Comments on: Question of the Week http://www.shakespeareteacher.com/blog/archives/1003 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 15:15:36 -0700 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 hourly 1 By: A.K.Farrar http://www.shakespeareteacher.com/blog/archives/1003/comment-page-1#comment-178389 A.K.Farrar Wed, 10 Dec 2008 08:55:08 +0000 http://www.shakespeareteacher.com/blog/?p=1003#comment-178389 Depends on the age, depends on the nationality, gender make-up, etc, etc ... Classic English school of early 20th century - Julius Caesar: No sex, short, violent. Wishywashy liberals who don't understand the play choose 'The Dream'. Macbeth was the first I was 'taught' - jolly good too. R and J only if you explain the sex. Depends on the age, depends on the nationality, gender make-up, etc, etc …

Classic English school of early 20th century – Julius Caesar: No sex, short, violent.

Wishywashy liberals who don’t understand the play choose ‘The Dream’.

Macbeth was the first I was ‘taught’ – jolly good too.

R and J only if you explain the sex.

]]> By: DeLisa http://www.shakespeareteacher.com/blog/archives/1003/comment-page-1#comment-178336 DeLisa Thu, 04 Dec 2008 23:50:18 +0000 http://www.shakespeareteacher.com/blog/?p=1003#comment-178336 I think MUCH ADO is a great one for teens. R&J sets up a bad model for teen love, equating it with rebellion, bad choices and self-destruction - but MUCH ADO is romantic in a way that challenges both participants. It's fun and funny and shows how hard it is to resist romance, something teens are exploring for the first time in their lives.... Also - what about Henry VI and his struggles to grow up and be a responsible leader? Some kids might relate to that... I think MUCH ADO is a great one for teens. R&J sets up a bad model for teen love, equating it with rebellion, bad choices and self-destruction – but MUCH ADO is romantic in a way that challenges both participants. It’s fun and funny and shows how hard it is to resist romance, something teens are exploring for the first time in their lives….

Also – what about Henry VI and his struggles to grow up and be a responsible leader? Some kids might relate to that…

]]> By: Duane http://www.shakespeareteacher.com/blog/archives/1003/comment-page-1#comment-178306 Duane Tue, 02 Dec 2008 13:36:51 +0000 http://www.shakespeareteacher.com/blog/?p=1003#comment-178306 A topic near and dear to my Geek heart, as I'm sure you well know. My 6, 4 and 2 year olds can explain to you the story of The Tempest, and have been able to for a good while now (many stories about this on the blog). If you look at it relative to Shakespeare's career, and feel the need to explain the different between the "late", romance plays versus the more traditional tragedy/comedy distinction, then yes, it's somewhat tricky. But if you start with plot, it's a near perfect fairy tale -- little girl on a faraway island, mother out of the picture, father can do magic, discovers she's a long lost princess, prince comes to rescue her and they all live happily ever after? Great stuff, very easy for kids to understand. You know you're doing something right when you hear the 3 year old calling her dolls Miranda and Ariel and even Sycorax. I found Dream harder to explain, actually. I thought it would be straightforward, what with all the fairies and such things, but there's some fairly dark sexual overtones to the story that you have to dance around. How do you explain the plot point that basically says "Oberon wanted the boy that Titania was taking care of, so he drugged her and then just took him?" That hardly makes him out to be a good guy, to a child. It wasn't until Alan pointed out to me that Oberon is doing the boy a favor, that Titania is keeping him from growing up, that it began to form into something more understandable. What would I teach? Honestly, I might still go with Romeo and Juliet, purely out of the popularity factor. You can only imagine what it's like when my toddlers make Tempest references in front of adults, and they're left with a blank stare because nobody got it. Everybody, however, gets Romeo and Juliet. I've never turned on the tv and seen a random sitcom doing a version of Troilus and Cressida. It's always R&J, or Dream. http://www.shakespearegeek.com A topic near and dear to my Geek heart, as I’m sure you well know. My 6, 4 and 2 year olds can explain to you the story of The Tempest, and have been able to for a good while now (many stories about this on the blog). If you look at it relative to Shakespeare’s career, and feel the need to explain the different between the “late”, romance plays versus the more traditional tragedy/comedy distinction, then yes, it’s somewhat tricky. But if you start with plot, it’s a near perfect fairy tale — little girl on a faraway island, mother out of the picture, father can do magic, discovers she’s a long lost princess, prince comes to rescue her and they all live happily ever after? Great stuff, very easy for kids to understand. You know you’re doing something right when you hear the 3 year old calling her dolls Miranda and Ariel and even Sycorax.

I found Dream harder to explain, actually. I thought it would be straightforward, what with all the fairies and such things, but there’s some fairly dark sexual overtones to the story that you have to dance around. How do you explain the plot point that basically says “Oberon wanted the boy that Titania was taking care of, so he drugged her and then just took him?” That hardly makes him out to be a good guy, to a child. It wasn’t until Alan pointed out to me that Oberon is doing the boy a favor, that Titania is keeping him from growing up, that it began to form into something more understandable.

What would I teach? Honestly, I might still go with Romeo and Juliet, purely out of the popularity factor. You can only imagine what it’s like when my toddlers make Tempest references in front of adults, and they’re left with a blank stare because nobody got it. Everybody, however, gets Romeo and Juliet. I’ve never turned on the tv and seen a random sitcom doing a version of Troilus and Cressida. It’s always R&J, or Dream.

http://www.shakespearegeek.com

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