Author&
Title of the play
William
Shakespeare never published any of his plays and therefore none of the original
manuscripts have survived. Eighteen unauthorised versions of his plays were,
however, published during his lifetime in quarto editions by unscrupulous
publishers (there were no copyright laws protecting Shakespeare and his works
during the Elizabethan era). A collection of his works did not appear until
1623 (a full seven years after Shakespeare's death on April 23, 1616) when two
of his fellow actors, John Humming’s and Henry Condell, posthumously recorded
his work and published 36 of William’s plays in the First Folio. Some dates are
therefore approximate other dates are substantiated by history. There is no doubt that Shakespeare is the
greatest writer of modern English to date – his plays have been made into
movies, his sonnets have appeared in books and music, and his works translated
in to hundreds of different languages. His contribution to the English language
is probably larger than that of anyone else. The title of the play I chose my monologue from is called
Love’s Labours lost. Shakespeare is also the author of the most
best selling plays. Listed below:
Hamlet
Written between 1599 and 1601, this play is set in Denmark
and recounts how Prince Hamlet vengeance on his uncle Claudius, who murdered
the King, takes the throne and marries Hamlet’s mother. The play vividly charts
the course of real and feigned madness from overwhelming grief to seething rage
and explores themes of revenge, incest and moral corruption. “Hamlet” is
Shakespeare’s longest play and among the most powerful and influential
tragedies in the English language. During his lifetime the play was one of Shakespeare’s
most popular works and it still ranks high among his most-performed, topping,
for example, the Royal Shakespeare Company’s list since 1879. It has inspired
writers from Goethe and Dickens to Joyce and Murdoch and has been described as
“the world’s most filmed story after ‘Cinderella.’” The title role was almost
certainly created for Richard Burbage, the leading tragedian of Shakespeare’s
time. It is arguably the greatest drama ever written and in the four hundred
years since, it has been played by the greatest actors and sometimes actresses,
of each successive age.
2) Romeo and Juliet
This play is an early tragedy (and
likely Shakespeare’s first) about two teenage “star-crossed lovers” whose
“untimely deaths” ultimately unite their feuding households. The play has been
highly praised by literary critics for its language and dramatic effect. It was
among Shakespeare’s most popular plays during his lifetime and, along with
“Hamlet” is one of his most frequently performed plays. Its influence is still
seen today, with the two main characters being widely represented as archetypal
young lovers. This is the singularly greatest romance ever written and has been
continuously adapted to each generation in musicals, cinema and the theatre.
Henry
V
Believed to be written in 1599,
it’s based on the life of King Henry V of England and focuses on events
immediately before and after the Battle of Agincourt during the Hundred Year’s
War. The play is the final part of a tetralogy, preceded by “Richard II,”
“Henry IV, Part 1″ and “Henry IV, Part 2.” The
original audiences would thus have already been familiar with the title
character, which was depicted in the “Henry IV” plays as a wild, undisciplined
lad known as “Prince Hal.” In “Henry V,” the young prince has become a mature
man and embarks on an attempted conquest of France.
Midsummer Night’s Dream
This romantic comedy was written
sometime in the 1590′s and portrays the adventures of
four young Athenian lovers; a group of amateur actors; their interactions with
the Duke and Duchess of Athens,
Theseus and Hippolyta; and with the fairies who inhabit a moonlit forest. The
play is one of Shakespeare’s most popular works for the stage and is widely
performed across the world.
Macebth: This is among the best-known of
Shakespeare’s plays and is his shortest tragedy, believed to have been written
between 1603 and 1606. It is frequently performed at both amateur and
professional levels and has been adapted for opera, film, books, stage and
screen. Often regarded as archetypal, the play tells of the dangers of the lust
for power and the betrayal of friends. For the plot Shakespeare drew loosely on
the historical account of “King Macbeth of Scotland” by Raphael Holinshed and
that by the Scottish philosopher Hector Boece. There are many superstitions centered
on the belief the play is somehow cursed” and many actors will not mention the
name of the play aloud, referring to it instead as “The Scottish Play.”
