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Lacy Kitchin English 2100: Writing About Literature Spring 2013 Instructor: Jessica Camargo Annotated Bibliography

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Calderwood, James. A Midsummer Nights Dream: Anamorphism and Theseus Dream. Shakespeare Quarterly,Vo. 42, No. 4. (1991): 409-420. Jstor. Web. 02 April 2013. James Calderwood, the Professor Emeritus of English at University of California-Irvine and author and co-editor of several books and articles about Shakespeares works, explains how the female characters of A Midsummer Nights Dream represent traditional gender roles. Calderwood uses a gender studies/feminist approach to analyze gender roles contrasting Amazon culture with traditional gender roles found in the play. The main female roles of Hippolyta and Titania are compared as feminist figures. Calderwood uses specific examples to show their internal struggle between their desire for traditional motherhood and their feminist nature. He makes the comparison between Titania giving up the male child to Hippolyta giving up her masculine life as a warrior queen. The Amazon women were sometimes portrayed as cruel or tyrannous, with little regard for their children. This culture prevents Hippolyta from taking on the traditional female role she desires. Titania is immortal, and thus incapable of experiencing motherhood. Calderwood examines the male dominated society that was representative of Athens at the time. He dissects the reasoning behind Oberons punishment of Titania. He believes her desires for lower things such as motherhood or mortality cause her to neglect the higher things such as her husband. Despite her immortality, she is dependent on Oberon to free her from her enchantment with Bottom, reinforcing Oberons masculine role. Calderon references numerous sources to support his views. His ideas are logically supported by evidence in the text. This article would be very helpful to anyone struggling to understand the historical context and dynamic between the couples in the play.

Lehmann, Courtney. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Agenda: How Shakespeare and the Renaissance Are Taking the Rage out of Feminism.: Shakespeare Quarterly. Vol. 53. No. 2. (2002): 260-279. Jstor. Web. 02 April 2013.

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Courtney Lehmann, author of Shakespeare Remains and co-editor of Spectacular Shakespeare applies a feminist critical approach to a modern interpretation of A Midsummer Nights Dream as represented in the 1991 movie by exploring the patriarchal social structure of the time and the threats to this structure by the female characters. She thinks this pop-feminist interpretation represents the feminist of the 90s: the bitch, described as a single, professional, power-hungry female who is often portrayed as either a psychotic sexual predator or as a barren ice queen(266). A Midsummer Nights Dream begins with the men misbehaving but quickly shifts to the idea of women behaving badly, which is seen as a threat that must be suppressed, making the play a battle of the sexes. Tension stems from the female subjectivity, limiting the choices to either virgin/whore or good girl/bad girl. Lehmann argues Hermia is the virgin by begging Lysander to lie further off while Helena is the whore, asking Demetruis to Use me but as your spaniel. Bottoms wife is key to this interpretation. Her presence adds depth to Bottoms dissatisfaction as he represents the misogynistic fear that women appear to be the perfect good girl/virgin until after marriage. Then they turn into the bitch, forcing their husbands to look elsewhere for their ideal woman. This approach points out that blame is not placed on the male in this society. This article cites numerous other sources to support its claims and looks at feminism as represented in other movies contemporary to its time. Lehmann thoroughly dissects feminine struggle in a patriarchal society, as represented in Shakespeares A Midsummer Nights Dream. It would be helpful to anyone seeking a deeper understanding of the feminist interpretation of Shakespeares work.

Helms, Lorraine. Playing the Womans Part: Feminist Criticism and Shakespearean Performance. Theatre Journal. Vol. 41. No. 2. (1989): 190-200. The Johns Hopkins University Press. Jstor. Web. 02 April 2013. Lorraine Helms, co-author of The Weyward Sisters: Shakespeare and Feminist Politics uses a gender studies and psychological approach to analyze the performance of A Midsummer Nights Dream as it was during Shakespeares lifetime and compares it to modern performances. Her analysis focuses on the performance of the play instead of the play itself. Any

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change in the way the play was meant to be performed changes the play. The original play was performed with males playing female roles. Helms argues that changing this and allowing females to play female roles changes the intended interpretation of the play since plays were traditionally written for men, by men. The women of Shakespeare are meant to be caricatures. Some details are included to feminize young male actors, but when played by a woman, it can infantilize or eroticize the female actor as well as the character (196). Helms recognizes that female characters were never allowed alone on stage, further limiting an hope for an accurate view of the female role. The deeply patriarchal society divided women and men so greatly, that it could not be accurately represented in a modern performance. Helms uses examples from some of Shakespeares other works, as well as scholarly opinions to construct her argument. Her perspective grants deeper meaning to those trying to understand the female roles and social construct of the time. Understanding how the play is meant to be performed lends greater understanding of the work itself. However, the article itself does not offer a complete guide to understanding. It acts as more of an outline for approaching works from this era.

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Reflection I wanted to look at several different feminist and gender studies approaches to Shakespeare. I consulted several online databases that contain scholarly articles before I finally settled on Jstor. It had a wide variety of articles, many of which focused on the particular subject for which I was looking. Initially I tried to limit my research to anything concerning A Midsummer Nights Dream. This search was too broad, but I feared restricting it to a feminist approach would not yield enough results. This was the case on several databases, but Jstor yielded numerous results. Early in my research, I thought I would review at least one book on the subject, but I found that I could read from a wider variety of works if I focused on journals and articles. At this point, I feel fairly comfortable finding and working with secondary sources. I will definitely employ the skills learned from this assignment to other writing assignments in the future.