Shakespeare in the Theatre Part 10

Bombast goes side by side with poetry; pa.s.sion with pantomime. Yet, as Lessing says, "Plays which do not observe the cla.s.sical rules, must yet observe rules of some kind if they are to please;" and Shakespeare sought to establish rules in accordance with the national taste, his first aim being the combination of the serious and the ludicrous. Vigorous characterization, a vital and varied movement, and the skilful handling of scenes well calculated to stir the emotions of an audience, make "Romeo and Juliet" an acting play of enduring interest.

In conclusion, I hold that no stage-version of "Romeo and Juliet" is consistent with Shakespeare's intentions which does not give prominence to the hatred of the two houses and retain intact the three "crowd scenes"--the one at the opening of the play, the second in the middle, and the third at the end. To represent only the love episode is to make that episode far less tragic, and therefore less dramatic.

"HAMLET."[12]

In comparing the acting-edition of "Hamlet" with the authorized text of the Globe edition, I find that it is shorter by 1,191 lines, and omits the characters of Voltemand, Cornelius, Reynaldo, a gentleman, and Fortinbras.

Such a modification should, perhaps, exclude the acting-editions from being cla.s.sed as the same play with either the folio or second quarto. It is a question whether 1,200 lines can be taken out of any Shakespearian play without defeating the poet's dramatic intentions; but if it is necessary to shorten a play to this extent in order to make it suitable for the stage, so important an alteration should not, surely, be left entirely to the discretion of the actor, but should be the work of Shakespearian scholars, a.s.sisted by the advice of the dramatic profession.

One would think that Shakespeare's world-famed greatness as a dramatist should make all his plays so valued by his countrymen that any alteration in their stage representation which had not been sanctioned by the highest authorities would be repudiated. But, unfortunately, it is not so. That the omission of some of the characters in the acting-edition of "Hamlet"

has not impaired Shakespeare's dramatic conception of the play is at least a matter of doubt. In the second quarto we have a play constructed for the purpose of showing us types of character contrasted one with the other.

Strong men, weak men, old men, fond women, all living and moving under the influence of a destiny that is not of their own seeking. We have also a Danish court in which a terrible crime has been committed, and over which an avenging angel is hovering with drawn sword waiting to descend on the head of the guilty one; and, because the influence of good in this court is too weak to conquer the evil, the sword falls on the good as well as on the evil, on the weak as well as on the strong. Something is rotten in the State of Denmark; no one there is worthy to rule; the kingdom must be taken away and given to a stranger. It is the play as an epitome of life which is interesting the mind of Shakespeare, and not the career of one individual, even though the whole play be influenced by the actions of that individual. Look at the first quarto and we find a proof of this.

Mutilated as that version is, care has been taken to avoid confusing the story of the play. Everything relating to Fortinbras is kept in the quarto, because Fortinbras has to appear like Richmond in "Richard III.,"

as the hero who will restore peace and order to the distracted kingdom.

This much-abused quarto has 557 lines less than the modern acting edition, of which 254 are not in that edition, although they are in the second quarto (or rather have a meaning equivalent to lines in the second quarto), showing clearly that it is possible to shorten the text in more ways than one. The first quarto comes nearer to Shakespeare's dramatic conception of the play than the modern stage version, because the latter, by omitting some of the persons represented, and also many of the lines which reveal the weaker side of Hamlet's character, have altered the story of the play, and placed the part of Hamlet in a different aspect to the one conceived by the author.

I will now compare French's acting-edition of "Hamlet," scene by scene, with the Globe edition. The Globe edition contains all the lines of the second quarto and the folio. It adheres to the text, but not to the stage-directions. For reading purposes, perhaps, the alterations which have been made in the latter may be justified to some extent as a necessity, yet for the acting-edition it would have been better to copy the originals. There are alterations made to the stage-directions in the first scene. Horatio, Marcellus, and the Ghost are shown to enter a line later in the Globe edition than is marked in the quarto or folio. But the attention of an audience is better sustained if the entrances of characters, especially of the Ghost, is not antic.i.p.ated, and also if the dialogue is not interrupted by pauses for entrances and exits.

