Some Culture

[John Costello]

On Wed, 16 Aug 2006, Dave Cross wrote:
> Quoting David Cantrell <david at cantrell.org.uk>:
> 
> > http://www.thisistheatre.com/londonshows/midsummernightsdream2006.html
> >
> > A Midsummer Night's Dream, at the open-air theatre in Regents Park.
> > Who's up for it?
> 
> I had the pleasure of seeing this last night. It's not the best  
> production of A Midsummer Night's Dream that I've ever seen, but it's  
> still pretty good. And, of course, the Open Air Theatre is the perfect  
> venue for that particular play.
> 
> So, who else thinks it's slightly unfair that Demetrius ends the play  
> still under the influence of the magic spell?

Slightly unfair, yes, but Shakespeare is never (or at least rarely) fair,
especially toward men.  No that isn't some pseudo-feminist claptrap.  I'm
thinking of his favorable attitude toward daughters in several plays (A
Winters Tale, The Tempest, King Lear, As You Like It, even Romeo and
Juliet to a lesser extent) and his relationship with his daughter.  Any
man in Shakespeare who mistreats a daughter or tries to avoid her love is
going to come to an unpleasant end.

Unfair?  Yes.  Unexpected, no.

John