u/ralphnaderraider

I just got done reading and viewing some productions of this marvelous play … only to learn that it’s considered one of the Shakespeare’s lesser works?!?

I found this comedy to be wonderful, and actually funny in a manner that I often don’t really see in some of the other comedies. It’s an actual bawdy and slapstick piece of work, and with some wonderful moments:

Falstaff being thrown into the river, then dressing up as an old woman to get away. The Fords and Pages playing all the practical jokes on Falstaff. The Host and the Doctor were both hilarious. I especially loved the little trick at the end when it comes to Ann Paige’s marriage.

It also would be a wonderful play to adapt to a modern story, like 10 Things I Hate or something like that. Reimagining Falstaff as a stranger to a suburban neighborhood and having all the jokes being played in him by his new neighbors.

Does anyone else like this comedy as much as I? I can’t be the only one who found so much pleasure in it

Hello,

What is the meaning of the lyric:

That’s when my little love of mine
Dips her doughnut in my tea (hee hee)

Is this supposed to be a sexual reference? I’m not sure how to interpret it.

Thanks

I am wondering what the significance is between dialogue written in verse verses that written in prose. Often, dialogue is written in verse with only a little bit in prose. I’m reading Merry Wives of Windsor and the majority of the play is written in prose.

Is there a reason for the change in style?

Frankly, I had several questions about the movie afterwards, although I suppose most of those are just plot holes in a rather illogical script.

However, one thing that is bothering me is when Kellner is in the field talking with Coleman Domingo and a crop circle magically formed around him. Why did that happen? Was it something Kellner did? What was Spielberg trying to say about crop circles?

I read the play recently and was immediately disturbed with the character of Shylock. To call it anti-Semitic is an understatement especially considering Jessica’s conversion, reference to her white skin and “gentleness” — which can be a pun on gentile. As well, the play’s “happy ending” with Shylock’s forced conversion.

However, when meditating on the play, I was brought back to Portia’s mistreatment of her suitors, especially with the dark skinned Moroccan prince.

Although Shylock rightly gets the most attention, I do believe that play can be looked at as an example of European, white, Christian righteousness in comparison to the foreigner. The point of the play is that the only citizens worthy of respect in Shakespeare’s are those who’re white and Christian.

Am I on the right track?