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"It is the fate of actors to leave only picture postcards behind them. Every night, when the curtain goes down, the beautiful coloured canvas is rubbed out."
— Virginia Woolf
Virginia Woolf was of course referring to stage actors. Now that actors are recorded on film and other media for motion pictures, television and the Internet, something of their performances will probably still be preserved a hundred years from now. When I think of the blurry silent films or tinny voice recordings of the 1910s and 20s that are all that remain of yesteryear’s great actors, I wonder what people in the future will make of the admired actors of today.
I love Patrick Doyle’s score for Kenneth Branagh’s Much Ado — my favorite of the Branagh Shakespeare films.
It is our good fortune that Ellen Terry left behind more than picture postcards. In a 200 page book, only about 5 X 7 inches in size, she crammed a chock-full record of her talks about William Shakespeare, and what led her to the choices she, and other actors surrounding her, made in interpreting his characters.
She opens her discourse on the ‘Triumphant Women’ with these reflections:
“...Don’t we all see in any work of art what we bring to it? We can’t avoid bringing what is part and parcel of ourselves, our temperament and culture for instance, but we can, if we will, leave behind such things as theories, preconceived notions, prejudices, and predilections. When we approach Shakespeare, whether in the theatre or in the class-room or in the library, we should certainly leave behind any rigid theory we may have formed, or picked up ready-made, for there is a danger of our trying to shrink or stretch everything, scenes, characters and lines, to fit it.”
Terry realizes that discussing Shakespeare’s women, “even in the most superficial way,” would require at least two lectures, and decides to divide them into comic and tragic.
“But no sooner had I stuck on the labels ‘triumphant’ and ‘pathetic’ than I felt this division into types was a mistake. Shakespeare’s characters are far too idiosyncratic to fit this or that mould, and we can make them fit only by the process known as ‘wangling.’ I have kept the labels as a convenience…
...I leave the theories to the scholars. An actress does not study a character with a view to proving something about the dramatist who created it. Her task is to learn how to translate this character into herself, how to make its thoughts her thoughts, its words her words. It is because I have applied myself to this task for a great many years, that I am able to speak to you about Shakespeare’s women with the knowledge that can be gained only from union with them.”
When I first read the following passage, it opened up such possibilities for interpretation of Shakespeare’s female roles for me! Whether Ellen Terry’s conjectures are correct or not, they were the way into playing Shakespeare that I had been struggling to find:
“Wonderful women! Have you ever thought how much we all, and women especially, owe to Shakespeare for his vindication of women in these fearless, high-spirited, resolute and intelligent heroines? Don’t believe the anti-feminists if they tell you, as I was once told, that Shakespeare had to endow his women with virile qualities because in his theatre they were always played by men! This may account for the frequency with which they masquerade as boys, but I am convinced that it had little influence on Shakespeare’s studies of women. They owe far more to the liberal ideas about sex which were fermenting in Shakespeare’s age. The assumption that ‘the women’s movement’ is of very recent date — something peculiarly modern — is not warranted in history. There is evidence of its existence in the fifteenth century. Then as now it excited opposition and ridicule, but still it moved! Such progress was made that Erasmus could write: ‘Men and women have different functions, but their education and their virtues ought to be equal...’”
And here’s how she connects this view with one of her greatest roles:
“Much more could be said to emphasise [sic/Brit.] the point that the real women in Shakespeare’s time inspired his general conception of femininity….but I must read you a contemporary description of a great lady of the Renaissance period, Margaret of France, because it might have been written about Shakespeare’s Beatrice:
‘Her eyes are clear, and full of fire; her mouth is fine — intellectual with something of irony, of benevolence, and of reserve. A singular countenance where the mind and the heart both rule.’
Beatrice to the life! Her brilliant mind has a strong deep heart for its consort...”
