Ever have that nightmare where you are standing on stage naked, and don't know the lines? Yeah, me neither. But a friend of mine had it, and he told me all about how terrifying it is. Well, imagine that terror accompanied by the audience members who DO know all the lines. I don't think I'll ever end up naked with an audience... or even take one step on a stage without knowing my lines backwards and forwards... but, at the Shakespeare Institute, when you give a presentation, you are giving them to one if not two different actual published editors of Shakespeare, and a room full of people that know enough to actually argue any of the points you are trying to make, and probably will.
Once again, the fear of doing something keeps me from doing anything.
In any event, my presentation is actually something I am interested in. Only because I have been sitting at my computer and comparing the First Quarto of Hamlet (often called the "Bad Quarto") to all of the other texts, and I've found some pretty great things (textually speaking, of course.) Since it is my job to establish to what extent this text may be used as a theatre text, I first have to establish what that means.
Since we got the assignment, Professor John Jowett (for whom this assignment is for) has been kind enough to mention "theatre text" once or twice in his lectures. The definition I like the most is that a "theatre text" might have been used to augment manuscripts, and quartos when deciding what to include in the First Folio (1623). As an editor of the First Folio would need as much information as possible when it came to deciding what to include, my job would be only to prove (as best as I can) that the First Quarto of Hamlet was actually used in the process. Whether for character, plot, punctuation, or text, all of which change to some degree depending on the version of Hamlet you are reading, I truly believe that the First Quarto was a part of the decision making process in what to include inside the First Folio.
Something needs to be established here however, before we get to that. When it came to the First Folio, there were tons of errors made inside the final edit, so anything I offer up as proof of the 1st Quarto could very well have been an editorial error... nothing more. Having said that, in Act 1, Scene 3 (of the First Folio) and, in the modern day Shakespeare, Act 1, Scene 5, the Ghost of Hamlet's Father speaks the line, "Swear." Four separate times. This is supposed to be spooky moment, as the Ghost is speaking the lines from "under the stage." It seems to me, as a theatre practitioner myself, that it could almost be taken for the dying words of an old man as he fades away. However, sometimes this line is augmented.
In Q2, Q3, and Q4, all of which were dated prior to the First Folio, the Ghost speaks the line, "Swear" twice, and on the third repetition, speaks "Swear by his sword." This line, however, is not repeated in the First Folio, and the line that they decided to go with had only occurred once before, in the 1st Quarto.
This sounds like a trifle. Like something that REALLY doesn't matter to the casual reader. Well, it probably doesn't. However, if you consider that there was no real reason for the editors of the First Folio to include the Ghost saying the line from Q1 at all, and the fact that there is serious debate as to whether or not Shakespeare even WROTE Hamlet Q1... it seems a little bit more significant. However, I'm not done comparing the differences in all the texts (a gargantuan task thus far), and the significance of this line only pertains to whether or not Q1 was a part of the First Folio.
The other definition I like is that a "theatre text" was and is used to augment performances of Hamlet, depending on the director's vision for the play and the actors' portrayal. In this, I have found a metric ton of character and plot differences in the First Act alone. As you are a reader of this blog I can only assume you are at least mildly familiar with the play, Hamlet, and how the main characters have been portrayed by many famous actors and directors. I mention this because in order for you to get any of my references, you'll need to be.
How old is Hamlet? Is he a brooding teenager, a depressed twenty-something, or even a troubled thirty-year old? They mention him being at school, but is he a student or a teacher? Is he always dark and brooding in the play, and is it credible to believe that a brooding teenager would be so well-spoken as Hamlet surely is? -- In Q1, Hamlet actually laughs at Horatio when he has claimed to see the ghost of his dead father atop the ramparts. Q1 has another kind of depth associated to Hamlet's character than the texts that follow.
What is the relationship between Ophelia and her brother, Laertes? Is he the much older brother, who understands the politic of Denmark enough to tell his sister to stay away from Hamlet because he is a prince who has no control over who he marries? Or is he the older brother who says to stay away from Hamlet because "that boy will just hit it and quit it?" Is Ophelia the dutiful daughter without brain one, and no clue about what to do with Prince Hamlet? Or is she a slightly sassy younger sister and daughter, who wants advice from her family yet doesn't respond well to condescension. -- In Q1, Ophelia scolds her brother more harshly than she does in other texts for his giving her advice on love, telling him to not then turn around and do the opposite of what he has told her. She also commands enough respect from her father that he does not patronize her by calling her a "babie", as he does in Q2, Q3, Q4, Q5, and the First Folio.
These character choices of the writer, Shakespeare or whoever, have created alternative relationships inside the texts. Without passing judgment on any version of the text, I would have to say that Q1 definitely offers up different choices made by actors onstage, and could definitely be said to augment any performance of Hamlet depending on the director's vision and any actor's portrayal. While the poetry of Q1 leaves a lot to be desired as some of the most beautiful lines of the play have been cut or altered, the question of whether this version of the script might, and has, helped augment any textual or dramatic interpretation of the play is becoming more and more difficult to argue.
All in all, this is my first impression of Q1, which might change over the course of my research. However, using this blog to write out my thoughts on the matter has certainly helped me in the process of figuring what research would be best to use in my presentation, and which parts I must let go of in light of the fact that I only have five to ten minutes to make my point.
There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio,
Than are dreamt of in your philosophy. -- Hamlet, Act I, Sc. VYear 1, Day 35 -- Words Written: 0, Term Paper Topics: 2.
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