Here are some questions to think about as you read and which we'll discuss in class. In addition, choose for yourself a single line or speech from this reading that catches you eye for whatever reason, and as you have previously, post a comment about it.
II.i
1. Act out lines 1-41: What stereotypes do Luciana and Adriana perpetuate? What effect does the rhyme have on this interaction? Compare lines 15-25 and 32-41. What are the two women saying and how are their views on marriage different?
2. Look at Adriana's final two speeches: 87-101 and 103-115. How does this speech contradict her previous one in lines 32-41. What is the tone of her delivery? What is Shakespeare saying about all women in this speech -- go crazy.
II.ii
1. The idea of madness is introduced in the previous scene, and here we have some seriously wacky things happening. But the scene begins with Dromio S's witty word play. What is the purpose of the back and forth in the first 106 lines? Remember, we've now seen Antipholus with both Dromios.
2. Act out lines 109-end. How do Antipholus and Dromio physically react to this situation? What are we to think of Adriana?
I think that the most interesting part of this act is the monologue that Adriana give about her feelings about her role as a wife to Antipholus.
ReplyDelete"His company must do his minions grace,
Whilst I at home starve for a merry look.
Hath homely age th' alluring beauty took
From my poor cheek? Then he hath wasted it."
2-1-87-90
Adriana seems to be saying that she does not believe that her husband has any need for her now that she is no longer beautiful. She remarks that "he hath wasted" her beauty and has now moved onto more entertaining "minions." I thought that this section of the scene gave a real sense of the gender roles that existed during Shakespeare's time and the pressure that existed for wives to keep their husbands in order to maintain any sort of livelihood or survival.
I found it intriguing how Shakespeare presents in Act 2 Scene 1 two different ideas of what it means to be a woman and a wife in society.
ReplyDeleteWhen Adriana’s husband is late to dinner, Luciana urges Adriana to be patient and attempts to justify Antipholus of Ephesus’ delay: “A man is master of his liberty; / Time is their master, and when they see time / They’ll go or come” (2.1.7-9). Luciana also tells Adriana that men “…Are masters to their females, and their lords. / Then let your will attend on their accords” (2.1.24-25). Luciana clearly views men as inherently superior to women and believes that an ideal wife is obedient to her husband. Luciana articulates the conventional idea of the role of women.
Adriana rejects Adriana’s suggestions of patience and blind obedience. She immediately jumps to the conclusion that her husband is late because he is with another woman and wishes to confront him. Adriana cannot understand, and thus dislikes, the fact that men have more freedom and power than women in society. She asks Luciana, “Why should [man’s] liberty than ours be more?” (2.1.10).
As a side note, this theme made me recall Portia’s character in the Merchant of Venice. Portia seems to straddle the two ideas: on one hand, she proves that she is just as intelligent and influential as any man in Venetian society when she boldly enters the courtroom as a judge; on the other hand, she bows to her father’s wishes and marries the man who has passed her father’s test.
It will be interesting to see how the balance of these two opposed ideas shifts throughout the Comedy of Errors (it’s Shakespeare, how could he not make his audience question conventions?) and whether one idea seems to dominate by the end of the play.
I like that this play is silly. I think the forthcoming pages will be both confusing and funny because of the character's predicament. This speech from Antipholus of Syracuse at the end of the act when he is whisked away to his brother's home is a fun prod towards the audience
ReplyDelete"Am i in earth, in heaven, or in hell?
Sleeping or waking, mad or well-advised?
Known unto these, and to myself disguised!"
2.2.255-228
I foresee much further plot twists coming from this dinner. I feel bad for the poor Dromios who seem to be the most confused and the most blamed for all of the problems.
I really rather enjoyed reading the last two lines Antipholus of Syracuse spoke at the end of Act II. The lines are, "I'll say as they say, and persever so, And in this mist at all adventures go." (II.2.214-215). I enjoyed this short bit because it illustrated the adventurous attitude of Antipholus that I believe fits perfectly in a comedic setting. My take on his current mindset at this point in the play is that he is totally open to the incredibly weird experiences he's having and that he is more than content to just flow with them just for the sake of pursuing and following his excitement. So often we experience the macho, buff, war-beaten adventurer that considers adventuring and exploring to be some forced or perhaps challenging task to be taken seriously. Antipholus of Syracuse totally contradicts this cliched image in the best possible way; he is nonchalant yet confident, totally relaxed and at ease with the utter weirdness and novelty of his current situation, and that is just how he IS. I said this earlier in some way but he just flows with experience seamlessly, and I really admire that. To me, Antipholus of Syracuse totally epitomizes what it is to be an adventurer, an explorer of the weird world in which we've found ourselves. What an interesting character.
ReplyDelete2.2.35-40
ReplyDeleteIt was this passage that made me realize that for something to be funny, the context of the situation must be easily understood by the audience. Unfortunately, context is lost with time. If we can't hope to understand a joke from the 1930s, how can we hope to understand one that hasn't been relevant for a couple hundred years?
Specifically in this sequence, he plays with the word "sconce". On my first read through, not only did these lines not make any sense, but they simply didn’t seem clever: "What's a sconce? What is it used for?" However, after reading the annotations, which taught me that sconce had multiple meanings, I realized it was a pun. In hindsight, I now see how it could have been funny- if I had easily understood the context. The problem was that once I was forced to analyze the material, it became too serious to laugh at.
