WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE -6

 WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE -6

The day’s compilation of quotes from Shakespeare relate to ‘friendship’ as a component of human life. Brevity in words and fierce advocacy of an idea represent Shakespearean elegance so typical of him. So, our viewers may take note of the curious blend of truth and phrase.

“My friends were poor, but honest”

There are different ways of viewing this observation. It chides the general notion that ‘poverty’ tends to promote tendencies of dishonesty and readiness to do wrong Another aspect to understand is

‘Poor’,   ‘BUT’ ‘Honest’ Each of these words elegantly points to specific feature

‘Poor’ represents a state of financial inadequacy [‘poverty’], while ‘Honest’ tries to accord respectability by referring to their respectable ‘conduct’. At the same time, the term ‘But’ makes an emphatic assertion of contrast, because, ‘honesty’ and ‘poverty’ are generally viewed as rare characteristics   that seldom blend in people. Seemingly simple words have together delivered an emphatic message ‘not to assume that only wealth and virtues go together.

“Most friendship is feigning, most loving is folly”

This quote is quite emphatic as it clarifies the true value in ‘friendship’ and in  ‘love’.

‘Friendship is feigning’ means that friends are keen to achieve their ends and till such time keep pretending to bestow care and attention on to the friend. Also to show emotional leanings in love is a folly because in the final reckoning invariably it ends in pain and disappointment. Obviously, Shakespeare represents the very concept of ‘experience’ in life.

“Nature teaches beasts to know their friends”.

The above quote holds a hidden comparison of animals and humans in determining true friends. While humans are fogged or foxed by attractive oral expressions, animals are driven by pure instinct in understanding the friend and foe. In this act humans are conveniently led into belief that is far from truth. Beasts have a better understanding of friends than are humans.

“There is flattery in friendship”

The above quote is a specific caution in reading friendship. Often persons tend to keep praising a friend with the ulterior motive of gaining advantage. However, genuine friends stay around through the stages of success or distress and so, any effort of flattery has to be viewed with caution.

“Thy friendship makes us fresh”

A clear suggestion from this quote is, good friends always enthuse our efforts and help us to stay positive in spirits. So, good friends help to  keep our  efforts and life purposeful and lovable.

“A friend should bear his friend’s infirmities”.  

The above quote is a good guideline for sustaining friendship. It prescribes that a good friend should tolerate the shortcomings / inadequacies of a friend and be able to get on well with friends instead of making bad or harsh judgments about a friend. A sane piece of advice indeed.

To Continue……..