The Shakespeare Conference: SHK 13.1059  Wednesday, 17 April 2002

From:           Michael W. Shurgot <
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Date:           Tuesday, 16 Apr 2002 13:25:12 -0700
Subject: 13.1055 Re: Belmont on the Brenta
Comment:        RE: SHK 13.1055 Re: Belmont on the Brenta

Doesn't the point that Prof. Godshalk asks about at the end of his query
tell us more about Shakespeare's structure of the play than about
Bassanio's motives? Play time is not real, as Godshalk says, and
Shakespeare has given Bassanio time to travel around an imaginary sea
and also given Jessica and Lorenzo time to travel around Italy spending
the old man's money. Now Shakespeare needs to get to act iv to resolve
the many complicated issues that his first 3 acts have created.

One could argue I suppose that Shakespeare's structure itself could tell
us something about Bassanio's priorities and motives, but this seems an
unnecessary investigation into a purely formal element in a theatre
where both time and space are conventionally infinitely malleable.

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