Monday, June 11, 2007

Love's Labor Lost

Back when I was in film school, we learned that all American films musicals end in marriage or re-marriage. Even the chickenhawk situation in Willy Wonka. And the classicists taught us that comedies end in marriage, tragedies in death. I've just read Shakespeare's LLL in anticipation of attending New York Classical Theatre's Central Park production. It's a storm of wordplay, with perhaps more naughty bits deciphered in the footnotes than in any other of the dirty ol' Bard's plays, and there is no marriage at the end. Not a one. In fact, there's a one-year moratorium on the trio of relationships that all the characters agree to.

Meanwhile, I've finally gotten to Peter Matthiessan's The Snow Leopard. I'm in the high mountains with him now. It's all about the present.

4 comments:

Lorianne said...

I've not read LLL, but I loved The Snow Leopard. I'd be interested to hear, once you're done, whether you consider it a comedy or tragedy.

Matthew said...

I think it's heading down the middle path, no?

Lorianne said...

Hmmm, I think PM wavers everywhere but the middle path. Perhaps if you averaged his highs & lows, though, you'd end up in the middle.

I once assigned The Snow Leopard to my freshmen comp students, and they hated it. I finally gave up assigning it: it was too hard a sell.

Matthew said...

Try having them read PM's In the Spirit of Crazy Horse. No zen there, just pure rage against the machine.

BTW, I like your pics of P-Town. Reminds me of my own faraway island (the one under the elbow, not the armpit, of the Cape). Your conference also sounds very cool.