Homeschool Drama Class: The Scarlet Pumpernickel

Ben Jonson anticipated Shakespeare’s dazzling future when he declared, "He was not of an age, but for all time!" in the preface to the First Folio. While most people know that Shakespeare is, in fact, the most popular dramatist and poet the Western world has ever produced, students new to his work often wonder why this is so. The following are our top four reasons why Shakespeare has stood the test of time.

1) Illumination of the Human Experience

Shakespeare’s ability to summarize the range of human emotions in simple yet profoundly eloquent verse is perhaps the greatest reason for his enduring popularity. No author in the Western world has penned more beloved passages.

2) Great Stories

Shakespeare's stories transcend time and culture. Modern storytellers continue to adapt Shakespeare's tales to suit our modern world, whether it be the tale of Lear on a farm in Iowa, Romeo and Juliet on the mean streets of New York City, or Macbeth in medieval Japan.

3) Compelling Characters

Shakespeare’s great characters have remained popular because of their complexity; for example, we can see ourselves as gentle Hamlet, forced against his better nature to seek murderous revenge. For this reason Shakespeare is deeply admired by actors, and many consider playing a Shakespearean character to be the most difficult and most rewarding role possible.

4) Ability to Turn a Phrase

Many of the common expressions now thought to be clichés were Shakespeare's creations. Chances are you use Shakespeare's expressions all the time even though you may not know it is the Bard you are quoting. You may think that fact is neither here nor there, but that's the short and the long of it.

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

The Scarlet Pumpernickel

The Scarlet Pimpernel has been parodied or used as source material in a variety of media in stage works, literature, games and at least 20 movies/films. It was parodied as a 1950 Warner Brothers cartoon short featuring Daffy Duck as the "The Scarlet Pumpernickel" and Sylvester as Chauvelin. An action figure of the Scarlet Pumpernickel was even released by DC Direct in 2006, making it one of the few, if not the only, toys based on the Pimpernel. When a piece of literature is made into a parody on one of the most popular cartoon series of all time, it is obvious that its place in pop-culture is well deserved!