- 10 October 2014
Monday, 31 October 2016
Sunday, 30 October 2016
Last minute costume ideas!
Saturday, 29 October 2016
Friday, 28 October 2016
Thursday, 27 October 2016
Wednesday, 26 October 2016
Tuesday, 25 October 2016
Monday, 24 October 2016
An interesting article in The Guardian today...
Christopher Marlowe credited
as one of Shakespeare's co-writers
Dramatists to appear jointly on title pages of Henry VI, Parts One, Two and
Three in the New Oxford Shakespeare after analysis by team of 23 academics
A portrait discovered at
Corpus Christi College in Cambridge in 1952 that is purportedly of Christopher
Marlowe. Photograph: Corpus Christi College
Sunday 23 October 2016 22.00
The long-held suggestion that
Christopher Marlowe was William Shakespeare is now widely dismissed, along with other
authorship theories. But Marlowe is enjoying the next best thing – taking
centre stage alongside his great Elizabethan rival with a credit as co-writer
of the three Henry VI plays.
The two dramatists will appear jointly on each of the three title pages of
the plays within the New Oxford Shakespeare, a landmark project to be published
by Oxford University Press this month.
Using old-fashioned scholarship and 21st-century computerised tools to
analyse texts, the edition’s international scholars have contended that
Shakespeare’s collaboration with other playwrights was far more extensive than
has been realised until now.
Henry VI, Parts One, Two and Three are among as many as 17 plays that they
now believe contain writing by other people, sometimes several hands. It more
than doubles the figure in the previous Oxford Shakespeare, published 30 years
ago.
Marlowe’s hand in parts of the Henry VI plays has been suspected since the
18th century but this marks the first prominent billing in an edition of
Shakespeare’s collected works.
The Hollow Crown on BBC, part of which is adapted from the Henry VI plays.
Photograph: Robert Viglasky/BBC/Carnival Film & Television Ltd/Robert
Viglasky
A team of 23 academics from five countries completed the research, headed
by four professors as general editors: Gary Taylor (Florida State University,
US) John Jowett (Shakespeare Institute, University of Birmingham), Terri Bourus
(Indiana University, Indianapolis, US) and Gabriel Egan (De Montfort
University, Leicester).
Taylor told the Guardian: “The orthodox view was that Shakespeare didn’t
collaborate at all. When the Oxford Shakespeare in 1986 proposed that eight
plays of Shakespeare contained writing by other writers, some people were
outraged. What has happened since 1986 is that the accumulation of new
scholarship, techniques and resources has made it clear that, in 1986, we
underestimated the amount of Shakespeare’s work that’s collaborative.”
He said: “In 1986, eight of 39 plays were identified on their title pages
as collaborative, a little more than 20%. In 2016, 17 of 44 plays are
identified, a little more than 38%, close to two-fifths.”
Some are said to be collaborations, with Shakespeare apparently working
side-by-side with other writers, as with Marlowe on Henry VI. Others are
adaptations, where additions were made to works before their printed
publication, as with Thomas Middleton, who is now credited for the first time
on the title page of All’s Well That Ends Well.
Taylor said these editions of
the Henry VI plays are the first to identify Marlowe as the co-author. “We have
been able to verify Marlowe’s presence in those three plays strongly and
clearly enough,” he added.
The idea that there might be two layers of writing in All’s Well That Ends
Well goes back to the 19th century, he added: “But we are the first edition to
have provided detailed empirical evidence … and to have concluded that the
original layer is entirely by Shakespeare, probably in 1605, and the second
layer is by Middleton, in the early 1620s,” said Taylor.
The findings shed new light on the supposed rivalry between Marlowe and
Shakespeare. Taylor added: “We can now be confident that they didn’t just
influence each other, but they worked with each other. Rivals sometimes collaborate.”
Judi Dench as Countess Rossillion and Claudie Blakley as Helena in All’s
Well That Ends Well. The play is now co-credited to Thomas Middleton.
Photograph: Tristram Kenton for the Guardian
Publication of the New Oxford Shakespeare’s four volumes, as well as a
digital edition, is staggered between 27 October and December. It includes the
complete works in both original and modern spelling and punctuation,
explanatory notes and essays and an authorship companion, with research in
attribution studies.
