William Shakespeare

William Shakespeare

William Shakespeare was a noteworthy English poet and playwright (1564 - 1616). Shakespeare is famous for the many great plays that he has written, including Macbeth, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Othello, Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet, King Lear, The Tempest, and more. Even the gargoyles have discovered his works since their awakening - and have also encountered a number of his characters, such as Macbeth, the Weird Sisters, Oberon, Titania, and Puck.

Shakespeare was good friends with Macbeth in the Gargoyles Universe, although he did not know Macbeth's true identity. Other characters from his plays known to exist in the Gargoyles Universe are Queen Mab, Prospero, Ariel, and Caliban.

Greg Weisman has said that eventually even Shakespeare himself would appear in the series. He has more than once mentioned the idea of Shakespeare and Macbeth having tea together at the Into the Mystic shop in London or being drinking buddies.

Appearances

• "Enter Macbeth" (Mentioned Only)
• "A Lighthouse in the Sea of Time" (Mentioned Only)
• "The Mirror" (Mentioned Only)

Real World History

Shakespearean references in Gargoyles are quite common, thanks to Greg Weisman's fondness for the Bard. Alongside the direct appearance of Macbeth, the Weird Sisters, Oberon, Titania, and Puck in the series, there has also been one definite Shakespearean parallel, between the Coldtrio on the one hand and Othello, Desdemona, and Iago on the other. A number of Shakespearean lines have been quoted in the course of the series, and one of the female gargoyles on Avalon bears the name Ophelia. Also, Dingo's real name is Harry Monmouth, an allusion to Shakespeare's Prince Hal (later Henry V).

Greg also planned to reflect Shakespeare in future episodes, not only through the introduction of Queen Mab and Prospero, but also by making Terry and Sphinx a parallel to Romeo and Juliet in the The New Olympians spin-off.

See also

• William Shakespeare at Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia