Food for thought:
CLAUDIUS in "Hamlet" is a strange name for one of this play's central characters considering that this man was a Dane and not a Roman. WS did write about another actor called Claudius, but this one was Julius Caesar's servant and so the name, Claudius, seems apt there.
Basil Sidney as Claudius
I have called Claudius, the 'Wicked Uncle' in the title of this blog but was he really such a bad man? It is true that he murdered his brother, the King Of Denmark - "a Hyperion to a satyr" to become king in his place and he also seduced the dead king's wife, Gertrude to become his wife. In addition, he is out to murder Prince Hamlet, but does this make him a 100%
evil villain?
Clare Bloom as Gertrude
Even though WS describes him as an "incestuous,murderous, damned Dane," "a vice of kings" and a cutpurse of the Empire,"
his love for Gertrude does appear to be genuine. At the end of Act IV he says in a long speech that
She's so conjunctive to my life and soul
That as the star moves but in his sphere,
I could not by her.
Derek Jacobi as Claudius
He is honest enough to recognise that his "offence is rank" and that it "smells to heaven" but that he will not mend his ways with God because he refuses to give up what he has gained from his murderous activities. He is willing to pay the price for what he has done. C.L. Stockton says that in some ways he is more heroic than Hamlet. He manipulates fortune, takes what is not rightfully his but remains unapologetic. In contrast, Hamlet's conscience is torn about killing Claudius and because of his anguished vacillation -"To be or not to be" - six innocent people die before he finally makes up his mind to remove his uncle from this"mortal coil."
Claudius minutes before "shuffling off this mortal coil."
Both Claudius and Hamlet believe that the end justifies the means and as Stockton says, they 'both ultimately sacrifice humanity and humaneness in the acquisition of their goals.'
However, the main difference between the two is that Claudius is wrong and Hamlet is right. It is Claudius who has deliber-ately murdered, lied and seduced to become king, whereas Hamlet, who has also murdered in order to achieve his aims, has done so at the price of his agonised conscience. In contrast to his step-son, who seeks contrition and absolves himself of guilt before he dies, Claudius has subverted his conscience, does not seek or receive any absolution and will burn in Hell. Hamlet will spend his eternal life in Heaven.
When we first meet Claudius, he seems to be a moderate and confident ruler. His speech is smooth, perhaps a little too smooth, too glib as he uses such phrases full of oxymorons such as: "wisest sorrow," "defeated joy and "with mirth in funeral, and with dirge in marriage." It is only in Act III that he reveals his guilt, and then it is only in a brief speech to Polonius:
Polonius: 'Tis too much prov'd, that with devotion's visage,
And pious action, we do sugar o'er
The Devil himself.
Claudius: O 'tis true!
How smart a lash that speech doth give my
conscience!
The harlot's cheek beautied with plastering art
Is not more ugly to the thing that helps it,
Than is my deed, to my most painted word.
O heavy burden. (Act III. sc.i)
Hamlet wondering if to kill his wicked Uncle Claudius.
Claudius may be associated with Macbeth, another tragic hero and tortured king with a conscience. In Who's Who in Shakespeare, Peter Quennel and Hamish Johnson say that 'Claudius is Shakespeare's most complex, and subtly rendered, villain.'
Finally, in the original 12th century Historica Danica by the Danish historian, Saxo Grammaticus, Claudio was called Fengo and he incestuously married Agrippina. She then murdered him so that Nero could become the emperor. WS may have based his play on this or from one or several derivatives, such as Ur-Hamlet, possibly written by his contemporary, Thomas Kyd, but lost in 1594, or from a French play written in 1570, which appeared in Belleforest's Histoires Tragiques.
Next time: Comedies & Comic relief.
For comments: wsdavidyoung@gmail.com
If a modern newspaper were to sum up Antony and Cleopatra, it would probably say something like:
Beautiful Queen of Egypt takes her life:
Found dead in bed clutching a snake.
