Chapter I: Front Matter

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SHAKESPEARE AT THE GLOBE

Shakespeare
at the Globe

1599-1609

BERNARD BECKERMAN

THE MACMILLAN COMPANY. 1962
_New York_

© BERNARD BECKERMAN 1962

All rights reserved--no part of this book may be reproduced in any form without permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer who wishes to quote brief passages in connection with a review written for inclusion in magazine or newspaper.

_First Printing_

The Macmillan Company, New York
Brett-Macmillan Ltd., Galt, Ontario

_Printed in the United States of America_

Library of Congress catalog card number: 62-7159

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

My debts of gratitude, which this acknowledgment can hardly hope to pay, are especially due to Professors Oscar J. Campbell, S. F. Johnson, and Dr. John Cranford Adams, President of Hofstra College. To detail the extent of Professor Campbell’s assistance would be futile. I merely count myself fortunate in having enjoyed his guidance and encouragement. From Professor Johnson this study received a careful and perceptive scrutiny, to the excellence of which I trust these pages testify. In supporting my work as Director of the Hofstra College Shakespeare Festival, Dr. Adams provided me with the opportunity not only to explore the authentic staging of Shakespeare’s plays but also to draw upon his knowledge and advice. Although my present views of Shakespearean staging differ from his, nonetheless they owe much to the initial stimulus he gave and the rigorous scholarship he exemplified. In addition, I have benefited from the indulgence of various friends and scholars. Dr. Raymond W. Short read and criticized the original draft of the chapter on dramaturgy. Dr. James G. McManaway and Irwin Smith offered valuable suggestions for the entire manuscript, and Mr. Smith, together with Dr. Robert De Maria, Howard Siegman, and my wife, Gloria, has assisted me in the final preparation of the book.

CONTENTS

Acknowledgments v

Introduction ix

One: THE REPERTORY 1

Two: THE DRAMATURGY 24

I. Premises for a Study of Shakespearean
Dramatic Form 27

II. Form and Function in the Finales of the
Globe Plays 35

III. The Nature and Form of the “Climax” in
the Globe Plays 40

IV. Structural Patterns in the Dramatic Narrative 45

V. Scene Structure in Shakespeare 54

VI. Dramatic Unity in the Globe Plays 57

Three: THE STAGE 63

I. Localization in Shakespeare’s Globe Plays 64

II. The Parts of the Stage 69

III. The Design of the Stage 101

Four: THE ACTING 109

I. The Relation of Tudor Rhetoric to
Elizabethan Acting 113

II. The Influence of Theatrical Traditions
upon Elizabethan Acting 121

III. The Effect of Playing Conditions upon
Elizabethan Acting 127

IV. Acting and the Elizabethan View of
Human Behavior 137

a) Decorum 139

b) Motivation 142

c) Passion 143

V. The Effect of the Globe Plays upon the
Acting 146

Five: THE STAGING 157

I. Stage Illusion at the Globe Playhouse 157

II. Stage Grouping at the Globe Playhouse 169

III. Actors’ Entrances upon the Globe Stage 176

IV. Recurrent Patterns of Staging 182

V. The Staging of the Finales 207

Six: THE STYLE 214

Appendix A 217

Appendix B 220

Appendix C 226

Notes 232

Index to the Globe Plays 245

General Index 248