The Warrior Princess

“Being a dramatist, moreover, makes [Shakespeare] a particular kind of poet, a poet in the oral tradition: like the poetry of Homer, the poetry of Henry V was designed to be spoken and heard, not read. In certain plays of Shakespeare this fact appears to be of relatively little importance; but the poetry of Henry V, like that of the Iliad and the Odyssey, has often been faulted for its virtues - faulted, that is, by readers for the very qualities that make it brilliantly succeed for speakers and listeners…[S]uffice it to say that, for this play if no other, a reader would be well advised to creep into a corner (or better, on to an empty stage) where he can, without embarrassment, read the text out loud.”

Gary Taylor (via butilovefire)

Posted 4 days ago With 114 notes