I picked this quote becuase I thought it was ironic how Petruchio accused all these people of being villians and imposters. Meanwhile, he is trying to woo Kate for her money and acting like somebody else. At least thats what we thought, but he seems to have fallen for Kate even though she is a jerk. By now, Many of the imposters “costumes” have diteriated and they have been revealed. My questions to you are

What is blue but smells like red paint!?? haha jk

Now. The real questions.

Do you think what Petruchio went through to change Kate was worth it?? Do you think Kate’s transformation was permenate. Or could it possibly be reversed? What do you think Kate would do, if she found out Petruchio’s Initial reason to get with kate?

	CLAUDIO
20	Stand thee by, Friar.—Father, by your leave,
	Will you with free and unconstrainèd soul
	Give me this maid, your daughter?

LEONATO
	As freely, son, as God did give her me.

CLAUDIO
	And what have I to give you back whose worth
25	May counterpoise this rich and precious gift?

DON PEDRO
	Nothing, unless you render her again.

CLAUDIO
	Sweet Prince, you learn me noble thankfulness.—
	There, Leonato, take her back again.
	Give not this rotten orange to your friend.
30	She’s but the sign and semblance of her honor.
	Behold how like a maid she blushes here!
	Oh, what authority and show of truth
	Can cunning sin cover itself withal!
	Comes not that blood as modest evidence
35	To witness simple virtue? Would you not swear,
	All you that see her, that she were a maid
	By these exterior shows? But she is none.
	She knows the heat of a luxurious bed.

So in this quote, Caludio tells Leanato that Hero is lying and a whore, and that he doesn’t need her and she doesn’t deserve a good man like him.  I found this quote interesting because we have always seen Claudio as such a kind gentlemen and now he is somebody very different.

My questions:

1. Do you think Claudio handled the situation in the right manner, if not how should he have handled it?
2. What do you think got into Claudio to do such a horrible thing? (peer pressure, lies, etc.)
3. What do you thing Hero should do? (should she take him back after this or leave him) (your opinion)

~Lauren Gress~

Her blush is guiltiness, not modesty.

For this week’s quote, I choose the last line of the play in which Puck says:

If we shadows have offended,
Think but this, and all is mended,
That you have but slumber’d here
While these visions did appear.
And this weak and idle theme,
No more yielding but a dream,
Gentles, do not reprehend:
if you pardon, we will mend:
And, as I am an honest Puck,
If we have unearned luck
Now to ’scape the serpent’s tongue,
We will make amends ere long;
Else the Puck a liar call;
So, good night unto you all.
Give me your hands, if we be friends,
And Robin shall restore amends.

So, what do you think Puck is telling us here? And how does this connect back to what happened in the rest of the play?

That’s All Folks!

~Sarah L.

“Tush, tush, man; never fleer and jest at me: I speak not like a dotard nor a fool, as under prilege of age to brag what I have done being young, or what would do were I not old.  Know, Claudio, to thy head, thou hast so wrong’d mine innocent child and me that I am forced to lay my reverence by and, with grey hairs and bruise of many days, do challenge thee to trial of a man.  I say thou hast belied mine innocent child; thy slander hath gone through and through her heart, and she lies buried with her ancestors; O, in a tomb where never scandal slept, save this of hers, framed by thy villlany!” (Act V, scene i)  This is said by Lenanato to Claudio.  I picked this quote because it shows Lenarto’splan in action.  In this plan Leonato wants Claudio to feel bad about killing Hero and change his mind about her.  To do this he says that Claudio has killed her from the grief that he caused her.  It also gives the reader how much he loves his daughter.  He loves her so much that he challenges Claudio, a much younger man to a dual to kill his daughter’s fake killer.  In the quote Leonato expresses his anger towards Claudio for accusing Hero of being unfaithful.  You can not blame Claudio for this.  He was mislead by Don John.  He than tells Claudio that Hero has died because what he has done to her.  This plan works great.  Claudio is upset at what he did to Hero.  Because of this Leonato gets Claudio to tell everybody that Hero was innocent.  Than he is told to marry Leonato’s nees in place of Hero, but it is actually Hero.  Do you guys think that it was right for Leonato to lie about Hero’s death? Why or why not?  I believe that it was reasonable because everything worked out in the end.  Claudio found out that Hero was not unfaithful and the two were happily married.

-Julian Garcia

“O god of love!  I know he doth deserve as much as may be yielded to a man: But Nature never framed a woman’s heart of prouder stuff than that of Beatrice; Disdain and scorn ride sparkling in her eyes, misprising what they look on, and her wit values itself so highly that to her all mater else seems weak: she can not love, nor take no shape nor project of affection, she is so self-endeared.” (Act 3 , scene 1)  This is said by Hero to Ursula.  I picked this quote because it shows the plan to get Benedick and Beatrice together in action.  If this plan works these two characters could change completely.  In this quote Hero is trying to explain that Beatrice is not able to love anybody, especially Benedick.  This whole conversation is happening because they want Beatrice to think that Benedick loves her.  When actually he only loves her because he thinks she likes him, which she doesn’t.  Beatrice is hiding behind the trees while they are talking and thinks she heard something she shouldn’t have.  Than when Hero and Ursula leave Beatrice says that she must showing scorn to Benedick and start to love him.  From all this we learn that everything in Hero’s plan is working.  First the boys got Benedick to think Beatrice loves him, and than the same with Beatrice.  This will have to lead to love between these two.  They already have said to themselves that they love each other.  Do believe these two will come out with their feelings about each other?  Why or why not?

Also, Just for conversation what was your guys favorite part of the play so far?  Mine would have to be this part right hear.  I like the fact that Hero is using trickery to bring out Beatrice’s true feelings.

-Julian Garcia

Well anyway, this week, we read Act 3 and Act 4 of a Midsummer’s Night Dream. For my quote this week, I chose from Act 3, Scene 1:

TITANIA

I pray thee, gentle mortal, sing again:
Mine ear is much enamour’d of thy note;
So is mine eye enthralled to thy shape;
And thy fair virtue’s force perforce doth move me
On the first view to say, to swear, I love thee.

I thought this was really funny because Titania wakes up and falls in love with a guy with a head of a donkey. It just kind of shows how unexpected “love” can be, even when it is interfered with with magic juice. So, my question for all of you this week is this: From all the love discussions we’ve had in class and from reading Romeo and Juliet, what is your outlook on love and lust? Also, how does this entire play revolve around the love of the different characters?

“That’s all folks!”

~Sarah L.

In this quote Beatrice thinks that Margret thinks that she is in love with Benedick, my question is if she doesn’t like him why did she over react so much when Margaret was not even talking about him?  It seems to me that she is trying to hide her love for him because everybody knows that they do not get along.  Do you think that Beatrice loves Benedick?  Why do you think her attitude changed towards him?

~Lauren Gress~

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

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~

“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 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 bother.” (Act I, Scene i)  This is said by Beatrice about Benedick.  They are at Leonato’s house.  She is explaining her feelings to Leonato, Hero and a messenger.  We learn in this quote that Beatrice has been having problems with Benedick for a long time.  This quote also gives a vague idea on how Beatrice acts.  She is very angry and seems to speak her mind no matter what.  She also seems very independent.  She is the opposite of her cousin Hero.  What do you guys think of Beatrice?  Do you like her or not.  Also, the timing of this quote reveals another side of Beatrice.  She is the one who brings up Benedick and their recent fights.  Her bringing Benedick up shows that she wants to talk about him.  This gives the possibility that she likes him.  Shecould just be trying to hide this love with such obvious hate.  Do you guys believe that Beatrice could like Benedick?  Why or why not.  I believe that she does and we will see this later in the play.

So what do you guys think of the first two acts?  Did you guys enjoy it as much as I did?  Probably not because reading this play was the only thing I had to do in ISS.  Anything would have probably entertained me.

-Julian Garcia