The play is an unflattering
depiction of the short reign of Richard III of England and is believed to have
been written in approximately 1591. The play is sometimes classified as a
tragedy (as in the earliest quarto); but it more correctly belongs to the
histories, as classified in the First Folio. It picks up the story from Henry
VI, Part III and concludes the historical series that stretches back to Richard
II. After Hamlet it is Shakespeare’s second longest play and is the longest of
the First Folio, whose version of Hamlet is shorter than the Quarto version.
The length is generally seen as a drawback, for which reason it is rarely
performed unabridged. It is often shortened by cutting peripheral character.
Julius Caesar
This tragedy is believed to have been written
in 1599. It portrays the conspiracy against the Roman dictator of the same
name, his assassination and its aftermath. It is one of several Roman plays
that Shakespeare wrote, based on true events from Roman history, which also
include “Coriolanus” and “Anthony and Cleopatra.” Although the title of the
play is “Julius Caesar,” Caesar is not the central character in its action; he
appears in only three scenes and is killed at the beginning of the third act.
The protagonist of the play is Marcus Brutus and the central psychological
drama is his struggle between the conflicting demands of honor, patriotism and
friendship. The play reflected the general anxiety of England over
succession of leadership. At the time of its creation and first performance,
Queen Elizabeth, a strong ruler, was elderly and had refused to name a
successor, leading to worries that a civil war similar to that of Rome might break out
after her death.
Twelfth Night
This play is named after the
Twelfth Night holiday of the Christmas season. It was written around 1601 and
first published in the First Folio in 1623. Like many of Shakespeare’s
comedies, this one centre's on mistaken identity. The leading character, Viola,
is shipwrecked on the shores of Illyria during
the opening scenes. She loses contact with her twin brother, Sebastian, whom
she believes dead. Posing as a man and masquerading as a young page under the
name Cesario, she enters the service of Duke Orsino. Orsino is in love with the
bereaved Lady Olivia, whose brother has recently died and decides to use
“Cesario” as an intermediary. Olivia, believing Viola to be a man, falls in
love with this handsome and eloquent messenger. Viola, in turn, has fallen in
love with the Duke, who also believes Viola is a man and who regards her as his
confident.
The Taming of the Shrew
This comedy is believed to have been written between 1590 and 1594. The play begins with a framing device in which a drunkard is deceived into thinking he is a nobleman who then watches the “play” itself, which depicts a nobleman, Petruchio, who marries an outspoken, intelligent and bad-tempered shrew named Katherine. Petruchio manipulates and “tames” her until she is obedient to his will. The main subplot features the courting of Katherine’s more conventional sister Bianca by numerous suitors. The content has become the subject of considerable controversy. The play has been adapted numerous times for opera, stage, screen and musical theatre.
Othello the Moor of Venice
This tragedy is believed to have been written in approximately 1603. The work revolves around four central characters: Othello, his wife Desdemona, his lieutenant Cassio and his trusted advisor Iago. Attesting to its enduring popularity, the play appeared in seven editions between 1622 and 1705. Because of its varied themes - racism, love, jealousy and betrayal- it remains relevant to the present day and is often performed in professional and community theatres alike. The play has also been the basis for numerous operatic, film and literary adaptations.
Brief Synopsis
Love's Labour's Lost the play by William Shakespeare
Love’s
labour’s lost believed to have been written in the mid-1590s. However Love’s
Labour’s lost was believed to have been first printed and published in 1598. Shakespeare
clearly did not want his work published; details of the play would have
therefore been noted, and often pirated without his consent, following a
performance. The setting for Love's Labour's Lost is Navarre, a province in northern Spain bordered by France. Originally, a region in northern Spain and southern France
(department of Basses-Pyrénées) at one time, Navarre was a kingdom. In 1515, Spain annexed most of Navarre;
in 1589, France
annexed the rest of the kingdom. The capital of present-day Navarre is Pamplona,
on the Arga River, founded by the ancient Roman
general Pompey the Great. The area was later occupied by Visigoths and Moors. Pamplona is famous for
the Festival of St. Fermin (July 6-14), in which a chief attraction is running
of bulls each morning through the streets of the city.
