Puns FTW
Okay, I can’t help but add some terrible sexual puns in my paper on Shakespeare’s own sexual puns. I wonder if my TA will snag this one:
The Clown then proceeds to give Cleopatra a snake which is representative of the male sex organ (Quintis 130) and puns about his “worm” continually. When asked by Cleopatra, “Hast thou the pretty worm of Nilus there,” the Clown replies, “Truly, I have him but I would not be the party that / should desire you to touch him” (5.2.243-246). He becomes relentless with his jokes, stating that he knew “a very honest woman, but / something given to lie… / she died of the biting of it” (5.2.250-251). Lie in this situation means to be untruthful, but also to lie with a man. The scene is loaded with innuendo.
