Jonathan O'Neill’s Reviews > Shakespeare After All > Status Update
Jonathan O'Neill
is on page 135 of 989
Read Macbeth Essay
Macbeth, whatever else it is, remains the sublimest and most "modern" of morality plays. And to the redemptive vision of Malcolm we need continually to oppose the treadmill language of Macbeth—the speaker like Sisyphus rolling his stone patiently to the top of the hill, only to have it roll down again, eternally; [cont.]
— Oct 19, 2026 05:55AM
Macbeth, whatever else it is, remains the sublimest and most "modern" of morality plays. And to the redemptive vision of Malcolm we need continually to oppose the treadmill language of Macbeth—the speaker like Sisyphus rolling his stone patiently to the top of the hill, only to have it roll down again, eternally; [cont.]
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Jonathan’s Previous Updates
Jonathan O'Neill
is on page 106 of 989
What Shakespeare did with the weird sisters was make them into an emblematic state of mind—again, the onstage and unmetaphored counterpart of the ambiguous and powerful Lady Macbeth. Are the "witches" inside or outside Macbeth? Are they part of his consciousness, prompting him to ambition or murder—or are they some external natural force? The nature of theater does not require an either/or [cont.]
— Oct 16, 2026 05:06AM
Jonathan O'Neill
is on page 104 of 989
Read 'A Midsummer Night's Dream' essay.
'The child of the union of Theseus and Hippolyta, according to Plutarch, was the fanatically chaste young man Hippolytus, whose tragic death comes as a result of his stepmother Phaedra's lust for him [...]
The "happy ending" of this play of romantic love is in the theatre almost completely satisfying. But with Oberon's caution about progeny... cont.
— Sep 29, 2026 05:03AM
'The child of the union of Theseus and Hippolyta, according to Plutarch, was the fanatically chaste young man Hippolytus, whose tragic death comes as a result of his stepmother Phaedra's lust for him [...]
The "happy ending" of this play of romantic love is in the theatre almost completely satisfying. But with Oberon's caution about progeny... cont.
Jonathan O'Neill
is on page 80 of 989
Read Hamlet Essay
...one never does encounter Hamlet "for the first time." Instead the play provides a resonant cultural echo, both forming and reflecting concepts—turns of speech, types of character, philosophical ideas—that seem to preexist any single experience of the play, and at the same time to be disseminated from it.
— Sep 13, 2026 02:21AM
...one never does encounter Hamlet "for the first time." Instead the play provides a resonant cultural echo, both forming and reflecting concepts—turns of speech, types of character, philosophical ideas—that seem to preexist any single experience of the play, and at the same time to be disseminated from it.
Jonathan O'Neill
is on page 66 of 989
'Modern quoters cite "Shakespeare" at their peril when they're actually, and recognizably, quoting Shakespearean characters carefully crafted to be at variance with their own language. One of this playwrights most substantial achievements is that, whenever he cites truisms or platitudes, he puts them in the mouths of suspect speakers, [...cont]
— Sep 10, 2026 05:31AM
Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow
Creeps in this petty pace from day to day
To the last syllable of recorded time,
And all our yesterdays have lighted fools
The way to dusty death....