It's Monday. And as I prepare to slide down the greasy pipe, I'm wondering what I want to do for my next Daily Devotional Reading. I don't lack for choices. I'm interested in this massive tome, Asimov's Guide to Shakespeare...but I haveto confess that I'm intimidated by its massiveness. We're talking x + 670 + 843 = 1,523 pages here. And having read the x and a few pages of Volume I'm 670, it's obvious that Asimov is a Stratfordian, and that always chafes my ass a bit. (In the Index, the only references to Oxford or Vere are four mentions of John de Vere. Earl of Oxford.) On the other hand, I have big, big live for both Asimov and Shakespearea, so.... I'm going to give it a shot. I had a brief concern about lugging this heavy book to New York at the end of the month for a week-long visit, but it is available from Internet Archive (https://archive.org/details/asimovsguidetosh0000asim/mode/1up), so there's an end to THAT.
Big gulp of air.
Okay. Let's do this.
Day 1 (DDRD 2,897), October 6, 2025
Read to page 30. Still feeling intimidated by this massive book, but I'm going to give it a shot.
Ironically (to me, at least) by page 8 we're already getting a link to Edward de Vere: "Ovid, who seems to have been Shakespeare's favorite classical author...."Asimov doesn't specify that Shake-speare prefers the Arthur Golding translation of Ovid's Metamorphoses, much less that Arthur Golding was Edward de Vere's uncle AND tutor, but we know that. 😉)
Interesting: the son of Hermes and Aphrodite was named Hermaphroditis. A fountain nymph jumped Hermaphroditis while he was bathing in her spring, and she prayed to the gods that she might remain united with him for ever. Her wish was granted. And thus we have the word hermaphrodite. (10)
Here's another interesting bit: Amazon "is from a Greek word meaning breastless." Asimov says this was because the left breast was cauterized in infancy "so that it never developed and left that side free for the maneuvering of a shield" (18) I Didn't quite believe that So I had a look at Merriam-Webster online, which gave this information:
Etymology
Middle English Amazones, plural, borrowed from Latin Amazōn, borrowed from Greek Amázōn, of uncertain origin
Note: The name was popularly explained by ancient authors as deriving from the negating prefix a- a- entry 2 and mazós "breast," from the belief that the Amazons removed their right breast to be better able to draw a bow.
Day 2 (DDRD 2,898), October 7, 2025
Read to page 70.
"...The Bavian with long tail, and eke long tool...." (66)
Oh, that Shake-speare. I'm starting to think I might be able to handle this book after all.
Day 3 (DDRD 2,899), October 8, 2025
Read to page 100.
Again: "Shakespeare...was [like Homer] patronized by aristocrats and who...rarely showed the common people in a good light...." (94)
Day 4 (DDRD 2,900), October 9, 2025
Read to page 131.
Day 5 (DDRD 2,901), October 10, 2025
Read to page 167.
On page 147, Asimov is introducing The Winter's Tale, and in relation to its being considered one of Shakespeare's latest plays, he notes that "The only later play for which Shakespeare was solely responsible was The Tempest." Well, that would be scanned.
For one thing, no one knows what order Shakespeare's plays were written in. Isaac must know that. Even more significant, however, is the absurdity of this statement. Why on earth would a great writer begin to collaborate with lesser writers at the peak of his popularity? For the most part, writers collaborate at the beginning of their careers, when they are still finding their way, or at the end of their careers, when they have become completely incompetent. Or...and this one would be my choice in this situation...after they have died.
Also, Asimov goes with the conventionally accepted dating of this play to 1611. He also says that the story of the play was taken from 1588 play, Pandosto. The Triumph of Time., which was written by Robert Greene. Robert Greene is primarily known today as the man who, in 1592, accused Shakespeare of plagiarism. Which would suggest to me that this play was known in 1592 at the latest. That date would put it in the lifetime if Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford (1550 to 1604). Speaking of whom, this:
"Edward Chaney suggested that Robert Greene when writing Pandosto may have had in mind the Earl of Oxford's suspicions about the paternity of his daughter (granddaughter of Lord Burghley) when he returned in 1576 from his continental tour that may have included Sicily." (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pandosto)
That's a bit on the nose, isn't it? Funny how Edward de Vere's life keeps turning up in Shake-speare's plays.
