Short, soothing summary of my online classes available in the month of May!
Great online classes in Shakespeare and science are available for students all this month at Outschool.com. These classes are Flex Schedule, which means the teacher prepares the activities in advance and allows you to do them at your own pace without direct consultation.
William Shakespeare’s Star Wars is a series of parody plays written by Ian Doescher that takes the prose screenplays of the Star Wars story and transforms them into Elizabethan verse. Last time I mentioned how much I loved the cheeky references to Shakespeare and Star Wars, and how Doescher adapts the cinematic quality into Elizabethan drama very well. In my podcast, I also emphasized the way Doescher gives each character verbose Shakespearean language that works very well for radio and theater:
My podcast episode where I do dramatic readings of “Verily A New Hope.”
I must confess, Return of the Jedi is my favorite Star Wars movie. I’ve seen all 9 films and it’s still my favorite. I adore the effects, the tight storytelling, the emotional farewells, and the dramatic victories. What I want to do with this post, (and the accompanying podcast), is to see whether this edition captures what I love about Jedi. The short answer is- no. It doesn’t capture it, IT EXPANDS IT! In many ways this play is Doescher’s triumph- he manages to capture the tone and characters of Star Wars perfectly, and makes the Shakespearean style his own!
Notes about the play
The first play in the series, “Verily, A New Hope,” took plot and structure inspiration from Henry V; it tells the story as an epic heroic story of Luke’s heroic deeds, much like how Henry V is about a king who grows from boy to man.
The second play “The Empire Striketh Back,” takes inspiration from Hamlet and Macbeth to explore Luke’s temptation by the Dark Side of the Force. It also uses Much Ado About Nothing as an inspiration for the burgeoning relationship between Han and Leia
I would argue that “Jedi Doth Return” is a mixture of all the other plays Doescher took inspiration from. Unlike the previous plays, this feels less like a parody, and more like an adaptation. I feel that Doescher has finally become so comfortable writing in the Shakespearean style, that he rarely needs to flat out parody lines and speeches, and simply uses Shakespearean dialogue to tell the story.
Moments to Watch for:
The Language
I’ll discuss the language of Jedi in greater detail in my podcast, but I’d like to highlight one or two here.
Extended metaphors:
Vader: It is the role I play, my destiny— The grand performance for which I am made. Come, author of the dark side of the Force, Make me the servant of thy quill and write The tale wherein my son and I are seal’d As one. Come, take mine ev’ry doubt from me, And fashion from my heart of flesh and wires A perfect actor: callous, cold, and harsh. Let this, the second Death Star, be the stage, And all the galaxy be setting to The greatest moment of my narrative:
The scene in which the Empire’s fight is won Whilst I decide the Fate of mine own son - The Jedi Doth Return Act I, Scene i
3. Parody Lines
The biggest appeal of William Shakespeare’s Star Wars is the fact that it is a parody, and I’ve said for many years that parody and gentle riffing on Shakespeare is a great way to get students to overcome their fear of Shakespeare and engage with him. Students who know Star Wars but don’t know Shakespeare will recognize the familiar characters and plots of the movies and then see how Shakespeare’s language tells the story anew. Similarly, people who know Shakespeare will recognize the way Doescher re-tools famous Shakespeare quotes to give to characters in the Star Wars Universe, like here, where he spoofs the famous “All the World’s A Stage” speech:
In the Educator’s guide, which I’ve attached below, Doescher tells you exactly which lines he has parodied and the plots of the original plays so the students can learn about Shakespeare through these famous speeches. Orson Wells once said: “We sit through Shakespeare to recognize the quotations,” and this edition gives us thrilling space battle, wonderful characters, and witty dialogue to keep us entertained while we wait.
Characterizations
What I love the most about the movie and the play is that it’s a very character-driven story. Instead of long trench runs with pilots we’ve never met, we get duels to the death between characters we’ve known for years. At its heart, Jedi is the story of the Skywalker family reuniting after Darth Vader ripped it apart. It’s also the culmination of Luke growing from a boy to a man. Doescher does an incredible job voicing these characters through the verse, and his use of the language helps highlight each character’s struggle and journey.
Luke/ Vader
Left- production photo of Mark Hamil holding a skull Yorrick-style. Right- AI art I created of Luke as Hamlet.
Luke has more of a duality in this story- sometimes his speeches are hopeful, positive, and full of decisive language, while other times he is bitter, angry, and mournful. This is a perfect characterization for a young man whom the Emperor hopes to turn to the Dark Side, and these speeches excellently bring out his character. Sometimes Luke even repeats lines spoken by Vader and the Emperor just to drive this point home.
