teaching

Taylor Swift’s Ophelia and Shakespeare

| astronut1

What Is the Fate Of Ophelia?

Taylor Swift’s “The Fate of Ophelia”

I’ve criticized Ms Swift in the past, offering praise for her work as a whole, but not when she tackled Romeo and Juliet in “Love Story.” So, when I heard she was making a new song specifically about Ophelia, the young ingenue role in Hamlet, I wasn’t sure what to think. I am pleased to report that Taylor Swift’s song has a masterful grasp of not only Shakespeare, but of many classic iconic ingenues (both real and fictional). And her album, Life of a Showgirl, has a salient point to make about relationships, love, and Ms Swift as a woman and artist.

And I of ladies, most deject and wretched, Have sucked the honey of his music vows. -Hamlet, Act III, Scene i.

Put quite simply, the fate of Shakespeare’s Ophelia is, bad. In Hamlet, Ophelia is the prince’s girlfriend. Over the course of the play, her brother Laertes leaves her for France and Hamlet breaks up with her before accidentally killing her father, Polonius. Ophelia cannot take the strain of all this misery, and she loses her mind, unable to communicate except through flowers or little songs, as this clip from Slings and Arrows shows:

Geoffrey Tennent (Paul Gross) explains Ophelia’s torment to young actress Claire

Once Ophelia loses her mind, she dies by drowning. Hamlet’s mother, Queen Gertrude relates how she was picking flowers for garlands (flower crowns), and the branch she was holding broke. She was then weighed down by her gown and sank into the river:

Gertrude: There is a willow grows aslant a brook,
That shows his hoar leaves in the glassy stream.
There with fantastic garlands did she come
Of crowflowers, nettles, daisies, and long purples,
There on the pendant boughs her coronet weeds
Clamb’ring to hang, an envious sliver broke,
When down her weedy trophies and herself
Fell in the weeping brook. Her clothes spread wide
And, mermaid-like, awhile they bore her up;
Which time she chanted snatches of old tunes,
As one incapable of her own distress,
Or like a creature native and indued
Unto that element; but long it could not be
Till that her garments, heavy with their drink,
Pull’d the poor wretch from her melodious lay
To muddy death.

  • Hamlet, Act IV, Scene vii.

It’s unclear whether Ophelia committed suicide, died by accident, or if Gertrude actually mercy killed her to end her suffering. In any case, Ophelia lost her family, her mind, and eventually, her life.

Ophelia’s Songs

Like Taylor Swift herself, Ophelia deals with her pain through songs and they range from upbeat and pretty, to deeply nihilistic:

And will he not come again?
And will he not come again?
No, no, he is dead;
Go to thy deathbed;
He never will come again.
His beard was as white as snow,
All flaxen was his poll.
He is gone, he is gone,
And we cast away moan.
God ‘a’mercy on his soul!
And of all Christian souls, I pray God. God b’ wi’ you. -Hamlet Act IV, Scene v.

It’s the actress’ ultimate test to determine what these songs mean, (“Though this be madness, yet there’s method in it)”. I’ve seen some Ophelias who seem vapid, and consumed by melancholy. Others are full of rage, particularly at Hamlet and Claudius, since they are responsible for her dire fate. As you probably know, if you read my review of Branaugh’s Hamlet, my favorite Ophelia is Kate Winslet, who manages to be all of these and more. Her songs tell the story of a woman who followed her heart, and ended up broken for it; a fate Taylor Swift knows all too well.

TS’ Literary Allusions

The eldest daughter of a nobleman
Ophelia lived in fantasy
But love was a cold bed full of scorpions
The venom stole her sanity
And if you’d never come for me
I might’ve lingered in purgatory
You wrap around me like a chain, a crown, a vine
Pulling me into the fire
All that time
I sat alone in my tower
You were just honing your powers
Now I can see it all (see it all)
Late one night
You dug me out of my grave and
Saved my heart from the fate of
Ophelia


The central conceit of the song is how an unnamed person stopped the speaker from suffering the same fate as Ophelia. The song suggests that Ophelia’s first mistake was that she was too naive “living in a fantasy.” One thing Ophelia’s father and brother repeatedly impress on her is that she cannot be the wife of a prince like Hamlet, since (like so many Disney characters), she isn’t actually royal. There is a deep danger to this unequal power dynamic, which explains her image of a bed full of scorpions, (which by the way, could be cribbed from Macbeth’s line “O full of scorpions is my mind, dear wife”).

It’s particularly interesting that Swift uses allusions, not just to Ophelia, but to other characters as well: Her imagery of venom and purgatory suggests the Ghost of Hamlet’s father, who alludes to being stung by a serpent, and who might be trapped in purgatory. Like Ophelia, the ghost is languishing and suffering because of a man’s crime. I love how she intertwines the ghost and Ophelia with the metaphor of a chain, crown, and vine. While the ghost suffers due to his crown and his chains, one would wish someone would come up to Ophelia with a rope or vine, to save her from her drowning death.

