All Shook Up: the Shakespeare Connection
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English/Language Arts Info Sheet All Shook Up: The Shakespeare Connection "Gosh, running away is so romantic, we’re just like Romeo and Juliet except we’re not dead." —Lorraine, from All Shook Up "The course of true love never did run smooth…" —- from A Midsummer Night’s Dream, by William Shakespeare Let yourself go! ike a play by Shakespeare seen Shakespeare’s day was going Lthrough a fun-house mirror, All through extreme changes. In Shook Up tips its hat to the Bard, Shakespeare Alive!, his book on especially his magical comedies the Elizabethan era, Joseph Papp such as Twelfth Night and A wrote, "Anxiety gripped individu- Midsummer Night’s Dream. Again als, families and the entire socie- and again, All Shook Up’s dialogue ty…The more things seemed to be refers to Shakespeare, whether it's teetering on the brink of chaos, the Lorraine's longing for the forbidden more Elizabethan society empha- love of Romeo and Juliet, Miss sized old concepts of order." In Sandra quoting Romeo’s, "O! I terms of marriage, that meant am fortune’s fool!" or Dennis establishing a hierarchy that winning Sandra’s heart with a looked a lot like the English Shakespearean sonnet. But beyond simple references monarchy: one ruler (the man) and his "subjects" (the or quotations, All Shook Up is inspired by the magical woman and children). But in plays such as A atmosphere of Shakespeare’s romantic comedies, the Midsummer Night’s Dream, As You Like It, and Twelfth idea of getting "letting yourself go" as Chad says, or Night, Shakespeare tests the idea of order by removing losing control in the midst of love. Even the statues his characters from civilization and placing them in come to life in All Shook Up,infected by this romantic wild and natural settings. In Shakespeare, it’s typically magic, what Shakespeare calls "night rule." a forest; in All Shook Up, it’s an abandoned fairground. Unhindered by the laws of civilization, men and women Shakespeare used love and romance to "shake up" the become infected with "night-rule": Love turns to hate, established order. During England’s Elizabethan Age passion to anger, and women masquerade as men. As [1558-1603], love and marriage were aspects of order. Matilda sings, "First they lose their common sense, and Like life in America during the 1950s, life in then they lose control." 6 Social Studies/History Info Sheet America, 1955 "If I can dream of a better land where all my brothers walk hand-in-hand tell me why, oh why, oh why can’t my dream come true – " —from All Shook Up ll Shook Up shows us a Asquare little town getting "shaken up": in one magical day, all its expectations and points of view are turned upside down! 1950s America, like Shakespeare’s Elizabethan England, teetered on the brink of great change. After the hor- rors of two World Wars, older Americans longed for peace and quiet. But their children had learned the dark lessons of those wars and could not go back to the way things had been. They dreamed of some- thing different, a better life. If those wars had been fought for freedom, they wanted that same freedom here in America. The 1950s was the launching point for a Civil Rights movement that sought to change hundreds of years of hatred, preju- educational facilities are inherently unequal." David dice, and segregation. Halberstam calls this decision "the moment that sepa- rated the old order from the new…It instantaneously Perhaps the most defining moment of the decade came broadened the concept of freedom…Brown v. Board of on May 17, 1954, when the Supreme Court ruled on Education was just the beginning of a startling new segregated schools in Brown v. Board of Education: period of change, not just in the area of civil rights, but "We conclude that in the field of public opinion the doc- in all aspects of social behavior. One era was ending trine of ‘separate but equal’ has no place. Separate and another beginning." 