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| Photo courtesy of Pantheon Books |
Emma
Smith’s book This Is Shakespeare is a unique perspective on many of the
Bard’s well-known works. She analyzes
Shakespeare’s plays from a different point of view, which she calls his
“gappiness.” (pg. 2) She point out how Shakespeare’s silences,
inconsistencies, and sparse stage directions leave room for varied
interpretation of his classic writing.
“Shakespeare’s construction of his plays tend to imply rather than
state; he often shows, rather than tells; most characters and encounters are
susceptible to multiple interpretations.
It’s because we have to fill in the gaps that Shakespeare is so vital.”
(pg. 3) This space for interpretation is
what has kept the works of William Shakespeare alive over centuries. This is what draws directors and actor to
them, yearning to inject new and relevant life into the well-known comedies,
tragedies, and history plays. “These
gaps… open up space to think differently about the world and experience it from
another point of view.” (pg. 3)
Ms.
Smith’s analysis of the history plays (Richard II, 1 Henry IV,
and Richard III) shines a light on not only the creative elements of the
stories, such as the fictional character of Falstaff, but on Shakespeare’s
purposeful guidance of the audience’s engagement. The historic facts in these works are clear
and accurate, yet the focus of the writing evokes a specific emotional journey
for the audience. In Richard III,
the role of Richmond is minor. His
victory at the Battle of Bosworth Field ends years of political turmoil and
ushers in the Tudor reign. Shakespeare
diminishes this historic importance in the play. He turned his audience’s anxious eye away from
Elizabethan succession and focused it on Richard’s tyrannical reign in order
for them to learn a lesson from the past.
Shakespeare achieves this by creating a charismatic character in
Richard, who leads the play in line count.
Ms. Smith often turns toward line count to see which character
emotionally dominates the play. This is
one example of how Shakespeare constructed the history plays to give his audience
more than just historic content.
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| Shakespeare Scholar / Author, Emma Smith Photo courteys of Emma Smith |
Ms.
Smith highlights a few surprising aspects in her chapter on Othello. She makes a strong claim that the set up for
this well-known tragedy follows the structure of Shakespeare’s comedies. The opening scene of Othello is much
like that of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, where a father disapproves of
his daughter’s choice of a suitor. The
handkerchief that Iago plants as evidence of Desdemona’s infidelity can be
identified as a “comic prop” (pg. 211), much like Olivia’s letter in Twelfth
Night, that pulls Malvolio into his comic downfall. She also cites evidence that the character of
Iago “is a version of the witty servant… often depicted on stage laughing at
his own diabolical cleverness.” (pg., 221) Because of the institutional racism, religious
bias, and gender oppression dramatized throughout the play, these comic set-ups
take a horrible turn toward an inevitable, tragic ending for the characters.
Ms.
Smith also looks at the classic characters in Julius Caesar and Antony
and Cleopatra, as well as a number of Shakespeare’s beloved comedies (The
Comedy of Errors, The Taming of the Shrew, A Midsummer Night’s
Dream, Much Ado About Nothing, and Twelfth Night). She takes a deep dive into twenty of
Shakespeare’s plays. Each chapter in the
book offers an expansive frame of reference to understand a director’s fresh
interpretation. This Is Shakespeare
is the perfect read to prepare for your return to live theatre. It is a valuable resource to revisit before
seeing any new production.
I
leave you with Ms. Smith’s final line from the book: “So this is Shakespeare. Permissive, modern, challenging, gappy,
frustrating, moving, attenuated, beautiful, ambiguous, resourceful, provoking,
necessary.” (pg. 324)
Domenick Danza
Smith,
Emma. This is Shakespeare. New York, NY: Pantheon Books, 2019.
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