Emperor
A speech from “Jedi Doth Return.” Notice how the ideas run on past the ends of lines and how long each sentence is
As for Emperor Palpatine, his speech is similar to Claudius in Hamlet in the sense that he has many run-on lines that only get to the point at the very end. This man knows he has the ea of the entire galaxy, so he can afford to make people wait for him to finish talking. As Luke himself says: “Your overconfidence is your weakness,” and Doescher does a great job conveying that weakness through the language.
Leia/ Han
My favorite part of The Empire Striketh Back was how Doescher conveys the love between Han and Leia. In that play/ movie, it was done through irritating each other in public, and soliloquizing in private. In Jedi, Han and Leia are more of a couple, supporting each other in their fights and the language has more of a romantic tone.
Han (Hal Jourdan) and Leia (Janine Ashley) finally confess their love in this scene.
My Criticism
To sum up, Jedi is a milestone in the William Shakespeare’s Star Wars Series where Ian Doescher learned how to make the language his own, rather than borrowing lines and phrases from Shakespeare. It’s a pity there aren’t more books in this series…. right?
If you enjoyed the accompanying podcast episode to this post, please consider subscribing and donating to help me continue making fun and educational content like this!
For my Shakespeare club, my actors and I are reading William Shakespeare’s Star Wars: The Empire Striketh Back. We started staging the scene today and I’d like to publish some of our work and our discoveries going through the text.
The Scene In Context
Han and Leia have a fight before he leaves in “The Empire Strikes Back”
The scene is the first moment where Han Solo and Princess Leia display their repressed feelings for each other. Han wants to stay with Leia, but he has a bounty hunter trying to hunt him down. Also, Leia has not directly given him any sign of affection, (though Han suspects that she does have feelings for him). He wants her to ask him to stay, not because of his service to the rebellion, but because she loves him back.
Ian Doescher’s Version
Leia And Han, Act I, Scene ii [Enter Han SL, Leia enters after. stops. L: Han, halt! H:[Turn to her, bows] What is thy pleasure, Highness? L: I did believe that thou had chos’n to stay. H: [Center Stage turn out] The bounty hunter we did meet on Ord Mantell hath chang’d my mind L: -We need thee Han. H: [Turn to her] What “we?” Why speakest thou of “we?” (circling her) Dost thou in royal terms speak her of “we?” (Hands on shoulders) Hast thou a rodent in thy pocket such That thou and he are “we? (holding her hands)” What meanest thou? What need is there that thou dost share with all? [moving her center stage] [Turning to audience] Speak not of “we,” but “I.” O princess, what Dost thou most need? Not “we,” not “they,” but thou? L: [Turning to him] I know not what thou speakest of. H: [pointing at her] - ‘Tis true. Most probably thou dost not know thyself. L: Thy vanity [takes his pointer finger and points it to the sky] Hath puffed up thine imagination. H: -Aye? (Smiling) Then why doest thou yet follow me? Wert thou Afraid I would depart without a kiss? [He stands behind her, looking at her as if he's about to kiss her cheek. She steps on his foot] L: I would as eagerly kiss Wookie lips. H: That can arran`ed be. [He turns SR, starts to leave, then turns back to her.] By heaven’s breath, A kiss would suit thee well! [Exits SR}
My podcast episode about the scene
Like Han in the original script, Doescher latches on to the fact that Leia says “We need you Han,” instead of “I need you,” (which would confirm Han’s suspicions that she has feelings for him). Doescher’s Han has a mocking speech where he tries to coax Leia into saying what she truly wants from him. In both versions Leia, (annoyed with Han’s childish behavior), retorts by saying that she would rather kiss a Wookie, but in Doescher’s version, she also has a soliloquy where, like Beatrice in Much Ado About Nothing, she laments that she would admit her affections if Han could put his ego aside and woo her gently, instead of his accustomed taunts and mockery.
The Verse
If you read my review of the first Shakespeare’s Star Wars play, you know that Doescher put almost every line in iambic pentameter- the standard verse for Shakespeare that has 10 beats per line. I like to call verse the heartbeat of a character and iambic pentameter is sort of a baseline for a character who is calm or in control of their emotions. What’s great about this scene is that Doescher intentionally breaks from the norm of iambic pentameter, which is appropriate because these characters are bubbling with emotions; anger, jealousy, fear, and of course, love.
Leia’s Verse
Leia only has two regular verse lines- right after she enters and right before she leaves:
L: I did believe that thou had chos’n to stay. Leia is a princess, used to giving orders and being obeyed. Accordingly her first line is a simple two word command "Han halt." Then Leia clearly. simply, and in standard iambic pentameter, asks Han to explain why he is going. From that point on, none of her lines are 10 syllables long- they either complete his or his lines complete hers. This kind of rapid-fire call and response is called Stichomythia, and it indicates how intelligent these characters are, how passionate they are, and how impatient they are with each other. It's not unlike some of Shakespeare's other great lovers like Beatrice and Benedick, or characters who dispise each other like Richard III and Lady Anne:
Notice that in this “keen encounter of wits,” the characters talk on top of each other. The verse lines indicate that Han and Leia need to keep topping each other and pick up the tempo. This helps convey how frustrated Leia is with Han and is trying to get him to get to the point! The only other regular verse line is her coup-de-gras at the end where she says “I would as soon kiss Wookie lips!” At that point, she’s done talking to Han and just wants him to go, and the verse reflects her decisive choice.
