Creative Engagement: Shakespeare's Animated Theater

Jessica Paranczak's rumination "Shakespeare on a TV near you" actually got me thinking about more interpretations of Shakespeare. By far the most interesting interpretations that I could find (on YouTube) is BBC's Shakespeare: The Animated Tales. I think this is a really good chance to see a Shakespeare play interpreted without being limited by the resources of the stage or even live-action, and in ways it may actually be closer to how Shakespeare might have thought about them.
Each play is given a totally different treatment under different directors and some in different mediums (claymation, cell animation, puppets, etc.). The semester is winding down and a lot of us are dealing with finals and research papers, but if you get the chance I would definitely recommend you check out at least one of these episodes.

It was really interesting to see a low-budget prison production of the Tempest. I believe that creativity works best when your resources are lowest. But watching the Tempest in animated form with actual Shakespearean (actual British) actors is incredibly rewarding. Stop-motion animation always creeped me out so I apologize ahead of time.

THE TEMPEST

 

 The dark, gloomy, and violent Macbeth was done serious justice in this episode. I've got to say this is my favorite out of the bunch although I'm personally partial to Macbeth anyway. Award-winning actor Brian Cox tears up Denmark as the voice behind Macbeth.

MACBETH

The infamous Romeo and Juliet is done here in a very colorful way. I actually haven't finished this one, but it's very uniquely animated and really well directed.

ROMEO & JULIET

If Macbeth didn't satiate your thirst for treachery and bloodshed, then the Julius Caesar will. This interpretation, like Macbeth, was done with a very surrealistic style that stays very true to the style of the play itself.

JULIUS CAESAR

Just to end on a positive note, here's A Midsummer Night's Dream. I'm not a big fan of the style in which characters are drawn, but the direction, voice acting, and artistry are all top notch. The donkey-headed Nick Bottom is voiced by Bernard Hill, best known as King Theoden from the Lord of the Rings and the Captain from Titanic. Again, I apologize for the somewhat terrifying style of animation, but you should give it a chance because it really is well done.

A MIDSUMMER'S NIGHT DREAM

It's hard to say whether Shakespeare is better suited for animation or live-action, but there is most certainly a huge difference. I still prefer to simply read the plays rather than watch them, but every interpretation of Shakespeare seems to add a totally new perspective on his plays.

A Moment of Weakness

Just as the actors in the documentary noticed, Shakespeare's plays are quite relevant to the lives of prison inmates. His plays tend to base themselves around characters who commit regrettable actions that haunt them for a time, generally, until they die. Of course, some sympathetic characters also find some kind of redemption shortly before or during death as well. This type of theme really seemed to resonate for the inmates as they themselves are seeking to atone for the heinous acts that they committed in their respective moments of weakness.

The Tempest is much more lighthearted compared to some of Shakespeare's other plays, and probably really appropriate for the purpose of rehabilitating prisoners. In this play, the need for revenge, a common theme in Shakespeare's previous play, is eventually exchanged for forgiveness. It's the same forgiveness that these men desperately look for in their own lives. They've realized that it's their carnal desires that brought them down to the depths that they've reached, and the only way to pull themselves up is to strengthen themselves to act within their own control.

What's really interesting and probably most important about this very unique prison program is that the prisoners are actually being taught to analyze Shakespeare's texts for themselves in order to fully understand it, portray it, and most importantly learn from it. Shakespeare had the rare ability to see the human condition and masterfully depict it in all of its glorious imperfections. To be honest, I feel like most people, especially most people in prison, don't have the chance or means to really appreciate or understand human nature in general. Perhaps it's the lack of this understanding or appreciation that leads some people to commit horrible crimes and injustices against each other.

This documentary really was a great change of pace that I think establishes a good way to think about most of the fictional works that we've read throughout the semester. It's wise to keep in mind that these expressions of humanity that we've been reading in print are interpretations of the real human struggle. Even though we may not be able to fully relate to the themes of honor, disgrace, love, fear, lust, greed, or salvation, there are many out there who have reached those peaks and plunged into those depths. The human struggle as depicted in literature, whether we see it in our lives or not, is all around us in the lives of others.

