The Importance of Being Earnest - Acts I & II

1. The first two acts of Oscar Wilde's play, The Importance of Being Earnest, were very humorous and quite enjoyable. The play is a very easy read, definitely easier to read than Shakespeare's Taming of the Shrew. Oscar Wilde was known for his humor through epigrams and witticisms, and this play was no exception. My personal favorite is "All women become like their mothers. That is their tragedy. No man does. That's his."

2. The witticisms of Oscar Wilde's characters provide a distraction to the plot. To Wilde, the purpose of his work is not to impress with a story but to humor his audience using witty, yet truthful, sayings. Most of the characters in the play speak in epigrams and sound alike, so it is difficult to see how the characters differ from each other. No matter how distracting the epigrams are, a plot is in fact evident and is just as humorous as the witticisms that surround it.

Taming of the Shrew: Acts I- III

1. So far, William Shakespeare's play Taming of the Shrew is fairly enjoyable. The use of humor, such as wordplay and mistaken identity, and how they are used for comedic effect, works well. Obviously, this is used to the fullest effect when the play is acted out instead of read, but it is manageable. I am anxious to see how the play progresses and how it ends.

2. Most of the humor in Taming of the Shrew is based on romantic conflict. One of the best examples of this is when Petruchio meets Katharina for the first time. Humor is generated in this passage by how Petruchio responds to Kate's insults. His responses mostly take on the form of sexual innuendo. When Kate refers to Petruchio as a stool, he agrees and tells her to sit on him. When Kate responds by saying to him, "Asses are made to bear [weight], and so are you," Petruchio wryly responds with this rebuttal; "Women are made to bear (meaning children), and so are you." Later, Petruchio says to Kate, "What, with my tongue in your tail?" which implies oral sex. They continue going back and forth, until Petruchio sets Sunday as the wedding date. It seems that Kate is frutrated, yet aroused, by the fact that there exists a man who is equal to her in personality and wit. This is probably why she consents in marrying Petruchio.