Goodnight Desdemona (Good Morning Juliet) is a play by Canadian playwright Ann-Marie MacDonald that was first produced in 1988. The play is a comical retelling of Shakespeare's plays Othello and Romeo and Juliet, with the main character, Constance Ledbelly, as a bumbling and humorous foil to the tragic characters in the original plays.
In Goodnight Desdemona, Constance is a young academic who has devoted her career to studying Shakespeare's plays. Despite her expertise, she is constantly overshadowed and belittled by her colleagues, who see her as a simple-minded woman with no real insights to offer. Determined to prove them wrong, Constance sets out to write a new, more feminist interpretation of Othello, in which she hopes to uncover the true motivations behind the play's characters.
As she delves deeper into the text, Constance becomes increasingly convinced that the plays Othello and Romeo and Juliet are actually connected, and that the characters are all living in the same universe. She becomes obsessed with the idea of rescuing Juliet from her tragic fate and bringing her together with Romeo, and sets out to rewrite the ending of both plays to reflect her own interpretation.
Along the way, Constance is aided by a number of quirky and humorous characters, including a talking statue and a time-traveling historian. Together, they journey through the world of Shakespeare's plays, encountering familiar characters and events along the way. In the end, Constance is able to rewrite the endings of both Othello and Romeo and Juliet, bringing about a happy resolution for all the characters involved.
Goodnight Desdemona is a delightful and clever play that offers a fresh and humorous take on Shakespeare's classic works. Through Constance's bumbling and endearing personality, MacDonald manages to infuse the plays with a sense of whimsy and absurdity, while still maintaining the core themes and characterizations of the original works. If you're a fan of Shakespeare or just enjoy a good comedy, Goodnight Desdemona is definitely worth checking out.
Goodnight Desdemona (Good Morning Juliet) Summary & Study Guide
The reversal of gender allows the character of Juliet to grow out of her innocent state in which she is traditionally depicted. . Constance muses about what a strong woman Desdemona is. He is a bitter and crafty liar who manipulates Othello into killing his wife. Constance wonders if she has permanently changed Shakespeare's work and resolves to find the "Wise Fool," a typical Shakespearean character, who secures the happy ending of a comedy. These notes were contributed by members of the GradeSaver community.
Juliet Thirteen-year-old Juliet is known throughout the world as a symbol of young love. She is the heroine and the catalyst of comedy. At some point before 1592, he moved to London and began a successful career as a dramatist, writing comedies, histories, and tragedies for the stage. In scene 1, Constance works on her doctoral dissertation, which claims that Romeo and Juliet and Othello were originally comedies written by an unknown author and that this can be proved by decoding a manuscript written by a physicist named Gustav. Desdemona shows it to Constance, who confirms that it is hers.
Something that in Shakespearean Comedies there is no lack of. Constance believes that the Ghost is Yorick, the family jester. Here, Desdemona pleads for her life in the moments before Othello kills her. The same thing happens with Juliet, Ann-Marie MacDonald transforms her by rewriting Juliet as a parody of herself. At the same time Constance is searching for the Witty Fool; she is searching for her own identity. Tragedy and Absolutism MacDonald stresses throughout the play that it is a great problem to see no gray area between comedy and tragedy.
Detailed Review Summary of Goodnight Desdemona, Good Morning Juliet by Ann
Constance believes that the Ghost is Yorick, the family jester whom Hamlet finds dead upon his return to Denmark. Desdemona explains to Emilia that she would never consider being unfaithful, no matter the circumstances. Desdemona then enters and Othello explains to her the entire situation. Othello Othello is the tragic hero of his self-titled play, famous for his courage and strength as well as his rampant jealousy. The last date is today's date — the date you are citing the material. In scene 4, Romeo and Juliet enter the masked ball, sulking at each other. Since her first lines, Desdemona has seemed capable of meeting or even rising above those demands.
Romeo tells her, "Speak, boy," confusing her gender because Desdemona has ripped off Constance's skirt. Othello quickly realizes he has been manipulated and duped and, in anger, binds Iago. Shakespeare, William, Romeo and Juliet, in The Complete Works, edited by Stanley Wells and Gary Taylor, Oxford University Press, 1987, p. Instead of recommending Constance for a lecturing post at Oxford University, he takes it himself and begins a relationship with Ramona, a young student. Written by AYUSHI SAINI, Khushi Grover and other people who wish to remainanonymous Desdemona is a powerful contemporary play by Rokia Traoré Music , and Peter Sellars Direction. He kills Mercutio, and Romeo kills him in Romeo and Juliet, but Constance avoids these murders in Goodnight Desdemona.
The last date is today's date — the date you are citing the material. This section contains 1,545 words approx. The Nurse, who originally wanted Juliet to be happy with Romeo, decides that Juliet is better off marrying Paris after Romeo gets banished. Not to say that this is a negative outcome of the novel. When Constance hands the pillow back to Othello, murder weapons become agents of comedic chaos.
Desdemona arrives and asks whether Constance may stay with them. Iago shows Desdemona the page from the Gustav manuscript, saying that he found it in Desdemona's underwear drawer. She is brought up by an abusive mother who locked her up in a cage. . Romeo Romeo is the famously passionate lover of Romeo and Juliet who upsets his family by marrying the daughter of their rivals.
The Ghost tells Constance a number of jokes and riddles that hint at the solution to the play's mystery about the Wise Fool and the Author. Juliet complains to her nurse that she is dying of boredom and wishes that she could be unmarried, able to play the deadly game of love. Cite this page as follows: "Goodnight Desdemona Good Morning Juliet - Bibliography and Further Reading" Drama for Students Vol. Juliet dances with Constance while Romeo and Tybalt watch suspiciously. This is why she is willing to dress up as a man and vigorously woo Constance. Claude Night shatters all of her hopes and dreams, she falls into both of these plays and is able to search out the Fool and the author to make them cough up their secrets.
Porter suggests that in comedy or in a carnivalesque setting there are mistaken identities. Kill me tomorrow; let me live tonight. Fourteenth-Century Verona Although Shakespeare does not set an exact date, Romeo and Juliet takes place in the city of Verona, Italy, at some point in the fourteenth century. Constance bonds with Desdemona, telling of her relationship with Professor Night, while Iago eavesdrops. The citation above will include either 2 or 3 dates.
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. During Shakespeare's time, the chorus was often a single man who spoke during the prologue and epilogue. Romeo and Juliet was probably first performed in 1594 or 1595 and Othello in 1604 or 1605. Elizabethan England and William Shakespeare Latest answer posted June 28, 2012, 12:44 am UTC 1 educator answer The rule of Queen Elizabeth I of England forms an important context for Goodnight Desdemona. The men make lewd jokes and go to the bathhouses.
