I Heard Back!: Some Good Response from a Scholar

Recently I sent a few emails to Shakespeare scholars asking for idea's for research. The first email that I sent took the person I sent it to a while to email me back and was worthless. He referred me to a book that suggested that the name Shakespeare was an alias for another person. Dr. Burton said that sort of research was "a black hole" and not to go that route. However I sent another email to Michael Bahr the Education Director for the Shakespeare Festival. What he emailed me back was helpful and inspiring for me and could be for others .. check it out!    

 

                     Index (for quick skimming)
1.The Email to Bahr and his response

2.What I Gleamed (from his Email)

3.The Books (a review of the books he sent me)

4. The Second question (an explanation of the second question I asked)

1. The Email to Bahr and His Response

The email I sent Bahr was:

To whom it may concern,
Hello my name is Christopher Welcker I am a junior at BYU. Currently I am doing a research paper on identifying Shakespeare's personality from his play's. My paper is about: Showing just what kind of person Shakespeare was and how we can see more of his personality and character in his later writings than his earlier ones. I am interested in showing how Shakespeare wrote mainly for money when he first started but later wrote for personal gratification as well as for wealth. I am particularly interested in any biographical information that would prove that more of Shakespeare's personality was evident from his later play's, specifically Hamlet.
Another question that I have that I was hoping for help with is what methods do you use to ensure that your play's are close to how Shakespeare envisioned them preformed? Do you have people that study Shakespeare's theater or is it your extensive experience that allows you to know that you are preforming the play's how Shakespeare wanted them preformed?
Thank you SO much for reading this. Any help with this research is greatly appreciated, even if you could simply just give me a contact that could guide me in the right direction. Thanks!, Chris


Bahr responded to me two days later and said:

Christopher,
I'm thrilled that you are engaging in this type of research. I am fan of Shakespeare research. Fortunately and unfortunately, you have picked a premise that many people have tried to prove, namely, trying to prove who Shakespeare was through textual clues within his plays. This same process has led people to prove he was a number of contradictions: a diplomat, a spy, a noble, a homosexual,  a lady's man, a noble duke and even a woman, just to name a few. None of these I believe, but there is plenty of "textual research" in the plays to prove it. It is difficult to historically and textually prove such premises. Actual facts about the man Shakespeare are so nebulous that this type of speculation abounds. However, because there has been so much work and speculation done on the subject you will find many papers that will support various subjects. You should be able to find other papers that will support you. The difficulty is finding historical or textual support for such a premise. I would recommend two books. "Will and the World" by Stephen Greenblatt and "1599: A Year in the Life" by James Shapiro. These are respected scholars who use clues and references from the plays to construct a story of Shakespeare's life. I'm very fond of them and adhere to the Shakespeare that they describe.

In regards to your second question: how do we ensure that "our plays are close to how Shakespeare envisioned them being performed?" We do not make the claim that we are doing plays the way Shakespeare envisioned them nor do we make the claim that we are performing plays the way Shakespeare wanted them performed. That would be audacious, untrue and very difficult to prove. We use lighting, special effects, etc and perform in an acting style that has progressed through twentieth century methods. We do perform the plays in an outdoor Elizabethan style theater, or Globe, that allows actors to maintain a close relationship with the audience. Audience members have said that "we perform them as Shakespeare did." Our costume designs generally reflect the time of Shakespeare. Even Shakespeare had special effects, his theatre burned down when cannons used on stage ignited the thatched roof. However, we would not make the assumption that we are performing the plays as Shakespeare did. I know of companies that do make this claim and that is even more difficult to prove than what was Shakespeare like. We do perform Shakespeare plays in a style that allows them to resonate or apply to our time. We place a heavy emphasis on text and voice work, essential tools when performing any Shakespeare. Many companies ignore this. There are tremendous clues within the text and we do have dramaturgs, scholars of the theatre, and vocal coaches in addition to our directors who stress this voice and text work.  I hope I haven't discouraged you in your search. These are great questions that many have tried to answer.

