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“To mourn a mischief that is past and gone is the next way to draw new mischief on.” “Reputation is an idle and most false imposition; oft got without merit, and lost without deserving.”
by Gaston Veuvenot Leroux
First Presented at the Paris Salon, 1888
WPCNR NEWS & COMMENT by William Shakespeare. March 14, 2021 UPDATED 5 PM E.D.T.:
(Editor’s Note: The following is a continuing commentary from our pundit of the past, that exemplary and wise beyond his years, William Shakespeare, creator of 36 plays in I believe 52 years of his life, that have sustained their relevance to mankind for over 400 years since he wrote them (without a word processor or typewriter.
Never has there been a time more appropriate to brush up your Shakespeare!
At the close of the quotes, there is a feature from Ohio State News about a play their theater presented in 2020 about the first African-American to play the Othello role on the stage.
The plays are still performed today because they speak timeless truths about power, behavior, the flaws of the mind, and our capacity for destroying each other and the ones we love.
Yesterday, the bard enlightened us about the struggle for power and means for obtaining it through quotes from his gripping drama Julius Caesar.
Today the bard’s words concern the ways in which good men or “honourable” men like Brutus and Othello are time and again induced to commit acts and endorse actions that are not in the best interests of the state but ultimately to promote their own interests they are convinced are in best interests of the state, but in reality benefit themselves in the future, or at worst avenge wrong done against themselves.
To set the background of the Bard’s Othello, the title character is a heroic Moor commander of the Venetian Army who is revered by his men for his valor and leadership against the Turkish invasion of Cyprus, a Venetian colony. Being a Moor, he is hated for the color of his skin and his success.
The tale was adopted by Shakespeare from the combination of Italian stories and the Arabian Nights. Othello never lived, but there were Moors that did fight for Venice.
After the Turk fleet is destroyed by a storm, Iago, a lieutenant in the army and Rodrigo a rejected suitor of Desdemona the Venetian beauty who eloped with Othello are enraged at Othello’s success.
Iago plots to convince Othello that Desdemona is unfaithful with Cassio, Othello’s must trusted officer. When Iago’s plot is successful, Othello, his honor inflamed is jealous and makes a perplexed Desdemona heartbroken because she does not know the source of Othello’s rage.
The play ends in tragedy, but explores the insidious nature of putting one’s personal gain and hurt feelings ahead of the good of the people.
Now when you read these quotations from Othello, you may see some little relevance in the behavior of today or a lot—the call for Governor Andrew Cuomo to resign by State Senators, State Assemblypersons, Senators, Congresspersons, a who’s who in politics.
The quotes give you all you need to know about why we are seeing this today and their motivations.
Joan of Arc comes to mind.
She was burned at the stake as a heretic by the French church, after defeating the English because she would not reject her belief that God told her to take command.
Herewith the comments of Mr. Shakespeare
“O beware, my lord, of jealousy;It is the green-ey’d monster, which doth mock The meat it feeds on. That cuckold lives in bliss,Who, certain of his fate, loves not his wronger: But O, what damned minutes tells he o’erWho dotes, yet doubts, suspects, yet strongly loves!”
“Men in rage strike those that wish them best.”
“The robb’d that smiles, steals something from the thief; He robs Himself that spends a bootless grief.”
“Reputation is an idle and false imposition; oft got without merit,And lost without deserving” IAGO, Act II, scene iii
“Good name in man and woman, dear my lord, Is the immediate jewel of their souls: Who steals my purse steals trash; ‘tis something, nothing;‘twas mine, ‘tis his, and has been slave to thousands; But he that filches from me my good name Robs me of that which not enriches him, And makes me poor indeed.” – Othello
“How poor are they that have not patience! What wound did ever healBut by degrees?
“Men should be what they seem.” Othello
“And his unkindness may defeat my life, But never taint my love.” –Desdemona
“So will I turn her virtue into pitch And out of her own goodness make the net That shall enmesh them all.” –Iago
“Trifles light as air are to the jealous confirmations strong as proofs of holy writ.”
“I pray you, in your letters, When you shall these unlucky deeds relate, Speak of me as I am; nothing extenuate Nor set down aught in malice. Then must you speak Of one that loved not wisely but too well; Of one not easily jealous, but being wrought, Perplexed in the extreme…”
“To mourn a mischief that is past and gone Is the next way to draw new mischief on.”
“When devils do the worst sins, they first put on the pretence of Goodness and innocence, as I am doing now.”– Iago
IRA ALDRIGE: a portrait of the first Black Actor to ever play Othello on stage in 1833. He was a New York actor who went to London and won the role.
