I would like to begin by saying that this was by far the most difficult play for me to read and keep up with. I truly believe you have to be an expert thespian to understand what's going on in this play from scene to scene. With the difficult terminology and similar naming of the characters it was hard for me to get a complete understanding of the meaning of this play. It was also very lengthy and lacked intrigue for me.
I honestly felt like this play was lacking excitement. It was supposed to be a love story but it did not put me in the mindset of a love story and I wasn't taken to any particular place in my mind as I was reading it. To me Shakespeare's language is confusing and therefore takes away the real meaning of the words and the understanding of the play. Maybe it's only like that for me as a modern day reader of this play, I'm sure that in the time that it was written that the audience understood just fine.
This play lacked the drama of a true drama. The relationships between the characters were very predictable and the play was not suspenseful at all as I thought it might be. I was honestly down by the absence of romance in the play, I thought it was going to be a suspenseful, over exaggerated love story with loving poems and scenes of fairies dancing and singing abundantly. I was really disappointed at the end of this play and I still don't know the point of the play inside the play, that further confused me.
All in all this play left me wondering a lot of things and questioning why were certain things even put in the play? Like, Titania falling in love with an ass and then not being in love with the ass but still not giving up the boy. I did not leave off reading this as a fan of Shakespeare, if anything I became less of a fan than I was before. Also a lot more confused than ever. I really don't have much to say about this play or much to critique , it did not give me any insight or open my mind to new things in any way.
Hi Quisha,
ReplyDeleteI am totally with you on the lack of excitement. I was looking forward to reading it because it mentioned comedy but, it did not capture my attention as much as I thought it would have or as I was looking forward for it too.
Darcel,
ReplyDeleteI just commented on your blog and then I clicked on mine to see that you commented here and said the same thing that I said in your comments. I thought that it was going to be a romantic comedy which I am totally a fan of, I mean who doesn't love a good romcom? The let down was real, but as I read other people's blogs I gained some insight and perception that I didn't get on my own which gave me a feeling of contentment on understanding the point of the play.
Thanks for your comment
Hey Quisha,
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry you did not enjoy the play; but I'm glad you feel as though you have better understanding of Shakespeare's intent now that you have read other blogs. There are some funny ironic elements in the story, but it reads better if you do not take the play too seriously. I thought that it was nice/kind of Shakespeare to at least provide a "happy ending" in regards to the actual happenings of the story, and not so much the play within a play (which took more of a turn toward the romantic tragedy of Romeo & Juliet). Though, I have to say, I thought the characters were difficult to follow as well, considering there were so many, and it is a bit more difficult to remember each name as the story jumps from scene to scene. Maritza addd a good tip on her blog. She said she continually looked back at the character descriptions to remember who each character was.
I hope some of this resonates with you and thank you for your post!
Hi Quisha, I too share your frustration! Since this was the first time I read this play it took me a while to get through the whole thing without losing my mind. I do have some experience reading Shakespeare plays, so I am semi-familiar with the wording which helped a bit. I think being able to read others comments on this play really helps put the play into perspective. Trevor makes a good observation with irony being used - something I did not think of while reading through the play. I hope you do not give up on Shakespeare, some of his work is really memorable and worth the read. Thanks for sharing your thoughts!
ReplyDeleteHi Quisha,
ReplyDeleteI went straight to your blog first as I love your honesty! I too had an extremely difficult time with this play. It took me forever to get through it and but the time I was done I had no idea what I just read. Saying that it was frustrating is an understatement. I agree with your view regarding the difficult terminology. As modern day interpreters of the play it is hard to follow the exact story line without background information. I believe Shakespeare is definitely a guided read.