The climax of a play or another narrative work, such as a short story or a
novel, can be defined as the turning point at which the conflict begins to
resolve itself for better or worse, or as the final and most exciting event in
a series of events. The climax of Love's
Labour's Lost occurs, according to both definitions, in Act V, Scene II,
when the four women reject the love suits of the four men. Up to this moment,
the women have regarded the antics of the king and his comrades as amusing
flirtations and the king's realm as almost a chimerical world, although the men
may have thought otherwise. Then Mercadé's announcement that the father of the
princess has died jolt's everyone back to reality. When the princess decides to
leave immediately for France and the men importune her and the other ladies to
remain, pledging their love, the princess recites the climactic passage:
We have received your letters full of love;
Your favours, the ambassadors of love;
And, in our maiden council, rated them
At courtship, pleasant jest and courtesy,
As bombast and as lining to the time:
But more devout2than this in our respects
Have we not been; and therefore met your loves
In their own fashion, like a merriment. (5. 2. 761-794)
That she would call their letters and their favours "bombast" and
their wooing mere "merriment" sobers the men, who have been acting
with the immaturity of college students on a spring break, and prepares them
for the year-long test they must do. Love of learning cannot vie with love of
a man for a woman. King Ferdinand and his compatriots decide to
isolate themselves for three years to study great books and great ideas, vowing
that they will keep no company with women during this period. However, when
beautiful women arrive on a diplomatic mission, the men immediately forswear
their oaths. True love must be tested in the crucible of time
The princess and her company of ladies find their
wooers entertaining, but they do not commit to a relationship with them
immediately. Wisely, they realize that true love does not strike like lightning
but instead develops over time, like a rose growing from seed to full bloom. At
the end of the play, they tell the men that they must wait and undergo tests to
prove that their love is not mere infatuation. In this respect, these ladies
contrast with other Shakespeare heroines, such as Rosalind (As You like It),
Juliet (Romeo and Juliet) and Hero (Much Ado about Nothing), who
all fall in love at first sight and never doubt their feelings or the
intentions of their lovers.
The spirit is willing but the flesh
is weak
This
paraphrase from the Bible (Matthew 26: 40-41) aptly sums up the state of mind
of the king and his three compatriots. For a moment, they become idealistic
scholars who renounce the world and its pleasures. But the princess and her
companions bring them down from the rarefied clime of academe to the sensual
world of perfume and feminine beauty. William Shakespeare's main source of Inspiration was probably taken from
renaissance literature.
Genre, themes and writing style of the play
The play is
categorised as a Comedy playful, Poetic,
Language-obsessed.
Language is almost like another character in this play. Seriously, the plot
just seems like an excuse for Shakespeare to indulge his taste and talent for
putting words together. Have you ever seen so many letters read aloud in a
play?
Language in Shakespeare can be difficult and the language of Love's Labour's Lost is certainly no
exception. Here are some conventions to watch for:
The Pun or Quibble: These are the kind of groan-worthy jokes that
might seem a little cheesy. A pun plays on the word: either two different
meanings of the same word, or on the sound or meaning of two different words.
When Rosaline finds out Berowne has written her a love letter, Boyet asks,
"Who is the shooter?" (4.1.37). He's referring to the hunt they're
involved in, but also making a joke about Rosaline's suitor.
Rhyme: You are probably already familiar with this one. Love's Labour's Lost is full of rhymes
– like the scene with the boys in trees. Rhyme is playful, melodious and funny,
as in this except (the puns and sexual innuendo as well)
MARIA: Come, come, you talk greasily;
your lips grow foul.
COSTARD: She's too hard for you at pricks, sir; challenge her to bowl.
BOYET: I fear too much rubbing; good-night, my good owl. (4.2.58-60)
Take a look at "Character Clues" for more about when Shakespeare uses
verse and when he uses prose.
Sonnets: This play has five of them. A sonnet is a poem of
fourteen lines that rhyme according to particular rules, and often taking up
the subject of love and romance. Shakespeare is the most famous English
sonnet-writer – he wrote about 150 around the same time as he was composing Love's Labour's lost. Here is one by
Longaville:
Did not the heavenly rhetoric of thine
eye,
'Gainst whom the world cannot hold argument,
persuade my heart to this false perjury?
Vows for thee broke deserve not punishment.
A woman I forswore; but I will prove,
Thou being a goddess, I forswore not thee:
My vow was earthly, thou a heavenly love;
Thy grace being gain'd cures all disgrace in me.
Vows are but breath, and breath a vapour is;
Then thou, fair sun, which on my earth dost shine,
Exhal'st this vapour-vow; in thee it is.
