History-Makers: Shakespeare

"The Bard" is not only an essential class in any D&D party, but a byword for England's most famous writer. We've covered a bit of Shakespeare before on OSP - just a bit, really, nothing major, only a dozen - but today we'll look at how William got to Bard-ing, and how he accidentally became England's biggest Historian.
SOURCES and Further Reading: The Introduction and play-texts of the Folger Shakespeare Library (The best way to read Shakespeare), "Shakespeare: A Very Short Introduction" by Wells
This video was edited by Sophia Ricciardi AKA "Indigo". www.sophiakricci.com/
Our content is intended for teenage audiences and up.
PATREON: / osp
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[@XainRussell]

“Villain, I have done thy mother!” Is still one of my favorite lines in all of English literature.

[@danielsjohnson]

I thought saying "your MOM is (insert previous retort here)" was an invention of modern middle school kids. I guess there really is nothing new under the sun.

[@cringejoestar9791]

I always loved "you egg" Because I mean that's a wonderful insult to be used in the Renaissance

[@thesaiyanking85]

The Elizabethan version of, "I f@$'ed ya mom!"

[@Mironius]

-Villain, what hast thou done!? -That which thou canst not undo. -Thou hast undone our mother! -Villain, I have done thy mother! First recorded yo momma joke

[@TORchic1]

I wonder if performances of Titus Andronicus that included this joke ever had at least one audience member jump up and go "OOOOOOOOOOOOH" when that line is said.

[@laurenskroon8601]

Ah yes the Shakespeare classic "The Tragedy of Darth Plaguies the Wise" it is not a story your teachers will tell you

[@merrittanimation7721]

Story of a man who was able to save others but not himself. Ironic.

[@draganarto13]

Is it possible to learn of this power?

[@merrittanimation7721]

@@draganarto13 Not from an English teacher.

[@akmayernick3722]

He was a Dark Lord of literature, so powerful and wise he didn't need to edit his work. The dark side of writing is a pathway to many abilities some would consider unnatural.

[@johnnygyro2295]

Palpatine does sometimes feel like he would fit in a Shakespeare play...

[@michael24taggart]

The authorship question always bugged me. It’s the equivalent to imagine that 350 years from now someone would say, “ Oh c’mon, you can’t believe that four young men from working class Liverpool without a music degree could have become The Beatles, do you?”

[@jamiee7367]

We're already basically 1/4 the way there with the "Paul is Dead" conspiracy theory.

[@sunnysunside7954]

@@jamiee7367 Oh god no. Paul ain't dead. Your logical sense is. PERIODT. Directed to all the 'Paul is dead' conspiracy theory believers.

[@vikiai4241]

Sir Francis Bacon: Not Bard. Not Bard at all. (Sorry!)

[@funakfunak2740]

@@sunnysunside7954 But think about it, man, if Paul isn't dead, why do people keep so fiercely denying it? Clearly it's a conspiracy... /sarcasm.

[@artofthepossible7329]

On the top of my head the only British band with any form of higher education was Queen, and even then none of the members had music degrees.

[@couchpotato4917]

‘Oh no! Now everybody knows I’m a fake Shakespeare girl!’ -Red

[@PTSDZ]

Same

[@tonyhakston536]

One could say... Fakespeare

[@Think_Inc]

There is an unbelievable lack of replies here.

[@geoffreygualtieri378]

“Script that shall not be named” holy hell

[@daanwilmer]

See also: "The Scottish Play"

[@unicornsprinkles3277]

And Macboy

[@merrittanimation7721]

I think it's called Macbet-(crushed by piano)

[@moinakitchen1962]

Me: -nods wisely- ah yes, The cursed child

[@nikki607]

See also also: "The Tragedy of Darth Plaguies the Wise"

[@Natibe_]

You’re too deep in Red’s territory, I demand you sing in your outros!

[@Ceares]

hahahaha, I literally watched the credits rolling thinking ...wait, where's the song...oh, yeah :(

[@Not_Lilly42]

No wonder it felt so empty.

[@joshuarohantitchener7395]

It’s not empty it’s a relative thing also red and blue pills are the same type of “pill” just from. Different perspectives...

[@helix2331]

@@joshuarohantitchener7395 yeah ok cool but WHERE'S THE THEMATICALLY APPROPRIATE MUSICAL NUMBER!

[@HistoryLass2203]

Fun Fact: The people who stood at the bottom of the Globe Theatre were called Penny Stinkers because they paid only a penny to get in.

[@hyacinpollo3424]

Thought they were called "Groundlings"

[@HistoryLass2203]

Hyacinpollo They were and they were also called Stinkards.

