Day 105: What I Learned: The Two Gentlemen of Verona, or Goddammit! This play has rape in it too? I'm so freaking sick of this!

Luigi Schiavonetti, “Valentine, Proteus, Silvia and Julia”
from “Two Gentlemen of Verona” (1852)

Oh come on, Shakespeare! Can't a just read a play that doesn't condone rape? Apparently not this month, I can't. After the horror that was Titus Andronicus, I was looking forward to a light comedy in the form of The Two Gentlemen of Verona. 

Be careful what you wish for because Shakespeare's "light" comedies usually involve something horrific.

What would it be this time? Racism? Anti-Semitism? Physical violence? Well, yes, to an extent. All of the above. Oh and rape.

One of the "gentlemen," Proteus, is "in love" with Silvia (he's "in love" with all the female characters at one point or another, not that there are very many of them) and if she doesn't feel the same way, why he'll just "woo you like a soldier, at arms' end, and love you 'gainst the nature of love,--force ye...I'll force thee yield to my desire." Charming.

But never fear! Valentine is here! He "saves" Silvia. I say he "saves" her in that he stops the rape, but then Proteus apologizes--more to Valentine than to Silvia--and how does Valentine respond? He basically says, "Aw shucks. That's okay. As long as WE'RE still friends." And then he gives Silvia to Proteus as a sign of their friendship! 

Oh and did I mention that Julia, another woman that Proteus has claimed to be in love with, sees this and freaks out because she wanted Proteus to herself? HOLY SHIT.

You know, plays like Macbeth and King Lear and Othello make me appreciate just how wonderful and timeless Shakespeare's words can be. But honestly, if he were only famous for plays like Titus Andronicus and Love's Labour's Lost and The Two Gentlemen of Verona...well I doubt he'd be famous at all. 

If you're looking to read ALL of Shakespeare's plays because, like me, you're on some sort of personal Shakespeare-based mission, then yes, you'll have to read these ones. But if you're just looking to get better acquainted with the bard to find out why he's still talked about and studied over 400 years later, then move on. These are not the plays you are looking for. 

Go back to the ones that are really, really famous. Turns out people like those ones best for a reason.

Day 82: I think Love's Labour's Lost broke my spirit

Sigh. I don't know what happened. I was doing so well. A play a week? No problem! Then along came Love's Labour's Lost and it hasn't been the same since. The week after I finished that play (barely) I was supposed to read Julius Caesar. I ended up not reading that at all. Of course, it was a weird week. I had a death in the family and had to travel for a funeral. It sucked. So I guess I could be forgiven for not reading that play. I'll catch up later. But this week I'm supposed to be reading Antony and Cleopatra and I'm WAY behind in that one too. I just can't seem to summon the energy and focus. Is it the subject matter? Am I burned out? Is it because I'm dozens of reviews behind schedule on my other book blogs? Maybe. Or maybe it's because Love's Labour's Lost left a sour taste in my mouth...or whatever the equivalent to "sour taste" is ON MY SOUL. Damn you, Berowne!!

Berowne costume design from UVic Theatre Dept 

Day 70: What I Learned: Love's Labour's Lost: A Cartoon Summary

Love's Labour's Lost is the first play so far in this project that I just haven't like. I hated it. It annoyed me. I'm breaking up with it. So instead of "What I Learned" here's a cartoon of Love's Labour's Lost. It's very accurate...you won't even have to read the play now. You're welcome.

LOVE'S LABOUR'S LOST: A CARTOON SUMMARY, by Mary Lavers

Day 69: Maybe I should watch the movie...oh wait, the entire world says no

Love's Labour's Lost (2000)
Starring Kenneth Branagh, Alicia Silverstone, Matthew Lillard, Emily Mortimer and Nathan Lane
Directed by Kenneth Branagh
via

A lot of the plays I've read so far have had one or more film versions. Some of them have been good, like Scotland, PA (based on Macbeth), A Thousand Acres (based on King Lear), and both Othello and O (based on Othello). Others have been, uh, not as good (like that BBC Twelfth Night, not the one with Helena Bonham Carter). Some have been hard to find (like the Twelfth Night with Helena Bonham Carter!). And some haven't seemed worth the trouble (I still haven't gotten around to watching She's the Man, or Helen Mirren's Tempest). 

So should I hunt down the wildly unpopular 2000 film Love's Labour's Lost, directed by Kenneth Branagh? The internet says, "God, no!" It was a critical and commercial flop and it looks dreadful. 

Then again, the source material is...well also not that popular. It's a long play, it's WAY too full of silliness and romantic foolishness. It's the first time in the project that I'm a little worried about finishing my play-of-the-week because I'm dragging my heels so much on this one. At least next week is Julius Caesar, which I've already read, so if I need extra time I can probably go long on this one and then just rush through Julius Caesar next week and still stay on schedule.

via

Day 65: Love's Labour's Lost...word cloud edition

This one looks vaguely psychedelic, like the play takes place in the late 1960's and is complicated by groovy. Okay when DOES it take place? The setting is very confusing to me.

Day 64: New Play Tuesday! Love's Labour's Lost

From a 2009 production of Love's Labour's Lost, directed by Dominic Dromgoole
Left to right: Andrew Vincent (Dull), Michelle Terry (Princess of france), Siân Robins-Grace (Katherine), Thomasin Rnad (Rosaline) and Jade Anouka (Maria) in Love's Labour's Lost, Shakespeare's Globe on Tour. Photo John Haynes. From The Berkshire Review

I know so little about this play. What's it about? It looks long. Sigh. Well, from the above picture I can assume that--like all of Shakespeare's plays--people seem to think it takes place in early 19th-century Yorkshire.