If broken, then it is no fault of mine;
If by me broke, what fool is not so wise
to lose an oath to win a paradise? (4.13.14)
The sonnets aren't just an actor's chance to show off in Love's Labour's lost. They are
also important to the plot. It's Costard's mix-up in delivering the sonnets
that causes Berowne to be outed as a lover, moving the story forward. If you
are interested in Sonnets be sure to check out Shakespeare's Sonnets.
Stichomythia: It's a long word for the one-liner. Think of a
television comedy – the characters banter, the pace is fast, the energy is
high. Long sections of stichomythia make up the "sets of wit" that
are all over the play. Like this one in which Boyet tortures Longaville:
LONGAVILLE: I beseech you a word: what
is she in the white?
BOYET: A woman sometimes, a you saw her in the light.
LONGAVILLE: Perchance light in the light. I desire her name.
BOYET: She hath but one for herself; to desire that was a shame.
LONGAVILLE: Pray you, sir, whose daughter?
BOYET: Her mother's, I have heard.
LONGAVILLE: God's blessing on your beard! (2.1.76)
The character I have chosen
Rosaline is a variant of Rosalind, a name from Old French. Its origin: (Lin = "soft, tender"). When
it was imported into English it was thought to be from the Latin name Rosalinda ("lovely rose"). The character I have chosen is
Rosaline.
Monologue Analysis
Character Analysis
Rosaline is the Princess's wingman (just like Berowne is the King's
wingman). Rosaline is one of the play's protagonists. Like Berowne, she is sort
of a truth-teller, and she is also smart, funny, and has a dark side.
In fact many scholars believe Rosaline is to be a reflection of the "dark
lady" addressed by the speaker of Shakespeare's Sonnets 127 to 152, and
this "dark lady" is thought to have been Shakespeare's mistress
(check out the "In a Nutshell" section of Sonnet 18 for more information on the Sonnets). If we
think of Berowne as a reflection of Shakespeare himself, and if we think of
Rosaline as a version of Shakespeare's mistress, then we have an interesting
relationship on our hands. Even though the King of Navarre and the Princess of
France are the rulers and tone-setters, we can't help but focus more of our
attention on the romance that develops between Berowne and Rosaline. In an
attempt to get to know Rosaline as a character, I’ll consider several key
aspects of her personality.
In the first place, Rosaline has the rare linguistic ability to give Berowne a
run for his money in the arena of witty banter. In fact, she is as enthusiastic
and talented at wordplay as any of the men. Take a look at this interaction
between Berowne and Rosaline as the ladies tell the gentlemen about a band of
"Muscovites" who have just passed through.
BEROWNE: I am a fool, and full of
poverty.
ROSALINE: But that you take what doth to you belong,
it were a fault to snatch words from my tongue.
BEROWNE: O, I am yours, and all that I possess.
ROSALINE: All the fool mine?
(5.2.397-401)
Notice how she drives home the point that Berowne is a fool, even after he
affectionately professes his love for her. Words and wordplay are important to
Rosaline and Berowne's relationship, and she can bend his words and expose his
weaknesses with a great deal of skill. We feel she's distrustful of Berowne and
of love, and we also know that the two have a somewhat mysterious past
together. Take a look at this revealing banter between the two lovers:
BEROWNE: Did not I dance with you in Brabant once?
ROSALINE: Did not I dance with you in Brabant
once?
BEROWNE: I know you did.
ROSALINE: How needless was it then to ask the question!
(2.1.603-606)
Wow, Rosaline really makes a fool out of Berowne. Attempting to flirt with this
pretty girl only reminds Berowne of how smart and saucy she is – she's not
willing to play the role of a demure, flirtatious girl. She's ready to use her
intelligence and her wit. What do you make of her demand that Berowne spend a
year playing clown for sick people at the end of the play? Do you see Rosaline
and Berowne living happily ever after?
