Tag Archives: comedy

Literature

Practical Will: Measure for Measure

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Measure for Measure a Comedy by William Shakespeare

Fun Fact: Measure for Measure is the only Shakespearean play to have a thematic title. Can you find the theme? Here goes!

The Duke "goes on vacation" but is really disguised as a friar so he can observe the goings on in his hood. He leaves wet blanket Angelo in charge, who isn't getting any, so he decides no one else can get any either. He arrests Claudio for knocking up Juliet out of wedlock, even though they are totally in love and ready to tie the knot, to which Angelo says, "Too bad, they should have thought of that before they did the nasty. " Isabella, Claudio's virgin sister, pleads with Angelo to release her brother. Angelo agrees, but only if Isabella gives him a little something-something in return (hint: her virginity.) Isabella refuses and goes to her brother, thinking the request will appall him and that he would rather man up and take the death penalty than let his lil' sis be tarnished. But Claudio is all like, "Well you could do me this solid... death is pretty scary when all you have to do is whore yourself... and it would be whoring yourself for good, which isn't really a sin."

Isabella isn't prepared to take one for the team and Angelo threatens that if she tells anyone about his offer, he will ruin her reputation. So what's a girl to do? Good thing The Duke is still in town and has heard all about her dilemma. So The Duke and Isabella, along with Angelo's ex, Mariana (they were engaged but he dumped her right before the wedding) plot to entrap Angelo with his own anti-sex laws. They basically pull what, in sex terms, is called "The Houdini." Angelo thinks he's going to bone Isabella, but actually bones Mariana in disguise. Just before the big reveal scene, The Duke decides to tell Isabella her brother has already been executed, because he just can't wait to see the look on her face when she finds out her brother is alive, oh burn! Angelo is called out for breaking his own pre-marital sex laws and it is revealed he secretly banged his ex, and is now forced to marry her. So I guess things work out for Mariana after all? But Isabella is still bummed about her brother being dead, until wait, it's revealed he's alive! Isabella is so happy she doesn't even question the mix-up and accepts The Duke's marriage proposal, because after a lot of serious personal and political meddling, who doesn't love a happy ending?!

Literature

Practical Will: Love’s Labour’s Lost

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Love's Labour's Lost A Comedy by William Shakespeare

Honestly I was lost most of the time. There's not much story to this one, it's all in the wordplay. So much of this play is written in verse and Shakespeare takes a lot of time with the characters' dialogue. What's really interesting about the last of Shakespeare's comedies is that it's also one of the only stories that can be completely attributed to Shakespeare. Not many people know this, but Shakespeare was more of an adapter than an original story-teller. Lost in particular cannot be traced back to any earlier work, rather, Shakespeare based it off two distinct classes of Elizabethan time, basic country bumpkins and the royals. Which basically accounts for his audience, both English commoners along with Queen Elizabeth attended the Christmas production of Lost.

What I was able to surmise from the play is not much, but here goes. The King of Navarre and his royal dudes decide to take an oath of celibacy for 3 years, in order to improve their studies. But the Princess of France is in town with her girls and word is they are all DTF, putting the royal dudes in a pickle. Meanwhile, in the country, all the simple bros are into this one dairy wench, Jaquenetta (I know, great name!) I really can't keep any other names straight, so one dude writes her a love letter, meanwhile another dude writes one of the royal ladies a love letter, and of course, they get mixed up. Fast forward, the men go to the women disguised as Russians (for some reason) but someone has already tipped off the gals and they also exchange their identities. Then there's a play within the play, which is broken up by news that the Princess' father, King of France has died and she must return. Navarre pleads with the Princess to stay with him, but she's like, "Yo I got a funeral to plan. Why don't you take that vow of celibacy again, but for a year? If you're still standing after that, we can talk." And then she peaces. Then there's a song about a year passing, the end.

Literature

Practical Will: Pericles, Prince of Tyre

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Pericles, Prince of Tyre A Comedy* by William Shakespeare

It's a seafaring adventure with Pirates y'all! So Pericles is a Prince who parties his way over to Antioch and figures out that the King is incesting with his daughter, gross. Pericles now has a hit out on him, so he takes to the high seas, and gets washed up in Pentopolis, where the Princess Thaisa is up for grabs at a jousting tournament. Pericles enters and wins, of course. Fast-forward, she gets knocked up and they decide to move. So they set sail and Thaisa gives birth during a very nasty storm, and ends up "dying" during childbirth. The shipmates are superstitious about having a dead body aboard so they make Pericles throw her over. Pericles makes a really nice coffin with all her jewels and shit and tosses his Queen overboard, cold. Pericles can't even think about being a single dad so he sails his new baby, Marina, over to his bro's island and asks him and his wife to care for her. Meanwhile, Thaisa's coffin washes up on shore and some dudes find her and work some magic to bring her back to life. Now Thaisa thinks her daughter is dead and her husband is gone for good, so she becomes a nun, because what else would she do?

Fast-forward again, Marina is 14 and the people her pops dropped her off with are not cool. In fact, they are planning to kill her but she's suddenly kidnapped by Pirates, yes PIRATES! They sell her to a brothel, because as a noble 14-year-old virgin, she's a hot commodity. But Marina refuses to whore herself for some reason, she's threatened with rape constantly, but every time she's alone with a man, she somehow talks them out of it. Meanwhile, Pericles gets word that the King and Queen of Antioch are dead and he can return as King of Tyre, he's like, "Great! Let me just pick up my daughter and we out!" But when he goes to his bro's island, he's like, "Sorry, she dead."

Pericles is pissed, he thinks his wife and daughter are dead. Some dude overhears and is like, "Yo, I've got just the thing to cheer you up, I've got the ill brothel hook up." So this guy brings Pericles to, none other than, Marina, gross. Pericles and Marina have a pity off, where Marina reveals her parents' names, Pericles can't believe he's reunited with his daughter, and just in time not to have sex with her! Pericles then faints and has a vision telling him to go to this temple, which he does obviously, because why are you not going to listen to the Gods? So Pericles goes to the temple where Thaisa is and tells the nuns his story, apparently he can't recognize his wife, but she sees him and is like, "Hey dumbass, I'm alive, thanks for throwing me off your fucking ship! You're going to be sleeping on the couch for a while!" And so Pericles is reunited with his wife and daughter, returns to Tyre as King, and lives happily ever after.

*Shakespeare canon is split up into Tragedies, Comedies and Histories, however Pericles' classification has been debated and is sometimes put into a separate Romances category.