[@raptorjesues1445]

also their smell waffed upwards and was fairly noted by the upper class, ence the stink

[@systemerror6047]

Also fun fact, there were a LOT of *unsavoury* acts at the bottom of the Globe because a lot of people went there to *sell services*

[@kellingc]

the opening dialogs in "Julias Ceasar" was for the penny stinkers. Guard: Who are you? Merchant: I am but a simple cobbler Guard: Then why are you not in your shop? Cobbler: I'm drumming up business by leadung these people around, wearing out their shoes. Done drom memory, and probably have it totally wrong, it it was a scene that always stuck out to me. It was at that point I started to understand and enjoy Shakespeare

[@voidify3]

Back in high school I wrote an assignment about how we need to stop teaching Shakespeare as highbrow so that its relevance and humour can be appreciated. I embedded a drawing of Midsummer Night’s Dream being performed at the globe and captioned it “Shakespearean audience circa 1605, probably laughing at a genital based pun”. I still stand by what I said

[@ladywaffle2210]

And you should stand by what you said, because you're absolutely correct.

[@JacobMinger]

I honestly feel like being forced to read Shakespeare as highbrow really hurt the desire to read him well into my adulthood until a few years ago when I decided to try reading Macbeth on my own and fell in love with it.

[@breadcrumb382]

​@JacobMinger I think that just applies to a lot of reading in general. The academic perspective is of course important, but truly, the primitive instinct of enjoying a good story, for all its expansive imagination compiled with the deft touch of language, should be held in primacy compared to anything else. Analyze a story first by your own devices and them complement them with those of others. First enjoy the story for what it is, for what it can do purely by the text itself, then you can later complement your enjoyment with the analyses of others.

[@metarcee2483]

I was in A Midsummer Night's Dream and played Egeus. I think I was the only character to not make a weiner joke.

[@shaleenthepunk8568]

Did Romeo and Juliet in 8th or 9th grade (I had the same teacher both years; can't remember which ones were in each year) and MacBeth in senior high. Both of the teachers I had for those were on the younger end, so it was pretty cool actually. Then again, I live close to a somewhat famous theater attraction in the Appalachian Mountains, so plays are kind of our thing,

[@OfficialGeneralGrant]

All the world's a stage and we're all just that guy who fell off of it when he was dancing.

[@killerqueen7675]

Agent Hightower Mood

[@marilethco]

I am the guy who is trying to play as a background character as best as they could but couldnt help but hide behind someone or any nearby props.

[@biliminsrlar5752]

This is an interesting way to say my life is falling apart.

[@eh9618]

I'm the guy who tripped when trying to exit the stage

[@FanOfMostEverything]

I've always liked "All the world's a stage, and most of us are desperately under-rehearsed."

[@marwanibenrabah8431]

"They lived far enough from London that they could pay the rent without going in a monthly heist." It's jokes like these that make me realise that we really aren't that different from 16th century people.

[@clayxros576]

Human understanding changes through the ages. Humans on the otherhand do not.

[@jean-paulaudette9246]

@@clayxros576 Very well said!

[@annikacambigue]

I don't get the joke. Would you mind explaining it?

[@clayxros576]

@@annikacambigue City rich, country poor Robin hood lived in country Robbed rich to pay the bills cause countryside had little money

[@Dragonsandbearhugs]

Nope! You still can’t live in London or Oxford without a large amount of money or pulling bi-monthly heists

[@ButterflyScarlet]

I wish literature classes taught the plays the way they were suposed to be interpreted: as entertainment. Shakespeare wrote jokes, he wrote comedies, the man had a fun writing style only marginally lost to time due to changing language. Why do teachers act like he's going to manifest in the middle of class and beat you up for not correctly interpreting the symbolism of the Miranda and Ferdinand's chess game?

[@clayxros576]

"What, you egg?" (He stabs him) Seriously though, they take him way too seriously.

[@Firegen1]

Sadly too many English lit teachers are trained in the poetics form of Shakespeare teaching. All iambic pentameter and no connection to the world in which Will was writing. I'm of the thoroughly biased belief (I'm a theatre director) that Shakespeare's plays should be taken out of the lit class and moved solely to drama classes. If English teachers/lecturers are so inclined they can teach the works in a rehearsal format or bring them to a live performance. All the better for my colleagues and the kids.

[@ew6483]

I studied Twelfth Night a few years ago but none of the jokes were explained to us so it wasn’t very funny to us beyond the confusion element. It’s now probably my favourite play because of the jokes! My innocent sister didn’t get the “her Cs, her Us and her Ts” one muahaha

[@professorbutters]

Firegen1 *raises hand* wrote book on Shakespeare’s company. Will sink details, as would make WAY too identifiable.

[@professorbutters]

E W Are jokes funny if they have to be explained? It’s not as though you can stop the performance and say, “ok, the reason this part is funny is....”

[@bmoney2011]

Imagine being able to claim you were the first person in western civilization to write a "yo' mama" joke.

[@amadoumbye9163]

It would be fun to watch his thought process

[@tereziamarkova2822]

On TV Tropes, we know it as the Zeroth Law Of Trope Examples - Shakespeare always did it first.

