Monthly Archives: September 2011

The Don Pedro Analysis

Shakespeare creates a parallel between the two couples that dominate this play, and he makes the events surrounding their romances so exciting that it’s easy to forget about a bunch of anomalies that tend to appear. As Claudio despairs at Hero’s supposed unfaithfulness and Benedick admits to loving Beatrice, it seems natural for Don Pedro’s character to take a step back in the plot. After all, it’s not as though he has any sort of love connection in this play.

I think that Don Pedro is homosexual.

Hear me out. The heir of Aragon is unmarried, a most peculiar circumstance even when disregarding everything else. The continuation of noble lineage is essential during this time period for nobles, particularly in light of the fact that everyone has just finished a war. What if Don Pedro had died? Who would have succeeded him? Such questions are addressed and immediately resolved in noble families through arranged marriages. Of course, since we have no idea how old Don Pedro is, his status as an eligible bachelor is far from sufficient to support my suggestion. Perhaps he simply hasn’t had the chance to marry yet. However, other cues from the play allude to this as well.

For example, the play suggests that the young men who have returned from war have a hard time communicating with women. Claudio, despite his apparent fearlessness in battle, cannot summon the courage to admit to Hero how he feels. Benedick, afraid to be made into a cuckold, initially refuses to ever entertain the notion of marriage. Fear, in one way or another, explains why these two young men haven’t gotten married.  It should also be observed that despite this fear, both of these men end up overcoming their misgivings, whether through their own actions or through an indirect agent (like how Don Pedro sets up Claudio’s marriage). However, there is no such explanation for why Don Pedro is single, and the play’s silence on this matter is deafening.

There are only two instances where Don Pedro acts like he is interested in women: during the dance (where he pretends to be Claudio, so he can woo Hero) and during a brief interaction with Beatrice (where he offers himself as a husband). While the mask obviously hides his identity from Hero, I don’t think it’s hard to think of the mask as Don Pedro’s heterosexuality. The interaction with Beatrice is strange, to say the least. No matter how you look at it, you can’t help but wonder: how can the Prince of Aragon be so casual about marriage? I mean, has he forgotten that he’s the heir? Beatrice, for all of her beauty, is too lowborn for Don Pedro (something she admits to through her refusal). You can argue that he was just being courteous, and that she recognized his offer as such, but something about the offer is just strange. Perhaps, because he is homosexual, he is only offering so that he can be seen making an offer to a woman, or perhaps he simply does not care which woman will be his wife . You can argue that Beatrice’s beauty implies he’s being quite picky,  but he seems to be the only male in the play who doesn’t realize that how Beatrice is. Benedick, for all of his verbal sparring with her, admits to her beauty, and Claudio alludes to it indirectly by saying how Hero is the most beautiful in his eyes. Don Pedro’s lack of comment strikes me as a lack of…interest.

 

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Much Ado About “Noting”

The first three acts of this play were filled with drama fueled by sex, gossip and misunderstandings. Low comedy at its best. The significance of the title becomes very clear throughout this section of the play. It seems that every character wants the lowdown and will use any opportunity to hear what isnt for their ears. They all make a big to do or “much ado” about noting what others are talking about.
As if this isn’t bad enough, it seems that everything overheard is taken in the wrong context and used to hatch up some cockamamie scheme which is usually thwarted by someone else listening in on their plans and devising a way to foil those. These people really had too much time on their hands. I think much of the drama is due to the fact that everyone is single. It is a fact that single people generally get into more mess than people in relationships. Most likely because they don’t have a mate to be busy with (pun intended).
The double meaning of the title is obvious. The characters are also making big deals over nothing. Situations are being blown way out of proportion because everyone is snooping and scheming. (Reading this play, I get a sense that Leonato’s house is way too small.) Major plot twists are based on complete falsities which could have been avoided if all the characters weren’t so willing to connive and conspire.
Maybe Shakespeare is showing us the pointlessness and ill effect of noting that which has nothing to do with us.

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“The poison of that lies in you to temper.”

