This belongs to Stopher.
All of my tattoos are actually literary works, but this one is my favorite.
When Death met Love Death deathd Love
and left Love tuh rot
au naturel end for the Miss Hottentot
– Venus by Suzan-Lori Parks
Plays
and she was a hurricaine
This belongs to Jessie.
In my mother’s handwriting. My best friend Steph and I got blue leaves from the play “The House of Blue Leaves” by John Guare. We have loved that play since we were in it together back in high school.
“I wanted so badly to lie down next to her on the couch, to wrap my arms around her and sleep. Not fuck, like in those movies. Not even have sex. Just sleep together, in the most innocent sense of the phrase. But I lacked the courage and she had a boyfriend and I was gawky and she was gorgeous and I was hopelessly boring and she was endlessly fascinating. So I walked back to my room and collapsed on the bottom bunk, thinking that if people were rain, I was drizzle and she was a hurricane.”
– Excerpt from by Looking for Alaska by John Green
she is fierce
This belongs to Liz Robertson.
This tattoo is from Act 3 scene 2 of my favorite play, ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream
‘ by William Shakespeare. I love this quote and it was used to describe me by my High School Theatre director, because being only 5’1″ and 95 lbs., I can be ferocious in the scene shop. It gives me strength to deal with life’s trials and tribulations and when the world has made me feel ‘low and little’, I know I can make it, because I am fierce.
Oh, when she’s angry, she is keen and shrewd!
She was a vixen when she went to school.
And though she be but little, she is fierce.
– A Midsummer Night’s Dream
sleepe thou
This belongs to Emma Medeiros:
I first had the idea when my daughter was born. I liked the idea of winding her up in my arms as she slept… Then this year I began training to be a midwife and it seemed even better.
BOTTOM
I had rather have a handful or two of dried peas.
But, I pray you, let none of your people stir me: I
have an exposition of sleep come upon me.
TITANIA
Sleep thou, and I will wind thee in my arms.
Fairies, begone, and be all ways away.
Exeunt fairies
So doth the woodbine the sweet honeysuckle
Gently entwist; the female ivy so
Enrings the barky fingers of the elm.
O, how I love thee! how I dote on thee!
They sleep
– Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Act 4 Scene 1.
king of infinite space
This belongs to Nikita.
 It’s from Shakespeare’s Hamlet (Act II, Scene ii), which I read in high school and which really struck a chord with me.  My favorite English teacher taught the class, high school was a difficult but ultimately emboldening time for me, and I have been an avid theatre-lover for as long as I can remember– the line seemed to to fit.
I.iii.66-71
These tattoos belong to Janine Vero & Ursula Vero, and were submitted by Janine.
I have several tattoos, but this is my first literary tattoo.
My sister and I are not traditional when it comes to tattoos & enjoy tattoos that hold unique charm and special sentiment. We have been on the constant search for something representative of our close relationship and finally came upon lines from William Shakespeare’s play “As You Like It” (specifically Act One, Scene Three, Lines 66-71 .. the tattoo reads I.iii.66-71). Here are Shakespeare’s words. Very fitting for our bond:
I was too young at that time to value her,
But now I know her. If she be a traitor,
Why, so am I. We still have slept together,
Rose at an instant, learned, played, eat together,
And wheresoe’er we went, like Juno’s swans,
Still we went coupled and inseperable.FYI: In the picture my tattoo is vertical on my arm and my sister’s is across her wrist.
To Thine Own Self Be True
This is Nikki’s tattoo.
Shakespeare is, essentially, my life– it’s what I’ve been studying for the past few years of my undergraduate career, what I plan to study into graduate school, and hopefully what I will end up teaching as a professor; thus, it only seemed appropriate to get at least one quote tattooed somewhere on my body. Hopefully there are more to come.
This is Nicole’s.
Just a wonderful sentiment.
This belongs to Julia and was done by Jessica at Staircase Tattoos in Santa Cruz, CA.
This is Kathryn’s.
I waited eighteen years to get this. My plan was to get one after I graduated high school, but the money I had set aside went to repairing my car after an accident instead. After that I met my husband, and he’s not a fan of tattoos. We’ve been together almost twenty years, and for my birthday this year he encouraged me to finally get one. After months of consideration I decided on this. A reminder to be brave and never doubt myself. I’ve loved Shakespeare all my life, so it was fitting. (The quote is from Hamlet.)
“This above all: to thine own self be true,
And it must follow, as the night the day,
Thou canst not then be false to any man.”
– William Shakespeare, Hamlet, Act 1, scene 3, 78-81