For my Themester activity I
attended Adam Zuckers “Twelfth Night and the Broken Jest.” This talk was
honestly right up my alley, Mr. Zucker discussed the idea of jest and even
after scholars analyze and attempt to deduce certain jokes from the past, we
still “don’t get it….” Most jokes I would like to think I understand, but there
are those certain jokes that I hear and try to analyze for days and days, and I
still don’t get it.
When I think of Shakespeare I can’t
honestly say I think of jokes and laughter, sometimes I think of crying, but
not from laughter. Mr. Zucker was especially amusing to listen to because he
related to his topic, he told personal accounts of not understanding another
persons jest. Honestly, after listening to Mr. Zucker I think I finally got it.
Chelsea, this is brusque, but great, since you get right to Zucker's point: that understanding isn't the only way we think with Shakespeare. All I regret in this is your sense that Shakespeare isn't funny. In performance, most of the comedies still work pretty well--which is to say, laughter abounds. I hope you get to experience that.
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