Confusion Overwhelming

Not that I watch them often, but I've seen soap operas less confusing. At least a soap relies on midget witches and unknown brothers and amnesia to mix things up. What excuse does this play have? None! No midget zombie warlocks lurk within said pages! No lonesome hearted lovers with too personal... wait, that's the Byrds, not a soap. Anyway, things are confusing.

Here's how it's going: Lussy enters the jail, but gets out thanks to the swift work of some generic nobles. I find it hilarious that these generic nobles were able to secure the release of a "traitorous" son more easily than the Duchess was able to free her rapist child. Anyway, first son escapes, but not before second and third son come up with some mischievous shenanigans of their own -- they forged up some documents and grabbed a Ducal ring and planned to commit their first brother to the good care of a hangman. But since first brother had already flown the coop, it was fourth brother who went forth hatless and headless thereafter.

Which is convenient, because Vinny and Hippoman have another plot, which Vinnie feels he should share with the head of his dead girlfriend?!?! What the gamecock?! And then he and Hippoman talk about how silly clothes are while chilling out with the skull. Oh and they mock it for being so dressy. And then they poison it so that when they convince the Duke to make out with it, he'll die.

But it's ok, because the Duke is a cracker:

Vindice: Royal villain, white devil!

Which leads into this lovely bit of dialogue:

Vindice: Duke, dost thou know yon dreadful vizard? View it well; 'tis the skull of Gloriana, whom thou poisoned'st last.

Duke: Oh, 't has poisoned me

Vindice: Didst thou not know that till now?

No, the Duke just assumed you were having him kiss your dead wife's skull for "teh lulz". And then Hippoman acts like a hippo should and stamps on the Duke a bit. And then the Duke says "Oh!" about forty more times before they nail his tongue to the wall -- I guess that "Oh!" ain't no country they ever heard of.

And then Act 3 ends with brothers two and three whacking an officer with brother four's head.

Normally I read the act the night before, sleep on it, and read it again before posting the next day. Which normally helps me think of something to say. Today, it took an act of Dog to prevent me from simply typing the words "What the fuck just happened?!" over and over again.

If this is tragedy, this is the worst tragedy the world has ever seen. If this is comedy, it's the best comedy the world has ever seen. Either way, it has more in common with Finnegan's Wake than it does with Shakespeare.