In reading the first three acts of Much Ado About Nothing, the audience is introduced to a whirlwind of lies and deceit created by many of the characters. Of course, some of these lies are brought about in good nature, such as the trickery devised by Don Pedro, Claudio, and Leonato to bring Benedick to love Beatrice. Also in good form are Hero’s attempts to make Beatrice love Benedick in return. However, the evil Don John and his servant Borachio have ruined Claudio’s perception of Hero by tricking him into believing she is a whore. In doing so, the audience learns many things about the characters. While Don John initially seemed to desire despair only for Don Pedro (out of jealousy as the “Bastard son”), we now learn that his true nature lies in a deeper, darker place. He is pleased by the unrest and trouble facing his comrades, and feeds on them. Perhaps the audience can conclude that Don John, due to his poor reputation as a bastard brother to Don Pedro and resulting lower social status, truly holds only evil in his heart. We can also conclude that the servants of Don John, namely Borachio, have learned this habit and are therefore willing to act out against the other characters to please their master.

Another conclusion we can draw from these first few scenes is the ease with which lies are bought in this play. As the men are disguised at the masquerade, trickery flies about the room. There, Beatrice reveals to Benedick her true feelings about him, unknowingly so (or perhaps she insults him knowingly, but with strong pretense…thoughts?). Also, Don John addresses the masked Claudio, as if he were in fact Benedick, to falsely inform him that Don Pedro plans to court Hero instead himself of winning him for Claudio. Thirdly, in Act 3 we see Borachio and Don John scheme against Claudio, and Borachio’s performance with Margaret leads Claudio to believe that his fiancee is engaging in premarital affairs with another man. Claudio is so quick to believe that Hero would do such a thing, which allows the audience to see how trusting he is of Don John, and that he is unable to see the evil nature of the man. It can also be said that Claudio does not know Hero well enough to marry, for even though marriage was more of a transaction of familial affairs than a matter of love, the two are young and possibly not ready for such a major endeavor.

We must begin questioning why these characters are so easily deceived, and how this will play out in the last acts of the play. From Hero’s strong sense of foreboding disaster, we can definitely expect some very interesting action in Acts 4 and 5.

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Just for fun:

10 Things I Hate About You was an adorable 90’s film based on Taming of the Shrew. Often as I was reading the play, I pictured Heath Ledger and Julia Stiles in Elizabethan costumes.

[kml_flashembed movie="http://www.youtube.com/v/AWmjzCZr0Jw" width="425" height="350" wmode="transparent" /]

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Does the end justify the means?

The chemistry between Petrucio and Katherine can be observed immediately. The sexual tension is evident from the choice of words and from the way they speak to each other. Petruchio proves that he is her equal right away and there is a special connection established between the pair. Katherine is intrigued by him and stays engaged in the conversation even though Petrucio insults her. She seems to be looking for this kind of interaction, for somebody to treat her seriously. We can question whether she enjoyed being a shrew or maybe she didn’t know better?

She has always felt isolated and maybe the only way she knew how to make others to pay attention to her was through aggressive behavior. Petruchio gives her attention that she craves, and challenges her unlike the others. He complements her and makes her feel attractive. He lets her know that he has serious intentions he wants to make her his wife. Even though Petruchio’s intentions are somewhat dishonest and methods of timing his wife are repulsive and cruel he made her believe that he loves her. On the day of the weeding Katherine is being humiliated by her husband but she follows him anyway. This proves how much she wanted to be accepted and understood.
It is difficult to interpret the reasons for transformation in Katherine’s behavior has she been brainwashed and disciplined by her husband or maybe she becomes an obedient wife in exchange for the love and protection of her husband? It is difficult to say if she is really happy in her new role but it seems that Petruchio brings out the best of Katherine, she is no longer a shrew she is a lady.