Left- Ruiz Burgos “Princess Leia & Han Solo” Right- Juliet by Philip H. Calderon (1888)
However, as you can hear in the podcast, alone in soliloquy, Leia reveals to the audience that she is still conflicted with her feelings for Han- listing all his best qualities like his hands, his face, his eyes, etc. This rhetorical technique is called anaphora, and it helps Leia build in excitement getting lost in Han’s attractive qualities. For my staging of the scene, Leia puts her hand on her cheek while standing under a balcony to emulate Juliet’s famous musings on Romeo:
Juliet. ‘Tis but thy name that is my enemy; Thou art thyself, though not a Montague. What’s Montague? it is nor hand, nor foot, Nor arm, nor face, nor any other part Belonging to a man. O, be some other name! What’s in a name? That which we call a rose By any other name would smell as sweet; So Romeo would, were he not Romeo call’d, Retain that dear perfection which he owes Without that title. Romeo, doff thy name, And for that name which is no part of thee Take all myself. – Romeo and Juliet, Act II, Scene ii.
Han’s Verse
While Leia’s verse is quick and direct, Han’s is slower and longer. His sentences spill over from one verse line to another because he’s taking his time. Again, his objective is to basically “neg” Leia into admitting that she loves him, so he’s enjoying goading her. He’s sort of like Benedick in Much Ado About Nothing, though Han speaks verse and Benedick speaks prose:
Han’s Extended Metaphor
Again, Han’s goal is to tease Leia into admitting that she loves him, so when she says: “We need thee Han,” he feigns ignorance and asks her to clarify her phrasing- going through all the permutations of “we” (including the colloquial, “Do you have a mouse in your pocket?”) to get her to specify what she means by “we.” If you look at Doescher’s official education guide for the William Shakespeare’s Star Wars series, you can see how Shakespearean characters often go into lengthy metaphors or comparisons to explore an idea or theme:
As I was writing William Shakespeare’s The Empire Striketh Back, I was surprised to realize I had made more references to Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing than any other play. Much Ado is a comedy—probably my favorite of Shakespeare’s comedies—so it was strange that lines from it kept popping up in the darkest of the original Star Wars® trilogy. –
Both of my actors are female and obviously, they aren’t Carrie Fisher or Harrison Ford. Since this play is a parody of the original Star Wars, I wanted to incorporate some physicality and vocal elements, without telling them to impersonate the Star Wars actors.
Han
Harrison Ford is much taller than Carrie Fisher and he uses his height to mock and irritate her. He also crosses his arms and points his index finger at her frequently in this movie, so I used that in the blocking. He also has a “cowboy stance”- legs apart, slight bend in the knees, slow, deliberate gait. Ironically, another man who has this kind of walk is David Tennant in his performance as Benedick in “Much Ado About Nothing.”
David Tennant and Catherine Tate in “Much Ado About Nothing,” Act I, Scene ii.
As for Carrie Fisher, she has a faster pace and keeps her arms close to her body. She looks like a ball of stress and anxiety, which is appropriate. After all, not only is she going to lose the man she loves, she’s under attack from an empire and living on a cold, dark planet made of ice! I told my actor to put these characterizations into her performance to not imitate Carrie Fisher, but to get the essence of how her emotions affect how the character moves and speaks. That’s the difference between acting this scene, and just doing impressions of the original actors.
I’m excited to see how my actors bring these techniques to life, and I hope you have enjoyed this little insight into how Doescher’s writing once again pulls back the curtain on how Shakespeare used his verse to show the hearts of his characters!
I’m teaching lots of cool classes online via Outschool.com during April. All the ones below are asynchronous, which means that, rather than interacting live with a teacher, you will interact with websites, videos, digital escape rooms, and other fun activities at your own pace. When you sign up, I’ll send you the materials and give you a handout, and be available via chat if you or your child needs help. Check out some of these amazing activities!
In this virtual version of my popular “Macbeth” course, you will engage with William Shakespeare himself and learn about his play in a fun, spooky, and interactive way!
2. “An Interactive Guide to Shakespeare’s London”:
A virtual tour of Shakespeare’s London will get kids to interact with the culture of Elizabethan England.
