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3.73 AVERAGE
3.73 AVERAGE
funny
inspiring
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I found this somewhat of a chore to get through, but hopefully seeing a live performance in the coming week brightens my view on this play. Gender-bending Rosalind (in Shakespeare’s time, a male actor acting as a woman pretending to be a man acting as a woman) steals the show, always willing to point out the ridiculousness of other’s actions, but perfectly fine letting herself fall into those same extremes. Touchstone is a great comedic role, but we don’t carry the same sympathy for him as we do for Rosalind. Dreary Jacques, who gives us “All the world’s a stage”, is just so cynical, hopefully the forest of Arden can provide the same respite and recovery that the other characters find. Plot is typical Shakespeare comedy, ending with a cascade of marriages, but lacks the high stakes of some other works.
What if everyone was a little queer and moved to the woods for a bit
adventurous
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
funny
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
funny
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
At times it really felt like less was going on in this story than in 'much ado about nothing' and there it's in the title!
Some aspects I like:
Some aspects I like:
- The king and his merry men chilling in the woods is a very fun visual.
- Contrasting 'the fool' with one of the king's men who is very pessimistic is a joy to read.
- Orlando canonically being an awful poet and plastering his awful moody poetry about Rosalind all over the trees is hilarious.
- Rosalind is an amazing character. Her standing her ground is awesome. You go girl(?)!
Some aspects I did not like:
- I did not care for the sideplot of the shepherd and Phoebe. I like how it enabled Rosalind's trick at the end but she should not have to marry the shepherd, even if he's a decent man.
- The ending with the king regaining his position because his brother found religion suddenly came out of nowhere and felt rushed. It just did not wrap up nicely.
”devise with me how we may fly.”
Bunch of people run off into the forest and pretty much only speak to each other using Elizabethan wordplay. It took a lot more wrestling to understand this play in comparison to Macbeth, but still I think the effort paid off.
Bunch of people run off into the forest and pretty much only speak to each other using Elizabethan wordplay. It took a lot more wrestling to understand this play in comparison to Macbeth, but still I think the effort paid off.
