Page 24 - Shakespeare in the Movie From the Silent Era to Shakespeare in Love

Introduction / 13

The play, he sensed, was the thing by which he could warn young
people in his audience of the mistake he had made; Romeo and Juliet,
widely misunderstood as a paeon to romantic love, is in fact an antiro-
mantic cautionary fable. The role-model teenagers avoid carnal con-
summation of their feelings until they've become loving friends and
their union has been blessed by the church. Concerning Shakespeare's
tendency to preach in ultraconventional terms, George Bernard Shaw
complained of "the atmosphere of a rented pew." Certainly theater
was, for Shakespeare, a bully pulpit: The issue of women's "frailty"—
whether females can be trusted by the men who love them—is a key
thread running through the comedies as well as the tragedies. It is as
essential to Much Ado About Nothing as to Othello. Each play, then,
is yet another variation on the theme that may have haunted Shake-
speare's mind, soul, and his very being every day of his life.
Moreover, he was acutely aware of social issues. Rebellion, a dirty
word to him personally, likewise appeared an unwise political
option. Elizabeth I ruled England brilliantly, but without a man by
her side. The Virgin Queen's genius as a ruler commanded Will's
respect, but from his writings it appears that her lifestyle caused
him to worry that, without a proper heir, the country might again
fall into the civil wars England had endured during the War of the
Roses (1455-1485). This may explain why the comedies, beginning
with The Taming of the Shrew, urge a remarkable woman to marry;
the tragedies, starting with Julius Caesar, deal with the disaster that
follows any killing of a ruler (there were numerous attempts on the
lives of Elizabeth and later James I); and the history pageant shows
the horrors of an "Aengland" divided against itself.
Shakespeare did not cover the reign of every English king, only
those whose stories could provide him with proper material for what
he had to say. He chose only to dramatize those stories from the
past that allowed him to make a comment on the present for the
future good of his country. In his time, anachronistic costumes and
settings were the order of the day; actors often had to provide their
own costumes and appeared onstage, whatever the ostensible period,
dressed as Elizabethans, adding an immediate contemporary edge to
old tales. Modern directors often set those plays in diverse periods,
suggesting that the tales ring true for any time. Or they use modern
garb and rehearsal clothes, implying that Shakespeare's vision rings
true for all time. This works because the stage is essentially an
abstract medium. Film, however, is the most specific of storytelling
forms, forcing moviemakers into a uniquely difficult situation.