In comparing the text, I find that lines 69 to 125 of the Globe edition are omitted in the acting-edition. But these lines explain to the audience why Marcellus, Bernardo, and Horatio are engaged in this same "strict and most observant watch." Marcellus and Bernardo are not common sentries.

They are gentlemen and scholars, who are on duty as soldiers for this particular occasion. Lines 140 to 142 I should also like to see inserted, because they are needed to explain the words which follow--

"We do it wrong, being so majestical, To offer it this show of violence."

On the stage these words are spoken, but no violence is shown towards the Ghost. Besides, the business of striking at the Ghost is a fine invention of the author to a.s.sist the imagination to realize it is a spirit. I am sorry lines 157 to 165 are omitted, because not only are they beautiful in themselves, but also appropriate, for they help to give solemnity to the scene. The omission of the last four lines of the scene leaves it unfinished. Altogether seventy-one lines have been cut out of the first scene, but the first quarto retains most of them.

The stage-directions at the head of the second scene, both in the Globe edition and folio, place Hamlet's name after the Queen's, to indicate the order to be observed by the actors when they come on to the stage. In the second quarto, however, Hamlet's name comes last. As he has an antipathy to the King, and is displeased with his mother, it is not likely he would be much in the company of either, not even on State occasions, for Hamlet regards the King as a usurper. I would venture to suggest, then, that Hamlet should enter last of all, from another doorway to that used by the King and his train, having his hat and cloak in his hand, as if he had come to take leave of the Court before starting for Wittenberg.

Pa.s.sing on now to the fourth scene, I notice that in the acting-edition the last five lines of the scene have been cut out, including that expressive one--

"Something is rotten in the state of Denmark."

I do not myself sympathize with this cutting out the end of scenes, as is done so persistently in every acted play of Shakespeare's. It is inartistic, because it is done to allow the princ.i.p.al actor to leave the stage with applause. Besides, it creates a habit, with actors, of trying to make points at the end of scenes, whether it is necessary or not, and this distorts the play and delays its progress.

In the fifth scene the line--

"O horrible, horrible, most horrible"--

spoken by the Ghost, is marked in the acting-edition to be spoken by Hamlet. Such an alteration is unwarranted by the text. The first quarto, by making Hamlet exclaim "O G.o.d" after the Ghost has said "O horrible,"

gives indication that the words "O horrible" were spoken on the Elizabethan stage by the Ghost.

An alteration has also been made in the Ghost's last line, which to some may appear a trivial matter. The folio attaches the word "Hamlet" to the "Adieu," and puts a colon between it and the words "Remember me," showing thereby that a slight pause should be made before these two last words are spoken, in order to make them more impressive; and the first quarto gives the same reading. French's acting-version, however, tacks the name on to the "Remember me." c.u.mberland's version gives the reading of the second quarto, which I think the best--

"Adieu, adieu, adieu, Remember me."

The omission in all the stage-versions of Hamlet's lines addressed to the Ghost, beginning "Ha, ha, boy!" "Hic et ubique?" "Well said, old Mole!"

is, I think, not judicious, because it causes some actors to misconceive Shakespeare's intention in this scene. One can hardly read the authorized text without feeling that Hamlet is here shown as a young man, or, perhaps, a "boy," as his mother calls him, in the first quarto, thrown into the intensest excitement. His delicate, nervous temperament has undergone a terrible shock from the interview with the Ghost, yet, owing to the absence of these lines, our Hamlets on the stage finish this scene with the most dignified composure. From the first act 217 lines have been omitted in French's acting-edition.

In the beginning of the second act the scene between Polonius and Reynaldo is left out in all the acting-versions. It is a very amusing scene, and in my opinion gives a better insight into the character of Polonius than any of the others. If it were inserted I believe it would become popular with the audience, and we find it retained in the first quarto. The second scene is called "_A Room in the Castle_" both in the Globe and acting editions. Might it not be an exterior scene? It is true that Polonius remarks "Here in the lobby," but the line next to this in the first quarto suggests that he is pointing to some place off the scene, for he adds "There let Ophelia walk," and Ophelia is on the stage. An exterior scene would, in my opinion, give more meaning to the words "Will you walk out of the air, my lord?" and to Hamlet's speech, "This most excellent canopy the air," etc. The scene of a palace garden or cloister could be well introduced in a play so full of interiors. It would add to the interest of the scene if Hamlet took advantage of the early entrance in the quarto and in the folio. For Hamlet to catch sight of Polonius hurrying the King and Queen off the scene would account for his suspicions and explain his rudeness to Polonius. Lines 374 to 378, Globe edition, are omitted in the acting-edition, but should surely be inserted, because they are needed to explain why Hamlet's reception of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern when they first enter, differs from that of the Players. I have always thought that the Hamlets of our stage, not being familiar with the context, mistake Shakespeare's intention. I gather from the omitted lines that Hamlet should warmly welcome the players, and take them by the hand.

