Redefining Shakespeare
Roses, written by William Shakespeare (1564-1616), part of an early American lithographic gift book series, can be found in the Laughlin Collection at the Hill Memorial Library on Louisiana State University’s campus. The Hayes Lithographing Company published this book in the city of Buffalo in New York. Although the exact date of when the book was produced is unknown, we assume it to be around the 1900s. The book itself is a little worn, but it is in fairly good condition. The spine of the book is somewhat torn, but shows that it has been able to withstand many years of use. The book is rather small and has painted roses on the front cover. Roses contains a white leatherette cover that has a pebbly texture. The cover of the book is marked with a yellow, maybe slightly gold, illustration of roses. There are thirty-two bright and clean flyleaf pages with a gilt scrolled design that contains rosebuds and leaves, which border the intimate and intricate bouquet of quotes and color lithography. These specific physical features of the book give us the idea that it was very rare and valuable in the past.
For our creative representation, we chose to create the book, Roses by Shakespeare, in a three dimensional way. The creative interpretation of Roses by Shakespeare represents a flowerpot with roses planted inside of it. The individual flowers have famous quotes written by Shakespeare attached to them to bring the book to life. The flowerpot is painted with illustrations depicting pink roses and green vines similar to those presented in the book.
Our group chose to interpret the book in this way because of the title of the book, Roses by Shakespeare. The title of the book symbolizes the creative interpretation of a flowerpot with roses. The roses can be described as a metaphor because they represent the different works of Shakespeare presented in the text. Another reason our group chose to interpret Shakespeare’s book this way is because his book is a collector’s item similar to a flowerpot that could be presented as a gift to someone. Roses are given in today’s society as a symbol of love and adoration or even after a tragedy representing the type of plays Shakespeare has written. The creative interpretation is a representation of the book owner’s love for nature and Shakespeare. The book inspires our representation, but our project is also inspired by Shakespeare’s writings themselves. Our representation, much like the book, is meant for viewing and enjoyment. We chose to use this medium over others for our project because it would be the best way to show the beauty in Shakespeare’s writings. It brings the quotes from his plays to life in a way that could not be expressed with a two dimensional representation. Our chosen creative representation medium is also more helpful in interpreting than other mediums because we can use it to interact with the audience directly. The book includes excerpts of Shakespeare’s text from various pieces of work written by him. The text is not specifically describing roses but can be interpreted into talking about roses. The book is possibly for someone who has an appreciation for Shakespeare and pulls the nature out of his writing, specifically about roses.
Shakespeare's work contains thought provoking quotes that bring to light the beauty of the natural world as well as the beauty in the text. His writings are beautiful, much like roses. As Shakespeare once stated, “One touch of nature makes the world kin.” So enjoy the beauty of nature.
