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Two Unfamiliar Plays by Shakespeare 8/21/2016 7:35:23 PM
I've been listening to vinyl recordings that must be at least 50 years old of two of Shakespeare's plays: "Pericles, Prince of Tyre" and "Cymbeline". He wrote them late in his career, after the great comedies and tragedies, possibly with the help of other playwrights.
They aren't perfect works, and I wondered if they would have turned out to be more distinguished works of art if Shakespeare had written them as novels. An experienced novelist could have smoothed out the episodic nature of "Pericles" and deepened the melodrama of "Cymbeline". As I listened to the recordings, which the Marlowe Dramatic Society produced, I realized, however, that the actors brought vitality and lifelikeness to their roles that wouldn't come across from the pages of a novel.
Now, critics have said that Shakespeare was developing a new form -- romance -- with these two plays and that he was on his way to writing "A Winter's Tale" and "The Tempest". I don't doubt this is true. At the same time, I found qualities in these two little-known works that allow them to stand on their own.
First, as we might expect, both plays contain passages of excellent writing. In Act V of "Pericles" Marina speaks to Pericles, her father whom she has never known and doesn't recognize and whom grief has brought to surly silence:
I am a maid,
My lord, that ne'er before invited eyes,
But have been gaz'd on like a comet; she speaks,
My lord, that, may be, hath endur'd a grief
Might equal yours, if both were justly weigh'd.
Though wayward fortune did malign my state,
My derivation was from ancestors
Who stood equivalent with mighty kings;
But time hath rooted out my parentage,
And to the world and awkward casualties
Bound me in servitude. (Aside) I will desist;
But there is something glows upon my cheek,
And whispers in mine ear, 'Go not, till he speak'.
Imogen, the daughter of a king, is in distress. Early in "Cymbeline," she says:
A father cruel, and a step-dame false,
A foolish suitor to a wedded lady,
That hath her husband banish'd: O, that husband,
My supreme crown of grief! and those repeated
Vexations of it! Had I been thief-stolen,
As my two brothers, happy: but most miserable
Is the desire that's glorious. Bless'd be those,
How mean soe'er, that have their honest wills,
Which seasons comfort.
At least one authority has said that Imogen is Shakespeare's greatest female character, an assertion I'd be happy to debate.
Still, these two plays have characters worth knowing and attention-getting situations. Shakespeare shows his characters' strengths and also their willingness to believe without good evidence that the worst has happened or is about to. A feature of life everywhere that can lead to misfortune.
Though dreadful things happen to the characters in both plays and evil is a potent presence, they are not tragedies. They uphold the preferences of our civilization for sturdiness in times of trial, justice against tyranny and oppression, stability rather than uncertainty, the opportunity for families to thrive, and love to grow, endure, and outlast grim times. Pericles receives back the wife and daughter he has missed. In "Cymbeline", Posthumus and Imogen are reunited after encountering what look like impenetrable obstacles, and Cymbeline is reunited with his two sons who were kidnapped as toddlers and are now brave fighting men. A spirit of forgiveness prevails.
Both plays end with peace and contentment after withering hardships, a narrative arc that I suppose most people hope is true to life.
I'll end this blogpost with a side note. To use present-day phrases, the main characters in these plays are people of privilege and position, who temporarily lose their advantages. I liked the ordinariness of their desires and expectations. Pericles flees the corruption of a pagan court and embraces semi-obscurity so that he may live according to what he believes is right and true. Posthumus and Imogen, husband and wife, want to live together with integrity and faithfulness.
Shakespeare was no dummy. He shows his characters' strengths and also their imperfections, such as the aforementioned willingness to believe the worst. As Imogen says, "...doubting things go ill often hurts more than to be sure they do."
At their core, the hearts of the main characters in these two plays are steadfast and honest, so that when good days return after long spells of hardship, they are able to give thanks, rejoice, and be satisfied.
