Rory’s Study for the Shakespeare Test

The Comedy of Errors is one of Shakespeare’s early plays, and a farce involving two pairs of twins and mistaken identity. It was written around 1594, so Rory’s statement that it was written in 1590 is just an estimate – the exact date isn’t known. It was published in 1623 though, as that was the first collection made of Shakespeare’s plays.

Richard III is one of Shakespeare’s historical plays. It was written around 1592, so Rory’s guess of 1591 is within the acceptable time-frame and not actually wrong. In real life, it would be very unusual for students to be tested on their knowledge of the dates of Shakespeare’s plays, as they are usually not known for sure. As we never see the actual test, Rory could be studying all the wrong things anyway.

Shakespeare’s Sonnets are a 1609 collection of love sonnets, most of which are addressed to either a Dark Lady or a Fair Youth. It is not known whether these figures are fictional or based on real people. It is not even known for certain whether the sonnets were written by William Shakespeare.

During the study session, Lorelai makes a buzzer noise when Rory gets a question wrong, as if she is on a game show.

“Let me not to the marriage of true minds”

PARIS: “Let me not to the marriage of true minds admit impediments. Love is not love which alters when it alterations finds, or bends with the remover to remove: O no! It is an ever-fixed mark that looks on tempests and is never shaken; it is the star to every wandering bark, whose worth’s unknown, although his height be taken”.

Paris is quoting from William Shakespeare’s Sonnet 116, first published in 1609, and one of his most famous love sonnets. She is demonstrating how well she has studied for the test, although only Paris could recite a love poem to someone as a threat.

Saved by the Bell

LORELAI: You couldn’t tell me [about getting a D]? You tell me everything.
RORY: It was too humiliating.
LORELAI: Oh, honey, you once told me that you loved Saved by the Bell. What could be more humiliating than that?

Saved by the Bell was a popular teen sitcom which aired on NBC from 1989 to 1993. The story follows a group of friends at high school, and their relationship with their school principal.

Rory would have loved watching Saved by the Bell when she between five and ten – a possible hint of her precocity. It seems typical of Rory that her favourite childhood TV show revolved around school.

 

B-52s

Lorelai wears a B-52’s (now known as the B-52s) tee-shirt to the parent-teacher night. It’s apparently one she keeps in the car in case of accidents to clothing, and in this case she spilled coffee on herself while driving. The vision of Lorelai sitting half-naked in the car while she changes shirts is a strange one, and we might wonder where and how she managed to do this in a way that nobody noticed.

Perhaps she was able to pull over in the woods on the road to Hartford, or she’s one of those people who think nobody can see them while they’re in a car, despite the windows being made of glass, and happily pick their nose or get undressed in front of others.

The B-52s are an American new wave band formed in 1976, with an original line-up of Fred Schneider, Kate Pierson, Cindy Wilson, Ricky Wilson, and Keith Strickland. They are best known for their 1978 debut single Rock Lobster, and their 1989 hit single Love Shack.

“She’s always wanted to go to Harvard”

LORELAI: I mean it’s an adjustment of course, but she’s always wanted to go to Harvard and this is how she’ll get there.
MAX: Harvard?
LORELAI: Yeah. Ever since she could crawl, I’ve really wanted her to go there.

As we have suspected ever since the Pilot, it was Lorelai’s idea for Rory to attend Harvard. Here she admits that she has been longing for Rory to go to Harvard since she was a baby.

SAT

MAX: I apologize for the behaviours of some of our guests tonight. It’s a tense time for some people.
LORELAI: The SAT season?
MAX: The waking hours.

The SAT Subject Tests are multiple-choice tests in various subjects given by the College Board, and taken to improve a student’s credentials for admission to universities in the United States. The SAT tests are generally held in early to mid-October.

SAT originally stood for Scholastic Aptitude Test, but by now it is just a brand name and not an acronym of anything in particular.

“Jesus, Mary, Joseph, and a camel”

LORELAI: Jesus, Mary, Joseph and a camel [whispers] This is really bad coffee.

“Jesus, Mary, and Joseph” is a specifically Catholic expletive, which expands on the expletive “Jesus!” by adding his earthly parents. Lorelai humorously expands it further by adding a camel.

It suggests that Lorelai is familiar with the original expletive through contact with a Catholic friend or acquaintance, but who this might be remains a mystery.

Advanced Placement

The Chilton parents are very concerned about whether the texts Mr. Medina has chosen will be covered in the Advanced Placement tests.

In the US and Canada, Advanced Placement (AP) is a program which offers college-level curricula and exmainations to high school students. American colleges and universities may grant placement and course credit to those students who get high scores in the AP exams.

Mr. Medina says that the next AP test will be held in the following month (November), but in real life AP Tests are always held in May.

We learn from this that Rory is in the AP English Literature class to improve her chances of attending university. We don’t know what other AP classes she might be doing at Chilton, but any class that she has with Paris seems like a pretty safe bet.

Mr. Medina’s Syllabus

At the parent-teacher meeting, Mr. Medina discusses what he has in store for the children this semester – Elizabethan literature.

William Shakespeare (1564-1616) is the focus of this episode. Oddly, Mr. Medina doesn’t mention that the class has a test on Shakespeare that very Friday.

Christopher Marlowe (1564-1593) was the foremost tragedian of his day, despite the Chilton parent who questions his significance. He had a rather mysterious life, and some scholars believe he may have co-authored certain of Shakespeare’s works. His most famous plays include Edward the Second and Doctor Faustus; his most popular poem is The Passionate Shepherd to His Love.

Francis Bacon (1561-1626) was a philosopher, scientist, jurist, statesman, and author, serving as both Attorney-General and Lord Chancellor of England. He has been called the father of empiricism and the modern scientific method, and he has influenced the modern world in countless ways. There is a theory that he may have written some, or all, of Shakespeare’s plays. One of his most famous literary works is The New Atlantis, a utopian story.

Ben Jonson (1572-1637) is considered the second most important playwright of his era after Shakespeare. He is best known for his satirical plays such as Every Man in His Humour and Volpone, and for his lyrical poetry.

John Webster (c1580-c1634) is a playwright best known for his tragedies The White Devil and The Duchess of Malfi. His dark, almost Gothic, view of the world is one which went down very well in the twentieth century, and he has been re-assessed favourably by modern audiences.