The final image I’d like to discuss is the notion of being pulled out of a grave. Obviously, the Ghost comes out of his grave, but so does Ophelia! In Act V, Scene i, her brother Laertes jumps into his sister’s open grave and fights with Hamlet over her corpse!

  • Laertes. Lay her i’ th’ earth;
    And from her fair and unpolluted flesh
    May violets spring! I tell thee, churlish priest,
    A minist’ring angel shall my sister be
    When thou liest howling.
  • Hamlet. What, the fair Ophelia?
  • Gertrude. Sweets to the sweet! Farewell.
    [Scatters flowers.]
    I hop’d thou shouldst have been my Hamlet’s wife;3580
    I thought thy bride-bed to have deck’d, sweet maid,
    And not have strew’d thy grave.
  • Laertes. O, treble woe
    Fall ten times treble on that cursed head
    Whose wicked deed thy most ingenious sense
    Depriv’d thee of! Hold off the earth awhile,
    Till I have caught her once more in mine arms.
    [Leaps in the grave.]
    Now pile your dust upon the quick and dead
    Till of this flat a mountain you have made
    T’ o’ertop old Pelion or the skyish head
    Of blue Olympus.
  • Hamlet. [comes forward] What is he whose grief
    Bears such an emphasis? whose phrase of sorrow
    Conjures the wand’ring stars, and makes them stand
    Like wonder-wounded hearers? This is I,
    Hamlet the Dane. [Leaps in after Laertes.]
  • Laertes. The devil take thy soul!
  • [Grapples with him.]
  • Hamlet. Thou pray’st not well.
    I prithee take thy fingers from my throat;
    For, though I am not splenitive and rash,
    Yet have I in me something dangerous,
    Which let thy wisdom fear. Hold off thy hand!
  • Claudius. Pluck them asunder.
  • Gertrude. Hamlet, Hamlet!
  • All. Gentlemen!

The question is, who is this mystery figure who metaphorically pulled Taylor Swift from her grave? To answer that, we need to look at the music video itself.

Imagery In The Video

Taylor Swift poses as Ophelia in her 2025 music video
Taylor stands her ground as a pirate/ siren in “The Fate of Ophelia”
Taylor seems tied up backstage in The Fate Of Ophelia
Taylor dons fiery red and seems happy to be a showgirl again

Taylor As Ophelia

I certainly expected Taylor to appear in an Ophelia-like pose, and I suspected she’d base it on the famous 1851 painting Ophelia by John Everett Millais. For the record though, apparently the pose is based on a lesser-known painting by Friedrich Heyser from 1900 .

Ms Swift establishes who Ophelia is using a pose reminiscent of these late 19th and early 20th century paintings. They make Ophelia into a sort of fairy tale character. The lighting is bright and ethereal. The colors suggest a literal watercolor painting, which is important, given the motifs of water and fire in the song. Taylor seems placid, dreamy, and extremely passive.

Taylor as a mermaid/siren

Taylor as a Mermaid/ Siren

Taylor’s character keeps changing through the video- she goes from Ophelia “A creature incapable of her own distress,” into more active and more assertive characters. First, a mermaid. This isn’t so much of a departure from Shakespeare since, as you saw above, Gertrude compares her to a mermaid. Like Ophelia, mermaids are singers with strong connections to water, who sometimes give their lives for humans, (like in the iconic Hans Christian Anderson story The Little Mermaid).

Taylor stands her ground as a pirate/ siren in “The Fate of Ophelia”

However, in ancient Greek mythology, mermaids are known as sirens, and they can drive men mad with their songs. Taylor’s character has turned tables on Ophelia and is taking control of the men in her life in this image. She becomes a sort of siren/ pirate, using a sword to keep men at bay. This also echoes how, after being sent oversees, Hamlet himself boards a pirate ship and makes the pirates take him back to Denmark, so he can finally take revenge on Claudius. Of course, Taylor Swift wouldn’t settle for the supporting character of Ophelia, and has recast herself as the starring role.

Taylor seems tied up backstage in The Fate Of Ophelia

Waiting In the Wings

The title of Taylor’s album is The Life of a Showgirl, so the whole song is an homage to Taylor’s chameleon like persona, which evocatively, (and provocatively), come through in this shot. The strategic ropes and the bobbed haircut suggest a 1920s flapper, one of the most famous kinds of showgirls. In addition, Taylor is backstage in a dark theater, where ropes and pulleys are frequently used in stagecraft.

The shot and the album as a whole also explore the joys and sorrows of celebrity. Taylor is literally tied to the stage. Perhaps she sees herself as part of the scenery, not a real person. One might even recall how Prospero, one of Shakespeare’s self-insert characters, recalls how ephemeral the illusion of theater and film can be:

Our revels now are ended. These our actors,
As I foretold you, were all spirits and1880
Are melted into air, into thin air:
And, like the baseless fabric of this vision,
The cloud-capp’d towers, the gorgeous palaces,
The solemn temples, the great globe itself,
Ye all which it inherit, shall dissolve1885
And, like this insubstantial pageant faded,
Leave not a rack behind.

