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What A Piece Of Work Is A Man
"What a piece of work is a man!" is a phrase within a monologue by Prince Hamlet in William Shakespeare's play ''Hamlet''. Hamlet is reflecting, at first admiringly, and then despairingly, on the human condition. The speech The monologue, spoken in the play by Prince Hamlet to Rosencrantz and Guildenstern in Act II, Scene 2, follows in its entirety. Rather than appearing in blank verse, the typical mode of composition of Shakespeare's plays, the speech appears in straight prose: Differences between texts The speech was fully omitted from Nicholas Ling's 1603 First Quarto, which reads simply: This version has been argued to have been a bad quarto, a tourbook copy, or an initial draft. By the 1604 Second Quarto, the speech is essentially present but punctuated differently: Then, by the 1623 First Folio, it appeared as: J. Dover Wilson, in his notes in the ''New Shakespeare'' edition, observed that the Folio text "involves two grave difficulties", namely that according to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Prince Hamlet
A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. The female equivalent is a princess. The English word derives, via the French word ''prince'', from the Latin noun , from (first) and (head), meaning "the first, foremost, the chief, most distinguished, noble ruler, prince". Historical background The Latin word (older Latin *prīsmo-kaps, literally "the one who takes the first lace/position), became the usual title of the informal leader of the Roman senate some centuries before the transition to empire, the ''princeps senatus''. Emperor Augustus established the formal position of monarch on the basis of principate, not dominion. He also tasked his grandsons as summer rulers of the city when most of the government were on holiday in the country or attending religious rituals, and, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gettysburg (1993 Film)
''Gettysburg'' is a 1993 American epic war film about the Battle of Gettysburg in the American Civil War. Written and directed by Ronald F. Maxwell, the film was adapted from the 1974 historical novel ''The Killer Angels'' by Michael Shaara. It features an ensemble cast, including Tom Berenger as James Longstreet, Jeff Daniels as Joshua Chamberlain, Martin Sheen as Robert E. Lee, Stephen Lang as George Pickett, and Sam Elliott as John Buford. Originally filmed as a miniseries for TNT, ''Gettysburg'' received a limited theatrical release from New Line Cinema under the direction of Ted Turner, who owned both entities. At 254 minutes (4 hours and 14 minutes), it is one of the longest films released by a major film studio in the United States. It received positive reviews from critics, but grossed only $12.7 million on a $20 million budget. It was however considered a hit regardless, due to its immediate TNT premiere ratings success, and subsequent home video sales. A pre ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Reduced Shakespeare Company
The Reduced Shakespeare Company (RSC) is an American touring acting troupe that performs fast-paced, seemingly improvisational condensations of different topics. The company's style has been described as "New Vaudeville," combining both physical and verbal humor, as well as highbrow and lowbrow. Known as the "Bad Boys of Abridgment," the RSC has created ten stage shows: ''The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged)'' in 1987, ''The Complete History of America (abridged)'' in 1992, ''The Bible: The Complete Word of God (abridged)'' in 1995, ''The Complete Millennium Musical (abridged)'' in 1998, ''All the Great Books (abridged)'' in 2002, ''Completely Hollywood (abridged)'' in 2005, ''The Complete World of Sports (abridged)'' in 2010, ''The Ultimate Christmas Show (abridged)'' in 2011, ''The Complete History of Comedy (abridged)'' in 2013 and ''William Shakespeare's Long Lost First Play (abridged)'' in 2016. The company tours in the US and UK, and has performed in Belgium, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hair (musical)
''Hair: The American Tribal Love-Rock Musical'' is a rock musical with a book and lyrics by Gerome Ragni and James Rado and music by Galt MacDermot. The work reflects the creators' observations of the hippie counterculture and sexual revolution of the late 1960s, and several of its songs became anthems of the anti-Vietnam War peace movement. The musical's profanity, its depiction of the use of illegal drugs, its treatment of sexuality, its irreverence for the American flag, and its nude scene caused much comment and controversy. The work broke new ground in musical theatre by defining the genre of "rock musical", using a racially integrated cast, and inviting the audience onstage for a " Be-In" finale.Pacheco, Patrick (June 17, 2001)."Peace, Love and Freedom Party" ''Los Angeles Times'', p. 1. Retrieved on June 10, 2008 ''Hair'' tells the story of the "tribe", a group of politically active, long-haired hippies of the " Age of Aquarius" living a bohemian life in New York C ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rock Musical
A rock musical is a musical theatre work with rock music. The genre of rock musical may overlap somewhat with album musicals, concept albums and song cycles, as they sometimes tell a story through the rock music, and some album musicals and concept albums become rock musicals. Notable examples of rock musicals include ''Next to Normal'', '' Spring Awakening'', ''Rent'', '' Grease'', and ''Hair''. The Who's ''Tommy'' and other rock operas are sometimes presented on stage as a musical. History The first musical to hint at what was to come was the final Ziegfeld Follies in 1957. This production featured one rock and roll number, "The Juvenile Delinquent", performed by fifty-year-old Billy De Wolfe. This was followed by another precursor to the rock musical, ''Bye Bye Birdie'' (1960), which included two rock and roll numbers. The rock musical became an important part of the musical theatre scene in the late 1960s with the hit show ''Hair''. Styled "The American Tribal Love-Rock Musical ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Marlovian Theory Of Shakespeare Authorship
The Marlovian theory of Shakespeare authorship holds that the Elizabethan poet and playwright Christopher Marlowe was the main author of the poems and plays attributed to William Shakespeare. Further, the theory says Marlowe did not die in Deptford on 30 May 1593, as the historical records state, but that his death was faked. Marlovians (as those who subscribe to the theory are usually called) base their argument on supposed anomalies surrounding Marlowe's reported death and on the significant influence which, according to most scholars, Marlowe's works had on those of Shakespeare. They also point out the coincidence that, despite their having been born only two months apart, the first time the name William Shakespeare is known to have been connected with any literary work was with the publication of ''Venus and Adonis'' just a week or two after the death of Marlowe. The argument against this is that Marlowe's death was accepted as genuine by sixteen jurors at an inquest held ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shakespeare