[@terner1234]

who says he was the first

[@maximsavage]

@@terner1234 He's the first to the current knowledge of the people in this comment chain. It's the earliest written (to our knowledge) yo mama joke that has survived to this day. If you have an earlier example, please, do post a source. It's valuable knowledge (read: interesting/funny trivia).

[@MyLittleCreator]

@@maximsavage He's not the first one by *any* means; just google "earliest yo mama joke" and you will see (the oldest being over 3500 years old as far as I can tell).

[@anu-lc2ke]

“Without going on a monthly heist.”

[@thatguyinthegroup2728]

Wait you guys go the whole month with only one heist?

[@the7screw]

Guys the thermal drill,

[@thatguyinthegroup2728]

@@the7screw Payday2?

[@jean-paulaudette9246]

I heard Billy S's dad, despite being a respected town official, kept a bit to the breezy side of the law himself, when it came to showing his property to tax assessors. Fell into a spot of trouble for it...a few times.

[@raptorus7773]

I'm still trying to get my mind around how often i've casually quoted Shakesphere despite not reading most of the plays the sayings come from, cause it integrated that well into casual speech Edit: I also propose Shakesphere should be known as one of the founding fathers of edutainment

[@kensingcd]

Search mark Twain Shakespeare, might give you a new perspective on the argument

[@benjaminahlstrom4435]

"What you egg" (stabs him)

[@EinFelsbrocken]

Sheggsperience..

[@theseabassi9638]

"He has kill'd me mother"

[@Grim_Sister]

Ah, I see you are a Dragon Age fan

[@lukeseykora7417]

I'm reading Macbeth right now in class and when we read that line in Act 4... Man, some dudes in my class just LOST IT 😂😂

[@weirdolife9075]

Me,at the last lines of the video: HECK YEAH, BLUE. TELL THOSE PEOPLE THEIR ELITISM CAN SUCK IT.

[@eliburry-schnepp6012]

I was hoping he'd get around to skewering the Authorship Question

[@Ven0mancer]

I clutch my Pearl's at such a notion

[@theflickchick9850]

I was so happy he addressed that theory about how Shakespeare couldn’t have written all those plays. I mean, Stephen King has written a load of books, and still is, so I see no reason Shakespeare couldn’t have.

[@John_Weiss]

@@theflickchick9850 Plus, the plays about Classical Rome and Greece get details wrong that someone who was fluent in Latin - which every well educated aristocrat was - wouldn't make.

[@theflickchick9850]

@@John_Weiss That's an awesome catch! I wouldn't have known this!

[@Obi-Wan_Kenobi]

I starred in Episode III: Revenge of the Sith so I know a thing or two about Shakespearean Drama!!! "Tis over Anakin! For I hold the Ground that is High!" "Fie! Doth thou underestimate my power?" "Nay you knave! Do not try it!"

[@TheLostArchangel666]

*do not maketh the attempt!

[@kryptonavenger2024]

Hello there. EDIT: I don't know how to say it in Shakespeare speak.

[@minatodroger7890]

Lololol please do a soliloquy of palpatine telling the tragedy of Darth plageius the wise.

[@jordanholt9170]

Has anyone else read the William Shakespeare's Star Wars books?

[@systemerror6047]

@@minatodroger7890 Dist thou e'er hear the tragedy of Darth Plagueis the Wise? I had not thought as much. Tis not a story the Jedi wouldst tell thy. Tis a legend of the Sith. Darth Plagueis wast a dark lord of the Sith, so full of power and wise, twas he, that he may use thy Force to influence the midichlorians to createth life.He haft possessed such knowl'dge of the Dark Side that he couldth kept the ones of whom he cared from suffering a departure at death's hands.The Dark Side o' the Force, tis a pathway to abilities of which many consider unnatural. He haft become so full of power, the only force that haft drove him to terror wast losing thine power bestowed upon himself. After time, this is what hath taken place. For without fortune, he hath bestowed upon his apprentice all of that which he knew, thy very apprentice took the life of thine master, while he lay still in thy own bed. Tis ironic, for he may save others from the clasp of deatt, but nary himself.

[@illegalmemedealer3549]

With this channel’s amount of historical digs, sass and dumb jokes, I can confidently say Billy Boy would have been very, very proud

[@stephenflint3640]

And if we had access to blues Cleopatra rant, definitely very, very deaf.

[@clayxros576]

@@stephenflint3640 I'd love to listen to that rant tbh

[@brianroberts783]

One of my favorite things with Shakespeare is the way he snuck jokes into otherwise dramatic dialogue. For example: "A Rose by any other name would smell as sweet." Seems like a mere declaration that names mean nothing compared to actual beauty, substance, etc. However, the missing context for today's audiences that Shakespeare's own audiences would have known is that the Globe had a rival theater called the Rose which was known to have a problem with sewage smells due to its location. So, this seemingly profound line not only holds the message we still understand today, but also a jab at his rivals.