To teach kids about the Elizabethan era and the background of Romeo and Juliet, The Instructor will interact with the class (via pre-recorded videos), pretending to be Shakespeare. The class, pretending to be actors in Romeo and Juliet, will get a virtual tour of The Globe Theater, Hampton Court Palace, and a virtual visit to an Elizabethan doctor's office. This activity is an immersive way for them to learn about the period, how it relates to the world of the play, and how Shakespeare changed theater.
Intro image for my “Immersive Guide to Shakespeare’s London.”
3. “Shakespeare: The Lost Play:”
You must find the lost play of William Shakespeare before a mystery thief destroys it! Solve the clues and learn about Shakespeare’s writing and theater to uncover a historical mystery!
4. “Gravity Falls-Inspired Escape Room:”
Save the Mystery Shack from Bill Cypher, and learn about secret codes!
5. THe Violent Rhetoric of Julius Caesar:
Digital business card for my online classes with a QR code if you want to know more
Exciting, fully immersive, fully online classes for you and your children to enjoy in April 2024. Go down to Gravity Falls and solve codes and ciphers. Travel to Ancient Rome to learn about Julius Caesar, and visit Shakespeare’s Globe with a fully virtual tour!
Screenshot of my April schedule of classes, 2024
All the ones below are asynchronous, which means that, rather than interacting live with a teacher, you will interact with websites, videos, digital escape rooms, and other fun activities at your own pace. When you sign up, I’ll send you the materials and give you a handout, and be available via chat if you or your child needs help. Check out some of these amazing activities!
1. “Macbeth Digital Escape Room”
In this virtual version of my popular “Macbeth” course, you will engage with William Shakespeare himself and learn about his play in a fun, spooky, and interactive way!
2. “An Interactive Guide to Shakespeare’s London”:
A virtual tour of Shakespeare’s London will get kids to interact with the culture of Elizabethan England.
To teach kids about the Elizabethan era and the background of Romeo and Juliet, The Instructor will interact with the class (via pre-recorded videos), pretending to be Shakespeare. The class, pretending to be actors in Romeo and Juliet, will get a virtual tour of The Globe Theater, Hampton Court Palace, and a virtual visit to an Elizabethan doctor's office. This activity is an immersive way for them to learn about the period, how it relates to the world of the play, and how Shakespeare changed theater.
Intro image for my “Immersive Guide to Shakespeare’s London.”
3. “Shakespeare: The Lost Play:”
You must find the lost play of William Shakespeare before a mystery thief destroys it! Solve the clues and learn about Shakespeare’s writing and theater to uncover a historical mystery!
4. “Gravity Falls-Inspired Escape Room:”
Save the Mystery Shack from Bill Cypher, and learn about secret codes!
5. THe Violent Rhetoric of Julius Caesar (Asynchronous Edition)
Using self-paced online activities, and a helpful handout, your child(ren) will analyze the rhetoric and persuasive power in Shakespeare’s “Julius Caesar.” The course will also cover the history and culture of ancient Rome.
Digital business card for my online classes with a QR code if you want to know more
Last weekend I saw a wonderful production of “Six” The Musical at the Cab Calloway School Of the Arts in Wilmington DE. After seeing the professional production, I was worried that I wouldn’t enjoy these student performers but it was incredible! The young performers were all terrific and the director managed to use inventive, creative, and entertaining setpieces to both capture the essence of the Broadway show, and also make a version that is distinct and its own with student performers!
The Direction
DIRECTOR’S NOTE I thought original I’d never Broadway get a show chance only to has direct six it at actors Cab. in AS the luck cast, would so/ have it, the teen edition came out this past summer, which allows the addition of a singing and dancing ensemble. I immediately applied for the rights and we were one of the lucky schools to get them. This new teen edition is the perfect fit for our school community and it highlights the talents of studentsfrom every arts area. I wanted to create a Beyoncé or Taylor Swift concert-type at- mosphere, and I think we have achieved that with our show. The fabulous lighting, the beautiful costumes and make-up, the rocking pit band, the fabulous cast and crew and especially the epic choreography have culminated into quite a spectacle! It has always been a joy to work with my colleagues on these projects. and I want to give a particular shout-out to my team of choreog- raphers. They have taken my vision and turned it into something amazing. The creativity in this team is fierce, and if ever there was a group that fed off of each other’s ideas, it’s this one. We’ve had a blast collaborating on this production Also, I would like to acknowledge Brian Touchette, Peter Kuo and Jared DeStafney for their tireless work on this production. With- out them, this show would not be possible.
Marjorie Eldreth
As the director notes in the program, the challenge with doing a musical like “Six” at a high school or community setting is that there are only six major roles, which means it would be hard to find ways for the whole student body to participate. What I loved about this version is that, by utilizing dance, pantomime, and choruses, the director has found ways to not only involve more people, but help use the additional cast to tell the story in ways that the professional touring production I saw earlier didn’t!
