tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-87860201346716238712024-03-08T05:10:28.147-08:00Shannon's Blogpurple petalshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12270689636604348373noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8786020134671623871.post-67587058641780979452007-04-09T09:34:00.000-07:002007-04-09T10:01:07.978-07:00Schoolio for Scan-diddly-andal<span style="color:#ff6666;">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.</span>purple petalshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12270689636604348373noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8786020134671623871.post-34586173028870200412007-04-09T09:14:00.000-07:002007-04-09T09:33:31.745-07:00The Beggar’s Opera<span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;color:#993399;">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!</span>purple petalshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12270689636604348373noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8786020134671623871.post-71948837347205374982007-04-09T08:55:00.000-07:002007-04-09T09:14:23.146-07:00Bold Stroke for a Wife<span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="color:#9999ff;"><em>A Bold Stroke for a Wife</em>, 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.</span></span>purple petalshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12270689636604348373noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8786020134671623871.post-27920580327060820562007-03-18T15:59:00.000-07:002007-03-18T16:33:53.610-07:00"Scrub" hehe<span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><em><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Haha</span> I’m glad I <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">wasn</span>’t the only person in the class who immediately thought of <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">shrek</span> when they read the name “George <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">Farquhar</span>.” I’m crazy about the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">shrek</span> movies and had a nice chuckle as I remembered Lord <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">Farquaad</span>’s ridiculous laugh from the movie! Pure hilarity. Anyways, The <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">Beaux</span> Stratagem <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">wasn</span>’t a bad play, and was much more enjoyable then some of the others. The play had a few elements that were not found and the other plays. Divorce between Sullen and Mrs. Sullen was a new twist and was not seen in any of the other plays. Most of the unhappy couples from the previous plays stayed together despite their differences, even though most of them had lovers and was deceitful in one way or another. I can’t argue with Mrs. Sullen for leaving her husband, because he was a brute who treated her badly. I must admit I <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">didn</span>’t pick up on Mrs. Sullen being raped within the marriage, and was shocked because of how terrible the marriage must have been. I also really enjoyed the names of the characters because the seemed to suit the characters so well. Some of the most obvious of course was “Scrub” who was a servant, and lady Bountiful who was rich.</em></span>purple petalshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12270689636604348373noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8786020134671623871.post-79410358762832350462007-03-18T15:17:00.000-07:002007-03-18T15:49:57.284-07:00<span style="font-family:arial;color:#6600cc;">The Fair Penitent” by Nicholas Rowe, now here’s a play I really enjoyed! The fact that the play was a she-tragedy really appealed to me. I don’t want to come off as a bitter and <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">cynical</span> person, but tragedies are much more interesting (at least in these eighteenth century plays!) I sympathized with the character of <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">Calista</span>, even though she continuously dug the hole she created for herself deeper and deeper. Although she was presented with several <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">opportunities</span> to save herself, she seemed fixated on dying and blew every opportunity to escape. <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">Altamont</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">basically</span> said “hey babe its cool, I’ll forget the whole thing” but she still chose option B, which of course was death. The situation in which she found herself in was very believable. She <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">wasn</span>’t in love with <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">Altamont</span>, and gave into Lothario who fooled her with false promises. She <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">didn</span>’t seem like the promiscuous<br />type and seemed to believe that her <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">shenanigans</span> with Lothario would lead to marriage.<br /> <br />Unlike some of my classmates, I found that the <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9">relationship</span> between <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10">Altamont</span> and Horatio was pure friendship and nothing else. I found it refreshing to see an example of true friendship because none of the characters in any of the other plays I’<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_11">ve</span> read this term displayed such loyalty. </span>purple petalshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12270689636604348373noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8786020134671623871.post-1886301568517032922007-03-18T14:53:00.000-07:002007-03-18T15:17:12.970-07:00"The Way of the World"<span style="color:#6600cc;"><strong>Greetings,</strong></span><br /><strong><span style="color:#6600cc;"></span></strong><br /><strong><span style="color:#6600cc;">I will begin this blog by saying that I did not find "The Way of the World" an enjoyable read whatsoever. After several attempts of trying to read the first act I put the text down and went to sleep. After a good nights rest I was able to stay awake long enough to finish the play. The characters from "The Way of the World" seemed to blend with the characters from the previous plays. Fainall was in love with Mrs.Marwood, Mirabll was in love with Mrs. Millamant, etc etc. I had to keep referring to the dramatis personae in order to keep the names straight and remember which characters were married, and who was in love with who. "Love" & marriage don't seem to go hand and hand for the characters in eighteenth century drama Convenience, lust, and money seemed to have been at the top of the priority list for many of the characters. I'm finding the plays repetitive and disheartening.