As Ellen Terry points out, Don Pedro describing Beatrice: ‘By my troth a pleasant-spirited lady’ — is a giant clue from Shakespeare about how to play this part. Her lines could be read with a nasty sarcastic edge, but it would be a disservice to Beatrice and to the play. She must have a light touch, the sharpness of her tongue leavened with charm and humor — the surface battle of wits cloaking her strong attraction to Benedick. In Act I, Scene 1, Don Pedro and his company of men return from war to visit the estate of Leonato, Hero’s father and Beatrice’s uncle. Beatrice wastes no time in taking on Benedick:
BEATRICE
I wonder that you will still be talking, Signor Benedick. Nobody marks you.
BENEDICK
What, my dear Lady Disdain! Are you yet living?
BEATRICE
Is it possible disdain should die while she hath
such meet food to feed it as Signor Benedick?
Courtesy itself must convert to disdain
if you come in her presence.
BENEDICK
Then is courtesy a turncoat. But it is certain I am loved of
all ladies, only you excepted. And I would I could find in
my heart that I had not a hard heart, for truly I love none.
BEATRICE
A dear happiness to women. They would else have been
troubled with a pernicious suitor. I thank God and my cold
blood I am of your humor for that. I had rather hear my dog
bark at a crow than a man swear he loves me.
BENEDICK
God keep your Ladyship still in that mind, so some gentle-
man or other shall ’scape a predestinate scratched face.
BEATRICE
Scratching could not make it worse an ’twere such a face as
yours were.
BENEDICK
Well, you are a rare parrot-teacher.
BEATRICE
A bird of my tongue is better than a beast of yours.
BENEDICK
I would my horse had the speed of your tongue and so good
a continuer. But keep your way, i' God’s name. I have done.
BEATRICE
You always end with a jade’s trick. I know you of old.
Their battles usually end in a draw — they have each met their match, equals in intelligence, strength of character and humor, yet each one fears that the other does not feel the same, and that their friends will laugh at them if they admit how they really feel after such a show of mutual dislike, so they hide their hearts with raillery. But a jest sometimes gets through the armor, as we see when Benedick complains to Don Pedro after dancing with Beatrice at the revels where both are wearing masks:
BENEDICK
O, she misused me past the endurance of a block!
An oak but with one green leaf on it would have answered her.
My very visor began to assume life and scold with her.
She told me, not thinking I had been myself, that I was the Prince’s jester,
that I was duller than a great thaw, huddling jest upon jest
with such impossible conveyance upon me that I stood like a man at a mark with a whole army shooting at me.
She speaks poniards, and every word stabs.
— Much Ado About Nothing, Act II, Scene 1
‘She speaks poniards, and every word stabs’ — so speaks a man fighting against being in love. The words wouldn’t hurt if he didn’t care.
They are too clever for their own good — but their friends have long since figured out their secret, and they become enthusiastic conspirators when Don Pedro declares ‘I would fain have it a match’ and hatches a plot to bring the wary lovers together.
Don Pedro arranges with the men to be overheard by Benedick saying that they have heard from Hero and the other women that Beatrice is sick with love for Benedick but fears he will only mock her feelings. Even as badly as these men deliver their absurdly exaggerated lines, Benedick is only too willing to believe:
BENEDICK
-
This can be no trick. The conference was sadly borne;
they have the truth of this from Hero; they seem to pity the lady.
It seems her affections have their full bent. Love me?
Why, it must be requited! I hear how I am censured.
They say I will bear myself proudly if I perceive the love come from her.
They say, too, that she will rather die than give any sign of affection.
I did never think to marry. I must not seem proud.
Happy are they that hear their detractions and can put them to mending.
They say the lady is fair; ’tis a truth, I can bear them witness.
And virtuous; ’tis so, I cannot reprove it.
-
And wise, but for loving me; by my troth,
-
it is no addition to her wit, nor no great argument of her folly,
for I will be horribly in love with her!
Then Hero and Ursula carry out step two — setting up Beatrice to overhear them:
HERO
...I know he doth deserve
As much as may be yielded to a man,
But Nature never framed a woman’s heart
Of prouder stuff than that of Beatrice.
Disdain and scorn ride sparkling in her eyes,
Misprizing what they look on, and her wit
Values itself so highly that to her
All matter else seems weak. She cannot love
Nor take no shape nor project of affection
She is so self-endeared.
