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Friday, November 04, 2005

Bear facts:  a brief followup

Apparently there is some dispute, in the comments to Wednesday’s post, about the origin of the phrase, “Exit, raped by a bear.” Brian Cook mentioned it (or did he cite it?  I can never keep that distinction straight), provoking Njorl to ask whether “exit” was a noun or a verb.

Well, that was very funny, Njorl, but in fact, “Exit, raped by a bear” is Shakespeare’s most famous stage direction.  It occurs in A Winter’s Tale, Act IV, scene iv, just after Polixenes and Perdita have that conversation about cross-pollinating plants:

You went to jail in the summer.  It is
Fall now. You will have stories to cover—
Iraqi elections and suicide
Bombers, threats biological and the
Iranian nuclear program.  Out West,
Where you vacation, the aspens will
Already be turning.  They turn in clusters,
Because their roots connect them.  Come back to
Work, Perdita—and life.

Exit, raped by a bear.

I hope that settles matters.  Now, who’s up for a fun-filled modern staging of Coriolanus?

Posted by Michael on 11/04 at 03:48 PM
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