Wednesday, Dec. 07, 2011
The Occupy Movement Gets Literary
LONDON — There were hosts of clever Occupy Wall Street signs, but few quite so appropriate as this. From the first rumblings on Wall Street in September, protesters staged their modern sit-in by camping out. Fighting against what they saw as the disproportional power held by the richest 1%, they braved the cold of the coming winter under tarps and in tents. This sign, displayed in late October, was a testament to that physical dedication and a play on the opening line of Shakespeare's Richard III: "Now is the winter of our discontent." Granted, the play's next line is about how that winter has turned glorious due to a government coup, but the excerpt couldn't have been more apt.