[@djohnson2499]

Thank you so much for addressing the whole "Shakespeare wasn't real" thing at the end. It's infuriating to see it parroted by so many people as fact.

[@ravioliravioli118]

I once did a school project on him and i was so confused by people saying that.

[@John_Weiss]

You can thank the Victorian Era aristocracy for that. They couldn't accept the idea that a commoner could write literature (let alone "the pinnacle" of English literature). So they ignored the obvious (playwrights talked to each other, and even exchanged information) created logical inconsistencies (if "only an educated man could know so much about classical Rome and Greece," why would he play so fast and lose with the details and even get things flat out wrong) and/or just made stuff up.

[@JackDesert]

I'm still thinking Shakespeare was a fake name used by a fae, one of Titania and Oberon's court sowing seeds of hope and despair with each word... yes I'm being silly.

[@templarw20]

@@John_Weiss I think it gets even more traction within American "libertarian" circles trying to destroy public education...

[@dylanchouinard6141]

Therapist: Eyebrow-less Elizabeth I isn’t real. She can’t hurt you. Eyebrow-less Elizabeth I:

[@weldonwin]

Oh it gets worse than that, since she used white-lead based makeup, which made her hair fall out and was making her skin degrade, so she had to slap on even more to cover it up, which made the problem worse, so she was frankly pretty horrific looking by the middle of her life

[@user-ym7rp9qb8d]

time stamp???

[@vincenzoalbanese6021]

@@user-ym7rp9qb8d 3:19 Don't be scared

[@csec95]

Shakespeare, a man with such an impact on english literature that people have been retroactively trying to make it someone else ever sense.

[@libbyevans1186]

All I need to get me through quarantine is blue’s Cleopatra rant

[@darklordsmu]

"Alright, listen up BILL." Definitely made me giggle.

[@TheRealGuywithoutaMustache]

"Sweet Mother of Job Security" Well, that's a new way of saying holy crap.

[@lusintagmayrapetyan144]

You again

[@cheerstoall3492]

... where did the mustache go? 😰

[@zooms7889]

we seem to have similar taste in videos, and this comment section isn't filled with bots which is nice :)

[@jo_ovin1482]

Shakespeare is of course most well known for his invention of "yo mama" jokes.

[@jean-paulaudette9246]

Honestly, I though his command of invective was pretty shocking. Reading through King Lear, there's a whole scene devoted to Edgar roundly verbally lambasting one of Goneril's servants. If i could unload *that* vitriol on some unsuspecting jerk, I'd be pleased and horrified at myself.

[@weldonwin]

*(Angry Sigh)* The whole Shakespeare conspiracy thing, that he didn't write his plays just royally pisses me off, because it smacks so hard of classism and snobbery

[@someonerandom8552]

As BrowsHeldHigh once said (paraphrasing) “Shakespeare didn’t write Shakespeare because poor can’t art.” It’s especially weird when trained Shakespearean actors believe the conspiracy. Like wtf?

[@John_Weiss]

They claim that only the highly educated aristocrats could know so much history, but then conveniently ignore just how many "historical" details in the plays are wrong.

[@animalia5554]

I just think it’s stupid

[@anu-lc2ke]

“Drowns him in a vat of wine.” Glorious way to die.

[@clayxros576]

"Fun ways to die"

[@someonerandom8552]

That’s how I hope to go!

[@anu-lc2ke]

Someone random same :)

[@pauljames9738]

I dunno. Ever accidentally snorted wine through you nose? THAT'LL make your eyes water!

[@MatsuoTanuki]

@@pauljames9738 Plus I somehow doubt the wine used was any good. You don't waste a barrel of the tasty, fine vintage for an execution.

[@fernbedek6302]

The real conspiracy is how much modern Anne Hathaway’s husband looks like Mr. Shakespeare.

[@dithaingampanmei]

Adam Shulman... 😲 I see it. Ohhhhhhh reincarnation?!

[@peanuntmandms24601]

@@dithaingampanmei I read somewhere that none of the Paintings depicting William Shakespeare were made in his life time. so its kind of hard to say what he looked like

[@evonnagale3045]

I love how when you search his name, all the articles are like 'who is this man Anne Hathaway married?' She Def gets top billing in their relationship. Lol

[@gcampbell1448]

Love that OSP is making up for the fact that no one is doing the quarantine work their teachers set them 2 weeks ago

[@ScottStratton]

Shakespeare’s great accomplishment was not being smart while not being rich ... it was being HEARD while being smart, discerning, and insightful, AND not being rich. And he is still heard today, though his relative social position is no longer known, really. Which makes it that much harder to appreciate how extraordinary some of his plays are, and his accomplishment at elevating the reality of human experience - without necessarily promoting a particular worldview - except in wonderful videos like yours 😊. Thank you.

