Comedic Shakespearean Monologues

Naomi,

Sorry that I am getting these up so late. It has been a crazy day. The following are some humerous Shakespearean monologues. If you are not sure what they are saying go to www. sparknotes.com and click on the sections that says "No Fear Shakespeare". You can read the modern day translation side by side the original text. It is just a good tool to help you understand the difficult language of shakespeare. You don't have to choose one of these, but feel free to.

A Midsummer Night's Dream
Act 3 Scene 2
Hermia:

	HERMIA O me! (to HELENA) You juggler! You canker-blossom! You thief of love! What, have you come by night And stol'n my love’s heart from him?
	HELENA       Fine, i' faith! Have you no modesty, no maiden shame, No touch of bashfulness? What, will you tear Impatient answers from my gentle tongue? Fie, fie! You counterfeit, you puppet, you!
	HERMIA “Puppet”? Why so?—Ay, that way goes the game. Now I perceive that she hath made compare Between our statures. She hath urged her height, And with her personage, her tall personage, Her height, forsooth, she hath prevailed with him.— And are you grown so high in his esteem Because I am so dwarfish and so low? How low am I, thou painted maypole? Speak. How low am I? I am not yet so low But that my nails can reach unto thine eyes.

 (In this scene, Hermia and Helena are fighting over they guys they love. They are basically calling each other names.. You would leave out the helena lines; i just left them in so you could see the context. Hermia is much shorter than Helena, so Hermia is comparing their heights, so picture yourself talking to someone taller than you. Although, the lines seem angry, they are really meant to be very funny.


As You LIke It
Act 3 Scene 5
Rosalind:
And why, I pray you? Who might be your mother,
That you insult, exult, and all at once,
Over the wretched? What though you have no beauty,--
As by my faith, I see no more in you
Than without candle may go dark to bed,--
Must you be therefore proud and pitiless?
Why, what means this? Why do you look on me?
I see no more in you than in the ordinary
Of nature's sale-work. Od's my little life!
I think she means to tangle my eyes too.
No, faith, proud mistress, hope not after it:
'Tis not your inky brows, your black silk hair,
Your bugle eyeballs, nor your cheek of cream,
That can entame my spirits to your worship.
You foolish shepherd, wherefore do you follow her,
Like foggy south puffing with wind and rain?
You are a thousand times a properer man
Than she a woman: 'tis such fools as you
That make the world full of ill-favour'd children:
'Tis not her glass, but you, that flatters her;
And out of you she sees herself more proper
Than any of her lineaments can show her.
But, mistress, know yourself: down on your knees,
And thank heaven, fasting, for a good man's love:
For I must tell you friendly in your ear,
Sell when you can; you are not for all markets.
Cry the man mercy; love him; take his offer:
Foul is most foul, being foul to be a scoffer.
So take her to thee, shepherd. Fare you well. 
(In this scene Rosalind is dressed as a boy. Another girl named Pheobe has fallen in love with her thinking she is a boy. Rosalind is trying to discourage pheobe's crush by telling her how ugly she is. Again, more insulst, but very funny and clever.)

TWELFTH NIGHT
Act 2 Scene 2 
Viola:
I left no ring with her: what means this lady?
Fortune forbid my outside have not charm'd her!
She made good view of me; indeed, so much,
That sure methought her eyes had lost her tongue,
For she did speak in starts distractedly.
She loves me, sure; the cunning of her passion
Invites me in this churlish messenger.
None of my lord's ring! why, he sent her none.
I am the man: if it be so, as 'tis,
Poor lady, she were better love a dream.
Disguise, I see, thou art a wickedness,
Wherein the pregnant enemy does much.
How easy is it for the proper-false
In women's waxen hearts to set their forms!
Alas, our frailty is the cause, not we!
For such as we are made of, such we be.
How will this fadge? my master loves her dearly;
And I, poor monster, fond as much on him;
And she, mistaken, seems to dote on me.
What will become of this? As I am man,
My state is desperate for my master's love;
As I am woman,.now alas the day!.
What thriftless sighs shall poor Olivia breathe!
O time! thou must untangle this, not I;
It is too hard a knot for me to untie! [Exit]
(In this scene Viola is also disguided as a boy. The lady olivia has fallen in love with her. This monologue is when viola realized that olivia has a crush on her, thinking she is actually a boy.)

These are just a few funny ones from Shakespeare. If you want to look for more
http://shakespeare-monologues.org is a good web sites. Just look up comedy and women. Use No Fear Shakespeare to help you understand the language. Let me know if you need anything by commenting at the end of this post and I will comment back. I don't have very many modern pieces, but I will keep thinking. Good luck.

