Here’s
the answer to this week’s quiz.
In the
play “Hamlet,” Laertes loves his sister Ophelia but like most Elizabethan males
he seeks to control her. Before he leaves for France he gives a speech
instructing her on the importance of proper behavior.
(Also for Three Word Wednesday and ABC Wednesday: "T" is for "Tom")
Here’s this week’s Berownial quiz. I wrote the following scenelet, which should remind you of one of the Shakespeare plays. Your assignment, should you choose to accept it, is: which play?
Sue: “You’re
still packing? You’ve been running
around all morning. I thought you’d be
all set by now.”
Tom: “I’m just about ready. Have you seen my beret? It's my badge of honor for a visit to France.”
“Oh
God Tom, you didn’t have to buy a beret
to make a trip to Paris. That’s really
overdoing it.”
“Well,
I wanted to fit in.”
“My
understanding is that most French folks stopped wearing berets around the time
of Louis Fifteenth. Just buy a baguette
first thing you get there and walk down the street with that skinny loaf of
bread tucked under your arm; you’ll fit in nicely.”
“I
guess I’m about ready to leave. Don’t
forget to write; let me know what’s going on around here.”
“What’s
going on around here will be the usual – not much.”
“Come
on, cheer up. Why do you let your mood darken so much? After all, you live like a
princess in an actual castle; not many girls have a lifestyle like that. So you should just be happy that your bro got
a chance to go to Paris.”
“Yeah,
it’s great. It’s just that whenever Dad
decides to spring for something really expensive, like a chance to leave these northern climes for a trip to France – with
all those luscious meals at Parisian restaurants – it’s for you. I get to sit home and watch.”
“Listen. I know your relationship with Dad is a bit...”
“Strained?”
“Well,
yes. Why don’t you make a bit more
effort to be...”
“The
dutiful daughter? What century is
this? I should be able to live as I want
to live. You certainly do.”
“Anyway,
you know very well this is an educational trip.
I’ll be studying most of the time while I’m in Paris.”
“Yeah,
and I think I know what you’ll be studying.”
“Hah,
witty to the last. Sis, you have to face
it, Dad’s old school. He loves his
daughter, wants the best for her. I know that's something of a liability for you. If
that means keeping you here in a castle so he can watch over you – well, I have
no idea how to get him to change such ideas at his age. Talk about conservative, I believe he thinks Herbert
Hoover was the last great president.”
“No, for
him Hoover would have been too much of a leftist. Well, anyway, bon, as they say at the Deux
Magots, voyage!”
(Also submitted to Sunday Scribblings.)
