CELEBRATING MIDSUMMER IN TUDOR TIMES

“Whatever is dreamed on this night, will come to pass.”   

William Shakespeare, "A Midsummer Night's dream"

Shakespeare wrote of the enchantments of summer solstice. Each year, on a day between June 20-June 24, we have solstice — the longest day of the year. This day has been celebrated throughout history as a day of magic. Many countries in the northern hemisphere receive 24 hours of daylight.Let’s look into the mystery of this celebration and see how Midsummer was experienced in Tudor England.

PLAYS WITHIN PLAYS

One of Shakespeare’s techniques is the dramatic convention of a play-within-a-play, popular in Elizabethan times and used in several of his works including A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Taming of the Shrew, Love’s Labour’s Lost, and, most importantly, Hamlet. It is important to note that he wasn’t the first to use such technique. Read here.

In A Midsummer Night's Dream  the most obvious example is the laborers' performance of Pyramus and Thisbe, and their inept production serves three important functions in the larger structure of the larger play. Read here.

THE KING ON NETFLIX

Shakespeare’s plays have been a source of entertainment for centuries on the page, the stage and the screen. Director David Michôd’s The King is the latest entry in the vast body of adaptations of the Bard’s works. The movie follows the life of a young Prince Hal, from his days of drinking and gambling to his eventual rise to the throne of England as Henry V.  The young king must navigate palace politics, betrayal, the war his tyrannical father left behind, and the emotional strings of his past life — including his relationship with his closest friend and mentor, the ageing alcoholic knight, John Falstaff. Read here.

https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-king-movie-review-2019 https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/true-story-henry-v

SPANISH AUTHOR CARLOS RUIZ ZAFON HAS DIED AT 55

Carlos Ruiz Zafón, the Spanish author of internationally bestselling novels including The Shadow of the Wind, has died at the age of 55.

The novelist, who was frequently described as the most-read Spanish author since Cervantes, died on Friday at his home in Los Angeles, his publisher Planeta announced. Read here.

"Every book, every volume you see, has a soul. The soul of the person who wrote it and the soul of those who read it and lived it and dreamed about it."

JAMES JOYCE'S DUBLINERS

Dubliners by James Joyce was first published on 15 June 1914.

Though James Joyce began these stories of Dublin life in 1904 when he was twenty-two and completed them in 1907, their unconventional themes and language led to repeated rejections by publishers and delayed publication until 1914. His story The Dead has come to be seen as one of the most powerful evocations of human loss and longing that the English language possesses; all the other stories in Dubliners are as beautifully turned and as greatly admired. They remind us once again that James Joyce was not only Modernism’s chief innovator, but also one of its most intimate and poetic writers.

THE MERRY WIVES OF WINDSOR

Double-meanings, disguises and dirty laundry abound in this timeless comedy. Sir John Falstaff, staying in Windsor and down on his luck, decides to restore his fortunes by seducing the wives of two wealthy citizens. But the "Merry Wives" quickly cotton on to his tricks and decide to have a bit of fun of their own at Falstaff’s expense …

The women of the play win over the men, and the poorly-behaved Falstaff is made to pay for his treatment of women.

Read here and here.

THE LEGEND OF ROBIN HOOD

 

The subject of ballads, books and films, Robin Hood has proven to be one of popular culture’s most enduring folk heroes. Over the course of 700 years, the outlaw from Nottinghamshire who robs from the rich to give to the poor has emerged as one of the most enduring folk heroes in popular culture. But how has the legend of Sherwood Forest’s merry outlaws evolved over time, and did a real Robin Hood inspire these classic tales?  Read here and here.

SUMMER HOMEWORK

Finally, summertime is here!

I hope you have a safe and relaxing time while you are on holiday … but don’t forget to do your English homework! Please engage in some grammar and reading activities over the summer.  

All assignments are linked here. 

THE COMMON EUROPEAN FRAMEWORK OF REFERENCE FOR LANGUAGES

REPUBLIC DAY

Italy's national day - Festa della Repubblica - is held in commemoration of the day in 1946 when Italians voted in favour of a republic and against the monarchy which had been discredited during World War Two. Read here.

LEARNING AND REVISING HISTORY

http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british

https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/subjects
https://www.heritage-history.com/index