Mrs.Romney

Terms to be posted

I am going to post some more terms soon so that people can study for the praxis. Here are the terms from the theatre history II class:

CHAPTER 9
TERMS FIGURES PLAYS/WORKS

breeches roles Thomas Betterton
Heroic tragedy William Wycherley Country Wife
benefits female wits
contract system Oliver Cromwell
proscenium stage Anne Bracegirdle
Comedy of Manners Davenant and Killigrew
Drolls George Farquhar The Beaux’ Stratagem
Aphra Behn
William Congreve The Way of the World
Nell Gwynn
Susanna Centlivre The Busy Body


CHAPTER 10
TERMS FIGURES PLAYS/WORKS

Drame Denis Diderot
ballad opera Richard Brinsley Sheridan School For Scandal
Sentimental comedy Charles Macklin
Box Set Oliver Goldsmith She Stoops to Conquerbourgeois tragedy Pierre-Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais The Marriage of Figaro
Romanticism Carlo Goldoni Servant of Two Masters
boulevard theaters Carlo Gozzi King Stag
groove system Dumesnil & Clairon
Covent Garden Christopher Rich
Storm and stress John Gay The Beggars Opera
Spoken décor David Garrick
laughing comedy The Hallams
Bibiena
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Goetz von Berlichingen
John Rich
Friedrich Schiller The Robbers









CHAPTER 11
TERMS FIGURES PLAYS/WORKS
minstrel show Charles Darwin
Romanticism Victor Hugo Hernani,
Gesamptkunstwerke Sarah Siddons
Well-Made Play Anna Cora Mowatt
Melodrama Charles Kean
combination company Edwin Forrest
actor-manager Richard Wagner
moving panorama George Fredricke Cooke
Festpielhaus Edwin Booth
Laura Keene
Georg II, duke of Saxe-Meiningen
Ira Aldridge
John Philip Kemble
Madame Vestris
Harriet Beecher Stowe
William Charles Macready
Karl Marx The Communist Manifesto
Bill Cody’s Wild West Show

CHAPTER 12
TERMS FIGURES PLAYS/WORKS
Realism Anton Chekhov The Cherry Orchard
Naturalists George Bernard Shaw Major Barbara
Theatrical Syndicate Henrik Ibsen A Doll’s House
Théâtre Libre Andre Antoine
Eclectics Edward Gordon Craig
Naturalism Konstantin Stanislavski
symbolism August Strindberg The Father
Lafayette Players Adolphe Appia
biomechanics Vsevelod Emilievich Myerhold
Motivated lighting Benjamin Franklin Wedekind Spring’s Awakening
Theatricalists Maurice Maeterlinck The Bluebird
psychological gesture Rabindranath Tagore
Irish Renaissance John Millington Singe Riders to the Sea

English Renaissance

The Globe- Where Shakespeare's later plays were produced. Burned down in 1613.

The Theatre (1576)- Because the London City Fathers opposed theatre, The Theatre was built north of the city boundaries. Owned by Richard Burbage's father. The Lord Chamberlain's Men performed here.

Lord Chamberlain’s Men- London’s leading troupe that Shakespeare was a part of (acted in and wrote most of the plays), latter known as King’s men. It was formed under the protection of the Henry Carey the lord chamberlain when the theatres reopened after the plague.

The University Wits- University graduates and professional dramatists who wrote plays based on Roman models but incorporating some medieval elements.

John Fletcher- a playwright that collaborated with Francis Beaumont wrote plays with tragedy qualities but with a happy ending. Worked with Shakespeare to write Two Noble Kinsmen and Henry VIII. After Shakespeare’s retirement he became the chief dramatist for the King’s Men.

Robert Green-a university wit and wrote based on Roman models. One of the playwrights that paved the way for Shakespeare and his contemporaries.

Christopher Marlowe- most famous university wit, set the standard for dramatic structure and contributed a gallery of interesting characters to English theatre. Focused on dramatic poetry and good versus evil which he used in Doctor Faustus. Wrote for production not publication.

Doctor Faustus- explores the tragedy of the damnation of a human soul. Written by Marlowe.

Thomas Kyd- wrote the Spanish Tragedy and a university wit

The Spanish Tragedy- an important forerunner of later plays in more ways than one. Skillfully incorporated a number of devices that had come to the forefront during the sixteenth century such as episodic structure, ghosts, soliloquies and the theme of revenge.

