Plays create a unique challenge in the world of writing and formatting. One critical question is whether to italicize or use quotation marks for titles. This article delves into the history, modern conventions, and the psychology of presenting titles. We examine user habits, quoting famous lines, and capturing the essence of plays through various formats. The paper is divided into ten subtitles, each discussing nuanced aspects of this seemingly simple quandary. By exploring well-known quotes and analyzing different approaches, we aim to guide writers and marketers in choosing the best method for their needs. This summary sets the stage for a detailed exploration of typographic conventions, which hold significant sway in impacting reader perception and enhancing literary allure.
The History of Quotes in Play Titles
"What’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet." - Shakespeare in 'Romeo and Juliet'
"To be, or not to be, that is the question." - Shakespeare in 'Hamlet'
"All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players." - Shakespeare in 'As You Like It'
"The play’s the thing wherein I’ll catch the conscience of the King." - Shakespeare in 'Hamlet'
"These violent delights have violent ends..." - Shakespeare in 'Romeo and Juliet'
"A little more than kin, and less than kind." - Shakespeare in 'Hamlet'
"Though she be but little, she is fierce!" - Shakespeare in 'A Midsummer Night’s Dream'
"The course of true love never did run smooth." - Shakespeare in 'A Midsummer Night’s Dream'
"Now is the winter of our discontent." - Shakespeare in 'Richard III'
"How sharper than a serpent's tooth it is to have a thankless child!" - Shakespeare in 'King Lear'
"Better three hours too soon than a minute too late." - Shakespeare in 'The Merry Wives of Windsor'
"Parting is such sweet sorrow." - Shakespeare in 'Romeo and Juliet'
Modern Practices and Quotes from Plays
"I have always depended on the kindness of strangers." - Tennessee Williams in 'A Streetcar Named Desire'
"The greatest thing you'll ever learn is just to love, and be loved in return." - 'Moulin Rouge'
"Tis not enough to help the feeble up, but to support them after." - 'King Henry IV'
"Our doubts are traitors, and make us lose the good we oft might win, by fearing to attempt." - Shakespeare in 'Measure for Measure'
"We know what we are, but know not what we may be." - Shakespeare in 'Hamlet'
"The lady doth protest too much, methinks." - Shakespeare in 'Hamlet'
"A man can die but once." - Shakespeare in 'Henry IV'
"Cowards die many times before their deaths; The valiant never taste of death but once." - Shakespeare in 'Julius Caesar'
"Words, words, words." - Shakespeare in 'Hamlet'
"Reputation is an idle and most false imposition; oft got without merit and lost without deserving." - Shakespeare in 'Othello'
"How far that little candle throws its beams! So shines a good deed in a weary world." - Shakespeare in 'The Merchant of Venice'
"One touch of nature makes the whole world kin." - Shakespeare in 'Troilus and Cressida'
Quotes and Typography: Influence on Perception
"If music be the food of love, play on." - Shakespeare in 'Twelfth Night'
"By the pricking of my thumbs, Something wicked this way comes." - Shakespeare in 'Macbeth'
"Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown." - Shakespeare in 'Henry IV'
"The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, but in ourselves." - Shakespeare in 'Julius Caesar'
"Brevity is the soul of wit." - Shakespeare in 'Hamlet'
"Give me my robe, put on my crown; I have Immortal longings in me." - Shakespeare in 'Antony and Cleopatra'
"Now, gods, stand up for bastards!" - Shakespeare in 'King Lear'
"Sleep that knits up the ravell'd sleave of care." - Shakespeare in 'Macbeth'
"I can no other answer make, but, thanks, and thanks." - Shakespeare in 'Twelfth Night'
"Misery acquaints a man with strange bedfellows." - Shakespeare in 'The Tempest'
"With mirth and laughter let old wrinkles come." - Shakespeare in 'The Merchant of Venice'
"Love all, trust a few, do wrong to none." - Shakespeare in 'All’s Well That Ends Well'
The Art of Quoting Plays
"The miserable have no other medicine but only hope." - Shakespeare in 'Measure for Measure'
