Scholars, Questions, and Editions

Gender and Sexuality

How does having strong, opinionated women change a play being written when women were believed to be inferior to me and with a position of silence to them? How does the balance of power between Rosalind and Orlando affect an interpretation of the play? How does sexual innuendos change the readings of otherwise benign passages? What does the queer situation add to the play?

Our edition intends to discuss the gender questions of women's roles and the balance of power, but not to enter into a conversation about sexuality or homosexuality. We felt these were not appropriate for a middle school edition. The conversations surrounding gender will focus on the subjects which will allow students to see the complications of gender without bringing the conversation to explicit materials.

Social Class

What separates social classes? Does class invade the pastoral? Which classes are represented within the As You Like It as a whole and in the pastoral in specific? What role does the pastoral play in the relations with other of the same and opposite genders?

In creating a middle school edition, we're looking to simplify the questions to ones appropriate for the age group. We intend to discuss court and the social classes by looking at the characters and time period to give the students a taste of conversation surrounding the issues of social class.

Historical Context

When was As You Like It written? When was it first performed? Is the poem "As the Dial Hand Tells O'er" a missing epilogue for the play?

To address the historical context, we would probably go to the introduction of the Arden Edition of As You Like It in order to provide a framework for the story in history. We would include a brief biography of Shakespeare's life and what theater was like at the time of his plays. We would not address these specific questions as in depth because middle schoolers may find it harder to follow and a bit confusing.

Theatricality and Portrayal

How do the differences between what Rosalind says and what she does nuance the play? How do scenes like Act IV scene i and their portrayal change the meaning and trajectory of the play? Is the spoken or performed more important?

These questions really only influence the way we handle Act IV scene i. Within this scene, there are some portions that we feel middle school students should not be interpreting. We intend to heavily address the portrayal questions, especially homoerotic suggesting events.

Editions

For young students, is it appropriate to use editions such as "No Fear Shakespeare" to help in reading the language? Or do you have students read the original text because there is a difference in the power of the words?

This dilemma applies directly to our edition because it is geared towards a middle school audience. We feel like we are the ones tackling this question because it is our decision as to whether or not we simplify or keep the Shakespeare's language. Our decision with regards to this question is that we want to keep as much as the students would be able to handle and simplify other parts to increase comprehension.

Much of these point we intend to address in the inter-act sections of our editions. These sections provide context and allow students to brainstorm their own insight. We hope in these sections that we can give students and insight into the time period, culture, or play which they can use to push their own learning with the help of open ended questions.

Bibliography

Franco, Caitilin, and Joseph Scotese. "Teacher to Teacher: What Value Do Side-by-Side or Parallel-Text Editions Such as No Fear Shakespeare or Shakespeare Made Easy Have in a Classroom?." The English Journal, 99.1 (2009). 33-4. Print.

Gay, Penny. "Women and eloquence in Shakespeare and Austen." Shakespeare, 6.4 (2010). 463-77. Print.
Hattaway, Michael. "Dating As You Like It, Epilogues and Prayers, and the Problems of 'As the Dial Hand  Tells O'er'." Shakespeare Quarterly, 60.2 (2009). 154-167. Print.

Kronenfield, Judy. "Social Rnak and the Pastoral Ideals of As You Like It." Shakespeare Quarterly, 29.3 (1978). 333-48. Print.

Khan, Michael. "A Note for Directors of As You Like It." Shakespeare Newsletter, 62.3 (2013). 117. Print.

Quarmby, Kevina. "'As the cony that you see': Rosalind's risque rabbits in As You Like It." Shakespeare, 6.2 (2010). 153-64. Print. 
Ronk, Martha. "Locating the Visual in As You Like It." Shakespeare Quarterly, 53.2 (2001). 255-76. Print.

Stirm, Jan. "'For Solace a Twinne-like Sister': Teaching Themes of Sisterhood in As You Like it and Beyond." Shakespeare Quarterly, 47.4 (1996). 374-86. Print.

Tracy, Ryan. "The unqueering of As You Like It." The Gay and Lesbian Review Worldwide, 17.4 (2010). 26-8. Print