A literary blog is not complete with something to do with Shakespeare, right? (Right!) So, I decided to honor Shakespeare's belated 450th Birthday with a post about how other people have honored The Bard eternally.
That being said, I will not be including tattoos of overused Shakespeare quotes like, "though she be but little she is fierce," or, "to thine own self be true." Come on, if you're a big Shakespeare fan, get something a little more original. I'm pretty sure a good percentage of the people with those tattoos don't know they're Shakespeare quotes anyway. (/endrant).
But, moving on, I thought I would include more tattoos than I have before in any post (*cue the dramatic music*). Since Shakespeare is such a huge influence and he has so many pieces to choose from when getting a tattoo to commemorate Shakespeare, I thought it only necessary to include more tattoos. Any reason for more tattoos.
That being said, I will not be including tattoos of overused Shakespeare quotes like, "though she be but little she is fierce," or, "to thine own self be true." Come on, if you're a big Shakespeare fan, get something a little more original. I'm pretty sure a good percentage of the people with those tattoos don't know they're Shakespeare quotes anyway. (/endrant).
But, moving on, I thought I would include more tattoos than I have before in any post (*cue the dramatic music*). Since Shakespeare is such a huge influence and he has so many pieces to choose from when getting a tattoo to commemorate Shakespeare, I thought it only necessary to include more tattoos. Any reason for more tattoos.
To start this lovely fiasco, I thought it only appropriate to have a beautifully executed tattoo that references one of Shakespeare's more famous plays, Hamlet. Even if you haven't read and/or seen the play, there's a 99.99999% chance you've heard the opening lines of Hamlet's soliloquy, "To be, or not to be: That is the question:..." Since the line is so famous, I'm actually gratefully pleased to see that this tattoo doesn't include those lines at all. In fact, the included text is from the end of the soliloquy. To me, this is awesome because it means that the owner of the tattoo, and anyone who recognizes the tattoo, is probably a big fan of Shakespeare, as shown by the required knowledge needed to recognize the quote, which is as follows:
[T]here's a special providence in
the fall of a sparrow. If it be now, 'tis not to come; if it be
not to come, it will be now; if it be not now, yet it will come:
the readiness is all.
This tattoo takes some pretty awesome dedication. I mean, not only does the owner have a quote from Shakespeare's MacBeth, but also, there's a portrait of Shakespeare himself. Awesome! My only question about this tattoo is, does it finish the quote, "sound and fury, signifying nothing," or does the tattoo really stop at "signifying?" Hmm...
Keeping with the MacBeth theme, I really love the concept of this tattoo because the average person would just see an awesome tattoo. However, a fan of Shakespeare would do a double take and think, "wait a minute..." until it dawned on them that this beautiful tattoo is a representation of Lady MacBeth in all her maddened glory.
This lovely tattoo doesn't directly reference a play or sonnet, as you can obviously tell, but I still really really really like this. I personally love quills (note my previous post), and I love the style of the tattoo. Everything about this tattoo is pretty wonderful, actually.
And now, finally, I have a little treat for you. I present to you, Hipster Shakespeare! (The title of this piece is not really "Hipster Shakespeare," by the way. It's called "Tattooed Shakespeare" by the incredible artist, Mathew McFaren, and he has other pieces similar to this).
And now, finally, I have a little treat for you. I present to you, Hipster Shakespeare! (The title of this piece is not really "Hipster Shakespeare," by the way. It's called "Tattooed Shakespeare" by the incredible artist, Mathew McFaren, and he has other pieces similar to this).
I can't think of a better way to end a post, so, with that...
If you have any questions, please visit the contact link at the top of the page and send me an email or leave a comment. I like emails and comments.
And, remember - ink tells stories on skin as much as it does in books!
Kayla
If you have any questions, please visit the contact link at the top of the page and send me an email or leave a comment. I like emails and comments.
And, remember - ink tells stories on skin as much as it does in books!
Kayla