Spring Break: Read Acts 1-2 of The Taming of the Shrew (and recap below)

Since we don't have class next week, go ahead and read at least the first TWO acts of The Taming of the Shrew. I won't give you any questions since it's Spring Break, but I will give you some ideas to think about early next week to help your reading. Don't forget that Paper #2 is due THIS FRIDAY! Let me know if you have any questions.

Here is a little recap and some passages that are pertinent to our discussion on Tuesday: 

JUST A JOKE

• Page 78 (Bevis): People often say, "oh, I'm only joking," or "he's just kidding" but are often serious nonetheless. Jokes are often geared to wound. As Bevis writes, behind the smile is a socialized snarl...real snarls and real fights.
• Page 78: Is the term "playful anger" an oxymoron? How can anger be playful? Anger becomes playful or funny because it seems antithetical to play--it CAN'T be harmless, can it? But it can...it can be used to make us laugh.
• Page 80: What really makes us laugh? Two theories: Superiority Theory and Incongruity Theory? One suggests we laugh because we feel superior to the 'fools' on stage; the other, that we laugh because things are so absurd and out of place. How else CAN we respond? One or the other? A mixture of both?

THE USES OF SATIRE

• "Satire" comes from old Greek satyr plays, which were comedies about half men, half goats that mocked the audience. The idea is that you see both your human and your animal side on stage--reason and illogic. 
• Page 79: The point of satire: change the name and you are the subject 
• Page 81: Like TICKLING--both pleasure and pain. 
• Page 81: BIG—to send something up is not necessarily to put it down; which means, a satire isn't necessarily mean-spirited. You can lampoon something you love in order to see it better, or to point out its obvious flaws. Indeed, can we love something WITHOUT flaws? Don't we have to see something for its flaws and all? Does comedy helps us see the world in a human light in exactly this way? 
• Page 91: "Bad behavior"—so wrong it’s right. We often like to act badly in private, or in a space that allows us to do the 'wrong' thing. Why we like horror movies? Because they allow us to see people die and commit murder without committing a crime? Or experiencing terror without real danger? 
• Comedian George Carlin: likes bringing the audience across the line, having them happy I did...but where is the line drawn? And how far can we go without becoming 'monsters'?

ASKING THE WRONG QUESTIONS!

• Page 84: Composer John Cage was asked if there was too much suffering in the world. His response: “I think there's just the right amount.” Why is this COMEDY? Why is he acting like a "fool" here? 
• Page 81: PHILOSOPHY—“things aren’t so bad, it could be worse”: comedy as complacency? 
• Volatire's 1759 novel, Candide: the main character is constantly told "we live in the best of all possible worlds," even though he witnesses murder, torture, rape, and worse. His response: “yikes, so what are the other worlds like?”
• Page 85: TO BE A WITNESS IS AN ACCOMPLICE: why are we 'guilty' simply by watching the events on stage? 
• Page 85: Comedy a force for good? OR merely to question what “Good” might be? And who gets to choose?
• Page 91: Not to degrade humans; to remind them they already ARE!