What do you think?
Speed the Plough a Comedy, in Five Acts, as Performed at the Theatre Royal, Covent Garden
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82 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1798
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
December 24, 2017
Another confusing play. I usually do okay once I get into Act One, but this time I never could keep the characters straight. Sir Abel was the rich one. Ashfield was the farmer. Bob was Hardy Junior. Wasn't he? Susan falls in love with Henry. No, wait...with Bob? And Miss Blandford? Was she the one who fell for Henry? Sigh.
At least I was prepared to be confused. In the Remarks section before the play begins, the author (I think, no name is printed anywhere near these statements) says that this play is much harder to understand when read than when listened to. I wonder if I let that innocent sounding statement befuddle my little pea brain before the curtain ever went up?
If you're wondering why I read this in the first place, it was because way back in 2015 I saw 'Mrs. Grundy' mentioned in a book I was reading and when I went to explore the name, I found that this 1798 play was the first place she was appeared. And today was this title's Someday! Here is the wiki article about Mrs. Grundy and what she represents https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mrs_Grundy
She was not an on stage character, but she was talked about a lot. As a matter of fact, Mrs. Grundy was the only person I could keep straight while reading the play. You go, girl!
And speaking of the play, what exactly happens? Well, I mentioned a rich man and a farmer, right? And two ladies in love? The farmer's wife is the person who always talks about Mrs. Grundy, and there is a mystery about that Henry guy. Whose son is he, anyway? No one knows but we all find out at the end. The play is funny at times and over the top dramatic at other times. And I agree that seeing this performed would make more sense to a person than just reading.
I wonder if Mrs. Grundy would think so too?
At least I was prepared to be confused. In the Remarks section before the play begins, the author (I think, no name is printed anywhere near these statements) says that this play is much harder to understand when read than when listened to. I wonder if I let that innocent sounding statement befuddle my little pea brain before the curtain ever went up?
If you're wondering why I read this in the first place, it was because way back in 2015 I saw 'Mrs. Grundy' mentioned in a book I was reading and when I went to explore the name, I found that this 1798 play was the first place she was appeared. And today was this title's Someday! Here is the wiki article about Mrs. Grundy and what she represents https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mrs_Grundy
She was not an on stage character, but she was talked about a lot. As a matter of fact, Mrs. Grundy was the only person I could keep straight while reading the play. You go, girl!
And speaking of the play, what exactly happens? Well, I mentioned a rich man and a farmer, right? And two ladies in love? The farmer's wife is the person who always talks about Mrs. Grundy, and there is a mystery about that Henry guy. Whose son is he, anyway? No one knows but we all find out at the end. The play is funny at times and over the top dramatic at other times. And I agree that seeing this performed would make more sense to a person than just reading.
I wonder if Mrs. Grundy would think so too?
June 13, 2013
Probably my favorite part about this play is how I found out about it. While flipping through the dictionary, I came across an entry in the dictionary where it mentions a word originating from this play. A word in the dictionary coming from a play? I thought, I've got to read that! So I did. (Thanks Project Gutenberg ... a thousand times over.) (The word, by the way, is "Mrs. Grundy" ... one of the most memorable non-seen characters from a play--right up there with Bunbury from The Importance of Being Earnest.)
Well, that's the backstory for how I came to the play, but how about the play itself? I liked it.
Morton emulates the Shakespeare's comedies with plenty of unique characters, dramatic twists, and family conflict. Because I did not read the play all in one sitting, it did get a bit confusing about which characters were doing what and their background, but a quick flip back caught me up well enough. The plot was the most entertaining part, though there were some decent throwaway one-liners (usually dealing with the cliché, "My wife talks too much" jesting). I didn't immediately see the twists coming, though a more alert reader in one sitting might have. Then, at the end, Morton wrapped things up pretty well, story-wise.
A couple of things that kept the play from being great to me? The ending, mainly. While the circumstances wrapped up well, all of the sudden Morton decides to make this a morality tale about a certain virtue. I've nothing against that, except that I think that the theme should have been present throughout the play rather than pounded into us suddenly at the end. Oh, this is a play about that? I suddenly thought. Huh.
The other problem is that the play ends on a serious, very self-serious note, after we've spent all this time with some goofy characters, it's almost like Morton was a teacher having fun in class and then the principal shows up, and so the teacher tucks in his shirt, points his finger at the students, and says, "And this is what you all should learn, class ..." We didn't need to be reprimanded, or even reminded at the end what we should learn.
Still, though, a couple lines of dialogue at the end certainly don't demean the whole, fun experience. And it was fun. In fact, I'm tempted to peruse through the dictionary to see if I can find more entertaining future reading.
Well, that's the backstory for how I came to the play, but how about the play itself? I liked it.
Morton emulates the Shakespeare's comedies with plenty of unique characters, dramatic twists, and family conflict. Because I did not read the play all in one sitting, it did get a bit confusing about which characters were doing what and their background, but a quick flip back caught me up well enough. The plot was the most entertaining part, though there were some decent throwaway one-liners (usually dealing with the cliché, "My wife talks too much" jesting). I didn't immediately see the twists coming, though a more alert reader in one sitting might have. Then, at the end, Morton wrapped things up pretty well, story-wise.
A couple of things that kept the play from being great to me? The ending, mainly. While the circumstances wrapped up well, all of the sudden Morton decides to make this a morality tale about a certain virtue. I've nothing against that, except that I think that the theme should have been present throughout the play rather than pounded into us suddenly at the end. Oh, this is a play about that? I suddenly thought. Huh.
The other problem is that the play ends on a serious, very self-serious note, after we've spent all this time with some goofy characters, it's almost like Morton was a teacher having fun in class and then the principal shows up, and so the teacher tucks in his shirt, points his finger at the students, and says, "And this is what you all should learn, class ..." We didn't need to be reprimanded, or even reminded at the end what we should learn.
Still, though, a couple lines of dialogue at the end certainly don't demean the whole, fun experience. And it was fun. In fact, I'm tempted to peruse through the dictionary to see if I can find more entertaining future reading.
January 23, 2025
An incredibly confusing play where everything rather quickly and conveniently goes the way it is supposed to.
Enough about this small (about 19k words) mediocre comedy-drama with rather good comedy bits and drama from thin air, let's talk about what everyone discusses - how they found this book!
Unfortunately, I don't even remember how exactly I found it. It has probably been mentioned in another book I was reading, but the reason I decided to read this particular play completely escapes me today. Actually, this book is the reason I started writing down the reasons for reading this or that piece of literature.
Enough about this small (about 19k words) mediocre comedy-drama with rather good comedy bits and drama from thin air, let's talk about what everyone discusses - how they found this book!
Unfortunately, I don't even remember how exactly I found it. It has probably been mentioned in another book I was reading, but the reason I decided to read this particular play completely escapes me today. Actually, this book is the reason I started writing down the reasons for reading this or that piece of literature.
February 28, 2017
19th Century Humor
Given the limited options for entertainment in the 19th century, Thomas Morton paints a lively and colorful character in Farmer Ashfield. The curtain seemed to fall without a final act that pulled things truly together, however, or maybe I missed something...
Given the limited options for entertainment in the 19th century, Thomas Morton paints a lively and colorful character in Farmer Ashfield. The curtain seemed to fall without a final act that pulled things truly together, however, or maybe I missed something...
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews