Shakespeare and Star Trek
I think there's plenty of information on the page, but maybe it could be better organised somehow. I like the way its been written, but I'd like to know what other people think about it. Zsingaya 19:38, 7 April 2006 (UTC)
- I think it would be good if the works by Shakespeare that have their own articles at MA were linked like:
The title is a reference to Macbeth, Act II, Scene i.
Also, here are links to two books that might be helpful as well:
The Literary Galaxy of Star Trek: An Analysis of References And Themes in the Television Series
--Jörg 21:22, 7 April 2006 (UTC)
- Hey, that sounds like a good plan, Jorg. Also, those books both look very good :-) ZsingayaFile:Maco-corporal.png 21:53, 7 April 2006 (UTC)
My main concern is the POV, because we need to make it sound less less critical and more encyclopedic (e.g. "it is only fitting that he becomes the basis for drama in the future") in places. Couple of other things, such as in some areas the Roman numerals for both act and scene are capitalized, while in others the scene is in lower case letters (I don't know what's the "proper" way to do this), and there are some places where we've yet to elaborate upon where the quote came from.
Those books would be intersting reads, and if anyone has access to them or is interested in them, we could get some additional info from their authors' takes on the issue. The link between Shakespeare and Star Trek is something I've always heard about but never looked into, so it's a great topic to cover! Overall I definitely like what I see.
As for organization we could have a section on Roddenberry's use of Shakespeare as a platform for exploring modern-day issues, then another on how this style disappeared over time, and a separate one somewhere about how a lot of Star Trek actors were used to doing stage work and whatnot.
One last thing I remembered: where's the mention of the debacle that became The Outrageous Okona? :-) Weyoun 23:29, 9 April 2006 (UTC)
- There's way more to be said on this topic that I'd have thought, but I think it's a good idea to split the "Effects on the Franchise" section thus:
- TOS and TNG, or possibly a separate section for each of those if there's enough to be said about how differently the two used Shakespeare
- Post-TNG series and the relative lack of Shakespearean influence, maybe a bit about possible causes
- Differing interpretations of the relationship between Trek and Shakespeare, along with a bit more on the notion that it can be construed as an attempt to bring Shakespeare to the mainstream American audience and, by some accounts, "claim" Shakespeare as their own.
- Book sources would be good, but I don't think we should necessarily wait around for them to come. See here for some stuff we might have missed and here for a good analysis of misc. things such as which characters represent Shakespearean ones in various episodes. Let's prove to Wikipedia that Memory Alpha is the definitive Trek reference and not just some spin-off of WP. ;) --Vedek Dukat Talk | Duty Roster 02:36, 10 April 2006 (UTC)
- With regard to the citation, the part about Undiscovered Country does this correctly; to cite a specific line within a scene within an act within a play, you would say "Hamlet III.i.57" (act 3, scene 1, line 57). I suppose you would thus say "Act III, scene i" if you were doing it in prose, although I'm partial to formal citations. Weyoun 19:22, 14 April 2006 (UTC)