Chandler Levinthal

Student Production Dramaturg

DeRon S. Williams, Ph.D., Dramaturgy Supervisor

Much To Do About Valentine

by Aimee Jaske

About Aimee

Aimee Jaske (she/her) is an Illinois native growing up in Fox Lake, northwest of Chicago. She is currently a junior at Loyola University Chicago majoring in theatre. Aimee has done a lot of acting in theater and is super excited (and nervous) to share her work. During the playwriting class offered in the spring of 2023, Aimee’s project was Much To Do About Valentine. She credits her seventh grade Wattpad account for introducing to creative writing and imaginative storytelling and to her high school, Carmel Catholic High School, for giving her inspiration for this story. She may or may not have had a crush on her high school history teacher and this may or may not be a dramatization of that.

Much To Do About Valentine

〰️

Much To Do About Valentine 〰️

Fun fact:

All of the characters in Much To Do About Valentine are named after Shakespeare characters. Aimee had found some names and decided to make those her characters as an homage to William Shakespeare. Not all of the characters names are “main” characters per se, but just as integral to every Shakespeare play. Aimee’s favorite is, you guessed it, Much Ado About Nothing.

Wattpad is “where the world goes to share and discover stories in virtually every language” according to their website. Founded in 2006, Wattpad was popularized by teenagers writing ‘fan fiction’ which is a work of fiction written by a fan or fans of a particular band, TV show, movie, etc. It was most popular amongst teenage girls. It grew to have a community of over 80 million monthly users. There are roughly 665 million uploads of original works by its users. Some of its most reputable credits include the original story of The Kissing Booth Trilogies by a then fifteen-year-old Beth Reekles. The story was then turned into successful Netflix movies starring Joey King, Jacob Elordi, Molly Ringwald, and others. Another well-known Wattpad story is After collecting over one billion readers in total. Anna Todd, a now New York Times Best Selling author, wrote the story about Harry Styles from the band One Direction naming the lead bad boy Hardin Scott. These are only two of the wildly successful stories to come from the website. Creativity thrives on Wattpad and it has served as an outlet for budding writers for years and continues to do so.

Much Ado About Nothing is a comedy by William Shakespeare and is believed to be written in either 1598 and 1599. The play follows Claudio, Hero, Beatrice, and Benedick. Claudio and Hero have a courtship, but Benedick and Beatrice’s arguments are what many pay attention to the most. In the end, everyone gets married and falls in love with each other. The word “Nothing” was pronounced as “Noting” in Shakespeare’s time, which is convenient since many of the characters are taking constant note of one another, therefore creating a play full of deceit, jokes, manipulation, and witty remarks from all characters. Once again, Shakespeare’s dirty jokes make a return. “Nothing” was also Elizabethan slang for female genitalia. Fitting considering Much Ado About Nothing hints at sexual desire and love.

A theme in Much To Do About Valentine is that Silvia, the main character, seeks attention from her teacher, Mr. Valentine, who in no way, shape, or form has done anything to ask for that attention. One of Silvia’s other teachers, Ms. Starveling, has an informative talk with her about how seeking attention from someone who will not and cannot return it is an issue that many people face. Seeking external validation can have a very negative impact on your self-esteem. You lose sight of who you are or maybe you don’t feel good enough about yourself and that can create a cycle of chasing people you have told yourself you can’t have. Some forms of this validation include the thought of “if they choose me that means they really must love me” and therefore gives you a reason to love yourself. Loving yourself because someone else does is not really self love. Silvia suffers from this idea, as many young girls do. Women are conditioned to live for others at a young age. Finding out how to live for yourself is what Silvia’s journey starts with.

  • Iris is a deity but also used in The Tempest, Troilus and Cressida, All’s Well That Ends Well, and so many more of Shakespeare’s works. She represents many things like sorrow, happiness, thankfulness, and is often called upon as a higher power or even a mistress of ceremonies.

  • The need for approval from men in order to feel good about oneself. This can manifest in seeking compliments, needing a male partner to feel whole, or feeling like you need to dress a certain way. Male validation can be caused by something in one’s childhood, attachment styles, self-esteem issues, etc.

  • Miranda is a character from The Tempest by William Shakespeare. She is a young teenager who is described as gentle and compassionate. While she is somewhat passive, she can surprise the reader by how forthright she can be at times.

  • Silvia is the daughter to the Duke and the love interest of Valentine in William Shakespeare’s Two Gentlemen of Verona. She is also pursued by Proetus and Thurio. She is a rebellious young woman and will not let anything stand in her way.

  • Robin Starveling is a character from A Midsummer Nights Dream by William Shakespeare. He is a tailor who fears nearly everything. When the characters decide to create their own performance, Starveling plays the character of Moonshine. He is a comedic character.

  • Valentine is one of the title gentlemen of Verona from William Shakespeare’s Two Gentlemen of Verona. He is the love interest for Silvia. He is the best friend of Proteus and he is banished to the forest for his plan to run off with Silvia. He then becomes king of the outlaws.