BAWDY Venus and Adonis: stanzas 32-40, or “bottoms and hillocks and mountains, oh my!” [EXPLICIT]

[EXPLICIT CONTENT, ADULT LANGUAGE AND SOPHOMORIC SEX HUMOR AHEAD… SKIP IF EASILY OFFENDED.]

You’ve been warned: Get out now while you can.

Germaine Greer, lecturer and author of Shakespeare’s Wife, has claimed that due to its perversity, burlesque, and eroticism, Venus and Adonis was the Fifty Shades of Gray of its day. It certainly was popular–as seen in the number of editions published (16 before 1647). And Eric Partridge, he of the great dictionary Shakespeare’s Bawdy, refers to the poem as a “cornucopia of amorous phraseology” (Shakespeare’s Bawdy, Partridge, Eric. New York: Routledge Classics, 2001; page 48).

So, while the whole poem has sexual imagery (remember the few hints I mentioned on Wednesday), I’m going to focus today on stanzas 32-40, where we gets some pretty damned fine double entendre… Continue reading “BAWDY Venus and Adonis: stanzas 32-40, or “bottoms and hillocks and mountains, oh my!” [EXPLICIT]”

A month from tonight…

Yeah, I know. You were expecting me to say something about Othello opening and some such thing. But that’s only a week away. No, what I want to talk about is the latest offering from the folks over at Toil and Trouble Burlesque.

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Podcast 163: The Tempest — Ariel, the Epilogue, and a Bit o’ the Bawdy [EXPLICIT]

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[WARNING: The the first portion of the following podcast contains adult language, sexual imagery, and stuff to make you say, “Man, that’s kinda a dirty play…but only sorta” You HAVE been warned. SKIP TO THE 5:20 MARK IF  EASILY OFFENDED.]

This week’s podcast continues our prolonged discussion of The Tempest. We have some (a lil’ bit o’) bawdy, a discussion of Ariel, and a look at that final speech.

Continue reading “Podcast 163: The Tempest — Ariel, the Epilogue, and a Bit o’ the Bawdy [EXPLICIT]”

The Tempest: Welcome to Bawdy Island… [EXPLICIT]

[EXPLICIT CONTENT, ADULT LANGUAGE AND SEXUAL IMAGERY AHEAD… SKIP IF EASILY OFFENDED.]

It’s time to check out the nudge-nudge-wink-wink of The Tempest. Now just how much is there? Well, Eric Partridge, author of Shakespeare’s Bawdy, his wonderful discussion and dictionary of the risqué in the Bard, says this play is “by far the purest of the Tragi-Comedies; [and] slightly ‘milder’ than Twelfth Night” (Shakespeare’s Bawdy, Partridge, Eric. New York: Routledge Classics, 2001; page 58). Of course, remember that Twelfth Night contains that wonderfully profane hidden-spelling joke. So there’s that.

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Podcast 158: The Winter’s Tale — bawdy and videos [EXPLICIT]

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This week’s podcast continues our two-month discussion of The Winter’s Tale. We’re going to discuss bawdy in the play, then review some of the videos available.

Continue reading “Podcast 158: The Winter’s Tale — bawdy and videos [EXPLICIT]”

[EXPLICIT] Bawdiness in Winter: BYOD

[EXPLICIT CONTENT, ADULT LANGUAGE AND SOPHOMORIC SEX HUMOR AHEAD… SKIP IF EASILY OFFENDED.]

Eric Partridge, in his study of and dictionary for the bawdy in the Bard, Shakespeare’s Bawdy, has this to say about our play: “Cymbeline in many ways resembles The Winter’s Tale, which is slightly less bawdy but rather more sexual. They are of much the same quantitative order as All’s Well.” (Shakespeare’s Bawdy, Partridge, Eric. New York: Routledge Classics, 2001; page 58).

Well, All’s Well’s got some dirt, but isn’t that dirty. Cymbeline, pretty much the same…let’s see if Partridge is right.

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Podcast 155: Cymbeline — a bit o’ bawdy, a speech, and burlesque [EXPLICIT]

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[WARNING: The the first portion of the following podcast contains adult language, sexual imagery, and stuff to make you say, “Man, that’s a dirty play.” You HAVE been warned. SKIP TO THE 12:50 MARK IF  EASILY OFFENDED.]

This week’s podcast continues our two-month discussion of Cymbeline. We’re going to start off with a look at bawdy in the play, an exploration of one of the great speeches from the play, and a review of a fun little bit of non-Cymbeline-related bawdiness.

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Cymbeline and bawdiness: in with a villain, out with a clown

[EXPLICIT CONTENT, ADULT LANGUAGE AND SOPHOMORIC SEX HUMOR AHEAD… SKIP IF EASILY OFFENDED.]

Eric Partridge, in his study of and dictionary for the bawdy in the Bard, Shakespeare’s Bawdy, has this to say about our play: “Cymbeline in many ways resembles The Winter’s Tale, which is slightly less bawdy but rather more sexual. They are of much the same quantitative order as All’s Well.” (Shakespeare’s Bawdy, Partridge, Eric. New York: Routledge Classics, 2001; page 58). OK, so, we haven’t read The Winter’s Tale yet (that’s next), but we have read All’s Well, and that play’s got some dirt, but isn’t that dirty. I know, not very helpful.

Continue reading “Cymbeline and bawdiness: in with a villain, out with a clown”

Podcast 150: Coriolanus: bawdy, homosociality, homo-eroticism, more [NOT EXPLICIT]

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[WARNING: The first portion of the following podcast contains no adult language, almost no sexual imagery, and nothing to make you say, “Man, that’s a dirty play.” You HAVE been warned. You really don’t need to skip this one…]

This week’s podcast continues our discussion of Coriolanus with a look at bawdy in the play (and there’s not a whole lot there there), homosociality, homo-eroticism, and a real mother of a character, as well as shameless self-promotion.

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Coriolanus: Bawdy (heh, heh, the title has “anus” in it)

[(not really any) EXPLICIT CONTENT, (no) ADULT LANGUAGE AND SEXUAL IMAGERY AHEAD… SKIP IF (super-duper-)EASILY OFFENDED.]

First of all, there’s not a whole lot of bawdy in Coriolanus. Eric Partridge, the author of the great Shakespeare’s Bawdy, sums it up: “possesses a few more particularities than Macbeth, yet, in its general effect, even less ‘objectionable’” (Shakespeare’s Bawdy, Partridge, Eric. New York: Routledge Classics, 2001; page 47), and he called Macbeth the purist of the tragedies. So as a cop on the bawdy beat, I’m almost tempted to wave you off, and say, “Move along, nothing to see here…”

Almost. But that would be shirking my duty… (heh heh, he said, “duty”…)

Continue reading “Coriolanus: Bawdy (heh, heh, the title has “anus” in it)”