Dianthus’s Shakespeare Sideblog

She/they/he A sideblog for my (mostly) Shakespeare ramblings!

[withasideofshakespeare]

Hello! Welcome to my Shakespeare sideblog! My name is Dianthus (she/they/he pronouns!) and my main blog is @therainbowwillow!

I am an English major with a heavy focus on Shakespeare and early modern english literature. I started reading through Shakespeare’s catalogue in 2021 and haven’t stopped since!

Here are the plays I have read, seen, or performed (tagged below for ease of navigating this blog). I’ll be talking about these shows the most, although I’m familiar with many that are not yet on this list, so don’t be shy—tell me what to read next or start up a conversation about a play I haven’t gotten to yet!

Comedies:

Comedy of Errors

A Midsummer Night’s Dream

Much Ado About Nothing

Twelfth Night

Measure for Measure

As You Like It

Love’s Labour’s Lost

All’s Well That Ends Well

The Merchant of Venice

Histories:

Richard II

Henry IV part 1 (including Q0)

Henry IV part 2

Henry V

Henry VI Part 1

Henry VI Part 2

Henry VI Part 3

Richard III

Tragedies:

Romeo & Juliet

Julius Caesar

Hamlet (including Q1)

King Lear

Macbeth

Antony & Cleopatra

Coriolanus

Othello

Romances:

Cymbeline

Winter’s Tale

The Tempest

My DMs and asks are open at all times! I’m always down to talk about Shakespeare!

Thanks for visiting!

-Dianthus

NOTE: Because I am studying Shakespeare academically, it is likely that source texts, Shakespeare criticism, and pre-folio editions of the plays will come up on this blog. If you’re ever curious about a source, please ask and I will send a digital source, PDF, or a full scan your way. I may be paying inordinate sums of money for my American college education, but I am firmly of the belief that you shouldn’t have to! Knowledge ought to be free.

PS. The owner of this blog is fem, queer & disabled. Bigotry of any kind will not be tolerated here!

This blog is AI-FREE. My posts are all human-made, so you can rest assured that all of my stupid takes are entirely my own. If I ever repost something you believe was AI-generated, please let me know ASAP.

Tag directory under the cut!

Shakespeare-related

#shakespeare -- for everything relevant to the plays or the bard himself!

#shakespeare's histories -- for my histories posting! Because these plays share continuous plots and characters, I'll add this tag for ease of navigation.

The Plays

These are mostly self-explanatory, but I will list them so you can see if I've abbreviated them!

Comedies:

#comedy of errors #a midsummer night's dream #much ado about nothing #twelfth night #measure for measure #as you like it Histories:

#Richard II #1 Henry IV #2 Henry IV #Henry V #1 Henry VI #2 Henry VI #3 Henry VI #Richard III Tragedies:

#romeo & juliet #julius caesar #hamlet #othello #king lear #macbeth #antony & cleopatra #coriolanus

Late Romances:

#cymbeline #winter's tale #the tempest Other:

#asks -- for my replies to asks (which are always open--feel free to send me one any time!)

#marlowe -- for my marloweposting (mostly about Faustus and Hero & Leander)

#fanfic -- for my fanfiction (because of course I write Shakespeare fanfiction)

[roycohn]

inspired by a rant i was going on elsewhere bc someone tweeted something very stupid and uninformed about hamlet and it got my back up as someone who took two single-text-focus english literature courses in college and they were on wuthering heights and hamlet, i now put it to all of you on here:

what's "your" shakespeare play?

hamlet

macbeth

the tempest

merchant of venice

midsummer night's dream

twelfth night

richard iii

othello

julius caesar

king lear

another not listed (specify in tags) (i really just put my own top 10 here nbd)

i have no particular feelings about any shakespeare play/results tag

Voting ended onAug 11

[withasideofshakespeare]

21st century Hotspur with “if we live, we live to tread on kings; / If die, brave death, when princes die with us!” written on a No Kings rally sign

[cronchy-dumbass]

[lipstickhamlet]

i like to think that ned poins, like hal, knew that he couldn't stay forever. i think that he was just as aware of hal's fate and the future he'd inevitably have to step up to, and possibly the only other person who knew about his plan. he calls himself hal's shadow - the shadow to his sun behind the clouds. in 1h4, he's the reckless and assertive one in their schemes, and maybe he knows this friendship, the two of them together, is not going to last and wants to make the most out of their time together.

