Mojo, The Bard, & Me

 

Today’s Totally Random Line(s)

                 

Why tender juvenal? Why tender juvenal?

 

-Moth

Love’s Labour’s Lost                     Act I, Scene ii, Line 11

Two Why? questions in a row. Yesterday Kent was asking the Fool why his question was foolish, and now Moth is asking Costard, his boss so-to-speak, why he is calling him a tender juvenal. Juvenal is pretty much equivalent to the word juvenile. Why?

Moth is sort of the Fool of this play. So many of the plays (particularly the comedies, but also a lot of the tragedies) have a Fool, and some call them Fools whilst in others you sort of have to pick out the Fool for yourself. I’m not sure if Moth is ever referred to as Fool in this play.

It would be handy if the Fools in real life (oh yes, there are Fools in real life; lots of them) were properly titled. It might just make things a little easier. On the other hand, it’s quite clear that in many of Will’s plays the Fool is the smartest guy out there. So, on second thought, I guess having them labeled in real life wouldn’t really do much good, would it?

They say (and I agree with them) that you can always tell a person's age by looking at their hands. 

Look how old this hand looks. Man, that's depressing. 

Clearly no tender juvenal here!