The Shakespeare Conference: SHK 11.2305  Tuesday, 11 December 2000

From:           Mike Jensen <
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Date:           Monday, 11 Dec 2000 11:09:46 -0800
Subject: Re: Shakespeare's Contemporaries
Comment:        SHK 11.2292 Re: Shakespeare's Contemporaries

This may sound like a goofy pairing, but I'm team teaching a class in
the winter quarter and one of our plays is Merry Wives.  My partner
wants to read it with one of the city comedies, and is leaning towards
The Roaring Girl.  While I suppose any city comedy will do, I'd go with
Mad World, or another if it were down to me.

I am going to show a clip from I Love Lucy (Lucy on a ledge in a
Superman costume) along with the basket scene from the BBC Merry Wives
to demonstrate how close this play is to a modern sitcom.  Now there is
a strange pairing.  Some will want to note that the empowerment issues
contrast interestingly between Lucy and Wives.

All the best,
Mike Jensen