</span></strong>purple petalshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12270689636604348373noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8786020134671623871.post-87740932723347367002007-02-07T09:57:00.000-08:002007-02-07T15:03:49.870-08:00Oroonoko<span style="color:#6600cc;">Once again we have a woman masquerading as a man. I think it would be tiresome to think of reason why I woman would want to dress as a man if I were a playwright, but apparently it was quite amusing and appealing for 18th century drama. Unlike Marriage a la Mode, the combination of both a comic and tragic plot didn’t flow in this play. I found that the tragic plot was too heavy in comparison to the comic plot and they didn’t work well together. The tragic plot resulted in death and suicide which more gruesome than the tragedy in Marriage a la Mode. I did however enjoy the character of Daniel, and the fact that charlotte outwitted the other characters (even though she had to dress like a man to do so.) It would be interesting to read the original story of Oroonoko and Imoinda written by Behn because it probably goes into more detial about the lovers and their story.</span>purple petalshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12270689636604348373noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8786020134671623871.post-67011303728584205732007-01-24T17:58:00.000-08:002007-01-24T18:15:33.430-08:00I'm sick and cranky<span style="color:#6600cc;"> Ahoy! I'm not feeling well this evening and I have a terrible cough so I'm going to keep this blog a little on the short side. I finished reading <em>The Country Wife </em>this afternoon which I thought was interesting but a little confusing. Maybe I missed the footnote...but I had no idea what the heck cuckolding was until after I read the play. I had a general idea but after I looked it up the play made much more sense! I am beginning to notice a pattern within these 18<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0" onclick="BLOG_clickHandler(this)">th</span> century plays for having more than one plot, which I find make the plays more enjoyable to read. <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1" onclick="BLOG_clickHandler(this)">Horner's</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">deceitfulness</span> about his "capabilities", <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3" onclick="BLOG_clickHandler(this)">Pinchwife</span> and Margery's <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">relationship</span> as a married couple, and Harcourt and <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5" onclick="BLOG_clickHandler(this)">Alithea's</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">relationship</span> are the three plots found in the play. I thought it was <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">hilarious</span> how <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8" onclick="BLOG_clickHandler(this)">Pinchwife</span> wound up telling Margery everything he didn't want her to know, and I enjoyed that it was an ongoing joke throughout the play.</span><br /> <span style="color:#6600cc;">This play was very sexual in nature and I can see how it would have been <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9">scandalous</span> to have preformed at the time. <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10" onclick="BLOG_clickHandler(this)">Horner's</span> character was completely sexually driven, and the women (Margery especially) also had a keen <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_11">interest</span> in sex. </span>purple petalshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12270689636604348373noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8786020134671623871.post-17572049739093685282007-01-21T18:08:00.001-08:002007-01-21T18:08:46.765-08:00marriage<span style="font-family:lucida grande;color:#6600cc;"> Hey everyone, I guess it is time for blog #2. I really enjoyed Marriage a la Mode. I thought that the combination of tragedy and comedy really worked for the play. I thought that the comic plot was a much more accurate depiction of relationships in actual life. Real life romances can be full of passion in the beginning, and then dwindle as relationships continue. I think that in many relationship passion turns into friendship and companionship. The lovers in the tragic plot depict how many relationships being, and the comic plot depicts lovers as time goes on. The poetic language of the tragic lovers was interesting to read, and I enjoyed the rhyming couplets. It was interesting that the language was so structured and smooth, while their relationship was complicated.</span>purple petalshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12270689636604348373noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8786020134671623871.post-90272613763460855812007-01-15T16:32:00.000-08:002007-01-15T16:38:01.798-08:00<span style="color:#6600cc;"> <span style="font-family:lucida grande;"> Ah-ha! I have mastered this device. This is actually my second blog entry because I made a a blog a few days ago but I forgot both my user name and password and I didn't have the <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">patience</span> to go through the process of finding it so I started a new one.</span></span><br /><span style="color:#6600cc;"><span style="font-family:lucida grande;"> I'm not sure how I feel about posting my thoughts for just anyone to read, but hey It's for marks so I guess I'll have to deal with it! Because I have been swamped with school work, and because I just bought the text book today, I can't talk about the reading. I'm just going to use this entry to say "howdy" to all you folks out there.</span> </span>purple petalshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12270689636604348373noreply@blogger.com1