Richard Burbage-son of James, the great actor in Shakespeare’s plays

Ben Jonson- adept at comedy, one of the 1st writers in England to champion the neoclassical principals. Developed a comedy of humors. Also was a court poet.

Volpone-comedy where Volpone dupes old men out of their riches by pretending that he is at death’s door

Inigo Jones-court architect and designer for James and Charles and brought Italian innovations in scene design to England. He introduced methods of staging that were to become standard after the Restoration. Influenced by the work of Giuilo Parigi.

James Burbage-father of Richard and operated the outdoor playhouse called the Red Lion

Francis Beaumont-wrote plays with tragedy qualities but with a happy ending, and collaborated with John Fletcher. A university wit. Got married, this ended the partnership of Beaumont and Fletcher.

Philaster- Written by Beaumont (and Fletcher) tragicomedy (serious themes with a happy ending)

Heavens: also called shadows. In the English Renaissance, a roof protecting the stage of a public theatre, often painted on the underside to represent the heavens literally.

The Second Blackfriars: In 1608 the second Blackfriars was leased by the King's Men through a syndicate consisting of the Burbage brothers, Shakespeare, John Heminge and Henry Condell (the two actors who produced the First Folio). William Sly and Thomas Evans. Athough, like the earlier Blackfriars theatre, it was technically within the city, the area was a "liberty," not under the jurisdiction of the puritanical city authorities

Iambic Pentameter: a verse that has five beats to a line with two syllables to each beat and the accent on the second beat - a technique used frequently by Marlowe and Shakespeare. pg 182

Spoken Decor: one of the ways used to suggest a rapid scene change - characters in the plays would describe the settings, indicating that they were in a castle, a forest, or a bedroom - this is a practical reason for Shakespeare's lengthy poetic descriptions of locales in his plays.

The master of revels: auditioned acting troupes, selected the plays they would perform, and controlled the scenery and costumes to be used in each production. During the reign of James I, the Master of Revels reached the apex of his power and had complete authority over both the production and the publication of plays.

Italian Renaissance

Proscenium arch- a.k.a. picture frame, fourth wall, or conventional stage. Still among the best-known types of theater space. Audience sees action through arch, which frames the stage picture. Hides stage mechanisms.

Perspective- Painted backdrops that create the illusion of 3 dimensional depth. Used as early as 1508 for a court performance of Ariosto's "La Cassaria."

Humanism- Focuses on people rather than gods. Study and imitation of of Greeks and Romans. Focused on describing humanity and human powers.

Arlecchino- or Harlequin. Most popular of comic servants. Often wore a patchwork jacket.

Pantalone- a foolish pedant who was always involved in his neighbor's affairs.

Nicoli Machiavelli- Italian author, statesman, and political philosopher. Argued in his book The Prince (1513) that to protect their subjects, rulers must do whatever is necessary and practical- even if it borders on the unethical. Also wrote La Mandragola.

Architettura (1545)- Written by Sebastiano Serlio detailing many of the early methods for creating perspective settings.

La Mandragola- One of the few Italian Renaissance plays still in production today. By Nicoli Machiavelli. It is very reminiscent of Roman New Comedy and reflects the influence on the classical era on the Renaissance.

Capitano: A cowardly braggart soldier, a popular comedia dell arte stock character.

Slapstick: type of comedy or comic business that relies on ridiculous often violent physical activity for its humor.

Pastoral: Idealized dramatization of rural life, often including mythological creatures, popular during the Italian renaissance. They imitated t he greek sayter plays and often dealt with romantic situations. They were not lewd and sexual. They delat with serious actions but they always ended happy

Opera-usually studied as a music form because it is completely sung and dramatic action, mood, and characters are created through song and music. In opera the composer is number 1. It is the only theatrical form from the Italian renaissance to survive.

Dottore- the cowardly, braggart soldier

Zanni- servant, sometimes sly or sometimes foolish

Inamorato- The male lover sometimes wear masks

I Gelosi-name of a commedia company, it means the Zealous

Teatro Farnese- the theatre built by Gaovian Battista Aleotti ,proscenium arch

Raked- stages sloped upwards away from the audience. This is known as a "rake" or "raked stage" and improves the view for the audience. Also rake can mean : To position scenery at a slant or angle other than parallel or perpendicular to the curtain line.

