January
The Shakespeare Conference: SHK 12.0087 Tuesday, 16 January 2001 [1] From: Tony Burton <This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. > Date: Monday, 15 Jan 2001 12:12:30 -0500 Subj: Re: SHK 12.0038 Re: Literary vs. Theatrical Shakespeare [2] From: Sean Lawrence <This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. > Date: Monday, 15 Jan 2001 11:05:17 -0800 Subj: Re: SHK 12.0078 Re: Literary vs. Theatrical Shakespeare [3] From: Paul Swanson <This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. > Date: Monday, 15 Jan 2001 16:51:35 -0500 Subj: Re: SHK 12.0078 Re: Literary vs. Theatrical Shakespeare [1]----------------------------------------------------------------- From: Tony Burton <This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. > Date: Monday, 15 Jan 2001 12:12:30 -0500 Subject: 12.0038 Re: Literary vs. Theatrical Shakespeare Comment: Re: SHK 12.0038 Re: Literary vs. Theatrical Shakespeare In his 1999 "TheSpirit of Britain" a survey history written for the general public, the historian of Elizabethan art Roy Strong describes the state of literacy in England as follows: "Literacy was confined to a narrow band, by 1600 about 20% of men and 5% of women. Even then that represented a considerable increase. Protestantism, with its stress on the word, was to be a keen driving force, not to mention the ever-escalating demands of trade and commerce. Many could read, even if they could not write. A large percentage of north country gentry could certainly read but when it came to a signature all they could do was make their mark. Literacy was far more widespread in the south-east so it is hardly surprising that it was to be English as it was written and spoken there which was to become standard." If one accepts Strong's judgment-he is an art historian primarily and may therefore be challenged or his bibliography impugned-the supposed correspondence between literacy and the ability to sign one's name disappears, as do any generalizations about literacy that do not apply to Shakespeare's home county of Warwickshire, or his business world in London (setting aside any consideration of his regular visits to Italy, France, and Boston). One might also surmise from Shakespeare's literary proficiency that his own father was one of those who respected literary accomplishment generally and therefore more likely than not to have been among the 20% who did read. His leadership position in the community would rather strengthen this view than weaken it. And, if the proportion of readers was higher in London than elsewhere, the proportion among those who attended Shakespeare's plays and enjoyed his rhetorical sophistication and frequent recourse to classical and historical literary sources, or to legal conundrums, technical terms, and the like, was higher still than the norm for the rest of the city. Further, the demand for cheap quartos of his plays (enough to create a market for printed stol'n and surreptitious copies) certainly encourages the inference that his own admirers were among the reading population. And last, the strong influence of the university wits in the theater at large points to a close early connection with pretty high levels of educational attainment among theater patrons. I suspect Shakespeare appealed to a pretty well-read crowd, even within the play-going population. Tony B [2]------------------------------------------------------------- From: Sean Lawrence <This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. > Date: Monday, 15 Jan 2001 11:05:17 -0800 Subject: 12.0078 Re: Literary vs. Theatrical Shakespeare Comment: Re: SHK 12.0078 Re: Literary vs. Theatrical Shakespeare Thanks to Marcus Dahl for quoting "a poet and a filthy play-maker" (1618), especially as I happened to be looking for it this morning. I would like to add, though, that the professions were inverted by Thomas Beard in 1597, describing Marlowe as "by profession a play-maker and a poet of scurrility". Cheers, and thanks again, Se
The Shakespeare Conference: SHK 12.0086 Monday, 15 January 2001 From: Robert J. Matter <This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. > Date: Monday, 15 Jan 2001 10:47:33 -0600 Subject: New Play Shows Shakespeare's Characters in Revolt Against Him Here is a story about a new play by Naomi Claire Wallace called "Mad William" in which Hamlet, Macbeth and King Lear meet in a 20th century London pub and discuss their resentment at having to die in every performance. http://www.cnn.com/2001/books/news/01/12/shakespeares.people.ap/index.html -Bob Matter Hammond, IN
The Shakespeare Conference: SHK 12.0085 Monday, 15 January 2001 From: Jeff Powers-Beck <This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. > Date: Sunday, 14 Jan 2001 14:06:03 -0500 Subject: Shakespeare Position Assistant Professor, tenure-track beginning August 2001. Ph.D. required with specialty in Shakespeare. Twelve-hour/semester teaching load also includes freshman composition and sophomore literature. Responsibilities include research, service, and advising. Application, c.v. and three letters of recommendation by Feb. 26, 2001, to Dr. Jeff Powers-Beck, Search Committee Chair, Dept. of English, Box 70683, East Tennessee State University, Johnson City, TN 37614.
The Shakespeare Conference: SHK 12.0084 Monday, 15 January 2001 From: Asami Nakayama <This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. > Date: Sunday, 14 Jan 2001 11:54:33 +0900 Subject: Re: Henry VIII In Margaret George's novel, THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF HENRY VIII, Henry's body is said to have emitted red liquid after it had been placed in the coffin. The narrator doesn't say the liquid was blood. He just says it was mysterious and weird. It is a fiction, but is based on an enormous amount of research by the author. If there had been such a catching episode as the exploding body, Ms George wouldn't have failed to include it in her novel. Anyway, the body was embalmed, so it couldn't have been so much decomposed that it eventually exploded! Asami Nakayama P.S. I didn't know Oscar Wilde exploded in his casket <Emma French. Is there a tradition of tales about exploding bodies?
The Shakespeare Conference: SHK 12.0083 Monday, 15 January 2001 From: Rachana Sachdev <This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. > Date: Friday, 12 Jan 2001 23:05:39 -0500 Subject: Reminder: CFP Call for Papers Cultural Performances Sixth Annual Undergraduate Shakespeare Conference March 16-17, 2001 Susquehanna University Papers, workshops, interactive presentations, and performances that explore the issues of race, ethnicity, class and gender within the plays and within stage and film adaptations of Shakespeare's plays are especially welcome. Special consideration will be given to work on A Midsummer Night's Dream, Twelfth Night, Much Ado About Nothing, Othello, Merchant of Venice, Titus Andronicus and. Antony and Cleopatra. Highlights: "X Shakespeare in Performance "X Shakespeare and Film "X Workshops on Individual Plays "X Traditional Paper Sessions The two best essays will be awarded prizes of $300 and $200 respectively. Designed to foster scholarship at the undergraduate level, this conference provides a forum where undergraduates may exchange ideas, creatively rework texts, and present research in a semi-formal setting. Papers should be about 7-9 pages long (reading time about 15 minutes). Each workshop and performance will be allotted 25-40 minutes, and leaders need to plan their ideas and activities accordingly. E-mail submissions are welcome. The conference will start on Friday, March 16, and will include two plenary speakers as well. Sessions will run through the day on Saturday, and we will conclude with a post-conference party on Saturday evening. Selinsgrove offers inexpensive accommodations, and some room subsidies are available. Please send one to two page abstracts and brief biographical information by January 15 to: Dr. Rachana Sachdev Carl Steidel 514 University Avenue Susquehanna University Selinsgrove, PA 17870-1001 AND 514 University Avenue Phone:(570) 372-4200 Selinsgrove, PA 17870 Fax: (570) 372-2774 Phone: (570) 372-3393 e-mail:This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. email:This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.