"Excellence is not being the best, it is doing your best." - 'Sweeney Todd'
"Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them." - Shakespeare in 'Twelfth Night'
"Our revels now are ended. These our actors, as I foretold you, were all spirits and are melted into air, into thin air." - Shakespeare in 'The Tempest'
"The quality of mercy is not strained." - Shakespeare in 'The Merchant of Venice'
"Rage, rage against the dying of the light." - Dylan Thomas quoted in 'Dead Poets Society'
"Hope is a waking dream." - Aristotle quoted in 'The Diary of Anne Frank'
"All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players." - Shakespeare in 'As You Like It'
"It is not in the stars to hold our destiny but in ourselves." - Shakespeare in 'Julius Caesar'
"Time flies over us, but leaves its shadow behind." - Nathaniel Hawthorne quoted in 'Our Town'
"The wheel is come full circle." - Shakespeare in 'King Lear'
"A friend is someone who knows all about you and still loves you." - Elbert Hubbard quoted in 'Rent'
The Psychology Behind Quoting Plays
"This above all: to thine own self be true." - Shakespeare in 'Hamlet'
"The course of true love never did run smooth." - Shakespeare in 'A Midsummer Night’s Dream'
"Better a witty fool than a foolish wit." - Shakespeare in 'Twelfth Night'
"There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so." - Shakespeare in 'Hamlet'
"As flies to wanton boys are we to the gods; They kill us for their sport." - Shakespeare in 'King Lear'
"Things won are done; joy’s soul lies in the doing." - Shakespeare in 'Troilus and Cressida'
"To thine own self be true, and it must follow, as the night the day, thou canst not then be false to any man." - Shakespeare in 'Hamlet'
"What's done cannot be undone." - Shakespeare in 'Macbeth'
"No legacy is so rich as honesty." - Shakespeare in 'All’s Well That Ends Well'
"Men at some time are masters of their fates." - Shakespeare in 'Julius Caesar'
"The devil can cite scripture for his purpose." - Shakespeare in 'The Merchant of Venice'
"We are such stuff as dreams are made on, and our little life is rounded with a sleep." - Shakespeare in 'The Tempest'
Notable Quotes from Plays Across Ages
"True nobility is exempt from fear." - Shakespeare in 'Henry VI'
"Suspicion always haunts the guilty mind." - Shakespeare in 'Henry VI'
"There's place and means for every man alive." - Shakespeare in 'All’s Well That Ends Well'
"One good deed dying tongueless slaughters a thousand waiting upon that." - Shakespeare in 'The Tempest'
"How poor are they who have not patience! What wound did ever heal but by degrees?" - Shakespeare in 'Othello'
"Life every man holds dear; but the dear man holds honor far more precious dear than life." - Shakespeare in 'Troilus and Cressida'
"The better part of valor is discretion." - Shakespeare in 'Henry IV'
"Sweet are the uses of adversity." - Shakespeare in 'As You Like It'
"Her voice was ever soft, gentle and low, an excellent thing in woman." - Shakespeare in 'King Lear'
"Frailty, thy name is woman!" - Shakespeare in 'Hamlet'
"How more dreadful knowledge grows." - Sophocles quoted in 'Oedipus Rex'
"There’s daggers in men’s smiles." - Shakespeare in 'Macbeth'
Capturing Theatre: Quotes' Impact on Marketing
"There is a tide in the affairs of men, which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune." - Shakespeare in 'Julius Caesar'
"If you prick us, do we not bleed?" - Shakespeare in 'The Merchant of Venice'
"There are more things in Heaven and Earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy." - Shakespeare in 'Hamlet'
"The robbed that smiles steals something from the thief." - Shakespeare in 'Othello'
"O, what a tangled web we weave when first we practise to deceive!" - Walter Scott quoted frequently in plays
"All that glitters is not gold." - Shakespeare in 'The Merchant of Venice'
"Temptation is the fire that brings up the scum of the heart." - Shakespeare
"If it be a sin to covet honor, I am the most offending soul alive." - Shakespeare in 'Henry V'
"What light through yonder window breaks?" - Shakespeare in 'Romeo and Juliet'
"How bitter a thing it is to look into happiness through another man's eyes!" - Shakespeare in 'As You Like It'
