{"id":907,"date":"2008-11-16T12:30:47","date_gmt":"2008-11-16T16:30:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.shakespeareteacher.com\/blog\/?p=907"},"modified":"2017-08-21T12:16:50","modified_gmt":"2017-08-21T17:16:50","slug":"shakespeare-lipogram-henry-iv-part-one","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shakespeareteacher.com\/blog\/archives\/907","title":{"rendered":"Shakespeare Lipogram: Henry IV, Part One"},"content":{"rendered":"

I am excited to announce a new (though temporary) weekly feature to the blog, inspired by the book Eunoia<\/em> by Christian B\u00f6k. The book has five chapters, each using only one of the five vowels (A, E, I, O, U), and excluding the other four. I thought it might make a fun constrained writing activity for the blog.<\/p>\n

The Challenge: I will write plot summaries for five of Shakespeare\u2019s plays, each using a different target vowel, and excluding the other four. I will choose one play from each of the five genres<\/a>. I will post one summary each Sunday for five weeks.<\/p>\n

Five weeks. Five vowels. Five genres. Five plays.<\/p>\n

I haven\u2019t read Eunoia<\/em>, so I don\u2019t know how B\u00f6k deals with the letters W and Y, but I have laid down my own ground rules. Y is okay if it\u2019s used as a consonant (as in \u201cYet\u201d) or in conjunction with the target vowel (as in \u201cboy\u201d), but not when used by itself (as in \u201cmy\u201d) or when it forms its own syllable (as in \u201cevery\u201d). There will be no restrictions on the use of the letter W.<\/p>\n

Obviously, I will need to change most of the character names to make this work. But rather than arbitrarily choosing new names, I think it would be more faithful to the constraint to choose descriptive nicknames.<\/p>\n

For my first attempt, I have chosen to summarize a History play, King Henry IV, Part One<\/em>, using “A” as the only vowel.<\/p>\n

Enjoy!<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Hal and Falstaff at War, Part A<\/h3>\n

 <\/p>\n

<\/center>Brash Lad\u2019s clansman March has a fall at war. Stalwart Braggart attacks and nabs March, and wants cash. Brash Lad wants March back. Grand Man (Hal\u2019s dad) can\u2019t pay Stalwart Braggart that cash. Brash Lad rants mad. Grand Man can\u2019t pay a call at Abraham\u2019s Land, as was always a plan. Grand Man stays wan. An adamant Brash Lad walks, and clasps Stalwart Braggart\u2019s hands.<\/p>\n

Hal, Jack Falstaff, and a madcap charlatan band hang at a bar. Falstaff has a scam plan. Hal’s plan sandbags Falstaff. Falstaff, back at that bar, brags and brags. Hal calls Falstaff\u2019s brag and can flash all Falstaff\u2019s cash. Falstaff warns Hal that smart scams can\u2019t trap Stalwart Braggart and Mad Marksman, and that Hal\u2019s dad, Grand Man, wants a harsh chat. Falstaff playacts Grand Man and lambasts Hal. Hal playacts Grand Man and Falstaff playacts Hal. Falstaff (as Hal) says that Hal can\u2019t cast fat Jack Falstaff away. Hal (as Grand Man) says that Hal can, and that\u2019s a fact, Jack!<\/p>\n

Brash Lad, Stalwart Braggart, and March all play ball, and plan an attack at Grand Man. March\u2019s lass sang. Grand Man lambasts Hal, as Falstaff had. Hal asks vaward, and Grand Man grants that. Falstaff drafts scalawags that Hal can\u2019t stand and flagrant dastards that pay Falstaff hard cash and walk. Mad Marksman clasps Brash Lad\u2019s hands. Hal packs arms. Falstaff packs sack.<\/p>\n

War starts! Mad Marksman attacks Grand Man. Hal casts Mad Marksman away. Hal and Brash Lad clash, and Hal slays Brash Lad. Mad Marksman attacks Jack Falstaff. Falstaff falls flat and playacts a carcass. Hal calls Brash Lad a gallant, and calls Falstaff fat. As Hal walks away, Falstaff plays at sarcasm and says that a gallant\u2019s as apt as a warrant and a hangman. Falstaff nabs Brash Lad\u2019s carcass and says that Brash Lad had drawn a last fall at Falstaff\u2019s hand.<\/p>\n

Hal\u2019s man nabs Mad Marksman. Hal plays lax gallant and casts Mad Marksman away. Hal and Grand Man plan an attack at Stalwart Braggart and March. Call that play \u201cPart B\u201d\u2026<\/p>\n

Next Lipogram: As You Like It<\/a><\/center><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I am excited to announce a new (though temporary) weekly feature to the blog, inspired by the book Eunoia by Christian B\u00f6k. The book has five chapters, each using only one of the five vowels (A, E, I, O, U), and excluding the other four. I thought it might make a fun constrained writing activity […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[113,69,2,3,43,119],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-907","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-histories","category-lipogram","category-meta","category-shakespeare","category-the-letter-y","category-plantagenets"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shakespeareteacher.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/907","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shakespeareteacher.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shakespeareteacher.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shakespeareteacher.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shakespeareteacher.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=907"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.shakespeareteacher.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/907\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6361,"href":"https:\/\/www.shakespeareteacher.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/907\/revisions\/6361"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shakespeareteacher.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=907"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shakespeareteacher.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=907"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shakespeareteacher.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=907"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}