[Shakespeare Pop Culture
Jamar Lizarraga
Currently, the plays of William Shakespeare are viewed as great English literature, and viewed as "high culture". However I heard someone say that Shakespeare was writing "bawdy, violence filled plays written to entertain a mostly drunken and illiterate rabble". Indeed, I've heard that Shakespeare's plays are full of vulgarity and references to sex, which would back up this idea.
So what was it during Shakespeare's time? High Culture (like the opera would be today?) or the 15th century equivalent of the film "The Hangover"? Or somewhere in between? What sort of people went to Shakespeare's plays when he was alive? Kings and Bishops? Or middle class and working classes folks? What did the snooty people at the time say about Shakespeare? "Down with this sort of thing?" or "Marvelous!"?
As I recall from my readings, the floor of the theatre was where the masses sat, when they attended. Most would probably be drunk, considering the state of water sanitation at the time beer was the favored drink over raw water, and most would probably be ill-mannered. The well-to-do when they attended sat in the box seats above the "rabble", so that should give you an idea of the crowds and attendance. Plays pandered to both audiences, in some ways like the children's movies of today that can garner attention from kids and adults with similar material.
There wasn't such a huge distinction between high culture and low culture at the time, especially in the early english drama. Some of the earliest english drama, including the mirable and mystery plays, were put on by guilds, and had a rather amateurish quality.
Like other theater companies of the era, Richard Burbage's company (of which Shakespeare was a part) depended upon patronage by members of the aristocracy; it was known at various times as "The Lord Chamberlain's Men" and "The King's Men" to reflect who its patrons were.
Shakespeare's plays were most often performed to large crowds. The Globe Theatre and Blackfriars were built to accommodate different social classes. There were also private performances of Shakespeare's plays to the court of King James. Some of Shakespeare's plays included content aimed at pleasing his patrons; for instance, the play Macbeth, in contrast to the sources Shakespeare drew from, portrayed Macbeth's claim to the throne as entirely illegitimate, and includes a scene that is largely flattery for King James and his ancestors (that is, Macbeth's second meeting with the witches, in which they show him the line of succession of Scottish kings that leads up to King James.)
Shakespeare's intellectual background is often contrasted with Christopher Marlowe, a contemporary playwright who had been a scholar at Cambridge. However, while Shakespeare was not a university scholar, he was widely read, and his plays drew on a variety of classical and contemporary literary sources.
Of course, much of the content of Shakespeare's plays can be understood without classical education, and include physical comedy, sexual humor, and action scenes, that would appeal to a wide audience; and we know his plays drew large audiences.
Several of Shakespeare's plays include a play-within-a-play, most famously Hamlet and A Midsummer Night's Dream; the latter, particularly, gives a stylized glimpse of different social classes interacting through the theatre, and reacting to different aspects of the story.
And I'm Barbara Klein with EXPLORATIONS in VOA Special English. Today, we complete our story about the influential English writer William Shakespeare. He wrote plays and poems during the late fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries. They remain very popular today.
Last week, we talked about Shakespeare's history, his plays, and his poems. Today, we talk about the events and cultural influences that affected Shakespeare and his art. We also discuss the countless ways his works have influenced language and popular culture.
That was part of a dancing scene from the popular nineteen ninety-eight movie "Shakespeare in Love." The film suggests one way in which Shakespeare might have been influenced to write "Romeo and Juliet:" because of his relationship with a brave and lovely woman. The movie is only very loosely based on real events, but it is a wonderful story.
Many of Shakespeare's works were influenced by earlier writings. During this time, students would probably have learned several ancient Roman and Greek plays. It was not unusual for writers to produce more current versions of these works. For example, in his play "The Comedy of Errors" Shakespeare borrows certain structural details from the ancient Roman playwright Plautus.
For his tragic play "Macbeth," Shakespeare most likely used a work on Scottish history by Raphael Holinshed for information. It is also no accident that this play about a Scottish king was written a few years after James the First became King of England in sixteen-oh-three. This new ruler was from Scotland and London was alive with Scottish culture. Shakespeare may have borrowed from other writers, but the intensity of his imagination and language made the plays his own.
Shakespeare was also influenced by the world around him. He describes the sights and sounds of London in his plays. His works include observations about current political struggles, the fear of diseases, and the popular language of the city's tradesmen and other professionals.
Shakespeare became a well-known writer during a golden age of theater. His years of hard work paid off. Over the years, he invested income from his acting company by purchasing land and other property. He retired to the countryside a wealthy man. William Shakespeare died in his hometown of Stratford-upon-Avon in sixteen-sixteen at the age of fifty-two. While many plays by other writers of his time have been forgotten, Shakespeare and his art live on.
It would be impossible to list all of the ways in which Shakespeare's works have influenced world culture. But we can give a few important examples. The first example would have to include his great effect on the English language. During his time, the English language was changing. Many new words from other languages were being added.
Shakespeare used his sharp mind and poetic inventiveness to create hundreds of new words and rework old ones. For example, he created the verb "to torture" and the noun forms of "critic," "mountaineer" and "eyeball." Many common expressions in English come from his plays. These include "pomp and circumstance" from "Othello," "full circle" from "King Lear" and "one fell swoop" from "Macbeth."
The Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, D.C., is the home of the largest collection of Shakespearean materials in the world. For example, it contains seventy-nine copies of the first printed collection of Shakespeare's plays. The First Folio was published in sixteen twenty-three, after his death. It contained thirty-six of his plays. Without this important publication, eighteen of Shakespeare's plays would have been lost.
You might be wondering which versions of Shakespeare's plays are read today. Scholars who work on publishing many of the plays make careful choices about whether to use words from the First Folio, or the Quartos.
The list of cultural creations influenced by Shakespeare is almost endless. From paintings to television to music and dance, Shakespeare is well represented. For example, the nineteenth century "Otello" by Giuseppe Verdi is an opera version of the tragic play "Othello." It is about a ruler who believes wrongly that his wife has been with another man. One famous song from this opera includes the wife, Desdemona, mournfully singing "Ave Maria."
Over a century later, the American songwriter Cole Porter transformed the Shakespeare comedy "The Taming of the Shrew" into the musical play "Kiss Me Kate." The musical was later made into a movie. Songs like "Brush Up Your Shakespeare" are popular favorites.
In nineteen fifty-seven the famous jazz musician Duke Ellington released "Such Sweet Thunder." In the song "The Telecasters" Duke Ellington musically recreates the three witches in Shakespeare's "Macbeth." Ellington uses three trombone instruments. His use of silent breaks adds a special tension to the song.
Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim worked together on a modern version of "Romeo and Juliet." Their popular musical play took place on the West Side of New York City. The opposing groups are a gang of young people and a group of new immigrants. The award-winning movie version came out in nineteen sixty-one. Here the main character Maria sings about the happiness of being in love in "I Feel Pretty."
It is not just new versions of the plays that live on in popular culture. Shakespeare's plays have been translated into every major language in the world. All across the United States, the plays are performed in schools, theaters and festivals. There are over one hundred Shakespeare festivals and many permanent theaters that perform his works. In Washington, D.C., alone two theaters perform the plays of Shakespeare and other writers of his time.
That is the question that has passed over the lips of countless actors playing Hamlet in the last four centuries on stage and screen. Its also a question that people in almost every country and in any language know quite well. We can thank playwright William Shakespeare, whose reach is extensive.
In April, people around the world will celebrate the Bards timeless works on the 400th anniversary of his death. There will be performances of his plays, readings of his poetry and new publications dedicated to analyzing his prolific and time-honored text.
Smith is editor of The Cambridge Guide to the Worlds of Shakespeare, which will be published Feb. 11 by Cambridge University Press. Written for general and academic audiences by an international roster of almost 300 contributors, the guide boasts more than 2,000 pages exploring both Shakespeares world and the influence of his works on the world.
Topics range from the language and initial reception of Shakespeares plays and poems to studies of his works in popular culture, new media and advertising, as well as their influence on film, religion and fine arts.
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