What's Up with the Lexicon?

One of the most-used tools for understanding Shakespeare is Alexander Schmidt's Shakespeare Lexicon and Quotation Dictionary, commonly referred to as "the lexicon". For the uninitiated, this book will CHANGE YOUR LIFE. It is a phenomenal tool in finding the exact meaning of most words as they are used in Shakespeare's works.

WHY YOU NEED IT

If you don't know what you're saying, the audience won't know what you're saying! If you are just kinda sure about the meaning of these 400-year-old lines, you won't be telling the story in a specific and clear way, and your audience's experience will suffer. Some of the words in Shakespeare's plays are antiquated, and have fallen out of use, others have changed in meaning over time, and still others were invented by the Bard himself. Nobody just knows this stuff inherently; all classical actors are expected to do a substantial amount of research outside of rehearsal.

WHERE TO FIND THE LEXICON

The Lexicon is available online here, or in two printed volumes if you prefer a hard copy. 

HOW TO USE IT:

1. Pick the word you want to look up... duh.

2. Hardcopy: Use the appropriate volume (A-M or N-Z) just like a dictionary to find the word you're searching for.

Online: Use the toolbar on the left to find your word (listed alphabetically; this may take a few clicks - see the image below).

Note: if you choose to use the "search" tool in the upper right, be aware that your search will be across many other reference materials, not just the Lexicon, and it may include works by other authors, as the search includes the entire reference database established by Tufts.

Choose the first letter, then the alphabetical group, then the word you're searching for.

...And that's how we get to caddis.

(We still might have to figure out what a riband is, though.)

In both the online and hardcopy versions of the Lexicon, words that can be different parts of speech will be listed separately for each use; you may need to determine whether this is a verb, noun, adjective, etc. 
"Female", for example, is shown in two separate entries:

3. Look through the definitions available to find the reference to the play, act, scene, and line for the word you want to define. These are abbreviated, and can take some getting used to. For example, Romeo & Juliet is Rom., Comedy of Errors is Err., Henry VI Part 2 is H6B, and so on. The act number is in Roman Numerals: I, II, III, IV, or V. The scene number will be listed as 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, etc., followed by the line number. Most of the time, the reference material for the line of the play containing the word you are researching will be listed after the definition for that word, as well as most or all of the other instances that word used with the same intended meaning is found throughout the canon.

Notice that "mischief" has two distinct definitions, both of which are listed here. If we were looking up Don John's line "Will it serve for any model to build mischief on?" - from Much Ado About Nothing, Act I, Scene 3, we can see that it is listed with the second definition: "evil done on purpose, harm, injury." Much Ado About Nothing is abbreviated "Ado", along with the act, scene, and line number, which reads "Ado, I, 3, 49". We even get a portion of the line typed out for us in this instance.

Of course, there are many other references you can use in order to get a better grasp on what you're saying, but the Lexicon is a very popular tool that many regard as an industry standard - and now you know how to use it!

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Breaking Down the Bard - Feminine Endings

Now that you've got a handle on the difference between verse and prose, what perfect iambic pentameter is, and what scansion is (and if you don't, follow the links to get caught up!), we're gonna take a look at what happens when things aren't so "perfect" in a line of iambic pentameter anymore. We'll call these "variations" to the verse, and today we're going to start with "feminine endings".

Take a look at this section of Shakespeare's 20th Sonnet:

A woman's face with Nature's own hand painted

Hast thou, the master mistress of my passion;

A woman's gentle heart but not acquainted

With shifting change as is false women's fashion

This whole sonnet is unconventional, because every line of verse has an extra, unstressed syllable at the end! Since iambic pentameter is ten syllables per line, alternating between unstressed and stressed syllables, this sonnet breaks the "rules":

a WO-man's GEN-tle HEART but NOT ac-QUAINT-ed

A line of verse that has an additional unstressed or weak syllable outside of the traditional structure (in this case, iambic pentameter) has what we call a "feminine ending", or a "weak ending". Yes, this is opposed to a stressed or "masculine" ending. It has absolutely nothing to do with the subject being a male or female, it is entirely about whether the last syllable in the line is stressed or unstressed. Misogyny, I know... I didn't come up with the name.

Why is there an extra syllable at the end of the line? 