"I am a man more sinned against than sinning." - Shakespeare in 'King Lear'
"It is not enough to conquer; one must learn to seduce." - Voltaire quoted in plays
Quoting Classics: An Enduring Tradition
"To be honest, as this world goes, is to be one man picked out of ten thousand." - Shakespeare in 'Hamlet'
"Of all base passions, fear is the most accursed." - Shakespeare in 'Henry VI'
"One may smile, and smile, and be a villain." - Shakespeare in 'Hamlet'
"Have more than thou showest, speak less than thou knowest." - Shakespeare in 'King Lear'
"The smallest worm will turn being trodden on." - Shakespeare in 'Henry VI'
"Talking isn’t doing. It is a kind of good deed to say well; and yet words are not deeds." - Shakespeare
"Women’s weapons are water drops." - Shakespeare in 'Much Ado About Nothing'
"What is past is prologue." - Shakespeare in 'The Tempest'
"Men’s evil manners live in brass; their virtues we write in water." - Shakespeare in 'Henry VIII'
"When we are born, we cry that we are come to this great stage of fools." - Shakespeare in 'King Lear'
"Good night, good night! parting is such sweet sorrow, that I shall say good night till it be morrow." - Shakespeare in 'Romeo and Juliet'
"Give thy thoughts no tongue." - Shakespeare in 'Hamlet'
Quotes in the Context of Social Media
"The undiscovered country from whose bourn no traveller returns." - Shakespeare in 'Hamlet'
"Love looks not with the eyes, but with the mind, and therefore is winged Cupid painted blind." - Shakespeare in 'A Midsummer Night’s Dream'
"My only love sprung from my only hate!" - Shakespeare in 'Romeo and Juliet'
"Wisely and slow; they stumble that run fast." - Shakespeare in 'Romeo and Juliet'
"There’s nothing ill can dwell in such a temple." - Shakespeare in 'The Tempest'
"Give every man thy ear, but few thy voice." - Shakespeare in 'Hamlet'
"Some rise by sin, and some by virtue fall." - Shakespeare in 'Measure for Measure'
"Better a witty fool, than a foolish wit." - Shakespeare in 'Twelfth Night'
"Danger knows full well That Caesar is more dangerous than he." - Shakespeare
"He jests at scars that never felt a wound." - Shakespeare in 'Romeo and Juliet'
"Yet do I fear thy nature; it is too full of the milk of human kindness." - Shakespeare in 'Macbeth'
"Come what come may, time and the hour runs through the roughest day." - Shakespeare
Quotes on Italics: Debate and Decisions
"The wheel is come full circle." - Shakespeare in 'King Lear'
"What’s done cannot be undone." - Shakespeare in 'Macbeth'
"Fortune brings in some boats that are not steered." - Shakespeare in 'Cymbeline'
"It is the green-eyed monster which doth mock the meat it feeds on." - Shakespeare in 'Othello'
"He hath ever but slenderly known himself." - Shakespeare
"The evil that men do lives after them; The good is oft interred with their bones." - Shakespeare in 'Julius Caesar'
"Life is as tedious as twice-told tale, vexing the ear of a drowsy man." - Shakespeare
"Suspicion always haunts the guilty mind." - Shakespeare in 'Henry VI'
"Men should be what they seem." - Shakespeare in 'Othello'
"One touch of nature makes the whole world kin." - Shakespeare in 'Troilus and Cressida'
"Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown." - Shakespeare in 'Henry IV'
"True hope is swift, and flies with swallow's wings." - Shakespeare in 'Richard III'
Final Words
In summary, the decision to italicize or use quotes for play titles hinges on traditions, reader perception, and aesthetic preferences. This exploration reveals the psychological impact of quotations and italics, affecting how readers interpret and engage with texts. Whether due to cultural habits or marketing needs, the choice of presentation significantly influences comprehension and appreciation. The use of iconic quotes, as highlighted in this article, serves as a testament to the enduring power of language in theater, encouraging us to preserve its eloquence and allure. Acknowledging the history and modern practices equips writers with the knowledge to appropriately format their works with respect to plays, ensuring clarity, relevance, and timeless appeal in the literary landscape.
浙公网安备
33010002000092号
浙B2-20120091-4