I interpret this image as Taylor enjoying the glamor and creativity of the limelight, but also feeling lonely and not totally fulfilling. A showgirl is still not totally alive, without an audience.

Taylor dons fiery red and seems happy to be a showgirl again

The Fire

At the climax of the song, Taylor’s persona becomes a dynamic showgirl in fiery red and orange; the complete opposite of the quiet and passive Ophelia. The song itself makes a reference to being pulled from the water into the fire- from cold, lonely death, to dazzling life. She seems to be happy to be a star and, for the first time, she is sharing the stage. Clearly, finding support and backup (pun intended), is what saves her from the fate of Ophelia. The question remains though, who saved her?

Ophelia In Art

Video from the Tate Modern art gallery about “Ophelia” by John Everett Millais

Ope not thy lips thou foolish one
Nor turn to me thy face
The blasts of heaven shall strike thee down
ere I will give thee grace”
–Elizabeth Siddall

Even famous paintings about Ophelia have a tragic story- I mentioned the famous John Millais painting, in which the model for Ophelia was a poet named Elizabeth Siddall. As you can see in the video above, Siddell modeled for Millais in a bathtub for hours in increasingly cold water, leaving her pale and her lips blue. Swift also alludes to Siddall in the shots where she herself is in a bathtub. Here yet again, we have a woman whose every action is dictated by a man, one who cares little for her physical and mental health.

Mystery Solved?

So, who is the mystery man who saved Taylor from the fate of Ophelia? Well, even though the song need not be autobiographical, since the song’s release coincides with her recent engagement, it’s easy to read the song as an ode to Taylor’s fiance, Travis Kelce.

My Take

I know I have been critical of TSs’ interpretation of Shakespeare in the past, but I think she nailed it this time. Her song, and album is a joyous celebration of a healthy relationship, one devoid of jealousy or control. Taylor is celebrating that she can truly be herself around Travis, and that means both her public persona as a superstar, and her private persona that is known only to Travis and herself. Ophelia represents the person Taylor feels pressured to be- a face frozen in time and cold water. Taylor wants a more active persona, and her fiance gives her the courage to do so!

Dream Album-

Now that Ms Swift has tackled both Romeo and Juliet, and Hamlet, I would adore it if she wrote songs for more iconic Shakespearean characters:

Antony and Cleopatra- who better to write about the original power couple than Tay Tay!

Twelfth Night- Both Viola and Taylor know what being a tomboy feels like

Lady Anne from Richard III Let’s be honest, Taylor is known for her celebrity feuds, and who had more beef than the Yorkists and the Lancastrians?

Do you agree with my analysis? If you were TS, what Shakespeare plays would you write about? Let me know in the comments!

Lots of teachers play this game and there are many Youtube videos of people playing it. Occassionally, even Shakespearean actors have played it:

There are also online quiz forms available on Quizlet and Gimkit. You can also show your students this video below:

  1. Richard III and Henry Tudor- Bad Blood
  2. Macbeth- Look What You Made Me Do
  3. King Lear- Anti-hero
  4. Lady Macbeth- No Body No Crime
  5. Julius Caesar- My Tears Ricochet
  6. Richard II- Castles Crumbling
  7. Antony and Cleopatra- Style
  8. Mercutio from “Romeo and Juliet”- 22 and “Shake it Off”
  9. Goneril from “King Lear”- Blank Space

Do you agree with my list?

Teachers are increasingly seeing the value in analyzing Taylor Swift with their students to teach them about literature. What a gift Ms Swift has given us with this song!

For More Information:

  1. Prestige Online: Literary References in Taylor Swift: https://www.prestigeonline.com/my/lifestyle/culture-plus-entertainment/literary-references-in-taylor-swift-the-tortured-poets-department-ttpd-peter-pan-romeo-juliet/
  2. Allusions (Taylor’s Version)

3. Taylor Swift and Shakespeare by Stephanie Burt (who taught a course on Taylor Swift at Harvard) https://www.folger.edu/blogs/shakespeare-and-beyond/taylor-swift-and-shakespeare/

4. Vanity Fair Review https://www.vanityfair.com/culture/story/taylor-swift-ophelia-shakespeare-references?srsltid=AfmBOorO4HwP6YkKzjKslt7rPX_ZU4weqYYjqpWcKWhML1oJx-dcSLcH

https://www.vanityfair.com/culture/story/taylor-swift-ophelia-shakespeare-references?srsltid=AfmBOorO4HwP6YkKzjKslt7rPX_ZU4weqYYjqpWcKWhML1oJx-dcSLcH

5.

Shakespeare In the Park: Twelfth Night

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I’m beyond excited that The Deleclrte Theater is continuing their tradition of producing high-quality, free Shakespeare in the Park, and then giving everyone the chance to see it via streaming over PBS.

