"Shakespeare believed in fate, order, and forgiveness; we believe in history, justice, and compassion—three pairings so similar as to sometimes seem the same, though they are not. The novelistic, psychological work of explaining why evil people are evil gets very little energy from him. His villains are the products not of trauma and history but of nature and destiny." -- from "Why Rewrite Shakespeare?" by Adam Gopnik published in The New Yorker
Read more here:
http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2016/10/17/why-rewrite-shakespeare
Friday, October 14, 2016
Wednesday, October 5, 2016
Quiz Prep Acts 4 and 5
You will have some version of some of these questions on your last R and J quiz:
A) Act 4 is all Juliet. She considers options, defies her parents, gets advice, goes against the advice of one trusted counselor and agrees to trust a more unknown one, makes a decision, faces real fears, chooses to make sacrifices, chances death, takes an unknown potion, embarks on an adventure that risks exile or worse. Discuss her character and personality. What does this act reveal about her that we didn't know before? How has her character changed since we first met her in act one? Be specific. Also, while Juliet is going through all of this, what is Romeo doing? How are their characters contrasted by this juxtaposition? What is Shakespeare perhaps suggesting about gender in this act and how does that also contrast from how the gendered "normal" world was presented earlier in the play?
B) When the nurse finds Juliet in Act 4, she appears to be dead. We assume that she isn't but what if she were? Who would you blame as responsible for Juliet's death and why? Back up your argument with specific details.
C) Consider the ending of the play. Is it a tragedy even though the city's natural order is restored by the ending of the feud? Were the deaths worth it?
D) Is the ending believable? Do you think R and J would really kill themselves over their thwarted love? Why or why not? Go deep into this analysis and don't just explore the surface.
E) In the film version of the play, what strategies does the director use to make the ending believable?
F) Choose either Romeo or Juliet and analyze their portrayal in the film. What characteristics are highlighted and how? Be specific? Is this faithful to the original play? Why or why not?
A) Act 4 is all Juliet. She considers options, defies her parents, gets advice, goes against the advice of one trusted counselor and agrees to trust a more unknown one, makes a decision, faces real fears, chooses to make sacrifices, chances death, takes an unknown potion, embarks on an adventure that risks exile or worse. Discuss her character and personality. What does this act reveal about her that we didn't know before? How has her character changed since we first met her in act one? Be specific. Also, while Juliet is going through all of this, what is Romeo doing? How are their characters contrasted by this juxtaposition? What is Shakespeare perhaps suggesting about gender in this act and how does that also contrast from how the gendered "normal" world was presented earlier in the play?
B) When the nurse finds Juliet in Act 4, she appears to be dead. We assume that she isn't but what if she were? Who would you blame as responsible for Juliet's death and why? Back up your argument with specific details.
C) Consider the ending of the play. Is it a tragedy even though the city's natural order is restored by the ending of the feud? Were the deaths worth it?
D) Is the ending believable? Do you think R and J would really kill themselves over their thwarted love? Why or why not? Go deep into this analysis and don't just explore the surface.
E) In the film version of the play, what strategies does the director use to make the ending believable?
F) Choose either Romeo or Juliet and analyze their portrayal in the film. What characteristics are highlighted and how? Be specific? Is this faithful to the original play? Why or why not?
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