ABSTRACT
This chapter presents an overview of some basic concepts and movements in twentieth-century structuralism and narrative theory. In narrative theory terms, Road House can be used to teach Hamlet because both draw on the same basic narrative functions. The contours of both plots are dictated by genre, and their characters can be approached in terms of their structural roles as actants whose actions ultimately reflect what the story needs them to do. Character type, plot, and topoi are remarkably stable in William Shakespeare, and if students can be brought to a basic grasp of these elements of Shakespearean narrative before they approach a new play, they can spend less time worrying about what is happening and focus their attention instead on how it is happening. The chapter concludes by suggesting that accidental appropriation can both demystify Shakespeare’s artistry and help celebrate its complexity.
