Analyzing Shakespeare's Action: Scene versus Sequence

243 Pages·1991·8.61 MB·English

by  Charles A. Hallett

In this book the Halletts have examined dramatic form in
Shakespeare's plays and have found the overall pattern of pacing
and action to be independent of the scene. They have identified
within scenes and acts hidden units of articulation defined here as
the beat, the sequence, and the frame, each unit type having a
distinct but different purpose within the larger whole. For both
scholar and practitioner, their observations offer new insights about
how the building blocks of the plays are deployed. Detailed analysis
of the unfolding action reveals that Shakespeare's scenes frequently
consist of a series of sequences, each with its own individual climax,
and these sequences are regularly built up of a succession of smaller
units, or beats. Several sequences usually work together to create a
still larger action, or frame. Study of these components yields
valuable information about Shakespeare's playwriting techniques
(information not readily available elsewhere in critical literature)
and is of immense value in articulating the dramatic rhythms and
structure of Shakespeare's action. This analytical method, while
especially tuned to Shakespeare, can also be adapted to other
dramatists in varying degrees. The book will be of interest to
students and scholars of Shakespeare and theater studies as well as
to actors and directors.

Analyzing Shakespeare's Action

Analyzing
Shakespeare's Action
Scene versus Sequence
CHARLES A. HALLETT
and
ELAINE S. HALLETT
The right of the
University of Cambridge
to print and sell
all manner of books
was granted by
Henry VIII in 1534.
The University has printed
and published continuously
since 1584.
CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS
Cambridge
New York Port Chester
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Published by the Press Syndicate of the University of Cambridge
The Pitt Building, Trumpington Street, Cambridge CB2 IRP
40 West 20th Street, New York, NY IOOII, USA
10 Stamford Road, Oakleigh, Melbourne 3166, Australia
© Cambridge University Press 1991
First published 1991
Printed in Great Britain at the University Press, Cambridge
British Library cataloguing in publication data
Hallett, Charles A.
Analyzing Shakespeare's Action: Scene versus Sequence
1. Drama in English. Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616
1. Title 11. Hallett, Elaine S. 1935-
822.33
Library of Congress cataloguing in publication data
Hallett, Charles A.
Analyzing Shakespeare's Action/ Charles A. Hallett and Elaine S.
Hallett.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN o 521 39203 9
1. Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616- Technique. 2. Drama -
Technique. 1. Hallett, Elaine S., 1935- . 11. Title.
PR2995.H26 1991
822.3'3-dc2O 90-40404 CIP
ISBN 0521 39203 9 hardback
SE
To Cecy
and to all of the Jacome family
in whom the virtues Shakespeare admired
are resplendent
It becomes an author generally to divide a book,
as it does a butcher to joint his meat,
for such assistance is of great help to both the reader and the carver.
Henry Fielding
Contents
Acknowledgments page x
1 Scene versus sequence in Shakespeare's plays i
2 The beat defined 11
3 Ancillary beats: the interval beat, the interpolated beat,
the linking beat 32
4 Sequential beats: the introductory beat 49
5 Sequential beats: the concluding beat 68
6 Sequential beats: the intensifying beat 80
7 The dramatic question 109
8 Observing and meditating sequences 123
9 Reporting and interrogating sequences 135
10 Persuading sequences 152
11 Disputing sequences 167
12 Commanding sequences 183
13 Sequences combined: the frame 187
Notes 209
Glossary 220
Index of sequences analyzed 225
General index 227
IX