Friday, 7/9: Text Workshop

This morning's workshop with Head of Text Giles Block looked in detail at the language of Shakespeare's plays--the way in which blank verse simulates the natural rhythms of speech, the differences between verse lines and prose, and the division of speeches into units of thought.

Blank verse and prose

Some of these details are observable in the development of Shakespeare's language through the plays: for example, end punctuation decreases in the later plays.

The introduction of blank verse took the Elizabethan play-going audience by storm. It must have seemed edgy, a bit dangerous (the gangsta rap of the 16th century!). The lack of rhyme allows the words to seem like something we might actually say; the rhythm (like a heartbeat) carries a message about our own humanity.

But prose is also a powerful theatrical instrument! (Much Ado is one of the great "prose" plays.) Prose passages generally contain fewer stressed syllables, and (an important point for Much Ado) whereas verse reveals emotion, prose conceals it. The speaker of prose passages is hiding something. Prose tends to be out of control, to contain lists, to come from the head. Verse signals that something has changed: thought is suffused with emotion. Prose is often called for in social situations, which are marked by awkwardness, prevarication, interpersonal negotiation.

Working with a scene from As You Like It

We worked through Act 1 Scene 2, the point in the play where Orlando wrestles Charles--and where Rosalind falls in love. Each of us took lines in turn, round robin.

We then noticed where the speakers turned from prose to verse: after the fight, when Rosalind (and Celia) have been been overcome by emotion.

Units of thought in The Winter's Tale

Here, we worked through Hermione's speech in the trial scene, noticing how the speech can be divided (partly through end punctuation) into five units of thought--a useful exercise to perform with students. Notice the use of and at the end of line 2: earlier plays rarely attempt such a thing.

Some questions and answers:

The group had some questions for Giles:

Is our American pronunciation a problem? No! The King's English is not Shakespeare's dialect.

What is the biggest challenge to digging into Shakespeare's language? The way it looks on the page! Try dividing speeches into units of thought.

An interesting morning!