Mr_Shank

My quote is said by Hortensio, “Faith, as you say, there’s small choice in rotten
    apples.” This is interesting meaning in this quote. Does a person have a chance wether or not he is born to? Can the shrew help that he was born into a low family? Do you think that if the shrew had been born into a better family he would be the same person? I think that how you are raised affects the type of person you become. If you never need to fight for something then you won’t be able to survive in the world when you grow up. Some times the people that go through terrible life sitations come out as a better person. maybe the shrew will Tun into a better person.

I am going to connect this play to Cinderella. I think this because the father is trying to find a wife for his older daughter becuase he doesn’t want to marry his younger daughter before his older daughter. His younger daughter has two suitors who are interested in her, but the eldest daughter, Katherine, does not have any. I my mind the eldest is ugly, arrogant, and obnoxious. The father then locks his youngest daughter, Bianca, in the house. This connects to Cinderella because the step mother locks Cinderella in the tower because she wants the two evil, mean, step sisters to be noticed by the Prince, when really the Prince wants Cinderella. Poor Cinderella, poor Bianca.

-Abbey Stefanides.

Hey guys.  I’m a little confused, Lauren and Megan are both in my group, but Megan blogged on All’s Well That Ends Well, and Lauren blogged on Much Ado About Nothing.  I think our comedy was Much Ado About Nothing, so that’s the one I’ll blog on.

In Acts I and II of Much Ado About Nothing, Don Pedro is trying to help hook Claudio up with Hero.  Don John is trying to break them apart.  This plot reminds me of the story of a movie called Drive Me Crazy, where there is a girl and a boy who end up falling in love with each other when they meet each other through a friend they both have.  Unfortunately the the girl and boy came from two very different groups of friends, and they friends try to break the two up by telling the one nasty rumors about the other.  Fortunately, the two stay together but I don’t know how this story will end.

What do you think are Don John’s motives for trying to break up Claudio and Hero?  Does he truly just want to be mean, or do you think he has another motive [maybe Hero]?

-Maddie Zinn

The Taming of the Shrew seems to be very different from Shakespeare’s other plays.  First of all, the main plot of it is actually within a broader part of the play; it is a play within a play.  We also have to go from reading one of his famous tragedies to a comedy and keep in mind that the two do not hold the same purpose.  In a tragedy, we expect the characters at the end to die and almost everything that happens has a direct link to the outcome of the plot.  In a comedy, however, the purpose is not to give the audience an emotional sensation like in a tragedy, but to simply entertain them with witty dialogue, amusing shenanigans, and other entertaining actions.  Not everything said or done in this play may have such a great meaning as it did in Romeo and Juliet.

That being said, I would like to bring to attention a few quotes.

GREMIO:
O Sir, such a life, with such a wife, were strange!
But if you have a stomach, to’t i’ God’s name;
You shall have me assisting you in all.
But will you woo this wild-cat?

PETRUCHIO:
Will I live?

(Scene I, Scene II)

This is one of the many instances where the men refer to Kate in such a loathing way.  She is described as a “wildcat” because they can not control her.  However, that is exactly what Petruchio plans to do.  It also shows that Petruchio does not care one bit for Katherine, only for her father’s money.  He sees Kate as simply the path to getting rich.  Do you think that his opinion on her will change?  Will the two come to love each other in the end with a romantic ending, or will Kate simply give up and submit to men’s will?

Another quote I want to talk about is one from Act II, Scene I.

PETRUCHIO:

Good morrow, Kate; for that’s your name, I hear.
KATHERINE.
Well have you heard, but something hard of hearing:
They call me Katherine that do talk of me.

PETRUCHIO.
You lie, in faith, for you are call’d plain Kate,
And bonny Kate, and sometimes Kate the curst;
But, Kate, the prettiest Kate in Christendom,
Kate of Kate Hall, my super-dainty Kate,
For dainties are all cates: and therefore, Kate,
Take this of me, Kate of my consolation;
Hearing thy mildness prais’d in every town,
Thy virtues spoke of, and thy beauty sounded,–
Yet not so deeply as to thee belongs,–
Myself am mov’d to woo thee for my wife.