William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the " Bard of Avon" (or simply "the Bard"). His extant works, including collaborations, consist of some 39 plays, 154 sonnets, three long narrative poems, and a few other verses, some of uncertain authorship. His plays have been translated into every major living language and are performed more often than those of any other playwright. He remains arguably the most influential writer in the English language, and his works continue to be studied and reinterpreted. Shakespeare was born and raised in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire. At the age of 18, he married Anne Hathaway, with whom he had three children: Susanna Hall, Susanna, and twins Hamnet Shakespeare, Hamnet and Judith Quiney, Judith. Sometime between 1585 and 1592, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tom Hiddleston
Thomas William Hiddleston (born 9 February 1981) is an English actor. He gained international fame portraying Loki in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), starting with ''Thor'' in 2011 and most recently in the Disney+ series ''Loki'' in 2021. He started his film career in the Joanna Hogg films ''Unrelated'' (2007) and ''Archipelago'' (2010). In 2011, Hiddleston portrayed F. Scott Fitzgerald in Woody Allen's romantic comedy ''Midnight in Paris'', and appeared in Steven Spielberg's ''War Horse.'' That year, he won the Empire Award for Best Male Newcomer and was nominated for the BAFTA Rising Star Award. He continued working with auteurs in independent films including Terence Davies' '' The Deep Blue Sea'' (2012), Jim Jarmusch's romantic vampire film ''Only Lovers Left Alive'' (2013) and Guillermo del Toro's ''Crimson Peak'' (2015). He also starred in Ben Wheatley's action film ''High Rise,'' and played the troubled country music singer Hank Williams in the biopic '' I Saw T ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jim Jarmusch
James Robert Jarmusch (; born January 22, 1953) is an American film director and screenwriter. He has been a major proponent of independent cinema since the 1980s, directing films including '' Stranger Than Paradise'' (1984), '' Down by Law'' (1986), ''Mystery Train'' (1989), ''Dead Man'' (1995), '' Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai'' (1999), ''Coffee and Cigarettes'' (2003), '' Broken Flowers'' (2005), ''Only Lovers Left Alive'' (2013), '' Paterson'' (2016), and '' The Dead Don't Die'' (2019). ''Stranger Than Paradise'' was added to the National Film Registry in December 2002. As a musician Jarmusch has composed music for his films and released three albums with Jozef van Wissem. Early life Jarmusch was born in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, the middle of three children of middle-class suburbanites. His mother, of German and Irish descent, had been a reviewer of film and theatre for the ''Akron Beacon Journal'' before marrying his father, a businessman of Czech and German descent who wo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Only Lovers Left Alive
''Only Lovers Left Alive'' is a 2013 fantasy comedy-drama film written and directed by Jim Jarmusch, starring Tilda Swinton, Tom Hiddleston, Mia Wasikowska, Anton Yelchin, Jeffrey Wright, Slimane Dazi and John Hurt. An international co-production of the United Kingdom and Germany, the film focuses on the romance between two vampires, and was nominated for the Palme d'Or at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival. In 2016, the film was ranked among the BBC's 100 Greatest Films of the 21st Century by 177 critics around the world. In late 2019, it was named the fourth greatest film of the 2010s by ''The Hollywood Reporter''s chief film critic Todd McCarthy. Plot Married for centuries and now living half a world apart, two vampires wake as the sun goes down. Adam sits holding a lute, in his cluttered Detroit Victorian, as Eve wakes up in her bedroom in Tangier, surrounded by books. Rather than feeding on humans directly, they are dependent on local suppliers of the "good stuff," for fear of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Coraline (film)
''Coraline'' is a 2009 American stop-motion animated dark fantasy horror film written and directed by Henry Selick and based on Neil Gaiman's novella of the same name. Produced by Laika as the studio's first feature film, it features the voice talents of Dakota Fanning, Teri Hatcher, Jennifer Saunders, Dawn French, Keith David, John Hodgman, Robert Bailey Jr., and Ian McShane. The film tells the story of its titular character discovering an idealized parallel universe behind a secret door in her new home, unaware that it contains a dark and sinister secret. Just as Gaiman was finishing his novella in 2002, he met Selick and invited him to make a film adaptation, as Gaiman was a fan of Selick's ''The Nightmare Before Christmas'' and ''James and the Giant Peach''. When Selick thought that a direct adaptation would lead to "maybe a 47-minute movie", the screenplay had some expansions, like the introduction of Wybie, who was not present in the original novel. Selick invited Japanes ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Infinite Monkey Theorem
The infinite monkey theorem states that a monkey hitting keys at random on a typewriter keyboard for an infinite amount of time will almost surely type any given text, such as the complete works of William Shakespeare. In fact, the monkey would almost surely type every possible finite text an infinite number of times. However, the probability that monkeys filling the entire observable universe would type a single complete work, such as Shakespeare's ''Hamlet'', is so tiny that the chance of it occurring during a period of time hundreds of thousands of orders of magnitude longer than the age of the universe is ''extremely'' low (but technically not zero). The theorem can be generalized to state that any sequence of events which has a non-zero probability of happening will almost certainly eventually occur, given enough time. In this context, "almost surely" is a mathematical term meaning the event happens with probability 1, and the "monkey" is not an actual monkey, but a metaphor ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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