Wednesday, June 18, 2003
Anyway we ended up talking about blogs n LJs this morning at brunch, and I suddenly feel a need to share the reasons behind the shallowness of entries on my blog. Well the thing is... when I have a layout, it's usually a result of the state of mind I'm in at the moment, and besides the fact that I have a Private Lives and Noel Coward obsession, there're parts in Act 2 of Private Lives that struck a chord in me. People always say that Act 2 is the most boring part since Act 1 has the most quotable quotes and the most famous balcony scene after the one in R&J while Act 3 has some memorable lines like "Some women should be struck regularly, like gongs". True, the only really happening part in Act 2 is the crazy free-for-all fight, but I think the slower pace of Act 2, with its long pauses and a sort of languid feeling as the two characters lounge about in their pjs shouldn't be considered a flaw in the structure of the play. Like their relationship, the peace and calm in Act 2 makes it dull, lacking the fire in their usual disagreements and passion, yet it is also the most introspective and serious Coward ever gets. You can actually feel the tension mounting between them as they struggle to pretend that everything is going to be fine forever, that there is no storm brewing overhead the relative calm between them. The following extract is the inspiration behind this month's layout and entries:
ELYOT [seriously]: You mustn't be serious, my dear one; it's just what they want.
AMANDA: Who's they?
ELYOT: All the futile moralists who try to make life unbearable. Laugh at them. Be flippant. Laugh at everything, all their sacred shibboleths. Flippancy brings out the acid in their damned sweetness and light.
AMANDA: If I laugh at everything, I must laugh at us too.
ELYOT: Certainly you must. We're figures of fun all right.
AMANDA: How long will it last, this ludicrous, overbearing love of ours?
ELYOT: Who knows?
AMANDA: Shall we always want to bicker and fight?
ELYOT: No, that desire will fade, along with our passion.
AMANDA: Oh dear, shall we like that?
ELYOT: It all depends on how well we've played.
AMANDA: What happens if one of us dies? Does the one that's left still laugh?
ELYOT: Yes, yes, with all his might.
AMANDA [wistfully clutching his hand]: That's serious enough, isn't it?
ELYOT: No, no, it isn't. Death's very laughable, such a cunning little mystery. All done with mirrors.
AMANDA: Darling, I believe you're talking nonsense.
ELYOT: So is everyone else in the long run. Let's be superficial and pity the poor philosophers. Let's blow trumpets and squeakers, and enjoy the party as much as we can, like very small, quite idiotic school children. Let's savour the delight of the moment. Come and kiss me darling, before your body rots, and worms pop in and out of your eye sockets.
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