KATHERINE.
Mov’d! in good time: let him that mov’d you hither
Remove you hence. I knew you at the first,
You were a moveable.

This is a good example of the witty arguments that Petruchio and Katherine exchange so frequently throughout this play.  Petruchio is trying to break Kate down, but he knows that if he simply insults or commands her she will never listen and will defy him completely.  Petruchio is smart enough to know that he must be subtle in his responses to her.  He is “Killing her with kindness” in a sense.

It is clear from this exchange of insults that Kate dislikes Petruchio very much.  She also dislikes just about everyone else, especially men.  Why do you think it is that she dislikes them so much?  Do you think that there could have been a previous event that made her so bitter?  From the perspective we are given, it seems that Kate is just a mean bitter person, but we must also consider that she probably has some very good reasons for this.

-Ditz

Colin Easter

So far, we have learned that a drunkard has been tricked to think that he is a noble watching a play.  The play he is watching involves suitors trying to court the younger daughter of a rich man.  They are unable to marry her because the elder daughter must be married first.  However, the elder daughter has a terrible temper and scolds often.  Only one man wants to try to marry her.  He wants to because of the wealth that will come with her, not her personality.  The other men agree to help him court her so they can marry the younger daughter.  This brings about some interesting questions that can be asked.  Why do you think that the overarching story about the drunkard being tricked is included?  What do you think of the man who only wants to marry for wealth?  Do you think that there will be physical fighting over the younger daughter since there are several men trying to win her over?

Welcome back guys. To start off, I am a bit confused. Why there would be a play in a play I don’t know but I am sure I will find out.

In the beginning we see Lucentio desperately wants Bianca that he devises a plan with Tranio that they should take each others places. Lucentio seems to bee our hero searching for love. He said he fell in love with her when he first saw her. This kind of reminded me of Romeo and Juliet. I know it is a very weak connection considering they were both written by Shakespeare but it honestlyseems to connect to romeo and Juliet. Lucentio the Romeo and Bianca the Juliet, the other suitors the Paris figure and Tranio kind of like the Friar. Stop me if I am wrong because I am still confused but this is what I found. Although I don’t know how Sly’s play fits into this one. The Juliet figure and the Romeo figure are again both rich. Bianca is a maid like Juliet was going to be a nun and that might prevent them from being together. Finally,Traino is helping Lucenito be with Bianca just like the Friar help Romeo and Juliet to be together.

If this is like Romeo and Juliet will there be a tragic event that will occur and what might it be or do you think I am way off track and think that none of this will happen.  Thanks in advance.

-Taran

Ok, so far in the play, Helena has proved to be a pretty independent young lady. She knows who she loves and will not let anything get in her way. She is also very cunning, for she barters with the king, knowing that the medicine will work and will give the king good health once again. Now Bertram on the other hand is not so in love with Helena and is forced to marry her anyway or else he would be thrown out of his high social status. He also is very sly and plans to secretly go off to fight in the war and have Helena go home to live with her mom.

1. What is it about Bertram that Helena likes? He doesn’t seem to be the ‘gentleman’ one may expect.

2. What are some similarities and differences between Bertram and Helena?

3. Is there a specific reason Bertram is so hesitant to marry Helena? Family feuds?

4. Do you think Bertram will end up falling for Helena after realizing her true character? Will she realize who he truly is?

5. Lastly, why is it that Shakespeare make the doctor who cures the king a girl, for it was very unlikely in his times for a female to have this type of roll in society? Was he trying to make a point that females are just as capable as males in MANY fields of work? (And yes… we are!)

~Megan Douglas

 With the following quotes and passages I am going to focus on Beatrice and the first time we meet her.

Act 1 Scene 1

LEONATO

You must not, sir, mistake my niece. There is a
kind of merry war betwixt Signior Benedick and her:
they never meet but there’s a skirmish of wit
between them.

BEATRICE

Alas! he gets nothing by that. In our last
conflict four of his five wits went halting off, and
now is the whole man governed with one: so that if
he have wit enough to keep himself warm, let him
bear it for a difference between himself and his
horse; for it is all the wealth that he hath left,
to be known a reasonable creature. Who is his
companion now? He hath every month a new sworn brother.

