Goodnight Desdemona (Good Morning Juliet) is a play written by Canadian playwright Ann-Marie MacDonald in 1988. It is a comedic retelling of Shakespeare's plays Othello and Romeo and Juliet, with the main character, Constance Ledbelly, as a feminist and intellectual hero who uncovers the truth about the plays' characters and plots.
The play begins with Constance, a young English professor, being passed over for a promotion at her university. Frustrated and disillusioned, she retreats to her office to sulk and comes across a mysterious old book hidden behind a bookshelf. Inside, she finds two handwritten plays by Shakespeare – Othello and Romeo and Juliet – with alternate endings that reveal the true motivations and characters of the plays' protagonists.
As Constance delves deeper into the plays, she becomes convinced that the original endings were written by men who sought to suppress the agency and intelligence of the female characters. Determined to set the record straight, Constance embarks on a journey through the plays, using her wit and determination to rewrite the endings and give the women the power and agency they deserve.
Along the way, Constance encounters a host of memorable characters, including Desdemona and Juliet, who become her allies and help her on her quest. She also meets the male characters of the plays, including Othello and Romeo, who are initially dismissive of her efforts but eventually come to see the value in Constance's retellings.
In the end, Constance's retelling of the plays is a triumph, as she not only exposes the true nature of the characters and their motivations but also challenges the societal norms and expectations that have held women back for centuries.
Goodnight Desdemona (Good Morning Juliet) is a clever and funny play that speaks to the enduring relevance of Shakespeare's works while also offering a fresh and feminist perspective on the timeless themes of love, jealousy, and betrayal. It is a must-see for fans of Shakespeare and anyone interested in exploring the role of gender in literature.
The city is still known as the economic engine of Canada, however, and it continues to grow and prosper. For example, MacDonald uses blank verse, the theatrical writing style made famous by Shakespeare and his contemporaries. The last date is today's date — the date you are citing the material. The feminist movement began to exert an increasing amount of influence on literary and cultural studies in the decades following World War II. Trials and tribulations go hand in hand when it comes to rumors and noting but throughout the play we can see that each character had a major purpose when detecting the rumors and how to resolve them. Under the tragic laws of the inevitable doom, female characters exist in oppression and are little more than automatons. Desdemona enters and starts to stab Juliet until Constance stops her.
He falls in love with Constance, thinking that she is a boy named Constantine, and quickly becomes unhappy with his marriage to Juliet. Blank verse is the name for unrhymed iambic pentameter, or lines that form a meter of five two-syllable units and do not rhyme at the end. . Latest answer posted February 2, 2013, 7:45 am UTC 1 educator answer Shakespeare and Elizabethan Studies Also important to MacDonald's thematic agenda is her treatment and analysis of Elizabethan culture and drama. The climax happens when Romeo, Juliet, Tybalt and Desdemona are all after Constance and she has no idea what to do. She performs an act of rebellion; comedy serves as a political act that brings about change.
Like Othello, Desdemona is jealous and gullible enough to commit murder. This section contains 424 words approx. The second is the date of publication online or last modification online. Reflecting how the tragic law dictates who the characters are, the play mocks how ridiculous it is for others to decide who Constance Ledbelly should be: the Constantine male personae illustrates how identities can be shaped by gender constructs and dictate behaviour. The citation above will include either 2 or 3 dates. In Goodnight Desdemona, Constance foils Iago's plans, although Iago later conspires to manipulate Desdemona into turning against Constance.
The last date is today's date — the date you are citing the material. Something that in Shakespearean Comedies there is no lack of. Goodnight Desdemona reimagines some of Shakespeare's most famous characters, providing an interpretation of his texts and their historical context. At the end of the play, however, Desdemona promises Constance that she will reform this impulse and acknowledge life's complexity. See eNotes Ad-Free Start your 48-hour free trial to get access to more than 30,000 additional guides and more than 350,000 Homework Help questions answered by our experts. Themes of love, marriage, feminism, society, racism, and slavery. Othello Othello is the tragic hero of his self-titled play, famous for his courage and strength as well as his rampant jealousy.
Cite this page as follows: "Goodnight Desdemona Good Morning Juliet - Compare and Contrast" Drama for Students Vol. She proclaims that she is not, in any fashion the meaning of a word she did not choose. Desdemona sees Othello give Constance a necklace, and her suspicions increase. Constance enters, and Romeo tells her that he loves her. Since Romeo and Juliet are from households that have had ancient grudges, their parents forbid them to see each other. Constance holds up the necklace that Othello gave her, which has a birthday inscription to Desdemona, and Desdemona stops smothering her. The quote reveals that Desdemona is very aware of, and eager to honor, social expectations of showing loyalty to her husband.
Analysis Of "Goodnight Desdemona (Good Morning Juliet)"
They fight over their turtle, Hector, and end up ripping it in two; they part on bitter terms. Porter suggests that in comedy or in a carnivalesque setting there are mistaken identities. Romeo Romeo is the famously passionate lover of Romeo and Juliet who upsets his family by marrying the daughter of their rivals. At the same time Constance is searching for the Witty Fool; she is searching for her own identity. The second is the date of publication online or last modification online. It is because Constance saves his life that Goodnight Desdemona can become a comedy.
Detailed Review Summary of Goodnight Desdemona, Good Morning Juliet by Ann
I think the sun where he was born Drew all such humors from him. MacDonald suggests that Desdemona and Juliet, both strong-minded figures, encounter sexism in their own time and are also misunderstood by contemporary professors and readers. She is generally considered a passive character who is devoted to her husband. This play left me with a feeling of happiness. The female identity that tragedy creates shatters when it is parodied because it cannot survive the ridicule.
She goes from ghost-writer to author. When Constance foils the plot against her, Iago begins to turn Desdemona against Constance using the very same ploys he used with Othello. Fate, knowing this love shall be forbidden, brings the two closer, and Juliet has no other choice but to fall in love with Romeo. Cite this page as follows: "Goodnight Desdemona Good Morning Juliet - Literary Style" Drama for Students Vol. In Goodnight Desdemona, Romeo is a figure of comic relief because of his inconstant and often ridiculous passions. In Romeo and Juliet, his death and dying words, "A plague a' both your houses! The quote shows that at this point Desdemona feels confident in her relationship and sure that she can persuade her husband to share her perspective. At the beginning of the play, Desdemona says her name means misery and doom.
. She reconfigures the characters by elimination, manipulation and invention. Based on her journey of self-discovery, Constance provides an antidote to the tragic impulse by stressing that it is necessary to abandon inflexible, absolute values; acknowledge the complexity of the world; and listen to the Wise Fool. Tragedy and Absolutism MacDonald stresses throughout the play that it is a great problem to see no gray area between comedy and tragedy. In scene 2, Iago discloses that he has a page from the Gustav manuscript and forms a plan to conspire against Constance. Desdemona shows it to Constance, who confirms that it is hers.
Act 2, Scene 1 Summary Iago and Othello repeat the prior rendition of the 'handkerchief scene'—at a critical moment, however, Constance strangely steps out from behind a prop and pulls the critical handkerchief from the treacherous Iago's pocket. Here, Desdemona cheerfully reassures Cassio that she will bring about a reconciliation between him and Othello. His unkindness may defeat my life But never taint my love. Constance Ledbelly The protagonist of the play, Constance is an assistant professor at Queen's University who finds her true identity by traveling through the worlds of Shakespeare's works. While she is there, she sees a ghost like that of the King in Hamlet, who tells her that the Wise Fool and the Author are the same "lass.
