Having a few cold ones with Will Shakespeare. Ask us anything.

[Aristus]

[Denninmi]

1. What is Will like when he gets a little tipsy?

Is he a fun guy when he's had a few? My guess is that he is.

[Aristus]

2. Yeah, he's a fun drunk.

When he's had a few, he'll go up to a woman ( with dark hair; always with dark hair. Never seen him with a blonde) and start reciting a few of his sonnets. Sounds cheesy, but he'll have them eating out of his hand.

His words are pure music...

[Denninmi]

3. Well, maybe I should study up on his material.

You know, couldn't hurt. I have a penchant for brunettes myself.

[Aristus]

11. Brush up your Shakespeare.

Start quoting him now.
Brush up your Shakespeare
And the women you will wow.


I have that on good authority...

[elleng]

30. The bard of Stratford on Avon!!!

[Aristus]

36. elleng, Will says:

"Sorry, dearest. It is Stratford-Upon-Avon. No worries, love. Cheers!"

[elleng]

37. Quite right, but tell THAT to COLE PORTER!!!

OMG!!! IMAGINE THAT! Had to drop a syllable!!!

[Aristus]

42. "I? Explain myself to a servant who carries coals? Ne're! Not once!"

Okay, he's swinging his mug around indignantly; he's spilling most of it...

[elleng]

43. HA! WHO said all that, Sir???

[Aristus]

45. Will did.

Just now...

[elleng]

46. (((WILL)))

[Aristus]

48. Falstaff. My dear old man of the castle.

[Lady Freedom Returns]

44. Speaking for myself as a brunette...

That the words of Shakespeare does have a way to turn my head. Something about words does make many a woman swoon.

[Aristus]

47. "The color in thy face,

That even for anger makes the lily pale,
And the red rose blush at her own disgrace,
Shall plead for me and tell my loving tale."

Wow, LFR. The whole tavern just grew silent. You can hear a pin drop. Will is serenading you!

[Lady Freedom Returns]

49. "As the grim lion fawneth o'er his prey"

The Rape of Lucrece is it not?

[Aristus]

50. You're batting a thousand, LFR.

That's me, by the way. Will just shrugs when he hears baseball jargon...

[CaliforniaPeggy]

4. Oh, lucky you, my dear Aristus! Drinking with THE William Shakespeare!

You'd better be careful...

It seems to me that your wife is dark haired........isn't she?

[Aristus]

6. Oh yes, CalPeg. She is my own "Dark Lady".

She has fresh breath, though. Will's legendary Dark Lady...her breath...well, you don't even want to know...

[CaliforniaPeggy]

7. I remember about his Dark Lady's breath.......yes I do!

Rather like this:

[Aristus]

9. Yeah. He said it "reeks".

Well, you would have to know her to understand her considerable charms...

[libodem]

5. Wow, I'm so proud

I've always wanted to meet other DU'ers. Go. Cold. Ones.

To be or not to be....that is the question?

[Aristus]

8. Uh-oh.

Will's not fond of the reference. It's like when Beethoven complained about the popularity of his Moonlight Sonata. "Everyone is clamoring for that c-sharp minor sonata! Surely I have written better things!"

Will is always reminding people: "To be or not to be is about suicide!"

Sorry...he's upset because his sonnet seduction was interrupted...

[pokerfan]

10. See if he wouldn't mind synopsizing 'Love's Labour's Won' for us

[Aristus]

13. Will says: "Never finished it, lad".

"I penned a foul paper" - what Will calls a rough draft - "and showed to Henslowe and the lads, but we couldn't make a go of it. Henslowe just marked it down to pad the repertory. If the playgoers thought we had more plays than The Swan or The Rose, they 'ould drop their coins in our box office."

[Honeycombe8]

12. Ask him if he really wrote all those plays, or if he bought a few or had ghostwriters.

There is the theory that no one person could have written all the different plays supposedly by Shakespeare. The theory is that Shakespeare had at least one ghostwriter, likely an aristocrat who was not allowed, by society's standards, to write plays. It just wasn't done by aristocrats. The theory is very detailed about why one person didn't write them all. And if one person likely wrote most of them, that person was likely an aristocrat, which Will was not.

It's also been guessed that maybe Will bought one or more of the plays from an unknown.

Ask Will that, please! Enquiring minds want to know.

[Aristus]

16. Oh, now you've done it!

He just threw his tankard across the tavern!

Will has answered this before, and his responses are in my journal.

It was pretty common in Will's time for playwright's to collaborate on their material. Will didn't like to write plays 'by committee', so he usually wrote alone. He did help out John Fletcher on The Two Noble Kinsmen, Henry VIII, and Vortigern, "And the stupid sod lost the manuscript!" Will adds.

But Will wrote all the plays attributed to him. He had quite an exceptional education at the Stratford Grammar School. The curriculum would challenge a modern college student.

And as far as them needing a highly intelligent, educated noble to write the plays? Please.

