I have always had the following problem when I read drama: I don’t really get the jokes that make a play funny (or when I do, the joke is long dead). It was only, in fact, after I read the comments on our blog and some background that I put the play into a less serious context. Yet, after the background reading, I wonder to what extent are all the dirty jokes (a lot of which I just glazed over) satire as well? I can’t get over the comparison of mistresses with books (I.i.), Horner getting himself set up with all the ladies and all the double meanings that go along with it, Horner comparing impotence with cowardice, and that Horner gets away with it all at the end, no change, no seeming remorse (is that a joke?)! To what extent are we to take the casual banter as humor when it could also be read in a more sinister and darker manner?
On the other hand, Pinchwife seems to be a bumbling idiot and that seems to be where satire fits in. Margery makes a fool of decorum, cits, and rules of sophistication. Is the plot with Pinchwife meant to counteract Horner’s situation? Or are the two supposed to play and affect the other (in a way that I’m missing)?
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