In this conversation we learn that Beatrice and Benedick do not get along and seem to have a grudge against each other.  We also see that Beatrice is not the nicest person and can be rude and ignorant.  Why do you think Beatrice and Benedick do not get along?

Act 2 Scene 1

LEONATO

Well, niece, I hope to see you one day fitted with a husband.

BEATRICE

Not till God make men of some other metal than
earth. Would it not grieve a woman to be
overmastered with a pierce of valiant dust? to make
an account of her life to a clod of wayward marl?
No, uncle, I’ll none: Adam’s sons are my brethren;
and, truly, I hold it a sin to match in my kindred.

In this conversation we learn that Beatrice doesn’t want to get married and basically think men are dirt.  It shows us that Beatrice is very independent and doesn’t like to be controlled by other people.  Do you think being independent like Beatrice is good or bad, why or why not?

~Lauren Gress~

OK, first off, I’d like to say that this play isn’t that bad – that is, once you get through all of the language.  I’m actually kind of liking the plot line.  Also, the jokes are slightly funny.  They aren’t that funny, but they’re decent.  What do you guys think of the play so far?

For this blog I’m deciding to go a different direction with how I direct the discussion.  I’m going to pick one thing from every scene that I think is a relevant discussion topic.  So…

Act I, Scene I

One of the more interesting part of the scenes (for me) was the conversation between Lysander and Hermia after Egeus, Theseus, and Demetrius leave.  The two talk about how true love always has obstacles around it. There was one particular quote by Lysander that caught my interest:

Or, if there were a sympathy in choice                                                                                                                 War, death, or sickness did lay siege to it,                                                                                                           Making it momentary as a sound,                                                                                                                        Swift as a shadow, short as any dream,                                                                                                              Brief as the lightning in the collied night;                                                                                                           That, in a spleen, unfolds both heaven and Earth,                                                                                               And ere a man hath power to say “Behold!”                                                                                                         The jaws of darkness do devour it up.                                                                                                                 So quick bright things come to a confusion.

Basically what Lysander is saying here is that even if the two people were truly compatible things like war, death, and sickness could make it end quickly – as short as a dream.  This was interesting to me because the title of the play is A Midsummer Night’s Dream.  I may be reading way too far into this quote, but it seems to me that Shakespeare could be foreshadowing that the love between Hermia and Lysander will end quickly (without Puck’s interference).  What do you guys think?  Explain what you think the quote means (and do NOT use my explanation of the quote).

Act I, Scene II

I don’t know about you guys, but I really don’t understand why this scene and its characters is important to the play at all.  But one thing I did pick up on was a possible reference to Romeo and Juliet.  I don’t know if this was written after said play, but I do think it is possible that Shakespeare was making an allusion here.  

So the main part gist of this scene was that this group of actors is performing at the upcoming wedding for Theseus and Hippolyta.  This introduces the element of a play within a play (Taming of the Shrew, anyone?).  The play the group is performing is entitled A Very Tragic Comedy About the Horrible Deaths of Pyramus and Thisbe.  Obviously, Romeo and Juliet was not a comedy, but the same plot line seems to stand in both plays.  Quince says that Pyramus is, “A lover that kills himself, most gallant, for love.”  This is almost identical to Romeo and Juliet in which Romeo poisons himself because he believes that Juliet is dead.  Another similarity between the two is the title.  Shakespeare based Romeo and Juliet on a narrative poem called The Tragicall Historye of Romeus and Juliet (yes, the spelling is correct – even “tragicall”).  Both titles involve the word “tragic” and mention the names of the two lovers – first the male and then the female.  Finally, a similarity between both is the theme of duality.  The fictitious play in A Midsummer Night’s Dream has the words “tragic” and “comedy”.  The idea that both a depressing story could be funny to watch is totally contradictory and leads back to the thought that good and evil coexist.  So once again, I ask, am I reading too much into this or am I onto something here?  Do you see any other allusion to Shakespeare plays in this section?  I would also like you to think about Lysander and Hermia.  How do they fit into the star-crossed lover archetype?  