Well, first of all, the words at the ends of the lines in the above poem rhyme in an "A B A B" pattern, and the rhythm helps to emphasize that. Shakespeare has rhymes all over the place, and they aren't all quite so obvious as "painted" and "acquainted", or "passion" and "fashion." Rhymes are not a requirement for a feminine ending, but be on the lookout for them!

Second, these are the words that Shakespeare wanted for these lines. I don't say this as a cop-out; Shakespeare was certainly smart enough to choose other words that would rhyme AND maintain the meaning AND fit into perfect iambic pentameter... or he could have invented ones that he wanted. He chose not to.

Third, it breaks up the rhythm and gets our attention. If the verse stays too perfect for too long, it can get boring, and we stop listening. This little hiccup at the end of the line helps keep our attention!

Let's check out a few more lines of verse to find other examples of this particular variation:

This speech from Henry V:

When we have matched our rackets to these balls,

We will, in France, by God's grace, play a set

Shall strike his father's crown into the hazard.

Might scan* like this:

when WE have MATCHED our RACK-ets TO these BALLS,

we WILL, in FRANCE, by GOD'S grace, PLAY a SET

shall STRIKE his FA-ther's CROWN in-TO the HA-zard.

This speech from Love's Labour's Lost:

Now, madam, summon up your dearest spirits,

Consider who the King your father sends,

To whom he sends, and what's his embassy.

Might scan* like this:

now MAD-am, SUM-mon UP your DEAR-est SPIR-its,

con-SID-er WHO the KING your FA-ther SENDS,

to WHOM he SENDS, and WHAT'S his EM-bas-SY.

And this speech from Macbeth:

And yet the eight appears, who bears a glass

Which shows me many more; and some I see

That twofold balls and treble sceptres carry.

Might scan* like this:

and YET the EIGHT ap-PEARS, who BEARS a GLASS

which SHOWS me MAN-y MORE; and SOME i SEE

that TWO-fold BALLS and TREB-le SCEP-tres CAR-ry.

*I say that it MIGHT SCAN like this because there is often more than one way to scan a line of verse. I have chosen to maintain the structure of perfect iambic pentameter when scanning these lines, in order to illustrate the feminine endings effectively.

TO SUM UP:

A feminine ending is when there is an unstressed syllable at the end of a line of poetry, especially one that is an extra syllable added to the pre-established meter. This "hiccup" in the rhythm helps keep the audience's attention, sometimes emphasizes a rhyme, and is 100% intentional!

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The Top 5 Most Badass Women in Shakespeare

I've heard over and over again (even just this week) that there are "no good roles for women in Shakespeare". I'll be the first to say that there are too few of them (about one female for every eight males), but the roles that exist are wonderfully rich and interesting characters. Of course, I am ALL FOR casting women in men's roles whenever possible, but I think there are some ladies in the canon that don't get enough recognition for how totally tough, smart, and all-around awesome they are. With that in mind, I'd love to shed some light on my personal list of the top five most badass women in Shakespeare.

#5 - Lady Macbeth, Macbeth

 

Perhaps the most well-known of the ladies I've chosen, Mrs. Mackers certainly earns her "spot" on the list (ba-dum ching). She conspires with her husband to murder the King of Scotland while he's a guest in her home, and isn't too squeamish to get her hands dirty during the assassination. When Macbeth has second thoughts, she is able to convince him to kill King Duncan and seize the throne for himself - and let's be real, being the Queen of Scotland is pretty enticing.

Macbeth: If we should fail?

Lady Macbeth: We fail?

But screw your courage to the sticking place

And we'll not fail.

Lady M is ambitious and has a stronger resolve than her husband, making her a dream role for many ladies!

#4 - Cordelia, King Lear

 

You may not think Cordelia is a badass because hardly anyone plays her that way, but hear me out: Cordelia is so much more than a young princess/queen in a pretty dress. She won't lie to her father to inherit a bigger piece of the kingdom (like her sisters do), and she is disinherited for it. She lucks out, because the King of France decides he wants to marry her anyway. As she leaves the first scene to go to France with her soon-to-be husband, she leaves these words for her conniving sisters:

Cordelia: Time shall unfold what plighted cunning hides,

Who covers faults, at last with shame derides.