Oh...here's another bit. After discussing how intelligent his play Greene confused Delos and Delphi. Oddly enough, "Shakespeare carelessly follows him" (152) in this detail. Almost makes you think The Winter's Tale could be a little plagiarism-y, doesn't it?
Day 6 (DDRD 2,902), October 11, 2025
Read to page 200.
Reading Asimov's comments on The Comedy of Eragain,reminded me of how terrible this play was. Which won't stop me from reading it again but forewarned is forearmed.
Asimov refers to Verified as Shake-speare's 8th Greek play. Which surprised me, as I hadn't realized that that many of the plays had been set in Greece. That's 8/38 = 21%!
I didn't know that the Atlantic Ocean was named after
Atlas. (187)
Day 7 (DDRD 2,903), October 12, 2025
Read to page 240.
According to Asimov, Shakespeare was very fond of Plutarch's The Parallel Lives, specifically the 1579 translation by Sir Thomas North. "Shakespeare read it and used it as the basis for three of his plays. He paid the translation the ultimate compliment of scarcely changing its words. In some cases, they made almost perfect blank verse as they stood." (213)
Ah...this
More etymology*:
candidate(n.)
"person who seeks or is put forward for an office by election or appointment," c. 1600, from Latin candidatus "one aspiring to office," originally "white-robed," past participle of candidare "to make white or bright," from candidus, past participle of candere "to shine" (from PIE root *kand- "to shine").
https://www.etymonline.com/word/candidate
* I felt the need (as always) to check Asimov on this. And of course he was right.
Day 8 (DDRD 2,904), October 13, 2025
Read to page 280.
This sounds familiar: "The senatorial notion of "liberty" was the liberty of a small group of venal aristocrats to plunder the state unchecked." (260)
Day 9 (DDRD 2,905), October 14, 2025
Read to page 330.
Day 10 (DDRD 2,906), October 15, 2025
Read to page 360.
Day 11 (DDRD 2,907), October 16, 2025
Read to page 390.
Day 12 (DDRD 2,908), October 17, 2025
Read to page 420.
Interesting: "...about 100 B.C. in the years when the Roman Republic began the public disorders that were eventually to kill it." (393)
Day 13 (DDRD 2,909), October 18, 2025
Read to page 435. Short stack today. Two movies, kid transport, and no energy left.
A word I've never seen or heard before:
euphuism
noun
Day 14 (DDRD 2,910), October 19, 2025
Read to page 480.
"Shakespeare['s]...view of science is always strictly conservative and medieval." (436)
Yep.
Here's an interesting thing: Asimov refers to Kate (from The Taming of the Shrew) as a character "whose eyes flash fire." (449) That's a phrase I have only heard in one place before: as a reference to Edward de Vere. The rest of the phrase is "thy will shakes spears." Asimov makes no comment on this in relatiin to de Vere, so maybe it's just a strange coincidence...but that is hard to believe. Is Isaac holding out on us?
Also interesting: like many another...most, actually... commentator on Shake-speare, Asimov notes that there was an earlier play, The Taming of a Shew, which Shake-speare "borrowed from" to write this play. By "borrowed from," they mean that the qthis "other" play had the same plot and structure. But it couldn't be the same play because it was written too early for Shakespeare to have written it. Self I fulfilling prophecy trumps logic and evidence.
Asimov refers to the ending of as "a completely happy ending." (464) Keep in mind that this ending encompasses a woman who is deprived of food and sleep until her will bends to her suitor (and later husband). Some happy ending.
Another Oxfordian point seems buried here: "One can argue, of course, that there were ways of traveling from Verona to Milan by inland waterways but it is much more likely that Shakespeare simply didn't bother checking his geography" (467) I have read other commentators who talk about Shakespeare's lack of geographical knowledge of Italy based on this scene, and the Oxfordian defense has been that Shakespeare actually knew the geography quite well, and that these cities were connected by inland waterways. Again Asimov seems aware of this argument, but he doesn't relate it to de Vere. Curiouser and curiouser.
Day 15 (DDRD 2,911), October 20, 2025
Read to page 510.
Asimov said that the word janitor derived from Janus, and I didn't believe him.
AI Overview
The word "janitor" comes from the Latin ianitor, meaning "doorkeeper" or "porter," which in turn derives from ianua, meaning "door" or "gate".
This root is connected to the Roman god Janus, the god of doors, gates, and transitions.
The modern meaning of "caretaker of a building" emerged later, first recorded in English around 1708.
Latin root:
The word's origin traces to the Latin ianitor.
Roman god:
ianitor is linked to the Roman god Janus, the guardian of portals and gateways.
Latin ianua:
The word ianitor is derived from ianua, the Latin word for "door" or "gate".
Agent suffix:
The suffix -tor was added to create an agent noun, indicating a person who performs the action of the root word.
Original English meaning:
When first borrowed into English, "janitor" meant "doorkeeper" or "gatekeeper".
Modern meaning:
The meaning evolved to its current use of "caretaker of a building," first recorded around 1708.
https://www.google.com/search?q=etymoligy+of+janitor&oq=etymoligy+of+janitor&sourceid=silk&ie=UTF-8
So...there you have it.
Day 16 (DDRD 2,912), October 21, 2025
Read to page 540.
ghetto(n.)
1610s, "part of a city in which Jews are compelled to live," especially in Italy, from Italian ghetto "part of a city to which Jews are restricted," of unknown origin. The various theories trace it to: Yiddish get "deed of separation;" a special use of Venetian getto "foundry" (there was one near the site of that city's ghetto in 1516)....
https://www.etymonline.com/word/ghetto
Did I mention that there's a lot of etymology in this book?
Day 17 (DDRD 2,913), October 22, 2025
Read to page 570.
Queen Elizabeth I died March 24, 1603.
Edward de Vere died June 24, 1604.
William Shakspere died April 23, 1616.
Asimov notes that "...there is every reason to suppose he did not forgive Elizabeth for executing the Earl of Essex, and when Queen Elizabeth died he remained mute, something spitefully noted by the poet Henry Chettle, who wrote an elegy in the dead monarch's honor." (555)
This is something I'd never heard or thought about before. Surely, Shakespeare would have written a poem in commemoration of Queen Elizabeth's death. Why didn't he neither de Vere nor Shakspere seem to have a good excuse here, as both were alive when Elizabeth died. However...in the Sonnets, Shake-speare refers to his bad health. It seems at least possible that de Vere was in ill health when Elizabeth died, and that his death 15 months later is the reason for the lack of an elegy from him. Shakspere has recourse to no such excuse. In fact, if we are to believe the Stratfordian story, he was at the height of his powers when Queen Elizabeth died, thus not writing an elegy for her would have been supremely disrespectful.
That would be scanned.
Day 18 (DDRD 2,914), October 23, 2025
Read to page 634. Which means tomorrow will do it for Volume I. 🥳
Here's what invariably happens to Stratfordians: reference some confusion over the composition of All's Well That Ends Well, and the idea that Loves Labor's Won, listed as a Shakespeare play by Francis Meres in 1598, might be an early version of it under a different title, Asimov says "The most popular theory, therefore, is that it refers to All's Well That Ends Well and to Helena's hard labor to win Bertram. But, alas, that means that the play would have had to be written several years before it was." (606)
That's also how Stratfordians came up with the idea of Ur-Hamlet. 🤢
Check this out: "Although originally fairly democratic, it became a closed oligarchy about 1200. From then on for six hundred years a few great families ran the state according to a rigid ideal of duty. (Of course they took, as their reward, the lion's share of the city's wealth for themselves." Also, "The north Italian word for "duke" is "doge," and this form of the word is associated primarily with Venice...." (615)
Oligarchy and DOGE. Sounds familiar, doesn't it?
Day 19 (DDRD 2,915), October 24, 2025
Read to page 670. End of Volume I.
Day 20 (DDRD 2,916), October 26*, 2025
Read to page 30 (Volume II).
Word origin of the day:
bedlam(n.)
"scene of mad confusion," 1660s, from colloquial pronunciation of Bethlehem, short for "Hospital of Saint Mary of Bethlehem" in London, which was founded 1247 as a priory, mentioned as a hospital by 1330 and as a lunatic hospital by 1402. It was converted to a civic lunatic asylum on dissolution of the monasteries in 1547.
https://www.etymonline.com/word/bedlam
That's quite the twist, isn't it?
And speaking of twists...here's a twist of the knife for some of us:
"For some reason, the word " Tom" was associated with men of less than normal intelligence, so that one could speak of "Tom fool" and refer to silly nonsense as "tomfoolery" or "tommyrot." Similarly, one could speak of a madman, particularly one who was not violent enough to be hospitalized or who had been discharged as sufficiently harmless, as "Tom o' Bedlam." (15)
Hmpf.
