Ok, enough with the lame Bachelor jokes (they relate, I promise). This past week or so I've been struggling to find a topic for my paper that really resonated within me. My play I chose to read was Twelfth Night, and while I absolutely loved the play, I felt as though it didn't give me something to latch on to. It did, however, give me a dive board from which I feel into the genre of researching love and romance. I took to Facebook immediately, figuring the masses would definitely have something to say on the subject. That was my first mistake. I received no response. I figured it was because I either
a. was too general in my questions, or
b. asked way too many in one status update
(probably both)
So I switched tactics. After reading Amelia's comment here, I had an idea:
I can't believe I'm admitting this, but I love the Bachelor/ette reality TV show. I'm addicted to it, like millions of other men and women (8.6 million, to be exact), so why not explore it's connection to Shakespeare? I thought I'd see what Facebook had to say about this.
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| Somebody actually posted this in response to my questions. |
The initial response wasn't great. I got a pretty strong negative reaction at first, but it's always darkest before the dawn. I finally got a positive response from (gasp) another English major! We began discussing the similarities between reality TV today and Shakespeare in the past. We came down to this basic idea:
People throughout the ages seem to have this obsession with unrequited love, finding love, crazy passionate love, puppy love, mismatched love... the list really goes on. From the mismatched love of Midsummer Night's Dream, to the gender confused triangle in Twelfth Night, people love love, and that love has carried over into the modern world (Don't believe me, check it out here. People have DEFINITELY taken from Shakespeare's love plots to create the reality TV we watch today). But, it's not just love that we love, it's love that's seemingly out of our control, love manipulated by someone with greater power than those experiencing the infatuation. And we don't just like it when love is manipulated be someone, but when everything is out of the hands of the hero/ine. Take The Tempest, where really everything lies in the hands of Prospero, or The Bachelor/ette, where everything lies in the hands of the producers (let's be real here, people. we all know this is true).
So this is where I'm a little stuck. Maybe this whole connection to Shakespeare seems contrived to you, but I really do think there's something there. I mean I just see a lot of connections between reality TV today and the way Shakespeare's characters manipulate and handle love in the plays. What do you think? Hopefully you're in agreement, because I really really don't want to find another topic.
So this is where I'm a little stuck. Maybe this whole connection to Shakespeare seems contrived to you, but I really do think there's something there. I mean I just see a lot of connections between reality TV today and the way Shakespeare's characters manipulate and handle love in the plays. What do you think? Hopefully you're in agreement, because I really really don't want to find another topic.
To me, that connection feels really contrived. Although Shakespeare wrote about "crazy stupid love" back then, and we watch The Bachelor today, I don't see a strong connection between the two.
ReplyDeleteWhat about soap operas, or maybe chick flicks? the connections there, with the love triangles etc., seem much stronger to me.
I think the most important thing I'm lacking, though, is a thesis. You've set up all this background, but I don't know what you're arguing. Could you clarify that, please?
Actually, now that I think about it, that might be ALL you need. If you can make a compelling enough argument, you could convince me to read on, regardless of the fact that I don't see a connection at the moment.
DeleteBailey, I can see a connection between the two, and it seems really cool, but I agree with David in that you'll need to have a thesis that explains why that connection is important.
ReplyDeleteWhile asking for a clear claim is a great habit, Bailey is clearly at an exploratory stage here and so let's help her. For me, I think there are some possibilities here precisely because I reacted so strongly to the prospect of aligning the bachelor shows with our sacred Shakespeare. As I thought about it, I think the link is in the concept of reality -- evoked and called into question throughoutShakespeare, and complicated through artificiality in TV programs today. So, I think exploring the artifice of controlled love within constructed realities is viable. See, for example John Hartley's comparison of Big Brother and Taming of the Shrew (which I found via the World Shakespeare Bibliography Online): "'Kiss me Kat': Shakespeare, Big Brother, and the Taming of the Self."
ReplyDeleteThanks Professor Burton, for the help. I'm aware of a lack of a thesis, but I don't want to construct a thesis if there's no reaction to the actual idea. Now that I know there is, I'll press forward with it, and give you what you want David. Haha.
ReplyDeleteI'll look that up right away and get back to y'all.
Hey Bailey, maybe it's because I'm a bachelor fan.. but I think you could definitely go somewhere with this topic. However, I think it may be more useful to perhaps broaden the category to reality tv or reality tv dating shows in general. I'd love to see some concrete evidence without it being too general. Is is just the IDEA of the bachelor? or do you have specific character comparisons in mind? Like with my dwight schrute comparison, I wasn't sure if I could merit 10-12 pages of material from the topic, even though I was extremely excited about it. So just keep that in mind. I'm excited to see your ideas develop! We're here to support you!
ReplyDeleteI like Prof. Burton's idea a lot. You could do something with how Shakespeare so often calls attention to the fact that his plays are plays and not truth, but actually makes them seem more real that way and compare it to reality TV shows' constant claims to be "true" and "reality" but in the process making them seem more fake--but, ironically, we don't care because it's the chick-flick style love story that we want anyway, real or not. Basically, there's something there about audience compliance that's really intriguing to me.
ReplyDeleteChris Harrison = Chorus. That's my point, I guess.