My Favorite Moments
Normally I hate dance numbers in musicals. Don’t get me wrong, I admire the skill and athleticism that dancers have, but when I see a play or musical, I come for the story and the songs. Dance always seems like the black sheep in the musical theater trifecta to me. Not so with this production of “Six.” The dance numbers help tell the story in clever and moving ways! For instance, during Anne Boleyn’s “Don’t Lose Your Head,” a team of dancers with green sticks accompanied her. Their movements were cheeky and brash, which helps encapsulate her bubbly yet tart personality. During the choruses, the dancers and Anne rested their hands on the sticks, drawing attention to their heads moving back and forth, which reinforced both the title, and Anne’s air-headedness. Then, at the end of the number, the dancers got into a circle and pointed their sticks at Anne’s neck- pantomiming how she would eventually be beheaded! Thus, the dancers complimented Anne’s song perfectly, in a way that was not originally part of the show!
“My Heart Of Stone”
The most moving moment of dance was during Jane Seymore’s song “My Heart Of Stone.” When I saw this number in Hershey, it was by far my least favorite. I thought the lyrics were generic, that the song itself was bland, and that gave little depth to Jane character. All that changed this time around. While Jane belted her heart out about the son she never got to raise and the husband who mistreated her, we got to see elegant ballet dancers perform those moments for us. I particularly liked that the male dancers had red hair, (much like the real Henry VIII and his son). The dance actually helped me see Jane’s conflicting feelings for Henry- how she feels genuine love and affection one minute, and terror the next. How she and her son are both ghosts, now that they were denied the chance to live together on Earth. I don’t wish to diminish the wonderful singing and acting of the Hershey production, but Six: Teen Edition did a masterful job of showing, in addition to telling Jane’s story.
THe Cast
The Cab Calloway School of the Arts boasts some of the top young actors in the country, and all of them have tremendous chops as actors, dancers, and singers. Some of them already have professional acting credits. So it should come as no surprise that all the performances were incredible. It was very exciting, however to see a real 19-year-old play Catherine Howard, (since that was the real age she was when she died).
This production also took the bold leap of casting two men in the show. In one cast Anne of Cleaves was played by a man, and in the other (the one I watched), Katherine of Aragon was played by a man. I have no problem with this choice, (after all boys have been playing Katherine ever since Shakespeare’s Day), but I was a little disappointed that the actor had to modify the song to fit his range- I was looking forward to the extravagantly high Shakira and Beyonce inspired vocals that I’ve come to expect from the part. Nevertheless, the actor I saw was incredibly talented and his acting and dancing were completely appropriate for the part.
THe Dramaturg
For those of you who don’t know, a dramaturg’s responsibility is to help the actors, director, and production designer by doing research into the play’s historical or political context. It’s a role that is very important in period plays like Shakespeare. I’ve worked as a dramaturg myself and, though the work one does as a dramaturg is mostly unnoticed by the audience, the dramaturg can greatly contribute to the way the actors understand the text and give the director tools and ideas with which to explore themes and ideas present in it. I don’t know what the dramaturg did for this production, but I could tell based on the performances that every cast member was fully committed to their character. Each actor was able to clearly articulate their character’s emotional journey and that meant they must have learned the history and context of the Tudor period. Again, I don’t know if the dramaturg had any effect on this, but I’m going to assume they did a terrific job, because their end goal was accomplished- the actors and director gave a coherent and well thought out performance that captures the spirit of the Tudor period, so great job!
You may not know it, but literally thousands of movies and TV shows are based on Shakespeare’s works- he even has an IMDb page! Since today the academy announced this year’s Oscar nominations, I thought I would give you a list of films Shakespeare has won awards for, (posthumously of course). List of Oscar wins for Shakespeare
Let me know in the comments if you want me to review one of these films!
Tonight is the Chinese New Year, beginning the Year of the Dragon. I’ve talked before about the fascinating relationship between Shakespeare and China, and I thought I’d illustrate it here by talking about a shared cultural mythology- the concept of dragons. Both Western and Eastern cultures use dragons in their myths, but as you’ll see, they have very different cultural meanings.
Quotes from Shakespeare About Dragons
Before thee stands this fair Hesperides, With golden fruit, but dangerous to be touch’d; For death-like dragons here affright thee hard:
Antiocus, Pericles
Sometimes we see a cloud that’s dragonish; A vapour sometime like a bear or lion, A tower’d citadel, a pendent rock, A forked mountain, or blue promontory
Antony and Cleopatra
In Western myths, dragons are symbols of wrath and fierceness. In ancient Greek and Viking myths, dragons are often guards of treasure, (and sometimes in modern stories like Harry Potter). In the myth of Hercules, a multi-headed dragon guarded the golden apples of the Hesperides, (the apples that kept the gods young and immortal). King Antiochus wants to scare Pericles by comparing his daughter to the apples; if he fails to win her love, he’ll be devoured as Hercules almost was.
