Which Shakespeare play to choose for Middle Ages/Ren/Ref, and need a lit guide for it

[HappyGrace]

I just want to choose one to go in depth on with dd11 (6th grade next yr). She is pretty familiar w/ the Bard and has enjoyed full-length live productions of M'summer N's Dream, As You Like It, Much Ado. (We haven't read the full-length plays ourselves of them though-just excerpts and Nesbit and Jim Weiss retellings)

 

I don't want something too heavy. AND I would LOVE a (preferably Christian) lit guide of some type to go with it.

 

Thanks so much! :)

[Caitilin]

Happy,

I am no help on the lit guides, but I can talk relatively intelligently about the plays. If you want something not too heavy, does that mean you don't want a tragedy? The thing is that the comedies are, well, not G-rated. :D As this is something that every family must discern on its own, I can't tell you how to proceed with that. I am OK with that--others are not. ;)

 

Personally, I would recommend the Tempest, as there is no death and minimal sexual content; plus, you can talk about politics; political/personal freedom vs. servitude; paternal, filial, and romantic love; isolation and isolationism, etc.

[Heather in VA]

I always hesitate to recommend since my idea of heavy is probably not someone else's. I don't tend to find his tragedies heavy mostly because I find them excellent stories and more dark than heavy. My absolute favorite is MacBeth. My kids have had a great time acting out some of the famous scenes. I don't find it heavy at all. But then I thought the movie Fargo was hilarious so maybe I'm the wrong person to ask :-).

 

Taming of the Shrew is hilarious but has a decent amount of sex in it.

 

I agree that the Tempest is pretty mild. I was in a production in jr. high. It's decent but I like others better. Midsummer Night's Dream is a good choice as well. You could go with a history (Julius Caesar, Antony and Cleopatra etc) but I don't think they are the best introduction to Shakespeare.

 

I don't know what to recommend for guides. We either just read them together and discuss (we also usually rent them on video after we read) or we've used Omnibus.

 

Heather

[justamouse]

Here is Mater Amabilis' Shakespeare Notes which are a great beginning, and a breakdown of plays.

[M&M]

A teacher at our co-op used this book as a guide.

 

http://http://www.amazon.com/Brightest-Heaven-Invention-Christian-Shakespeare/dp/1885767234/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1305568113&sr=1-1

[Spock]

My soon to be 6th and 4th grader will be reading (and watching on DVD) Midsummer Night's Dream, Taming of the Shrew, and King Lear next year. They have watched (but not read) Othello, Hamlet, and MacBeth. Their favorite so far seems to be Othello, but they haven't seen any comedies yet. (Their older brothers have been choosing our yearly Shakespeare for the past two years, and they only like the tragedies and histories. The older two have also watched Henry V and Antony & Cleopatra, but those movies weren't good for the younger two.)

[HappyGrace]

Great-this is such a helpful starting point-I appreciate it!

 

I think I'm leaning toward Macbeth or Tempest based on these posts, but I need to read about them with the great link provided and see how I feel after that.

 

I know she would love Taming of the Shrew (she loved the Jim Weiss retelling), but I recently saw a production of it and might wait a little on that one for her.

 

I am actually considering Omnibus too-I had just been looking at that the other day but didn't think it would be worth it right now for the couple books we might do out of it next yr.

[Caitilin]

Ok, I love Macbeth, and in fact I am directing the play (my Shakespeare class is putting it on) this summer, but I would definitely recommend you preread it.

 

If you are not sure about Beowulf, I don't think you'd be sure about Macbeth either. There's lots of murder, plus madness, witches, intrigue, ghosts, and did I mention murder? It's great, and dramatic, and good wins in the end, but lots of good people die in between.

[Gratia271]

For that time frame, my daughter read Macbeth and Henry V. We didn't use any notes, just discussion. She really enjoyed Henry V.

[Heather in VA]

Ok, I love Macbeth, and in fact I am directing the play (my Shakespeare class is putting it on) this summer, but I would definitely recommend you preread it.

 

If you are not sure about Beowulf, I don't think you'd be sure about Macbeth either. There's lots of murder, plus madness, witches, intrigue, ghosts, and did I mention murder? It's great, and dramatic, and good wins in the end, but lots of good people die in between.

