Schoolio for Scan-diddly-andal

I really enjoyed this play! I’ve read this play before so it was nice to see something that I’m familiar with. I first read this play in another drama course, and at the time the play seemed ridiculous compared to other plays I’ve read, but after reading many other restoration comedies it suddenly makes sense! This play focuses on disguises and people who are “two-faced.” All of the characters in the play act differently depending on who is in the room, and everyone is out to benefit themselves. If a character is being too “good” then the other characters immediately suspect that she/he is hiding something. The major themes within the play such as gossip, deceptiveness, and things not always being what they appear to be, make the play seems like something you’d see on prime time nowadays. I also LOVED the names of the characters and how their names described their personalities, like Lady Sneerwell. Overall I enjoyed reading this play and I found it much more comical than the other’s I have read.

The Beggar’s Opera

I enjoyed reading The Beggars Opera because it was different in comparison to the other plays that we have read this term. The play takes digs at the Italian Opera and people from the higher class, and I also enjoy how Gay attacks the judicial system and punishments as well. It is amazing how differently Macheath is treated within the prison simply because he has money. He can afford the best chains, and can live a comfortable life, almost as if he wasn’t in prison at all. It is disturbing to think of some of the poorer people in prison at that time, because it would have been a hellish nightmare instead of a minor inconvenience. I think that out of all of the plays we’re read this semester, The Beggars Opera would be the most enjoyable to see staged. I also really enjoyed the class presentation given on the The Beggars Opera as well because it helped me understand the play better. Good job guys!

Bold Stroke for a Wife

A Bold Stroke for a Wife, like many of the other plays we have read this term, focused on marriage. I really enjoyed the comedy in this play because it reminded me of today’s romantic comedies. The themes surrounding marriage weren’t as “naughty” as some of the other plays we’ve read this term. Although the themes in regards to marriage were more acceptable, the men’s attitudes in regards to women were still frustrating. Periwinkle’s comment “Women are the very gewgaws of the creation; play things for boys, which, when they write man, they ought to throw aside” was pretty disturbing, but hopefully men’s attitudes towards women will improve as we read plays that were written towards the end of the restoration period.