Slashdot Log In
Tracking Social Networking In Shakespeare Plays
Posted by
simoniker
on Thu Mar 11, 2004 07:37 AM
from the rosencrantz-and-guildenstern-closely-allied dept.
from the rosencrantz-and-guildenstern-closely-allied dept.
An anonymous reader writes "By feeding PieSpy (an IRC bot used to visualise social networks) with the entire texts of Shakespeare plays, it became possible to produce drawings of the social networks present in his plays - it is now possible to visualize the relationships between the characters in his works, and see Shakespeare in an entirely new light."
This discussion has been archived.
No new comments can be posted.
The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.
Full
Abbreviated
Hidden
Loading... please wait.
What about... (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:What about... (Score:3, Funny)
Re:What about... (Score:5, Funny)
<HAMLET> Alas, poor Yorick! I knew him, Horatio: a fellow
of infinite jest, of most excellent fancy: he hath
borne me on his back a thousand times;
<L33tBoi> ROFL LOL!!!? u r a fag
Parent
2 Pie or not /=\2 (Score:4, Funny)
Re:2 Pie or not /=\2 (Score:5, Funny)
Parent
Re:2 Pie or not /=\2 (Score:3, Funny)
Re:2 Pie or not /=\2 (Score:5, Funny)
Clearly Hamlet is attempting first 2b. If that returns false, then he'll attempt !2b. As these are attempted in succession and not at the same time, it is possible though unlikely that both return false. More likely is a fatal error which Hamlet appears not to worry about trapping.
Parent
As Spock would say... (Score:3, Interesting)
ENG 201 (Score:3, Insightful)
No thanks. My high school english classes did a good job of making sure that I'd never enjoy classic works.
There's no way to make someone hate reading faster than english classes.
-Colin [colingregorypalmer.net]
Re:ENG 201 (Score:5, Informative)
I read as little as possible, thought all the books must be rubbish.
Now I'm older, and I've reread some of the books we did (1984, Of Mice & Men, Royal Hunt of the Sun, various sharespeare, Chrysalids, Farenheit 451 etc).. and I'm finding that they're actually pretty good.
Perhaps you should try it? Get yourself a couple of Shakespeare DVDs (the Brannah ones are quite good), sit back, and enjoy. Then once you know the basis of the story you'll find that the text is rather less opaque.
Enjoy!
Parent
Re:ENG 201 (Score:3, Insightful)
I wonder what Shakespeare would in fact have thought of his plays being made into movies. Obviously some movies are bad, and I can't imagine he would care to have his wording changed in most circumstances, since he took the time to write in iambic pentameter. But would he care for even the best of the movies? Watchin
Re:ENG 201 (Score:4, Insightful)
Today, plays are a rather rarefied thing; it's a specialist, almost elitist, art. But when Shakespeare was alive, the theater was what your local MPAA-approved cinema is today: mostly trashy entertainment for the unwashed masses. I think he would have seen it as only natural to make his plays into movies once movies were invented.
Parent
Re:ENG 201 (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:ENG 201 (Score:4, Informative)
Parent
Re:ENG 201 (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:ENG 201 (Score:4, Informative)
Parent
Re:ENG 201 (Score:5, Interesting)
Parent
Re:ENG 201 (Score:5, Insightful)
Before any kid is given a book of a Shakespeare play, they should go and see it performed.
And a note to english teachers - these are stories and are meant to entertain people - remember that when you teach it.
Parent
Symmetric vs. Asymmetric relationships (Score:5, Insightful)
A more powerful version of PieSpy would examine the text (and context) of who is connecting to whom. For example, the introduction of new words by some members of the network and the echoing of those words by others would help identify the directional flow of information in the network and help assess the level of control of the thread by some members over others. Analyzing the emotional content of words in threads could probably even let the software make approximate judgements of who likes/hates whom. Analyzing when some members leave IRC as a function of the joining of other members might also help detect asymmetric relationships.
Re:Symmetric vs. Asymmetric relationships (Score:5, Insightful)
Spot on. The plots are driven by asymmetric interpersonal relationships. It is the very basis of all the humor and all the tragedy.
Parent
Re:Symmetric vs. Asymmetric relationships (Score:5, Insightful)
You mean that A loves B but B doesn't realize she's a woman dressed as a man and therefore loves C who loves D? I guess that's true.
On the other hand, what does come across strikingly is how the peripheral goofball characters (Dogberry and Verges, the rude mechanicals, the various collections of guards) float around in isolation for four acts before crashing in to help wrap up the ending.
Parent
Can ANYONE explain (Score:4, Interesting)
... the latest craze about social networks like Orkut or Friendster? I'm indifferent to the internet or the people on the internet so I highly doubt social networks on the net will ever be even slightly interesting for me, personally. But I really don't see what's worth the fuss about them, because they aren't exactly incorporating ground-breaking technologies, stunning visualizations nor original and efficient business plans. So while I don't doubt the fact these "social networks" are fun for those participating, I don't actually see anything about them that's worthy of a front page post on Slashdot...
Maybe a nice new topic on Slashdot called "The Internet Society" with stuff like *logs, social networks and everything else regarding the social aspects of the internet?