This summer’s show is Twelfth Night, my favorite Shakespearean comedy, with an all-star cast

https://playbill.com/article/pbs-to-broadcast-twelfth-night-starring-peter-dinklage-lupita-nyongo-jesse-tyler-ferguson-sandra-oh

Photos

https://playbill.com/article/photos-see-lupita-nyongo-sandra-oh-peter-dinklage-more-in-rehearsal-for-twelfth-night

https://playbill.com/article/watch-lupita-nyongo-sandra-oh-peter-dinklage-more-in-the-rehearsal-room-for-twelfth-night

The cast

My predictions

I’m so excited to see Peter Dinklage as Malvolio, one of my favorite characters in Shakespeare, and one that I have played myself. I’m also very interested in Sandra Oh’s interpretation of Olivia. She has proven herself in both dramatic and comic roles, which works well for Olivia, a character who starts out in mourning and ends up madly in love.

The performance I am the most excited about, though, is Lupita N’ongo as Viola. I’ve said before that Viola is one of the greatest characters in all of Shakespeare, so I can’t wait to see her portrayed by Lupita N’ongo, an actress I greatly admire. I loved her performances in Avengers Endgame, Us, and my whole family adored her excellent voice work in The Wild Robot. She has simultaneously a childlike enthusiasm, and a calm and stoicism that I’m sure will translate excellently for Viola, who survives a shipwreck and losing her brother (she thinks) through courage and humor.

Hopefully, I can stream this program soon, and give you a full review. In the meantime, enjoy my past posts and videos about Twelfth Night

FMI

https://publictheater.org/productions/season/2425/fsitp/twelfth-night/

Close Reading: Viola’s “I Left No Ring With Her” Soliloquy

New Outschool Class: Shakespeare For Kids

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I’m pleased to announce that I’ve created a fully online, interactive Shakespeare class for kids ages 6-11 to start them on a lifelong journey of Shakespeare! The course will include games, videos, webquest activities, and puppet shows!


Title: Shakespeare for Kids!

Purpose:

Video trailer

The goal of this class is to introduce Shakespeare to young children in a fun and interactive way. For example, each lesson starts with a fun and funny introduction to a Shakespearean topic by our friend Puppet Shakespeare. Each class will also feature interactive games and quizzes that break down the poetry, language, characters, and plots of Shakespeare to help kids lose their “Shakes-fear” and begin engaging with classic literature

Each class builds from learning about Shakespeare to learning about the language and poetry of his plays, to finally an in-depth analysis of one play: “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.” After watching videos, playing games, and filling out handouts about these topics, the student will go on a “webquest,” that is, a series of webpages that feature activities, outside websites, and a short- puppet show retelling of “Midsummer” for the student. The goal is that by the end of the course, the student will be able to understand the dialogue of the play, summarize the story, know the characters, and enjoy the poetry.


Format: Nearpod with video and web links.


Ages 6-10

Description:
2 week course, $10 per week.

Part I: Who Is Shakespeare?

Learn about Shakespeare’s life and career with an interactive timeline, handouts, and an engaging puppet show! This section will include me reading from the excellent children’s book: William Shakespeare and the Globe by Aliki.

Part II: Words, Words, Words


WIlliam Shakespeare (Or Bill as I like to call him), wrote in a very special way. Back then playwrights were called poets, so not only did he have to make plays, he had to write them so they would sound like lines of poetry.


Part III: Shakespeak

Figure out how to translate all the “thees” and “thous” that make reading Shakespeare a challenge nowadays


Part IV The Play’s the Thing!

What kinds of plays did Shakespeare write? This handy lesson will teach you about the basic types of plays Shakespeare wrote, and give you a quick summary of each!


Part V: Disney vs. Shakespeare

Poster for Disney’s Elemental, which bears many similarities to Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet
Continue reading →

Shakespeare and Taylor Swift

| astronut1

One of my colleagues at work showed me this book, and it really fired my imagination. Taylor Swift is one of the most if not THE MOST successful singer/songwriter of our era. Her songs go across multiple genres and tones and, like many writers, they often contain allusions to classical poetry, nursery rhymes, and occassionally even Shakespeare.

My own Reservations with Taylor

I’m not exactly a Swifite, and I know I’m running the risk of offending MILLIONS of people here by offering criticisms of Taylor Swift, but I honestly think it’s a good idea to be able to critique the things you love. In the past I’ve criticized Shakespeare’s plays, his characters, and even suggested that he might be racist. I would like to offer that, in the case of Love Story, Ms. Swift simplifies the plot of Romeo and Juliet, and leaves out its tragic elements, which kind of misses the point. As an allusion, it seems a little watered down. That said, I feel other TS songs are better, use their allusions more skillfully, and create a more coherent picture in the listeners’ mind. Dispite my issues with this one song, I heartily admit that Ms. Swift is prolific, talented, and has created songs that are classic works of art!