 

Yea but it's great murder - really get into it, wonderfully written, insane, it's just really, really good.

 

Heather

[Lori D.]

I just want to choose one to go in depth on with dd11 (6th grade next yr). She is pretty familiar w/ the Bard and has enjoyed full-length live productions of M'summer N's Dream, As You Like It, Much Ado. (We haven't read the full-length plays ourselves of them though-just excerpts and Nesbit and Jim Weiss retellings)

 

I don't want something too heavy. AND I would LOVE a (preferably Christian) lit guide of some type to go with it.

 

Thanks so much! :)

 

The one Christian guide we used and greatly enjoyed is Brightest Invention of Heaven -- excellent guide, but it's quite in-depth analysis of themes, and really at a high school/adult level. It covers Macbeth, Hamlet, Taming of the Shrew, Much Ado About Nothing, Julius Caesar, and Henry V.

 

No personal experience with The Complete Guide to Shakespeare's Best Plays, but it is a Christian guide, at a high school level, and covers, Romeo & Juliet, Hamlet, Macbeth, Julius Caesar, Midsummer Night's Dream, and The Tempest.

 

And finally, again, no personal experience, Progeny Press has high school level Christian guides for Hamlet, Julius Caesar, Macbeth, Merchant of Venice, and Romeo & Juliet. See samples at http://www.christianbook.com. (We have used some of the Progeny Press high school level guides -- just not any of the Shakespeare ones.)

 

At a middle school/early high school level are the very good (secular) Parallel Shakespeare materials, a side-by-side original translations with a modern translation next to it. These all also have a helpful teacher guide (Hamlet, King Lear, Merchant of Venice, Midsummer Night's Dream, Othello, Taming of the Shrew), and just a few of the plays (Macbeth, Julius Caesar, Romeo & Juliet) ALSO have helpful student workbooks. Macbeth is one of these, and it was a great resource as our first outing in reading Shakespeare -- though, I have boys. ;)

 

Here is an interesting article on Christians studying Shakespeare, with a few resources at the end.

 

 

As far as which play to go with -- how about reading one you've already seen and enjoyed? Much Ado About Nothing is pretty lively throughout. Midsummer Night's Dream is pretty accessible. Or if you want to try something new, Macbeth is very readable. Yes, there is murder and madness, but really, it's all "off stage" and is MUCH more distant in reading the dialogue of the play compared to watching the play. Just my opinion, but the themes in Macbeth are very accessible for young teens/pre-teens, too. And if you go with the Macbeth, I highly recommend the parallel Shakespeare -- at a minimum, the teacher guide and student workbook; lots of great stuff to help a middle-schooler dive in! :)

 

I would also highly recommend Twelfth Night as a good beginner play. It is a pretty easy to follow story, and if you can ever find it on VHS or DVD, there is a *wonderful* Broadway musical adaptation of the storyline, set in Harlem of the 1920s to the music of Duke Ellington -- who is the Duke character of Twelfth night. :) It is called "Play On!" and was aired on PBS about 10 years ago. And speaking of adaptations of Shakespeare plays, if you go with Romeo and Juliet, consider watching West Side Story -- our (then) pre-teen aged boys loved it. And if you go with Much Ado About Nothing, enjoy the Kenneth Braughnan/Emma Thompson film version -- though DO skip the opening pre-play scene of everyone washing up and preparing to meet at Leonato's house (a few quick shots of bare bums). And from Netflix (or maybe even your local library), you can get the 1980 videotaped live production of Taming of the Shrew starring John Cleese as Petruchio. The bawdiness is very underplayed, or will go over kids' heads, and he gives the ending such a lovely, gentle interpretation, in which you really feel he DID love Katherine all along and wanted the best for HER sake, and was NOT just doing it for the money.

 

 

Enjoy your adventures with the Bard, whatever you go with! Warmest regards, Lori D.

Edited May 16, 2011 by Lori D.

[ShellChelle]

What about A Winter's Tale? My kids and two homeschooled friends re-enacted scenes of this play a few years ago, and the oldest two at the time were only 8-years-old. They had a great time using puppetry, costumes, etc... They even dressed up the dog to act as a bear. It was fun and they still remember the play.