Giacomo Torelli (1608-1678) was the most important set designer of the middle of the seventeenth century. Born in 1608 in the town of Fano, the year of Giulio Parigi’s work on Il Giudizio di Paride in Florence, Torelli was of noble birth. His work in stage design was extensively engraved and hence survives as the most complete record of mid-to-late seventeenth century set design.

Sebastiano Serlio (September 6, 1475 – c. 1554) was an Italian Mannerist architect, who was part of the Italian team building the Palace of Fontainebleau. Serlio helped canonize the classical orders of architecture in his influential treatise.

Lodovico Castelvetro (c.1505-1571) was an important figure in the development of neo-classicism, especially in drama. It was his reading of Aristotle that led to a widespread adoption of a tight version of the Three Unities, as a dramatic standard.His supposed involvement in translation of Protestant texts caused him trouble with the Church. He was labelled a heretic in 1557, and lived in exile from his native Italy (he was born near Modena)

Pit- Floor of the house in a traditional procenium-arch theatre. The pit was originally a standing area; later backless benches were added.

Commedia Dell'arte- Form of comic theatre, originating in Italy in the 16th century, in which dialogue was improvised around a loose scenario involving a set of stock characters, each with a distinctive costume and traditional name.

Verisimilitude- One of the most imporant ideals of the neoclassicists. It means: all drama was to be "true to life."

Decorum- All dramatic characters should behave in ways based on their age, profession, sex, rank, and the like.

Intermezzi-Entertainments performed between the acts of opera and full-length plays.

Lazzi-Comic pieces of business repeatedlly used by commedia dell' arte characters.

TERMS FOR CHAPTER 4: MEDIEVAL THEATRE

Tropes-Lyrics added to musical passages in religious services. They were often structured like little plays and evolved into liturgical drama.

Station Drama- Drama that uses a series of small scenic mansions set up side by side usually in conjunction with a larger platform stage. This allowed the plays to cycle through the city. Each guild had their own mansion for example the ship building guild would put on the Noah’s arc part of the flood.

Hans Sachs-(1494-1576) A German Writer of farce. He was originally a show maker and a singer, but he learned a lot in his travels and eventually began writing drama. He wrote nearly 200 plays an example of which is The Wandering Scholar from Paradise. A story about a woman who’s first husband died and is now married to a brute. She meets a student who she thinks says he is from paradise. She give the student money to take to her first husband. The student leaves with the money and when the 2^nd husband comes home he sets off to retrieve the money but he too is fooled by the student.

Mystery play- a medieval dramatic form based on a Biblical story, usually dealing with the life, death, and resurrection of Christ

Processional staging- audiences would assemble in various places and the cycle play would be set up on a wagon which moved from locale to locale

Hrosvitha- earliest known female dramatist (10^th century northern Germany), wrote Paphnutius

Paegent Master: In the middle ages, a professional stage manager who oversaw the production of a cycle or mystery plays.(or supervised the mounting of plays on wagons in England)

The Feast of Corpus Christi: a favorite occasion for cycle plays, recognized officially by the church in 1311 observed a week after Trinity Sunday (end of May or early June)(page 125 for more information)

Cycle Plays- stories from Bible and of saints. Staged not in a religious ceremony but independent drama. Short dramas presented in a sequence

Secrets- special stage effects

Paphnutius- Play of women's redemption from sexual sins. Written by Hrosvitha

Miracle Plays: Related to Mystery plays. Both originated as tropes on liturgical texts and developed into full dramatic works. Miracle plays are specifically about the lives of Saints rather than stories from the Bible.

Hildegard von Bingen: A nun who wrote short musical plays. They were essentially liturgical songs accompanied by dramatic text.

Heaven and Hell- Heaven was the name for the raised level of the stage, while Hell was the name for the area below the stage

Feast of Fools- a popular medievel festival regularly celebrated by the clergy and laity from the fifth century until the sixteenth century in several countries of Europe, principally France, but also Spain, Germany, England, and Scotland.

The great chain of being- (diagram found on the back of terms list)

The Wandering Scholar from Paradise- A play written by the German farce writer Hans Sachs (1494-1576). In the play a woman who dreams of her decreased husband meets a student from Paris. She thinks he says paradise, and it tricked by the student.

Contraternities - literally means "brotherhoods"; corporate groups found in various religious traditions that organized the devotional and charitable life of lay believers around the model of ritual kinship.

Street pageant - the word pageant had meant the wagon or the movable stage on which one scene of a mystery or miracle play was performed. The pageant was built on wheels and consisted of two rooms, the lower one being used as a dressing room and the upper used as a stage. The word also referred to the complex wooden machine-structures built for the Tudor masque.

