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Appreciating Shakespeare's Drama

Deborah A. Katekaru

How sad to think of a play -- written nearly four hundred years ago, outdated but beautifully expressed, jokes requiring explanation -- as dead. It can be perceived that way though. It does not seem possible that something so foreign could entertain any longer, and yet, because I and a few hopeful others took time to resuscitate the skeleton of Shakespeare's Twelfth Night it did entertain me for more hours than I would have hoped. The following pages record the discovery process that led to my appreciating Shakespeare's drama. Although each person's experience with Shakespeare is somewhat different and unique to him/her, it is my hope that the things I have experienced can open up to someone else the world of entertainment behind the old English "thee's" and "thou's."

I had read many Shakespeare plays before, noted the similes, alliteration, rhyme. I would feel especially pleased with myself if I could identify a foil or drop a few words about pastoral literature, but when I started reading Shakespeare's Twelfth Night with the intent of digesting it, performing it, and sharing it with others, something happened. Life was breathed into the play and it became drama.

The American College Dictionary defines drama as "a composition in prose or verse presenting. . .a story involving conflict or contrast of character." With the prospect of performing Shakespeare I soon experienced more conflict and contrast than I bargained for. Not only could I identify elements of drama in the play, but in my personal life as well. there was the conflict within myself of adopting my new character, Fabian. He was requiring me to act differently than my normal inclinations dictate, and besides that, I could not always tell what those requirements were. What did my first line, "Nay, I'll come," mean anyway? Also, the more I realized my character's nature and his whole-hearted gulling of Malvolio, my heart sank. In real life I would never play with someone's affections like Maria, Toby, Andrew, Fabian, and Feste did. I would saw, "Aaaw," rather than laugh at Malvolio's sincerely ecstatic exclamation, "My lady loves me! My bless-those-who-persecute-you upbringing would not even allow me to seek revenge on Malvolio for incriminating me for bearbaiting.

Then there was the contrast of my own character with the others. How would I (as Fabian) be different from Sir Andrew or Sir Toby? How would we be similar? When I implore the Clown to give me Malvolio's letter, ("Now as though lov'st me, let me see his letter" V.i.1. how should I act? Upon reading this last scene for a class assignment, I would most likely pass over this line with a brief, "Oh, the beginning of Act V," or "Hmm. What does that mean?" and dismiss it. But as part of the curriculum for my 510 class, I clearly saw these beginning lines as a conflict, playful and brief, yet deserving of recognition. Continually having the performance in the back of my mind helped me to see the drama within each line.

As my director and Shakespeare professor would probably agree, the most difficult to block Fabian-involved scene was Malvolio's finding of the love letter in Act II, Scene v. That scene, though clearly dramatic as a reading, became high drama during the blocking of it. Looking back, I can see this was partly due to the incredible amount of conflict and contrast within the scene. In this one scene there is the contrast between Malvolio's imagined world and his actual one, and between Malvolio's assumed privacy and the gag's gleeful presence. Besides these contrasts there is the conflict between an enraged Sir Toby and unsuspecting Malvolio, and between the increasingly vocal Sir Toby and the peacekeeper/amused Fabian. Then there is Sir Andrew who, in as much as he takes part in the gulling, also contrasts with the others because of his separate world in which he himself is gulled.

Immeasurably more dramatic when performed is Act II, Scene iv, where Malvolio comes to Olivia smiling and in cross-gartered stockings. As an offstage onlooker I took great delight in seeing Mark (Malvolio) chase Brett (Olivia) around the stage. The shocking, absolutely hilarious transformation that Malvolio makes to win Olivia needs to be seen to be fully appreciated. Of course, this goes back to the familiar stance that plays are meant to be performed, not read. Perhaps I agreed with this saying even before performing a play, but now I have conviction, an understanding why plays are meant to be performed. Now I am captivated by the fact that real people were meant to be saying the text of a play, and this brings life to it. How many students have been required to read Shakespeare and walk away having no desire to see it performed? I believe these students have missed seeing the conflicts and contrasts come alive. Instead they have seen simile, metaphor, alliteration, and rhyme. They studied the literature, perhaps appreciated it, but did not see the drama that fulfills one's desire for meaningful entertainment.

Let me make it clear that I do believe Shakespeare's literary devices worth studying and appreciating. Besides learning a new appreciation for drama, I secondly acquired a deeper respect for Shakespeare's mastery of expression. Sticking with my own character Fabian, who was not a main character nor had many lines, I can still elaborate on the genius of Shakespeare's art. Take for instance Fabian's second line in the play, "If I lose a scruple of this sport, let me be boil'd to death with melancholy." (II.v.2) Here Shakespeare charms the reader in a sentence. The word "scruple" is not only fun to say, but the exaggeratedly small size it represents also tends toward humor. A light-hearted interpretation of this word is especially upheld when coupled with the word "sport." Whether the word refers to a pleasant pastime in general or the action of ridiculing Malvolio in particular, the attitude is one of mirth and expectation. The witty sentence "let me be boil'd to death with melancholy," is certainly a quip concerning himself who would deserve a fatal amount of melancholic blood if he could not take part in a joke. Signor Fabian comes across as someone fun-loving and witty; one who like the Clown is "for all waters." This is shown in almost every scene in which he appears.

In his next appearance, Shakespeare continues Fabian's character in the same vein, only now he and Sir Toby are trying to make sport of Sir Andrew. My favorite line to recite was always, "Now you are sailed into the North of my lady's opinion where you will hang like an icicle on a Dutchman's beard. . ." (III.ii.26-27) I appreciate the probable connection of this line with the Dutchman who had sailed to the Arctic from 1596-1597. The cold, lonely, unpleasant picture of sailing to such a remote land captures perfectly the desperation of being out of Olivia's favor. On the other hand, the action is humorous; Toby and Fabian pour out their arguments in all seriousness to Andrew, yet it is so obviously silly and misguiding that to the audience it is funny. The few lines of a minor character, Fabian, contain such wonderful characterization and wit one can imagine how rich in poetry the rest of the play is.

Consequently, I have come away with the subconscious mission of making every line of Shakespeare's Twelfth Night quotable. If I had my way, the world would not only be familiar with, "If music be the food of love, play on," they would also be chiding their children with, "Nay then I must have an ounce or two of this malapert blood from you," and beckoning people to "Come they ways." A good woman small in stature would be known as "a beagle, true-bred," and spoiled sports would be "Peg-a-Ramseys." Unfortunately, without the dramatic context complete with 16^th Century culture, a good many lines of Shakespeare are inaccessible, or as one might say -- dead. What came to life for a few weeks, or a few short hours for some, loses its vitality within our modern world.

So, for awhile, I may suffer a little alienation from my roommate, family, and non-English major friends. They may understand my mood, the break from finals week intensity with the commencement of Spring vacation in which I exclaim, "Shall we set about some revels?!" But this will not characterize my attempts to incorporate the realm of Shakespeare into daily activity. More characteristic of my communication will be the line, "Am I not consanguineous?" in which even Sir Andrew and the Clown respond with a "Huh?" People may not understand me either, but then, they have not shared in the lifeblood Shakespeare bestows upon words.