What I’m not interested in doing is getting into a “battle” where I try to justify Shakespeare as being better than Taylor Swift. When I see memes like the one above, it makes me immediately disengage with whoever posted it. I don’t want a Swiftie to talk in the comments about how Shakespeare was a talentless hack. Alternatively, I don’t want a Shakespeare nerd to dismiss Taylor as being infantile or any other critique. Both these writers had different goals, went about them differently, and achieved success in their own special ways. So now, let’s look at how Taylor Swift borrowed from different literary traditions to make her songs more dramatic, more visceral, more insightful, and more poetic.

Her Literary Allusions

Obviously, Love Story mentions Romeo and Juliet, as well as The Scarlet Letter and various princess stories. TS rarely makes direct references to Shakespeare in her work, but some scholars have suggested that there might be more oblique references in some of her songs. For instance, when I look at the lyrics of Willow, I can’t help wonder if she wasn’t at least partially inspired by Shakespeare’s song of the same name in Othello:

Wait for the signal and I’ll meet you after dark
Show me the places where the others gave you scars
Now this is an open-shut case
Guess I should’ve known from the look on your face
Every bait and switch was a work of art

The more that you say
The less I know
Wherever you stray
I follow
I’m begging for you to take my hand
Wreck my plans
That’s my man

I can’t hear this song and not hear the parallels with the Othello story- the speaker alludes to eloping with her beloved (which Desdemona nearly does in the first act), that he has scars (which Othello clearly does mentally and physically). In addition, I imagine the refrain as like a duet between Othello (who is reluctant to kill Desdemona), and Desdemona (who wants to leave Cyprus and have a normal married life with Othello:

Desdemona: The more that you say
The less I know
Othello: Wherever you stray
I follow
I'm begging for you to take my hand
Wreck my plans
Desdemona: That's my man

Even if Shakespeare isn't mentioned directly in many of Taylor's songs, like Shakespeare she often uses Greek myths, the Bible, and other popular works as allusions. Some scholars have suggested that both Shakespeare and TS write using their own experiences through the lenses of classical poetry and literature. Simmilar to how Shakespeare probably wrote Hamlet to deal with his grief over his son's death, Taylor writes songs about past relationships, feuds with pop stars, and her own evolution as an artist through the lens of Shakespeare, novels, poetry, and other works.

TS’s Poetry

Ms. Swift’s songs are more than just catchy beats with a few allusions stuffed in. Like Shakespeare, she makes use of alliterations, internal rhymes, clever metaphors, and strong rhythms that help her songs tell their stories clearly and effectively. As an exercise, I fed the lyrics to “Bad Blood” into a poetry analyzer and found a very interesting analysis:

The poem features a rhythmic and catchy structure, typical of song lyrics. The syllabic patterns vary but often maintain a consistent beat, enhancing its musical quality. The use of internal rhymes and alliteration (e.g., “mad love,” “bad blood”) adds to the flow and memorability. The stresses often fall on the first word of each line, creating a strong start and a compelling rhythm that engages the listener. The word choice in the poem is evocative and charged with emotion. Phrases like “bad blood,” “deep cut,” and “salt in the wound” create vivid imagery and convey the depth of the narrator’s pain. The use of questions, such as “Did you have to do this?” and “Did you think we’d be fine?” emphasizes feelings of confusion and hurt. –Studycorgi.com

I highly encourage students and teachers to do an analysis of both Shakespeare and Taylor Swift because studying one can help us appreciate the other. Similarly, learning the way each writer conveys ideas can help the reader become more creative!

Who Said It? Shakespeare or T.Swift?

Lots of teachers play this game and there are many Youtube videos of people playing it. Occassionally, even Shakespearean actors have played it:

There are also online quiz forms available on Quizlet and Gimkit. You can also show your students this video below:

What iF SHakespeare’s Characters were Swifties?

I posted on Reddit a while back to ask the internet which Swift songs would be great soundtracks for the lives of Shakespearean characters. This is sort of an outgrowth of my: Infinite (Variety) Playlist activity. Here are some of the results I got:

What Are Shakespeare's Characters' Favorite TayTay Songs?
byu/shakes-stud inshakespeare
  1. Richard III and Henry Tudor- Bad Blood
  2. Macbeth- Look What You Made Me Do
  3. King Lear- Anti-hero
  4. Lady Macbeth- No Body No Crime
  5. Julius Caesar- My Tears Ricochet
  6. Richard II- Castles Crumbling
  7. Antony and Cleopatra- Style
  8. Mercutio from “Romeo and Juliet”- 22 and “Shake it Off”
  9. Goneril from “King Lear”- Blank Space

Do you agree with my list?

I hope this post can help teachers see the value in analyzing Taylor Swift with their students, and help students in analyzing Shakespeare. I think the term “classic” applies to anything good enough to stand the test of time. Shakespeare has already passed that test, and based on her clever allusions, evocative wordplay, and emotionally-charged subjects, I believe Taylor Swift to be classic too!

