The Shakespeare Conference: SHK 9.0871 Tuesday, 22 September 1998.
From: Kristen L. Olson <This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.>
Date: Monday, 21 Sep 1998 14:51:49 -0400 (EDT)
Subject: Wishbone
I missed Nancy Charlton's original query, so I apologize if I'm
duplicating any comments. I am a BIG Wishbone fan, but while the
majority of the Tempest episode is quite charming, I am troubled by a
version of this play that eliminates any trace of Caliban. While I am
well aware of the "practical constraints" any Wishbone version of any
work might be vulnerable to (my favorite moment...in the Odyssey episode
when Odysseus' bow is brought out, it is about four inches high...), I
worry about such significant abridgements when they drop so central an
central element from the original. (I also admit that I may be a bit
over-sensitive to this issue at this moment since I have just finished
grading the quizzes of undergraduates, 50% of whom seem not to have
recognized the significant contrasts between Ariel and Caliban while
responding to the short essay question "Is Ariel simply a Caliban who
obeys?"-I am not teaching this course, merely serving as a grader for a
large intro. Comp-Lit class). When do we begin to worry that we're
loosing "too much" in an effort to make important works "accessible" to
student audiences...of any age?