Coriolanus and Dragons
His CORIOLANUS is grown from man to dragon: he has wings; he’s more than a creeping thing.
Coriolanus
Shakespeare’s Roman general Coriolanus is frequently compared to a dragon in Shakespeare’s play. According to Dr. Peter Saccio of Dartmouth College, this is because the general is unable to relate to other humans- he is solitary, violent, jealous of his power and wealth, and prefers to strike first, then retreat from other people when the battle is won. This is why he utterly fails to get the Roman people to elect him consul in this scene from Ralph Fiennes’ movie. I find it ironic that Fiennes has played not only this character, (who is associated with dragons), but with Lord Voldemort, (who controls several large serpents), and also Francis Dollarhyde in the film Red Dragon:
Swift, swift, you dragons of the night, that dawning May bare the raven’s eye! I lodge in fear; Though this a heavenly angel, hell is here.
Cymbeline
Sometime he angers me With telling me of the mouldwarp and the ant, Of the dreamer Merlin and his prophecies, And of a dragon and a finless fish, A clip-wing’d griffin and a moulten raven, A couching lion and a ramping cat, And such a deal of skimble-skamble stuff As puts me from my faith.
Hotspur, Henry IV, Part I
A thousand hearts are great within my bosom;
Advance our standards, set upon our foes
Our ancient word of “courage,” fair Saint George,
Inspire us with the spleen of fiery dragons!
Richard III
St. George and the Dragon
In the medieval story of St. George, the titular knight defeats a dragon, which is basically a stand-in for Satan. George was seen as the ideal knight- virtuous, devoted to his cause, strong, and patriotic. His defeat of the dragon was an allegory for how knights should devote themselves to protecting their lords, ladies, and the innocent against evil. Therefore, it’s intentionally unsettling that Shakespeare has Richard III telling his soldiers to act not like the virtuous St. George, but like the cruel and violent dragon. Richard is Shakespeare’s most villainous king, so it makes sense in context that he would side with the dragon, and thus his defeat would seem even more like a triumph of good over evil. In addition, the real King Richard flew this flag with a dragon on it during the actual Battle of Bosworth Field.
Royal standard of Richard III, using the dragon of St. George
Peace, Kent! Come not between the dragon and his wrath.
King Lear
Dragons and Chinese Culture
None of the animals is so wise as the dragon. His blessing power is not a false one. He can be smaller than small, bigger than big, higher than high, and lower than low.”
–Chinese scholar Lu Dian (AD 1042-1102)
Qualities of Dragons
Dragons didn’t have the negative connotations of Western myths. In China, they were symbols of good luck, strength, and success. They were also known to be proud and temperamental-sometimes kind but sometimes vengeful to people who didn’t show them proper respect. In a sense, the dragon was like the ancient Greek gods- they should be viewed with respect and gratitude as well as fear.
The Chinese calendar goes by a cycle of years, not months. It has 12 animals that represent various qualities and those qualities will characterize the coming year. So hopefully a year of a dragon will be a year marked with courage, good fortune, and justice.
IV. What would a Chinese Lear look like?
Looking at the quotes I showed you earlier, it’s interesting that King Lear calls himself a dragon, and it made me think- Lear is a powerful warlord who demands absolute loyalty from his children. Would a Chinese version of King Lear work?
There was a Chinese production of King Lear back in 2017, where the translator and director traveled to the Royal Shakespeare Company in England and worked with the actors and directors of a London production to make their production gain insight into the characters’ motivations. However, I wonder how successfully they translated the Western ideas and values of the play for a Chinese audience. One of the reviews from China Daily.com describes the play like this:
Originating from old British legend, King Lear is one of Shakespeare’s four most famous tragedies. Through the internal disorder of the royal family, the rise and fall of King Lear’s fate and the final punishment of evil powers, Shakespeare expresses his optimistic views in the future of society, thereby adding the glory of strong idealism into his work.
The last word I would use to describe King Lear is “optimistic”. It is the only tragedy where not only does everyone die, but the entire future of the monarchy is in question. Nevertheless, reading about this production makes me interested in imagining my own version of King Lear, one that emphasizes Chinese values, but also questions them.
Many Chinese stories stress family loyalty, communalism, and respect for elders. You could portray King Lear as a story about the disastrous consequences of self-interest. After all, Regan and Goneril cast their father out and dismissed his followers, and it led their kingdom into civil war. In that version, Lear is like the Dragon King, who in Chinese folklore, was a powerful ruler of the seas, (giving new meaning to the lines “Blow winds, and crack your cheeks”). As a bonus, historically, many imperial Chinese rulers decorated their palaces with images of dragons, and the emperors themselves were associated with the creature, (especially during the Han Dynasty), so when Lear says “Come not between the dragon and his wrath,” In his mind, he literally is a dragon.