11 Social Studies/History Info Sheet McCarthyism in the 1950s For any musical innovation is full of danger to the whole State, and ought to be prohibited…when modes of music change, the fundamental laws of the State always change with them. —Plato, The Republic "Lady, I been to plenty of towns, and there’s always someone like you, bullyin’ people into buyin’ your version of what life should be! —Chad from All Shook Up known as Communism, was seen as a danger to democracy. Both sides built up weapons and secrets. It was called The Cold War. Into this tense time came Joseph McCarthy. On February 9, 1950, he stated in a speech that the Department of State was riddled with Communists. The speech electrified the nation and brought this Senator from Wisconsin to the national spot- light. Between 1950 and 1954, McCarthy dominated American poli- tics with his well-orchestrated hunt for Communists in government. No rt threatens Authority. Just as Plato’s ideal republic one dared to criticize him for fear of being denounced Awas threatened by new types of music thousands by him. The cartoonist Herbert Block coined the term of years ago, Mayor Matilda Hyde sees Chad’s music as for this paranoia: McCarthyism. a menace to her control in All Shook Up.Matilda’s feel- ings against Chad may seem amusing to us today, but In 1953, McCarthy began televised hearings, investi- during the 1950’s government pressure against art and gating Communist plots within the military. For the first artists was often deadly serious. time, the American public saw his methods. The Louisville Courier-Journal wrote, "McCarthy has shown The end of World War II had left the world in a tense himself to be evil and unmatched in malice." In 1954, stand-off which would last for decades. The Soviet he was officially condemned by the Senate. Stripped of Union, an ally in World War II, was now seen as a dire his power, McCarthy died only three years later. threat, as the Soviets took over more and more territo- McCarthy was gone, but many believe his legacy con- ry in Eastern Europe. The Soviet system of government, tinues to this day. 12 Authority figures Authority vs. rebellion n All Shook Up, the town citizens rebel against the rules, against what authority tells them is right. They need Ito follow their own dreams, to break the chains of unfair authority. This was what was happening in America in the 1950s. On the screen, on the stage, on the page and on the street, artists and activists were rebelling against the status quo. The lines were drawn. Who would you have followed? RICHARD NIXON After World War II, Richard Nixon became a Congressman from California, then went on to become a Senator in 1950. In 1952, he was selected, at age 39, to become Vice President under Dwight D. Eisenhower. He eventually became President himself in 1968, and later had to resign over the Watergate scandal. DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER "Anybody is a damn fool who wants to be President," said Dwight D. Eisenhower. For most of his life, Eisenhower was a soldier. He gained global renown during World War II as the leader of the Allied Forces landing in North Africa in November 1942, and the he was Supreme Commander of the troops invading France on D-Day in 1944. He became President in 1952, the last President born in the nineteenth century. His wife was Mamie. J. EDGAR HOOVER The leader of the Federal Bureau of Investigation for an unprecedented 48 years, Hoover garnered headlines during the 1940s and 50 for its harsh actions against Communist intelligence. Hated by many for his narrow world-view, he was feared by more for his secrets. JOSEPH R. MCCARTHY See page xx for more information. David Halberstam wrote, "McCarthyism crystal- lized and politicized the anxieties of a nation living in a dangerous new era." 14 Rebels MARLON BRANDO He represented the wild, the untamed, the confused teenag- er entering the second half of the 20th century. He led the battle against conformity, against the norm. He was the ultimate rebel. In his film The Wild One, he’s a member of a motorcycle club. "What are you rebelling against?" he’s asked. "Waddya got?" he replies. The entertainer Jackie Gleason said that Elvis Presley was a "guitar- playing Marlon Brando." MARTIN LUTHER KING One of the most beloved and influ- ential figures in American history, King gained prestige as a civil rights organizer when he led the successful Montgomery bus boy- cott in 1955–56. ROSA PARKS A retired seamstress, her refusal to give up her seat for a white man sparked the Montgomery, Alabama bus boycott, a pivotal flashpoint in the Civil Rights movement. ALAN FREED During the summer of 1951, Alan Freed began The Moondog Show on a radio station in Cleveland, calling himself the Moondog. With this powerful microphone, Freed promoted rock music during a time when many still believed it was evil. He is credited by many with bringing together white and black teenagers with the power of music. 15 Social Studies/History Info Sheet 1955 in a nutshell The fictional events of All Shook Up take place in the year 1955. Here are some REAL events that occurred during that important year: • On January 14, in New York City, DJ Alan Freed (see page xx) produces the first rock and roll concert. • The film Rebel Without a Cause, starring James Dean is released.