In Act IV, when all hope seems lost, and Lear is facing senility and certain defeat, Cordelia comes back to Britain from France LEADING A FREAKING ARMY and waging war against her sisters. Even though she loses and is captured, she makes amends with Lear and goes to her death gracefully. She may not be sadistically blinding old men, like her sister, Regan, but Cordelia is a noble badass, who is caring and forgiving, and totally deserving of recognition.

#3 - Paulina, The Winter's Tale

 

When the King of Sicilia loses his mind, thinking that his wife, Hermione, has been cheating on him with his BFF Polixenes, and is pregnant with Polixenes' baby, no one can convince him otherwise. When Hermione gives birth to a daughter in prison, Paulina takes the infant princess to King Leontes in an attempt to get him to come to his senses, at risk to her own life:

Leontes: I'll have thee burnt.

Paulina: I care not;

It is an heretic that makes the fire,

Not she that burns in't.

Leontes ends up having his infant daughter abandoned in a distant land; perhaps more cruel than his initial choice to kill the baby immediately. It's only after Leontes ignores the Oracle's ruling of Hermione's innocence (which he ordered and said he would honor), and the instant reports of the death of his young son and wife that he regains his senses and repents (with plenty of I told you so's from Paulina). Her fearlessness earns her a vital position: Leontes takes Paulina as his most trusted advisor for the next 16 years, to the end of the play, and probably beyond!

#2 - Tamora, Titus Andronicus

 

You don't want to mess with the Queen of the Goths. A prisoner of war in a son-killing competition with Titus Andronicus, she uses her cougar-like sex appeal to marry Saturninus, the new emperor of Rome. Saturninus is easily swayed by Tamora's *ahem* charms, and doesn't even notice that she's continuing an affair with Aaron the Moor. When Tamora and her two sons run into Titus' daughter, Lavinia, and Bassianus, Emperor Saturninus' brother, in the woods, they murder Bassianus and frame two of Titus' sons for it. Tamora's two sons are about to rape Lavinia, who asks Tamora to kill her rather than suffer that fate, to which Tamora replies:

Tamora: Let them sacrifice their lust on thee.

Cold as ICE. Things get even worse for Lavinia, who has her hands and tongue cut off to keep her from naming names. When Tamora gives birth to a son who has a bit too much melanin to be the biological son of the Emperor, she instructs that the baby should be killed in order to keep her affair with Aaron a secret. This ruthless woman will stop at nothing to maintain her power and to destroy Titus and his family.

#1 - Margaret, Henry VI Parts 1, 2, & 3, Richard III

 

If you know who Margaret is, I'll bet you aren't surprised to see her at the top of this list. If you don't know who she is, get ready to meet THE QUEEN.

Margaret is the wife of King Henry VI. She's a French nobleman's daughter, who brings no dowry (a problem for England, whose treasury could really use some help at this point). She falls in love with Suffolk, the man who brings her to meet her husband, and she finds her husband to be unimpressive. A clever and proud woman, she flexes muscle at court by undoing anyone who crosses her. She sets up the high-and-mighty Duchess Eleanor of Gloucester in an elaborate scheme so that she'll be convicted of witchcraft. She openly mourns the death of Suffolk, who is murdered by pirates. She is a skilled general during the seemingly endless civil war, killing her main opposition, York, and his youngest son. 

Margaret: Off with the crown; and with the crown, his head,

And whilest we breathe, take time to do him dead.

Her son is then murdered as she watches, and she is exiled to France, only to return and rain down curses on her foes. 

Margaret is a rich and interesting character who takes on more leadership skills than her weakling husband in an attempt to maintain power in England. She is smart, tactical, confident, and commanding, and her arc from penniless girl, to warrior queen, to mournful crone over the course of four plays is an amazing transformation!

Did any of these choices surprise you? Who didn't make the list that you would have liked to see on here? Let me know in the comments!

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Breaking Down the Bard - Scansion

Our patterns of speech have various rhythms, made up of combinations of stressed or unstressed syllables or words. In reality, the amount of emphasis we place on words and syllables is a broad spectrum. Some people will delve into those different levels of emphasis when it comes to poetry, and that is totally cool. However, when we're looking at classical verse text, particularly Shakespeare, we generalize with either "unstressed" or "stressed" syllables.