[@kiel_3222]

10:30 "The Tragedy of Darth Plaguies the Wise" Nice

[@stephenfitzgerald9769]

MacBeth is almost complete propaganda: the historical King Duncan had MacBeth’s father assassinated by a man named Gilcomgain and when MacBeth uncovered the plot (by hunting down and killing Gilcomgain) he raised an army and marched against Duncan, killing the king in single combat on the field of battle. Ironically, the Gargoyles cartoon from the 90s still has the most historically accurate (though still heavily fictional) depiction of what actually happened. But don’t take my word for it...

[@eliburry-schnepp6012]

Yep, it's very funny that the version of MacBeth who rides around on a hover scooter shooting lasers at people is MORE accurate than Shakespeare's

[@em5522]

I was just thinking about how Gargoyles got it more right but is full of Shakespearian lore. 😄

[@wppb50]

​@@eliburry-schnepp6012 Look, Shakespeare was a WORKING writer. You can talk all you want about the transcendent beauty of the language, but the man had to put food on the table and he knew goddamn well where it was coming from. So if he's writing about the people his patrons' ancestors did a regicide on? Yeah, they're gonna be written in as skulking bushwhacking baby-eaters. Willy S gots to get paid.

[@ChibiKami]

Greg Weisman has talked about how much he loved adding Shakespearean elements, but in particular he based Macbeth on the real life king to troll Shakespeare scholars Fun fact: In addition to the rest of the Star Trek TNG cast getting parts in Gargoyles, Patrick Stewart was being looked at to play the role of MacBeth, as well as Goliath and King Arthur, but they couldn't meet his agency's fee. Something tells me he'd have loved the part of the real king

[@animalia5554]

wppb50 Sad but true. It kind of makes me wish he just avoided the play though. Unless he had a royal mandate to do it or something.

[@aconcernedcommissar6261]

when we covered Macbeth in english we had a entire lesson on how he changed the history in it - (ignoring the Witches) and a lot of the changes can be summed up as "don't get the king (or queen in elizabeth's case) mad/ compliment the monarch"

[@anope9053]

A Concerned Commissar gasps in falling piano

[@OcarinaSapphr-]

A Concerned Commissar We performed our Macbeth with the witches & Hecate- for the written part of the assignment, I described them as a personification fate/ destiny (3 women- three stages of life- the three Fates of Greek myth) & Hecate’s orders to the witches as embodying a kind of divine retribution, for Macbeth trying to claim more than his allotted destiny, & deprive others of their fate. I was pleased to get a B for that sucker! However, having also read about the historical Macbeth, I felt conflicted- but it was English class, not history...

[@RF-mc8cx]

"A history of England, Ireland and Scotland." **cries in Welsh**

[@Toonrick12]

Wales is not a real country! You are an Englishman with extreme dyslexia!

[@terner1234]

@@Toonrick12 is this a tf2 reference?

[@roseofoulesfame]

Tudors are Welsh though so they win in the end ; ) (please ignore the fact that they then die off and are replaced by Scots)

[@mjbull5156]

"...for I am Welsh, you know." - Henry V

[@gandalf6751]

‘An Englishman with severe dyslexia’ is by far the funniest description of Welsh people I’ve ever heard

[@mistertea603]

"...Perhaps the greatest conspiracy of all... Is that Shakespeare could be Smart Without Being Rich..." COULD WE SAY THAT A BIT LOUDER FOR THE *ANONYMOUS* STANDS IN THE BACK?!?!?!?!

[@Bird_Dog00]

"...and converting the spanish armada into a sub-aquatic lumber yard." Someone watched Drachinifel...

[@weldonwin]

Just imagine of Blue covered the Voyage of The Second Pacific Squadron. He'd have to keep checking back with Red to make sure it's not fiction and that yes, something so blisteringly stupid was true

[@kommandantbaker]

@@weldonwin I second this motion.

[@rockyblacksmith]

Can we have a collab between these two?

[@csodhi9969]

Just started my Shakespeare unit in English. Perfect Timing!

[@pheus_]

Luck you!!!!

[@jackgrufferty7553]

Lmao same bud

[@hannyboop]

Mine was last semestre. Good luck mate

[@shatteredreality_513]

The same for me, but in my Creative Writing elective - I find his works very fun to read.

[@SerenitysLibrary]

My Shakespeare unit just went over Richard the third this week, so definitely good timing! Good luck with yours!

[@anu-lc2ke]

“Keeps things exciting with pathos and murder.”

[@paintlaser]

Blue: I'm not saying we're the modern day Shakespeare but...

[@krthecarguy5150]

HAVE I BEEN LEARNING FROM THIS CHANNEL THIS ENTIRE TIME?????!!!!

[@kktt725]

Crazy that this channel started with Shakespeare and now Blue's covering the history of him

[@leggy2720]

The way you said Stratford-upon-Avon hurt me but the ‘play that shall not be named’ jokes more than made up for it

[@Evan_L_Rodriguez]

If there hasn’t been a movie where Anne Hathaway plays Anne Hathaway, what is Hollywood even doing?