I can (Score:3, Insightful)
"There must be a way we can make $ out of the internet without directly selling stuff. Let's get people to write content for free, archive it and when people search it show them ads relevant to their terms / the page's terms"
Re:Can ANYONE explain (Score:4, Insightful)
While I can't answer why it's a craze right now, I can tell you why I personally like using Orkut.
I've always liked the idea of bulletin boards and discussion groups on the internet, but I found them less than engaging in practice. The main reason for this for me was because they were faceless. I could never remember if I had replied to HMN22's comments before or not -- I could never get a sense of the personalities I was interacting with.
On the communities in Orkut, I can see a picture of the person next to each comment they make. That is a world of difference for me. Now I can much more easily remember if I've interacted with that person before. Also, I can check out their profile and get more of a sense of who they are.
But as I said, that's just why I like it -- I'm sure many others have very different reasons.
-Colin [colingregorypalmer.net]
Parent
Re:Can ANYONE explain (Score:4, Insightful)
The internet and WWW are more than information technologies or even communications technologies, one of the most complelling uses for them are as technologies for maintaining relationships aka relationship technologies (and yes, I realize that differentiating this from communications might seem difficult, but for now lets leave it at communications being an important part of a relationship). The importance of relationship technologies can be seen in how instant messaging, chat and especially email have driven the widespread adoption of technology. These social networks are really just the latest experiment. Whether or not it will succeed to the point where they are as ubiquitous as email or IM is questionable. Nevertheless they are worthy of some attention, and possibly even the occassional front page post on Slashdot as examples of how technology is being applied to the important aspects of peoples daily lives and thus being ever more embedded in these lives.
More generally, the study of social networks are helpful for understanding things ranging from power relationships in society to the adoption and diffusion of innovation, not, of course, that Orkut or Friendster is likely to help with this aspect.
Parent
Re:Can ANYONE explain (Score:3, Interesting)
Well they do seem worthy of an actual feature of slashdot. Isnt the friend or foe feature just a limited depth social network map?
I quite often see the 'friend of a friend' or 'foe of a friend' icons on posts as im reading through, so it seems that social networks are very much a part of this community.
Re:Can ANYONE explain (Score:4, Insightful)
I'm indifferent to the internet or the people on the internet
People who bother to say something to other people are trying to reach out to other people. Obviously you wanted people on the internet to read what you wrote otherwise you wouldn't have written it and submitted it to ./.
Thus the very making of this comment makes it incorrect.
Parent
Chat room relic.... (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Chat room relic.... (Score:4, Funny)
Parent
Then there's the FPS version... (Score:4, Funny)
And bear't before him: thereby shall we shadow
The numbers of our host and make discovery
Err in report of us.
Macbeth: OMG! WTF camping n00b
Parent
orkut (Score:4, Funny)
Now if only I could think of a clever way to start emailing Juliet.
-Colin [colingregorypalmer.net]
Re:orkut (Score:5, Funny)
You've got law-enforcement!
Parent
Maybe someone can work out... (Score:4, Funny)
Stephen King (Score:3, Interesting)
feds can use it (Score:4, Interesting)
Impossible? (Score:4, Insightful)
And this was impossible up until now exactly why?
We used to do that back in school... (Score:4, Interesting)
Mirrors of text and program (Score:4, Informative)
Program [cox.net]
http://www.jibble.org/files/PieSpy-0.2.2.zip
(Original link, only use if mine is down and YOU are going to mirror.)
Not so smart (Snug/Joiner) (Score:3, Insightful)
/. Friends (Score:4, Interesting)
It'd be interesting to see how the community is aligned.
wbs.
Rosencrantz is there, but not Guildenstern? (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Rosencrantz is there, but not Guildenstern? (Score:3, Informative)
The network snapshot shown is from the end of Act 4, Scene iv, where Rosencrantz has recently been given the majority of the Rozencrantz/Guildenstern lines, with Guildenstern only having had one line in the previous three scenes (since R&G reappeared in scene 2).
If you read the site, you'll see that weightings are set to decay with time, so if a character is quiet, he/she will fade from the current network.
It's an artefact, but highlights an aspect of th
Application for this technique (Score:3, Insightful)
Well, actually, let your agent's geek assistant do it for you -- after all, you "have people" for that sort of thing, don't you?
Henry V... what the...? (Score:3, Interesting)
- I am forgetting a scene
- I am misreading the graph
- This thing isn't very accurate
Anyone else got any input? How should I be reading this?Soliloquies? (Score:3, Insightful)
Seems like the thickest line should be a loop from Hamlet back to Hamlet.
Heh.
The practical way (Score:3, Funny)
Day One:
Enter the theater and say "Hamlet" to each of the actors, observe their reaction
Day Two:
Enter the theater and say "Macbeth" to each of the actors, observe their reaction, be prepared to run away from an angry mob.
Re:The practical way (Score:3)
Hamlet and Macbeth? Quite different. (Score:3, Interesting)
(If anything a diagram of social relationships would reduce them to something that looked more similar than they really are.)
Re:Mirror (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Am I the only one ... (Score:5, Insightful)
Theorising, somewhat, but if this software was designed for IRC, it expects input roughly in the form "Name of speaker: words spoken".
Hence it needs plays rather than novels.
Parent