Huh. For some reason the entendre just doesn't seem to work for me, but it's taken me a while in the past to wrap my head around some of Shakespeare's jokes and entendres.

but it's taken me a while in the past to wrap my head around some of Shakespeare's jokes and entendres.

Well, he does tend to build jokes and metaphors around things like...the commonly held knowledge that rubies are in the foreheads of toads.

SHAKESPEAREAN TEXTUAL THROWDOWN!

comes rushing in for the hurly-burly

DUDE! Okay, before we get into the battle royale, I have a question about Gertrude. See, most performances paint her as not knowing about the murder of old Hamlet - however power-hungry she is, she didn't know about that. But - what if she did? What if she put Claudius up to it? How does that change the portrayal of the closet scene and the rest of the play?

(Yes, Sons Of Anarchy brought some of this up.)

And my position is Tep's. It can be interpreted and played the other way, but Hamlet is not happy with the womens throughout the entire damn play, and poor Ophelia is an easy target (and, as far as H knows, a spy for her father).

How cool is Los Angeles? You can watch movies projected onto Valetino's mausoleum.

Good thing Jen's in the house. And Juliana and Fay. This could be a battle royale.

And me! Pick me!

Here's my take. Sure, on one level Hamlet is saying, go to a nunnery because then she will not become a "breeder of sinners." However, I think he is also saying go to a whorehouse because clearly you want to be a breeder of sinners. It's one of my favorite examples of double entendre, because it all depends on how the actor links those two lines. Is it "Get thee to a nunnery" because then you will not be "a breeder of sinners," or is it "Get thee to a nunnery," because clearly you are determined to become a "breeder of sinners"?

And LA is pretty damned cool.

I'm oddly drained-- doing some research right now and using Google satellite pictures of Havana. I'm seeing the neighborhoods where my family used to live and there are photographs of some of the houses and they look so... lonely and desolate.

I mean, I don't romanticize the life the way it was back then-- it was incredibly racist and class structured. But I still feel sad that so many exquisite houses and clubs have been allowed to deteriorate to such an extent.

No one else being there would get me paranoid that they told everyone but me.

Yep, that was what I thought. Did wonders for the paranoia and self-esteem.

Gambit...oh how I love Gambit. He's always been my favorite X-men.

Shakespeare throw down=fun!!!

Good thing Jen's in the house. And Juliana and Fay. This could be a battle royale.

Guess I done said my piece, then. I'll wait for the experts to weigh in.

But - what if she did? What if she put Claudius up to it? How does that change the portrayal of the closet scene and the rest of the play?

I always assumed that she put Claudius up to it. But -- not an expert.

I always assumed that she put Claudius up to it.

See, most of the readings/interpretations I've seen was that she didn't. She didn't know the extent of Claudius' ambition, which is why she's so horror-struck when forced to compare Old Hamlet and Claudius and so willing to comply with Hamlet's demands in the closet scene.

But -- not an expert.

Pfft. You, too, have the spicy Shakespeare brains.

You, too, have the spicy Shakespeare brains.

Like, habañero spicy.