[@michaelscott6022]

*Literary Snobs:* "Shakespeare is the quintessential English playwright, fit for only the most discerning of tastes." *Shakespeare:* "Hold mine ale as I insult thy mother and the pigs with which she copulated to inflict you upon this undeserving world."

[@IONATVS]

Michael Scott Yeah, when I hear that kind of nonsense I want to chain the snobs to their chairs and make them read Taming of the Shrew. That thing is 95% dirty joke by volume.

[@John_Weiss]

And remember: "thou"/"thy" is the *informal* form of "you", so using it with someone who you don't know it's _highly insulting._

[@salma.elsaid]

Is the biggest Shakespearecy not his sexuality? Because I just started learning about his sonnets in my English lessons, and three people spent the whole lessons asking if Shakespeare was a homosexual Fun times

[@silverhawking]

The answer is yes.

[@cheeseandeggs1908]

Salma Elsaid he wrote 126 out of his 154 sonnets to a unnamed man.

[@raptorjesues1445]

everybody was gay back then, it is was a cultural thing or something. Heck even i was

[@terner1234]

@@raptorjesues1445 these aren't classical times, this is in medieval europe

[@Leigh951]

yeah I learnt recently love between men, like proper affectionate love as friends was common

[@insertcleverwriterpennameh4644]

“For the world is a stage, and the stage is a world of entertainment...”

[@festethephule7553]

Well, the pfp certainly checks out.

[@Aadhitiya_Murali]

now i remember.

[@edim108]

It's really inspiring that a kid from rural England with basic education and love for literature became one of the most famous people of all time, while so many nobles are unremarkable and forgotten despite acting like a higher order of beings in their days...

[@DNGNDriver]

I appreciate that The Scottish Play is in comic sans at 0:20

[@jessielefey]

2:42 "Now that is dedication to the craft!" And also the level of pettiness I aspire to, holy shirt the utter level of fork you in that entire caper is just //chef's kiss//.

[@mckayleepugmire9947]

I remember hearing once that historians thought Shakespeare exaggerated how many dead Frenchmen there were at the battle of Agincourt, until they found the original record and learned that Shakespeare lowered the number because he thought the record was exaggerating. Not sure where my dad heard that, but if it's true it's funny.

[@laureneras9523]

I need more Red and Shakespeare plays! Remember your roots Red!

[@polazzz8686]

I’m surprised that you didn’t make Venice involved with shakespere good job on controlling yourself.

[@Dravoll]

TheAcidic157 Given that Shakespeare wrote a play called the Merchant of Venice, I am surprised by Blue’s restraint.

[@fraser1614]

@@Dravoll also that Othello is about some army dudes from venice in Cyprus

[@abthedragon4921]

Ah, Shakespeare, hailed as the Master of the English Language. At least that's what my former AP Literature teacher referred to him as sometimes.

[@henryfleischer404]

Andrew Burton He was A master of the language. He made up words, and people accepted them.

[@mylesjude233]

Hey Blue if I could make a suggestion: would you be interested in doing a history of the country of Georgia, with its connections to the legendary Colchis, to birthing King Tamar and her Georgian Golden Age, and lastly hosting the world's oldest wine culture, with 8,000 years in the making.

[@mylesjude233]

@17mohara Hara Thanks, its appreciated.

[@Nightfire613]

Aaron’s “Villain, I have done thy mother,” is and forever will be one of my favorite lines from any Shakespeare. In fact, just put all of Titus Adronicus that list, that play is my jam

[@waitsbian]

the last time i was this early blue hadn't burned down the library of alexandria yet

[@artemiswolf4508]

By far the biggest characters assasination on Shakespeare has been English teachers forcing high school students to *READ* the *PLAYS* . Thus leading them to think Shakespeare was boring. Like this is one of the few cases it would have been better if you had just put on a movie.

[@henryanderson6752]

Or taken them to a theatre to see it live (if possible of course).

[@someonerandom8552]

Thank you!!! Even now I find it dull to read Shakespeare. But to see it, even on film, is always a delight for me. I think I can even understand the wordplay better.

[@lewisirwin5363]

I rather disagree with your last point, having seen Leonardo DiCaprio's Romeo and Juliet. Uuuuuugh.

[@someonerandom8552]

Lewis Irwin My English class actually did have us watch that version as part of the Shakespeare unit. We also had to watch the 60s film version and compare the two. It was....”interesting.”

[@Taiyama2]

Yeah I never cared for Shakespeare until I got to act out the plays in class or see a good rendition of it.

