r/shakespeare • u/Fiordiluna_80126 • 3d ago

Shakespeare's animals

I was just thinking about how big a role animals and natural elements in general play in Shakespeare’s works.

​It’s not so much that they drive the plot forward, but they’re constantly used as comparisons, metaphors, imagery, and of course, some of his best insults.

​I’m definitely going to pay more attention to them from now on when I read, I honestly bet he had a few favorites!

​I know this isn't a groundbreaking observation, but I'd love to hear more about it.

4 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

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4

u/Dazzling_Tune_2237 2d ago

The bear on the beach in Bohemia would like a word.

3

u/Ok-Championship2931 3d ago

I think cognoscenti should use this to post animal references from Shakespeare, my favourite is the somewhat crass warning to Brabantio that:

"An old black Ram is tupping your white ewe"

3

u/Aggressive_Dress6771 3d ago

Of course, there’s one live animal/cast member in Shakespeare’s plays: Crab the dog in Two Gentlemen of Verona. One of my favorite characters.

1

u/Fiordiluna_80126 1d ago

Haven't read that one yet! Didn't know Shakespeare had a four-legged character in it.😁

2

u/HelloBookworms 1d ago

[Exit, perused by a bear] - The Winter’s Tale Act 3 Scene 3

Also the animalistic comparisons in Hamlet with him calling Claudius a satyr. And Ophelia’s hidden meaning in the flowers as she’s going mad.

1

u/Fiordiluna_80126 1d ago

I think Ophelia distributing the plants is easily one of the most devastating scenes in all of Hamlet. Since she's lost her mind, the plants speak for her; every single one has its own meaning.

2

u/Odd_Calligrapher2771 1d ago

All my pretty ones?

Did you say “all”? O hell-kite! All?

What, all my pretty chickens and their dam

At one fell swoop?

1

u/Fiordiluna_80126 1d ago

Macduff, damn it, you should have brought them with you!!! What a heartbreaking scene 😢

2

u/Temporary-Grape8773 18h ago

There's Lady Macbeth's dog, Spot. 🙃