URSULA
Sure, I think so,
And therefore certainly it were not good
She knew his love, lest she make sport at it…
After they move away, Beatrice comes out of hiding:
BEATRICE
-
What fire is in mine ears? Can this be true?
Stand I condemned for pride and scorn so much?
Contempt, farewell, and maiden pride, adieu!
No glory lives behind the back of such.
And Benedick, love on; I will requite thee,
Taming my wild heart to thy loving hand.
If thou dost love, my kindness shall incite thee
To bind our loves up in a holy band.
For others say thou dost deserve, and I
Believe it better than reportingly.
But just when Beatrice and Benedick seem on the brink of “happily ever after,” the first real test of their love nearly breaks them apart. For Don John, Pedro’s younger brother, who is twisted by jealous hatred of his brother, and the ‘most exquisite’ Claudio, has made his own plot to tear Don Pedro’s company asunder. He has early on declared his frustration with his position in his brother’s court:
DON JOHN
I had rather be a canker in a hedge than a rose in his grace,
and it better fits my blood to be disdained of all
than to fashion a carriage to rob love from any.
In this, though I cannot be said to be a flattering honest man,
it must not be denied but I am a plain-dealing villain.
I am trusted with a muzzle and enfranchised with a clog;
therefore I have decreed not to sing in my cage.
If I had my mouth, I would bite; if I had my liberty, I would do my liking…
— Much Ado About Nothing, Act I, scene 3
When he discovers that Hero, Beatrice’s cousin and dear friend, is about to marry Claudio, Don John arranges that his servant, Borachio (Italian for drunkard), who is the lover of Hero’s serving woman, Margaret, will make love to the woman in the darkened window of Hero’s chamber, while Don John warns his brother and Claudio to be under her window as witnesses to the fake ‘Hero’ being unfaithful to Claudio on the night before they are to be married.
And here we come to the weakest part of the plot for me. Neither Claudio or Pedro thinks to rush upstairs and have it out with the lovers then and there, which would have settled matters without any more ado. Oh no. Don Pedro, who has had problems with his brother in the past, and certainly knows that Borachio is his servant, never thinks that maybe he’s been set up, while Claudio decides to humiliate the girl he claims to love so deeply by denouncing her in front of her family and all the wedding guests right in the middle of the ceremony.
-
Ellen Terry: “Notice that all the men, except
the Friar, are inclined to think there must be something in Claudio’s accusation! Even Hero’s father, Leonato, asks whether it is likely that Claudio, who loved her so that ‘speaking of her foulness’ he ‘washed it with tears,’ is lying. Even Benedick is so ‘attired in wonder,’ he doesn’t know what to say.”
-
But Benedick quickly becomes convinced that Hero is innocent, and that somehow his friends are mistaken. Of course, as Terry tells us, Beatrice is “blazing with indignation,” at her cousin’s betrayal. She cries: ‘Ah, how much might the man deserve of me that would right her!’
BENEDICK
Come, bid me do anything for thee.
BEATRICE
Kill Claudio.
BENEDICK
Ha! Not for the wide world.
BEATRICE
You kill me to deny it. Farewell.
BENEDICK
Tarry, sweet Beatrice.
BEATRICE
I am gone, though I am here. There is no love in you.
Nay, I pray you let me go…
BENEDICK
We’ll be friends first.
BEATRICE
You dare easier be friends with me
than fight with mine enemy.
BENEDICK
Is Claudio thine enemy?
BEATRICE
Is he not approved in the height a villain,
that hath slandered, scorned, dishonored my kinswoman?
Oh, that I were a man!
What, bear her in hand until they come to take hands
and then, with public accusation, uncovered slander, unmitigated rancor—
O God, that I were a man!
I would eat his heart in the marketplace…
...Or that I had any friend would be a man for my sake!
But manhood is melted into curtsies, valor into compliment,
and men are only turned into tongue, and trim ones too.
He is now as valiant as Hercules that only tells a lie and swears it.
I cannot be a man with wishing, therefore I will die a woman with grieving…
BENEDICK
Think you in your soul the Count Claudio hath wronged Hero?
BEATRICE
Yea, as sure as I have a thought or a soul.
-
BENEDICK
Enough, I am engaged. I will challenge him.
I will kiss your hand, and so I leave you.
By this hand, Claudio shall render me a dear account…
— Much Ado About Nothing, Act IV, scene 1
“This wonderful scene throws such a flood of light on Beatrice’s character that an actress has little excuse for not seeing clearly what kind of woman she has to impersonate...however...in the past she was not taken seriously enough...When I first rehearsed Beatrice at the Lyceum I was told by Mr. Lacy, an actor of the old school...of some traditional ‘business’ which seemed to me so preposterous that I
could hardly believe he really meant me to adopt it…
-
[Lacy] ’When Benedick rushes forward to lift up Hero after she has fainted, you “shoo” him away. Jealousy, you see. Beatrice is not going to let her man lay a finger in another woman.’
-
I said, ‘Oh nonsense, Mr. Lacy!”
-
‘Well, it’s always been done,’ he retorted, ‘and it always gets a laugh.’
She won that battle, but Henry Irving insisted that she do another traditional ‘gag,’ involving hand kissing which she felt was so against the character that she burst into tears after rehearsing the scene.
“I went home in a terrible state of mind, strongly tempted to throw up my part! Then I reflected that for one thing I did not like doing at the Lyceum, there would probably be a hundred things I should dislike doing in another theatre. So I agreed to do what Henry wished, under protest.”
(SPOILER ALERT!) — Of course, by the final scene of Shakespeare’s play, all is resolved — Hero has pretended to be dead, Claudio feels grief and tries to make amends, Don John’s plot is uncovered, Benedick calls off the duel, Hero and Claudio will finally be married, Benedick and Beatrice are forced to admit publicly that they love each other, and there is much rejoicing.
Ellen Terry makes this surprising admission about one of her most acclaimed roles:
“I have played Beatrice hundreds of times, but not once as I know she ought to be played... I was never swift enough, not nearly swift enough at the Lyceum when I had a too deliberate, though polished and thoughtful Benedick in Henry Irving. But at least I did not make the mistake of being arch and skittish...”
From London Correspondence, Freemans Journal, Dublin, Oct. 12, 1882:
“This evening Shakespeares comedy, Much Ado About Nothing, was produced at the Lyceum Theatre before a brilliant audience. The scenery and costumes were of the most gorgeous description, the climax of the play being reached in the fourth act, in which the church scene, with an altar-piece and the complete accessories of a Catholic cathedral, was a marvel of realistic scenic effect. Mr. Irving achieved a genuine success as Benedict, but to Miss Ellen Terry as Beatrice the greater meed of praise was accorded. Mr. Forbes Robertson was much applauded for his finished rendering of the part of Claudio, and other parts were well sustained.”
Next Monday, in Part Two, we will take investigate a role that Ellen Terry never had the opportunity to play: “Would that I could say ‘I have been Rosalind.’”
Sources and Further Reading:
- Ellen Terry’s Four Lectures on Shakespeare was originally published in 1932, and last reissued in 1969, so copies of the book are hard to find and pricey, but it seems to be available now online here: free-ebooks-download.info/...
- Her autobiography, The Story of My Life, is found online here: www.gutenberg.org/...
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Ellen Terry & Bernard Shaw: A Correspondence is somewhat more available as a used book at fairly reasonable prices
- My trusty reference for Shakespeare’s plots: Stories from Shakespeare, © 1956 by Marchete Chute, World Publishing Company (Reissue edition, October 1, 1959, Meridian Books by Penguin Books) — still the best!
- My first Shakespeare posts from last April: www.dailykos.com… and www.dailykos.com/...
- Letters from SHAKESPEARE, Part One — from MOT 4-4-16: www.dailykos.com/…
- Letters from SHAKESPEARE, Part Two — from MOT: 4-11-16: www.dailykos.com/...
Please ignore the odd little dashes throughout the text — they were the only way I could bend DK5 to my will — it has no respect for poetry OR paragraphs!
With apologies to PC — I’ve really outstripped Polonius, who was described by William Hazlitt as “officious, garrulous, and impertinent,” but I only plead guilty to the last two charges!