From Ohio State University News by OSU News Contributor Josh Friesen:
James Earl Jones. Laurence Fishburne. Chiwetel Ejiofor. Mekhi Phifer. Distinguished black thespians have portrayed one of Shakespeare’s most famed and widely depicted characters for years.
But paving the way for those acting legends nearly 200 years ago was Ira Aldridge, the first black actor to breathe life into the Othello role.
Aldridge began acting in New York City as a teenager in the early 1800s. He sailed to England when he was 17 in 1824 to pursue a career in theater, and in 1833, he took the stage as Othello. “Red Velvet” chronicles how Aldridge came into the breakthrough role and its impacts.
The Department of Theatre presented the play “Red Velvet,” a biodrama retelling the story about how Aldridge broke barriers and opened the door to fellow African American performers. The production is guest directed by actor, director and screenwriter Ted Lange and was performed Feb. 6-15, 2020 at the Drake Performance and Event Center’s Roy Bowen Theatre.
“This play shows you this extraordinary actor who copes with all of the racism of not only the English audiences, but the English actors,” Lange said. “You see the obstacles he had to overcome just to be an actor on the stage.”
Aldridge began acting in New York City as a teenager in the early 1800s. He sailed to England when he was 17 in 1824 to pursue a career in theater, and in 1833, he took the stage as Othello. “Red Velvet” chronicles how Aldridge came into the breakthrough role and its impacts.
(Ohio State News)
The play starred theatre major Sterling Wesley as Aldridge; theatre and English major Ashley Bice as Aldridge’s wife, Margaret; and communication and theatre major Betsy Huggins as Aldridge’s onstage colleague, Ellen Tree. The story documents Aldridge, an American who performed “Othello” in England, both early in his career and later toward the end of his life.
“What drew me [to the role] most was what he did for African Americans — being the first black man to play Othello,” Wesley said, adding that Othello, a black character, would typically be portrayed by white actors in blackface. “Everyone used him as a stepping stone, and he opened up careers for many African Americans to also take on this role. He was a trendsetter.”
(For the Columbus Dispatch review of Red Velvet go to
“Beware the ides of March.” “Et tu, Brute?
general, emperor of the Roman Empire
100 B.C. to 45 B.C.
WPCNR NEWS & COMMENT. By William Shakespeare. March 13, 2021:
(Editor’s Note:
The character of our State Senators, Assemblypersons, congress members and Senators is revealing what they really are like in ways they are unaware.
The positions our leaders or would-be leaders of the state are taking in the wake of the unsubstantiated, not formally charged allegations against Governor Andrew Cuomo are so painfully familiar to those familiar with the greatest playwright of all time. William Shakespeare. His voice of the past describes exactly what we are seeing going on today in two plays about power plays.
Our guest columnist is the bard:
William Shakespeare wrote two plays Julius Caesar and Othello, portraying the demise of two powerful men, leaders, who were destroyed by persons they once ruled and were revered by– the jealousy of their once colleagues too timid to rule but jealous of their leader’s ability to rule because they wanted his power.
Just to set the scene for you, Julius Caesar was a military leader who conquered much of the Roman Empire territory. Romans revered him and he became emperor.
This angered the Roman Senate and resulted in a power backlash ending in Caesar’s assassination by his friend, Brutus on the floor of the Roman Senate on March 15, 45 B.C., 2065 years ago this coming Monday. Shakespeare wrote his play about the event before 1599 A.D. It is timely to read it.
Brutus was used by the conspiring Roman Senate, as Brutus was Caesar’s friend, and he was persuaded to kill Caesar because Caesar was accused of being ambitious by members of the Senate and Brutus became convinced assassinating Caesar was for the good of Rome. How familiar? The headline of this article is most appropriate:
“Beware the ides of March,” is a prophecy a soothsayer said to Caesar just about now before the day Caesar was stabbed and killed. Ides for those unfamiliar with latin stands for 15.
“Et tu, Brute?” was Shakespeare’s quote of Julius Caesar, after Brutus stabbed him. Let’s go to the power-play play of all time: Julius Caesar and the words of our guest and commentator creator of this very-difficult-to-see play from the past where words describe the ambitions and arguments we hear today. The play is very difficult to read or see, as is Othello; It is obvious our “lawmakers” are unfamiliar with either play, or perhaps read the lessons all too well.)