At line 381, in the Globe edition, Polonius is marked to enter and speak on the stage the line "Well be with you, gentlemen." In the acting-edition he is marked to speak this "_without_" (to whom? certainly not to the players; Polonius would not have addressed them in such terms), and to enter at a cue lower down the page. The alteration is an instance of what I consider the wrong principle adopted in making stage-versions. The actors have preferred thinking Shakespeare wrong to using a little ingenuity to meet his stage-directions. They have said: "It will never do to have Polonius stand still saying nothing while Hamlet is making fun of him to Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, so he must speak his line off the stage." Would it not have shown more consideration for the author's text to make Polonius enter where directed, and then find something for him to do after he is on the stage? For instance, he might enter from a side entrance, as if summoned by the sound of the trumpet, move hastily towards the back of the stage, where the new-comers would arrive, and greet Hamlet, Rosencrantz, and Guildenstern, as he pa.s.ses them, with the words, "Well be with you, gentlemen."

The wording in the acting-version of the stage-direction, "_Enter four or five_ Players _and two_ Actresses," is questionable. Perhaps it is not a matter of great consequence, unless the period chosen for representation be the Elizabethan one, and I would suggest that this is the most appropriate period for the play, because to adopt an early Danish period is contradictory to the text, and overloads the piece with material foreign to the author's intentions. Shakespeare's thoughts were not in Denmark when he wrote this play.

Hamlet's recitation of Priam's slaughter in the acting-version has been cut down from thirteen to three lines, and I venture to think unwisely.

Hamlet has chosen these lines because they express in biting words his contempt for the King, his uncle, and the audience should become aware of this by the marked emphasis Hamlet lays on each epithet applied to Pyrrhus.

I am sorry that Hamlet's line to the Player, "He's for a jig, or a tale of bawdry, or else he sleeps," has been cut out. Besides being a fine hit at Polonius, it is an instructive piece of sarcasm. Playgoers in the twentieth century need as much to be told the truth as those in the sixteenth.

In c.u.mberland's acting version the editor has inserted the stage-direction--"_pointing to Hamlet_"--before Polonius speaks his line, "Look whether he hath not changed colour," etc. I believe this is the right reading, although it is not the one usually adopted on the stage. If Polonius had been speaking the words to Hamlet with reference to the player he surely would have inserted the words "my lord." Besides, these manifestations of grief are more likely to arouse sympathy in Polonius coming from the "mad" Hamlet than from the actor, whose business it was to simulate emotion. By the way, the skill of this play-actor seems to have been underrated on our stage. Actors are always considered at liberty to rant the part, but from Hamlet's description of his performance he should be an executant of considerable ability. It is curious that in Oxberry's acting-edition the first half of Hamlet's closing soliloquy is omitted, and he begins at the line, "I have heard that guilty creatures," etc.; showing that even a great actor such as Edmund Kean could take some unpardonable liberties with his author. Two hundred and thirty-eight lines have been omitted from the second act of the stage-version.

The first scene in the third act is called in French's acting-edition, "_A Room in the Castle as prepared for the Play_," and in c.u.mberland's, "_A Hall in the Palace, Theatre in the Background_." But the interview between Ophelia and Hamlet should take place in the lobby spoken of by Polonius, the play being acted later in the day. It would add to the interest of the scene if the actor impersonating Hamlet availed himself of the position marked in the second quarto for his entrance, and actually saw the King and Polonius concealing themselves. Was not this Shakespeare's intention?