in 2h4, hal is already subtly moving himself away from poins, but poins also accuses hal of hypocrisy and expects him to be happy at bolingbroke's sickness. i think poins is sensing the rift hal is slowly making, and in turn subtly telling him that he's caught on, he knows. hal must be so happy to finally get a chance to get away from them. also, i think it's really important that he's the bridge between hal and the rest of the taverngoers; as a "second brother", he's certainly aristocracy, but not royalty. poins seems to be the most aware and respectful of hal's royal status ("my good sweet honey lord" / calling him "my lord" in other scenes when no one else does) while also blending in flawlessly with the lowlife - and i think this is what makes him hal's closest companion, being the middle ground between the two worlds, and why he has to disappear.

falstaff gets to openly suffer and is treated to an agonizing, drawn-out death from the pain of hal's rejection, but poins is gone even before henry v's ascension. maybe he isn't at the coronation with falstaff because his last act of love is sparing hal from banishing him. a ned poins who is utterly heartbroken and betrayed from hal's departure is interesting, but textually, that's falstaff. poins is the bridge that falls away once hal severs himself from eastcheap, simply of no use anymore to either side, and i like to think that he knew this. at least in the back of his mind, i think poins knew all along this was never going to last.

[withasideofshakespeare]

Actually Hotspur is fine. He’s insulting his superiors and making out with Kate just like he should be. He doesn’t die. You just read the wrong play. Yeah. You saw the wrong play.

[lipstickhamlet]

i don't blame henry bolingbroke for anything he does in richard ii because how else are you supposed to react in that situation. what are you even supposed to do. he could've been more careful with his words around exton but other than that

[spacewizardazrid]

Girl named Verona whose tits are named Capulet and Montague

[inthefallofasparrow]

Who said that? - Shakespeare edition

"The first thing we do, let's kill all the lawyers."

Dick the Butcher (Henry VI part 2)

Abhorson the Executioner (Measure for Measure)

Philip Faulconbridge the Bastard (King John)

Costard the Clown (Love's Labour's Lost)

Cinna the Poet (Julius Caesar)

James Soundpost the Musician (Romeo and Juliet)

Voting ended onJun 13

[withasideofshakespeare]

Shakespeare characters you’d most want to be your tumblr mutuals, go!

[prokopetz]

Once you've learned the spot the historical signposts, it's interesting how many "generically medieval" fantasy settings manage to miss the actual medieval period on both ends. They've got the Roman Empire rubbing shoulders with the German Renaissance, skipping directly from the year 500 to the year 1500 with nothing in between!

[withasideofshakespeare]

…Cymbeline.

I just saw it for a third time (that’s a LOT of Cymbeline) and as far as I can tell, the Roman Empire exists simultaneously with Renaissance Italy & France. England is antique if you squint but everything we hear about Italy & France feels so Renaissance that when Rome & England went to war, I genuinely forgot that Iachimo’s Italy and Lucius’ Rome were supposed to be the same place?? It even seems like Shakespeare calls it Rome when it exists in the context of foreign relations and Italy when it exists in a cultural context of like… vacation spot (exile locale?) on the continent.

[resident-dumb-fuck]

somewhere out there there is a beautiful world where the tags for the deep cut shakespeare plays have shitposts and fanart and stuff in them. we need to get the hamlet stans into cymbeline and shit. balance out the ecosystem a little.

[ri5k]

i’m giving up personhood to become a full-time abstract concept

[doppelgender]

I have the ability to speak to shrimps (Shrimpathy). unfortunately this does not allow them to respond or understand what im saying

[elucubrare]

GLENDOWER I can call spirits from the vasty deep. HOTSPUR Why, so can I, or so can any man; But will they come when you do call for them?

[motherfuckingshakespeare]

A HANDY CHART FOR THOSE OF YOU WONDERING WHAT THE FUCK IS UP WITH THESE. NOTE THAT THESE ARE ALL THE INFORMAL AND YOU IS THE FORMAL SO LIKE YOU WOULD ALWAYS ADDRESS YOUR SUPERIOR/ OLDER PERSON/ SOCIAL BETTER WITH YOU BUT WITH YOUR BUDS YOU CAN USE THESE. 

[heroineimages]

I’m not sure I knew the thy/thine distinction. Thanks for this!

[watercolor-writer]

Shakespeare as TMA content warning parody

[aviewtodeath]

hello twelfth night fans. is thi̇s anything