The Film Shakespeare in Love gives a realistic portrayal of sixteenth century life while also appealing directly to a modern cinema audience. Discuss how the makers of the film successfully combine these two elements.
The Film Shakespeare in Love gives a realistic portrayal of sixteenth century life while also appealing directly to a modern cinema audience. Discuss how the makers of the film successfully combine these two elements.
The makers of the film Shakespeare in Love aimed to create a realistic yet dramatic portrayal of the life of Shakespeare, while still appealing to modern audience. To do this they have combined contemporary elements of romance and humour, and to appeal to a wide audience they added intertexuality and well known cast members. However they have tried to remain true to the main elements of Shakespeare's life and make the sixteenth century London setting as authentic as possible. The conflict between these two elements is that the audience may perceive the subject matter (Shakespeare's life) to be a specialist topic. This meant that the main difficulty in the production of the film was to make a film about a specialist topic that would appeal to a wide range of audiences.
The authentic elements of the film can be distinguished from the outset, where there is a sound montage of typical city noises, a bell tolling, people shouting and the wind whistling. In the first scene the camera pans down into the theatre and there is a swelling of soundtrack music. This gives the audience their first impression of the film; it introduces the subject matter of the film (Elizabethan theatre) and draws the audience into the theatre. The audience see the empty stage of the theatre is shown; this adds authenticity and represents the status of the film; nothing has happened yet, in the film or on the stage. This representation is continued into the next scene where the audience see a blank piece of paper which Will is trying to begin his play on.
The Elizabethan theatre is the focal point of the film Shakespeare in Love and combines the different threads of the story line. It treated with great authenticity, from the outset. From the opening credits, which present it as the main subject matter of the film, "Two playhouses were fighting it out for writers and audiences" the audience can see what the film is going to be about. The playhouse shown at the beginning is very realistic and looks a lot like the Globe theatre, although it is called 'The Rose'. Another authentic aspect of the way the theatre is treated is that in the sixteenth century women would not have been permitted to act on stage. This is displayed when Viola is discovered acting on stage and as a result the Master of Revels closes 'The Rose'.
During the Elizabethan age the theatre was the main form of entertainment for all those but the exceptionally rich. This is shown in the film by the great excitement caused by the leaflets advertising the performance and the large number of people who attend the performance. The seats were made of wood and probably very uncomfortable, as they had no backs. Most of the poorer people stand on the floor area and lean up against the stage whereas the slightly richer ones have tiered seats in the wings.
At the beginning of the film the scenes are set on the streets of sixteenth century London. They are authentically busy, dirty and noisy, with a boisterous atmosphere. The animals roaming freely, market holders shouting, announcements being made and people bustling through the streets all add to the general ambience and authenticity of these scenes. As Fennyman walks through the city waste is thrown from windows into the street, this is authentic, as in the Elizabethan age there would not have been any proper toilets or sewerage systems and this is how people would have disposed of their ...
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At the beginning of the film the scenes are set on the streets of sixteenth century London. They are authentically busy, dirty and noisy, with a boisterous atmosphere. The animals roaming freely, market holders shouting, announcements being made and people bustling through the streets all add to the general ambience and authenticity of these scenes. As Fennyman walks through the city waste is thrown from windows into the street, this is authentic, as in the Elizabethan age there would not have been any proper toilets or sewerage systems and this is how people would have disposed of their waste.
The Thames is another authentic piece of the authentic sixteenth century scenery. There is a vast difference between the prosperity and social status of the people living on each side of the River Thames. In the film it represents the divide between the area where Will lives and where Viola lives, their houses, streets and neighbours are completely different. The crossing of the river demonstrates them crossing these social boundaries. Will must cross the river in order to see Viola as she lives on the south side that can only be accessed by crossing the Thames. This was done by boat, as it was the only way to access the side of the river where Viola lives. The boats were rowing boats this is authentic as motor boats and ferries had not yet been invented.
The court scenes also show the difference between the social classes. The first scene in court begins with a fanfare and shows the contrast between the higher and lower classes' standard of living. The men and women at court are members of the aristocracy. They all of wear smart, expensive looking clothes and are well groomed and polite. Lord and Lady De Lesseps are members of this social class, the highest and the most prosperous. Will is below their class as he is an actor. The actors are in their own category because they are richer than peasants but they were highly disapproved of by the City Fathers, who thought that acting encouraged idleness and gave rise to immoral behaviour. However they were self-sufficient and had a good time, although they were probably resented by some people for doing so.
After the scene at court the audience see Viola at her house. It is very grand, which displays her social status. She is having her teeth and ears cleaned by her nurse; this is a realistic portrayal of the hygiene standards of people in the sixteenth century and adds to the authenticity of the film. Poorer people would probably not have had the money or the time to take these measures. This is shown at the beginning of the film where we see Will's fingernails and they are black and dirty. The audience sees the type of food people used to eat when Viola's nurse looks at her tray to see if she has eaten her dinner and there is a sort of porridge on it. This adds to the authenticity for if it had been modern food the film would be less credible.
