Description
Book SynopsisWhen adapting Shakespeare''s comedies, cinema and television have to address the differences and incompatibilities between early modern gender constructs and contemporary cultural, social, and political contexts. Screening Gender in Shakespeare's Comedies: Film and Television Adaptations in the Twenty-First Century analyzes methods employed by cinema and television in approaching those aspects of Shakespeare''s comedies, indicating a range of ways in which adaptations made in the twenty-first century approach the problems of cultural and social normativity, gender politics, stereotypes of femininity and masculinity, the dynamic of power relations between men and women, and social roles of men and women. This book discusses both mainstream cinematic productions, such as Michael Radford''s The Merchant of Venice or Julie Taymor''s The Tempest, and more low-key adaptations, such as Kenneth Branagh''s As You Like It and Joss Whedon''s Much Ado About Nothing, as well as the three comedies o
Trade ReviewThe field of academic research on Shakespeare and screen adaptations has been rapidly expanding over the past decades, and Cieślak’s interdisciplinary study provides a welcome critical addition. . . In a highly topical book, also considering the ongoing #MeToo debate, the author explores the tensions and negotiations between early modern attitudes towards gender and the way twenty-first century adaptations relate to those issues in terms of current gender politics. . . . With all the insightful analysis in her timely book, Cieślak has hopefully also provided an impetus for further research in this highly topical field.
* Sederi Yearbook *
Magdalena Cieslak’s Screening Gender offers insightful readings of Shakespeare’s romantic comedies and their representation in twenty-first-century film. In a comprehensive survey, she identifies the early modern constructions of gender, marriage, and female sexuality embedded in Shakespeare’s texts and illuminates the ways they are replicated and sometimes interrogated in cinematic adaptations. -- Virginia Mason Vaughan, Clark University
Table of ContentsPart I: Doing It “Straight”
Chapter 1—Michael Radford’s The Merchant of Venice
Chapter 2—Kenneth Branagh’s As You Like It
Chapter 3—Julie Taymor’s The Tempest
Chapter 4—Joss Whedon’s Much Ado About Nothing
Part II: BBC’s ShakespeaRe-Told—Retelling Shakespeare for Political Correctness
Chapter 5—BBC’s ShakespeaRe-Told Much Ado About Nothing, dir. Brian Percival
Chapter 6—BBC’s ShakespeaRe-Told The Taming of the Shrew, dir. David Richards
Chapter 7— BBC’s ShakespeaRe-Told A Midsummer Night’s Dream, dir. Ed Fraiman
Conclusion: Girl Power or Will Power?
Epilogue: Bridget Jones’s Baby
