For Tuesday: van Es, Shakespeare's Comedies: Intro, and Chapters 1-2

Okay, time to finally crack open our next book: Shakespeare's Comedies, which will give us insight into the historical period Shakespeare wrote in, as well as more food for thought about comedy and comedic conventions. Read the first 48 pages or so (no punishment if you don't get to the end), and consider some of the following ideas--one of which we'll write about in class:

* How did comedy as an art form change as Shakespeare was writing? How do his plays seem to reflect this?

* How did later generations view the 'problems' of Shakespeare's comedies? Do we find the same things problematic?

* What is the general rule for producing Shakespeare these days? Why are we less worried about "historical" accuracy and sentiment?

* What does van Es mean when he writes, "[the] strange quality of space is one of the reasons that there have been so few critically acclaimed films made of the comedies" (23). Why is space such an important factor in the comedies? Related to this, why are they often referred to as "dreamlike"? 

* The writer George Meredith claims that "some degree of sociial equality of the sexes is necessary for comedy to thrive" (27). Why is this? How might this explain the need for women to cross-dress so often in his plays?

* Shakespeare likes to "set a first world against a second world" in his plays, such as we see in The Two Gentlemen of Verona: the world of the court and the world of the forest (where the outlaws live). Why is this also important for comedy and to explore the social values of his time?

* According to van Es, what is the distinction between humor and wit? Does this jive with Bevis' ideas on the subject?

* van Es uses The Two Gentlemen as an example of Shakespeare's more dated use of wit. Why doesn't this translate as well for modern audiences? What are we missing when we hear this or see it on stage?

* According to Freud, what is the difference between humor and jokes? How does one relate to our "unconscious" thoughts and desires?

* In a passage that seems to echo Bevis' book, how does comedy play on social taboos and desires? In Shakespeare specifically, how does this play into his discussion of women's virtue?