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English essay pondering - assistance requested
Monday, 5 December 2005 04:34 pmI have an English essay to write for Friday. It's 1000-2500 words on the following:
"I insist on your behaving as becomes a young woman." (Sheridan, The Rivals)
Using TWO texts, show how the representation of 'correct feminine conduct' (or otherwise) contributes to comedy OR satire.
I'm using 'The Importance of Being Earnest' and 'Much Ado about Nothing', and comedy rather than satire.
Now, it's pretty easy to burble about how funny particular bits of these plays are - the afternoon-tea scene in the Wilde, and parts of the 'merry war' in Much Ado - with a consideration of comic structure and techniques. But I need to say something more than that if I want to really get this essay up to standard (the above could become a workmanlike A-level essay concept, I think) and I'm struggling a bit with that.
I'm starting from the idea that this is not about these texts specifically - it's using the texts to show something about comedy in general - i.e. how does the representation of 'correct feminine conduct' contribute to comedy as a genre. That makes sense to me, and leads me into considering marriage as a generic marker of comedy (I have a handy source for that bit) and feminine conduct in relation to marriageability or otherwise. That's easy to do with Much Ado, and slightly less easy with the Wilde (though a consideration of the girls vs Miss Prism could be fruitful there). But then I have to relate that back to the title, and then I start having difficulties. I just can't get my head round how to do this whole 'talk about comedy as a genre' while also closely considering only two texts. I feel like I need to have read *everything* to do this the way I want to, and it makes me worry I'm barking up entirely the wrong tree.
How *can* I do this? How is it possible to make my discussion of the manners of Wilde and Shakespeare's women into a discussion of why women's manners are a fruitful source for comic writers? Especially in 2500 words or fewer?
I suspect I need to read more criticism on the subject, but I'm having enormous trouble finding anything, as I think the topic is a bit specific and I can't get anything out of the library catalogue except great tomes on the writers themselves.
I keep worrying that I'm getting it all wrong and should really be doing something a lot simpler.
If you have any particular thoughts on the subject, do share - what I'm missing right now is being able to discuss this with my mother, so you guys are the substitute. I won't quote you directly, but if something you say stands out as something I want to use, I will paraphrase and footnote you (surname, forename, date, unpublished) *grin*
Edited to add: Not forgetting, of course, that I currently have very little idea why women's manners *are* a fruitful source of comedy. I mean, they blatantly are - all but one of our set texts focus on them - but why? Why more than men's? Are they more than men's? Is it because comedy is domestic and that is 'the woman's sphere'? But how do I back that up? Am I just digging innumerable holes for myself to get lost in? Jeez, I really should've started this thing earlier.
Edited again to add: You are wonderful wonderful people. I have to go out to Brownies now, argh, and my hair is still wet, but I will be back about 7.30, so please go nuts with the erudition till then and I'll come and engage in literary discussion with you when I get in.
"I insist on your behaving as becomes a young woman." (Sheridan, The Rivals)
Using TWO texts, show how the representation of 'correct feminine conduct' (or otherwise) contributes to comedy OR satire.
I'm using 'The Importance of Being Earnest' and 'Much Ado about Nothing', and comedy rather than satire.
Now, it's pretty easy to burble about how funny particular bits of these plays are - the afternoon-tea scene in the Wilde, and parts of the 'merry war' in Much Ado - with a consideration of comic structure and techniques. But I need to say something more than that if I want to really get this essay up to standard (the above could become a workmanlike A-level essay concept, I think) and I'm struggling a bit with that.
I'm starting from the idea that this is not about these texts specifically - it's using the texts to show something about comedy in general - i.e. how does the representation of 'correct feminine conduct' contribute to comedy as a genre. That makes sense to me, and leads me into considering marriage as a generic marker of comedy (I have a handy source for that bit) and feminine conduct in relation to marriageability or otherwise. That's easy to do with Much Ado, and slightly less easy with the Wilde (though a consideration of the girls vs Miss Prism could be fruitful there). But then I have to relate that back to the title, and then I start having difficulties. I just can't get my head round how to do this whole 'talk about comedy as a genre' while also closely considering only two texts. I feel like I need to have read *everything* to do this the way I want to, and it makes me worry I'm barking up entirely the wrong tree.
How *can* I do this? How is it possible to make my discussion of the manners of Wilde and Shakespeare's women into a discussion of why women's manners are a fruitful source for comic writers? Especially in 2500 words or fewer?
I suspect I need to read more criticism on the subject, but I'm having enormous trouble finding anything, as I think the topic is a bit specific and I can't get anything out of the library catalogue except great tomes on the writers themselves.
I keep worrying that I'm getting it all wrong and should really be doing something a lot simpler.
If you have any particular thoughts on the subject, do share - what I'm missing right now is being able to discuss this with my mother, so you guys are the substitute. I won't quote you directly, but if something you say stands out as something I want to use, I will paraphrase and footnote you (surname, forename, date, unpublished) *grin*
Edited to add: Not forgetting, of course, that I currently have very little idea why women's manners *are* a fruitful source of comedy. I mean, they blatantly are - all but one of our set texts focus on them - but why? Why more than men's? Are they more than men's? Is it because comedy is domestic and that is 'the woman's sphere'? But how do I back that up? Am I just digging innumerable holes for myself to get lost in? Jeez, I really should've started this thing earlier.
Edited again to add: You are wonderful wonderful people. I have to go out to Brownies now, argh, and my hair is still wet, but I will be back about 7.30, so please go nuts with the erudition till then and I'll come and engage in literary discussion with you when I get in.
