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zanm's review against another edition
fast-paced
3.5
Early modern plays are like 5 drunk plot lines sort of overlapping and then completely converging at the end and this is no different. It's a prime example. Idk, did playwrights think people would get bored if there was not Literally So Much Happening all the time?
Anyway, not terribly hard to understand (ish) ((once I read through the lens of Wikipedia)) and generally kind of funny and not the worst. At least there's a happy ending?
If I had a nickel for every time I've read an early modern play where characters leapt out of coffins and then got married immediately after I would have two nickels.
Anyway, not terribly hard to understand (ish) ((once I read through the lens of Wikipedia)) and generally kind of funny and not the worst. At least there's a happy ending?
issytriestoread's review
3.0
Jacobean city comedy about the moral debauchery of London. quite funny. lots to say about the depictions of cuckolding and the wittol figure as potentially subversive and an almost always base figure in early modern england. critiques of nascent capitalism, religion, etc. are really interesting.
thebookisheb_'s review
funny
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
jennifer_silver's review
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
1.5
gillothen's review
4.0
Very Middleton themes of corruption, avarice, promiscuity, but a lively and entertaining piece with much to enjoy. In many ways a classic City comedy, with gullible country boys and city matrons of dubious honour, with some inevitable misogyny for good measure, but this romps along well and has a great deal of comic value.
woolfardis's review
1.0
[Short and quick review from memory before I re-read and re-review at a later date:
I am very disappointed with the one-star... I thought this would be right up my alley, though I assume the fact that They Made Me read it...]
I am very disappointed with the one-star... I thought this would be right up my alley, though I assume the fact that They Made Me read it...]
samwescott's review
5.0
This was both my first city comedy and my first experience with Middleton. I enjoyed his ribald humor and the way he pushed the sexual ideologies of the early modern period to their most absurd and contradictory levels. While some find the lack of iambic pentameter to be substandard, I found the common city voice to be refreshing and humorous. A wonderful piece of London color complete with archetypal characters and good, dirty humor. Highly recommend!
carmentxx's review
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
quite funny and really picks up at the end. but the exposition is too much and is not hugely enjoyable.
franfernandezarce's review
3.0
It seems to be inevitable that Renaissance comedies where a simply sexist and misogynist genre. By principle, I should not like this play and, up to a point, I did not. That being said, when the inevitable comparison arises between this comedy and [b:Volpone|752868|Volpone|Ben Jonson|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1328023235s/752868.jpg|766578] by Ben Jonson, this play was an improvement from the past experience. Why I cannot really put it into words.
Although it was still offensive towards women, it was less downright violent and agressive. I know it basically it feels a bit like picking up straws just to ge something nice to say about it, but bear with me. I cannot just admit this genre is lost to me and I must, at a level, like something about it because even though, I cannot say it rationally, I feel it.
It felt like a different reading experience and I cannot really say how. I hope that once we discuss it further during class, I can wrap my head more properly about it.
Although it was still offensive towards women, it was less downright violent and agressive. I know it basically it feels a bit like picking up straws just to ge something nice to say about it, but bear with me. I cannot just admit this genre is lost to me and I must, at a level, like something about it because even though, I cannot say it rationally, I feel it.
It felt like a different reading experience and I cannot really say how. I hope that once we discuss it further during class, I can wrap my head more properly about it.