Our resident Dramaturg Dr. Philippa Kelly asks: WILL PASSION BRING OUT THE ASS IN YOU? The moment Bottom gets entangled as the object of Titania’s passion, he’s transformed into an ass (‘Oh Bottom, thou art translated.’) Does passion ‘translate’ people into their beastly selves, blunting their reason at the service of…
The Tumultuous Transformations of “The Green World”: A Midsummer Night’s Dream is an example of Shakespeare’s use of forested and wild settings referred to by scholars as the “Green World.” The principal characters converge in this Green World and, free of the constraints of the “Real World” can…
The Zany Players of A Midsummer Night’s Dream A Mechanical is any of six characters in A Midsummer Night’s Dream who perform the play-within-a-play “Pyramus and Thisbe,” and who are collectively known as the “Rude Mechanicals.” Named for their occupations as skilled manual laborers, they are a group of amateur actors from around Athens, looking to make names for…
Get Ready for The Taming of the Shrew: Understanding the “Induction” “Induction” doesn’t only mean “bringing someone to a position,” like inducting them into the Army or the Hall of Fame. It also means “bringing about or giving rise to” the action, as Shakespeare cleverly demonstrates with his Induction Scene in The Taming of the Shrew.…
