On 6/6/2011 8:51, Invisible wrote:
> OK, I'll bite: Why the hell should anybody, anywhere, *ever* read Macbeth?

Because it's full of words and expressions that are shortcut references to 
entire sets of memes in educated society. Just like if someone truly ugly 
walks past and I whistle the Wicked Witch of the West theme music, it brings 
in a whole packet of memes and concepts which are incomprehensible if you 
haven't watched the movie. If you hear something referred to as a "red shirt 
assignment" in a military context, you'll have no idea what that means if 
you're not familiar with Star Trek. If someone is complaining, and I tell 
you "that's just sour grapes", you'll have no idea I'm telling you the same 
thing as an "Ar Du" unless you were familiar with the literature of both 
Grimm and China.

It's the same thing with shakespear and all those sorts of things. If I told 
you he's got a scarlet letter on his chest, you wouldn't know what that 
means different from having a scarlet letter on his mantelpiece unless 
you're familiar with both those novels. It's just the educated man's way of 
saying "African or European Swallow?"

-- 
Darren New, San Diego CA, USA (PST)
   "Coding without comments is like
    driving without turn signals."

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