* I've somehow managed to mess up my dates, so the 25th is MIA.
Day 21 (DDRD 2,917), October 27, 2025
Read to page 76. Read a little extra today just in case things get hectic tomorrow...as I make my way to New York City. I think this is my tenth trip there. And probably my last.
Day 22 (DDRD 2,918), October 28, 2025
Read to page 100...despite spending a vast portion of the day crossing New York City. (See Facebook.)
Day 23 (DDRD 2,919), October 29, 2025
Read to page 130...at 1:30 am, because who can sleep in NYC Times Square?
At one point, Asimov says "Rosencrantz and Guildenstern... are also students at Wittenberg...." (107 - 108) Say what? I'll check next time I read Hamlet (which will be soon), but I'm pretty sure those dumbasses did NOT go to Wittenberg.
P.S. Oops. I must here forth pop mine collar:
HAMLET
There’s letters sealed, and my two schoolfellows,
Whom I will trust as I will adders fanged,
They bear the mandate. (Act III, Scene iv)
Day 24 (DDRD 2,920), October 30, 2025
Read to page 160. Finished at 3:27 am. X ☐.
ADDENDUM: read to page 175.
Day 25 (DDRD 2,921), 🎃🎃October 31, 2025🎃🎃
Read to page 190. Halloween in New York City is very loud. And crowded.
Day 26 (DDRD 2,922), November 1, 2025
Read to page 233.
Reference the King's healing touch in Macbeth, Asimov sardonically quips, "...considering that James was a physically dirty individual with appalling personal habits, his touch was more likely to give disease than cure it." (195)
Ah, the contortions a Stratfordian must execute when confronted by history. In writing about King John, Asimov must deal with the fact that there was a previous play of the same name (and plot) extant before "Shakespeare" could have written it. So...
"More than once, Shakespeare has been able to try his own hand at a version of a popular play, always producing A better one that drove the earlier version into oblivion." (205) Thus there is also Ur-Hamlet, The Taming of a Shrew, an early version of Romeo and Juliet.... You'd think at some point Stratfordians would get tired of making Shakespeare stupider than he really was. Especially since there is no actual evidence of any of these previous plays' existence. They only "exist" because of the necessity of making the plays fit an assumed/hypothetical/fictional timeline. FF'sS.
I don't know how, but I've managed to fuck up my numbers again. I know I haven't missed any reading days, though, so I'll just force the train back onto the tracks. I think I read and don't have any notes, so I end up skipping a day without actually missing a day.
ADDENDUM: According to Google, from November 2, 2017 (DDR1) to November 3, 2025 is 2,923 days. And I just realized that I've just celebrated my 8th year of DDR-ing. Yowza. If I had the strength, I'd figure out how many pages I've read in that time. Maybe mañana. At any rate, it looks like my DDR number is accurate, so I'm just resetting the date and soldiering on.
Day 27 (DDRD 2,923), November 3, 2025
Read to page 263.
Asimov points out that the phrase, "To guild the lilly" is actually a misquotation of Shakespeare. (I didn't even know it was from Shakespeare.) The actual line is "To gild refined gold, to paint the lily...." (IV, ii, 11)
Day 28 (DDRD 2,924), November 4, 2025
Read to page 284.
Day 29 (DDRD 2,925), November 5, 2025
Read to page 314. Sorry to say that I've not found the discussion of the last several posts very interesting...no doubt in part because I'm not very familiar with these History Plays. Also, I think I'm just ready to move on. Well...529 🍺 on the wall....
Day 30 (DDRD 2,926), November 6, 2025
Read to page 343. (499 🍺.)
"The nobles (including Henry IV himself, then Bowlingbroke) had rebelled against Richard II's arrogation of too muchlo power to tax and control." (325)
Hmmmm.
And here's another scoop of that good old Stratfordian bullshit:
"One of Shakespeare's sources for Henry IV, Part One was a play by an anonymous writer entitled The Famous Cictories of Henry V, which covered the ground in this play and in the two following, Henry, IV Part Two and Henry V, but was shorter than any one of these. The Famous Victories contained the legend of Prince Hal's wild youth and his sudden reformation at his coronation." (327)
Or...?