For More Information:

  1. Prestige Online: Literary References in Taylor Swift: https://www.prestigeonline.com/my/lifestyle/culture-plus-entertainment/literary-references-in-taylor-swift-the-tortured-poets-department-ttpd-peter-pan-romeo-juliet/
  2. Allusions (Taylor’s Version)

3. Taylor Swift and Shakespeare by Stephanie Burt (who taught a course on Taylor Swift at Harvard) https://www.folger.edu/blogs/shakespeare-and-beyond/taylor-swift-and-shakespeare/

Close Reading: Juliet’s Soliloquy: “My dismal Scene I needs Must Act Alone.”

| astronut1

The Text

LADY CAPULET  Good night.
Get thee to bed and rest, for thou hast need.
Lady Capulet and the Nurse exit.
JULIET 
Farewell.—God knows when we shall meet again.
I have a faint cold fear thrills through my veins
That almost freezes up the heat of life.
I’ll call them back again to comfort me.—
Nurse!—What should she do here?
My dismal scene I needs must act alone.
Come, vial. She takes out the vial.
What if this mixture do not work at all?
Shall I be married then tomorrow morning?
She takes out her knife
and puts it down beside her.
No, no, this shall forbid it. Lie thou there.
What if it be a poison which the Friar
Subtly hath ministered to have me dead,
Lest in this marriage he should be dishonored
Because he married me before to Romeo?
I fear it is. And yet methinks it should not,
For he hath still been tried a holy man.
How if, when I am laid into the tomb,
I wake before the time that Romeo
Come to redeem me? There’s a fearful point.
Shall I not then be stifled in the vault,
To whose foul mouth no healthsome air breathes in,
And there die strangled ere my Romeo comes?
Or, if I live, is it not very like
The horrible conceit of death and night,
Together with the terror of the place—
As in a vault, an ancient receptacle
Where for this many hundred years the bones
Of all my buried ancestors are packed;
Where bloody Tybalt, yet but green in earth,
Lies fest’ring in his shroud; where, as they say,
At some hours in the night spirits resort—
Alack, alack, is it not like that I,
So early waking, what with loathsome smells,
And shrieks like mandrakes torn out of the earth,
That living mortals, hearing them, run mad—
O, if I wake, shall I not be distraught,
Environèd with all these hideous fears,
And madly play with my forefathers’ joints,
And pluck the mangled Tybalt from his shroud,
And, in this rage, with some great kinsman’s bone,
As with a club, dash out my desp’rate brains?
O look, methinks I see my cousin’s ghost
Seeking out Romeo that did spit his body
Upon a rapier’s point! Stay, Tybalt, stay!
Romeo, Romeo, Romeo! Here’s drink. I drink to
thee. 
She drinks and falls upon her bed
within the curtains.

The Given Circumstances

This famous soliloquy comes from Act IV, Scene iii. In this speech, Juliet grapples with her fears and anxieties about taking the Friar’s sleeping potion.

Traditional Interpretations

Ellen Terry (Vinal Record Recording, C. 1911)

Ms. Terry, like her famous grandson John Gielgud, is more interested in delivering the text clearly, beautifully, and strongly than getting Juliet’s character across. Consequently, by our standards, her reading of the speech is slow, declamatory, and maybe a bit over-the-top. However, this kind of delivery really brings out the rhythm of the verse, the beauty of the individual words, and the structure of the speech itself, so I recommend actors listen to it as a jumping off point. In my opinion, having a good technical grasp of the speech will keep an actor from going too far with the emotion, (making it hard for the audience to hear and understand them). This is why there’s still value in these dusty old recordings.

Olivia Hussey (Romeo and Juliet directed by Franco Zephirelli, 1966)

Zephirelli was very sparing with the dialogue- choosing to condense this entire speech to one line “Love, give me strength.” Hussey has a great deal of passion in the speech, as if she is absolutely certain that taking the potion will re-unite her with Romeo.

Claire Danes (Romeo +Juliet, 1996)

Claire Danes contemplating the vial in Romeo + Juliet

Danes has a sense of almost macabe trance-like energy when she delivers the speech. Like all the edged weapons in the movie, the dagger is replaced by a gun. Most of the speech is cut because Luhrman wanted to emphasize the character’s obsession with violence, rather than fears about ghosts and arranged marriages. Consequently, Danes does little other than put the gun under her pillow, take out the vial, and drink it.

Ellie Kendrick (Globe Theater, 2009)

Ms. Kendrick is one of my favorite Juliets ever! She is a wonderful blend of sweetness and naivety, tempered with anxiety and practical thinking. She delivers the whole speech to different parts of the audience and makes sure every idea and every horrible thought of Juliet lands. Furthermore, her fast pacing around the stage helps her not only connect with the audience, but to use the Globe theater to make them imagine the Capulet vault.

