Tammy’s Reviews > Asimov's Guide to Shakespeare > Status Update

He is speaking to his friends, Salerio and Solanio, not Bassiano. He thinks he was simply born to be sad. They think the chaos of business in worrying about his ships in dangerous waters and petty traffickers that he deals with weighs him down. They think about having to peer at maps and lose sleep over ships that are delayed at returning to port. My dh is retired exec, so yes, business can weigh a person down.

Merchant of Venice - Asimov gives a thumbnail sketch of the history of Venice and where this great city stood during Shakespeare's time.

MoV A1S1 Antonio is the merchant in the title. He tells two close friends that he is sad, but he does not say why. Asimov, a man grounded in the horizontal, gives a silly, psychological reason why. Ug. His friend (Bassiano) is planning to court Portia.

R&J Act III He raises an interesting point. If Mercutio had knownn about Romeo’s marriage to Juliet, he would have understood why Romeo stood aside. However, Mercutio has a loose tongue and had he known he might have said something to goad Tybalt and the end result would have been the same. He cursed both houses which goes with the foreshadowing. So, even though secrecy is causing problems, in the end fate will fate.

R&J Act I The commoners in Scene I are typical stock characters right down to their English names. Benvolio is a peacemaker as inspired by his name and Asimov explains Tybalt’s connection to Reynald the Fox. He believes that the blood feud was dying out but hot tempered youths were keeping it going. Romeo moons over Rosaline until he meets Juliet, dashing her father’s plans unbeknownst to him.

R&J Prologue - The plot sounds similar to Pyramus and Thisbe. There are two Italian poets and an English poet who came up with two characters with the names Romeo and Juliet. As always he makes changes that enhance the story. The prologue is short chorus and spotlights the ancient grudge between two families of equal dignity and honor. That tells me the point might not be the star-crossed lovers, but their families.

KJ Act V I did not care for Falconbridge at first, but he is a bit like Han Solo. He’s a rogue but he proves true in the end.

John AIV Shakespeare is like modern moviemakers who will state “inspired by true events.” He is creating art so sometimes time is compressed and stretched. In reality, Elinor outlived Constance by three years but for dramatic effects it is three days. He has Hubert do the Snow White and the huntsman thing only to have the prince jump out of tower in fear. Not even characters believe it wasn’t John.

KJ AIII SIII Asimove had a typo and put SIII stuff in SII.

AIII SII John is at th apex. He is winning; he sends his nephew to rescue mama. Philip kills Austria and proudly wears the lion’s robe. The problem is Arthur who is 15 yo. Had he died in battle it would have been a fare death. Alive, he will present a problem to John just as the princes did RIII and Mary Queen of Scots did QEI. So, he falls for temptation and tells Hugh to kill Arthur. In history, Arthur disappears.

AIII SI I did not know that the Pope could give an interdiction to all the Christians in a country if the king did not do as he was told. This happened in England and in France for basically the same reason. They could not divorce without permission of the pope (sounds familiar, eh)? Moreover, Jesuits encouraged Catholics to assassinate disobedient kings. So, QE I’s people would see the pope as an enemy.