Shakespeare's Comedies
Shake Shakespeare's hand and make a friend for life
by
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Benedick: I swear by my sword that you love me, Beatrice. Beatrice: Don't swear by it and eat it. Benedick: I will swear by it that you love me and I will make any man eat it who says I don't love you. Beatrice: Won't you eat your word? Benedick: With no sauce that can be made for it I protest I love you. Beatrice: God forgive me then. Benedick: For what offence, dear Beatrice? Beatrice: You have caught me at a good time. I was about to protest I loved you. Benedick: And do it with all your heart. Beatrice: I love you with so much of my heart that none of it is left to protest. Benedick: Come. Ask me to do anything for you. Beatrice: Kill, Claudio. Benedick: Ha! Not for the wide world. Beatrice: You kill me when you deny me. Farewell. Benedick: Wait, Beatrice—dear— Beatrice: I have gone although I am here. There is no love in you. No. Please let me go. Benedick: Beatrice— Beatrice: I want to go. Benedick: We must be friends first. Beatrice: You find it easier to dare to be friends with me than fight my enemy. Benedick: Is Claudio your enemy? Beatrice: Isn't a man who slanders, scorns and dishonours my cousin the worst sort of confirmed villain? Oh I wish I were a man. What! Keep going and behave normally with her until they come to take hands and then publicly slander with unmitigated fury? God I wish I were a man. I would eat his heart in the marketplace. Benedick: Listen to me, Beatrice. Beatrice: Talk with a man from a window. An excellent maxim. Benedick: No, but Beatrice. Beatrice: My darling Hero has been wronged. She has been slandered. She has been ruined. Benedick: Beatrice— Beatrice: Princes and Counts. Surely a princely testimony—a good confectionary Count—definitely a chocolate soldier. Oh I wish I were a man for his sake or that I had any friend who would be a man for my sake, but manhood has melted into manners, valour into compliments and men fight with words and fine ones too. A man who tells a lie and swears the lie is true is as brave as Hercules. I can't be a man by wishing so I will die a woman with grieving. Benedick: Wait Beatrice. I swear by this hand I love you. Beatrice: Use it some other way than swearing by it if you love me. Benedick: Do you really believe Count Claudio has wronged Hero? Beatrice: Yes, as surely as I have a thought or a life. Benedick: Enough! I am duty-bound. I will challenge him. I will kiss your hand and leave you. I swear by this hand Claudio will pay dearly. When you hear of me, think of me. Go and comfort your cousin. I must say she is dead, so farewell. They exit.
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About the Book
These translations of Shakespeare's comedies stand on their own so that they may be read quickly and easily eliminating the need to search for the meaning of every second word but they are supplemented by supporting explanations of the world in which Shakespeare lived for those who are curious about it. Jeanne Arthur’s translations make Shakespeare accessible to the ordinary person. She hopes that they will make the fun and warmth of Shakespeare's comedies live in contemporary Western culture once again for many more people.
About the Author
Jeanne Arthur BA (Honours Drama) is a retired teacher of Drama, English and History who was inspired to translate Shakespeare’s plays into modern English by her students who asked questions about the plays that were not easy to answer even though she had an honours degree in Drama from Flinders University and thirty years of teaching Drama. Retirement gave Jeanne the time and opportunity to write these translations to answer her students’ questions and to allow her to reflect on Shakespeare’s plays at a leisurely pace. She believes the outcome of this experience will be helpful to readers, performers and theatre workers as it brings many years of working on Shakespeare’s plays and poetry to clarify their meaning and create immediately accessible texts supported by thorough explanatory notes about Shakespeare’s world.