Cleopatra shattered by the death of her
lover, Mark Antony
So who was Shakespeare's Cleopatra? To sum up his play in a few words, Cleopatra was the Queen of Egypt and the mistress of Antony, one of the rulers of ancient Rome. She traps him in a 'strong coil of grace,' and gradually saps his resolution as he becomes more and more besotted by her. Eventually this leads to his total ruin. When he loses the Battle of Actium, Cleopatra's ships desert him and he retreats to find solace with her in Egypt. There he commits suicide and dies in her arms. For her part, Cleopatra does not want to be exhibited as the prisoner of Antony's arch-enemy, so she takes the easy (?) way out and allows herself to be poisoned by a deadly snake.
This play, which has been categorised as a 'problem play' but is more often referred to as a tragedy was probably written in 1606-07 by Shakespeare. He probably based it on Plutarch's Life of Marcus Antonius which was a part of the larger Lives of the Noble Greeks and Romans. Sir Thomas North had translated this into English thirty years earlier and much of this latter work found its way into WS's play.
One aspect of this drama is that ot the compression of time. Here, WS had to squeeze several decades' worth of events into a few hours on the stage while he also took some licence with the characters. Mark Antony is far older than the character he played in Julius Caesar and Octavius Caesar, a minor part in the latter play, is now a major player. Cleopatra's attendants, Enobarbus and others, like Banquo in Macbeth, are Shakespearean creations, but the major historical events depicted really did happen.
Apart from various representations of Cleopatra on coins, as statues and carvings, we don't know what she really looked like.
All we do know is that Antony fell for her in a big way and that over the past few hundred years, she has always been depicted both in paintings and in film as a very beautiful and alluring woman. (See pictures here and in Google.)
As Norrie Epstein writes in Friendly Shakespeare, 'this play is five acts of hyperbole.' Everything in it is 'overripe to bursting. It's the most voluptuous play that Shakespeare ever wrote.' What we have to keep remembering today is that this major female role was played by a young boy - a boy whose voice hadn't yet broken. Apart from anything else, this meant that there could be no physical intimacy on the stage. All of the play's sexuality had to be poured into the luscious imagery that to quote Epstein again, 'beggars the imagination.' Therefore, the whole success of this play depended a great deal on the boy who acted this demanding role.
This was true here as it was in his other plays which contained strong female characters such as Lady Macbeth, Portia (The Merchant of Venice) , Beatrice (Much Ado About Nothing) and Katherine (The Taming of the Shrew).
Finally, as can be seen in this blog, one of the most fascinating aspects of Cleopatra's story is how did she die? Did she commit suicide by being bitten by a poisonous snake as some of the many of the paintings shown here depict, or did she use another method to 'shuffle of this mortal coil?'
Many Roman writers, including Virgil, say she poisoned herself with a snake, whereas Galen, the famous Greek physician, wrote in De Theriaca ad Pisonem that she poisoned herself by introducing poison into an open wound. Two hundred years after Cleopatra died, the Roman historian wrote that Cleopatra died a painless death. More recently, Christophe Schaefer, a professor of ancient history, said in an article (2010) that he is certain that from his research, Cleopatra did not use an asp and that she probably died from a combination of hemlock (like Socrates), wolsbane and opium. And what did WS's source, Plutarch write? He said we can't know the truth except that she definitely did commit suicide.
However she died, there is no doubt that Antony and Cleopatra is one of Shakespeare's most popular plays. Since 1908, there have been over eleven film and TV versions produced, some based on the play, and others less so. In 1972 Charlton Heston played the role of Antony, but the most well-known film, loosely based on the whole story, was shown in 1963 and starred Elizabeth Taylor as Cleopatra and Richard Burton as Antony. This superbly lavish multi-million dollar (overlong?) production was both praised and panned by the critics. However, if you enjoyed this extravaganza or not, it certainly wasn't Shakespeare.
Next time: Claudius, the original wicked uncle from 'Hamlet.'
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To any readers coming to this blog for the first or second time, Welcome, gentles all! In it you will be able to follow a regular ABC based on Shakespeare's plays, characters, places mentioned and all manner of relevant information. If you wish to copy any of this, please feel free to do so. Just let me know. Thank you.
