Apr 13 2010

Cartoon-Caricature of the Modern Romeo and Juliet – and my Meeting with Juliet!

Romeo & Juliet, one of the most famous plays that William Shakespeare, the great English Playwright wrote without using a computer, still continues to make us laugh, cry, post, comment, and… now even TWEET (Such Tweet Sorrow)! Romeo and Juliet by Shakespeare is a timeless play, where the characters and the situations continue to change, but the story remains the same. What if, the characters tweaked the story a little?

The Caricature – Romeo & Juliet:

Here are our Romeo and Juliet, but unknown to Romeo, there’s mush flying out of the balcony as our modern tattooed and pierced Juliet tries to utilize her time more productively than her Shakespearean counterpart.

A Caricature, Cartoon, or picture of Romeo and Juliet, the characters from Shakespeare's drama, in a modern balcony scene.

O Romeo, Romeo, Wherefore art thou Romeo?

And now…

A Verbal Caricature:

Our Modern Juliet looking resplendent in her tattoos, piercings, and purple hair visits the Caricaturist in her Dreams!

Now, my dear visitors, I shall make you privy to a secret. The Juliet that you see in this caricature – yes, the purple-haired tattooed beauty – well, she visited me in my dreams. I repeat our conversation here – verbatim.

Juliet (sizing me up): So you are the caricaturist who made this caricature?
I (displaying the artist’s pride in her work): Yes:)

Juliet: You don’t look like much – but artists never do. So, tell me – You really think I’d do that – kiss an idiot while I wait for my Romeo?
I (With my artistic features ruffled by her offhand judgment): Yes, Juliet. I think you would.

Juliet: That just tells me how naive you are!
I: Will you care to explain that insult, my dear!

Juliet: Do you think I am ugly?
I: Of course not – you look like a colorful box of candies…gift-wrapped in purple!

Juliet (confused – wondering whether it was a compliment or not): Hmmm. Okay, so you agree that I am beautiful and sexy?
I (not wanting to give in): What did I say just now?

Juliet (not willing to reason it out any further): So what makes you think that there’d be just one joker that I’d be smooching in the balcony?
I (with my eyes popping out of my head): You’d be smooching more?

Juliet: Smooching? What are you? Ancient or something?! You’ve got to be joking. I know the Romeos of my day – there’s no way they could ever climb a rope to reach the balcony, and even if they could, It’ll take them at least a day – So I’d have the whole day, and also the night! I don’t know about Shakespeare’s Juliet, but I’d be bored to death if all I did was kiss them!
I: Oh! I didn’t see it your way – so while poor Romeo struggles to reach you…

Juliet: Struggle? What struggle? It isn’t like I’ve switched my mobile off or something.
I: What’s with the mobile?

Juliet (trying to see if my hair were gray): There’s an obvious generation gap here. Don’t you understand, I’ll have to SMS the poor guy continuously – it’ll keep his morale up!
I: Oh, I though you weren’t interested in Romeo.

Juliet (assessing me): What are you, seriously. A moron? Of course I’d be interested in a Romeo. At the end of the day, I’d need someone I could trust to get me my cough drops and take me to the hospital when I am seventy! In the long run, every girl needs a Romeo!

And so, dear visitors, I realized how naive I had been when I drew this caricature. Nevertheless, what’s done is done. I’ve promised Juliet that someday I’ll make another caricature, which will be closer to reality.

Until then – you be the judge!

Apr 5 2010

Caricature/Cartoon – William Shakespeare – The Great English Playwright and his Missing Computer

William Shakespeare, the national poet of England, wrote 38 plays, 154 sonnets, and many poems. And he wrote all these without the help of computers!

Now if that isn’t a commendable performance, I don’t know what is. But Shakespeare shifted his office to heaven in 1616, and now when he writes, he often wishes that he had a computer!

The caricature, cartoon, or portrait of william shakespeare, the bard of Avon, wondering how easy it would have been, if he had a computer.

Shakespeare's Secret Wish!

Shakespeare’s Shortest Biography on the Web:

The “Bard of Avon” was born some time before April 26, 1564. He married young (at least by the standards of today) at 18. His wife was Anne Hathaway, who was about 8 years his senior but outlived the great writer. Shakespeare was most productive between the age of 25 and 50. He died when he was 52. At the beginning of his career, he was drawn towards writing comedies but towards the end he became disposed to writing tragedies. Two of his colleagues were responsible for his plays surviving him. They published the First Folio, a collection of most of his dramatic works.

As it happens, most geniuses are recognized only after they’ve settled in heaven. This was also true for Shakespeare. Fortunately, unlike Van Gogh (the artist,) his work earned him not just his bread and butter, but also some respect, even when he was alive. However, he wasn’t considered one of the greats until the eighteenth century. (To be considered a “Great” you need to check out. It ensures that you aren’t a threat to anyone else anymore!)

Note this (taken from Wikipedia…)
Robert Greene (you know him?!) attacked Shakespeare’s work in print, by calling him “an upstart Crow, beautified with our feathers…”
What?! Yes, he was talking about the “Greatest English Writer!”

Shakespeare’s Plays:

I haven’t read a lot of plays written by Shakespeare, and whatever I ever read didn’t make a lot of sense to me (with the exception of The Merchant of Venice, which ends with a simple to understand and logical solution to a grave problem)…yet…here are the ones that I’ve read.

Comedies:

Tragedies:

Honestly, I don’t remember anything at all from those wonderful stories that I hardly understood:-( I had been happier had Shakespeare not been part of my syllabus in school – I’d have definitely scored much better in English! But you can’t do much about the Greats – you’ve got to read them. Period.)

Here are some other popular Plays that he wrote:

More Comedies:

More Tragedies:

An Important Note:

I had a crazy urge today. I wanted to draw in color! As you can surmise…I wasn’t in the right frame of mind, or I wouldn’t even consider something as crazy as using colors – but I didn’t just consider it, I caved in! So, now I have a caricature of Romeo and Juliet in COLOR! If you’d like to see it – come back! To find your way back to this blog, either subscribe to it (top of the right sidebar) or bookmark it! (It’s cool tattooed fun – promise!)