[Kragey]

I'm writing a scholarly paper that has to be at least 15 pages, which is about 7.5 single-spaced pages. I finally have 4 full single-spaced pages. By my reckoning, I can get what I have now up to roughly 6 single-spaced pages. That's about 2 single-spaced pages too short.

askdjfaslkdfj3asefkljARGH!

My paper is on sexual taboos in Shakespeare's dramas, namely incest, homosexuality, and cross-dressing. Here's what I've got so far:

INCEST:
in Hamlet.
in King Lear.
in Measure for Measure, as a source of humor.
HOMOSEXUALITY:
in Measure for Measure.
in The Merchant of Venice.
in The Two Noble Kinsmen.
in A Midsummer Night's Dream.
in Romeo and Juliet, as a source of humor.
CROSS-DRESSING:
in Twelfth Night, as a source of humor.
in As You Like It.
in The Merchant of Venice.

Any ideas for additonal content? This is due on Monday at 3pm and I am DESPERATE.

CATCHES:
1. No "tricks" to make it longer. She is very strict on MLA format and requires digital copies as well. So no minimizing the margins, altering font sizes, etcetera. That includes doing the "replace" trick.
2. It has to be 15 pages WHEN THE BLOCK QUOTES ARE REMOVED. Again, she knows that trick.
3. It has to be something I can write at least one decent paragraph about.

[Beagle On Stage]

It might be obvious, but all I've got for you is possibly make sure you play up the final monologue in "As You Like It" - demonstrating in great detail that Shakespeare openly acknowledges the sexual taboos he uses.

Maybe for homosexuality, talk about how there isn't a lot of kissing because it was all guys, but when there is it's always a HIGHLY erotic moment.

And the possibly bi Shakespeare himself.

Damn, your teacher's a hardass.

[Annie]

Richard III is just dripping with animalistic sexuality.
- The wooing of Lady Anne by Richard, in the presence of her father-in-law's corpse, who he murdered.
- Richard trying to convince Queen Elizabeth, in a spitting and brilliant argument, to allow him to her daughter the princess. In this scene he is fiercely sexual and conniving toward the Queen in attempt to gain access to the next in line for the throne (although he is already king at this point in the play)

. . .

The real case here is the use of sex as a method of manipulation and the ways at which it can be used to disguise agenda. Also, both women in the above examples are in such extreme positions of desperation that it is interesting to examine their reactions to the advances and propositions. Lady Anne has lost her dear father-in-law, among others, and her family line, the Lancasters, have been beaten out in the Wars of the Roses. At the time of the scene with Queen Elizabeth, she has lost her two young sons, Rivers and Grey (brother and son) to Richard's hand, along with most of her courtly allies and is completely alone and broken. Somehow, she ends up giving in to Richard's forceful pleas and giving him her daughter. How is he able to turn both of these otherwise strong women in the palm of his hand?
The latter example is also oddly incestuous. He is the uncle of the princess as her father, Elizabeth's late husband, was King Edward IV, Richard III's brother.

Maybe you can use some Richard III stuff in your paper. There's enough in there to fill 15 pages unto itself!

Quite the hefty assignment you've got there. Oy. I'm working on my final paper right now for History of Literature and Theatre VI class . . . a six semester course. OY. I feel your pain. My paper is about pre-colonized Indian theatre. Woot.

Good luck!! xox

[benjivaudeville]

You could possibly question the relationships between Mercutio and Romeo and Friar Lawrence and Romeo.

If you give me until after I sleep, I'll give you a bit more reasoning behind my saying this. Sorry. I'll be back as soon as I can.

[Robinflamingo]

[blue wind]

well...i am not as familiar with shakespeare as i should be, but i just read the tempest for school so it's sort of on my mind. maybe homosexuality between trinculo and stephano?

or, a better idea, incest between prospero and miranda? i mean, they spent like 12 years on a island where they were the only humans....

[Kragey]

1. Thanks for Richard III, but sadly, that doesn't quite fit in to one of the three taboos.
2. She doesn't want us to write single spaced. I do it because it's easier for me and makes me "feel better" when I change the paragraphing.
3. I wanted to add a fourth taboo--interracial marriage--but Othello is the only play I can think of that follows that theme.
4. Good idea with The Tempest--I'll see what I can get.

[Robinflamingo]

No, no, you missed the point in Othello - it can be interracial, yes, but it's also bestiality, according to the mores of that time. Can you do something with Caliban in a similar vein?

[Kragey]

Perhaps...I'll definitely turn to that when I run out of ideas for my current topics. Thank you so much, guys!

[Roger's Chica]

If you just want to throw another paragraph into the crossdressing, there's also Julia in Two Gentlemen of Verona.

[Kragey]

Up to 6.5ss pages. I can probably add the last two beastality bits for 7ss pages, and combined with the expansions, that should be almost 7.5ss pages. I bet I can get it in to 8ss pages if I talk about homosexuality some more, although I'm loath to do it--that taboo takes up as much room as the other three combined. O_o