: Shakespeare uses blank verse to convey depth; Bloedel uses forced, playful rhymes to create a lighthearted tone
Below is an original paper exploring how this adaptation bridges the gap between classical literature and modern whimsy.
| Shakespeare | Seussification | |-------------|----------------| | Tragic ending | Happy, silly ending | | Iambic pentameter | Anapestic tetrameter (da-da-DUM) | | Swords | “Zizzers” (nonsense weapons) | | Apothecary | “Whoozit” creature | | Paris | A football-obsessed jock | | Queen Mab speech | A surreal, extended Seuss dream sequence | seussification of romeo and juliet pdf
In Shakespeare, this is poetry. In Seussification, Romeo looks up and says: "But soft, what light through yonder window breaks? / It looks like a lamp, for heaven’s sakes!" Juliet appears, but she cannot find the balcony. She is supposed to stand on a box, but the box keeps collapsing. The scene devolves into a physical comedy bit where Friar Laurence enters too early, apologizes, and leaves.
While full professional scripts are typically protected by copyright and available for purchase through publishers like Playscripts or Concord Theatricals , you can find helpful summaries and educational articles online: The Seussification of Shakespeare - The Hindu : Shakespeare uses blank verse to convey depth;
Family conflict and young love, viewed through a silly, fast-paced lens. Availability: Scripts are published by Playscripts, Inc.. "Seussification" Elements
Did you enjoy this guide? Share it with your drama department. Looking for more Seussified classics? Check out Peter Bloedel’s other works, including “The Seussification of A Midsummer Night’s Dream.” / It looks like a lamp, for heaven’s sakes
“O ho, little Rome-o, I’ll tell you a tale / Of Mab, the small Queen with a flea for a sail. / She rides in a nut-shell, her chariot a pea, / With wheel-spokes of spider-web, humming with glee. / She gallops by night on a snozzle-wart’s nose, / And tickles young dreamers right down to their toes. / This Mab—yes, that Mab—she brings dreams to the crowd: / To lovers, of kissing; to courtiers, a shroud; / To lawyers, of fees; to a soldier, of cuts— / Of trenchers, of fences, of two-handed butts. / And sometimes she whacks them with old tail of rat, / And they wake up and cry, ‘What a Zizzer-Zaz-ZAT!’”