wandering distraught on the moors almost unbearable to watch....I am eager to read the play again thanks to your video!

Thanks for this video! I am about halfway through the play and really appreciate your thoughts!

Great video, an excellent look at Lear. It's got to be the bleakest Shakespeare play, at least of the ones I've seen/read. Brilliantly written, but hard to endure!

As charming as always.

Finished Cymbeline today. It has its moments, all belonging to Imogen. The play is miles ahead of Titus Andronicus, which is a blood soaked pot boiler and crowd pleaser. Cymbeline is a transition play to The Winters Tale and The Tempest. Maybe an "off ramp" to the final plays. I have decided to honor Shaketember by not reading the dramas I've already consumed, but the narrative poems I haven't. I'll give the Sonnets another read through, because I can't get enough poetry!

That was fun playing the guessing game 😉, I matched with you on most of them Nicole. This really does seem to have elements of so many plays, As You Like It, Othello, All’s’ Well That Ends Well, King Lear, Romeo and Juliet etc. Hearing about the references in the Iachimo bedroom scene made it even more creepy so thank you for enlarging on those. I was laughing at Colten initially but by the end of Act III you realize he’s not just an idiot but an evil brute - although the Queen could no doubt beat him in the evil stakes! I must admit I don’t rate Posthumous highly, not only for agreeing to Iachimo’s challenge in the first place, but believing so easily that he succeeded and deciding Imogen should be killed! Pilario has far more faith in her as Pisano does when Imogen believes that Posthumous has been unfaithful to her. Looking forward to your next video and the discussion of both a good servant and whether this is a tragedy, these videos really enlarge my understanding.

Brilliant video. Thanks Nicole. Looking forward to part 2 😊

This play reminds me of fairy tales too. Having an evil stepmother and a servant unable to follow the order to kill a princess.

7:41 Thank you for explaining that. So confusing.