Everyone's Getting Married!

At the end of Shakespeare’s play, As You Like It, it seems that everyone and their dog gets married. There is Rosalind and Orlando; Audrey and Touchstone (I have a feeling this relationship wouldn’t last); Celia and Oliver (does Oliver love Aliena or Celia??); Phoebe and Silvius (all I have to say is, poor Silvius). I couldn’t help comparing this marathon wedding to a Good Morning America special I saw on ABC the morning of Valentines Day. Are you ready for this… “25 Couples Get Engaged in Epic Live 'GMA' Proposal.” Yes, 25 couples, a little more than Shakespeare’s four. Granted it’s not entirely comparable because in As You Like It couples are sharing their matrimony ceremony not their engagement.

The gangs all here and engaged! 

We live in a culture that hypes up weddings and engagements. Think of the TLC show “Four Weddings.” A majority of the price tags for those weddings, especially on the east coast are well over $40,000. Or, how about the countless Pinterest posts that are of overpriced, over edited, engagement pictures.

I couldn’t help by wonder as I was drinking my morning coffee watching GMA on that Valentine’s Day morning and watched 25 men get down on one knee, on ice, in ice skates, with Christina Perri blaring in the background, if these women, and men (there were a few same-sex couples, GMA is sooo progressive) cared that they were sharing this exciting moment in their relationship with other couples. Not to mention the cheesiness of the whole ordeal, I’d be so annoyed if I had to share my engagement with 48 other newly engageees and the entire GMA viewership. I can’t even imagine sharing my wedding (Oops, maybe I am guilty of falling into the societal trap that glorifies the marriage process).

Prom 2004 or Act 5 Scene 4 As You Like It?

How do you think those who were asked the “big” question on GMA’s proposal extravaganza feel about their proposal? How do you think the Shakespearian couples feel about sharing their weddings? Was this a normal occurrence for the time? 

I will say that Rosalind and Celia successfully accomplished my best friend’s and my life goal, without the questionable lesbian relationship between the two of us, of marrying brothers… wealthy brothers, so kudos!