Who Doesn't Love a Classic? discussion

★★★

In my quest to read all of Shakespeare’s plays, this was #16.

In this comedy, the Duke of Vienna decides to leave his government in the hands of Angelo while he is away. Angelo is known to be very strict and moral so while the Duke is away, Angelo decides to take it upon himself to clean the city up of its brothels and other unlawful sexual activity. This means any sex outside of the bonds of marriage as well. Unfortunately, for Claudio, a man that got his betrothed, Juliet, pregnant before they had chance to marry, this means that he is to be executed. Upon hearing of his arrest, Claudio’s sister, Isabella, goes to plead for his life. Angelo is captivated by Isabella and agrees to spare Claudio’s life…if Isabella gives herself to him. Little does Angelo know that the Duke is still close by, disguised as a friar, and observing Angelo’s actions. The disguised Duke and Isabella conspire together to save her brother and trap Angelo in his hypocritical ways.

Measure for Measure was not my favorite Shakespeare play by any means, but it was entertaining. It has a lot of similarities to his other works, such as the Duke disguising himself to catch Angelo in the act of being a hypocrite, Angelo being tricked to go to bed with the wrong woman, etc. My favorite part of the play was probably the exchanges between the Duke and Lucio, a friend of Claudio’s, who plays somewhat the fool. Lucio constantly badmouths the absent Duke. However, of course, Lucio is actually talking to the Duke himself, dressed as a friar! So those exchanges were rather amusing.

I’m glad to have checked this one off my list. It was certainly a fun and entertaining read!

Lara wrote: "★★★

In my quest to read all of Shakespeare’s plays, this was #16.

In this comedy, the Duke of Vienna decides to leave his government in the hands of Angelo while he is away. Angelo is known to b..."

Any chance you could rank the Comedies from best to worst. Thinking of reading them but might want to waste my time on the bad ones.

It's been a while since I've read several of them, but I'll do my best:

1 - Much Ado About Nothing ★★★★
(this was by far my favorite - I've read it several times)

2 - The Taming of the Shrew ★★★★

3 - The Merchant of Venice ★★★
(though I don't like of it as a comedy)

4 - Measure for Measure ★★★

5 - Twelfth Night ★★★

6 - The Winter's Tale ★★★

7 - The Tempest ★★★

8 - A Midsummer Night's Dream ★★
(my least favorite - read it so long ago but remember not liking it much)

Also to call them all comedies is a bit misleading. That's how they're technically categorized, but some really are not what you'd think of when you hear the word "comedy." It basically just means they're not as horribly depressing as the tragedies in some cases.

Also, I would not describe any of them as "bad." But I love Shakespeare so I'm always happy reading his stuff.

Currently watching a Shakespeare course on Great Courses and enjoying it! Thanks for the ranking. The Taming of the Shrew is the only one I have seen.