1500-word essay on the cultural transmission of Shakespeare
Assignment 3 A 1,500-word essay on the cultural transmission of Shakespeare (30%).
Select one of the follow questions to answer:
Compile a maximum of three passages from the plays studied in this section of the module for an anthology of speeches for female Shakespearean actors and write a commentary on your decisions.
Your essay should explain your decision, analyse the significance of each speech on the theme of gender and consider how the speeches relate to one another. The passages are not included in the 1,500-word count.
According to Anne Helen Petersen, to be an ‘unruly woman’ is to ‘question, interrogate or otherwise challenge the status quo’: ‘there have been unruly women for as long as there have been boundaries of what constitutes acceptable “feminine” behaviour’. Writing on a maximum of two plays, discuss Shakespeare’s unruly female characters.
Your essay should consider what makes these women unruly by early modern standards, how their unruliness is evident in the play and in performance, and whether they are viewed similarly by contemporary audiences.
The Shakespeare ‘teenpic’ ‘uses the malleable and colourful context of an adolescent world to extend the boundaries of the “Shakespeare” phenomenon’ (Ariane M. Balizet). With reference to a maximum of two adaptations, discuss how Shakespeare’s comedies can be adapted for contemporary audiences.
Your essay should analyse illustrative examples from your chosen adaptations alongside the play.
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