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Mollie Zimmer English 2100: Writing About Literature Spring 2013 Instructor: Jessica Camargo Annotated Bibliography

Zimmer 2 Helms, Lorraine, Playing the Womans Part: Feminist Criticism and Shakespearean Performance. The Johns Hopkins University Press 41 (May 1989): 190-200. Theatre Journal. Web. 21 April 2013 Lorraine Helms, author of Playing the Womans Part: Feminist Criticism and Shakespearean Performance, discusses how womens roles in plays have been performed by men and what that does to the performance and meaning of the character. Helms uses a gender studies approach to interpret the differences between the male and female roles. Because male actors are being used to play roles as women, the men may incorrectly identify the part of the woman character and overly sexualize the role. Helms points out this quote to help his argument. In A Midsummer Nights Dream, Helena addresses the audience directly: How Happy some oer other some can be! Through Athens I am thought as far as she. But what of that? Demetrius thinks not so. He will not know what all but he do know; And as he errs, doting on Hermias eyes, So I admiring of his qualities [I.i.226-23 Specifically in A Midsummer Nights Dream, Helms discusses when Helena speaks to the audience of Hermias beauty and how Demetrius dotes on her. The performance is supposed to be comical and translate into a greensick girl, but instead it is played with erotic tones. Helms article was most agreeable for those who believe that womens roles should be played by women and men by men. Though there was only a brief mention of A Midsummer Nights Dream, the information surrounding the argument in relation to the poem was informative and showed how roles can be taken out of context if the individual performing the role, cannot relate.

Montrose, Louis Adrian. Shaping Fantasies: Figurations of Gender and Power in Elizabethan Culture. University of California Press 2 (Spring 1983): 61-94. Representations. Web. 22 April 2013 Louis Adrian Montrose discusses the gender issues that take place in A Midsummers Night Dream. Montrose takes note that the female roles are dependent on their male counterparts. The males want to control the woman and make them submissive in the play. Though Titania does have power over Bottom for a short period of time, this is only made possible by Oberon having control over Titania. While he

Zimmer 3 states this, he also mentions that the womens roles are of the motherly type. The same example can be used with Titania and Bottom. She takes care of him and makes sure he is comfortable. Montrose mentions that these roles in the film are that of actual gender roles in the Elizabethan times. Montrose also correlates an Amazonian style of the gender roles. The relationships between Oberon and Titania and Theseus and Hippolyta and Hermia and her father are only made possible when the women have succumbed to the men and become submissive. If Hermia does not marry Demetrius, she will either be murdered or will never be with a man again. Montrose points out that her father has control of her body and virginity. Though, Hermia does not become completely submissive to her father, it does prove that the men are in control. Another argument made about the gender roles, is Hermia and Helenas relationship. They choose to quarrel for their men instead of respect each others friendship. Montroses arguments are valid and hold truth to them. The gender roles in the poem do have a direct correlation to the times in which Shakespeare grew up with showed women as submissive and men as almighty.

Howard, Skiles. Hands, Feet, and Bottoms: Decentering the Cosmic Dance in A Midsummer Nights Dream. Shakespeare Quarterly 44 (Autumn 1993): 325-342. Folger Shakespeare Library. Web. 22 April 2013.

Skiles Howard refers to dances in which restore order and balance between the characters in A Midsummer Nights Dream. Howards article is based on gender studies and depicts the dances in feminine and masculine ways. Howard states that dancing in the Elizabethan times was used to show celebration and liveliness. It is also used to feel connected to one another. Howard uses specific examples from the text in order to create his argument. He speaks of Titania and the dance with her fairies which he explains is of an oral tradition. The words Titania uses to describe her dance are that of a feminine nature. Howard supports this evidence by saying the phrases our ringlets and our rounds are feminine. Where Titanias dance is feminine, Oberon actually refuses to do a typical dance of that time. Oberon would actually prefer to be by himself instead of with this dancing community. So instead he brawls with the dancers, which is in fact a dance itself. A brawl, of course, a noisy, turbulent quarrel.3But it was also a dance, a different kind of dance-boisterous where the round was serene, transitional where the round was traditional. A brawl was also used to exercise the mens bodies. The brawl was also used to entice Titania. This sounds of a masculine nature. It is typical of women to be more apt to dance and especially in a feminine way. Women are more prone to liking dainty fun activities, while men on the other hand enjoy showing their masculinity and how strong they are.

Zimmer 4 Mollie Zimmer Professor Camargo ENG 2100 23 April 2013

The sources I consulted for the annotated bibliography were the UNCC online catalog and Google Scholar. The articles I used were only from Google Scholar. Neither of the sources were very helpful though. I assumed it would have been easy to find articles relating to feminism or gender studies and this poem. It was not. In fact it was rather difficult. Many of the articles were discussing the movie and the play was not mentioned much, if at all. Considering I have completed an assignment like this before, I had a certain expectation going into it and that expectation was not met. I had to broaden my search for the topics and not be so specific. Even then it was challenging to find articles that related to the topic I wanted to discuss in my annotated bibliography. I do have a fairly comfortable level for finding sources. This experience has left me a bit frustrated but I am still comfortable in my ability to search for sources.