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Catalog
of the Shakespeare Art Collection -- Shakespeare
Rummy Deck
Index of Plays
- Index of Suits
- Alphabetic Index of
Characters
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Don John: 
"Much Ado About Nothing"
He is Don Pedro's bastard brother and he lives up to this distinction.
He stands on a ground of jealousy in a gown of greed. In his ambition
for power and status, he resorts, like Iago, to victimizing the innocent
with his venom. The divided cloak reveals his split and cunning nature:
purple for royalty, with a combination design of arrows and status symbols;
and black, with over-sized crest of pretended virtue. The striped shawl on
the other shoulder, a mark of humility, in his case also fraudulent. The ill-fitting crown covers a scowling face. From beneath the right sleeve of
ego and cynicism, disguised with olive leaves he hold his venom. The quiver
of arrows, another weapon of hate, also ear-marked on the shield, divided
into evil & hypocrisy: the viper and branch. The Don's philosophy is: "Even
if you can't win it's fun to kick up the sand."
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Don Pedro:  "Much Ado About Nothing"
A sober prince with a sense of justice. His green crested royal robe
describes his amity, the brown yoke and skirt denoted his frankness.
The sashes, a sign of authority, do not immunize him from becoming the
accessory to John's plot, indicated by the arrowed sleeve and lapel,
and horizontal sleeve. His red vest, a sign of his ardor and romanticism, as
he plays the match-maker. But thanks to brother John, Pedro winds up
patchin' all his matchin'. |
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Edgar:  "King Lear"
The royal heir of Earl of Gloucester, he is nonetheless, sincere and
unassuming, hence the modest brown on the background and regal sleeve.
The deceptive schemes of his bastard brother Edmund has driven him into
disguise as Mad-Tom covered in gray rags, which are however belted in a rope
of truth. The filial sleeve is lined in loyalty and extends a hand holding
the emblem of beggars: the horn also symbolized giving and taking. He
shows unselfish devotion in caring for his blinded father. The inverted
moon depicts an upside-down world, also the reference to astrological
predictions. On his right shoulder he wears the robe Lear gave him in
the hovel, which is prophetic, since Edgar shares in ruling the Kingdom
after Lear dies and all the bad guys are wiped out. |
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Edmund "King Lear"
Deprived of a legacy because of illegitimacy, he nurses vengeance thru
villainous ambition. Envy and greed are shown in the background and
yoke. His armor of many grays denoted his wickedness and evil plots. The
wide belt shows his ruthless driving will, yet he is a prisoner of his
corrupt, covetous desires, revealed by the striped sleeve. Red hate in on the sash& shield, which bears the crown; his ambition, on a secret ground,
ringed in black doom. The double-headed crossed arrows represent his double-dealing & double-crossing both Regan & Goneril for his vile
intentions. Edgar does him in, in brotherly retribution. Being 'illegitimate' is
one thing...being a bastard is something else again! Edmund just never
learned the difference! |