Pennoni Honors College

Emily McKeon

College of Arts & Sciences

English

Faculty Mentor: Dean Paula Marantz Cohen

Pennoni Honors College

William Shakespeare and Age Criticism

This project was focused on William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet as well as King Lear. While many interpretations can be made through Shakespeare’s works, the question being raised through this project was how elder audiences perceive the texts in comparison to the interpretation of younger audiences. The project collected data through a questionnaire on audience interpretations of King Lear, while Romeo and Juliet’s interpretations were analyzed through a thorough analysis between myself and Dean Cohen. This data was then applied towards age criticism, a theory established around audience interpretations based on age and life experiences.

William Shakespeare’s works, particularly his plays, have been examined by a multitude of scholarly networks. Research on age criticism has been minimal as more emphasis has been placed on gender response. Additionally, the relatively recent reader-response theory has led to a renewal of interpretations. However, age theory is a relatively unexplored area of reader-response. Through the development of two groups, a clear picture was formed as to how age leads to a unique differing as well as a surprising link in interpretations of the texts, adding to the growing theory of age criticism.