Showing results by narrator "John J Murray" in All Categories

As the generating force of its plot, Twelfth Night uses a device which has since become a staple in comedy: gender confusion. Viola and her twin brother Sebastian, are shipwrecked on the coast of Illyria, a country ruled by the melancholy Duke Orsino. The twins are separated and Viola is led to...

Much Ado About Nothing appears to have been written around 1599, shortly before As You Like It and Twelfth Night. The action combines two narrative threads: the spirited comedy of the courtship of Benedick and Beatrice, and the sombre tale of confused love between Hero and Claudio. The first is...

This play is a dramatization of Boccaccio’s story of Gillette of Narbonne. Only the comic parts were of Shakespeare’s invention; he added the characters of the pusillanimous Parolles, the lofty courtier Lafew, the Clown Lavatch, and the long suffering Countess. He gave new depth and vitality...

Treasure, tons of shiny gold and silver, and precious jewels. Greed, ravenous, and depraved. Deceit, dishonesty, and treachery. And of course, a beautiful woman. Cuba, Key West, and Mexico. There were a million places that treasure could be hidden. We're only here for a brief time. We want our time to last forever but know that’s just not going to happen. So, work for whatever treasure you seek. Dance while you still can. Excuses come later...You don’t like where you are, move. A lot of people start over in key west. I know because I'm one of them.

Much Ado About Nothing, Twelfth Night, and As You Like It are usually regarded as Shakespeare’s crowning achievements in the world of mirth and humor. In this group of plays, written during the playwright’s Second Period (1595–1600), the author depicts chiefly the cheerful, energetic side...