A review by cinaedussinister
Clouds by Aristophanes

3.0

This is not my favourite play by Aristophanes, which is a shame, because I was expecting it to be what The Frogs ended up being instead: a witty critique of the philosophical debates (which essentially amounted to petty schoolchild arguments) of his day. Really, I do find it disappointing that the character of Socrates (Socrates!) is so mediocre here. Now, when I say mediocre, I in no way am saying this in reference to all comedy ever made, otherwise this would be at least four stars. What I am saying is that, with Aristophanes’ talent and a character with so much potential as Socrates, I did expect better. To reiterate, that does not mean that this is a bad play. Not at all; this play is miles better than a surprising amount of comedy by other writers (yes, including Shakespeare), it’s just that my standards for a play written by Aristophanes are very high, and this play does not reach those standards.