Done: When Mistress Overdone asks what Claudio had "done" to be taken to prison, Pompey's comedic reply of "a woman" alludes to the sexual interpretation of Mistress Overdone's own name. Clearly, "Overdone" implies a level of excess in regards to the bawd's sexual affairs, so much so that, like "overdone" cooking, she is spoiled or ruined to the point of no return. Angelo also repeatedly refers to his sexual desire as his "appetite" (3.1.162,177), playing to the language of food, and reinforcing exactly why Mistress Overdone has gotten so many customers, (they all have uncontrollable "appetites" like Angelo's) but also why she, being "overdone", is less appealing to this appetite. We learn later from Pompey that she indeed had nine husbands, "Overdone by the last" (2.1.202). |