Intertextual

Tanya Sykes Literature for Young Adults Michael Sherry 1/29/11    Intertextual Shakespeare // A Midsummer Night’s Dream // is a comedy written by the most famous playwright in history, William Shakespeare. The play portrays the events surrounding the marriage of the Duke of Athens, Theseus, and the Queen of the Amazons, Hippolyta. These include the adventures of four young Athenian lovers and a group of amateur actors, who are manipulated by the fairies that inhabits the forest in which most of the play is set. This timely classic is one of Shakespeare’s most performed plays; it is because of this reason that this comedy is required reading for many high school students across the states. In Susan Cooper’s novel, // King of Shadows //, Cooper’s writes a about a young man who travels back in time and performs with Shakespeare in // A Midsummer Night’s Dream. // Cooper’s adaptation of // A Midsummer Night’s Dream // is the perfect text to help middle or high school students to become interested in Shakespeare. // King of Shadows // is a Shakespeare inspired novel written by novelist Susan Cooper to incite interest in the minds of young adults about Shakespeare. Many English teachers can agree that for some young adults Shakespeare’s works are hard to read or difficult to comprehend. For instance, the Elizabethan dialect in which Shakespeare uses in his play, // A Midsummer Night’s Dream //is foreign to American high school students living in this era. “Over hill, over dale, thorough bush, through briar, over park, over pale, thorough flood, thorough fire, I do wander everywhere” (Copper 24). This line from the play can be deciphered by college students effortlessly, but for some high school students in America, a twenty-first century American translation may be hard to construct. In the text, Copper gives lines from the play, but because Cooper understands that some middle and high school students will not be able to understand the old English dialect, in the novel Copper has Nat describe the meaning of Shakespeare’s lines: “His face was alight with excitement, his voice clear and high as a flute; he was this eerie little creature the fairy, flickering about to serve Titania, his queen” (24). Nat’s translation will help some students comprehend Shakespeare’s wording. // King of Shadows // is a great piece of young adult literature because it contrasts between two cultures: twenty first century America and fifteenth century England. With this piece of literature, school students will be able to learn about the difference between the ways in which people in the fifteenth century lived with the ways of contemporary America. When Nat first arrives in the year 1599, he finds it extremely hard to adjust to the old ways of living. Nat describes the differences in Copper’s novel: “but the London of that time was full of church clocks striking the quarter-hours, and church bells ringing for service; of watchmen ringing hand bells in the street and shouting out the time, and town criers calling out the news” (Copper 50). To young school students, the book presents the notion that there are big distinctions between the days in which Shakespeare lived in, and the contemporary societies of today. These distinctions will help students learn about the history of the Elizabethan era and the history of // A Midsummer Night’s Dream. //   In most high schools, Shakespeare’s plays are required readings. // A Midsummer Night’s Dream // aligned with Susan Copper’s // King of Shadows // would be a great combination of reading for middle and high school students across America. Teachers should introduce this combination, because // A Midsummer Night’s Dream // is not only a classic, but a fun and entertaining story. After students read Shakespeare’s play, it would be a wise idea to introduce Copper’s novel, because // King of shadows // will help them understand Shakespeare’s play better. Students will have the opportunity to compare and contrast the two, and by contrasting the two it will give them the opportunity to do group work or fun and academic activities related to the two works.