Sottie - in french, sottise means "foolishness" or "nonsense"; they were short sketches that usually have a fool as the central character and they were often critical of the church or religious figures.

Morality Play: Medieval drama designed to teach a lesson. The characters were often allegorical and represented virtues or faults, such as good deeds, friendship, or avarice. The most famous example is Everyman.

Liturgical Drama: Any religious drama, usually sung or chanted, that relates to the Bible and is presented in Latin inside a church sanctuary.

The Vernacular: The common language

Mansion: Medieval scenic unit, often presented as an individual house or locale.

Platea: an unlocalized playing area

Quem Quaertis: Famous trope about mary visiting the tomb of Christ. Literally means "whom do ye seek?"

TERMS FOR CHAPTER 3: ORIENTAL THEATRE

Kalidasa- powerful lyric poet, author of Shakuntala (Indian Sandskrit drama)

Onnagata- male actors who play women’s parts, imitate female manner and attitudes

Waki- supporting character in NO theatre.

Yuan Dynasty: (1279-1368) ruled by Mongolians not Chinese, zaju theatre was perfected during this dynasty. (pages 92-94 for more detail)

Shite: In noh theatre the first or lead actor

Chikamatsu: (1653-1725) 1st important Japanese dramatist since the great period of noh drama. Wrote primarily for the puppet theatre, but also for kabuki

Kathakali- Indian dance-drama

Kan'ami Kiyotsugu- father of Zeami Motokiyo. Zeami perfected the plays Kan'ami wrote in noh theater

The Peasant Class: Lower, and not as wealthy. In India, part of a set caste, segregated, and not generally exposed to drama because it was written in the upper class dialect.

Hashigakari: In No theatre, the bridge that actors use to enter from the dressing area to the platform stage.

Song Dynasty: 960-1297 preceded the Mongols, and contributed to development of variety plays and other theatrical works.

Imperial Class- The ruling class of people. Highest in Indian Caste system.

Kyogen- In noh theatre, farcical interludes presented between plays

Shadow play - uses flat puppets made of leather intricately carved to create patterns of light and shadow when their image is projected ona screen. The puppets are manipulated by sticks attached to the head, the arms, and other parts of the body. The puppetier is also the narrator and peaks the dialogue of the characters.

Total theatre - employs music, dance, drumming, exaggerated makeup, masks, singing chorus. Thematically deals with mythological heroes, mideval romances, and social and political events and its rich source of customs, beliefs, legends, and rituals.

Li Yu - scholar who failed his examinations and became a playwright, theatre critic, and impresario. Became the first important drama critic; he believed that a playwright should write clearly, with a mass audience in mind, and should be well versed in practical stage knowledge - based on his own experience as a playwright. His famous works include Ordained by Heaven, Be Circumspect in Conjugal Relationships, and The Error of the Kite, which all revolve around romantic themes.

Hanamichi- a long bridge that comes from the back of the audience to the stage generally on the left and used in Kabuki theatre. Actors can enter the stage from here and small scenes can take place on it. The Hanamichi is also known as the flower way and the BYU-I theatre department used one in the play Rashomon.

Shamisen-A three stringed Japanese instrument that is plucked and fairly resembles a guitar with a long neck and no frets. Can be used to accompany Kabuki or Bunraku, in groups or solo.

Noh Theatre-Strict Japanese drama that dates back to the 14^th century. Short Dramas combining music, dance, and lyrics with highly specialized and ritualistic presentation. Tradition dictates everything from makeup to costume to the highly symbolic setting.

Okuni or Izumo –a Priestess credited for developing Kabuki theatre. She began dancing on in 1603 in Kyoto. She used similar conventions of Noh theatre

Bunraku: Japanese puppet theatre. The puppets are 2/3 life-size and are manipulated by men in black robes who are conventionally regarded as being invisible to the audience.

Sudtradhara: The leader of a sanskrit theatre production. He was the cheif actor and also managed all others involved in the production.

Sanskrit Drama: The early drama of India. Written in Sanskrit, the language of the noble classes. Led by a Sudtradhara.

Pear Garden: An actor's training institute in the capital during the Tang period in early China.

Aragato: A bravada acting style started by Danjuro 1 during a Kabuki dynasty.

Natyasastra: Written by Bharata Muni. It describes the mythological origin of theatre in India and presents important material about the nature of Indian drama.

Zeami Motokiyo: established the aesthetic and philosophical basis of NO theatre. He was an actor, court musician, a theorist, and a buddhist monk.