II.i
ReplyDeleteI think they are showing completely opposite stereotypes, an early feminist type, and a traditional, servile woman. Adriana clearly knows that she is worth just as much as a man, and that she is tired of tolerating his unfaithful and lazy attitude when it comes to their relationship. While on the contrary, Luciana is inexperienced in the relationship world and strives for a more conservative and traditional life. The rhyming keeps the dialogue fun and comedic in a way. The play between "bed" and "unwed" is a bit funny when you read it aloud.
Adriana's final two speeches show how much she resents her husband for wasting her and turning her into the woman she has become...who is seemingly less lovable, and more cold to life. Her previous speech is about how people tell others to feel better and "suck it up" when they are not hurting, but when they are, they complain just as much as the other, maybe even more so, and expect sympathy from those around them. In the last two speeches she seems so weak and beaten down by life, whereas the first speech she is much more empowered and kind of condescending toward Luciana.
II.ii
I think that most of the dialogue for the first part of the second scene is only there for comedic relief. I really didn't see any other point for it being there. It made both Dromio and Antipholus look like fools because of how silly the dialogue was. But the clever word play actually makes Dromio looks more witty than Antipholus, who is just falling into his trap.
Adriana at the end is quite interesting. She seems so bold, yet she is talking about how weak she is and how much she needs Antipholus. Im intrigued by her character because I think she likes to put up a tough persona, but in reality she is deeply saddened and hurt.
Why, too much freedom leads to woe. There’s nothing under heaven that doesn’t have its limits. The beasts on the earth, the fish in the sea, and the birds in the sky are all subject to the males of their species and under their control. Men, who are nearest to God, are the masters of all these creatures. And men—the lords of the wide
ReplyDelete2.1 (16-20)
This piece said by Luciana shows how she thinks of wives as mules. This provides a look into how the females knew their "roll". This is interesting because like Shakespeare often does, he gives us a look into a stereo type's head.
I agree with Reckas in that the comedy is really hard to get! I think being able to grasp the comedic parts of this play would downplay the striking gender stereotype that is set up pretty blatantly, particularly through Adriana's speeches.
ReplyDeleteA few lines of hers that grabbed me are II.2.120-123
Here, she talks about the connection between her and her husband (them as individuals vs one unified unit) and how that gets broken and she questions it when he doesn't stay true to her. It's interesting how she criticizes him and clearly is hurt by his adultery, and almost begins to stand up for herself, yet resorts to desperately hoping that he doesn't "tear thyself away from [her]". I can't help but roll my eyes when there is consistently this inferiority complex of the women in shakespeare's plays. Even Lady Macbeth, who we know was a badass, was completely affected by her husbands wishes and decisions by the end of the play.
I'll be interested to see how this Adriana character plays out, and it'll be good to talk as a class about what role the comedy plays here/if it affects the message I get.
2.2.35-36. "Scounce you call it? So you would leave battering, I had rather have it a "head"".
ReplyDeleteLooking up the meanings of the word, I developed a greater understanding of Dromio's wordplay throughout the play's dialogue. I look forward to conveying Dromio's sarcasm and attitude by acting out and delivering Dromio's puns and clever remarks thrown around throughout the dialogue. As Alex and Torie have pointed out, the humor can be difficult to grap, but once you do grasp it you realize the potential that puns, for example those of Dromio, have for future performance.
I'm rather grateful for the speculations about witchcraft, and Antipholus S's decision to go with the flow. (Though I'm rather disappointed with him for not figuring this out already. How much more fun could his carefree attitude be if he was playing with identity on purpose? I don't think such a game would necessarily be in character for him, but it would open up great possibilities.) Without this, the comedy of the confused identities would soon have become painful to read; I can only watch the characters make ridiculous accusations and fail to grasp the same concept for so long. By entertaining ideas of madness and magic, the characters and able to participate in ever more absurd situations more easily. There's still emotional content and comedic confusion -- is this real or madness? Why does this person I know so well act so strangely? or not recognize me? -- but with an added freedom that prevents the characters from instantly becoming so angry with each other as to ruin everything.
ReplyDeleteBecause the confusion is based on extra copies of several people running around, the characters are in constant confusion about identity. Antipholus and Dromio, thrust together with masters and servants with a different relationship, must reevaluate the nature of their relationship: friends or master-slave? How should it be? Antipholus of Syracuse finds himself reacting to an angry wife. The role of husband is new to him. Adriana must explicitly define her role as wife to her confused husband.
2.1.44-83
ReplyDeleteThis passage is a conversation between Dromio of Ephesus and Luciana. Throughout the entirety of this conversation, Dromio hardly has a line that isn’t phrased as a pun. While this is funny on the surface, the conversation is actually about Dromio being beaten fairly severely. I think that this is a good example of how slapstick plays a role in this play. Although Dromio was just beaten, it is revealed through humor. In addition, Luciana consistently misunderstanding Dromio was very funny. Using puns and humorous dialogue allows Shakespeare to use violence in a comedic way.