Shakespeare in my World

Shakespeare in my World

These are the forgeries of jealousy:

And never, since middle summer's spring,

Met we on hill, in dale, forest, or mead,

By paved fountain or by rushy brook,

Or in the beached margent of the sea,

To dance our ringlets to the whisteling wind,

But with thy brawls thou hast disturbed our sport.

~ Titania A Midsummer Night's Dream 2.1

I first truly gazed upon William Shakespeare during college. I had to do a monologue of Joan of Arc from Henry VI part I. I remember wrapping my mouth around his words, tasting him for the first time. This had not been our first introduction, but it was the real beginning to the ebb and flow of our dance. I absorbed that monologue, like faint strains of music, growing and spreading through my body. It seeped into my pores, flowed through my veins, and buried itself deep within the endless confines of my vast imagination.

I pray thee, gentle mortal, sing again:

Mine ear is much enamored of thy note.

So is mine eye enthralled to thy shape;

And thy fair virtue's force perforce doth move me

On the first view to say, to swear, I love thee.

~ Titania A Midsummer Night's Dream 3.1

He drew me to the Catskills when I was accepted into the National Shakespeare Conservatory the following summer. Alone for the first time, seven miles from the nearest village, I devoured him. His presence was everywhere. I could taste him in the oatmeal for breakfast, I could see him in the early morning fog, I could hear him coaxing me into the secluded woods all around, and I could feel him move over my spirit, coaxing me out of myself and into immortality.

What angel wakes me from my flow'ry bed?

The summer still doth tend upon my state;

And I do love thee. Therefore, go with m...

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...y immortal counterpart erased all my imperfections and gave rise to a being whom I never knew lived inside of me. I had been ripped apart to bring forth new life, creating in a way that Shakespeare could never dream of. My capacity for love, life, and lust knew no bounds.

Bringing Shakespeare into my world has been incredible and awful, joyful and sorrowful, empowering and demolishing. What I have taken from our union is my own quiet sense of survival. I stood against the forces of my choices and endured. Shakespeare continues to pour into my essence, but I have created who I am. He is a part of me but not the whole of me. Our blessed dance will ever go on, changing and growing as I do.

First, rehearse your song by rote,

To each word a warbling note:

Hand in hand, with fairy grace,

We will sing and bless this place.

~Titania A Midsummer Night's Dream 5.1