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Role/Significance of Induction

I was absent from class on Wednesday, so I’m not sure if this was touched upon during the discussion, but I was very intrigued by the induction; though I’m curious as to the reasoning behind the whole “play within a play” premise.  When I began reading the play, I found the plot of the induction to be very humorous and captivating at the same time – I wanted to know how long the Lord would maintain the ruse and if Sly would ever discover the truth, however the actual play starts so abruptly that it is impossible to discover definitive answers to my curiosities.  I am making the argument that maybe the induction serves as a parallel to the story of Petruchio and Kate.  Like the Lord, Petruchio must change his natural appearance/actions for his own personal gain.  Instead of seeking humorous relief from drastic role changes, Petruchio changes his attitude and overall demanor in order to marry “weathily in Padua” (27).  Petruchio deprives Kate of food, becomes increasingly nasty and  to his servants, and intentionally utters outlandish contradictions in order to achieve his personal gain.  Grumio confirms Petruchio’s true desire for riches from Kate: “Why, give him gold enough and marry him to a puppet…or an old trot with ne’er a tooth in her head” (27).  All of this being said, I was very surprised when The Taming of the Shrew ended without returning to the original plot of the induction.  Perhaps there is a purpose for this as well…? 

 

 

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Early instances of “taming”

Hi everyone!  After hearing what everyone had to say in class, here is my response post:

The title The Taming of the Shrew is meant to refer to Katherina, but there are subtle instances of taming even before we meet her.  In the induction, when the Lord is talking about his multiple dogs, we inherently know that these animals have been trained to do his bidding.  He even seems to prefer one dog over the others, most likely because this dog is the tamest of the bunch, and responds most obediently to the Lord’s orders.

It’s also interesting to see the Lord’s behavior towards Sly.  He has just been talking about taming his dogs, and now will go on to tame this drunken bum.  Sly falls for his game almost immediately, subtly putting himself on the same level as the dogs – obedient, but not very smart, and certainly not as sophisticated as the Lord.

Even when we meet Lucentio and Tranio, there are notes of taming going on.  Lucentio is a teenager, being subtly pushed and influenced by not only his father, but his servant, who is supposed to be his inferior.  Even though Tranio tells him to study what makes him happy, this is a slight push in one direction.

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The irony of it all

The addition of the induction introduces us to a frame story with no narrator, where the story within the story is the main attraction hence the intentional title The Taming of the Shrew. As with his other comedies, Shakespeare uses the same comedic formula: a ruse, role changes in status and possibly gender, and a dupe. These characteristics would not be complete without the mess of a twist we all call irony which keeps the audience amused, and ties the comedic attributes together. Furthermore, the awareness of a trickery only strengthens the point of the irony as Grumio says, “to beguile the old folks, how the young folks lay their heads together!” Young or old, the characters are being made a fool by someone who is being fooled by someone else. It appears that by the end of this charade the characters will be none the wiser. The irony of it all keeps the story moving forward.

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Disguised by perception

Hello everyone!

As I was reading the play, deception and disguise are clearly prevalent – it almost becomes difficult to keep track of who is acting as who! However, something interesting I noticed was that the characters of this play not only seem to disguise themselves, but also they put their own “disguises” onto other characters through their prejudices of them. The one example that stuck out to me was Katherina’s reputation of being a “curst and shrewish” woman. In fact, so much so that Hortensio says she is “renowned in Padua for her scolding tongue,” and further along mentions that he wouldn’t “wed her for a mine of gold.”  At that point of the play, Kate only appears for a brief scene, and she speaks barely enough for her to prove that she is in fact a repulsive character. In addition, we don’t get any further insight on Kate since none of the characters thus far seem to know her well at all. These prejudiced views seem to disguise Kate. This perhaps puts, not just deception, but prejudice as one of the main themes to this play.

 

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Cruel Intentions…

While reading The Taming of the Shrew, the Induction is interesting. The lord notices that Christopher Sly is extremely drunk, to say the least, and attempts to make a mockery of the beggar. He orders his servants to take him inside and treat him as a lord by putting him in a bed, putting rings on his fingers, and even setting a banquet for him. The lord even has his pageboy, Bartholomew, dress up to play the part as Sly’s wife.

Once Sly arises from his deep slumber, he is confused. After the men convince him of his hierarchy, he is focused on spending a night with his wife. The lord’s cruelty and deception for pure entertainment is astonishing.

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