Act II, Scene I

Act II of the play introduces a new setting – the woods.  This is what I wish to discuss.  The change of setting also changes almost everything that is going on in the play.  Act I took place in Athens, a city-state which is watched over by Theseus, seemingly one of the most rational characters so far in the play.  Act II takes the audience from the calm, controlled, and practical environment of Athens to the the wild and unpredictable woods.  This change of setting leads to a change in the atmosphere.  The logical thoughts of Theseus are instead replaced by the magic and fantasy of the fairies.  Suddenly, all the action seems out of touch with reality, such as Puck being able to “put a girdle round about the Earth/In forty minutes”.  And yet, despite all of these changes, the theme of the play still exists – love, in every way possible.  There is Helena’s obsessive love for Demetrius, Demetrius’ obsessive love for Hermia, Hermia and Lysander’s true love, Oberon and Titania’s not-so-smooth-at-the-moment love, and love in the form of friendship between the Indian woman and Titania.  Why do you think two such different settings and characters are used?  Why is the theme consistent although everything else is not?

Act II, Scene II

Scene II develops the idea that love is not so much about compatibility, but about outward appearances. This begins when Puck puts the flower juice on Lysander’s eyes to make him fall in love.  Helena wishes throughout the scene that she could be as beautiful as Hermia because she believes that is why Demetrius is in love with her.  Specifically, Helena is jealous of Hermia’s eyes, “For she hath blessèd and attractive eyes.” Helena also says, “What wicked and dissembling glass of mine/Made me compare with Hermia’s spherey eyne?”  Lysander is another example of this concept.  When he falls in love with Helena he tells her, “Who will not change a raven for a dove?”, indicating that she is far more beautiful than Hermia.  He also comments on her eyes where he says, “your eyes, where I o’erlook/Love stories written in love’s richest book”.  Why do you think Shakespeare is concentrating on the idea of appearances forming love?  I’d also like to mention that I used the word “eyes” several times, each time in italics.  The juice that Puck puts on Lysander’s eyes is supposed to make him fall in love with the next thing he sees.  This, in combination with the eyes, suggests that Shakespeare is returning to the idea of love at first sight (Romeo and Juliet alert).  This play, however, has a comical, almost satirical quality about it.  What do you think about the love at first sight idea?  Do you think that Shakespeare was trying to perpetuate this idea or ridicule it?  Explain your opinion.

Recap:

1. What do you guys think of the play so far?
2. What do you think about Lysander’s quote?
3. Is my Romeo and Juliet theory correct?  Are there any other Shakespeare allusions to be found?
4. How do Lysander and Hermia fit into the star-crossed lovers archetype?
5. Why do you think two such different settings and characters are used?  Why is the theme consistent although everything else is not?
6. What do you think about the idea of love at first sight?  Do  you think Shakespeare was trying to perpetuate or ridicule it?
   

Erin B.

P.S. - I don’t know what’s up with that big quote I posted at the top.  For some reason it’s coming up really weird looking.  I swear, I didn’t write it like that.

I’m really enjoying this book, i love the tensions between the lover’s and i can’t wait to see who ends up with who and how!

Ok, now to the blog. Let’s focus on the main characters Lysander, Hermia, Helena, and Demetrius. These characters have been given very interesting characteristics, Lysander and Demetrius love Hermia and Helena loves Demetrius even though Demetrius doesn’t love her back. And Hermia and Helena are best friends. But i want your opinion on Helena , do you think that she is a good friend to Hermia?

Helena: Hermia tells Helena about her plan to run away with Lysander because she trusts her. But Helena decides to tell Demetrius about Hermia and Lysander running away to win his love. Hermia trusted Helena but Helena was too much in love with Demetrius to betray him, if you were in Helena’s place how would you react, would you rather betray your friend or the person you love? She was envious of Helena’s beauty and the fact that Demetrius loved Helena rather than her and broke promises about being with her.

Demetirus: Do you think that Demtrius was wrong to leave Helena after he betrothed (promised to marry)her for Hermia? Or do you think that he was following his heart and did the right thing by trying to be with Hermia? Did Demetrius want to be with Hermia because of her beauty or because he truly loved her?

-Kianat