If everything was emphasized to the same degree, odds are good you would sound like a robot... which IS a choice, if that's what you're looking for. But for the other 99.99% of the time, you're gonna need to pay attention to the patterns of speech.

Let's look at the following sentence:
I never said she stole my money.

The choice of which word to emphasize in this sentence changes the entire meaning.
I never SAID she stole my money. (But I wanted to.)
I never said SHE stole my money. (It was Ava, not Isabella!)
I never said she stole MY money. (She stole Jaxon's.)

How you choose to deliver your lines can also change how your character is perceived, and possibly even the plot of the play! Therefore, it's important to pay close attention to the weight you give your words.

"Scansion" is the name for the markings you'll make in your script to remind yourself where you'd like the stresses to fall in your lines of verse. (You "scan" a line of verse, the markings themselves are "scansion".)

SUPER IMPORTANT:
THERE IS USUALLY MORE THAN ONE WAY TO SCAN A LINE OF VERSE.
It's not about "right" and "wrong", it's about telling the story clearly and effectively. In a show, this is usually a collaborative effort.

There are many ways to mark your verse, but the most common in America (right now), is:

If you were taught something else, or prefer something else, that's okay! Formatting gets all kinds of cray on a computer, so if I can't handwrite something, you'll SEE me TYPE like THIS. it CER-tain-ly ISn't i-DEAL, BUT it GETS the POINT a-CROSS.

Let's look at some scanned perfect iambic pentameter:

See how the unstressed and stressed syllables are clearly denoted? It's super easy to follow, especially with that tricky word at the end of the second line, "deserts". It's not DESerts, like the Sahara, but it's pronounced like "desserts" (like cake), and it means merit, or claim to honor and reward.

If you're not dealing with iambic pentameter, it might look like this:

This poem by William Blake is a great example of a different kind of verse.

Additionally, some people find it helpful to mark where the end of each "foot" is. The foot is kind of like the measure, if you want to think of this as music. It's even marked just like a measure ending is in sheet music, with a vertical line:

There you have it! The easy intro to scansion - which will make you look like SUCH a pro when you walk into your next first day of rehearsal!

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How Your Musical Theatre Skills Will Make You A Kick-@$$ Shakespearean Actor

If you can "kick your face" and "belt for Jesus", I'll bet you already have a lot of skills that you could use as a Shakespearean actor! Did you know that musical theatre has a lot in common with Shakespeare? I'm not just talking about the adaptations of Romeo & Juliet into West Side Story or The Taming of the Shrew into Kiss Me, Kate. There are skills that cross over between the two art forms that you might not have realized!

Christian Borle as Shakespeare in Something Rotten!

Photo: Joan Marcus

Both Shakespeare and musical theatre contain scenes that have performance elements that elevate the production beyond what the audience experiences in daily life. If someone is singing at you in real life, you'd probably think they were crazy, and that guy spitting rhymes on the subway is probably not the next Kanye, BUT when an audience sees a show, they buy into the world of the play where these situations are normal! These activities would seem ridiculous if they weren't being done onstage, but skilled actors can pull it off. These actors can jump back and forth between normal, everyday speech (aka prose) and singing or speaking in verse at the drop of a hat, and when it's good, it is so good, amiright?

Another skill that artists in both types of theatre need is a facility with rhythm and meter. An actor who can tell a story through a song, where the speed and rhythm of the lyrics are predetermined, while still making it seem as though they are uttering these words aloud spontaneously is probably giving a memorable performance! This isn't much different from Shakespeare's verse, where the structure of the rhythm is given to a performer and it is their job to bring the words to life while maintaining the poetry in the text - it might actually be easier, since the actor may not have to belt a G simultaneously!

Not to be overlooked is the fact that there is often music and dancing in Shakespeare's plays. Performers with a background in musical theatre are at a distinct advantage here, as they are accustomed to telling stories through dance and song! There have been countless productions of The Tempest with Ariel played by a dancer, and although no one says that Ophelia is the best singer in Denmark, it certainly doesn't hurt to have a trained singer playing her when she goes mad!

So whether it's Othello or Oklahoma!, Hamlet or Hamilton, actors with these skills are some of the most versatile (and kick-@$$) around!

