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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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Oliver: 
"As You Like It"
Insolent and rancorous, he tries to deprive his brother Orlando of his rightful legacy thru unscrupulous means. This mischief is shown in the gray ground and armor. The purples and wide buckled belt indicate his ambitions for land, title and power. His black cape with the status sign covers a mantle of envy and greed, banded in a double design of diamonds and crosses. These ugly greens are also in his collar, cuffs and hat. With the unsheathed sword he pursues his brother with malicious vengeance into the Forest where upon he meets Celia and
zap! Her love and kindness turns him on to the point of conversion, symbolized
by the crossed chest ribbons. He forsakes the black mask and takes on the heart. He winds up as a lover!.. and a winner! "That's where it's really at, Ollie!"
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Olivia:
 "Twelfth Night"
A young, rich, vain, spoiled heiress who pretends to righteous ideals (the fancy gold crown) a but abandons them when earthy lust overtakes her, shown by the background color and striped veils. The narrow veil of virtue is stitched and pieced together. Her gown is ornate and she
is heavily jeweled showing her status as does the diamond marked streamer. Her sleeves are scalloped in passion and greed as she grips the ripe flower of desire. Her pink-trimmed bodice means she is capable of some goodness, but only when it serves
her purpose or is close to her heart. Her skirt of blue-green vanity is ribboned in selfishness. Her wide blue collar of loyalty is studded with emeralds.. and THAT says it for Olivia! |
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Ophelia:  "Hamlet"
Fated because she was caught in circumstances she had no power to
alter or cope with. Coerced into obedience by a domineering father and
bossy brother, she was deprived of making her own choices. Tho she is
basically 'good' (pink ground) and honest (her sleeves and yoke) she
cannot exercise her own will, hence the prison stripes on her bodice
and skirt of black and blue, meaning injury and death. The light
yellow green is her tender youth. The rest of her garments, like her
personality, are stitched together. Sad and wistful, she is crowned by
multi-colored flowers: her innocence. She also hold a small bouquet in
a funerary pose, as the ominous blackness inside her sleeves and
enveloping her back reveals her fate: darkness, madness and death.
She was no Juliet, who did NOT die a virgin!
Sorrowful! Sorrowful!
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Orlando:  "As
You Like It"
Easy going and compromising, this gentle guy is not very complicated, as
the blue ground indicates. His jerkin of friendship-green is trimmed in purity. His shirt and cuffs are the pink and red of love and kindness. The sleeves of youth-green are
caped in the yellow of honesty. The belt of loyalty across his chest holds a quiver of arrows (Cupid's
no doubt!) The brown hat denotes his simplicity and sincerity. The black shoulder guards signify his flight and banishment into the woods, where he writes his ditties of love to Rosalind. He is thoughtful and pensive as well as young, healthy, handsome and strong.
So what else does he need?
It's O.K. Ros, we understand |