For Tuesday: The Two Gentlemen of Verona, Acts 1-2

A 2014 RSC Produc tion of The Two Gentlemen

In class on Thursday, we watched the First Act of The Two Gentlemen of Verona in a 1983 BBC production to discuss how to "see" the wit and comedy in his language. Be sure to read the post below this one, which discusses the difference between prose and verse in his plays--this will be VERY important for our discussions, esp. on Tuesday. Consider, too, some of the ideas below for our in-class writing on Tuesday, which will ask you to write about one of them:

* Bevis writes that "one of comedy's most frequent and enduring topics is the vexed, intimate relationship between the rulers and the ruled" (67). How do we see this in the first two acts? What is being made fun of about this relationship?

* Which comic characters emerges as fools? Unwitting fools? How can we tell?

* Bevis writes that "Being in love it itself a comic double act. The couple rely on wit to gain some mastery over feelings that they cannot quite control" (26). What scene seems to embody this quality of comedy? 

* Bevis also writes that comedy is discusrive, not always concerned about telling a methodical, logical plot. Which scenes seem the most pointless or out-of-place to you? Why might Shakespeare have included them?

* How does the play satirize the conventions of love even while making the characters fall in love? In other words, how is Shakespeare making us laugh at ourselves when we fall in love in order to better understand how and why we do it? 

* What parts of the play transcend the page? That is, what would have to be seen or acted to truly be funny? You might consider a character like Crab, who is said to be the greatest non-speaking role in Shakespeare. 

* Like many of Shakespeare's early comedies, we find pairs of men and women: Julia and Sylvia; Valentine and Proteus. This can be confusuing for a modern audience, since we mistake one for the other--and on the page, it's hard to distinguish each one's characteristics. Why might pairs of young people in love lend themselves well to comedy or comedic situations/accidents?

* Bevis reminds us that in comedy, "a mistake is often something you secretly want to make" (18). Where do we see such mistakes in this play?