Verse

As I always say, verse is the heartbeat of a character, and based on this, Juliet’s heart is beating a mile a minute. You’ll notice that five of these lines start with a trochee (T), and five of them have trochees. This means Juliet is unsettled, she’s literally off-beat. In addition, there are frequently pauses in the middle of the lines called cesuras, which might indicate that either Juliet is trying to answer her own questions, or that she is so worried, that she’s gasping for breath.

In this second part of the speech, the lines start running together. Juliet’s pace is quickening and she breathes every 2-3 lines instead of at the end of each line.

Structure

The speech is organized as a series of questions:

“What if…”

“What if…”

“How if…”

“Or if I live…”

“O, if I wake, shall I not…”

and then the terrifying statement: “O look…”

So, with this in mind, the actress needs to convey Juliet’s overactive imagination, her fears, and her ability to answer these fears with inner calm and inner strength.

Imagery

It’s a horrific idea being shut up alive with the dead. Shakespeare gives us the sights and smells and the grim reality of feeling “stifled” in a vault. I created this image to demonstrate the smells, the fear, and the claustrophobic nature of the vault.


I chose to have the vault lit with candles, and to use green smoke to represent decay and possibly noxious gas, like the nitre that sometimes dips from walls of tombs. I also added some stone faces of ancestors to stare down at Juliet.

Historical Research

Sarcophagus in church of San Francesco al Corso, an old Franciscan monastery in Verona.

The plain stone sarcophagus above has become a tourist attraction as the traditional ‘resting place’ of Juliet. As I mentioned in my Friar Lawrence post, the Friar who marries Juliet is a Franciscan, which is probably why they chose this church in Verona as the ‘site’ for Juliet’s grave.

It is a plain, open, and partly decayed sarcophagus, in a wild and desolate conventual garden once a cemetery now ruined to the very graves. The situation struck me as very appropriate to the legend, being blighted as their love.

– Lord Byron, Letters and Journals Vol. III

Since Italy is a small, hot country, bodies in the 16th century were buried almost immediately. First, the body would be wrapped up in a shroud or winding sheet, as Juliet mentions at the end. The corpses might be decorated with Rosemary or other sweet-smelling herbs.

A winding sheet for a corpse

Wealthy families like the Capulets or the church, would store all the bodies of their ancestors in burial vaults or crypts. Some bodies would be anointed with oil or preserved with vinegar.

Literary Inspiration: The Cask of Amontillado

Montressor and Fortunato move through the burial crypt in “The Cask of Amontillado”

When I think of the dark, macabre atmosphere of a family tomb, I think of The Cask of Amontillado, a short story by Edgar Allen Poe where the anti-hero Montressor, tricks his enemy Fortunato into going into his family crypt and buries him alive! There are some interesting parallels between Montressor and Tybalt from Romeo and Juliet- both men belong to ancient families, both men are violent, and both refuse to let any kind of insult stand. I think Juliet sees the vault as a hostile place, where her ancestors are angry at her for “betraying the Capulet name,” after marrying a Montague.

Image Research 4: Tybalt’s Angry Ghost

AI image of Tybalt’s Ghost

Like Montressor in The Cask of Amontillado, Tybalt embodies the Capulet feud, and it makes sense that Juliet would see him when she thinks of being shut up in the vault. The real question is, what does seeing him do to her? Is she terrified? Is she remorseful? Is she moved to protect Romeo? How does seeing Tybalt’s ghost motivate her to take the potion?

Other Questions to consider

  1. Why is Juliet so nervous?
  2. How does Juliet feel about running away from home?
  3. Do the ghosts represent something? Guilt? Judgement? Some kind of ticking clock?
  4. What does she see Tybalt’s ghost doing?
  5. How does Juliet pull it together at the end?

Emotional

Not only is Juiet worried about her health, (mental and physical), I get a sense that she might also be experiencing guilt. The notion of her being tormented by spirits that shriek like mandrakes, suggests that maybe the ancient Capulets aren’t very pleased with Juliet. This makes sense because she married a Montegue. I get the sense that maybe, for the first time, Juliet actually feels guilty, as if she’s failed her ancestors. However, for whatever reason, she definitely re-focuses and thinks about Romeo. Either she rejects her ancestors and Tybalt, or maybe she sees the potion as a way of protecting Romeo, or possibly Juliet just wants these fears and anxieties to end, and takes the potion as a release. My actor and I will no doubt try these ideas out and figure out what works within the structure and within her interpretation of the character.

Our Interpretation

Again, it’s a little too early for me to tell you our interpretation yet, but I’ll post it later.

