December 09, 2004
Two Gentlemen of Verona
I'm about at the halfway point of reading through all of Shakespeare's plays. I decided to read one in between every few books, starting at the beginning of my gigantic Shakespeare volume (Oxford or Norton, I can't remember) and going to the end (skipping previously read plays).
So comes it that I began this quest with Two Gentlemen of Verona, thought to be one of Shakespeare's early works. It doesn't get put into production very often, mostly because of the controversial ending, in which one character attempts to "rape" (as it would seem) a girl, is interrupted, and then the girl's fiance decides to "give" the girl to the offender as a gesture of good friendship. HUH!?!? The only explanation the critics can find for an ending like this comes with the idea of valuing the bond of male friendship. Thought to be based on a story by Bocaccio, which also shows an example of one friend giving his woman to his male friend as a gesutre of friendship, TGOV has a hard time playing well to a modern day mindset. Back in the day, an ending like this might not have been very surprising.
Regardless of the ending, which is also a little too abrupt for my tastes, the rest of the play does have its merit. There are very funny exchanges between masters and servants, and some great scenes with the world's ugliest dog. As usual, people in disguises lead to climactic discoveries and hilarity ensues.
Overall, I'd say this probably a lot lower on my list than other plays, as it has many great moments, but sometimes feels lacking. If it is one of Shakespeare's earlier works, then it shows, as his later plays seem much more complete.
Posted by wendytime at December 9, 2004 03:00 PM | TrackBack