Annotations

"As You Like It"

Act I Scene iii

The scene: Rosalind and Celia have just returned from the wrestling match and Celia tries to enter into Rosalind's confidence. Duke Fredrick enters and banishes Rosalind.

Middle school

A middle school edition of this scene would face the most dramatic change from the scholarly explosion of footnotes and historical context that is the Arden. Although, it may actually look similar if you squinted at it—because, page for page, the text of the Middle School edition of As You Like It would occupy about the top half of the page, while the bottom would contain auxiliary information like definitions, pictures, plot clarifications, or the occasional contextual note about Shakespeare (if it may prove interesting or beneficial to a middle school audience.) The format of this edition is similar to the Family Editions of the LDS scriptures, which endeavor to translate the sometimes confusing language of the ancient scriptures to modern day speech as objectively as possible. For example, in this particular scene, the lines 115-120 describe Rosalind suggesting that to disguise oneself as a man is as easy as putting on a mask and adorning some cruel weaponry. This is a vital moment of the play, but Shakespeare’s particular verbiage (phrases such as, “…that I did suit me all points like a man,” and “that do outface it with their semblances”) may easily mask the essential action without further defining certain words—“all points” and “semblances”. The greatest fear here is that you give the youngest and most impressionable audience a biased reading of the story, but to a degree, this is inescapable. I personally believe that the value of coming away with a firm grasp on a story and a connection to characters outranks that of preserving a perfectly objective experience—which cannot exist in reality besides—at the middle school level.

High school

For starters, As You Like It annotated for a high school audience would not have footnotes that took up one-half to three-quarters of a page. It would probably frighten those poor adolescents. A secondary level edition would of course include, but not overwhelmingly so, notes to phrases or words with which students would be generally unfamiliar, providing a brief definition. The primary purpose of these annotations would be to provide clarity of the text and help with overall comprehension. An edition for this audience might occasionally include a culture references or two where pertinent, such as an explanation on the court system. However, this could also be included in the teachers edition of the text and not necessarily in the students edition. 

Undergraduate (not at BYU)

In an undergraduate edition of the text, more supplementary material would be provided for the students. Similarly, there would most likely be a considerable increase in the number and depth of footnotes and annotations. While much scholarly material would still be withheld, there would more likely be allusions to double meanings (perhaps including the more complex issues of gender, cultural connotations of words and events, as well as connections to the overarching themes that the play seems to address). Annotations to this particular scene could include potential allusions to Queen Elizabeth's famous speech to the Troops at Tilbury, and the historical implications of connecting Rosalind to Elizabeth. I also felt that our edition's inclusion of Rosalind's potential social commentary on the "masculine masquerade"that see is assuming via her disguise also would fit this reading audience. However, I do feel that there would be less overall annotations than our Arden Shakespeare edition.

Graduate

For a graduate edition, the annotations could have several focuses taken individually or collectively. Annotation materials may include historical parallels, such as banishing several dukes and earls from court; intertexual connections to literature of the time period, such as when Viola in Twelfth Night decides to cross dress as her brother; and cultural context, such as the inner workings of life at court and courtly intrigue. The annotations might also take on different lenses. The annotations may look at the power dynamics between Duke Fredrick, Celia, and Rosalind which occur from the threatened banishment, Celia's threat to run away, and the responses from each threat. Annotations could focus on the feminist angle--what does the banishment and Celia's disobedience to her father say about women, their role, and powers. Overall, the edition's annotations would include similar aspects to the undergraduate edition, but would go to a much deeper depth.