Shakespeare - Plagues, Isolation and Lockdowns
Plagues, Isolation and Lockdowns or “How use doth breed a habit in a man!”
Shakespeare, the Plague and Lockdown. In these times when 2 to 5% of those who contract Coronavirus will die, it might be timely to read a little Shakespeare and think of Shakespeare's time when the Plague killed 50% of those who contracted it.
My city, Melbourne (Australia) has gone into a second lockdown to stem the second wave of COVID-19, so I thought I would see if I could re-read all of Shakespeare's plays and poems and read more about his life and blog about it. We are locked down for 42 days or 6 weeks so that does not give me much time.
Firstly, I should have a few words about Shakespeare, plagues, isolation and lockdowns. As a young boy, William Shakespeare probably avoided the smaller plagues that hit Stratford upon Avon by spending time by the fire. The fleas from rats would avoid the heat and smoke of the fire. Like most people in Elizabethan and Jacobean England, he was used to plagues, isolation and lockdowns. During Shakespeare's time he experienced four great periods of lockdown from the Plague. One in 1582 when he was 18 years old and had just married Ann Hathaway and she was three months pregnant. It is likely that Shakespeare had no work at this time and they lived as a young couple with his parents so he probably spent most of his time indoors.
The second was in 1592-1593. Shakespeare was in London at time and he used his time to make the transition from actor to playwright writing 2 to 3 plays during the lockdown. he was probably locked down for 30 days at a time and every time there was a new set of outbreaks, the 30 days would start again. In fact between 1603 and 1613 when Shakespeare was most prominent and prolific as a playwright, London playhouses including The Globe were closed for about 78 months or 60% of the time. They still made a profit.
Late in July 1596, a small bout of the plague hit Stratford upon Avon. In early August 1596, Shakespeare's son Hamnet died at the age of eleven. Shakespeare probably could not get back into Stratford upon Avon for the funeral.
The 1603 lockdown and closures of theatres was different since early in 1603, Queen Elizabeth I had died. 33,347 died in England in 1603 due to The Plague according to the Bills of Mortality. When the lockdowns started late in 1603, they were long. Shakespeare probably did a set of three or four 30 day lockdowns. Food and beer would have been delivered to his room in London. He spent the time collecting together his sonnets and writing more and getting them ready for publication. In 1603, the Elizabethan pamphleteer Thomas Dekker wrote a chilling account of the chaos and despair brought by the plague:
"Imagine then that all this while, Death (like a Spanish Leagar, or rather like stalking Tamberlaine) hath pitched his tents, (being nothing but a heape of winding sheets tacked together) in the sinfully-polluted Suburbes: the Plague is Muster-maister and Marshall of the field: Burning Feauers, Boyles, Blaines, and Carbuncles, the Leaders, Lieutenants, Serieants, and Corporalls: the maine Army consisting (like Dunkirke) of a mingle-mangle, viz. dumpish Mourners, merry Sextons, hungry Coffin-sellers, scrubbing Bearers, and nastie Graue-makers: but indeed they are the Pioners of the Campe, that are imployed onely (like Moles) in casting up of earth and digging of trenches; Feare and Trembling (the two catch-polles of Death) arrest every one: No parley will be graunted, no composition stood vpon, But the Allarum is strucke up, the Toxin ringes out for life, and no voice heard but Tue, Tue, Kill, Kill." (The Wonderful Yeare, 1603)
There are a few references to plague in Shakespeare's plays. The most notable is when Shakespeare has Romeo and Juliet die because a message is delayed due to a town's closure due to the Plague. He also refers to the plague in many other plays including The Tempest (I, ii, 426), Timon of Athens (IV, iii, 120) and finally in 'King Lear' (II, iv, 242) when King Lear describes his daughter Goneril:
"But yet thou art my flesh, my blood, my daughter;
Or rather a disease that's in my flesh,
Which I must needs call mine: thou art a boil,
A plague-sore, an embossed carbuncle,
In my corrupted blood."