Among texts that have never before been in a complete works of the Bard is
Arden of Faversham, which was anonymously published in 1592. Now it is jointly
credited to anonymous and Shakespeare.
Taylor said: “People for centuries have argued about whether Shakespeare is
in some way connected to that play. We’re identifying it as an early
collaborative play of Shakespeare’s. We’re identifying him in several of the
middle scenes. There is very strong, compelling evidence. We have provided a
lot of new evidence.”
They are yet to identify the other author, but have ruled out previously
suggested candidates such as Marlowe and Thomas Kyd.
The difficulty is that the majority of plays written in the 1570s and 1580s
have not survived and are known only from their titles. Much of what does
survive is anonymous.
Expanding the Shakespeare canon, the new study marks the first time that a
complete works has included additions to Kyd’s The Spanish Tragedy, identifying
Shakespeare as the author of the painter’s scene.
Decisions have been swayed by a complex jigsaw of different kinds of
evidence. The researchers believe that computerised textual analysis is now so
sophisticated that they can even distinguish between Shakespeare writing under
Marlowe’s influence and Marlowe writing alone.
One piece of evidence identified five “Shakespeare-plus words”: gentle,
answer, beseech, spoke, tonight. Taylor explained: “What we mean by
Shakespeare-plus is that we’ve looked at the frequency of certain words which
might seem commonplace like ‘tonight’ in all the plays of that early period,
say up to 1600. Anybody could use any of these words. They’re not words that
Shakespeare invented. But we can say Shakespeare used ‘tonight’ much more often
than other playwrights in those 20 years.
“Shakespeare-minus words … are much less likely to appear in a Shakespeare
play. So, this is a statistical argument … not simply statistics about
individual words, but combinations of individual words. With Marlowe, for
example, combinations of words such as ‘glory droopeth’ appear to be unique to
him in that period.
“Recent studies by specialists already agree that Shakespeare did not write
the passage where Joan of Arc pleads for help from demonic spirits and then is
captured by the English [Part One, 5.3, 5.4]. We have added new evidence from
‘unique n-grams’: that is, phrases that occur in the passage being tested.
Marlowe’s works contain many more such parallels than any other playwright,”
Taylor added.
Other words and phrases identified as commonly occurring in Marlowe works
include “familiar spirit, cull out, regions under earth, oh hold me, to your
wonted, see, forsake me, droopeth to, curse, miscreant, ugly, change, shape
thou, change my shape, suddenly surprise, your dainty, fell and enchantress”.
Taylor acknowledges that doubts may be cast on their conclusions: “You
can’t say anything about Shakespeare without somebody disagreeing with you …
But our knowledge of the past increases by debate of this kind.”
Marlowe’s life of myth and mystery
The life of Christopher Marlowe has long been pored over for
evidence that he wrote a handful of William Shakepeare’s works. The scholar JB
Steane said in 1969 there were so many rumours it would be absurd to dismiss
them all as part of the “Marlowe Myth”.
Few undisputed facts exist about the playwright’s life, but he was baptised
in Canterbury on 26 February 1564. The son of a shoemaker, Marlowe attended the
King’s school in Canterbury before being awarded a scholarship to Corpus
Christi College, Cambridge, where he received his BA degree in 1584.
Marlowe took lengthy absences and the university was about to refuse him a
master’s degree when, in 1587, the Privy Council wrote to compliment his “good
service” to the Queen on “matters touching the benefit of his country”. The
letter prompted the theory that he had been a secret agent for Elizabeth I’s
“spymaster”, Sir Francis Walsingham.
His plays were wildly popular for the brief period that he was on the
Elizabethan literary scene. Dido, Queen of Carthage is thought to have been his
first. Tamburlaine the Great, among the first English plays in blank verse, was
written around 1587; the Jew of Malta, is thought to have been written around
1589, and Doctor Faustus was first performed between 1588 and 1593.
His death in Deptford in May 1593, aged 29, has provoked years of
speculation, from the Queen ordering his assassination because of his atheism,
to his being killed by a love rival.
In 1925, the scholar Leslie Hotson published the coroner’s report in his
book The Death of Christopher Marlowe. Witnesses testified that he was stabbed
in the eye during a fight over payment of a bill and died instantly.