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Breaking Down the Bard - Iambic Pentameter

Alright, it's time to deal with the elephant in the room. We're gonna talk about that big scary phrase you hear thrown around all the time, but never quite understood: IAMBIC PENTAMETER.

Let's set the record straight: not all verse is iambic pentameter, but it just so happens that Shakespeare used it a lot. (If you don't know what verse is, that's okay! I cover that here.) We're going to learn what iambic pentameter IS, so that we can have a jumping off point into other kinds of verse. Don't freak out or feel overwhelmed. In just a few minutes, you are TOTALLY going to understand iambic pentameter. 

Say the following sentence out loud:

I parked my car in Harvard Yard, alright?

That was iambic pentameter. So is this one:

If music be the food of love, play on...

One of these is Shakespeare, and one isn't. No big deal. English speakers fall into the pattern of iambic pentameter ALL THE TIME without even realizing it!

So, what IS this fancy-schmancy iambic pentameter thing anyway? Let's break it down:

An "iamb" is when a pair of syllables (also called a "foot" in poetry) are spoken with the first syllable unstressed, and the second syllable stressed. Words like "because", "today", "provide", "between", and "tonight" are all iambic; they have two syllables, and the second syllable gets the stress.

"Pentameter" means there are five ("penta" means five) of those poetic feet to make up each line in the verse ("meter"). 

Therefore, perfect* iambic pentameter is simply a type of writing where each line has ten syllables, with five unstressed syllables and five stressed syllables that alternate throughout the line, beginning with an unstressed syllable. It sounds like:

da DUM da DUM da DUM da DUM da DUM 

*Of course, rules are made to be broken, and we'll talk about that later on.

Check out these Shakespeare lines that are perfect iambic pentameter:

But soft, what light through yonder window breaks?

(but SOFT, what LIGHT through YON-der WIN-dow BREAKS?)

And though she be but little, she is fierce.

(and THOUGH she BE but LIT-tle, SHE is FIERCE.)

The matter's in my head and in my heart.

(the MAT-ter's IN my HEAD and IN my HEART.)

A horse! A horse! My kingdom for a horse!

(a HORSE! a HORSE! my KING-dom FOR a HORSE!)

So, to review:

An iamb:two syllables, first unstressed, second stressed

Penta- : five. Think "pentagon", which has five sides, or Pentatonix, that awesome a capella group with five members

meter: a line of poetry

There you go! Now you know what iambic pentameter is!

Next week on Breaking Down the Bard... Scansion!

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Easy Inspiration

When was the last time you went to see a show? I'm not talking about the latest Bond movie (although I'm sure it's great), but an honest-to-goodness live piece of theatre? Where you're in the same room as the performer(s) - you can see them, they can see you, and it will only happen exactly that way with exactly those people ONCE?

I see several shows a month. My minimum is two shows per month, but I often exceed that. I absolutely love live theatre, not just because I'm an actor, but because of the stakes involved in each performance. There is no "take two". It's all about NOW, what's happening in the moment. All of us are in the same room, part of the same shared experience, but I might walk out loving the show and the guy next to me might leave at intermission because he hates it so much. There's subjectivity. It's personal, even though there may be hundreds of people in the audience.

I'll see just about anything. I tend to lean toward Shakespeare or other classical plays because it's so useful to me to see what choices are being made in performance. I'll see the same play by different companies over and over and over, because no two productions are ever the same. It's great to see different interpretations of these stories. Last night, I went to see something more experimental: a rap/hip-hop version of a Shakespeare play, and it was a lot of fun!

Let's be real, the hundreds of plays I've seen over the years haven't all been successful (though most of them were). I've seen some shows that really fell flat on their faces, but these shows taught me just as much if not more than the shows I enjoyed. In seeing shows that I didn't ultimately enjoy, I also got to consider what about it wasn't working for me, and why, which can inform my future work as an actor.

A few years ago, I was preparing for my first production of Much Ado About Nothing, And while I knew the show inside out, I hunted down videos on YouTube, re-watched the Branagh film, saw the Joss Whedon film the day it came out, as well as the BBC TV version and every live production I could catch in NYC, all before rehearsals started! Knowing what others had tried helped inform my choices, so that I could have even more tools in my toolbox as I went on to find how I would put my stamp on the character. For example, I learned that I didn't like Beatrice if she didn't smile in the first scene. The lines are a sharp and witty, but I found that if Beatrice smiles, I like her, and if she doesn't, I just think she's a jerk, which is tricky when you have to root for her character. It's a seemingly simple thing that I might never have discovered if I had not had so many productions to compare.