I notice, in Hamlet's soliloquy, that the folio has the expression, "the _poor_ man's contumely." As the Globe edition, and, indeed, all the modern editions, retain the expression "proud," used in the second quarto, I suppose that the "poor man's contumely" is not considered a legitimate expression. It is curious, however, that the first quarto has an expression somewhat similar in meaning, "The rich man cursed of the poor."

In "Twelfth Night," also, a play written not long before "Hamlet," Olivia says: "O world, how apt the poor are to be proud!"

In the scene with Ophelia and Hamlet, both in French's and c.u.mberland's acting-version, Hamlet is marked to exit after the word "Farewell," and to re-enter again directly afterwards, thus conveying the impression that he returns in order to give more force to his reproaches. These stage-directions are not to be found in either of the quartos or yet in the folio, and I can find no foundation for them in the text. They seem to me to be an unnecessary interruption in a solemn scene, and to interfere with its impressiveness. Hamlet is dismissing Ophelia to a nunnery, and the word "Farewell" is added to impress her with the necessity of her going. She must leave him, not he her. It is, indeed, a subtle touch of Shakespeare's that Ophelia here should think Hamlet's intense feeling and earnestness was madness, for the Prince was "hoist with his own petard,"

having previously a.s.sumed madness for the purpose of breaking off his engagement with her, "made in honourable fashion, with almost all the holy vows of heaven." After the exit of Polonius and the King, the stage-direction in the acting version is: "_Enter_ Hamlet _and_ First Player." The Globe edition makes this the beginning of another scene, and where changes of scene take place in a theatre it would be correct to make an alteration, for the scene in the text is a banqueting hall and the time night. The stage-direction of the second quarto gives, "_Enter_ Hamlet _and three of the_ Players," and that of the folio, "_Enter_ Hamlet _and two or three of the_ Players." Hamlet, therefore, should not enter, as he does now, with only one player.

I should like to make a remark in pa.s.sing on Hamlet's expression, "trippingly on the tongue." If Burbage's company spoke Shakespeare's lines in this way, I believe the longer plays could be acted in three hours. The late Mr. Brandram's recitals showed how much more effective Shakespeare's lines can be made when spoken "trippingly on the tongue," and that the enjoyment of the public depends more upon the appropriate rendering of the text than upon the scenic accessories.

The stage-direction in the folio for the entrance of the court to see the play reads: "_Enter_ King, _etc., with his guard carrying torches_." It is a pity, I think, that these directions are not inserted in our acting versions. It would make a pretty picture for the stage to be darkened, and to have the mimic play acted by torchlight.

The "_dumb-show_" is omitted in all the stage-versions, and is not represented on the stage, but I think the play-scene is imperfectly realized by leaving it out. The Queen's reply to Hamlet's question, "Madame, how like you the play?" and the King's inquiry, "Have you heard the argument? Is there no offence in it?" would have a deeper significance with it represented; for evidently the poisoning in the "_dumb show_" has made no impression on the Queen, but a very marked one on the King, and Hamlet's reply, "poison in jest," a.s.sumes quite a different meaning.

Besides, Hamlet's words, "The croaking raven doth bellow for revenge,"

shows that he already has become convinced of the King's guilt before the appearance of Lucia.n.u.s--and how, except by means of the "_dumb show_"? I believe, too, that if it were represented, then the mistake many actors fall into of making a climax at the lines, "He poisons him in the garden,"

etc., and speaking them to the King, and not to his courtiers, would be corrected. There seems no justification for Hamlet making a climax of these lines. It is antic.i.p.ating the King's exit, which is the last thing Hamlet would wish for. He tells the court that it shall see "_anon_" how the murderer will marry the wife of Gonzago, and the King defeats his nephew's purpose by stopping the play. Hamlet's most dramatic line in this scene, one at which a point might be legitimately made, is cut out in the acting-version. Ophelia says, "The King rises." Then Hamlet exclaims, "What! frighted with _false_ fire!" Also the Queen's remark to her husband, "How fares my lord?" has been omitted. The words have some value as evidence of the Queen's ignorance of the King's crime. If she knew of it the question was unnecessary.

"_Exit Horatio_" is the stage-direction in the acting-edition, after Hamlet's words, "Come, some music;" but there is no similar stage-direction in either the second quarto or folio. Later on, in the acting-edition, comes the direction: "_Enter_ Horatio _with_ Recorders."

