{"id":6510,"date":"2010-12-03T15:54:01","date_gmt":"2010-12-03T15:54:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thisblogrules.com\/?p=6510"},"modified":"2010-12-03T16:25:21","modified_gmt":"2010-12-03T16:25:21","slug":"the-four-biggest-shakespearian-jerks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thisblogrules.com\/the-four-biggest-shakespearian-jerks\/","title":{"rendered":"The Four Biggest Shakespearian Jerks"},"content":{"rendered":"

Plenty of people like to write about the worst Shakespearian villains, but what people don\u2019t realize is that a jerk does not necessarily a villain make, and vice versa.\u00a0\u00a0What follows are the top Shakesperian jerks, whether they are \u201cheroes,\u201d \u201cvillains,\u201d or otherwise.<\/p>\n

Perhaps it is best to start off with the working definition of the term \u201cjerk\u201d so that there are no mistakes.\u00a0\u00a0By \u201cjerk\u201d we don\u2019t necessarily mean characters who are mean to other characters, or who do unkind or malicious things.\u00a0\u00a0We mean \u201cjerk\u201d in the true definition \u2013 \u201ca contemptibly na\u00efve, fatuous, foolish, or inconsequential person.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0Since we have no time for the inconsequential characters of great literature, we\u2019ll focus on the \u201cna\u00efve, fatuous, and foolish\u201d of the bunch.<\/p>\n

Romeo<\/strong><\/h2>\n

\"Romeo\"<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Romeo Montague, 15 or 16 years old as the \u201cprotagonist\u201d of\u00a0Romeo and Juliet<\/em>, is totally a jerk.\u00a0\u00a0He starts off the play totally gaga for Rosaline, but Rosaline won\u2019t give him the time of day.\u00a0\u00a0So, he goes to this party that\u2019s being thrown by his family\u2019s bitter rivals (because bitter family rival parties are a real picker-upper, apparently) and he glimpses the fair and lovely Juliet Capulet, daughter of said rival family.\u00a0The \u201cstar-crossed lovers\u201d court, marry in secret, then die tragically in each other\u2019s arms.<\/p>\n

Why he\u2019s a jerk<\/strong><\/p>\n

Juliet\u2019s cousin kills Romeo\u2019s best buddy Mercutio, so Romeo kills the cousin (Tybalt).\u00a0\u00a0Stupid, if he ever hopes to get in good with ol\u2019 Juliet\u2019s family.\u00a0\u00a0THEN, instead of grabbing Juliet and making tracks when he got banished, he cooled his heels while Juliet and Friar Lawrence cooked up the cockamamie scheme where it would look like Juliet was dead, and when Romeo sees her lying there, he kills himself.\u00a0\u00a0She wakes up, sees him dead, and kills herself, for real this time.\u00a0\u00a0Come to think of it, Juliet is a pretty big jerk, too.\u00a0\u00a0So is Friar Lawrence.\u00a0\u00a0I mean, he was an ADULT.\u00a0\u00a0He should have known better than to play with poisons and teen hormones.\u00a0\u00a0It\u2019s a play chock-full of jerks, actually.<\/p>\n

Macbeth<\/strong><\/h2>\n

\"Macbeth\"<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Macbeth, loyal subject of King Duncan, war hero, and seemingly nice guy, hears from three witches that someday he\u2019ll be king of Scotland.\u00a0\u00a0He tells his wife about this, and she decides that waiting is boring, so it would be better if King Duncan went ahead and kicked it so that Macbeth can be king, like, now.\u00a0\u00a0Lady Macbeth taunts her husband into doing the deed.\u00a0\u00a0His wife frames some guards for the murder, but then things REALLY go awry.<\/p>\n

Why he\u2019s a jerk<\/strong><\/p>\n

First of all, it\u2019s pretty lame to get talked into regicide by your emasculating wife.\u00a0\u00a0Second of all, when she goes ahead and plants bloody daggers on some inconsequential guards (also jerks) to frame them for the murder, it\u2019s a pretty boneheaded thing to kill those guards before everybody else can go after them with torches and pitchforks, or whatever.\u00a0\u00a0If you can\u2019t figure out that Macduff is suspicious of you before that, you\u2019re a jerk.\u00a0\u00a0So, once he found out Macduff WAS suspicious of him, he exiles him and then murders his whole family, which is a MEAN thing to do, as well as pretty jerky, because like nobody is going to notice that.\u00a0\u00a0Obviously, everything gets worse, and Macbeth is beheaded by Macduff.\u00a0\u00a0Who would have called him a jerk, if he hadn\u2019t been so busy cutting his head off.<\/p>\n

Claudio<\/strong><\/h2>\n

\"Claudio\"<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Supposedly, Claudio is the romantic hero of Much Ado About Nothing, but we prefer Benedick because he isn\u2019t such a schmuck.\u00a0\u00a0Claudio, back from the wars, falls in love with Hero.\u00a0\u00a0Don John, jealous of pretty much everybody, gets his boy Borachio to hook up with Hero\u2019s maid Margaret, and brings Claudio by Hero\u2019s open window, where Margaret and Borachio are getting it on, and Borachio calls out \u201cHero.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0Claudio rejects Hero at the altar and the Friar suggests that they pretend Hero is dead to make Claudio feel super bad about the way he treated Hero.\u00a0\u00a0What is WITH religious dudes and their obsession with faking death in Shakespeare, anyway?\u00a0\u00a0The scheme works, Dogberry uncovers the treachery, and everybody lives happily ever after.<\/p>\n

Why He\u2019s a Jerk<\/strong><\/p>\n

Even if it hadn\u2019t been common to ask upfront questions in order to clear up confusion (because what fun is THAT?) wouldn\u2019t it have been better for Claudio to, I don\u2019t know, tattle on Hero to her father or something?\u00a0\u00a0Her father could have said, \u201cHeck no, my daughter would never do that,\u201d he could have asked Hero about it, and they could have cleared everything up.\u00a0\u00a0Instead, Claudio is a totally gullible jerk willing to believe the worst about the woman he supposedly loves, and throws her over at the altar.\u00a0\u00a0Jerk.<\/p>\n

Othello<\/strong><\/h2>\n

\"Othello\"<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Speaking of guys who believe anything about their women, we submit to you Othello.\u00a0\u00a0Othello, the Moor of Venice, has a lovely wife named Desdemona.\u00a0\u00a0Othello has this Ensign, Iago, who he trusts, but who is secretly not really Othello\u2019s friend because Othello promoted Cassio above him.\u00a0\u00a0Iago decides to wreak havoc, and convinces Othello that Desdemona is having an affair with Cassio.\u00a0\u00a0Othello kills Desdemona, finds out he\u2019s been duped, and kills himself.<\/p>\n

Why He\u2019s A Jerk<\/strong><\/p>\n

The whole way Iago managed to convince Othello that Desdemona was cheating on him was this.\u00a0\u00a0Othello is in possession of a handkerchief that he gave Desdemona when they first started seeing each other.\u00a0\u00a0It has great sentimental value.\u00a0\u00a0Iago gets his wife to steal it, because OTHELLO DROPS IT.\u00a0\u00a0Iago plants the handkerchief in Cassio\u2019s chamber, and that\u2019s enough evidence to make Othello go ahead and smother poor Desdemona.\u00a0\u00a0Hello?\u00a0\u00a0Did he not think, for one second, WHO HAD THE DAMN THING LAST?\u00a0\u00a0Jerk.<\/p>\n

By lizaio<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Plenty of people like to write about the worst Shakespearian villains, but what people don\u2019t realize is that a jerk does not necessarily a villain make, and vice versa.\u00a0\u00a0What follows are the top Shakesperian jerks, whether they are \u201cheroes,\u201d \u201cvillains,\u201d or otherwise.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":37,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[171,104,238,750,901,404,918,916,922,919,899,910,906,917,921,909,715,898,925,923,924,903,915,920,912,902,907,897,900,905,904,926,246,913,908,914,911],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","yoast_head":"\nThe Four Biggest Shakespearian Jerks 2023 | This Blog Rules<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Plenty of people like to write about the worst Shakespearian villains, but what people don\u2019t realize is that a jerk does not necessarily a villain make,\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/thisblogrules.com\/the-four-biggest-shakespearian-jerks\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\">\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"5 minutes\">\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/thisblogrules.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/thisblogrules.com\/\",\"name\":\"This Blog Rules | Why go elsewhere?\",\"description\":\"Leading Entertainment Blog and Daily Source for Fun\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":\"https:\/\/thisblogrules.com\/?s={search_term_string}\",\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/thisblogrules.com\/the-four-biggest-shakespearian-jerks\/#primaryimage\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/www.thisblogrules.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/11\/Romeo.jpg\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/thisblogrules.com\/the-four-biggest-shakespearian-jerks\/#webpage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/thisblogrules.com\/the-four-biggest-shakespearian-jerks\/\",\"name\":\"The Four Biggest Shakespearian Jerks 2023 | This Blog Rules\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/thisblogrules.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/thisblogrules.com\/the-four-biggest-shakespearian-jerks\/#primaryimage\"},\"datePublished\":\"2010-12-03T15:54:01+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2010-12-03T16:25:21+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/thisblogrules.com\/#\/schema\/person\/292315f075662c95590c0b250f432345\"},\"description\":\"Plenty of people like to write about the worst Shakespearian villains, but what people don\\u2019t realize is that a jerk does not necessarily a villain make,\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/thisblogrules.com\/the-four-biggest-shakespearian-jerks\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/thisblogrules.com\/the-four-biggest-shakespearian-jerks\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/thisblogrules.com\/the-four-biggest-shakespearian-jerks\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"item\":{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/thisblogrules.com\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/thisblogrules.com\/\",\"name\":\"Home\"}},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"item\":{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/thisblogrules.com\/the-four-biggest-shakespearian-jerks\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/thisblogrules.com\/the-four-biggest-shakespearian-jerks\/\",\"name\":\"The Four Biggest Shakespearian Jerks\"}}]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/thisblogrules.com\/#\/schema\/person\/292315f075662c95590c0b250f432345\",\"name\":\"Vernon Gadson\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/thisblogrules.com\/#personlogo\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d00d45163899a884751d58ee9b372fc9?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Vernon Gadson\"},\"description\":\"I currently live in the USA, but I learned to speak fluent Italian from my mother who grew up in Italy. 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