Connie Willis has a great short story called "Much Ado About [Censored]." It was collected in this book, and I loved it when I was a teenager. It's about a high school in the future trying to put on Hamlet but having to strike out everything that someone has filed a complaint about. They can't even get past the first line, "Who's there?" because it's offensive to the National Council Against Contractions or something like that. And the murder of Polonius has a citation from the Drapery Defamation League or something because of its negative portrayal of curtains: "Curtains don't kill people. People kill people."
And don't you ever stand for that sort of thing. Someone ever tries to kill you, you try to kill 'em right back! ... You got the right same as anyone to live and try to kill people.
Mal ,'Our Mrs. Reynolds'
Literary Buffistas 3: Don't Parse the Blurb, Dear.
There's more to life than watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer! No. Really, there is! Honestly! Here's a place for Buffistas to come and discuss what it is they're reading, their favorite authors and poets. "Geez. Crack a book sometime."
Polter-Cow - Mar 05, 2010 10:56:36 am PST #11084 of 28344
What else besides ramen can you scoop? YOU CAN SCOOP THIS WORLD FROM DARKNESS!
DavidS - Mar 05, 2010 10:58:57 am PST #11085 of 28344
"Look, son, if it's good enough for Shirley Bassey, it's good enough for you."
I wonder if SF and Fantasy writers are more likely to consider Shakespeare their playground?
There's also Poul Anderson's A Midsummer Tempest.
brenda m - Mar 05, 2010 11:26:19 am PST #11086 of 28344
If you're going through hell/keep on going/don't slow down/keep your fear from showing/you might be gone/'fore the devil even knows you're there
Sports Night also has a St. Crispin's Day reference, though it's not crucial to the episode. (Just to a really slashy reading.)
Due South also had a whole speech.
They have called this day The Eleventh of March! And whom-so-ever of you gets through this day, unless you are shot in the head or somehow slain… you will stand at tiptoe… when e'er you hear the name again, and you will get excited!…At the name March The Eleventh! We happy few, we few, we band of brothers…our names will be as like…household names. And those who are not here, be they sleeping or… doing something else… They will feel themselves…sort of crappy. Because they are not here to…to join the fight. On this day, the Eleventh of March!!
Strega - Mar 05, 2010 11:30:19 am PST #11087 of 28344
In "The Adventure of the Global Traveler" the third murderer in Macbeth is revealed to be... Moriarty.
Sophia Brooks - Mar 05, 2010 11:43:22 am PST #11088 of 28344
Cats to become a rabbit should gather immediately now here
Isn't Sons of Anarchy basically Hamlet on motorcycles?
P.M. Marc - Mar 05, 2010 11:53:38 am PST #11089 of 28344
So come, my friends, be not afraid/We are so lightly here/It is in love that we are made; In love we disappear
I'm shocked no one has mentioned Rave Macbeth.
Which is like Macbeth. Kind of sort of not really. Only set in Rave Culture. And starring Lex Luthor and Meg Masters!
Steph L. - Mar 05, 2010 11:55:53 am PST #11090 of 28344
this mess was yours / now your mess is mine
Any other songs which do more than just allude to a line but rather examine a character or scene?
Indigo Girls' "Romeo and Juliet."
Beverly - Mar 05, 2010 12:02:44 pm PST #11091 of 28344
Days shrink and grow cold, sunlight through leaves is my song. Winter is long.
As an alusion, not necessarily a theme, though a point might be made for Caliban, The CBS series Beauty and the Beast had Vincent rather famously reciting Sonnet XXIX (as well as Rilke, Yeats, Wordsworth, Frost). You might want to go sound only, from about :58 to 2:01. The schmaltz is pretty thick. But I love Perlman's delivery.
Hil R. - Mar 05, 2010 12:23:10 pm PST #11092 of 28344
Sometimes I think I might just move up to Vermont, open a bookstore or a vegan restaurant. Adam Schlesinger, z''l
The short story "The Macbeth Murder Mystery" by James Thurber.
DavidS - Mar 05, 2010 12:38:29 pm PST #11093 of 28344
"Look, son, if it's good enough for Shirley Bassey, it's good enough for you."
It's interesting the that tragedies seem to pull the most reinterpretations. Except for Midsummer Night's Dream the comedies are a bit under-exploited.