Notes in act one
The first scene is a little awkward, but then I remember why I love this Play so much. The plot goes quickly, and is tons of fun. It makes total sense that the girls would fall for a hunky wrestler. That's exactly what happened when I was in high school!
Notes on act two
This is just a pile of skits about love and how to get a girls attention. They're great. At first, I was scared of the lovelorn shepherds because of my experience with Don Quixote. No fear, though. Shakespeare's to crafty for that cliché, and the whole play is riddled with a worldly and self referential wisdom.
Notes in act three
I am reading this book compulsively, like it's a murder mystery or something, and I really need to know who the killer is. The play gets a bit more racy in this act. The comic relief character calls his girlfriend a slut, and the whole play starts to turn into a series of jokes about cuckoldry. Still, it's pretty classy considering that the subject matter is a bunch of young people yearning for each other. Also, I'm really enjoying Shakespeare's insight into the friend zone.
Notes on act four:
This is where the gold really is. Rosalind is at her height well she plays with both Orlando and the shepherds. I read this compulsively. I couldn't put it down. I felt like I was racing to the end to find out who the murderer was, but there was no Mystery-just monkeyshines.
Notes on act five:
I mostly love this act. I love how the Roman god of marriage shows up at the end-that's hilarious. Shakespeare had to know he was being kind of ridiculous and he obviously didn't care. I feel a little bad for phoebe, though.
