Did you know that a wench is “a young woman; [and] also a term of endearment to wife, daughter, or sweetheart”? Or so says The Norton Shakespeare anthology.
That was something new to me, something I discovered last night when my wife and I sat down for our first ever Shakespeare Wednesday. To kick off this momentous event we started with The Tempest. This is my favorite Shakespearean play. I read it in college and immediately loved it.
Therefore, when I saw the preview for the new movie I knew I had to reread the play, and so, Shakespeare Wednesday was born. Why Wednesdays? Well, it is the most literary day of the week, of course. (There is also nothing on TV that Laura and I like to watch Wednesday nights.) I’m very excited for the movie. It looks quite exciting. Have a look yourself:
Looks good, huh? So, with the movie as an inspiration I went to the bookshelf, dusted off this tome, and read some Shakespeare to my wench…er…wife. She doesn’t think that Shakespeare is an authoritative enough source to revive such a friendly epithet.
I love reading it. It really is so much easier to understand than you might think. I highly recommend you give it a try. And if you’re still not getting it, there is no shame in using Sparknotes.
So, you gonna read it? How about see the movie? Leave your answers in the comments! I look forward to hearing your responses.
Saturday Morning People 