Today’s Totally Random
Line(s)
Nay,
‘twill be this hour ere I have done weeping; All the kind of Launces have this very
fault.
Launce
Two Gentlemen Of Verona Act II, Scene iii, Line 1
So this is the very first line of the scene. The setting is a street in Verona and the stage direction to start the scene is Enter Launce, leading his dog. That’s right - Launce has a dog. We don’t know if the dog is on a leash, or free roaming. We do, however, find out the dog’s name. It’s Crab. The dog is named Crab. And Launce spends the next thirty-five or so lines explaining how he and his entire family are sad that he has to leave to go to Milan with Proteus.
Everyone is sad except Crab. Apparently, Crab couldn’t care
less and Launce is finding that a bit upsetting. To be clear, Launce is
described as a clownish servant to Proteus, so he’s basically in this play for
the comedic value. And it’s a pretty silly soliloquy. It’s not that funny to
read, but I can see how someone with comedic talent could make it funny on
stage. I mean, how sad can you expect a dog to act?
I’ll have to listen to this scene sometime to see
what I get out of it. Unfortunately, now is not that time. Unfortunately.
2 comments:
I assume when this is acted out on stage, there's not a real dog there? Because how on earth would they make a real dog act sad? Do they use a person?
I think a cat named Bird is a good stand in for a dog named Crab. What more could you really ask for?
Good question re the dog. I don't know the answer.
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