Appeals about my character and the play
Love’s Labour’s Lost remains something of an
anomaly among Shakespeare’s plays. Of all his comedies, this one is still often
perceived as narrowly aristocratic; an obscure piece of coterie drama never
truly intended to appeal to a general audience. This view has been formed by
the massive commentary on the play’s references to the Harvey–Nashe
controversy; Raleigh’s supposed ‘School of Night’, and other ‘topical puzzles’
still referred to, often in passing or in footnotes, by even the best and most
recent scholarship. A re-examination of existing evidence about the probable
original audience for Love’s Labour’s
Lost casts grave suspicions on the kind of topicality understood only by
Renaissance courtiers. Yet topicality itself cannot be altogether dismissed in
a play for which the major male characters – the King of Navarre, Boyet,
Marcadé, Armado, Moth, Berowne, Longaville, and Dumaine – were all named after
military leaders then waging a civil war in France. Love’s Labour’s Lost was no more or less’ aristocratic’ in
appeal than Shakespeare’s other earlier plays, that what topicality it
possesses was available to a wide audience, and that, finally, we need to
revise our way of looking at topicality at least in Love’s Labour’s Lost and perhaps in other plays, as well. The most appealing thing about my character
Rosaline is her rare linguistic ability to give Berowne a run for his money in
the arena of witty banter. What also appeals me about my character is that she
is enthusiastic and talented at wordplay as any of the men in Love Labour’s
Lost. This intrigues me more and
makes me want to play the role of Rosaline because I love playing the role of
characters that know how to use their rare linguistic ability.
Similarities &Differences
Rosaline and I have no similarities because I’m
not always happy or in love. Rosaline and I have differences, for instance; she
has this rare linguistic ability that she uses to her advantage. Especially,
when she is speaking to Berowne in Love’s Labour’s lost that I in particular do
not have so as a result to this her linguistic ability could actually be one of
two challenges I should really face when I am playing the role of Rosaline in
Love Labour’s lost to the panel (drama school). I have never fallen in love
before. I’m not always happy either.
Biggest challenge in playing the role: Truthfully my biggest challenge in playing the role is in
actual fact the emotional connection; I need to create some sort of connection
with Rosaline to be able to portray her character’s nature and that is when the
truth will be seen in my performance. I’m actually not in love or always happy.
The other thing I have to do is to rehearse any way in which I rehearse the
monologue with a rare linguistic ability.
Physically
To be quite frank; I have the impression
that I should work on my gestures (movements).
I had done further research because the play did not tell me how exactly
my character is like and since my character is mostly full of life always happy
then suddenly she is in love. I need
to show how she often feels (happy emotions) and how the author felt when he
was writing the play. If I did not research much further; then my role would
look fake and made up sort of like a cartoon even though my main aim is for the
audience to see truth in my two min performance. If I was just saying the lines
and doing no actions it would not make my performance affective at all it.
Instead it makes me look as if I am rehearsing my lines in front of an audience
and when I’m actually meant to be performing.
Vocally
I believe I should do more and more
vocal warm ups that I have been taught and will be taught by Sean Pol and
Jackie because the voice warm ups will enable me to: project my voice when I’m
performing to the drama school panel and be much more clearer then I already am
when I perform my monologue as my character as Rosaline. I should also work on
how to change the tone of my voice because when I was watching the play the
character that was playing the role of Rosaline used different tones in her
voice for certain words. I know if I do that for my piece it will make my
performance much more interesting to watch and it will intrigue the panel even
more despite it being in Shakespearean Language.
Emotionally
Different people define emotions in different ways. Some make a
distinction between emotions and feelings saying that a feeling is the response
part of the emotion and that an emotion includes the situation or experience,
the interpretation, the perception, and the response or feeling related to the
experience of a particular situation.
Dr. Maurice Elias says, “Emotions are human beings’ warning systems as
to what is really going on around them. Emotions are our most reliable
indicators of how things are going on in our lives. Emotions help keep us on
the right track by making sure that we are led by more than the mental/
intellectual faculties of thought, perception, reason, and memory.”
Emotions control your thinking, behaviour and actions. Emotions affect
your physical bodies as much as your body affects your feelings and thinking. People,
who ignore, dismiss, repress or just ventilate their emotions, are setting
themselves up for physical illness. Emotions that are not felt and released but
buried within the body or in the aura can cause serious illness, including
cancer, arthritis, and many types of chronic illnesses. Negative emotions such
as fear, anxiety, negativity, frustration and depression cause chemical
reactions in your body that are very different from the chemicals released when
you feel positive emotions such as happy, content, loved, accepted.