[@alexioshjkl6170]

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. To die-to sleep, No more; and by a sleep to say we end The heart-ache and the thousand natural shocks That flesh is heir to: 'tis a consummation Devoutly to be wish'd. To die, to sleep; To sleep, perchance to dream-ay, there's the rub: For in that sleep of death what dreams may come, When we have shuffled off this mortal coil, Must give us pause-there's the respect That makes calamity of so long life. For who would bear the whips and scorns of time, Th'oppressor's wrong, the proud man's contumely, The pangs of dispriz'd love, the law's delay, The insolence of office, and the spurns That patient merit of th'unworthy takes, When he himself might his quietus make With a bare bodkin? Who would fardels bear, To grunt and sweat under a weary life, But that the dread of something after death, The undiscovere'd country, from whose bourn No traveller returns, puzzles the will, And makes us rather bear those ills we have Than fly to others that we know not of? Thus conscience does make cowards of us all, And thus the native hue of resolution Is sicklied o'er with the pale cast of thought, And enterprises of great pitch and moment With this regard their currents turn awry And lose the name of action.

[@valenciageode25]

“ And I will let *you* run the math on that one”

[@PrismCasillica]

I love how they're keeping the theatre tradition alive by not showing the name of that one play. ❤

[@alexiswelsh5821]

[Exit, pursued by a bear] Best stage direction ever!

[@matthewmuir8884]

I always found it weird how much people trying to "tell the story of Shakespeare" feel the need to make stuff up like suggesting that he was a fraud or a pen name. one of the weirdest bits of misinformation I've seen, which was probably propagated by that movie _Shakespeare in Love_, is the incorrect idea that Shakespeare was unhappily married. We know what his family troubles were, and an unhappy marriage in all likelihood wasn't one of them. The family troubles we know he went through were the tragic death of his son, and that he did not like the guy his youngest daughter was dating; mainly because he found out that the guy had previously gotten another woman pregnant and then abandoned said woman.

[@joheyjonsson2825]

"MacBeth" with Michael Fassbender, "The Tempest" with Helen Mirren as Prospero, and the BBC series "The Hollow Crown" (Patrick Stewart, Jeremy Irons, Benedict Cumberbatch, Sophie Okonedo, Julie Walters AND Tom Hiddleston play in this mammoth of a tv show) are amazing versions of Shakespeare's plays

[@duo496]

God made shakespeare: english literature students around the world regard it as a bad move

[@colehamilton5066]

Hitchhikers guide to the galaxy!

[@MildredCady]

I graduated with a theater/English lit double major. I got him on all sides. Still like him though.

[@justsomeone3703]

Actually wrote my only A this year on him, so not that bad

[@gandalf6751]

The Shakespeare unit was better than the poetry anthology tho

[@ew6483]

Gandalf URGGHH THE POETRY!!! I never have to analyse War Photographer again!

[@tlsgrz6194]

If Shakespeare taught me one thing, it‘s that Brutus is an honorable man.

[@mathewfinch]

The play, Julius Caesar, is another great example of Shakespeare as propagandists. The assassins are all made out to be the unequivocal bad guys who get their just comeuppance by the end of it, when the real history was much more complicated than that. Once you remember that James I was big into the Divine Right of Kings, this plays moral center becomes much clearer.

[@guyfawkes938]

​@@mathewfinch No way, it's the complete opposite. Julius Ceasar is very sympathetic to the likes of Brutus and the murderers.

[@professorbutters]

@@mathewfinch Julius Caesar was written and performed before James became king, but almost everyone agreed that regicide, like patricide, was an entirely special kind of evil murder (and therefore worse than regular murder).

[@etchasketch1602]

I went to see A Midsummer Nights Dream at the Globe, in original speach. It was amazing, and actually really funny. They added a few things to modernise it a little, but it was unbelievably good, and standing tickets are about £5. Highly recommend

[@lol101lol101lol10199]

Who would win? - Scotland or - One pointy-daggered Macboi

[@jessicajayes8326]

Nice and early. I was actually cast in a Shakespeare play earlier this year, but things happened.

[@felixzhang9150]

definitely NOT the first, even though the video was only released one minute before... damn people are fast!

[@chelsey8737]

IKR

[@Firegen1]

Verily if an OSP doth come, Then all man and beast shalt suddenly, Arrive one by one by one.

[@sonidophore9100]

The last time I was this early, it was still back in my day. (Squints at sunset and sucks on pipe)

[@paulwagner688]

Pepperidge Farm remembers

[@riverbecomesastorm375]

More than the energy, I love how much enthusiasm they have for their respective fields.

[@whdphd7116]

I'm doing Shakespeare for school right now, thank you

[@no-cs3fx]

5:20 Ah the sweet coppery smell of sibling rivalry

[@amanofnoreputation2164]

I like how Henry the Fifth is taken to be so defined by the longbow exploit that a line of longbowmen becomes the cover of the play.

[@lianecajipe5138]

*Oh no, I’m getting my hopes up that someday they’ll tackle the 6 queens of Henry VIII*

[@piperbrooke2957]

*six starts playing in the background*

[@user-td6dr5wd8w]

5:26 OOOH NOO. BLUEEE!!!

[@mdccxcii6340]

Shakespeare: The first member of Overly Sarcastic Productions. Nothing will convince me otherwise.