Staging Utopia

The argument can most definitely be made that More's Utopia is a work that can't be properly translated to a stage production. Just at a first glance, the narration and dialogue is somewhat long winded; the structure between Book 1 and Book 2 could make an incredibly awkward transition to stage; and last but certainly not least, the actual plot of Utopia (especially Book 2) wouldn't be desirable to any general audience. But, while it may not break any box office records, I think Utopia could be done on stage in a very innovative way that could really captivate an audience while staying true to the original work.
If there's one problem with transitioning Utopia to the stage it's the fact that it's in no way archetypal. There's no real antagonist, there's not really any emotional revelations that the characters go through, and when you really get down to it, it's just a few guys sitting around talking. Not to mention the fact that if it's narrated as it is in print, then the play would go on for about five hours. Just to put that in perspective, the extended edition of Return of the King was a little over four hours. So obviously, cuts would need to be made just to trim down on the time. However, there would really be no way to add any extra characters or drama without totally defacing the actual work itself.
But how exactly would you portray such a work? It was really never meant to be adapted to the stage to begin with. The first book is relatively straight forward and could be achieved with simple backgrounds and props. But, the second book would definitely be a bit more tricky. It could be set up so that the narration is continuing over live acting of the actual events being narrated. But, the narration moves so quickly from one thing to the next that it would be near impossible to use conventional stage productions to portray it all by using just actors and props.
The best and probably most appropriate way to portray the second book of More's Utopia is by using projections along with physical props and actors. People go to the theater to see actual theater, so the play would have to rely heavily on the actual actors and props as much as possible to depict the inhabitants of Utopia. But, this alone wouldn't be enough to truly captivate the audience. There's so much that is said during the narration that it would be impossible to portray it all at once with normal stage conventions. Using projectors to visually depict some of the more complex or unattainable moments while actors physically act out the scenes at the same time would be the best way to do justice to both the original work and the medium of theater at the same time.
Reading More's Utopia, is really like a taking a lucid journey to the island itself, where the audience not only sees this foreign civilization, but also experiences it at the same time. Watching Utopia on stage should be the same way.

A Rough Transition into Literacy

As the Norton pointed out, the advent of the printing press was a major contributor to the sharp increase in the literacy rate during the fifteenth century. The importance of this new innovation would gradually become more and more apparent over the next several centuries. But, while widespread literacy is an absolutely great thing for a society regardless of context, it was, in this case, a huge problem for those in power at the time.

With a growing literacy rate, the ruling state of England saw a very noticeable increase in public criticism in formal articles and even hidden deep in the satirical works of Shakespeare and John Donne. Essays detailing political theory, historical events, and current news allowed a degree of public intelligence and awareness that would make the actions of the government somewhat more transparent and much more susceptible to public outcry. Once the Civil War broke out, the informed public needed to maintain the flow of information and relied heavily on the technology of print to keep up with the events. Of course, the widespread use of the printing press also allowed for a much easier, much more direct way to convey good old fashioned propaganda to the common people; a practice that had long been considered a necessary tool of government.

However, a more literate and intelligent society does lead to many problems within the society itself. Religious and political texts were much more readily available, but these new sources of information would inevitably cause all sorts of ideological quarrels between the state and citizens and also among the citizens themselves. Religious disagreement would go on to divide the citizens, and also alienate them from their religious government. The sort of "inquisitions" that followed in order to preserve the Church of England as supreme over the many splintered groups, would cause immediate dissatisfaction among the people, many of whom would go on to express their unhappiness in public print.

The personal transformation that one underwent through the process of education, as well as the increased likelihood of having one's writings actually published and widely read, allowed the entire public to have their voices and stories heard. Literate people were able to record, collect, and even observe their own thoughts in order to better understand and reflect on both the world around them and their introspective selves. This also allowed the ability to actually make profit of an incredible experience by putting it into print for all to share. Not only could people learn more about religion, politics, and history; but now they were more able to learn about their fellow people.

Praise Gold: Fascination and Industry in the Age of Exploration

England emerged from the Middle Ages as a very well organized, well funded, and country under the rule of Queen Elizabeth I. With France suffering from their own problems, the glory of England could only be rivaled by that of Spain. Of course, between increasing military and exploration costs, and inflation caused by a huge influx of New World gold, Spain soon found itself scraping at the bottom of the financial barrel. With neighboring countries in varying degrees of turmoil, England was quite free (despite relatively small scuffles involving Spain, Ireland, Catholicism, etc.) to develop their country and explore new territories for mainly economic and industrial purposes.
One obvious change in English literature of this time is its general content. While early literature was mainly concerned with matters of military and state, and later (including this exact time period) works relied heavily on social and political commentary, this era of English literature saw a great increase in matters of exploration. The governments of this era were much more concerned with the financial and industrious gains that could be made from New World exploration, however the general public was quite enamored with the romance and fantasy of a new untouched world as they were also curious (with much less enthusiasm) about the inhabitants of these foreign lands.
Works like Drayton's "Ode. To the Virginian Voyage" and Donne's "Elegy 19. To His Mistress Going to Bed" seemed to embody the romance that was equated with the exploration of the New World. One interesting new trend is the emphasis on geographical description found in both of these works, which could have possibly been derived from accounts received from explorers of this time. Both poems dwell on the overwhelming emotions involved with traveling to new lands but both also approach the subject from two slightly different angles. Donne describes the exploration of the Americas in a satirical way (lines 27-30), emphasizing in line 29 the importance of the land's precious resources, and also emphasizing its superficial importance as a great addition to the English Empire. Drayton, on the other hand, is very genuine in his admiration. He admires the explorers that colonize these new fantastical worlds in the name of England, just as he is in awe of the great natural beauty of the New World.
Of course, the actual accounts of these explorations written in prose painted a much different, less idealistic portrait of the New World exploration. While the geographical descriptions are quite similar, albeit the accounts in prose are much more concerned with gold than anything else, the prose describe actual encounters with native peoples. The idealistic nakedness of the New World (that is in land and attire) would have been praised by someone like John Donne, however Sir Francis Drake and his crew seem to abhor the nakedness of the natives on arriving in modern-day California. While the natural surroundings are described with great heartfelt accounts in these prose just as they are in the poetry, the actual inhabitants of the natives are described in (to put it lightly) less than flattering ways throughout the accounts.