Classic Modern Sir Toby Belch
Sir Toby Belch is one of the central characters in WS's comedy, Twelfth Night. He is Olivia (a wealthy lady of Illyria)'s drunken uncle and he seems to be a permanent part of her household. He first appears on stage in the third scene and is seen to be the mentor for the rich and gullible knight, Sir Andrew Aguecheek. The latter sees Sir Toby as an ideal gentleman. Sir Toby fools his protege into thinking that Olivia loves him and then makes the witless knight challenge 'Cesario,' his supposed rival, for Olivia's hand.
Later, this duo, together with Olivia's maidservant, Maria, work out a plot to humiliate Olivia's pompous steward, Malvolio. Without giving the whole plot away, they succeed and by the end of the play, Sir Toby has gained two thousand pounds and a wife, Maria, who he doesn't love. He describes her in Act II, iii as "a beagle, true-bred."
Sir Toby is the centre of this play's comedy who, like most of WS's major characters has several sides to him. On the one hand he is a jolly, witty drunken rogue, but on the other, he doesn't think twice about taking Sir Andrew's money or humiliating Malvolio. However, he doesn't get off Scot-free as
in the end he is badly beaten over the head in a fight.
Sir Toby and Sir Andrew, modern-day Laurel & Hardy!
Sir Toby Belch (note his surname) first appears in the play when he appears in the third scene complaining about the heavy atmosphere in his niece, Olivia's house. He brings an air of Revels Night to the play and acts as the Lord of Misrule. He is always surrounded by laughter, drink and song and reminds us in many ways of another favourite WS comic character, Sir John Falstaff.
However there is a difference between the two. Whereas Sir Toby is usually lightheartedly jolly (even though he pulls a fast one on his alleged friend, Sir Andrew), he is not the type of corrupt plotter, a major aspect of the multi-faceted Falstaff. In fact when he, Sir Toby, sees that he has gone too far in tormenting Malvolio he feels uneasy and says that"we were well rid of this knavery."
Next time: Cleopatra.
Comments to be sent to: wsdavidyoung@gmail.com
WAS BRUTUS, AS MARK ANTHONY DESCRIBED HIM, "THE NOBLEST ROMAN OF THEM ALL?" or was he the greatest back-stabber who ever strolled across the Forum in Ancient Rome?
In many ways, Brutus, who full name was Marcus Junius Brutus the Younger, was similar in a way to Hamlet. Like the Danish prince, Brutus is an anti-hero, an idealist, an intellectual and a man racked by self-doubt. He is the foil for his brother-in-law Cassius, his restless, pragmatic and passionate friend who has to work on him to persuade him that to assassinate (word first used by WS in 'Macbeth') Caesar is morally right. Cassius succeeds in convincing Brutus that this dirty deed must be carried out for the benefit of Rome, and in the end Brutus agrees saying, "Let's carve him for a dish fit for the gods."
However, Brutus is somewhat politically naive and soon after the assassination he makes his first big mistake. He allows Mark Antony to give what has become the most famous funeral oration in history beginning, "Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears..." This speech acts as a trigger for the ensuing chaos that breaks out in Rome, eventually leading to the critical battle pf Philippi. Here Cassius kills himself after being defeated and Brutus after being haunted by the ghost of Caesar also commits suicide. It is at this point during the penultimate speech of the play that Antony describes Brutus as "the noblest Roman of them all."
A classic painting depicting the assassination of Julius Caesar
But was he? For although he has to think hard about joining the conspiracy to kill Caesar, i.e. choosing between his loyalty to his friend Caesar or to his loyalty to the Roman Republic, in the end he comes down on the side of political assassination. Is he right? For it is Brutus's unbending idealism that is both his greatest virtue and his most fatal flaw. If Shakespeare had inserted a "To be or not to be..." type speech here at this point it would have been very relevant.
James Mason as Brutus in the 1953 version of "Julius Caesar."
In other words, should Brutus' sense of patriotism overcome and justify the killing of a friend? This is a major question in the play and maybe, because Shakespeare was so against civil chaos Julius Caesar follows the true history of what really happened in 44 BCE and so he has Brutus die as well. (Remember, as shown in Henry V and Henry IV and elsewhere, our William didn't always stick to the historical truth!)