Han Dynasty watercolor print of a Han warrior whose clothing is embroidered with dragons.
In 1736, Jean-Baptiste Du Halde wrote about the Emperor: “His clothing is embroidered with dragons: they are his emblem, and only He can wear dragons with five claws – any infringement to this rule is punished severely.”
That said, some dragons were associated with bad luck and ill omens. I’ve said before that Lear’s biggest flaw is that he fails to take time to examine himself or think about the consequences of his actions until it is too late. Maybe Lear thinks of himself as a benevolent dragon, but really is a bad man cursed with bad luck; he is not a dragon, he just has one on his back. So, in short, a Chinese re-imagining of King Lear could be a fascinating look at Chinese culture and give a fresh re-imagining of Shakespeare’s tragic story.
I hope you enjoyed this look into dragons in Shakespeare and Chinese culture. Joseph Campbell said that all cultures share and interpret archetypes to understand their own culture, but also to grasp what makes us all human. For whatever reason, every culture on Earth has some kind of large serpent- Chinese dragons, European dragons, The Aztec god Quetzalcoatl, the Viking Yormungand, even the Piasa of the native tribes of the Mississippi. and they can mean many different things to many different people, which means that we as humans are in some way tied to gether through all these dragon tales (no pun intended).
I’m really excited about the Disney Plus release of the Percy Jackson TV show. My family and I are really enjoying it and I think it’s a very good adaptation, (much more faithful than the previous movie versions). The tone is darker, the characters are better fleshed out, and also there’s a much more nuanced take on Percy’s character, which I believe is at the core of the series. The movie is essentially just a fetch quest where Percy is going from location A to location B looking for various magic items and fighting monsters. Movie Percy is a very static character but in the books and the show, they keep all of those journeys but also delve into his complicated relationship with the gods, his own insecurities growing up without a father, and his overwhelming feeling that this world of gods and mortals is fundamentally flawed and that he is the one to fix it.
“Families are messy. Immortal families are eternally messy. Sometimes the best we can do is to remind each other that we’re related for better or for worse…and try to keep the maiming and killing to a minimum.”
-Percy Jackson, The Sea of Monsters
In short, what makes the show great is that it emphasizes the elements of the book that make it a classic story of a young man who is trying to find his place in the world and complete the quest that his father set for him. Of course, once I started watching it, my Shakespeare Brain activated, and I immediately compared him to Shakespeare’s ultimate example of a hero trying to complete a quest given to him by an absent father- Hamlet. So today I’ll Talk about why I think Percy Jackson is actually a descendant of Hamlet or rather that Hamlet and Percy Jackson are both descendants of the same common ancestor in Greek mythology and touch on what these classic stories can say to us today.
1. The Plot
AI Art I created of Percy Jackson. Nightcreator.com.
As I touched on earlier, there are some glaring similarities between the plots of Percy Jackson and Hamlet- we have a young man who has who hates his stepfather, who is deeply protective of his mother, who goes on a magical quest given to him by his father, (who cannot directly aid him because he’s not physically there). In Percy Jackson, his father is a god- the ancient Greek water god Poseidon, while Hamlet’s father is a ghost. Both heroes have to deal with treachery, uncover a plot, avert potential wars, and get caught up in great military and political power schemes. While Hamlet is trying to restore the rightful heir to the throne (himself), Percy is trying to avoid a war between the gods. Both heroes have stoic sidekicks- Hamlet has Horatio whereas Percy has Annabeth and his friend Grover the Satyr. Hamlet’s friend l Horatio is kind of like a combination of Annabeth’s intelligence and Grover’s kindness and empathy. Finally, both stories conclude in a duel (spoiler alert) where they fight against a near-impossible adversary, and in the end, succeed in their quest, although in Hamlet’s case, he does so at the cost of his own life.
The main difference between these stories is connected to tone and genre- Hamlet is a revenge play, and most Revenge tragedies end in the death of the avenger. Percy Jackson is an adventure quest so based on the conventions, he can succeed, survive, and go off to fight another day. Nevertheless, in terms of the broad outline, the plots are very similar. I would argue this is probably because Hamlet has its roots in many ancient mythological stories like Oedipus, Orestes, and of course, the Danish Viking myth of Amleth. I would argue that both Percy Jackson and Hamlet have a very clear direct common ancestor: the ancient Greek myth of …
As this funny cartoon illustrates, the plots of Percy Jackson and Hamlet can be seen as a modern incarnation of the Perseus myth, from the villainous stepfather to the hero’s protective feelings to the mother to the magical quest to get rid of a stepfather who takes away his birthright. These plot elements follow a very similar formula; as Jake also alluded to, all three of these stories are part of what writers and scholars like to call the monomyth or the “Hero’s journey,” a concept in mythology and storytelling that has inspired works such as Percy Jackson, Star Wars, and many others.
