I have the pleasure of teaching Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice to grade tens in my practicum. I had never read the play before, but I liked my first reading of it. The play has a beautiful 2005 adaptation with Al Pacino as Shylock, and I would love to share this film with my students. Above is a clip from the movie, which shows one of Shylock's famous soliloquies from the play (Act 3:1). It's brilliantly done, but the director, Machael Radford, chose to stage this scene outside of a brothel. Which means...you guessed it, boobs. Though in the background, and of little importance, nudity is not something one is usually eager to bring into the classroom. Normally, I would go against censoring anything from my students, but I am dealing with a class that is mostly grade 10 boys. They aren't going to pay much attention to the quality dialogue in the first viewing.
But perhaps I'm underestimating them. It is still something I would like to address with my TA before using, but I still think it might be valuable for my students to view. Shylock is a very interesting character, and I would like to explore his different aspects with my students.
But perhaps I'm underestimating them. It is still something I would like to address with my TA before using, but I still think it might be valuable for my students to view. Shylock is a very interesting character, and I would like to explore his different aspects with my students.