[@dr.hemlock5909]

I’ve been to Stratford-upon-Avon before. There was a dog in the park carrying a really big stick that he apparently got every time he went to the park.

[@ashleyx.5619]

4:28 It's weird that I didn't realize that until now...

[@dero_oan]

first Typhon now Shakespeare. Thank you OSP

[@Stettafire]

0:42 Um, that flag over Wales, excuse me?

[@bartolopolkakitty6525]

@0:58 Well, that just shows how talented Shakespeare was. Not only could he write more great plays than anyone else, he could even father children faster than anyone else!

[@thekaticorn99]

the part with the red glowing eyed tudors and dramatic music absolutely sent me

[@charliecastillo2011]

2:27 “Sweet Mother of Job Security” 🤣

[@sophiemason8444]

"Can you imagine it? I'm the last Plantagenet..."- Richard III at the end of the War of the Roses

[@matthewmuir8884]

I once did a presentation on Shakespeare in high school drama class. You summarized in 11 minutes what took me a full hour. Great work, Blue.

[@shiekko]

Love that the ad pops in right in the middle of the "smart people don't have to be rich" line

[@phoenixshadow6633]

Ah the Scottish Play. I remember going to other school's performances and saying it liberally in their theaters just to make them hate me.

[@ant9435]

haven't we all done that at some point in our lives

[@absolite6]

Mac........ ....donald's

[@icarussbungeecord7779]

I hope you break an actual leg

[@SpaceNerd117]

A fellow band member who was also in theater chewed me out over saying the M-word in the band room(which was across the hall from the auditorium). A mike broke or something in that evening's rehearsal, and he blamed me for it. I don't get superstition.

[@eliburry-schnepp6012]

Just say Mac Bethad Mac Findláich.

[@gabrielmerchant]

Honestly I feel like you two should both narrate a story, Red covering the plot while Blue exchanges with some real world facts. Shakespeare is perfect for that I think

[@SquishiiBlob]

Honestly this channel has helped my so much with my literature class and mythology class. Thank you so so much. Also its interesting to listen to in the free time.

[@bryantiggelaar6775]

"His grammar school wasn't fancy, but it did give him everything he needed to succeed as a playwright". That's a funny way of saying "he made a deal with Dream of the Endless for his stories to live forever".

[@petemagnuson7357]

> no views > 40 seconds Oh boy.

[@Van_on_the_Go]

Shakespeare made the original “your mom” jokes. What a legend.

[@MishiMIshaniz]

fun fact about holinshed's chronicles: its something like 8 books about the history of the british isles, and Scotland gets 1 book and Ireland gets half that. also it contains a lot of firsthand accounts and dialogue from situations where there are two people and one of them gets killed, so it's reliability is doubtful.

[@ellicw3569]

“The Tragedy of Darth Plaguies the Wise.” Loving the Star Wars reference Blue.

[@mistertea603]

"... And by the end you realize that he tricked you into learning something which is exactly what we do!..." ***GASP*** I THOUGHT I KNEW YOU

[@gleefulpebble]

10:30 I thought not. It’s not a story the Jedi would tell

[@redbayly]

Oh, man, you posted this at just the absolute perfect time. My parents and I have just started watching Upstart Crow (with David Mitchell playing Shakespeare). My dad told me that my grandfather was a die-hard believer that Marlowe was the real author of Shakespeare's plays, which makes it doubly funny for us watching Upstart Crow, as it depicts Marlowe as a bit of a fame leech who tricks his friend Shakespeare into writing plays for him. And, I have to say, I definitely agree with you that the best Shakespearacy is that Shakespeare really wrote his own plays.

[@jamiee7367]

Something interesting to note: Though Marlowe most likely _wasn’t_ the real author of Shakespeare’s plays (It probably _was_ Will), There’s been recent scholarship supporting the idea that Marlowe was actually a co-author on all 3 parts of Henry VI, & also possibly The Taming of the Shrew as well. (Plus also possibly Edward III, but attribution scholarship for that play, beyond identifying Shakespeare’s hand in a few scenes, is still kinda shaky & all over the place)

[@professorbutters]

I just finished watching those! As a Shakespeare professor, it’s delightful how many of those details are absolutely right, while Shakespeare bitches about his commute.

[@ethanwilson6190]

This one video has left me with a greater understanding of, and appreciation for Shakespeare then any English class I ever took.

[@Tolstoy111]

This video only talks about the history plays!

[@qdHazen]

"...[O]ne stage can become anywhere in the world." -Blue "Think when we talk of horses, that you see them Printing their proud hoofs i' the receiving earth; For 'tis your thoughts that now must deck our kings, Carry them here and there; jumping o'er times, Turning the accomplishment of many years Into an hour-glass: for the which supply, Admit me Chorus to this history; Who prologue-like your humble patience pray, Gently to hear, kindly to judge, our play." -Chorus, _Henry V_ Act 1, Prologue