The Shakespeare-related material that crosses my path ranges from the ridiculous to the sublime.
Occasionally—just occasionally—something fits both categories.
Susan Herbert has illustrated a collection of Shakespeare cats, and I suppose it's not sillier than King Lear with Sheep.
And it's certainly less silly than the "kittens inspired by kittens"-inspired piece entitled "Shakespeare: Inspired by Shakespeare" (for which, q.v.).
The image above is Ophelia about to claw her way up a tree—a willow, I believe—from which she will plunge to a watery grave; and I imagine that the experience, for an animal that hates water already, is all the more horrific.
I'm providing a few more sample images. Herbert has arranged them with quotations from the plays on facing pages. Click on the images to enlarge them.
Hamlet. I appreciate the shape of this Yorick's skull.
King Lear. Later, he'll say "Yowl, yowl, yowl."
Macbeth. "Will all great Neptune's tongue lick this blood / Clean from my paw?"
Twelfth Night: Proving that everyone, even cats, looks ridiculous in yellow cross-gartered stockings.
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I prefer the cat in the adage to all this pussyfooting around.
ReplyDeleteI was surprised that Tybalt—"Prince of Cats"—didn't make it in the volume.
ReplyDeletekj