Mark Antony: At Caesar’s funeral:
“Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears;
I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him;
The evil that men do lives after them,
The good is oft interred with their bones,
(For Brutus is an honourable man; So are they all;
Honourable men)
Come I to speak in Caesar’s funeral…
He was my friend, faithful and just to me:
But Brutus says he was ambitious;
And Brutus is an honourable man…
He hath brought many captives home to Rome,
Whose ransoms did the general coffers fill:
Did this in Caesar seem ambitious?
When that the poor have cried, Caesar hath wept:
Ambition should be made of sterner stuff:
Yet Brutus says he was ambitious;
And Brutus is an honourable man.
You all did see that on the Lupercal
I thrice presented him a kingly crown,
Which he did thrice refuse: was this ambition?
Yet Brutus says he was ambitious;
And, sure, he is an honourable man.
I speak not to disprove what Brutus spoke,
But here I am to speak what I do know.
You all did love him once, not without cause:
What cause withholds you then to mourn for him?
O judgement! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason…Bear with me;
My heart is in the coffin there with Caesar,
And I must pause till it come back to me.”
Random truisms in Julius Caesar:
“In the end, it is impossible to become what others believe you are.”
“ The greatest enemy will hide in the last place you would ever look.”
“As a rule, what is out of sight disturbs men’s minds more seriously than what they see.”
“Men in general are quick to believe that which they wish to be true.”
“All bad precedents begin as justifiable measures.”
“I love the name of honor, more than I fear death.”
“What we wish, we readily believe, and what we ourselves think, we imagine others think so.”
CONGRESSMAN MONDAIRE JONES EXPLAINS AID TO WESTCHESTER FROM RESCUE PLAN
(far right) is joined by White Plains Superintendent of Schools Dr. Joseph Ricca (left) and Chairman of the Westchester County Board of Legislators, Benjamin Boykin, hold a news conference early Friday afternoon. Photos Special to WPCNR by John Vorperian
WPCNR CORONAVIRUS REPORT. From Congressman Mondaire Jones. March 12, 2021: Friday afternoon, Congressman Mondaire Jones (D-NY) hosted a press conference to highlight how the American Rescue Plan, which President Biden yesterday signed into law, will impact Westchester and Rockland Counties.
The American Rescue Plan will deliver more than $23 billion to New York State, including more than $400 million in funding to Westchester and Rockland Counties and the cities and municipalities within them. The bill also provides more than $560 million in funding for the counties’ school districts, including approximately $380 million for the East Ramapo Public Schools.
Rep. Jones’ full remarks are below as prepared and video of the event can be found here.
Good afternoon. I am thrilled to be with you all today to celebrate the passage of a transformative piece of legislation – the American Rescue Plan.
At the start of this pandemic, Westchester and Rockland Counties were hit the fastest and the hardest. And for nearly a year, COVID-19 has robbed our communities of lives and livelihoods. But after a hard year, today, our communities are finally getting the relief they deserve.
The American Rescue Plan is the most transformative piece of economic legislation for working people and families in modern American history. I was proud to fight to get this bill passed in the United States Congress. Now that it’s been signed into law, we can finally crush the COVID-19 virus, deliver much-needed financial relief for working families and small businesses, and begin the process of Building Back Better from the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression.
It will invest $71 billion in vaccinations and testing, separate and apart from $25 billion to address health disparities and protect vulnerable populations; $128B to safely reopening K-12 schools, including well over $400 million for K-12 schools in NY-17; and getting direct cash relief to the American people, including $1,400 checks for 85% of American households and an expanded, refundable child tax credit that will literally cut child poverty in half.
And that’s just the beginning, this bill also provides relief for restaurants and small businesses, expands health care coverage to as many as four and a half million more Americans, and strengthens protections for our essential workers.
Perhaps most importantly, the American Rescue Plan will deliver more than $23 billion in direct aid to New York State and municipalities like Westchester and Rockland. The Westchester County government, for example, will receive $187 million. The Rockland County government will receive $63 million. Right here in White Plains, the City of White Plains will receive $22 million in direct aid. In Rockland, the Town of Ramapo will receive $15 million in direct aid. You get the idea.
I said from the beginning that I would deliver results for the great people of Westchester and Rockland Counties, and that is exactly what I’m doing. I meant it when I said that help is on the way. The American Rescue Plan is transformative, and it gets us on the path to Build Back Better. And make no mistake, I’m going to continue fighting for a federal $15 minimum wage and student relief.
In the meantime, though, I am thrilled that relief is finally on its way to the American people. And now I’m excited to hear from leaders from across our district about what that relief will mean for them.