The
document did not end speculation, with some supporting the theory that Marlowe
faked his death and continued to write as Shakespeare.
Sunday, 23 October 2016
Saturday, 22 October 2016
Yesterday's game was won by Pegasus...
Indeed, she understood that these were conkers (horse chestnuts) used in Conker Fights by children in England.
You will notice the uniforms...
Here's an article about this tradition:
Conker fights: Is it the end for the playground game?
Small, shiny and glowing with the promise of autumn, conkers were once irresistible to generations of children who baked them in ovens, dipped them in vinegar and put them on strings to enjoy playground conker fights. But, as record numbers of conkers fall from trees, the trend appears to be falling from fashion. BBC News Online asks why.
As Aileen Francis
and her two sons make one of their regular trips to their local sports
centre, in Nottingham, they pass a line of horse chestnut trees.
Aileen's sons - aged 10 and 12 - dart forward and fill their bags and pockets with conkers.
"They
love collecting them - we come home with massive bagfuls," said Mrs
Francis. "But they don't have conker fights any more. I don't know
anybody that does."
Parents say their children are more interested in collecting conkers than fighting with them
Children's disdain for conkers is something of a mystery.
"When
I was at school, people would put them on string. But lately, there's
not one child I have seen play with a conker on a string," said Mrs
Francis.
"I'm not sure if they would be banned in schools because
of health and safety. I don't think schools would want parents
complaining if their children got hurt in a conker fight.
"I also
think parents have less time to supervise their children baking conkers
in ovens and then drilling holes in them - I wouldn't want mine doing
that unsupervised. There's less time for old-fashioned play -
particularly when children have tablets and computer games to entertain
them."
Conker fights were a popular part of playground games in autumns gone by
In the early 2000s, a myth sprang up that the Health
and Safety Executive (HSE) had banned conker fights. The HSE was even
forced to put a denial on its website, describing the story as, "an old chestnut". [pun! Mrs P.]
Some schools took to allowing their children to take part in fights provided they were wearing protective goggles - Cummersdale Primary School, in Cumbria, was one such school.
The
school's current head teacher, Gareth Jones, says he would not object
if children wanted to play with conkers - and the protective goggles
would not be necessary - but many do not.
"It's hard to know why - they just don't seem very interested in conkers any more," he said.
One
school - Cleve House in Knowle, Bristol - has sought to revive the
tradition by staging conker tournaments for the past two years with a
trophy for the winner.
Joint head Elaine Lawson said the idea was prompted by children bringing conkers into school and asking how to play.
"I
think they had heard about conker fights at home and were keen to do
something like that, so we made it into a bit of a tournament with a
trophy," she said.
Mrs Lawson said it was "a pity" the school
probably would not be able to leave children to play with conkers
outside of a tournament, "for safety's sake".
"There has always been a risk attached to conkers, but more people seem more aware of it now," she said.
"Also,
children are much less used to playing with them. Twenty years ago,
children were playing conkers all the time - down the park, or on the
street with their friends. Today, they don't know how to play as much."
Some schools, like Cleve House, in Bristol, say it is important to keep playground games alive
Mrs Lawson added she had noticed today's children
had fewer play skills than their predecessors - which is why it was
important to keep traditional games like conkers alive.
"Games
today either have to be organised, or sometimes children will copy
something they have seen on TV, but they are rarely spontaneous," she
said. "What we call 'old-fashioned games' is, in fact, just something
children have always done for sheer pleasure."
All the more pity
because the time is ripe for conkers, with more of the seeds in
abundance than experts have seen for a long time.
"It has been an exceptional year," said David Knott, curator at Edinburgh's Royal Botanic Gardens.
"We
had a very mild winter, while spring was excellent for pollinating
insects which has led to a very good fruiting year for trees. They have
also ripened marginally earlier.
"Horse chestnut trees are
actually native to Northern Greece and Albania, so the conditions we
have seen this year are more akin to their natural environment."
The
organisers of the World Conker Championships, which are being held in
Oundle, Northamptonshire, on Sunday, agreed there had been a "bumper
crop".
In 2012, the Scottish Conker Championships were cancelled because of a lack of conkers.
This year however, the organisers of both competitions say conkers are bigger and better than ever.