What Is the Monomyth?
Crash Course Mythology- The Monomyth
In 1949, scholar Joseph Campbell wrote a book called “The Hero With a Thousand Faces,” which posited that every culture has stories that fit into universal archetypes- that essentially all human cultures have unique stories, but also call to mind universal truths about humanity. He then distilled the common archetypes and plot tropes of these myths into something called “The monomyth” or “The Hero’s Journey,” a 17-step process that is at the core of many ancient myths, modern adventure stories, or revenge stories such as Hamlet. Below are some of the common tropes of the Hero’s Journey. When you see it spelled out like this, it is very clear that both Hamlet, Percy Jackson, and Perseus follow the Monomyth formula:
Where’s the glory in repeating what others have done?
The Lightining Thief
Every Greek hero starts with a call to adventure- Theseus finds his father’s sword and sets out to find him. Oedipus needs to lift the plague on Thebes, and Hamlet needs to find out why his father’s ghost has returned.
A Half-Blood of the eldest gods, Shall reach sixteen against all odds And see the world in endless sleep The Hero’s soul, cursed blade shall reap A single choice shall end his days Olympus to preserve or raze.
The Oracle- Sea of Mosters
Part II: Refusing the Call
If my life is going to mean anything, I have to live it myself.
The Lighting Thief
I won’t go looking for trouble. I usually don’t have to
Neither Hamlet nor Percy outright refuse to go on their quests, but both experience doubts. Percy, looking at how the gods have cursed and fought and betrayed each other, wonders whether or not they deserve his help:
Percy watches the story of the gods in the Tunnel of Love (Episode 5, Disney Plus 2024.)
Hamlet on the other hand, is so worried that the ghost is trying to deceive him into killing an innocent man, that he nearly kills himself in the most famous speech in all of Shakespeare.
Part III: Supernatural Aide
Supernatural Aid – A magical helper appears or becomes known
Go on with what your heart tells you, or you will lose all.
The Nereiads, Lighting Thief Chapter 17
Both Percy and Perseus get help from the gods- magical weapons, advice, etc. Hamlet gets the revelation from his father that his uncle killed him and how. What sets Hamlet apart from any number of myths is that, since there’s no tangible evidence that his father was there, Hamlet is not sure if his father helped him, or if he is going insane.
Suspecting and knowing are not the same.
-The Lighting Thief
Crossing the first threshold
In Perseus, the first threshold would be when he leaves Acrisius’ palace and sails to the island of Cerebos. In Percy Jackson, this would be when he leaves Yancy Academy and goes to Camp Half-Blood, and in Hamlet, it would be when he meets the ghost.
My fate cries out, and makes each petty artery in this body as hardy as the Nemian Lion’s mane. Still am I called!
Hamlet, Act I, Scene iii.
Belly of THe BEast
There’s always a part of the story when a character feels they are in too deep. Sometimes it’s a literal belly of the beast- Pinocchio and the whale, Luke Skywalker and the Sarlaac pit, Frodo when he reaches Mordor, and Agent K in Men In Black when he literally gets eaten by the Bug. In Percy Jackson, it would definitely be when he journeys to Hades, like many Greek heroes like Orpheus or Hercules.
I’d love to tell you I had some deep revelation on my way down, that I came to terms with my own mortality, laughed in the face of death, et cetera.
The truth? My only thought was: Aaaaggghhhhh!.
Usually, the belly of the beast occurs near the climax of the story- the ultimate test of the hero’s courage and resolve. For Hamlet, this would be the duel with Laertes- he’s in a situation where Claudius has total control of what he does.
“You weren’t able to talk sense into him?” “Well, we kind of tried to kill each other in a duel to the death.” “I see. You tried the diplomatic approach.” (The Sea of Monsters)
I’ll get into a deeper summary of the steps of the Hero’s journey on my podcast later this month, but to summarize, the Hero’s Journey is essentially a story of growth, maturity, and enlightenment. It’s not a coincidence that all three of these heroes are young men who leave home and then return to confront an evil stepfather or uncle. Campbell regarded the Hero’s journey as a metaphor for young men growing up, learning about themselves, gaining confidence in themselves and their abilities, and taking their rightful place in society by displacing a corrupt older authority figure. This is also why these stories often resonate with young people, and why storytellers like Disney often use the Hero’s Journey as a template for children’s movies.
These universal stories of growing up, maturity, and a life worth living have always inspired people and even though the stories have different purposes and the plots take different forms, the core of what makes them universal remains the same.
The Shakespearean Student 