Romeo and Juliet or Midsummer Night’s Dream?
Shakespeare has made his way from
the heart of commonplace Globe attendants, through the minds of scholarly
experts and into the adolescent classroom. (Quote from this article (Thanks
Bailey!) “Dude,
Where’s My Bard?” Reducing, Translating, and Referencing Shakespeare for Youth:
An Introduction) Thousands of ninth grade students study Romeo
and Juliet every year, delving into the drama of family feuds, young love
and premature death. The universal themes promoted by Shakespeare’s myriad of
publications are represented well in this tragedy. But why is Romeo and
Juliet the chosen text for so many high school English syllabi, when there
is a better alternative? A Midsummer Night’s Dream, stocked with
romance, rebellion, heartbreak, magic and laughter is a more valuable text to
teach in the Shakespeare classroom.
Why has Romeo and Juliet been taught
so much?
“Although
dated around the mid 1590s, the issues presented in Romeo and Juliet transcend
time
and place. Research completed by Erikson and Piaget shows that when learning is
tied to
personal
or cultural interests, students are more likely to pay attention to the
material because
they
can relate to the subject matter (Shaffer, 1994). While some people would argue
that
something
written so long ago is outdated, issues of love, rebellion, death, and
acceptance are
prevalent
in the lives of most students as well as the play.” (http://smago.coe.uga.edu/VirtualLibrary/Berry_Donovan_Hummel.pdf)
What are the good things about A
Midsummer Night’s Dream that make it a rival for Romeo and Juliet? ALSO TEACHES
IMPORTANT SHAKESPEARE-ESQUE ELEMENTS OF DRAMA/WRITING. Five life lessons for
youth: Substance abuse is bad (you might fall in love with a donkey. Seriously
(Thanks Paul)). Listen to your father on important things (It was when they disobeyed
him and eloped that all this stuff happened). Don’t listen to outside pressure
on personal things (if your dad tells you who to love (or where to go to
college or what job to get or how many kids to have or what religion to be) he
might be wrong. Think for yourself! (like Lysander and Helena did)). Be honest
(Puck was not). Don’t lose hope: things can work out even if they get crazy on
the way. (Thank you Lizy and Bailey!)
What are the pedagogical tools for teaching A Midsummer Night’s
Dream to high school students? Watch this movie: BBC’s version of A Midsummer Night’s Dream http://www.bbc.co.uk/drama/shakespeare/midsummernightsdream/ Let them act it out, adapted to today’s
culture: http://www.jstor.org/stable/40503324 Encourage them to make new
representations of the play: make
fun youtube movies! http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&v=_l0IdGni1Dg&feature=endscreen
What other texts can be taught along
with A Midsummer Night’s Dream to support/scaffold it? Is Romeo and Juliet one
of these? Maybe. Also show love sonnets that apply, and other comedies that are
similar (if there are any).
Conclusion: R&J is okay, but MSD
is better. Teach it!
I'm still concerned that the criteria you use for advocating Midsummer boil down to life lessons. While I don't think those are poor reasons, would your prospective audience feel those are a determining factor? I'm not seeing any recognition of why Shakespeare is taught in secondary schools. Can you talk interns of core standards or academic capacities? Learning outcomes? It can't all be about a text relating to teen themes. Also, he sure to consider counter-arguments (not only for MND but maybe even for assigning Shakespeare at all)
ReplyDeleteI like your ideas for teaching A Midsummer Night's Dream in the classroom and that you've boiled down the life lessons to five specific points with examples.
ReplyDeleteI think Dr. Burton's right that you should bring up other reasons why Shakespeare is used in particular, as opposed to going through a paragraph each of "romance, rebellion, heartbreak..." That could be a main point of your argument, that there are these life lessons close to the heart of teenagers, but I would discuss after that more of why teenagers would be interested in life lessons and, before discussing those life lessons, other points as to why Shakespeare is valuable to teach in the classroom.