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Fiction Corner

Some people just won't stay down. He's the man behind 6 major films in the last 10 years. Considering that he died over 4 centuries ago, William Shakespeare is pretty active. Mel Gibson starred in the film of Hamlet, Michelle Pfeifer in A Midsummer Night's Dream with Calista Flockhart. Leonardo DiCaprio and Clare Danes starred in Romeo and Juliet.

The recent film 10 Things I Hate about You was based on the Shakespeare play The Taming of the Shrew. Shakespeare's plays come in three flavours: Comedy (Much Ado About Nothing, Merchant of Venice), Tragedy (Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet) and History (Henry V, Henry IV parts 1 &2). I was told at school that you could tell the difference between a Comedy and Tragedy easily. At the end of a Tragedy, everyone dies. At the end of a Comedy, everyone gets married.

Whether old Will thought marriage was a comedy is probably best left to his wife, Ann Hathaway.

In all, he wrote 37 plays and many sonnets. Having tried to write one, I know sonnets are not easy. Not only do specific lines have to rhyme, there has to be a certain rhythm to each of the fourteen lines. Sonnets are a lot harder than Drabbles. To help you along, there's a Shakespeare Magnetic Poetry set, for refrigerator-side composing. Elizabethan English must be popular!

The Royal Shakespeare Company is listed in the biographies of actors Patrick Stewart (Captain Picard in Star Trek: The Next Generation), Timothy Dalton (star of two James Bond films among others), Daniel Day-Lewis (Last of the Mohicans, The Crucible), Ralph Fiennes (Schindler's List, The English Patient), Jeremy Irons (The Man in the Iron Mask, Lolita), and many others.

Shakespeare dealt with themes like feuding families, mistaken identity, betrayal and war - subjects in which we're still interested. Give the old man a chance. Take in one of the movies based on his work and see how good, or otherwise, four hundred year old writing is.

Drabble of the Month

I couldn't decide between these two. Thanks to everyone who sent in a Drabble. I had a great time reading them. First, one from Meher Ansari, in India:

Night

11 am. Honolulu. An 'ICQ' message flashes on the computer of a student:
"Mamta online".
"Hi, Mamma. How are you?"
A watch by the computer, a parting gift from her mother, shows India time: 2:30 am! No time for an aging woman to be awake.
"Mamma, what are you doing at this time of the day. I mean night? Go to bed." She reprimands her mother lovingly.
"How's your sore throat? Gargle with warm water and take some herbal tea before you leave. You have your presentation today. All the best. Have a nice day."
"Thank you Mamma. Good night."

Now something different from D. M. Grant (a.k.a. HarlieG)

A New Orleans Night

"Hey, I'm Steve."
She glanced at him as she scrunched her bag under the seat.
"Ever been to New Orleans?" His breath already stunk of JD. She shrugged a response. He didn't take the hint.
"Paaarrrty, baby!"
Past his shoulder, she saw the full moon glancing off the silver wing. How appropriate, she thought, for my return. As the plane bounced down, Steve was finally silent. She licked her lips. Rolling her bag off the plane, she savored the lingering taste of iron laced with the sour taste of JD. She sighed. The first drink home is always the best!

The Drabble theme for November is betrayal (due October 15th), the theme for December is Millennium (due November 15th) and the theme for January is stars (due December 15th).

Send your Drabbles to me.

Happy Drabbling!