Having read all of Shakespeare's works three times, I wondered whether it was possible to re-read all Shakespeare’s work in the order they were written in 42 days. Since it is hard to exactly determine the order which Shakespeare wrote specific plays and poems, I have used a number of sources and my knowledge of the plays and come up with the following 'possible order'. For those of you thinking about reading all of Shakespeare’s works in your lifetime, or a year or a month or a day, let's start with some simple mathematics. This will help you (and me) get straight what reading the complete works of the Bard involves.
Before this, just a little note on years and dating of writing and performances in Shakespeare's time. From the 12th century until 1752, England still used the Julian calender (now known as the Old Style), although many Catholic countries had adopted the Gregorian calender (New Style) in 1582. What this means is that although today and in many Catholic countries in Shakespeare's time the New Year begins and began on January 1st, it did not in England in Shakespeare's time. Continental dating was also 10 days later than English dating during that time.
The period of 1585 until 1592 are referred to as Shakespeare’s ‘lost years’ since little is known about his life and whereabouts during this period. Some believe that William Shakespeare and Anne Hathaway lived in John Shakespeare's Henley Street house. However it is more likely that William Shakespeare and Anne Hathaway set up house in a cottage or uninhabited building near to the Henley Street house. In any case in 1585, we have the image of a poor young couple with three children living in Stratford upon Avon where the young husband William Shakespeare seems to have very few prospects and five mouths to feed.
Sometime late in the 1580’s, Shakespeare probably joined the Pembroke’s Men (sponsored by the Earl of Pembroke, Henry Herbert). He probably also did some acting also for the Lord Strange’s Men and the Lord Admiral’s Men. It should be noted that Shakespeare probably acted more of his career that he wrote plays. There were three categories of players and payments were organized accordingly. There were sharers (or shareholders), hired men and apprentices. As a hired man, Shakespeare was probably paid 5 shillings (60p a week) at a time when an ale cost 1-2p, lodging 6-8p a week, eggs 6 for 1p and beef 2p or one half groat.
So sometime in 1590 or 1591, Shakespeare’s first play was performed probably at Cross Keys Inn outside London since the Lord Mayor of London had banned plays within the city in 1589 and 1590. In the cobbled courtyard of the Inn, about 300 people probably gathered (the courtyard held about 500 people for major plays and events) to witness Shakespeare’s debut as a playwright. It could have been one of any eight early Shakespeare plays including The Comedy of Errors, The Two Gentlemen of Verona, The Taming of the Shrew, Titus Andronicus, KIng John, Henry VI Part 1, Henry VI Part II or Henry VI Part III. Shakespeare was probably paid about £2 for the play. A successful play would bring in £2 each performance for the owners of the company and the theatre. If the play was a success, then early in the winter of 1591 it was probably performed at Court and when the London theatres opened again in the summer of 1591, it would have been performed at the Curtain or The Theatre. The play was possibly performed by 10 actors and had only sixteen characters (and a dog). The actors (which probably included Shakespeare himself) were paid about six pence a week if they were a main actor and two pence for a non-main actor (no wonder Shakespeare went into playwrighting and buying shares in his own company of players). It was probably one of Shakespeare’s shortest plays at 2233 lines or 2 hours and 10 minutes of playing time. It was most probably a light comedy filled with humor, the themes of sex, violence and love, clever dialogue, witty banter, deception, mistaken identities, disguises, family drama, multiple plots with multiple twists and turns and a play where ultimately love triumphs with a marriages ending the play. The play was probably Two Gentlemen of Verona.
Before this, just a little note on years and dating of writing and performances in Shakespeare's time. From the 12th century until 1752, England still used the Julian calender (now known as the Old Style), although many Catholic countries had adopted the Gregorian calender (New Style) in 1582. What this means is that although today and in many Catholic countries in Shakespeare's time the New Year begins and began on January 1st, it did not in England in Shakespeare's time. Continental dating was also 10 days later than English dating during that time.
