Four Comedies by William Shakespeare

Title: Four Comedies: 

The Taming of the Shrew, 

A  Midsummer Night's Dream, 

As You Like It, 

and Twelfth Night

(Originally written in Early Modern English)

Author: William Shakespeare (English, 1564-1616)
Originally written: ~1590-1601
Page count: 150, 100, 115, 113

Dates read: 9/5/19-9/15/19
2019 book goal progress: 26 out of 41
Back to the Classics category: Classic Play

Read my other book reviews for the challenge HERE.


The Taming of the Shrew
Description on back of book:
Lucentio loves Bianca but cannot court her until her shrewish older sister Katherina marries. The eccentric Petruchio marries the reluctant Katherina and uses a number of tactics to render her an obedient wife.

CAWPILE Rating: Overall - 6.7 - ⭐⭐⭐
Characters      - 6
Atmosphere   - 6
Writing Style - 9
Plot                - 8
Intrigue          - 8
Logic             - 4
Enjoyment     - 6
What is a CAWPILE Rating?

Review:
I was excited to read this - I had read it before, I love the movie Ten Things I Hate About You, and, in high school, I was in a performance of Kiss Me, Kate. Unfortunately, the rereading of the play did not live up to my memory. I greatly enjoyed it up to the point of Katherina and Petruchio getting married.

I thought Kate was a strong character and, though I expected her to slowly change, she abruptly changed after she was married - and the way Petruchio went about 'taming' her was abusive. The play started out as this hilarious multi-dimensional story with characters in disguise, but, by the end, it became an insipid patriarchal and sexist narrative. I know it was written long ago in a different culture, but it just fell flat for me.

Favorite lines:
LORD:
And if the boy have not a woman's gift
To rain a shower of commanded tears,
An onion will do well for such a shift,
Which in a napkin being close conveyed,
Shall in despite enforce a watery eye.
...

PETRUCHIO:
Father, and wife, and gentlemen, adieu,
I will to Venice - Sunday comes apace.
We will have rings, and things, and fine array,
And kiss me, Kate, we will be married o' Sunday.

A Midsummer Night's Dream
Description on back of book:
Four Athenians run away to the forest only to have Puck the fairy make both of the boys fall in love with the same girl. The four run through the forest pursuing each other while Puck helps his master play a trick on the fairy queen.

CAWPILE Rating: Overall - 5.9 - ⭐⭐⭐
Characters      - 4
Atmosphere   - 5
Writing Style - 9
Plot                - 7
Intrigue          - 7
Logic             - 4
Enjoyment     - 5

Review:
I've read this before but didn't remember much other than a feeling of meh. Rereading the play didn't change my feeling towards it. I think I would've enjoyed the book more if it didn't open with a father arranging his daughter's marriage and threatening: if she didn't go along with it, she'll live as a nun the rest of her life and never marry, or she'll die. Well, again with the sexism. I know - it's a different time and culture, but it irritated me.

This opening left me in the wrong mood while reading the rest of the play and I took it more seriously than I should've. (Since it's a comedy, I should've taken the play in jest - but I couldn't.) There were parts that confused me and one of the (supposedly) funniest parts was when a trickster turns a man's head into a donkey head - I found that to be more stupid than silly. I'm not a fan of this play.

Favorite lines:
HELENA:
Things base and vile, holding no quality,
Love can transpose to form and dignity.
Love looks not with the eyes, but with the mind,
And therefore is winged Cupid painted blind.
...

BOTTOM: The eye of man hath not heard,  the ear of man hath not seen, man's hand is not able to taste, his tongue to conceive, nor his heart to report what my dream was!

As You Like It
Description on back of book:
Rosalind and her cousin escape into the forest and find Orlando, Rosalind's love. Disguised as a boy shepherd, Rosalind has Orlando woo her under the guise of "curing" him of his love.

CAWPILE Rating: Overall - 7.9 - ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Characters      - 9
Atmosphere   - 7
Writing Style - 9
Plot                - 8
Intrigue          - 7
Logic             - 7
Enjoyment     - 8

Review:
I have read this before, though I did not remember anything about it - including what I felt towards it. Well, this one was far better than the previous two I read. Rosalind was a strong character throughout - to the point, dare I say, I might consider this play feminist. My favorite character was Touchstone, who's supposed to be a clown/fool, but was probably one of the wisest throughout. This play was definitely enjoyable.

Favorite lines:
ADAM:
At seventeen years many their fortunes seek,
But at fourscore it is too late a week.
Yet fortune cannot recompense me better
Than to die well, and not my master's debtor.
...

JAQUES: By my troth, I was seeking for a fool when I found you.
ORLANDO: He is drowned in the brook; look but in and you shall see him.
JAQUES: There I shall see mine own figure.
ORLANDO: Which I take to be either a fool or a cipher.

Twelfth Night
Description on back of book:
Viola, separated from her twin Sebastian, dresses as a boy and works for Duke Orsino, with whom she falls in love with. Orsino is in love with Countess Olivia and sends Viola to court her for him, but Olivia falls for Viola instead. Sebastian arrives, causing a flood of mistaken identity.

CAWPILE Rating: Overall - 7.3 - ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Characters      - 7
Atmosphere   - 6
Writing Style - 8
Plot                - 8
Intrigue          - 8
Logic             - 7
Enjoyment     - 7

Review:
I was excited for this play since I've read it before and I love the movie She's the Man. The play was fine, but I didn't find it as humorous as the film, nor as witty as the other 3 plays. It was not sexist like the first two plays, but not quite as enjoyable as As You Like It. Overall it was a good read, but it's a story that loses some of its enjoyment the more familiar one is with it. The plot twists are what make this play so great and if you already know them, the element of surprise is gone - thus lowering the level of enjoyment.

Favorite lines:
FESTE: A sentence is but a cheveril (leather) glove to a good wit; how quickly the wrong side may be turned outward!
...

VIOLA:
By innocence I swear, and by my youth,
I have one heart, one bosom, and one truth.
And that no woman has, nor never none
Shall mistress be of it, save I alone.
And so, adieu, good madam; never more
Will I my master's tears to you deplore.

Conclusion:

I like how Shakespeare writes in rhymes - it's all very poetic. His wit is very humorous and I love his play on words. Out of these four plays, As You Like It is definitely my favorite and I would suggest reading it. If you enjoy that play you can continue onto Twelfth Night. If you want to read more Shakespeare, by all means, go ahead... but I suggest passing on The Taming of the Shrew and A Midsummer Night's Dream - they're not worth reading.

Each play had about a 45-page introduction and I confess that I didn't read them. They bored me to the point where I almost didn't read the plays at all. I'm glad that I decided to just skip to the plays because I did enjoy rereading Shakespeare, even if I did not enjoy the plays as much as I thought I would. Maybe I'll have a better feeling towards his tragedies than I do for his comedies...

Now I'm off to read another book... but since a review should be more about the author of the book than about the writer of the blog, I will let William Shakespeare have the last words:

"And though she be but little, she is fierce." -A Midsummer Night's Dream

"All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players; They have their exits and entrances, and one man in his time plays many parts." -As You Like It

"The fool doth think he is wise, but the wise man knows himself to be a fool." -As You Like It

"Be not afraid of greatness. Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon 'em." -Twelfth Night