- Title Pages
- List of Figures
- Acknowledgements
- A Note on References
- Introduction
- 1 Textual Shakespeare
- 2 Shakespeare and Poetry
- 3 Shakespeare and The Novel
- 4 Shakespeare and Translation
- 5 Shakespeare Anthologized
- 6 Shakespeare and Biography
- 7 Shakespeare and Early Modern Music
- 8 Shakespeare and Opera
- 9 Shakespeare and Classical Music
- 10 Shakespeare and Musical Theatre
- 11 Shakespeare, Ballet and Dance
- 12 Shakespeare and Popular Music
- 13 Shakespeare and Drama
- 14 Shakespeare and The Renaissance Stage
- 15 Shakespeare and The Restoration and Eighteenth-Century Stage
- 16 Shakespeare and The Victorian Stage
- 17 Shakespeare and The Modern Stage
- 18 Shakespeare and Contemporary Performance Spaces
- 19 Shakespeare for Children
- 20 Shakespeare and Teenagers
- 21 Shakespeare and The Comic Book
- 22 Shakespeare, Portraiture, Painting and Prints
- 23 Shakespeare, Sculpture and The Material Arts
- 24 Shakespeare Exhibition and Festival Culture
- 25 Shakespeare and Silent Film
- 26 Shakespeare on Film, 1930–90
- 27 Shakespeare on Film, 1990–2010
- 28 Shakespeare on Television
- 29 Shakespeare and Radio
- 30 Shakespeare on The Internet and in Digital Media
- Notes on Contributors
- Index
Shakespeare and Teenagers
Shakespeare and Teenagers
- Chapter:
- (p.377) 20 Shakespeare and Teenagers
- Source:
- The Edinburgh Companion to Shakespeare and the Arts
- Author(s):
Kevin J. Wetmore, Jr
- Publisher:
- Edinburgh University Press
This chapter first addresses the education system as a site where Shakespeare is aimed at teenagers with strategies of making the plays relevant to teenagers. Then it considers the primacy of Romeo and Juliet as the emblematic teen Shakespeare work. It also deals with Shakespeare for teenagers in two key appropriative markets: cinema and young adult novels. Teenagers encounter Shakespeare in the classroom as part of their secondary education. Since the sixties, Romeo and Juliet has achieved primacy in secondary education, presumably because of its teenaged heroine (and often-presented as teenaged hero, though Romeo is most likely in his early twenties and would have been played in the Lord Chamberlain's men by an adult actor). The adolescent's fear of Shakespeare and the concern that the plays might be boring or inaccessible are both removed by ensuring that Shakespeare only engages issues of concern to them.
Keywords: Shakespeare, teenagers, education, Romeo and Juliet, cinema, young adult novels, classroom
Edinburgh Scholarship Online requires a subscription or purchase to access the full text of books within the service. Public users can however freely search the site and view the abstracts and keywords for each book and chapter.
Please, subscribe or login to access full text content.
If you think you should have access to this title, please contact your librarian.
To troubleshoot, please check our FAQs, and if you can't find the answer there, please contact us.
- Title Pages
- List of Figures
- Acknowledgements
- A Note on References
- Introduction
- 1 Textual Shakespeare
- 2 Shakespeare and Poetry
- 3 Shakespeare and The Novel
- 4 Shakespeare and Translation
- 5 Shakespeare Anthologized
- 6 Shakespeare and Biography
- 7 Shakespeare and Early Modern Music
- 8 Shakespeare and Opera
- 9 Shakespeare and Classical Music
- 10 Shakespeare and Musical Theatre
- 11 Shakespeare, Ballet and Dance
- 12 Shakespeare and Popular Music
- 13 Shakespeare and Drama
- 14 Shakespeare and The Renaissance Stage
- 15 Shakespeare and The Restoration and Eighteenth-Century Stage
- 16 Shakespeare and The Victorian Stage
- 17 Shakespeare and The Modern Stage
- 18 Shakespeare and Contemporary Performance Spaces
- 19 Shakespeare for Children
- 20 Shakespeare and Teenagers
- 21 Shakespeare and The Comic Book
- 22 Shakespeare, Portraiture, Painting and Prints
- 23 Shakespeare, Sculpture and The Material Arts
- 24 Shakespeare Exhibition and Festival Culture
- 25 Shakespeare and Silent Film
- 26 Shakespeare on Film, 1930–90
- 27 Shakespeare on Film, 1990–2010
- 28 Shakespeare on Television
- 29 Shakespeare and Radio
- 30 Shakespeare on The Internet and in Digital Media
- Notes on Contributors
- Index