Shakespeare probably wrote 884,647 words and 118,406 lines so that will be about 2424 words a day for me (or you) to read and comment on if I (or you) want to read the complete works of Shakespeare in one year. Another way of looking at it is that Shakespeare probably wrote 37-39 plays. This is made up of 16-19 Comedies but we must remember that Comedy in Shakespeare's time does not mean something that is necessarily funny but is defined as a piece with a happy ending often a wedding or set of weddings. To make up the 19 in this category, I have added the 2 'problem' plays which are problems because, well, we don't know what to categorise them. The third play I have thrown into this category is 'Love's Labour's Wonne' which is referred to but no copy has ever been found. He wrote 10 Histories most of which were written in the first half of his career except for 'Henry VIII' which was one of his last plays (and probably written in collaboration with other playwrights). Shakespeare wrote 10 Tragedies which are among his most famous plays. Shakespeare 'borrowed' the plots of many of his plays from others and probably only three of Shakespeare's plots are original (those of A Midsummer Night's Dream, Love's Labour's Lost and The Tempest). Although they are sometimes neglected by modern readers, his 5 narrative poems and 154 sonnets were what Elizabethan and Jacobean readers would have consumed in print more than any other type of Shakespeare text. This means I am aiming to read and write about one play a day and three days to read the narrative poems and the sonnets.
I believe that I should read Shakespeare's works mostly out aloud since that is how most of his works were intended to be heard. After consulting a couple of sources, I have looked at the possible order in which the plays were written and the probable time it would take to read the plays out aloud. The order I have decided to read the plays and poems are:
1589 Two Gentlemen of Verona (2 hours 15 minutes to read or perform)
1590 The Taming of the Shrew (2 hours 40 minutes to read or perform)
Henry VI Part 2 (3 hours 10 minutes to read or perform)
1591 Henry VI Part 3 (2 hours 55 minutes to read or perform)
Henry VI Part 1 (2 hours 45 minutes to read or perform)
Titus Andronicus (2 hours 35 minutes to read or perform)
1592 Richard III (3 hours 50 minutes to read or perform)
1593 Venus and Adonis (1 hour 10 minutes to read or perform)
1594 Edward III (3 hours 5 minutes to read or perform)
1594 The Rape of Lucrece -1594 - (1 hour 55 minutes to read or perform)
Sonnets are started around here but I will deal with near to their year of publishing
The Comedy of Errors (also known as ‘The Night of Errors’) (1 hour 45 minutes to read or perform)
The Comedy of Errors (also known as ‘The Night of Errors’) (1 hour 45 minutes to read or perform)
Love Labour’s Lost (2 hours 45 minutes to read or perform)
1595 Love Labour’s Won (probably 2 hours 45 minutes to read or perform)
Richard II (2 hours 50 minutes to read or perform)
Romeo and Juliet (3 hours 5 minutes to read or perform)
A Midsummer Night’s Dream (2 hours 15 minutes to read or perform)
1596 The Life and Death of King John (2 hours 35 minutes to read or perform)
The Merchant of Venice (2 hours 45 minutes to read or perform)
Henry IV Part 1 (3 hours 5 minutes to read or perform)
1597 The Merry Wives of Windsor (2 hours 35 minutes to read or perform)
Henry IV Part 2 (3 hours 15 minutes to perform)
1598 Much Ado About Nothing (2 hours 35 minutes to read or perform)
1599 The Passionate Pilgrim (25 minutes to read or perform)
Henry V (3 hours 15 minutes to perform)
Julius Caesar (2 hours 40 minutes to read or perform)
As You Like It (2 hours 40 minutes to read or perform)
Hamlet (4 hours 20 minutes to perform)
1601 The Phoenix and the Turtle (3 minutes to read or perform)
Twelfth Night (2 hours 30 minutes to read or perform)
1602 Troilus and Cressida (3 hours and 30 minutes to perform)
1603 Measure for Measure (2 hours 50 minutes to read or perform)
1604 Othello (3 hours 35 minutes to read or perform)
1605-06 King Lear (3 hours 35 minutes to perform)
Macbeth (2 hours 25 minutes to read or perform)
Macbeth (2 hours 25 minutes to read or perform)
Timon of Athens (2 hours 30 minutes to read or perform)
Anthony and Cleopatra (3 hours 40 minutes to perform)
All’s Well That Ends Well (2 hours 55 minutes to read or perform)
1607 Pericles, Prince of Tyre (2 hours 25 minutes to read or perform)
1608 Coriolanus (4 hours to read or perform)
1608 Coriolanus (4 hours to read or perform)
1609 Sonnets (1 hours 55 minutes to read or perform)
A Lover’s Complaint (Poem - 25 minutes to read or perform)
1610 The Winter’s Tale (3 hours 20 minutes to read or perform)
Cymbeline (3 hours 55 minutes to perform)
1611 The Tempest (2 hours 15 minutes to read or perform)
1612 Cardenio (2 hours 25 minutes to read or perform)
1613 Henry VIII, or All is True (3 hours 15 minutes to perform)
The Two Noble Kinsmen (3 hours 10 minutes to perform)
Therefore I think that it will take about 111 hours and 30 minutes to read Shakespeare out aloud (and probably the same time to blog about it). I have often thought that all of Shakespeare's works could be performed over 24 hours in 5 venues (these venues could be called The Theatre, The Rose, The Curtain, Blackfriars and The Globe). 10-12 performers probably performed each Shakespeare play so either 12 actors or up to 456 performers could perform or read the plays and poems.
I wanted this blog and to have a little about Shakespeare’s life, a lot about each play, to use a number of quotes and try to give some sense of each play and its characters, plot and context. I decided early on that the best way to get through all of Shakespeare was to read for about three to four hours a day and to spend about an hour to two hours blogging, although I may use some material I have written before for this. So let’s go over a little about William Shakespeare and what we know about him up until 1590.
Therefore I think that it will take about 111 hours and 30 minutes to read Shakespeare out aloud (and probably the same time to blog about it). I have often thought that all of Shakespeare's works could be performed over 24 hours in 5 venues (these venues could be called The Theatre, The Rose, The Curtain, Blackfriars and The Globe). 10-12 performers probably performed each Shakespeare play so either 12 actors or up to 456 performers could perform or read the plays and poems.
I wanted this blog and to have a little about Shakespeare’s life, a lot about each play, to use a number of quotes and try to give some sense of each play and its characters, plot and context. I decided early on that the best way to get through all of Shakespeare was to read for about three to four hours a day and to spend about an hour to two hours blogging, although I may use some material I have written before for this. So let’s go over a little about William Shakespeare and what we know about him up until 1590.
"The Whining Schoolboy" 1564-1586
Gulielmus (old spelling of William) Shakspere (spelling was not standardized of surnames in English at this time) was born probably on April 22nd or 23rd in 1564 to Mary Arden (daughter of a wealthy farmer and landowner) and Johannes (John) Shakspere (glovemaker and whitawer or soft white leather maker). He was one of seven siblings and William was definitely baptized on April 26th 1564 in Stratford. Stratford was in 1564, a market town of 1,450 people which mainly dealt with haymaking, barley and hop growing and beer brewing.
William Shakespeare’s early days were probably spent at John and Mary Shakespeare's Henley Street house in Stratford upon Avon (this may be the house in Henley Street which is still standing and signposted as Shakespeare's birthplace). William probably started his education at the local Grammar school King’s New School in Guild Hall in Church Street in Stratford upon Avon, soon after his father became a town councilor in 1572 and probably studied at the school from the age of 8 or 9 until he was 14 or 15 in 1578 or 1579. The school day normally went from 6 in the morning until 6 in the evening for 6 days a week. There were only two short breaks in the school day. The curriculum centered around reading, writing, reciting and doing grammar all in Latin.
Above is a horn book similar to the one Shakespeare would have used.
In the Folger Library in Washington D.C. in the United States of America, there is a 1568 law textbook entitled ‘Apxaionomia’ with the name ’Wm. Shakspere’ written inside the book. It is probable that William worked for his father (who was a glover working with tanning leather and making gloves out of leather) or that he got an apprenticeship or worked as a tutor from 1580 onwards. But by 1580, William Shakespeare's father had huge financial problems and he and his family were struggling.
Sometime in July or August 1582, eighteen year old William Shakespeare probably started to court or write poetry to Anne Hathaway. On or around August 19, 1582, William Shakespeare slept with Anne Hathaway. On November 27th, 1582, when he was eighteen, “Wm Shaxpere” of Stratford took out a license to marry “Annum Whateley de Temple Grafton” but then this is struck from the record. Some believe that Annum Whateley was the first love of William Shakespeare. However the most likely solution is that this initial record was a mistake or a wrongly copied entry. On November 28th, 1582, a new entry was logged and a bond was recorded for the marriage of “William Shagspere” to “Anne Hathwey of Shottery, Warwickshire (a small town just to the west of Stratford-upon-Avon. Anne Hathaway's father, Richard Hathaway, was a yeoman farmer who died in 1581 and left his daughter Anne the sum of six pounds, thirteen shillings and fourpence in his will to be paid upon her marriage. In this sense Anne Hathaway was a good catch for any man especially the poor eighteen year old verse writing Shakespeare whose father seemed to have an every growing debt. In the absence of Anne's father, it was probably Fulke Sandell's and John Richardson (the witnesses and executors of Richard Hathaway's will) who visited William Shakespeare and his father John Shakespeare to force the issue of William Shakespeare marrying Anne Hathaway. Six months later the baptism of their first child, Susanna, is recorded on May 26th 1583. You do the Math on that one. On February 2nd 1585, the baptism of Shakespeare’s twins Hamnet and Judith was recorded.
The period of 1585 until 1592 are referred to as Shakespeare’s ‘lost years’ since little is known about his life and whereabouts during this period. Some believe that William Shakespeare and Anne Hathaway lived in John Shakespeare's Henley Street house. However it is more likely that William Shakespeare and Anne Hathaway set up house in a cottage or uninhabited building near to the Henley Street house. In any case in 1585, we have the image of a poor young couple with three children living in Stratford upon Avon where the young husband William Shakespeare seems to have very few prospects and five mouths to feed.
“… the young prince be fet hither to London, to be crowned our King.” 1587 - 1589
So exactly how does the poor 23 year old William Shakespeare of Stratford with a wife and three children go from poverty to wealth, fame and notoriety in London in the space of eight to ten years?
One story goes that the Queen's Men, the leading players in England, visited Stratford-upon-Avon in 1587 and being short a player (due to the recent death of their actor William Knell in a fight in Oxfordshire) the 23 year old Shakespeare was paid to stand in and he did such a good job that they invited him to look them up in London.
One story goes that the Queen's Men, the leading players in England, visited Stratford-upon-Avon in 1587 and being short a player (due to the recent death of their actor William Knell in a fight in Oxfordshire) the 23 year old Shakespeare was paid to stand in and he did such a good job that they invited him to look them up in London.
This fits in with the theory that William Shakespeare in late April 1588 (straight after his 24th birthday), acquired a license to travel and took to the road for the seven day walk or three day (220 km) horse ride to London. Shakespeare probably went to London by horse. If he took a horse, he would have walked up the road from his cottage or the Tudor house we now call ‘The Birthplace’ (the Henley Street house Shakespeare was born in and where he may have lived if he and Anne did not live in a cottage) for about 400 metres to get the horse from a local stables. He then probably travelled in a group of four to ten riders since highwaymen still roamed the roads and tracks.
Shakespeare would have crossed the River Avon over one of Stratford’s two bridges and dropped down into the emerald green of the Warwickshire countryside. He then probably got off his horse as they ambled up the winding dirt track near the Cotswold’s escarpment. On the way he would have passed his mother’s birthplace and the birthplace of his wife Anne Hathaway in Shottery. He then would have gone onto Chipping Campden and Moreton-in-Marsh and probably would have stopped at Woodstock for the evening or if the weather was good, they have made it all the way to Oxford.
The next day, they would have started with a hard climb up the trail through the Chiltern Hills. Shakespeare would have seen the chairmakers along this route and probably made a note that when he made his fortune, this would be the place to acquire chairs and furniture. The reward after the hard hills would have been Dorney Lake and they would have stopped somewhere around here for the night and probably dabbled travel sore feet in Dorney Lake.
Then Shakespeare would have seen London for the first time. It was a city of over 180,000 in 1588 and it was a city where he would spend half of his life (26 years of his 52 year life). As Shakespeare entered London and came to a junction of Watling Street, he would see an area known as Tyburn. He would have heard of it. The gallows would probably have had the naked body of a thief still swinging in the gentle April breeze. Shakespeare knew this place well from family stories of what had happened to some of the more forthright Catholics in his family. The warning would have served as a reminder of what could happen to those who clung to the old religious ways. He then went down what is now Oxford Street before dismounting his horse, paying the horseman and entering the Bell Inn just south of St Paul’s Cathedral for his first of many nights in London.
Other stories suggests that Shakespeare left for and arrived in London a little later. Shakespeare’s name does appear in a ‘compaints bill’ in a law case dated 1588 and then a subsequent mention is made of this bill on October 9, 1589. Later biographers allude to Shakespeare escaping Stratford to avoid prosecution on deer poaching charges by Thomas Lucy. Some claim that he worked as a schoolmaster for Alexander Hoghton in Lancashire. Still others believe that he worked in Titchfield as a tutor and perhaps even a schoolmaster for the third Earl of Southhampton, Henry Wriothesley (whom Shakespeare later dedicated his poem Venus and Adonis to).
Other stories suggests that Shakespeare left for and arrived in London a little later. Shakespeare’s name does appear in a ‘compaints bill’ in a law case dated 1588 and then a subsequent mention is made of this bill on October 9, 1589. Later biographers allude to Shakespeare escaping Stratford to avoid prosecution on deer poaching charges by Thomas Lucy. Some claim that he worked as a schoolmaster for Alexander Hoghton in Lancashire. Still others believe that he worked in Titchfield as a tutor and perhaps even a schoolmaster for the third Earl of Southhampton, Henry Wriothesley (whom Shakespeare later dedicated his poem Venus and Adonis to).
One story suggests that Shakespeare was brought down to London to tend horses for theatre patrons. Whatever the truth, we know that in the early 1590's that Shakespeare probably lived at Shoreditch (near to The Theatre which was built in 1576), that he had acted in a number of plays and was probably paid three shillings a week or £10 a year (£5,000 a year in today's money) as an inexperienced actor.
(N.B. 1 pound = 20 shillings, 1 shilling = 12 pence. It is difficult to say exactly what money in Shakespeare's day would be worth today. One way to calculate it approximately is to times every figure by 500. Thus £10 a year becomes £5,000 a year in today's money.)
(N.B. 1 pound = 20 shillings, 1 shilling = 12 pence. It is difficult to say exactly what money in Shakespeare's day would be worth today. One way to calculate it approximately is to times every figure by 500. Thus £10 a year becomes £5,000 a year in today's money.)
“The play’s the thing…” 1589 - 1590
Sometime late in the 1580’s, Shakespeare probably joined the Pembroke’s Men (sponsored by the Earl of Pembroke, Henry Herbert). He probably also did some acting also for the Lord Strange’s Men and the Lord Admiral’s Men. It should be noted that Shakespeare probably acted more of his career that he wrote plays. There were three categories of players and payments were organized accordingly. There were sharers (or shareholders), hired men and apprentices. As a hired man, Shakespeare was probably paid 5 shillings (60p a week) at a time when an ale cost 1-2p, lodging 6-8p a week, eggs 6 for 1p and beef 2p or one half groat.
In 1589, William Shakespeare wrote or collaborated to write his first play which was probably written for Pembroke’s men. He probably got paid about 10 Shillings to £1-as an untested playwright. The play was Two Gentlemen of Verona.
Shakespeare may have written the whole play or parts of the play with the comic actor Richard Tarlton in his mind as playing Launce since Tarlton was famous for his comic scenes with dogs. Tarlton’s death in 1588 would have put an end to that idea. Shakespeare probably read the Bartholomew Young translation of the Spanish Prose Romance Los Siete Libros de la Diana (‘The Seven Books of the Diana’) around this time because he draws strongly on this for Two Gentlemen of Verona. He also used John Lyly’s Euphues, The Anatomy of Wit and probably used ideas from Arthur Brooke’s narrative poem The Tragical History of Romeus and Juliet. Shakespeare probably knew that this narrative poem had greater potential and thought he would save using too many ideas from this narrative poem for a later, perhaps using them in one whole complete play.
Shakespeare may have written the whole play or parts of the play with the comic actor Richard Tarlton in his mind as playing Launce since Tarlton was famous for his comic scenes with dogs. Tarlton’s death in 1588 would have put an end to that idea. Shakespeare probably read the Bartholomew Young translation of the Spanish Prose Romance Los Siete Libros de la Diana (‘The Seven Books of the Diana’) around this time because he draws strongly on this for Two Gentlemen of Verona. He also used John Lyly’s Euphues, The Anatomy of Wit and probably used ideas from Arthur Brooke’s narrative poem The Tragical History of Romeus and Juliet. Shakespeare probably knew that this narrative poem had greater potential and thought he would save using too many ideas from this narrative poem for a later, perhaps using them in one whole complete play.
When comic theatre started thriving again in London in 1589 and with the public liking Ancient Roman comedies and the new comedies of the Commedia dell Arte, Shakespeare probably knew that he should revisit the ideas he had for a comedy. Shakespeare would have first read or showed parts of the script to players in the Lord Strange’s Men and either William Kempe, Thomas Pope or George Bryan probably encouraged Will Shakespeare to submit them for some playwrighting payments. Probably Pembroke’s Men saw the opportunity and either through loyalty or the promise of payment in hand, Shakespeare gave the play over to Pembroke’s Men for copying the actor’s parts and their cues ready for the three or four days of morning rehearsals and then performances. Of course every morning of rehearsal was followed by afternoon performances of other plays, so any rewrites or additions were done by the young Shakespeare late at night under the midnight candle before the next morning’s rehearsal.
So sometime in 1590 or 1591, Shakespeare’s first play was performed probably at Cross Keys Inn outside London since the Lord Mayor of London had banned plays within the city in 1589 and 1590. In the cobbled courtyard of the Inn, about 300 people probably gathered (the courtyard held about 500 people for major plays and events) to witness Shakespeare’s debut as a playwright. It could have been one of any eight early Shakespeare plays including The Comedy of Errors, The Two Gentlemen of Verona, The Taming of the Shrew, Titus Andronicus, KIng John, Henry VI Part 1, Henry VI Part II or Henry VI Part III. Shakespeare was probably paid about £2 for the play. A successful play would bring in £2 each performance for the owners of the company and the theatre. If the play was a success, then early in the winter of 1591 it was probably performed at Court and when the London theatres opened again in the summer of 1591, it would have been performed at the Curtain or The Theatre. The play was possibly performed by 10 actors and had only sixteen characters (and a dog). The actors (which probably included Shakespeare himself) were paid about six pence a week if they were a main actor and two pence for a non-main actor (no wonder Shakespeare went into playwrighting and buying shares in his own company of players). It was probably one of Shakespeare’s shortest plays at 2233 lines or 2 hours and 10 minutes of playing time. It was most probably a light comedy filled with humor, the themes of sex, violence and love, clever dialogue, witty banter, deception, mistaken identities, disguises, family drama, multiple plots with multiple twists and turns and a play where ultimately love triumphs with a marriages ending the play. The play was probably Two Gentlemen of Verona.
'Two Gentlemen of Verona'
So onto reading Shakespeare and blogging. I started with 'Two Gentlemen of Verona' (1589 or 1590). It has about 18,000 words.
It is a great romp of a play filled with good and hideous puns. It seems to be based on a Spanish prose romance called Los Siete Libros de la Diana (The Seven Books of the Diana) by Jorge de Montemayor. It was published in Spanish in 1559 but an English translation done by Nicholas Collin was published in 1578. Shakespeare however gave the piece melodrama and stylistic comedy.
Highlights of Shakespeare's The Two Gentlemen of Verona are the melodrama of Proteus' farewell in the opening, Julia and Lucetta's conversation on how to fall in love is also a highlight along with Launce's Act II speech about Crab his dog, "Nay, 'twill be this hour ere I have done weeping..." II iii 1-32. launce was probably originally played by Will Kempe. The play is even more strongly about friendship versus giving yourself over to love than I remember. Of course, after criticising Proteus falling in love, Valentine falls in love with Silvia in Milan and Proteus upon travelling to Milan is shown to be fickle when he also falls in love with Silvia. The scene where Julia and Lucetta decide to go off to Milan and decide to disguise themselves as men is Shakespeare's first foray into men playing women playing men. Of course, Proteus' lack of loyalty of love for Julia and friendship for Valentine is forgiven. The two couples (Valentine and Silvia and Proteus and Julia) are united at the end. This is a soppy play with some good moments, some good and bad puns. Shakespeare use of language is masterful even at this stage. The action and surface relationships are resolved in the play but more complex issues and aspects of the characters are left hanging at the end of the play.
Highlights of Shakespeare's The Two Gentlemen of Verona are the melodrama of Proteus' farewell in the opening, Julia and Lucetta's conversation on how to fall in love is also a highlight along with Launce's Act II speech about Crab his dog, "Nay, 'twill be this hour ere I have done weeping..." II iii 1-32. launce was probably originally played by Will Kempe. The play is even more strongly about friendship versus giving yourself over to love than I remember. Of course, after criticising Proteus falling in love, Valentine falls in love with Silvia in Milan and Proteus upon travelling to Milan is shown to be fickle when he also falls in love with Silvia. The scene where Julia and Lucetta decide to go off to Milan and decide to disguise themselves as men is Shakespeare's first foray into men playing women playing men. Of course, Proteus' lack of loyalty of love for Julia and friendship for Valentine is forgiven. The two couples (Valentine and Silvia and Proteus and Julia) are united at the end. This is a soppy play with some good moments, some good and bad puns. Shakespeare use of language is masterful even at this stage. The action and surface relationships are resolved in the play but more complex issues and aspects of the characters are left hanging at the end of the play.
The play seems to me remarkably egalitarian in the way that a servant like Lucetta is shown as intelligent and full of 'Jeeves-like' wisdom. Shakespeare also uses the forest as a place where class, social norms, preconceptions, gender, sexuality and beliefs are suspended.
What is most difficult as a play is that it is made up mostly of scenes that are duologues. I would suggest the modern solution to this is to stage it with one actor playing many of these parts. A young Jerry Lewis or Jim Carrey could do it well. Another solution would be a famous ventriloquist comedian like Edgar Bergen, Ramdas Padhye or the Swedish ventriloquist act Zillah and Totte. Another solution would be a good double act like Australian comedian Chris Lilley ('Summer Heights High' and 'Angry Boys') and Barry Humphries (aka Dame Edna Everage and Sir Les Patterson). Otherwise quick appearances and disappearances and fast paced scenes is the simplest staging solution.
Next: 'The Taming of the Shrew'
Comments
Post a Comment