Thread by @davidwappel

Who loves Shakespeare?

Who wants to perform and talk about soliloquies?

A little thread about Shakespeare and why I love his writing, as explored, performed, and (attempted to be) explained by me.

This is the first in what I'm calling the #ShakesMonologueChallenge
as part of my
#ShakespeareAtHome initiative to spread Will far and wide while we're all self-isolating. But more on that at the end.

For those of you who find the language a bit of an obstacle, I hope you'll follow along, and hopefully come to appreciate it, or at the very least understand some of it.

And for those of you who love the Bard, I hope you'll follow as well!

Disclaimer: I am in no way a Shakespeare scholar, and in no way, as you'll soon hear, a Shakespearean actor.

Nevertheless, I'd like to share my love of William with you, by breaking down a favorite soliloquy of mine, from Henry IV, Part 2.

Act 3, Scene 1. The king, Henry IV, has had a rule that has been marked by rebellions, both political from his enemies, and personally from his family, namely the young Prince Hal. He delivers this soliloquy in the middle of the night, when he can't sleep, and it goes like this:

Let's go through this line by line:

How many thousand of my poorest subjects are at this hour asleep?

Pretty straightforward. He's wondering how many of the poor people are sleeping right now. The soliloquy starts off with him just musing about others.

O sleep, O gentle sleep, Nature's soft nurse, how have I frightened thee, That thou no more wilt weigh my eyelids down and steep my senses in forgetfulness?

Henry personifies sleep as a nurse and gives her the responsibility of sleep, only claiming to have frightened her

Watch how this metaphor expands throughout the rest of the soliloquy.

Additionally, he views sleep as a type of "forgetting" and given how his rule has been, it's no surprise he wants to.

Why rather, sleep, liest thou in smoky cribs, Upon uneasy pallets stretching thee, And hush'd with buzzing night-flies to thy slumber,

He's imagining the conditions that the poor probably sleep in, connecting to his 1st question. Also, mark out the use of "crib" (Metaphor alert)

Than in the perfum'd chambers of the great, Under the canopies of costly state, And lull'd with sound of sweetest melody?

"Hey Sleep! Why aren't you here, putting me to bed? It's perfectly made with all the best money can buy."

And that last part-

And lull'd with sound of sweetest melody

-is his small little fantasy of being lulled to sleep. Like a baby.

O thou dull god, why liest thou with the vile, In loathsome beds, and leav'st the kingly couch A watch-case or a common 'larum-bell?

He's starting to get a little angry. Notice how he calls the people that sleep attends "vile" and how they sleep in "loathsome beds" He's jealous.

And he still puts the responsibility of sleep elsewhere. He's still blaming "Sleep" but connecting to his bed being too loud. That's what the watch-case and 'larum-bell are. They're noisemakers. So it's his bed's fault.

Wilt thou upon the high and giddy mast Seal up the ship-boy's eyes, and rock his brains In cradle of the rude imperious surge,

Henry now begins his most vivid imagining, where he imagines a small boy, on a ship in a storm, still being able to sleep.

A few things to note about this part of the soliloquy. It is the most violent part, yet filled with more baby imagery. Notice the use of the verb "rock" and noun "cradle"

Henry is seemingly obsessed with someone else putting him to sleep, and like a baby who doesn't get what they want, he's about to throw a tantrum.

And in the visitation of the winds, Who take the ruffian billows by the top, Curling their monstrous heads, and hanging them With deafening clamour in the slippery clouds, That with the hurly death itself awakes?

I think this is where we can see that Shakespeare was also an actor, because he provides Henry the words and space to throw his little tantrum.

He spends six lines describing how intense the storm is. And the imagery nicely matches what Henry is feeling inside. He's as tempestuous as the storm, upset at being unable to sleep, and jealous that others can.

And then Henry directly asks the question that's been on his mind on his mind all night:

Canst thou, O partial sleep, give thy repose To the wet sea-boy in an hour so rude; And in the calmest and most stillest night, With all appliances and means to boot, Deny it to a king?

He asks:

Why can the poor sleep, when the king can't?

And his own answer is provided within his question: because he's the king.

Then, happy low, lie down!
Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown.

He basically says, "Ok fine, you all lie down happily. And I'll lie uneasy, because I'm the king."

Like all of Shakespeare, there's room for interpretation, but I see this as a moment of revelation for Henry, because for the first time, he isn't questioning others ability to sleep, but allowing it.

And the metaphor of a baby being rocked to sleep with a lullaby by a nurse is gone. When Henry asks the question direct, "Why can the ship-boy sleep, and the king can't?" he splits himself from the metaphor.

He's not a baby, he's not a ship-boy, and he's not poor. He's the king. Maybe that has something to do with his inability to sleep?

In the context of history (and other plays), Henry IV usurped the throne from another (Richard II) and he can't place blame on his dad or anything like that. He took the throne. He chose to wear the crown.

And that comes with a whole world of troubles, whether it means the affairs of running a country, or your personal problems of rebellions. He chose this, and that's why he's unhappy, and that's why he can't sleep.

I hope to break down 1 soliloquy a week for the upcoming future, but I know there are far better performers than me, so if anyone has the urge to record themselves doing a favorite soliloquy, I'd happily consider sharing and breaking it down line-by-line.

Record your favorite soliloquy, and use #ShakesMonologueChallenge. You don't have to put text over it like I did, and you can surely use video (unlike I did because I'm shy.)

Let's spread our love and appreciation all o'er the Globe.

If you're into the Bard like me, give me a follow/like/retweet.
I've got a few Shakespeare projects going on right now, besides #ShakesMonologueChallenge, so follow #ShakespeareAtHome for more, including readings, tweets, and a possible book coming out soon.

And lastly, I'd like to plug @ScriptByShakes for fun re-imaginings of favorite movie quotes. He takes requests!

And yes, you guessed it, it's me.