In the second quarto it is, "_Enter the Players with recorders_," and in the folio, "_Enter one with a recorder_." It seems just possible that Hamlet's lines--

"Ah! ha! come, some music; come, the recorders.

For if the King like not the tragedy, Why, then, belike he likes it not, perdy"--

may not be said to Horatio at all, but to one of the players who may be hanging about the stage waiting for instructions after the sudden interruption of the performance. He would then retire, and send some of his fellows with recorders. In French's acting-edition the words, "To withdraw with you," are altered to "So withdraw with you," after which comes the rather curious stage-direction, "_Exeunt_ Horatio _and_ Recorders." There are no such directions in the quartos or folio. A recorder is not a person, but a musical instrument. From indications in the first quarto, Horatio should remain on the stage until the end of the scene, for Hamlet says, "Good-night, Horatio," to which Horatio replies, "Good-night unto your lordship."

The third scene in the Globe edition is the second scene in the acting-version. French's edition contains the King's long soliloquy, and omits Hamlet's entrance. c.u.mberland's edition omits both. I think that to omit Hamlet's entrance in this scene is to interfere with Shakespeare's dramatic construction. Its omission breaks an important link between the closet scene and the play scene, and prevents the audience fully realizing the consequences of Hamlet's clemency. Shakespeare shows us Hamlet wishing to take the King's life at three different periods during the play, but the King's craft and Hamlet's conscience stand in the way; for the Ghost's word must first be challenged; then the mother's wishes must be respected; while the King's prayers must not be interrupted; and when the next opportunity occurs the wrong man is killed. This is the sequence of the story, and it should not be broken; even the compiler of the first quarto knew this, for all three incidents are made prominent in his text.

But our stage Hamlets try to tone down the inconsistencies and imperfections of the character; they exploit his sentiments, but do not show his inclinations. Hamlet wants to kill the King, notwithstanding that his sensitive nature instinctively rebels against the deed. A student, a controversialist, and a moralist, what has he to do with revenge or murder? But Hamlet, regardless of his own temperament, thinks only of his duty to his father.

Pa.s.sing now to the third scene, which is the fourth in the Globe edition, I find that after the exit of the Ghost no less than 52 lines have been cut out, and their omission has caused actors to introduce stage-business which is contradictory to the text. Many Hamlets show an emotional tenderness towards the Queen which would be quite out of place if all the text were spoken. Look at the fierce satire expressed in lines 190 onwards! Hamlet in his self-const.i.tuted office "as scourge and minister"

cannot caress his mother or hold her in his arms as is now done by actors.

However much she may solicit his sympathy, his reply is: "I must be cruel only to be kind." I should like to see inserted in the acting-edition the fine lines of Hamlet to the Queen--

"Forgive me this my virtue, For in the fatness of these pursy times Virtue itself of vice must pardon beg, Yea, curb and woo, for leave to do him good."

From the third act 216 lines have been omitted.

The fourth act on the stage sometimes begins with the fifth scene, Globe edition, but very often the first and the third scenes are acted. These scenes seem to belong to the third act. They take place the same night, and are a continuation of the closet scene, for in the first quarto and folio the Queen is not marked to go off, but the King to enter after Hamlet's exit. Between the fourth and fifth scenes a pause can well take place to allow of Laertes' return from France. This addition to the third act would make it very long, unless the Hamlet and Ophelia scene were made part of the second act, bringing down the curtain on the words, "Madness in great ones must not unwatched go." Two objections to this suggestion, however, can be urged owing to the lapse of a day between the second and third acts, and the bringing together of Hamlet's two long soliloquies.

But an interval is only needed to show that time has been allowed to prepare the play, and, therefore, can come as well after the scene with Ophelia as before; and a good actor would surmount the difficulty of the two soliloquies by varying the delivery of each. This revision of act-intervals would make the construction of the play resemble more that of the first quarto, which, for acting purposes, is certainly the better version of the two. Moreover, in the folio there appear no divisions beyond the second act, nor any indications in the text to show where Shakespeare may have wished another pause to come in the representation.

In the first scene of the fourth act, Globe edition, the Queen, speaking of Hamlet, says: