how my achievements mock me!

1. In A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Lysander says:
   
   “Ay me! for aught that I could ever read,
   
   Could ever hear by tale or history,
   
   The course of true love never did run smooth…”
   
   How has this proven (or not proven) to be the case in your life?
        I am not currently involved in a long-term, serious relationship, though that has been the case previously. Therefore, logically, one can assume that something went wrong along the line. To answer your question: the closest I've ever come to knowing true love was when my boat crashed on its rocky shore.
   
2. In Hamlet, the title character says:
   “Frailty, thy name is woman!”
   Who in your life has proven this not to be true? And if you’re willing to share, who in your life has proven this to be completely true?
        There are numerous examples of un-frail, or even anti-frail women in my life, thank God. Fluffy is the absolutely best example (which is not surprising, since she's an awesome example in many ways). She's also never, not ever, sanctimonious or precious. "If you don't get everything you want, think of the things you don't get that you don't want." [Oscar Wilde]
         Who has proven this to be completely true? My best friend from high school, who thinks that the only "natural" role for a woman is that of wife and mother. A former friend, someone I used to think I knew well, who docilely agreed to leave when her husband threw her out of their house and continued his relationship with his pregnant mistress. And a former colleague whose strength I'd admired, ironically, until I realized that "strength" is an offensive tactic.  
   “’Just remember, Samantha, wanting to be loved is not a weakness, and loving someone is one of the must fulfilling and rewarding things you can do. If it goes wrong you’ll recover, but we need the highs and lows in life. The contrasts are what drives us forward. It’s not just about survival, and don’t confuse being tough with being strong.’” [Jane Sigaloff, in Lost & Found]
   
3. In The Merry Wives of Windsor, Pistol says:
   “Why then the world’s mine oyster,
   Which I with sword will open.”
   Ignoring the possible sexual meaning here, how do you feel about oysters?
         {{{shudder}}} I'm not a fan of seafood in any form.
         But seriously--how can you ignore the "possible" sexual meaning here? “The world is an oyster, but you don't crack it open on a mattress.” [Arthur Miller]
   
4. In The Merchant of Venice, Lorenzo says:
   “The man that hath no music in himself,
   Nor is not mov’d with concord of sweet sounds,
   Is fit for treasons, stratagems, and spoils.”
   Do you agree, and have you known anyone who seemed to be completely unmoved by any kind of music?
   I could not agree more. I cannot imagine a day without music. One of my friends, who I'm only recently coming to know well, has surprised me in this area. Although she is on the surface "a music fan," she is markedly intolerant of all types of music except that to which she listens. It's not that she "doesn't like" other things; she is vocally offended or repulsed by everything else that anyone chooses to hear. It is annoying on a personal level (who wants to play or talk about music around someone who is almost guaranteed to complain about it?) and disappointing on a philosophical one, too: I thought she was more evolved than that. The world is bigger than just her preferences, and there are sometimes--even often--others present who are as offended by her prejudices as she is by their preferences.
   
5. Is Shakespeare overrated, or is he truly the Western world’s greatest writer?
   While he is certainly overrated (who wouldn't be, 400 years after the fact?), I do believe that he is truly the greatest writer of the Western world. My own enjoyment of his works aside: who's the competition?

[from The Cat, who got it here]