# Favorite Shakespeare Character **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [February 5, 2000, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-shakespeare-character/13506 "2000-02-05T22:29:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Guy\_Propski](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/5e9695/32.png) [@Guy\_Propski](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guy_Propski)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2000, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-shakespeare-character/13506/21 "2000-02-07T14:03:00Z")
Prospero, from “The Tempest.” Here’s a man who had the chance to destroy his enemy, yet let him go when he saw the humanity in him. If only more people lived that way. And Sir John Falstaff, of course. ---
**Author:** ![AWB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bb73d2/32.png) [@AWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AWB)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2000, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-shakespeare-character/13506/22 "2000-02-07T14:31:00Z")
I saw Othello with a “reverse color” cast. Patrick Stewart was Othello, and Ron Canada was Iago. Mr. Canada’s performance was outstanding! British actor Steven Berkoff did a one-man show of Shakespeare’s villians. I wish he’d toured the US with it. * * * Wrong thinking is punished, right thinking is just as swiftly rewarded. You’ll find it an effective combination. ---
**Author:** ![Felinecare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Felinecare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Felinecare)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2000, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-shakespeare-character/13506/23 "2000-02-07T14:52:00Z")
I have a soft spot for Edmund in King Lear. If the nicest thing Dad ever said to you was _…there was sport in his getting and now the whoreson must be acknowledged_ you’d be cranky too. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2000, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-shakespeare-character/13506/24 "2000-02-07T15:03:00Z")
> [@](#): > > Originally posted by AWB: > **I saw Othello with a “reverse color” cast. Patrick Stewart was Othello, and Ron Canada was Iago. Mr. Canada’s performance was outstanding!** Hey, me too! At the Folger here in DC? - Rick ---
**Author:** ![Chef\_Troy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/85f322/32.png) [@Chef\_Troy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chef_Troy)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2000, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-shakespeare-character/13506/25 "2000-02-07T15:42:00Z")
Falstaff. Far as I know, he’s the only shakespearean character to have a beer named after him… * * * Live a Lush Life Da Chef ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2000, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-shakespeare-character/13506/26 "2000-02-07T16:22:00Z")
Chef: What about King Henry II’s faithful man-in-waiting, Budweiser? Dogberry WAS the fool in MUCH ADO. Also the constable. The Foolish Constable. “Ah, that he should have been here to write me down an ass!” * * * Uke ---
**Author:** ![MadPoet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8c91f0/32.png) [@MadPoet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MadPoet)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2000, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-shakespeare-character/13506/27 "2000-02-07T16:28:00Z")
My favorite character would have to be The Monster With Two Backs, from Othello. * * * [http://www.madpoet.com](http://www.madpoet.com) I’ve got a little black book with me poems in. I’ve got a bag, toothbrush, and a comb. ---
**Author:** ![Bucky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Bucky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bucky)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2000, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-shakespeare-character/13506/28 "2000-02-07T19:43:00Z")
I would have to say Hamlet at this point, although I haven’t played Macbeth yet–I imagine that the bloody Scot will move back to the top after I get a shot at him. Falstaff was fun, although it was Merry Wives Jack and not the Henry IV one. Benedick and jaques were great, Dromio in Comedy of Errors was surprisingly good, Rosalind in AYLI is probably the best female role. The Duke in Othello, on the other hand, sucked. One scene while wearing what was essentially an overstuffed couch that you couldn’t take off until after the curtain call three hours (plus) later! Bucky * * * Oh, well. We can always make more killbots. ---
**Author:** ![Rousseau](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/779978/32.png) [@Rousseau](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rousseau)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2000, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-shakespeare-character/13506/29 "2000-02-07T20:57:00Z")
Patrick Stewart as Othello? Stop, you’ll give me nightmares. The Monster with Two Backs. Classic. I think that’s everyone’s favorite character. * * * The IQ of a group is equal to the IQ of the dumbest member divided by the number of people in the group. ---
**Author:** ![Bucky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Bucky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bucky)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2000, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-shakespeare-character/13506/30 "2000-02-07T21:19:00Z")
It’s the Beast (not Monster) with Two Backs, as in Iago telling Desdemona’s dad that Des and Othello are even now making the beast with two backs. I had a student who translated this, not as having sex, but as “Othello and Desdemona are riding a camel out of town.” Bucky * * * Oh, well. We can always make more killbots. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-shakespeare-character/13506.md?page=1)