Nicola Hunt, who judges the Scottish championships - being held in Peebles this year - says the crop is "outstanding".
"We
are just out gathering them at the moment," she said. "We possibly do
have less children taking part, but there is the great joy of foraging
conkers - I don't think kids ever get tired of that. It's just they're
not going on to play games as much as they used to."
And while
children's interest may be diminishing, Mrs Hunt says their parents'
love of the game is as strong as ever - in fact, it may be growing.
"In
the seven years we have been running the competition, we have seen more
and more adults taking part - they're just big kids," she said.
So, can she imagine conker fights continuing to grow as a niche interest but maybe led by adults, rather than children?
"Possibly," she said. "It's a really fun game that just epitomises autumn."
------------------------------------------------------------
And here is a video of a championship:
And if you're interested in starting your own competition, an "How-to" video:
----------------------------------------------------------
[I personaly tried this recently thanks to an English friend and found it very amusing but definitely dangerous for the untrained people such as me! Mrs P.]
[I personaly tried this recently thanks to an English friend and found it very amusing but definitely dangerous for the untrained people such as me! Mrs P.]
Friday, 21 October 2016
Game! game! game!
What are these? What is it for? Clue: a tradition
As usual, the first good answer in the comments wins!
Wednesday, 19 October 2016
Meet Chenle...
Hello!
I'm Chenle for this blog.
I'm seventeen years old and
I'm a girl. I live in France in the Berry countryside. My high
school is in Bourges.
In my life I like to spend a
good time with my friends. And share lots of things with them. In my everyday life I'm optimistic even for the negative things.
What I prefer is
travelling and being cut from my frrench habits.
Travelling gives us
another vision of the world and allows us to discover other populations
quite more interestingfor some than the others.
The nicest is to eat
the food which is totally different from ours.
The beautiful landscape remains in the head most of the time !
To finishe, after school,
I watch movie to unwind or bring into other universes more or less
funny.
I prefer french movies like:
Respire; directed by Melanie laurent and movies about the stories
of the war like "Invictus" about Nelson Mandela,
directed by Clint Eastwood.
Tuesday, 18 October 2016
DZ-PNL 18 : who's being this licence plate number?
Hi everyone ! I'm Dz-Pnl18, I'm 17 years old and I was born on December 12, In Vierzon.
This year is my last in my high school, in Bourges.
In my family we’re 3 sisters and my parents, but I live with my mother and one of my sisters.
In my family we’re 3 sisters and my parents, but I live with my mother and one of my sisters.
The other one is married, with kids… and live in Orléans.
My father lives alone in Vierzon.
I’m Algerian from my two parents' side and a big part of my family live in Algeria that’s why I go every year and I like this because this permits me to get closer to my family and my culture.
I still don't know what profession I will exactly do when I am older but I have several ideas like being a lawyer, a social worker or working in the psychology field.
As you could guess, I want to have a job with social and human communication that will permit me to help people who need it because I enjoy this.
With my friends for example, I like being there when they're not okay about whatever, seeing their smile always makes me happy.
I like any style of music. I'm someone eclectic even if I have a preference for French and US rap. My favorite are PNL, a group of two french rappers who are also brothers.
I like any style of music. I'm someone eclectic even if I have a preference for French and US rap. My favorite are PNL, a group of two french rappers who are also brothers.
They have Algerian and Corsican Origin.
Their songs are about surbuban living and the difficult life of those youngs people who grew up in ghettos. With the lyrics of their song we can easily identify to them when they were younger and also have an idea of their difficult teenager past.
I don't watch a lot of movies but High School Musical is the movie that marked my childhood. I fell in love with the TV show Vampire Diaries .
It's been my favorite tv show, after Grey's Anatomy and 90210.
And to finish, thanks for reading me !
You who are reading my presentation, take care of you !!
Their songs are about surbuban living and the difficult life of those youngs people who grew up in ghettos. With the lyrics of their song we can easily identify to them when they were younger and also have an idea of their difficult teenager past.
I don't watch a lot of movies but High School Musical is the movie that marked my childhood. I fell in love with the TV show Vampire Diaries .
It's been my favorite tv show, after Grey's Anatomy and 90210.
And to finish, thanks for reading me !
You who are reading my presentation, take care of you !!
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