And as for the real Brutus of Ancient Rome, his father was killed by Caesar's early rival, Pompey, and Brutus' early political career started when he became an assistant to Cato, the governor of Cyprus. Brutus' first wife was called Claudia Pulchra but he divorced her to marry Cato's daughter, Porcia Catonis. Porcia was the only woman who knew anything about the plot to get rid of Caesar.
As for the assassination itself, Plutarch, the Greek historian who probably supplied WS with much of his source material. states that Caesar, after seeing that Brutus was one of the conspirators, covered his face with his toga and resigned himself to being murdered.
Plutarch also says that the conspirators were so numerous and so violent that they even stabbed each other and that Brutus was wounded in his hand and legs. Brutus was 43 years old when he ended his life after the battle of Philippi.
Next time I want to deal with Sir Toby Belch from "Twelfth Night."
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One of the most endearing and memorable characters in the WS canon is Bottom, NICK BOTTOM, the Athenian weaver and donkey-headed hero in A Midsummer Night's Dream. He is well-known for his two major roles in the play: (1) the long-eared 'lover' of Titania, the Fairy Queen and (2) the leader of the 'rude mechanicals' who put on a play for the forthcoming nuptials of Theseus, Duke of Athens, and his bride, Hippolyta.
In both roles he succeeds in making an ass of himself. (Sorry, I couldn't resist adding that one.)
The first time we meet Bottom is in Act I when he, together with Snug, Flute, Snout et al meet to organise their "most lamentable comedy, and most cruel death of Pyramus and Thisby." Here, his fellow would-be actor, Quince tells
him he is to play Pyramus, a "lover, that kills himself most gallantly for love." To this, Bottom replies:
That will ask some tears in the true performing of it. If I do it, let the audience look to their eyes; I will move storms; I will condole in some measure.
But playing this lead role is not enough for Bottom. He also wants to play Thisby as well. When he is told that he cannot do so, Bottom says he wants to play the lion instead when he "will roar" and make the duke say, "Let him roar again, let him roar again." Quince, the 'play within a play's' producer tells Bottom that he is to play Pyramus and no other part and Bottom, despite him wishing to play all the chief parts, somewhat reluctantly agrees.
We then fast-forward to Act III where Bottom and Co. have met to rehearse their play. All is going more or less according to plan when Puck (aka Robin Goodfellow) a knavish hobgoblin who wants to have some fun at Bottom's expense, slaps an ass's head over the weaver's shoulders. This causes his fellow Thespians to run away in terror. This means that Bottom is now alone on the stage.
Well, not quite. Titania, the Queen of the Fairies, who has fallen out with Oberon, the King of the Fairies, wakes up on stage from her drugged sleep and according to Puck and Oberon's fiendish plan. now falls in love with the first creature she sees. This is the now donkey-headed Bottom. She then assigns her fairy servants to wait on the surprised Bottom whom she now dotes on.
However, A Midsummer Night's Dream being a comedy and all's well that ends well, Oberon takes pity on Titania and has Puck's magic spell removed. As a result Titania wakes up claiming that she dreamed that she was "enamoured of an ass." At the same time Oberon has the ass's head removed from the guileless Bottom who also claims that he had a dream and adds that, "man is but an ass if he go about to expound this dream."
Judi Dench playing Titania
Titania and Bottom by Henry Fuseli
Finally, in the last Act, the 'rude mechanicals perform their play with "tragical mirth" to the delight of Theseus, Hippolyta and their attendants. They obviously please the assembled company as Theseus comments after the final curtain that it was "very notably discharged" before Bottom can add an epilogue.
With reference to Bottom's role in A Midsummer Night's Dream, he is the one character in the play who moves easily between its 'real' world where he rehearses with his fellow actors, and the magic fairy world where he is doted on by Titania. The only thing that seems to worry him is his dream - 'a most rare vision' which he decides should inspire his friend, Peter Quince to "write a ballet of this dream; it shall be called Bottom's Dream, because it hath no bottom."
In Who's Who in Shakespeare, Peter Quennel and Hamish Johnson say that the part of Bottom has suffered in the theatre as it's all too often been overplayed. They say that it is often played in the spirit of burlesque which does this character less than justice. Bottom may be a simple bumpkin, they add, but he is not stupid.
Next time I will deal with Brutusfrom "Julius Caesar."
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