Shakespeare
Volume 3, Issue 2
SUMMER 1999
A MIDSUMMER
NIGHT'S DREAM
Bottom as a Romantic Figure
Kevin Kline discusses the interpretation of his
character in the new Fox Searchlight film.
Related Link: Official A Midsummer Night's Dream movie site.
"Is all our company here?"
Director Michael Hoffman talks about the
scholarly and artistic influences in his film.
Peter Quince as Director
Fran Helphinstine points out a dilemma for
Elizabethan and modern directors.
TEACHING A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM
An Exercise in Interpretation
Michael Collins looks at nine readings of
Bottom and Titania's relationship.
Kids Just Wanna Have Fun
Amy Ulen explains how to approach the play
through adolescent issues.
Related Links: Surfing with the Bard's A Midsummer Night's Dream Guide and Teacher Zone Lesson Plans.
FEATURED ARTICLES
Beyond West Side Story
Josh Cabat ponders the problem of Shakespearean
modernizations on film.
"In addition, the modernizations often take interesting, if critically debatable, steps in filling in some of the blanks that Shakespeare leaves us. In William Reilly's 1991 Mafia update of Macbeth, Men of Respect, the Macbeth character asks the question that we've always wanted Macbeth to ask; after the witch character promises him that he'll be 'padrino' someday, he says, 'What do I have to do to make this happen?' To which the witch responds, 'You only need to be yourself, to do what you are already thinking.' 10 Things takes an interesting step beyond Shrew by asserting that the girls' mother has abandoned the family; it also has the Kate figure trace the etymology of her behavior to one traumatic incident from her past. And in A Thousand Acres, the filmmakers take the lead from Jane Smiley's source novel in providing a clear motivation for the hatred felt by Ginny and Rose (Goneril and Regan) for their Lear-like father. For both critics and students, these are provocative if not entirely original interpolations; certainly they provide a valuable tool for stimulating student thought."
World Wide Will
Glenn Wallace and
our foreign correspondents relate how Shakespeare is studied and performed
around the globe.
GRAND OPENING
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