Merry Wives

Since middle school, I’ve been taught to (over-) analyze the works of the Bard, William Shakespeare.  My teachers have always instructed me to utterly dissect a great play, causing it to crumble into a plethora of vocabulary terms, motifs, and allusions galore.  After “reading” a play, we would always watch a movie interpretation, and sometimes, we’d partake in a “Shakespeare Week,” where my entire school would learn how to sword-fight (for the stage) and watch one of Shakespeare’s plays performed outside in our school’s courtyard.  By this point, we were on Shakespeare overdrive – analyzing everything. 

Fortunately, I had an entirely different experience when I saw The Merry Wives of Windsor at the Globe.  Although I had read the play and understood the allusions, double entendres, etc., I was not forced by a teacher or professor to overanalyze a play.  This inherently allowed me to absorb my role as an ordinary audience member.  I was able to soak up the atmosphere of the (modern version) Globe Theatre and the enthusiastic thespians who channeled the characters effortlessly.  Some of the aspects that truly stuck with me (besides the fortunately dry weather), were the songs that the ensemble sang and the magnificent costumes.  Attending a play at the Globe, truly made me feel as though I was in Elizabethan England. 

Even though I already knew how the story would evolve, seeing the plot unfold before me truly brought the story to life and was more enjoyable than over-analyzing Shakespeare’s puns and innuendos with a pen in my hand.

Alexandra (Alix) Terris Feldman

UCLA