To close with my discussion of Shakespeare's songs in light of Stephen Sondheim's discussion of the importance of clarity, simplicity and perfect rhyme in song lyrics (which can be found in the opening sections of his 201o book, Finishing the Hat), here's a link to the Songs page from Shakespeare Online: http://www.shakespeare-online.com/quotes/shakespearesongs.html. Give them a read and you'll wonder if Sondheim based his philosophy entirely on Shakespeare. (One could do worse.) And here's a link to a lovely setting, by John Wilson (onetime principal composer of the King's Men), of a song not found on the page above, from 4.1 of Measure for Measure and usually referred to as "Take, oh take those lips away": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=65lozTGC0go&feature=related.

During a bit of an aside in yesterday's post, I mentioned that it's my conviction that teachers, like governments should not go in for indoctrination. This reminded me of some of the remarkable scenes from Measure for Measure (2.2) in which Angelo and Isabella debate the nature of justice. I doubt that there's ever been a more concise and wise dictum regarding the role of authority than Isabella saying: "O it is excellent to have a giant's strength; but it is tyrannous to use it like a giant." These scenes should be required reading for anyone even considering taking on a position that involves holding power over others.

I'm currently re-reading the three plays that are going to be performed in Montreal this November (links below), and it occurred to me that perhaps I've found the answer (for me, anyway) to the age-old question regarding Shakespeare: Is it better to read, or to see, one of his plays? Answer: It's better to read it. Why? Because it requires more from us. I often think back to an insight from one of Marshall McLuhan's essays, wherein he contrasted "hot" and "cool" media as follows: the more that a medium demands from the participant, the "hotter" it is. One of the brilliant aspects of Shakespeare (or any great drama, in fact) is that it opens up so many possible ways of interacting and being creative. Actors, directors, set designers, composers, teachers, critics - anyone who has spent time working with Shakespeare - will often consider it a highlight of their career, a point where their creativity was at its peak. That is very hot media. And reading the play gives our creativity and imaginations the greatest possible challenge. All of this being said, don't get the idea that I would dissuade anyone from seeing the plays live. I can't wait to see them myself. Once again, here are the links:

Measure for Measure - http://www.mcgill.ca/english/moyse/

Love's Labour's Lost - http://www.dawsoncollege.qc.ca/theatre-box-office/performances

Henry V - http://www.persephoneproductions.org/

Measure for Measure, and not Hamlet, contains the most memorable and frightening description of death in Shakespeare. (This is not to say that it considers death from as many angles as Hamlet. Nothing does.) The words are Claudio's. He is a young man in prison and awaiting a death sentence for the crime of adultery - in this case, for being the father of a child out of wedlock because the marriage didn't precede conception. The law is a new one in a recently morally tyrannical Vienna, and the person in charge of upholding it, Angelo, is a novice in his position. He was put there by the Duke Vicentio for reasons that become clarified, somewhat anyway, later in the play. Claudio's sister, Isabella, is studying toward becoming a nun at the beginning of the play, but she comes to her brother's defense when she hears of his situation. He asks her to plead for his life with Angelo. She does so, very eloquently, and Angelo is greatly moved. But he doesn't relent. Neither does Isabella, and eventually Angelo becomes smitten. He finally makes an offer that is, of course, rich in irony: Her brother can go free if she'll sleep with him. Horrified, she refuses and returns to Claudio with the bad news that nothing can be done. But gradually (she's too ashamed to say it right out), he becomes aware of Angelo's proposition. And his thinking goes from something like, "Yes, of course, you're right..." to "Can we at least talk about this?" Here is the passage:

ISABELLA

What says my brother?

CLAUDIO

Death is a fearful thing.

ISABELLA

And shamed life a hateful.

CLAUDIO

Ay, but to die, and go we know not where;

To lie in cold obstruction and to rot;

This sensible warm motion to become

A kneaded clod; and the delighted spirit

To bathe in fiery floods, or to reside

In thrilling region of thick-ribbed ice;

To be imprison'd in the viewless winds,

And blown with restless violence round about

The pendent world; or to be worse than worst

Of those that lawless and incertain thought

Imagine howling: 'tis too horrible!

The weariest and most loathed worldly life

That age, ache, penury and imprisonment

Can lay on nature is a paradise

To what we fear of death.

(3.1)

Just the phrase "to lie in cold obstruction and to rot" is enough to terrify. So what happens? Read and/or see the play, and all will be revealed.

Measure for Measure, one of the three Shakespeare plays that will be presented in the region of Montreal this fall (the others are Love's Labour's Lost and Henry V), begins with a very thought-provoking moment. The Duke Vincentio wants to recuse himself from his duties for a while, and the person that he is asking to replace him, Angelo, is being told the following: When we are born with abilities, it is our moral obligation to share them. Here's the original:

Thyself and thy belongings

Are not thine own so proper as to waste

Thyself upon thy virtues, they on thee.

Heaven doth with us as we with torches do,

Not light them for themselves; for if our virtues

Did not go forth of us, 'twere all alike

As if we had them not.

Exquisite, isn't it? Imagine a world where all people have the chance to reach their potentials, and to let the results "go forth" of them, like Shakespeare did. ("'Tis a consummation devoutly to be wished.")

Here are the links for the productions mentioned above:

Measure for Measure - http://www.mcgill.ca/english/moyse/

Love's Labour's Lost - http://www.dawsoncollege.qc.ca/theatre-box-office/performances

Henry V - http://www.persephoneproductions.org/