Old English Context

It's no secret that a country or culture's literature is an accurate depiction of the culture or country itself. Literature, whether intended or not, tends to be very faithful to a culture's history, philosophy, and daily life. Therefore, more can be learned from a piece of literature by looking at its historical and cultural context, than from the piece itself.

Although the English countryside was involved in numerous wars throughout all of its history, the time period between Beowulf's earliest attributed authorship in the 8th century to Geoffrey Chaucer's death in 1400 was a time of seemingly endless war and turmoil throughout all of Britain. The fall of the Roman Empire immediately left Roman-Britain open to invasions from the Germanic, Scandinavian, and Irish peoples of nearby countries, as well as the native peoples of Scotland and Wales.



This resulted in centuries of war, in order to gain control of the British island. The most successful foreign invaders of this early period would be the Germanic Angles and Saxons (Depicted in red and brown respectively).

However, starting around late 8th century, the British island (along with the rest of Europe) became a popular destination for invading Vikings. By the end of the 9th century Norwegian and Danish armies had established very large settlements in Britain.

Soon after the Battle of Hastings in 1066, invaders from Normandy, originally a Viking settlement in the Frankish kingdom itself led by William the Conqueror, laid came to just about all of what's considered modern-day England.

Throughout this time period, Beowulf, in its current form, was compiled from generations of folk tales of myth and war brought to Britain by the Germanic and Scandinavian invaders. The themes expressed in Beowulf such as, kinship, rivalries, honor, military prowess, religion, courage, good and evil, etc. are all universal themes that are understandable in all of these civilizations. Not only that, but along with the proud and die-hard religious attitudes of the poem, these are themes that are dealt with on a daily basis during this period in Britain.

Though, the matter of lordship and knighthood is treated as a sort of pro-military propaganda in Beowulf (as it was in most heroic epic poems), it was given a much less fantastical and more introspective treatment in The Wanderer. In this Old English poem, the knight is alone without a kingdom as his lord and his comrades were all killed in battle. Just as many kingdoms fell during this period, many knights found themselves wandering alone.

 

Norman England would soon become part of the Angevin Empire, which included the various kingdoms of modern-day France. However once that Empire lost its grip under the rule of King John, England would go on to have political unrest and be involved in various wars (both civil and foreign) most notably with the French and Scottish. 

The political treachery, constant squabbling for the crown of England, and various social upheavals of the time would go on to further influence the (often more humorous) works of Chaucer, Shakespeare, and Donne as well. Knowledge of the history and culture of the time should is totally necessary for full appreciation of these authors and their works.

At the Center of the Sphere

John Donne's use of aubade elements in "The Sun is Rising" and "Break of Day" plays well with his somewhat pessimistic view of English society around him and its awkward collision with natural human emotions. The recurring scene of two lovers waking to the realization that their time is gone seems to be portrayed with different reflections, different emotions, and of course different metaphors every time it appears. The bedroom, as it's portrayed in these poems as well as Elegy 19, is an ideal world where naked bodies are explored, natural beauty is realized and admired, and emotions, which remain tamed in public society, are free to flow wildly. Outside of this sphere, the sun, society, duties, business, and days of anticipation await the lovers as they exit. The female speaker in "Break of Day" best expresses this exhaustion with her lover's busy schedule with the final couplet of the poem, "He which hath business, and makes love doth do/ Such wrong, as when a married man doth woo."
Donne playfully uses the metaphors of geographical exploration and parallels between the female body and a land rich with natural resources in these works. Most blatantly (and maybe chauvinistically) in lines 21-22 of "The Sun is Rising", Donne says that she is the world's nations and he is the world's princes. In Elegy 19 he also refers to his lover as his kingdom, his empire, and (perhaps not very flatteringly) his mine of precious stones. The lover is the newly discovered land which Donne explores, and together they make up this metaphysical world away from the world. This world, special and exclusive to the two lovers, is the center of the universe. It's in this newly created world that Donne (or the speaker) and his lover are free explore eachother's minds, bodies, and hearts.
Mind you this isn't just sex for physical satisfaction, but for spiritual fulfillment. Although these lines are generally blurry but considered to be distinct from eachother, Elegy 19 states in line 34, "As souls unbodied, bodies unclothed must be,". Donne had a very strong sense of pure, natural beauty which was probably seen as purely sexual by many. But, this ideal world of natural beauty could only exist apart from society's corruption and exploitation. The world that Donne created, at the center of the sun's orbit, was a world made by lovers with love, so that their spirits, unbound, could explore the joys of love together.
However, the sun glimmering in through the curtains in the beginning of "The Sun is Rising" always provides a harsh reminder that life cannot be lived from inside a bed room. Emotions must remain hidden, desires must be suppressed, and business must go on in public society. English society, much unlike the bedroom, was no place for naked love to be expressed.