As You Like It: Bullet Points

As I said, this play was quite a thing. I read the play and watched another great Branagh adaptation. Here are some bullet point observations:

• The “craft” of these plays is of particular interest to me. What make them great? What are the choices Shakespeare makes? Why does he make them? Concerning this, I noticed (particularly in this play) a device where a minor character exists simply to advance the plot. Appearing suddenly and often with great urgency, they show up, spout a few lines about so-and-so doing such-and-such, and then…Exeunt. This is difficult to do well and Shakespeare pulls it off.
• The whole “Pastoral” thing, where the city folk move out to the country to “find themselves” is a great idea. An exploration of escapism, reinvention, and the changeling nature of everything is a big part of what this play really means to me.
• It’s a serious thing, this comedy (as are so many of his comedies). For example, the Fool (Touchstone…great name) will be making some ridiculous play on words and then all of a sudden there’s some character thrusting a bloody rag into the face of a stricken lover. Seriously. This juxtaposition, this dichotomy, is really interesting and again (sorry if I belabor this)…tough to do. To break from the humor and move, sometimes very suddenly, to the sublime or terrible, happens often here (and elsewhere). Good stuff. It leaves you feeling like you have ridden a roller coaster or something.
• Like A Midsummer Night’s Dream, there’s an epilogue at the very end (in this case, a formal epilogue), a final word, spoken directly to the audience. I love this for some reason, the breaking of the illusion, the added dimension. Shakespeare loved it too.
• This play was full of memorable quotes and famous lines, including:

“All the world's a stage,
And all the men and women merely players;
They have their exits and their entrances,
And one man in his time plays many parts,”

And, the byline of this very blog:

“The fool doth think he is wise, but the wise man knows himself to be a fool.”

Indeed.