Love's Labor's Lost Act 1, Scene 2

277.

hey kids! here's what it is: i left home for school at 9am and i'm just getting home now at 1:23am. i did my reading in-between class and the show tonight, but i think this is as far as the blog is going to get tonight. i will get up-to-date tomorrow. because it's homework day! woot. hope you all had a great night. i will be back mañana...


okay! here we go. i managed to get through the rest of act 1, scene 1 with little hassle and read act 1, scene 2 too! here's what i got from it:

act 1, scene 1 continued
Berowne asks/complains if they will be able to have any fun for the next 3 years. the king tells him yes of course, there is a traveller from Spain named Armado who will bring them a lot of amusement. Longaville also suggests that they might gain amusement from the fool, Costard. just then, Costard enters with Dull, a constable. Costard is in big trouble with Armado because he broke the king's decree by fooling around with a young wench named Jaquenetta. there's a lot of malapropisms and wordplay flying around. the letter from Armado is very wordy and over-the-top, a fact which everyone makes fun of. Armado has Jaquenetta in his custody, and has sent Costard to the king for sentencing. Costard tries to get out of punishment through wordplay, but is eventually sentenced to fast for a week, and is sent back to Armado for safe keeping.

act 1, scene 2
Armado and Mote, his page, talk talk talk about nothing really. they tease and pick at each other. Armado eventually confesses that he is in love with Jaquenetta and doesn't know what to do about it. he thinks that only fools fall in love, and asks Mote to name one great man who loved. Mote proceeds to name Hercules and Samson. Armado describes Jaquenetta as being 'most immaculate white and red,' and Mote warns him against those colors. (see quote below.) Armado is ashamed that he loves the girl that he has punished Costard for being with, but he can't help himself. Costard, Jaquenetta, and Dull enter, and Dull explains Costard's sentence, and that Jaquenetta is to be kept there as a dairy maid for her punishment. Armado tries to talk to Jaquenetta, but he pretty much falls flat on his face. again, Costard tries to use wordplay to get out of his sentence, but it doesn't work. Mote sends him to prison to be sure that he won't cheat and eat when he is supposed to be fasting. everyone leaves except for Armado, who decides to throw caution to the wind and allow himself to love Jaquenetta without restraint.


i love Costard. he's hilarious. i just wonder how clear those jokes would be to me if i was watching the play and didn't have the footnotes to help me along. some of them are pretty obvious, and i can imagine them being played in a hilarious way, but i feel like a lot of them would just confuse me. maybe? i would love to know of other people's experience with this.

i also wonder how often and how much this text gets cut these days. i struggle a lot with certain passages, and, like i said, i have the footnotes to help. does this thing get chopped to pieces, or what? and if not, do audiences struggle with it?

Armado is so funny. i love him. he kind of reminds me of Adolpho from The Drowsy Chaperone. ha! i can't wait to see where his storyline goes.

quote of the day:
'if she be made of white and red,
her faults will ne'er be known,
for blushing cheeks by faults are bred,
and fears by pale white shown.
then if she fear, or be to blame,
by this you shall not know,
for still her cheeks possess the same
which native she doth owe.'
   -Mote; act 1, scene 2

for tomorrow: act 2, scene 1
-rebecca may