Stick Figure Iconography: Lady Macbeth

Let's continue our look at the distinctive characteristics and props of some of Shakespeare's most famous characters! 

Lady Macbeths generally come in all manner of shapes, colors, costumes, and hairstyles nowadays, so it's a bit hard to nail down an iconic look, but one thing is certain: slap a bunch of stage blood on a lady's hands, have her look slightly unhinged, and HEY PRESTO! You've got yourself a Lady Macbeth.

Bloody hands is always a challenge when it comes to stick figures because (SURPRISE SURPRISE) stick figures don't actually have hands. I usually just sprinkle some blood droplets around and call it a day. 

Stick Figure Iconography: Hamlet

When you're a stick figure artist, the main challenge you run into is how to differentiate various characters, because... well... they're all stick figures. Fortunately, many of Shakespeare's main characters have very distinctive characteristics and props that I can use. For the rest of the month we'll be taking a closer look at some of them, starting with The Big Guy:

Note that Hamlet is clean-shaven. While he almost certainly would have originally been played with a beard (by the bearded Richard Burbage), in later generations it was customary for him to be clean-shaven, with Alec Guinness's bearded Hamlet in 1951 creating quite a stir and a rather nasty backlash. Nowadays, of course, you get all sorts of Hamlets: bearded, female, non-white, etc. It's a much more exciting playground now.

But they all have that dang skull. (Well, almost all. I'm looking at you, Maxine Peake...)

Julius Caesar: One Page Summary

In case you've been snoozing for the past few months, this is what you've missed:

Hope you enjoyed A Stick-Figure Julius Caesar as much as possible! Coming up... something completely different, thank goodness!

Julius Caesar: Death & Marriage Totals

OK! Julius Caesar is over, the dust has settled, and it's time to look back at what REALLY happened during the play. Let's start off with some good old death and marriage totals:

Some points of note:

1. Flavius and Murellus, who pull scarves off of Caesar's statues in the first scene, are reported as being "put to silence", which sure sounds like they've been executed. However, historically they were apparently just stripped of their titles as tribunes. So they might not actually be dead.

2. Brutus and Messala's letters don't agree on how many senators were killed along with Cicero; Brutus's letter says 70, Messala's says 100. I'm only counting Cicero, the only executed senator whose name we know. The other gets lumped under "plus assorted..." at the end.

3. No marriages. That's how you know it's REALLY not a comedy.

Tune in next week, when we'll sum up the entire play in a single page for those of you who haven't been paying attention!

Julius Caesar: Act 5, Scene 5 (part 2)

IT'S HERE. IT'S FINALLY HERE. THE LAST BIT OF JULIUS CAESAR.

Public service announcement: Please don't run on swords. 

If your eyes kind of glazed over for the last couple of months since I started doing Julius Caesar, (a) I don't blame you, and (b) check in Thursday for a succinct summary of the important bits. 

Julius Caesar: Act 5, Scene 5 (part 1)

Here we are at last! The FINAL scene of Julius Caesar! As with all Shakespeare, it's not over until the highest status surviving character makes a speech.

Seriously, what an awkward position to put your friends in. 

Julius Caesar: Act 5, Scene 4

We're getting close to the end now, I promise... 

Fun fact! The son of Marcus Cato (ho!) is Marcus Porcius Cato, the brother of Brutus's wife, Portia. Their father, Cato the Younger, killed himself after his attempts to prevent Julius Caesar's rise to power failed. Portia, as you will remember, killed herself by swallowing hot coals. Young Marcus Porcius Cato here essentially committed suicide by charging the enemy without helmet or armor.

Don't be like the Catos, kids.

Julius Caesar: Act 5, Scene 3 (part 2)

When we last left our heroes, Cassius had unnecessarily killed himself after mistakenly thinking that his hitherto-unknown best friend, Titinius, had been captured by enemy forces. Let's see what happens today....

Poor Titinius. We hardly knew ye.