I personally think I should work on why my character is full
of life of course looking at her background but not going into her home life,
I’m going to deeply research about her social life. For instance I need to have
a feel of the sort of guys she dated or if she has any emotional blocks from
being rejected or cheated on within a relationship she has had with any man.
For this particular monologue I need to know why she is in love with Berowne
and why he seems to stand out from the rest of the guys she has dated because
she’s really drawn to Berowne’s sense of humour. I need to get an emotional
connection and in order for me to do that I need to research in detail about
the role of Rosaline and the role of Berowne. I will watch more Shakespearean plays
in order for me to get connections that will enable me to perform this piece in
a unique stylistic way.
Background
research
The background information that I thought I needed
to know and research about is the character. Where she was from? Where she
lived? As in was she poor, middle class or very wealthy. How old she was? If
she had family who were they? Why did she act the way she did in the play? Her
love life as in who she fell in love with. I also thought I needed to find out
more about the play and why it was written. Most importantly the Historical Context. Love’s Labour’s lost
appears to have been written for private
performance in court circles perhaps at a private house at Christmas time in
1593, when the regular theatres were closed because of the plague. The evidence
suggests that the play was originally a battle in a private war between
different aristocratic Factions. Sir Walter Raleigh had gathered an “academy”
of scholars, nobles, and poets (including the dramatists Chapman and Marlowe) to
study philosophy and the stars. The group was branded by a pamphleteer in 1592
as “Sir Walter Raleigh’s School of Atheism” and in 1594, after Raleigh’s disgrace, was investigated for heresy.
This group seems to have been the model for Navarre’s
“little academy” and Shakespeare, in mocking the futility of the experiment,
appears to be taking the part of his patron the Earl of Southampton (Raleigh’s chief rival at
the Court). Uniquely in the Shakespeare canon, the plot of Love’s Labour’s Lost has no
known antecedents. But scholars have for two hundred years enjoyed the game of
tracing the topical allusions in which the play abounds. As for the setting in Navarre, there
was of course a real King of Navarre, who as a protestant was a valuable ally
of Queen Elizabeth against Catholic Spain until he himself became a Catholic in
1593. Navarre was a tiny
mountain state set between France
and Spain, and was described
apologetically by its King Henry II who had lost his kingdom to King Ferdinand
of Spain and spent his life vainly
negotiating with France and Spain to regain
it as ‘a flea between two monkeys’.
It has been noted that Berowne and Longaville were
members of Navarre’s
actual court, and that the name of the Mayenne was constantly linked with that
of the King. Shakespeare seems to have made use of these names for Berowne,
Longaville, and Dumaine; and the names Boyet, Marcadé, and de la Mothe all
appear in contemporary court records. There is no known story, from which
Shakespeare took his theme, love’s
Labour’s lost it shows better than almost any of Shakespeare’s
plays his capacity for taking material and shaping it to his needs.
Impact
My character should make the
audience first understand the relationship between Berowne (the king’s wingman)
and Rosaline (the princess’s wingman). After that the impact my character
should make on the audience is to make them feel like she loves him but first
she must find out whether he is in love with her or whether it is nothing but
lust or a fluke because knowing her past relationships that is the sort of
situations she gets stuck in and she wants to know if his love is genuine or
not.
Character Exercises/ Observations
* Go to the theatre and have a good look at the physicality trait of Rosaline then develop m own using the actors interpretation and mine combined into one.
How I am going to go about playing the role of Rosaline
*First I will find out Rosaline's importance in the play. As in why did Shakespeare write the play with her as the princess's best friend.
* Learn the meaning behind some of he Shakespearean phrases and words.
*Find out how Rosaline feels about the other characters.
*Historical Context- How she dressed, so I can get an idea on how her physicality is; also how she spoke, was her gestures really graceful and was she soft-spoken.
*Watched the play three times o get around the Shakespearean poetic language that is used.
Evaluation & Feedback
Merit A really strong audition! You gave an accurate and thoroughly prepared performance. Good energy at times but you must maintain it throughout the performance. Some good use of voice and physical work that was appropriate to the character with some emotional connection. I enjoyed your performance. Keep this up. One thing is that you must always strive to develop high levels of energy and commitment and above all finally conquer the Leyton weakness, clarity of speech. At times you swallowed phrases. But well done!. We will talk in detail at the feedback session.
