450 jaar William Shakespeare
De Engelse dichter en schrijver William Shakespeare werd geboren in Stradford-upon-Avon op, vermoedelijk, 23 april 1564. Dat is vandaag precies 450 jaar geleden. Zie ook alle tags voor William Shakespeare op dit blog.
Uit: Romeo and Juliet, scene II
“ROMEO
I take thee at thy word.
Call me but love, and I’ll be new baptized.
Henceforth I never will be Romeo.
JULIET
What man art thou that, thus bescreened in night,
So stumblest on my counsel?
ROMEO
(to himself) She speaks. Oh, speak again, bright angel. You are as glorious as an angel tonight. You shine above me, like a winged messenger from heaven who makes mortal men fall on their backs to look up at the sky, watching the angel walking on the clouds and sailing on the air.
Leonard Whiting en Olivia Hussey in Romeo and Julie (Franco Zeffirelli, 1968)
JULIET
(not knowing ROMEO hears her) Oh, Romeo, Romeo, why do you have to be Romeo? Forget about your father and change your name. Or else, if you won’t change your name, just swear you love me and I’ll stop being a Capulet.
ROMEO
(to himself) Should I listen for more, or should I speak now?
JULIET
(still not knowing ROMEO hears her) It’s only your name that’s my enemy. You’d still be yourself even if you stopped being a Montague. What’s a Montague anyway? It isn’t a hand, a foot, an arm, a face, or any other part of a man. Oh, be some other name! What does a name mean? The thing we call a rose would smell just as sweet if we called it by any other name. Romeo would be just as perfect even if he wasn’t called Romeo. Romeo, lose your name. Trade in your name—which really has nothing to do with you—and take all of me in exchange.
ROMEO
(to JULIET) I trust your words. Just call me your love, and I will take a new name. From now on I will never be Romeo again.“
William Shakespeare (23 april 1564 – 23 april 1616)
Het “Chandos portret” in de National Portrait Gallery