I'd love to carry on a discussion of what we do know about Shakespeare. Shapiro and Greenblatt are a great start. I will also forward this on to a dramaturg friend of mine and he can provide  you with some answers. Keep up the research. You are on to some large questions.


2. What I Gleamed

The first thing Bahr's email did for me was make me feel like I am doing research that matters. Now that I think my research can be edifying to some readers it is easier to spend time doing that  research. I am more motivated to use great research and write a well put together paper/article. (Maybe just maybe Dr. Burton is a genius and is on to something with this "social learning") ha ah (no one tell him I wrote this) 

The second thing the email did for me was let me know about some pit falls associated with my research, and how to avoid them.

Fortunately and unfortunately, you have picked a premise that many people have tried to prove, namely, trying to prove who Shakespeare was through textual clues within his plays. This same process has led people to prove he was a number of contradictions: a diplomat, a spy, a noble, a homosexual,  a lady's man, a noble duke and even a woman, just to name a few. None of these I believe, but there is plenty of "textual research" in the plays to prove it. It is difficult to historically and textually prove such premises. Actual facts about the man Shakespeare are so nebulous that this type of speculation abounds.

The third help the email was for me is give me some great idea's

 However, because there has been so much work and speculation done on the subject you will find many papers that will support various subjects. You should be able to find other papers that will support you. The difficulty is finding historical or textual support for such a premise. I would recommend two books. "Will and the World" by Stephen Greenblatt and "1599: A Year in the Life" by James Shapiro. These are respected scholars who use clues and references from the plays to construct a story of Shakespeare's life. I'm very fond of them and adhere to the Shakespeare that they describe.

The two suggestions I took from the third help was:

A. That he knows of other articles on what I am writing about, so not to give up looking for research just yet.
B.  He gave me two books that he trusted and felt were accurate

3. The Books

The first book he gave called "Will and the World" by Stephen Greenblatt is 409 pages. I love learning about Shakespeare but I just dont have that kind of time to read it all before my final paper needs to be written.

I did get a review of the book from http://blogcritics.org. The review briefly told me some information in the book that I can look at and will I will include in my final paper.Some of these facts are

A. That the sonnets offer insight into the poets life

B. Insights into his will after he dies

C. Shakespeare was a skinflint who had little use for other people
D. "attempting to establish himself now not as a popular playwright but as a cultivated poet, someone who could gracefully conjure up the mythological world to which his university-educated rival poets claimed virtually exclusive access."
C. He never gave up his middle class roots. Shakespeare enjoyed small talk, trvial persuits, and foolish games of ordinary people.
D. Shakespeare "brought us to are brains"

I wish I would have known about this book sooner because it seems to go right along the lines with what I have been looking at/doing most the semester. I will rent the book and borrow information for sure from it though because it has so much good information for me. For those that may be interested in the book the last line of the review said it best.

This book might be subtitled "How Shakespeare Became Shakespeare," but is also a reminder of how his work became part of us, and how in doing so we invented someone who is more than a glove-maker's son from Stratford. It's a book about Shakespeare, but it's also a book that examines the whys and hows of art. As such, it is eminently successful.

http://blogcritics.org/books/article/book-review-will-in-the-world/page-4/

The second book called "1599: A Year in the Life" by James Shapiro I couldn’t find at Harold B. Lee library.  The book is described as

"brings Shakespeare’s outer and inner worlds, and the interplay between them, alive with such thrilling immediacy."

I read some reviews online of what the book is written on. I think the book draws on some important known facts about Shakespeare however it simply tells about what Shakespeare did in regards to his success. I am looking to do more of a close reading more than looking at  how the man must have been in regards to his success. I feel that this book would be the next step if I were to continue past the research I am doing now. I think I will focus more on the first book.

4. The Second Question

The second question I asked originated from all those that are trying to identify art in Shakespeare. A few people have had questions in regaurdes to art and preformence so I included in my email a question about that. For those that read my blog please feel free to take what you want from the letter and email the guy as well. He is real nice and real helpful.