There are many aspects of the film that have been put in to increase its appeal to a modern audience. Some make the film less authentic but are important in making the film appealing to a wide audience, not just to people interested in sixteenth century life or the life of Shakespeare. The main element of the film that is not authentic is the topic of romance. This is unrealistic as romantic love would not have been given any credibility in the sixteenth century and the relationship between Will and Viola probably would never have happened.
Will and Viola's relationship is a type of anachronism because it has many modern elements that would not have been plausible in the sixteenth century. The modern audience can compare with their relationship; for example they have sex before marriage. This is not authentic, as it would not have happened in this era because it would have been seen as sinful and improper. However the audience support their relationship because they feel empathy for them. They do this because they feel as though they share the lovers' secret and they sympathise with them because they know that their love is thwarted.
Although the main story line of Shakespeare in Love is quite tragic the film includes a lot of humour, which also appeals to a modern audience. Two main types of humour are used in the film, visual and verbal. An example of visual humour is the Stratford upon Avon mug; a deliberate anachronism as the mug could not have been there is Shakespearean times. This plays upon the audience's knowledge because they know that Stratford upon Avon is only famous for being the birthplace of Shakespeare. Two simpler cases of visual humour, that need no background knowledge to understand, are when the Queen falls asleep during Shakespeare's play and when, as Fennyman walks along the street he just misses the waste thrown out of the window each time. Other instances of visual humour include the plaques covering the psychologist's wall and the psychologist turning the timer. These instances mock the typical Freudian methods of psychology and are also anachronisms as Freud was a twentieth century psychologist and his methods would not have been used in the sixteenth century. The leaflet advertising the play is also humorous as it mocks Hollywood film credits, which have long lists of all of the film's sponsors.
There are many more examples of verbal than of visual humour in the film. The main ones are when Lord Wessex says, "I speak with your father" and Viola replies "so my lord? I speak with him everyday". She is being deliberately impertinent but the audience find this amusing as she is defying Lord Wessex. Another is when the actors are auditioning for Shakespeare's play and they all read out Marlow's work. The audience find this funny because it plays upon the audience's knowledge of the supposed competition between Marlow and Shakespeare. This adds to the other inclusion of historical figures with hypothesised lives. These are added to attract the audience's interest and to make the film more authentic.
The most obvious of these is Shakespeare, who most of the audience will probably have heard of. When Shakespeare's marriage and children are mentioned as part of the plot some of the audience may connect this with their knowledge of his marriage to Anne Hathaway and their children, Susanna, Hamnet and Judith. Other historical figures featured in the film include John Webster who grew up to be a playwright who wrote violent and gruesome plays. Facts known by the audience are also weaved into the story line here. John Webster is portrayed in the film as a gruesome-minded child, he is shown playing with mice and feeding them to a cat and when the queen asks him what his favourite part of the play was he replies "When she stabbed herself". This shows that he had a gruesome mind from childhood and the audience will connect this with their knowledge of the plays he wrote.
Queen Elizabeth the First is also a real historical character who the audience probably have some knowledge of. For example they may have heard the story of when Sir Walter Raleigh covered a puddle with his coat to prevent her from walking through it. This knowledge is played upon in the film when the queen walks straight through a puddle and tells the men who put their cloaks in it that they are "too late". The only other characters in the film who are probably based on actual historical figures are Richard Burbage and Ned Alleyn. Richard Burbage was one of the great actors of early modern London and the founder of the Globe theatre and the character of Ned Alleyn is based upon Edward Alleyn, who was a very famous Shakespearean actor.
Some parts of the film deliberately include elements from popular film genres. The first is a chase scene, which has been a comic feature of many films. Will chases Viola through the streets of London, with fast background music to build excitement. When she boards a rowing boat Will follows and commands the rower of his boat to "Follow that boat". This is a humorous adaptation of the classic line "Follow that cab", used in many previous scenes of this genre. A humorous exchange follows as the rower attempts to converse with Will and brag about who he has previously transported across the river, "I had Christopher Marlow in my boat once". This resembles the stereotypical type of banter between London cab drivers and their passengers.
Another chase scene is the one after Viola's marriage, where she enters one side of her carriage and gets out the other, while her nurse distracts Wessex. This is also humorous as Wessex does not notice the absence of his wife until the carriage has began to move, and by then it is too late. Other scenes which include elements from popular film genres include the fight scene, which resembles that of 'The Three Musketeers' genre and the love scenes resemble those from any scene about thwarted love.
The main element included to make the film appeal to a wide range of cinema goers is intertextuality. Not all of the viewers will understand these references to other plays as they may not have any previous knowledge of them. This means that another layer of meaning is added to the plot as some people will not understand all of these references and others will.
The more obvious of these are the references to the play Romeo and Juliet. These should be understood by the entire audience as the play is ongoing in the film and some of the scenes between Will and Viola directly relate to these taking place in the play, such as the balcony scene. In this scene Will climbs up to Viola's balcony to speak with her, she is saying "Anon" to her nurse which is a direct quote from the play.
Sarah Shea 10A
