Category Archives: Shakespeare on Mass Psychology and Group Behavior

It is a borderline platitude that a crowd acts according to the standards of the lowest character in that crowd. It is a huge generalization but life is short. Shakespeare offers to us multiple instances to show his topic contempt.

From 1000 AD to WW3

Posted on August 13, 2018 by jimmie

If, according to Oscar Wilde, truth is a matter of style, even more so history is a matter of opinion. An obvious and unnecessary remark, were it not for the anger of some when they dissent with the thoughts of others. To them I would recommend, with all the earnestness at my disposal, the recollection Read More

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Revisiting Revolutions, a Comparison

Posted on November 17, 2017 by jimmie

After a fitful fever (1) of debates and round-tables, often packed with common sense and sometimes with uncommon nonsense, the dust of antique time (2) may gradually settle on the memory of the 1917 Russian Revolution. In 2117, assuming but not given that schools may still teach history, a question in a standardized test may read, Read More

Posted in Chances Quotes, Elegant Shakespearean Quotes, Encouraging Quotes, Motivational Sayings, Philosophical, Psychological & Historical Considerations, Psychological Shakespeare, Shakespeare Adaptations, Shakespeare Invocations, Shakespeare on Mass Psychology and Group Behavior | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Democracy, Tortured Meaning of the Wrong Word

Posted on October 5, 2017 by jimmie

Politicians, much like advertisers, are ever ready to surprise the unawareness of the thoughtless. They must use language, the quintessential political tool, with a tone of deep-felt conviction and an air of solemn sincerity. And no politician, in his electoral language and speeches, could omit a panegyric of democracy and a declaration of his total Read More

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War among Poor

Posted on February 7, 2017 by jimmie

After Berkeley’s war and fitful fever of destructive demonstrations, the mob sleeps well, or so it seems. As equally well sleep the millions who joined the women’s recent ‘spontaneous’ marches worldwide. These demonstrations (and other similar), are actually atheistic masses, to dupe common sense and satisfy facade rebelliousness or a desire-to-belong. Of the throng who Read More

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Self-Help and the War on Common Sense

Posted on October 26, 2016 by jimmie

“… I talk of dreams, which are the children of an idle brain, begot of nothing but vain fantasy, Which is as thin of substance as the air And more inconstant than the wind Romeo and Juliet, act 1, sc. 4 We know of the war on drugs, the war on terror, the war on Read More

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Burkini and Bikini

Posted on August 29, 2016 by jimmie

“Costly thy habit as thy purse can buy, But not express’d in fancy; rich, not gaudy…” The debate about the admissibility of burkinis on European beaches has mostly spared the American audience. But the issue is sufficiently grotesque to deserve a few related notes.

Posted in Amusing Shakespeare, Philosophical, Psychological & Historical Considerations, Shakespeare on Fashion, Shakespeare on Mass Psychology and Group Behavior, Shakespeare on Sex & Gender Roles | Tagged , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Death of an Unsung Hero

Posted on August 10, 2016 by jimmie

“Now cracks a noble heart. Good night sweet prince: And flights of angels sing thee to thy rest!” Hamlet, act 5, sc. 2 I discovered by chance that a true American hero died two years ago, in a tractor accident, on his farm in Ohio.

Posted in Best Shakespeare Quotes, Elegant Shakespearean Quotes, Life and Death, Shakespeare in Politics, Shakespeare on Mass Psychology and Group Behavior, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Shakespeare on Brexit

Posted on June 29, 2016 by jimmie

The championship of exaggerations is over and the first dust of time is settling on the Brexit referendum. In the circumstances, it may be somewhat amusing to evaluate the reactions rather than the results. Considering that opinions are formed in abysses of approximation, prejudgment and passion. Eventually a new fact is evaluated less for its Read More

Posted in Best Shakespeare Quotes, Philosophical, Psychological & Historical Considerations, Sayings about Life, Shakespeare in Politics, Shakespeare on Mass Psychology and Group Behavior | Tagged , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Chicago Burning

Posted on June 9, 2016 by jimmie

“…a man’s life’s no more than to say ‘One.’ ” Hamlet, act V, sc. 1 During the recent Memorial Day week-end in Chicago, eight people were killed, and at least 57 more wounded. For somewhat  folkloristically funereal reasons, it is a tradition to count the murdered, the shot and the wounded  during this quintessential American Read More

Posted in Life and Death, Philosophical, Psychological & Historical Considerations, Sayings about Life, Shakespeare and Politics, Shakespeare on Mass Psychology and Group Behavior, Social Exchanges Shakespeare style | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Spectacle, Ornaments and Marionettes

Posted on May 17, 2016 by jimmie

“Thus ornament is but the guiled shore To a most dangerous sea; the beauteous scarf Veiling an Indian beauty; in a word, The seeming truth which cunning times put on To entrap the wisest.” (Merchant of Venice, act 3, sc. 2) When I sat down in the coffee-shop, the conversation between the two clients at Read More

Posted in After Dinner Quotes, Amusing Shakespeare, Best Shakespeare Quotes, Philosophical, Psychological & Historical Considerations, Shakespeare in Politics, Shakespeare on Mass Psychology and Group Behavior | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment