Shakespeare on Toast: Getting a Taste for the Bard (28 page)

BOOK: Shakespeare on Toast: Getting a Taste for the Bard
5.08Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub

He took me by the wrist and held me hard
.

Run-on lines

A line of verse in which it would be unnatural to pause at the end of a line because the thought continues into the next line:

Whether ’tis nobler in the mind to suffer

The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune

Stanza

A division of a poem consisting of a series of lines separated from the rest of the poem by lines of white space above and below. In the Shakespearian narrative poems, the stanzas all have the same number of lines and a recurrent pattern of metre and rhyme. In
Venus and Adonis
, for example, each stanza consists of six lines, each in iambic pentameter, with rhymes linking lines 1 / 3, 2 / 4, and 5 / 6. Repeated letters are commonly used to show the rhyming pattern – in this case,
ababcc
. In everyday usage, the term
verse
is loosely used instead of stanza, but this conflicts with the more general meaning of
verse
given above.

Stanza lengths

Stanzas typically run from two to eight lines:

couplet

2 lines

tercet

3 lines

quatrain

4 lines

quintet

5 lines

sestet

6 lines

septet

7 lines

octave

8 lines

Sonnet

A verse form consisting of fourteen lines of iambic pentameter. In the sonnet form that developed in England, the lines are grouped in three quatrains with six alternating rhymes, followed by a final rhymed couplet:

abab cdcd efef gg
.

Supporting Artists (Recommended Reading)

Playing Shakespeare
, by John Barton (Methuen, 1984)

The RSC Shakespeare: The Complete Works
, edited by Jonathan Bate and Eric Rasmussen (Palgrave Macmillan, 2007)

Soul of the Age: The Life, Mind and World of William Shakespeare
, by Jonathan Bate (Viking 2008)

Think On My Words
, by David Crystal (Cambridge University Press, 2008)

Shakespeare’s Words
, by David Crystal and Ben Crystal (Penguin, 2002)

The Shakespeare Miscellany
, by David Crystal and Ben Crystal (Penguin, 2005)

Will and Me
, by Dominic Dromgoole (Penguin, 2006)

Shakespeare’s Advice to the Players
, by Peter Hall (Oberon, 2003)

Speaking Shakespeare
, by Patsy Rodenburg (Methuen Drama, 2002)

Secrets of Acting Shakespeare
, by Patrick Tucker (Routledge, 2002)

Websites

Online glossary, language companion, and concordance:
www.shakespeareswords.com

Online edition of the First Folio:
http://etext.virginia.edu/shakespeare/folio/

Stage Management (Acknowledgements)

Dedicated, to:

Mum and Dad, for constantly giving their all

My sister Lucy, for always having time to proof-read

Jim Alexander, for keeping me sane in times of metrical madness, and whose notes and suggestions were utterly invaluable

Will Sutton, for talking all this out with me in several bars and cafes around the world

And for Charlotte, who showed me there was more than one way to climb a mountain, and write a book

My deepest thanks to:

My agent Julia Churchill, who hit the bullseye every time

My editor Duncan Heath, for his wise pointers; Andrew Furlow, Najma Finlay, and all at Icon Books, for their tireless work in bringing this book into existence

Adam Russ, for his work on the TV series

Patrick Tucker, for teaching me what it’s all
really
about

Patrick Spottiswoode, the Head of Education at Shakespeare’s Globe, and his team, the
experts
in bringing down the walls around Shakespeare

Judi Dench, Kenneth Branagh, Richard Eyre, Dominic Dromgoole, Greg Doran, Thelma Holt, Michael Maloney, Sam West, Giles Block, Glynn MacDonald, Annabel Arden, Stanley Wells, Paul Edmondson, Gerald Hewitson, Stan Pretty and Jonathan Milton, and Myrrha Stanford-Smith who have all played such an influential part in getting me to this point

And mes amis: they know who they are, and they know why

Index

accents
(i)

actors

acting tradition
(i)

at the Globe
(i)

confused with real people
(i)
,
(ii)

in Elizabethan times
(i)

rehearsing
(i)
,
(ii)

acts and scenes
(i)

Akala
(i)

Armin, Robert
(i)

Artificial Intelligence
(i)

authorship of the plays
(i)

Bacon, Sir Francis
(i)

bad quartos
(i)
,
(ii)

Beatles, The
(i)

Benedick in prose or poetry
(i)

Berry, Cicely
(i)

Big Brother Live
(i)

Black Death, The
(i)

blank verse
(i)

Boyd, Michael
(i)

brain lighting up
(i)

Braveheart
(1995)
(i)

Brown, June (Dot Cotton)
(i)

capital letters in the First Folio
(i)

Caxton, William
(i)

characters, Shakespearian
(i)

Chaucer, Geoffrey
(i)
,
(ii)

checklist
(i)

Cher
(i)

Chettle, Henry
(i)

Chorus in
Henry V
(i)
,
(ii)

chronology (of plays)
(i)

Comedy of Errors
at the Globe
(i)

commandments of Shakespeare
(i)

Conan Doyle, Arthur
(i)

Condell, Henry
(i)
,
(ii)
,
(iii)

contractions
(i)

copyright of plays
(i)

Coronation Street
(i)
,
(ii)

costumes
(i)

Cotton, Dot (June Brown)
(i)

Court
(i)
,
(ii)
,
(iii)

Crucible, The
(i)

curse of
Macbeth
(i)

Da Vinci Code, The
(i)
,
(ii)

Dallas
(i)

Davis, Miles
(i)
,
(ii)
,
(iii)
,
(iv)

Days of Our Lives
(i)

dialects
(i)

Dickens, Charles
(i)

difficulty (supposed) of

Shakespearian English
(i)
,
(ii)
,
(iii)
,
(iv)

Dream Team
(i)
,
(ii)

Dromgoole, Dominic
(i)

Dr Who
(i)

Early Modern English
(i)
,
(ii)

EastEnders
(i)
,
(ii)
,
(iii)

editions, modern
(i)
,
(ii)

compared to the First Folio
(i)
,
(ii)

Einstein, Albert
(i)
,
(ii)

Elizabeth I
(i)
,
(ii)
,
(iii)
,
(iv)
,
(v)
,
(vi)

death of
(i)

fan of Falstaff
(i)
,
(ii)

Elizabethan

period
(i)

religions
(i)

speech
(i)

European Witch Craze
(i)

false friends
(i)

Falstaff
(i)

Fawkes, Guy
(i)
,
(ii)
,
(iii)
,
(iv)

feminine endings
(i)

fiction, believing in
(i)
,
(ii)

Fiennes, Joseph
(i)

films of the plays
(i)

O
(i)

Romeo + Juliet
(i)

First Folio
(i)
,
(ii)
,
(iii)

compared to modern editions
(i)
,
(ii)

flaws
(i)
,
(ii)

guiding actors
(i)
,
(ii)
,
(iii)

spellings
(i)
,
(ii)

typesetters
(i)

use of capital letters
(i)

folio vs. quarto
(i)

Follett, Ken
(i)

foot/feet in verse
(i)

Friends
(i)

Garrick, David
(i)
,
(ii)

geography, Shakespeare’s
(i)

Gibson, Mel
(i)

Gielgud, John
(i)
,
(ii)

Glass, Philip
(i)

Globe Theatre
(i)
,
(ii)
,
(iii)
,
(iv)
,
(v)

Goth, Second (in
Titus Andronicus
)
(i)

Gothic Nightmares
(i)

Greek, Shakespeare’s knowledge of
(i)

Hamlet

acting in
(i)

difficult words in
(i)

plot of
(i)

Schwarzenegger as
(i)

thou
and
you
in
(i)

versions of
(i)

Harwood, Kate
(i)

hearing (vs. seeing) a play
(i)

heartbeat rhythm
(i)
,
(ii)

heckling at the Globe
(i)

Hemmings, John
(i)
,
(ii)
,
(iii)

Henslowe, Philip
(i)
,
(ii)

Heywood, Thomas
(i)

hip-hop poetry
(i)

hierarchy of speech
(i)

iambic foot/feet
(i)

iambic pentameter
(i)

explanation of
(i)

in
Macbeth
(i)

in the Sonnets
(i)

like everyday speech
(i)

maintaining the rhythm of
(i)

popularity of
(i)

variations in
(i)

idioms from Shakespeare
(i)
,
(ii)

imagination

for places
(i)

in Elizabethan England
(i)

insults
(i)

JFK
(i)

James

as I
(i)
,
(ii)
,
(iii)
,
(iv)

as VI
(i)
,
(ii)
,
(iii)
,
(iv)

interest in witches
(i)

jazz

improvising
(i)

understanding
(i)

jigs
(i)

Johnson, Robert
(i)

Jonson, Ben
(i)
,
(ii)

Kate (in
The Taming of the Shrew
)
(i)

Kemp, William
(i)

Kent (in
King Lear
)
(i)
,
(ii)
,
(iii)
,
(iv)
,
(v)

Kepler, Johannes
(i)

killing a king
(i)
,
(ii)
,
(iii)

King Lear

1899 film
(i)

acting in
(i)

never
in
(i)

spear-carriers in
(i)

King’s Men, The
(i)
,
(ii)

Klingon
(i)

Knight, Edward
(i)

Kyd, Thomas
(i)

language

change
(i)

choices
(i)

difficulty
(i)
,
(ii)
,
(iii)
,
(iv)

Latin, Shakespeare’s knowledge of
(i)

literary approach
(i)
,
(ii)

loaves of bread
(i)

Lord Chamberlain’s Men, The
(i)
,
(ii)

Luhrmann, Baz
(i)
,
(ii)

Lynch, David
(i)

Macbeth

curse
(i)

editions
(i)

metre
(i)

scene analysis
(i)

social background
(i)
,
(ii)

thou
and
you
(i)

witches
(i)
,
(ii)

Manga
novels
(i)

Marlowe, Christopher
(i)
,
(ii)
,
(iii)

Master of the Revels
(i)
,
(ii)
,
(iii)
,
(iv)

metre
(i)

affecting words
(i)

as a character-note
(i)
,
(ii)
,
(iii)
,
(iv)
,
(v)

breaking the rules of
(i)
,
(ii)
,
(iii)
,
(iv)

changing over time
(i)

directing an actor
(i)
,
(ii)
,
(iii)
,
(iv)
,
(v)

in the Sonnets
(i)

Middle Temple
(i)

Miller, Arthur
(i)

modern editions
(i)
,
(ii)

compared to the First Folio
(i)
,
(ii)

monarch as God
(i)

money, Shakespeare’s need for
(i)

More, Thomas
(i)

Mos Def
(i)

Neighbours
(i)
,
(ii)

Nelson, Tim Blake
(i)

O
(2001 film)
(i)

O
(letter used to express character)
(i)

OC, The
(i)

Olivier, Laurence
(i)
,
(ii)

original pronunciation
(i)

Othello

film adaptation
(i)

murder of a cast member
(i)

Oxford, Earl of
(i)

Pacino, Al
(i)
,
(ii)

pentameter
(i)

Pinter, Harold
(i)

plague
(i)
,
(ii)

platt
(i)

plays

as books
(i)

as manuals
(i)

as performance
(i)

chronology
(i)

in verse or prose
(i)

plots in the
(i)
,
(ii)

poetical terms and concepts
(i)

poetry

and jazz
(i)

and prose
(i)

and verse
(i)

popularity
(i)

putting people off
(i)
,
(ii)

translations
(i)

Presley, Elvis
(i)
,
(ii)

Princess Diana
(i)

printing the plays
(i)

productions of the plays
(i)

prose vs. poetry
(i)

Pullman, Philip
(i)

punctuation in the plays
(i)
,
(ii)

Puritans
(i)
,
(ii)

quarto vs. folio
(i)

quatrains
(i)

quotations, famous
(i)

Rape of Lucrece, The
(i)

rapping
(i)

sonnets
(i)

Ravenhill, Mark
(i)

rehearsals
(i)
,
(ii)

revenge tragedies
(i)

rewriting stories
(i)

rhyme-schemes
(i)

rhymes not working
(i)

rhythm
(i)

Rialto, The
(i)

Richard III

character of
(i)

Society
(i)

Romeo and Juliet
, versions of
(i)

Romeo + Juliet
(1996)
(i)
,
(ii)

Scarface
(1983)
(i)
,
(ii)

scenes and acts
(i)

Schwarzenegger, Arnold
(i)

scroll
(i)

Second Goth (in
Titus Andronicus
)
(i)

seeing (vs. hearing) a play
(i)

sentences and thoughts
(i)

sets at the Globe
(i)

Shakespeare

the director
(i)
,
(ii)
,
(iii)
,
(iv)
,
(v)

the genius
(i)
,
(ii)

the man
(i)
,
(ii)

Shakespeare in Love
(i)

shared lines
(i)
,
(ii)

Sir Thomas More
(i)
,
(ii)

soaps/soap operas
(i)
,
(ii)
,
(iii)
,
(iv)
,
(v)

songs
(i)

sonnets
(i)
,
(ii)

sources of the plays
(i)

speech hierarchy
(i)

stanzas
(i)

Star Trek
(i)

Star Wars
(1977)
(i)

story-telling
(i)
,
(ii)

suspension of disbelief
(i)

Sutton, William
(i)

Sylvian Fissure
(i)

Tate Britain exhibition
(i)

Thai king
(i)

theatre (Elizabethan)
(i)
,
(ii)

acting practices
(i)
,
(ii)

companies
(i)
,
(ii)

cost of visiting
(i)

darkness in
(i)
,
(ii)

etiquette
(i)

writing for
(i)

thou
and
you
(i)

thoughts

and metre
(i)

and sentences
(i)

Titanic
(1997)
(i)

Titus Andronicus

capital letters in
(i)

Other books

Fight by Sarah Masters
Sleepless in Las Vegas by Colleen Collins
For the King's Favor by Elizabeth Chadwick
El protector by Larry Niven