Resources:

  1. Myshakespeare.com. This website will allow you to look up unfamilliar words, download pictures and videos of the scene, and even watch an ‘interview’ with Juliet, where, just as in this speech, she becomes more and more anxious and fearful until the very end.
  2. https://www.open.ac.uk/blogs/literarytourist/?p=49

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USING AI TO VISUALIZE POETRY

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Cordelia and Lear re-united (AI art)
Draco Malfoy as Coriolanus (AI art)
Harry Potter As Henry V (AI Art)
Hamlet as a Ravenclaw student at Hogwarts
Artwork of Cleopatra and her son Cesarian (Made with Night Cafe)
Luke Skywalker as Hamlet (AI)

As a creative person who can’t draw, I can’t always depict the gorgeous imagery that Shakespeare uses in his poems and plays, so I often resort to AI artwork to do it for me. If you’ve been here a while, you know I’ve used NightCafe to imagine Shakespeare characters as, Harry Potter, Disney Princesses, Star Wars, and others.

https://dosinga.medium.com/visualizing-poetry-using-dall-e-ff3a901a0d4e

I love to use AI to put pop cultural characters in a Shakespearean context, but until today, I never thought of using AI to interpret Shakespeare directly, until I read this article from Medium.com. The author, Douwe Osinga, has used the AI website DALL-E to create text-to-image artwork in order to show the viewer the imagery that various poets use in their poems. Here’s what he did for Shakespeare’s famous sonnet 118.

https://douwe.com/projects/the_ai_not_taken?selected=Shall_I_compare_thee_to_a_summers_day

poem

Here’s some art that I created through AI based on Sonnet 55:

Not marble nor the gilded monuments
Of princes shall outlive this powerful rhyme,
But you shall shine more bright in these contents
Than unswept stone besmeared with sluttish time.
When wasteful war shall statues overturn,
And broils root out the work of masonry,
Nor Mars his sword nor war’s quick fire shall burn
The living record of your memory.
’Gainst death and all-oblivious enmity
Shall you pace forth; your praise shall still find room
Even in the eyes of all posterity
That wear this world out to the ending doom.
    So, till the Judgement that yourself arise,
 
    You live in this, and dwell in lovers’ eyes.

I didn’t tell the NightCafe software what to draw; I just put the text of the sonnet. What I find interesting is that the AI assumed I was writing a poem to a beautiful woman, and chose to represent the first line of the poem by placing her in a graveyard. I also love the withered branch, prominently placed over the moon. It reminds me of a scythe- the symbol of decay and death.

I wish the AI had chosen to represent Mars or the flaming sword mentioned in the poem, but it does get some of the central images right.

Using AI to visualize poetry is a useful exercise when you’re teaching Shakespeare because it demonstrates how poets can use multiple allusions, personifications, and many other literary devices.

Review: Kenneth Branaugh’s As You Like It

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The Concept

According to Branaugh, the idea behind the film was to emphasize beautiful things like tranquility and love, but preserve and heighten the danger of being hunted by a powerful warlord like the Duke

Interview with the director and cast at the Barbican

The Plot Of the Play

Historical Context

Branaugh set the film in 19th century Japan, at a time when English people came to Japan for the first time, and created small English communities in the country. I’ll discuss later that I have very conflicting feelings with this choice, but I will give Branaugh this- it does highlight the fish out of water journey that Rosalind and the other characters go through leaving their homes at court, and becoming enamored with a new country.

The Cast

The cast is full of veteran Shakespeareans and gifted Hollywood stars. Bryce Dallas Howard is charming as Rosalind, and has good chemistry with RSC actor David Oyelowo. I also enjoyed Brian Blessed’s dual role as Duke Senior and Duke Frederick. Kevin Klein is very sincere as Jaques but I wish he had a bit more fun with the over exaggerated melancholy that Jaques puts on. The overall effect of the performances is a sentimental, charming, beautiful, witty group of people who are having a fun time.

My Reaction

The cast is great, the cinematography is stunning, and the music is charming. Overall, Branaugh has done a great job of bringing the spirit of the play alive- that of a sweet, pastoral comedy about love, unrestrained by wealth or status. What I worry about though, is that Branaugh might inadvertently be celebrating colonialism. Yes, Japan is a beautiful country with a  highly sophisticated and rich culture, so it makes sense that English people would be drawn to it. That does not justify the cruel way the English and Americans colonized parts of Japan, made the people mine for gold, and forced them to trade with the west. I worry that, like The Mikado, Branaugh celebrates Japan in a way that makes it seem like westerners were justified in taking so much away from it. I wish the plot had more of a “look but don’t touch” attitude to Japanese culture.

I also question the decision to cast barely any Asian actors. Given the story Branaugh wants to tell, it makes sense to cast non-asian actors as Thr Duke, Rosalind, Celia, and even Orlando, since they are the ones who come to the forest from an English-style court. But the roles of Corin, Silvius, Audry, Phoebe, and even Old Adam are people who are supposed to be familiar with the country, meaning it would make perfect sense to cast Asian actors in these roles. Frankly, there are very few well known Asian actors in Hollywood and I would love to give some of them a chance to shine, especially since Shakespeare has long been a way for actors to show their skills.

In conclusion, I can see why people like this movie and I too enjoy it, despite its questionable subtext. I don’t want to take away anyone’s enjoyment of the film, just to remind people not to be too seduced by the historical practice of taking something “As You Like It”

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