Shakespeare Electronic Conference, Vol. 5, No. 0709. Saturday, 2 September 1994.
(1) From: Pedro Rubim de Pinho Accioli Doria <This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.>
Date: Wednesday, 31 Aug 1994 22:53:45 -0300
Subj: Caesar!
(2) From: John Cox <This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.>
Date: Thursday, 01 Sep 1994 14:56:18 -0500 (EST)
Subj: Branagh's *Much Ado*
(3) From: James O'Meara <This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.>
Date: Thursday, 1 Sep 1994 13:53:50 -0
Subj: Shakespeare Societies
(4) From: Tom Ellis <This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.>
Date: Friday, 02 Sep 1994 21:53:52 -0400 (EDT)
Subj: Quid Shakespeare cum Gaia
(1)----------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Pedro Rubim de Pinho Accioli Doria <This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.>
Date: Wednesday, 31 Aug 1994 22:53:45 -0300
Subject: Caesar!
I'm writing an article on Shakespeare's "Julius Caesar". Since it is basically
on a review of one setting that's taking place in Rio de Janeiro, I'm
interested to know about other theaters around the world that have performed it
or even movies (yes, I've seen both the BBC TV's and Marlon Brando's --
outstanding! -- versions).
What would Shakespereans comment about it? I'll surely list everybody that's
able to help me with some sort of info.
Thanks a lot,
Pedro R. Doria director to "Nos Enquanto Eles" group
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
(2)----------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: John Cox <This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.>
Date: Thursday, 01 Sep 1994 14:56:18 -0500 (EST)
Subject: Branagh's *Much Ado*
Does anyone know if Branagh's *Much Ado* is commercially available on
videotape? If you have a price and address, I'd be grateful.
John Cox
(3)----------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: James O'Meara <This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.>
Date: Thursday, 1 Sep 1994 13:53:50 -0700
Subject: Shakespeare Societies
I obtained your name/address from "The Internet Directory." I am a librarian
in New York City. I have been asked to locate associations in NYC dealing with
Shakespeare. Incredibly, neither the Encyclopedia of Associations nor the New
York Public Library can turn up any evidence of them! Any assistance would be
appreciated; do you know of any, or would it be possible to post this query to
you e-list?
Cordially,
James O'Meara
[NOTA BENE: Mr. O'Meara is NOT a member of SHAKSPER. If you respond to this
query, please address or forward a copy of your response DIRECTLY to James
O'Meara at <This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.>. --HMC]
(4)----------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Tom Ellis <This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.>
Date: Friday, 02 Sep 1994 21:53:52 -0400 (EDT)
Subject: Quid Shakespeare cum Gaia
This may seem (and probably is) completely off the wall, but I am currently
pursuing a new slant on the hoary old "nature/nurture" dichotomy in
Shakespeare. I'll begin with two pertinent passages
(1) "The Earth that's Nature's mother is her tomb;
What is her burying grave, that is her womb;
And from her womb, children of divers kind
We sucking on her natural bosom find;
Many for many virtues excellent;
None but for some, and yet all different.
O mickle is the powerful grace that lies
In plants, herbs, stones, and their true qualities.
For nought so vile that on the Earth doth live
But to the Earth some special good doth give;
Nor aught so good but, strain'd from that fair use,
Revolts from true birth, stumbling on abuse.
Virtue itself turns vice being misapplied;
And vice sometim's by action dignified..."
(2) PERDITA: For I have heard it said there is an Art
that in their piedness shares with Great Creating Nature.
POLIXENES: Say there be;
Yet nature is made better by no mean
But nature makes that mean. So over and above
That art which you say adds to Nature
Is an art that Nature makes...
[You all know the rest. This is from memory; my anthology is downstairs]
I often bring these passages to my students' attention because I feel they
anticipate, in interesting ways, many of the epistemological and ethical issues
confronting us in today's global ecological crisis.
Which brings me back to my original query (or koan, perhaps):
Quid Shakespeare cum Gaia? What hath Shakespeare to do (if anything) with
contemporary debates about the relationship between humanity and nature, as
these affect our (dwindling) chances for survival into or beyond the 21st
century. Is this a non-issue? Or can one legitimately talk about Shakespeare's
moral ecology?
Teasingly,
--Tom Ellis