The Bicks Pod

Where does that reputation for being boring come from? And what exactly do we mean by "boring"? Is this actually a stand-in for other words, like "confusing", or "obscure"? And is that reputation for boring well earned? 

These are the questions we’re looking at today, as we examine the bard for boredom, in this episode of the Bicks Do Shakespeare.

Links:

• Looking for Richard

We complete our end of the Henry VI trilogy with a play that had bits of everything we liked from Part 2, but with a lot more of what we didn't like from Part 1. Join us as we wrap up the sad story of Henry VI, revel in the reign of Edward IV, and lament the fact that these plays give up so much of what Shakespeare does well for so much of what he doesn't. 

Notes:

Margaret of Anjou did actually take on a leadership role in some of the key battles of the Wars of the Roses (such as the Battle of Tewkesbury and the Second Battle of St. Albans). I suppose the fact that we were in such disbelief about this fact just goes to show how reviled she was in comparison to other female military leaders of the time, and how little English history celebrated it's women.

William of Orange did technically invade and depose Charles II (Aidan got this accidentally right when he named James II; he actually meant Charles I) - see the Glorious Revolution for more details on this deposition that occured about 200 years after the Wars of the Roses.

The Playbill entry for Rose Rage can be found on their website. There's also an article about the play from the Observer.

This episode we decided to get a little personal. Rather than try to take an objective look at the characters in Shakespeare's canon, we just picked out our favourites. The ones that stand out for us after years of study, or maybe just a single performance. Forgoing any rational reasoning, we have picked out our most memorable characters, and then post-hoc tried to defend our choices to one another. Along the way we chose a select quote that we thought best summed up each character, and we even picked out a few honourable mentions, as any good listicle does.

Next episode we will be returning with the last part of Henry VI, who sadly (Spoiler Alert!) did not make our list of top characters. So join us again next time as we near the conclusion of the Wars of the Roses!

Henry VI Part 2 deals with the immediate lead-up to the Wars of the Roses, with court intrigue and tons of backstabbing that results in the First Battle of St. Albans in 1455. Henry VI was an ineffectual king in the actual historical record, and Shakespeare's Henry is that to a 'T'---cuckolded by his wife and goaded into a civil war by his ill-seeming advisers, Henry's eventual downfall is telegraphed quite clearly in this play. He's surrounded by a cast of characters, from his various Dukes and Lords to his own wife, Queen Margaret, to his enemy Richard, Duke of York, to the rebel Jack Cade, who set wheels in motion toward their own separate goals that Henry could not stop on his best day. The lack of leadership from the throne leads to a power vacuum and shows the danger of "vaulting ambition" in the hands of men (and women) of loose morals.

Notes:

• It was not an Admiral from Star Wars that Lindsay thought Henry VI resembled; it was Grand Moff Tarkin. (Lindsay will commence with the cone of shame now...)

To help illuminate a bit of the history as Shakespeare saw it, we’re looking at the Hundred Years' War as we now understand it. All the nuance, the technological innovations, the separate dynastic squabbles that contributed to the way the war ended, and its legacy are all points of conversation we discuss here. We’ll hopefully get a sense of the changes that affected over five generations of English monarchs and millions of nobles, peasants, and soldiers who fought in this long, grueling war, and understand a bit more about where Shakespeare was coming from as well as how we should look at this period in history.

Notes:

• https://www.britannica.com/event/Hundred-Years-War

This episode is dedicated to one of Shakespeare's least performed (and least deserving of performance) plays: Henry VI Part 1.

We talk the discrepancies with history, the shoddy characterization, and the reality that this was not likely written by Shakespeare alone. While not huge fans of this particular play, we did come to appreciate the appreciable aspects of it, including the unintentionally hilarious use of hobby-horses in the only filmed version available, and the distinct possibility of Star Wars prequel memes. We also were excited to put our newly found knowledge of the Wars of the Roses (see Episode 5) to the use as we dissected the major inconsistencies of the play.

Don't let our doom and gloom over this play corrupt your view of all Shakespeare's histories though! Coming up soon will be the sequel to this one, which (spoiler alert) we enjoyed very much.

As we enter the world of Shakespeare's history plays, we figured it was time for a backgrounder on the period of history being shown, as we understand it today. Starting with the dynastic feud that ran the course of almost all of Shakespeare's English history plays - the twin tetralogies with their numerous Henrys and penchant for big battles - the Wars of the Roses. 

Follow along as we give you a condensed version of the history, opine about the nature of kingship, and talk about the recursive impact of Shakespeare: the way he wrote about history, and subsequently helped shape the way that same history has been viewed ever since.

Notes:

(lineage chart from: https://thehistoryofengland.co.uk/resource/wars-of-the-roses-family-trees/)

• Crusader Kings II (Currently on sale for the Steam Summer Sale)

This week we take a break from the canon to talk about the fandom. We talk the latest Kenneth Branagh Shakespeare film, this time a late-stage biopic entitled All is True. We watched the film and walked away with some very specific feelings - some positive, some negative, and some conflicted.

While we agreed that neither of us would name it our favourite work of Shakespeare as a character on film, we also agreed that it had a lot going for it, including the incredible cast and gorgeous visuals. To hear our full take on the movie, listen on!

Notes:

• Lindsay's review of the film can be found on 25 Years Later

Aidan and Lindsay tuck into the epic battle between Katharina and Petruchio in Shakespeare's early comedy The Taming of the Shrew. In a play about breaking the spirit of a strong woman, the conversation here travels around feminism and the social order of Elizabethan England, Shakespeare-adjacent texts, philosophy, and questions of who really is the titular Shrew in this story? Join us for a spirited discussion that ends with our debate: Should the famous ending of the play be read/portrayed satirically?

Notes:

• The Taming of A Shrew, which echoes Shakespeare so much people think it must be related to his work, is the focus of this overview by Dr. Michael Delahoyde of Washington State University.

In today's episode, we dive into the world of Shakespeare's women. Broadly divided into rough categories -- maids and mothers and queens and villains -- we look at the changing roles of women, from Shakespeare's earliest written women to the later ones. Questions covered include: Was Shakespeare a feminist? Did changing societal roles for all people of all classes influence Shakespeare's writing of his women characters, or was it the other way around? Are Shakespeare's women truly that revolutionary? Join us to find out our thoughts on all this and more!

Notes:

• You can find Tina Packer's book Women of Will at most bookstores.