Shakespeare’s Double-Dealing Comedies: Deciphering the Problem Plays

Are some of Shakespeare’s romantic storybook heroines actually emoting sexually obscene (but very funny) lines?{ Sexual quibbles (puns, play-on words), covertly uttered by precious-and-pure heroines, call for an immediate revision of viewpoint. }When Fernando (The Tempest) is described as bravely swimming for shore in lusty stroke , would he be disqualified for doing this in Olympic competition?Before the walls of Harfleur, when Henry V threatens to mow like grass your fresh-fair virgins and have your naked infants spitted upon pikes , is he (and by inference his creator) barbarous? Or is he doing an hilarious comic imitation of Marlowe’s Tamburlaine before the walls of Damascus?{ There exists an interesting Marlovian source for the Tamburlaine protagonist himself-Ivan the Terrible. He proposed marriage to Queen Elizabeth, who tactfully turned him down. } Rule Number 1: If a good writer seems surprisingly inept and has been known to be a wit or humorist, suspect parody or satire.Well, esteemed readers, you decide where to place your bets. On the critics? Or on William Shakespeare?