Shakespeare: Script vs Stage

For my drama class I read the Twelfth Night, one of Shakespeare's famous comedies. I enjoyed reading the script, but one the questions on my reading prompt gave me some things to think about the difference between script and screen. The question asked that since Shakespeare's plays weren't meant to be read how would seeing it performed live change your interpretation of it. I thought back over some scenes like when Malvolio is trapped in a dark room and tortured, the scenes between Viola (who is disguised as man) and Olivia (who is infatuated with Viola in disguise). Seeing these scenes performed live would help me envision the setting more and understand the character and their actions. It is said that only 7% our communication is really verbal the rest is what our body shows. A lot can be lost if you can't picture the body movemnts and hear the tones of voice. Awkward scenes like Malvolio's torture and the dialogue between Viola and Olivia could be well, less awkward. Annotating scripts can have its benefits however. When you are watching a play it is really impossible to take in everything. When you are a reading a play though you can think longer, take pauses, and jot down things you have noticed. Still you can only get so far. Although reading plays can be beneficial it is better to see them as they were intended, to be performed live so that we can feel the emotions of the characters and gain a better understanding of the piece.

I know that poetry week is over BUT

Our study of poetry has come and gone, but not for me! This is because my personal learning plan centers around poetry, and in an effort to work on it during this drama week, I found some very interesting cross-overs between it and poetry. Having talked about Hamlet in my last post, I couldn't help but delve into some other works of Shakespeare. I chose another one of my favorites, Othello, The Moore of Venice. 

Othello and Iago

Although not of all the play is written in poetic form, I found many instances where Shakespeare used iambic pentameter:

"Thus do I ever make my fool my purse:
For I mine own gain'd knowledge should profane,  
If I would time expend with such a snipe.
But for my sport and profit. I hate the Moor:"

I began to wonder why Shakespeare would structure parts of the play in this way. Then, as I was reading, I noticed that the shifts between meter and no meter often correlated  with who the character is speaking to and what they were speaking about. For instance, in the excerpt above Iago is first commenting on his use of Roderigo (where there is iambic pentameter,) but then there is a transition to a sort of rant about his hatred for Othello (which is followed by prose.) In other words, Iago is at first more calm, paralleled by his structured language, but as his emotions grab a hold of him he begins to speak more freely.

I though that this was an interesting thing to point out, because it shows that an element usually associated with poetry can also have an effect when used in other genres, such as drama in this case.  This also helped me in that I:

•  recognized poetic elements portrayed in unusual means---->
•  which is helping me better understand how they work to have an effect on the literature they are presented in ---->
• In turn, this relationship will help me to make claims about the intentions authors have in using these elements to create a theme or make a point. 

Have you observed any crossovers like this?

O that this too too frail post won't fail!

... and resolve itself into a horrible description of my love for the play Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, which I am sure most of you are very familiar with. I have not read it in a long time, and I probably won't be able to clearly explain why I love it so much. This was the first actual play that I read in its entirety, and it was really one of my inspirations to explore genres of literature aside from fiction. Many claim that Shakespeare is one of the greatest writers in the English language, and while I lack depth to join in this claim, I would certainly point to this play as a support of that statement.

Here is an element of the play that I will help you agree:

The Language

 "To be, or not to be,that is the question: 
Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer 
The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune. 
Or to take arms against a sea of troubles
And by opposing end them. To die, to sleep-..." 

Yes, it's one of the most famous soliloquies in the English language, and a believe it is so for a reason. Whenever I read those lines I do not simply think of Hamlet being there depressed and thinking: "Should I kill myself?" No. I think of the struggle, his mind wrestling the thoughts that plague him about the complexities of existence and the implications of suicide. I picture the piercing arrows of calamity that often wound our lives. I picture the brave sailor who despite the ongoing storm persists and endures, and the one that gives in to the consuming waves. The imagery woven throughout this excerpt connects me to this issue, as I feel it describes perfectly how in times of despondency I  have also wondered the same thing.

What is your favorite Shakespeare play?