Will says: "That's a larf. Look at English nobles today!"

[Honeycombe8]

39. Well, okay, then. I accept that totally.

Tell Will I apologize. The theory confused me, is all. I wondered if it could be true. I didn't want to think so. So now I understand. I personally DO think that people in our history are sometimes underestimated by modern people. I am glad to hear that he wrote all the plays attributed to him.

[Aristus]

40. Will says: "Ah! Go' Bless you, love!"

He's getting a little weepy now. He loves it when someone understands him.

[nolabear]

14. Will, what is Aristus like when he gets a little tipsy?

[Aristus]

17. No, No, No, Will! Get away from the keyboard!

"Nolabear, lass (odd name, that...) he were a sweet lad when he were in his cups. But Zounds! Does he love to flirt with the lasses!"

[nolabear]

31. <<<batting eyelashes>>>

[Aristus]

34. Are you batting your lashes at me or at Will?

[LiberalEsto]

15. Wherefore art he Romeo?

I've always wondered.

[Aristus]

18. Romeo was a Montague, and the enemy of Juliet's family, the Capulets.

Juliet is asking why it had to be that her love had to be an enemy. "Wherefore" means why not where.

[libodem]

20. Well now we are all a little wiser

I've always wanted to meet CaliforniaPeggy. I see her up thread.

[LiberalEsto]

22. I know what wherefore means.

I was wondering why he was Romeo.

[Aristus]

23. Okay. Here goes: When two Montagues love each other very much...

[LiberalEsto]

24. Yes, but why did they have to name him Romeo?

Why not Guido? Or Vinnie?

[Lady Freedom Returns]

19. Good evening Aristus!

And to you to Will!

[Aristus]

21. Will just brightened up!

"More ale in me cup, then! She's HERE!

Lady: I love you more than word can wield the matter.
Dearer than eyesight, space, or liberty
Beyond what can be valued, rich or rare.
No less than life, with health, grace, beauty, honor.
As much as child 'ere loved, or father found.
Beyond all manner of so much....I love you"

Don't trust his words, LFR. He's quoting King Lear.

[Lady Freedom Returns]

25. Please tell Will...

"I want that glib and oily art. To speak and purpose not."

[Aristus]

26. "Well done, lass!

Come nigh and I'll give thee a buss on the lips!"

Okay, LFR, I think he liked that!

[Lady Freedom Returns]

28. He should.

He wrote them after all!



King Lear to answer King Lear!

[Sedona]

27. Did Olphelia really kill herself

or just did she accidentally drown?

[Aristus]

29. "Oy! It's a mystery, innit?"

"What do you think, lass?"

He's being enigmatic. Pay no attention...

[Lady Freedom Returns]

32. Careful Sedona!

Will is a ladies man.

You ask him a question. He starts to give you an answer, then invites you over to a quiet table. You find that his words are as intoxicating as the drink he orders for you. As the night continues, you find yourself hanging on every word. They start to become like the air you breath, a sweet necessity.

When the night draws to an end, he takes you to your door. Leaves you with a tender kiss as sweet as his words. You go to bed with his words echoing through your mind. You lay there, your heart refuses to settle. An ache deep within that yearn for more of those sweet words will not let you rest...


Wow, it is getting hot around here or is it just me???

[Aristus]

35. It's you, LFR!

Listen: There's a story that a woman waited backstage for Richard Burbage after a performance of one or another of Will's plays, and asked the stage boy to tell Burbage the she had invited him back to her place. And to call by the name of 'Richard The Lionheart'.

Somehow, Will found out about this, and zipped on over to her house, and had a very nice time after introducing himself as 'Richard'. (The lady in question must have thought the difference in looks was due to stage makeup)

When Burbage showed up at her door, and asked to be admitted by the name of 'Richard the Lionheart', Will sent a message back: "William The Conqueror came before Richard The Lionheart."

Whenever I ask Will if this tale is actually true, he just smiles and says nothing...

[Lady Freedom Returns]

38. Will words do have ways to take many a Shrew!

"And may you prove, sir, master of your art!"

[Aristus]

41. He has. He has.

Oh wow! Check this out: Will just announcd to the whole tavern that he's buying a round for the whole house. "I' th'name o' the lady who has stolen me heart! The belle dame by th'name o' 'Liberty Coming Back Anon'!

Cheers, LFR!

[struggle4progress]

33. What the fug was up with Poe's raven?

[Aristus]

52. Can do.

And Will says: "Will do."

[Denninmi]

53. So, how are the two of you doing this morning?

I hope Will doesn't have a hangover this morning.

Have a good one, guys!

[Aristus]

54. I'm getting ready to start work.

Will is......somewhere......

Ah, the dissolute life of the actor/poet...

[Denninmi]

55. Ah, he's sleeping it off.

The question is, with whom?

[Lady Freedom Returns]

56. As I stated in another post...

William Shakespeare is known in history as a ladies man.