Lately, I've been going to the opera. The Met is pretty much the ultimate theatrical experience - it is bigger than Broadway in every way I could think of, without microphones!

At The Met on Friday, November 6th, to see Tosca

I initially thought that a night at the opera would be more about being seen by others than about what's happening onstage, but the acting, musicianship, and storytelling of these masterpieces is stunning. When Tosca jumped from the tower, I gasped aloud. I was very worried for Gilda's safety during intermission of Rigoletto. Opera has very little to do with my career, but I have found myself wrapped up in the storytelling every time, and learning just as much from these performances as from any other.

I think everyone, especially actors, but EVERYONE,  should see as much live theatre as possible. Even if you hate it, it will teach you something. It will inspire you. It will give you motivation. It will make you feel alive.

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Breaking Down the Bard - Verse vs Prose

One of the very first things you need to learn as a classical or Shakespearean actor is how to identify when you are speaking in Verse or Prose. Knowledge of this super simple thing can be the difference between looking like you know your stuff or looking like a total noob.

WHAT IS VERSE?

Simply put, verse is poetry. If a character is speaking in poetry, there is very often a reason behind it; whether it is because they are addressing the King, are royalty themselves, or they are in love. It doesn't have to rhyme, and it isn't necessarily "iambic pentameter" (though it often is, and we can get into that later).

WHAT IS PROSE?

Prose is everyday, non-poetic speech. This paragraph, for example, is entirely in prose. Prose is often used for plain-speaking characters, and usually - but not always - used to denote characters of lower social classes. Kings may speak in prose, but when they do, it is generally in informal situations (like confiding in a close friend).

HOW TO TELL THE DIFFERENCE:

Most editors make telling the difference between verse and prose as easy as possible when they are printing a new edition of the play. Here's an example of what the current industry standard for verse looks like:

Why should you think that I should woo in scorn?

Scorn and derision never come in tears.

Look when I vow, I weep; and vows so born,

In their nativity all truth appears.

How can these things in me seem scorn to you,

Bearing the badge of faith to prove them true?

While prose looks more like this:

I have of late - but wherefore I know not - lost all my mirth, forgone all custom of exercises; and indeed it goes so heavily with my disposition, that this goodly frame, the earth, seems to me a sterile promontory; this most excellent canopy, the air, look you, this brave o'erhanging firmament; this majestical roof fretted with golden fire, why, it appeareth nothing to me but a foul and pestilent congregation of vapors. What a piece of work is a man, how noble in reason, how infinite in faculties, in form and moving, how express and admirable in action, how like an angel in apprehension, how like a god! The beauty of the world, the paragon of animals, and yet to me what is this quintessence of dust? Man delights not me - nor woman neither, though by your smiling, you seem to say so.

One of the easiest ways to tell if you are working with verse or prose is to see if the first letter of each line is capitalized. If so, it's probably verse! If not, and the lines of text fill the entire column in a block instead of being left justified, then it is probably prose!

There you have it; the first steps to identifying whether you are speaking in verse or prose!

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Breaking Down the Bard - Wherefore

"O Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo?"

You've heard this line a BAJILLION TIMES, but did you know that Juliet isn't looking for Romeo? That's because "wherefore" doesn't mean "where", it means "why"!

Juliet is wondering why the hottie that crashed her dad's party tonight had to be named Romeo Montague, because his family is the sworn enemy of her family, the Capulets. And girlfriend is SPRUNG. If his name was pretty much anything else, her parents might not object to the idea of them as a couple. But they would (if they knew), which leads to some really terrible decisions that drive the plot forward to its tragic end.

"Wherefore" is probably used by Shakespeare most notably in this line from Romeo & Juliet, but the word appears in every play attributed to Shakespeare except for two: Cymbeline and Measure for Measure! For example, Edmund in King Lear ("Why bastard? Wherefore base?") and Bottom in A Midsummer Night's Dream ("O, wherefore, Nature, didst thou lions frame?") use our word of the day. See??? It's everywhere... and now you know what it means!

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