Funny how Stratfordians have to constantly degrade Shakespeare's genius. They say that so many of his plays were based on contemporary plays which have since been lost that they virtually imply that he is a creative plagiarist.
Or...
Day 31 (DDRD 2,927), November 7, 2025
Read to page 373.
Day 32 (DDRD 2,928), November 8, 2025
Read to page 403. (439 🍺.)
Day 33 (DDRD 2,929), November 9, 2025
Read to page 430. (409 🍺.)
As I was reading this morning, I started thinking it would be nice to watch all of these plays. So I went to Amazon to see what I could see. I didn't find any complete collections there, though, so I typed "Shakespeare complete plays" into Google to see what I would find there. And I found this bit of beauty:
I don't know if they have all of Shakespeare's plays, but they certainly had a lot of them. I may have to throw some money down later today...after church, opera (La Traviata) etc.
Day 34 (DDRD 2,930), November 10, 2025
Read to page 500. ( 339🍺.)
Etymology of "undermine":
Literal origin
"To dig under": The word is a combination of "under" and "mine".
Military tactic: "Mine" in this context comes from the verb miner, meaning to dig, and was originally used for the practice of digging under fortifications to make them fall down. This is similar to the process of "sapping" walls in medieval sieges.
Early use: The term was first recorded in the Middle English period, around 1300, to describe this physical act of undermining a structure.
Hmmm. On page 490 Asimov quotes from Henry V this line: "...a little touch of Harry in the night." (IV, Chorus, l. 47) This refers to King Harry going amongst his troops in order to embolden them for the coming French attack. (490) After I read that, I kept thinking, "What was the title of that Harry Nilsson?album where he did all the old time tunes?
Wikipedia?
Yep, that's it. A shame they didn't stick with the original line since the first name was a match. But hey, a Shakespeare allusion is a Shakespeare allusion is a Shakespeare allusion. And I like it.
Day 35 (DDRD 2,931), November 11, 2025
Read to page 542. (297🍺.)
This book has actually gotten interesting to me again...at least in part because of Prince Hal and Falstaff... yet when I woke up this morning it was Hanya Yanagihara's The People Who Live in Trees that called to me. So I've been reading on that, and am pretty close to the halfway point. When I finish it, I think I'm going to read her second novel, A Little Life, which is what pulled me to her in the first place...but I read from several different reviewers that this book was more than a bit traumatizing, and I wanted to make sure that the quality of the writing would make it worth the trauma. Speaking of A Little Life, I've been trying very hard not to buy this thing of beauty:
And there was much rejoicing.
Day 36 (DDRD 2,932), November 12, 2025
Read to page 572. (267🍺.)
Day 37 (DDRD 2,933), November 13, 2025
Read to page 602. (237🍺.)
Day 38 (DDRD 2,934), November 14, 2025
Read to page 632. (207🍺.)
In commenting on a peasant revolt in 1450, Asimov says, "Certainly Shakespeare, who is always ready to make fun of artisans and peasants, presents the rebellion in a spirit of broad farce." (603)
Day 39 (DDRD 2,935), November 15, 2025
Read to page 662. (197🍺.)
On page 656 (Henry VI, Part Three)...John de Vere, 13th Earl of Oxford makes his appearance.
Day 40 (DDRD 2,936), November 16, 2025
Read to page 700. (Actually there are only 90 text pages to go, so let's say 90🍺.) Now reading about Richard III. After that Henry VIII. Then finito.
Day 41 (DDRD 2,937), November 17, 2025
Read to page 730. (60🍺.) Almost finished with Richard! Guess it's time to start thinking about what comes next, ennit?
Day 42 (DDRD 2,938), November 18, 2025
Read to page 760. (30🍺.)
And then we meet Thomas Howard.
.jpeg) |
| Public Domain |
That name rang a little bell for me, so I Wikipedia see and sure enough, Thomas was the father of Henry Howard...
_Hans_Holbein_d._J.(_S%C3%A3o_Paulo_Museum_of_Art).jpg) |
| Public Domain |
...who just happened to be (1) the inventor of the so-called Shakespearean Sonnet and (2) Edward de Vere's paternal uncle. That's a bit in the nose, ennit?
Yep. The last play. The last 47 pages of text. In honor of this auspicious occasion, I'm going to stop here and read A Little Life until it's time to get ready for today's duties.
Day 43 (DDRD 2,939), November 19, 2025
Read to page 790, aka The End.
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