Identity in Shakespeare Clearly One

Identity in Shakespeare

Clearly one of the most influential writers in the English language that has survived and prospered in contemporary times is William Shakespeare. Despite some of the controversy of whether he actual wrote what is attributed to him, or the other theories of the origination of his writing, no one can deny that the "Bard of Avon" holds a place in literature that few, if any, have attained. The classic stories and phrases of Shakespeare permeate contemporary society -- young love epitomized by Romeo and Juliet, treachery and false betrayal in Othello, the way the universe and nature conspire in the Tempest, numerous common phrases: "All that glitters is not gold" (the Merchant of Venice), "Cry havoc and let slip the dogs of war" (Julius Caesar), "Laughing Stock" (the Merry Wives of Windsor), "There's a method to my madness" (Hamlet), "A pound of flesh" (the Merchant of Venice), and so many more (Words and Phrases Coined by Shakespeare). Although he was respected and quite in demand during his lifetime, there were other poets and playwrights who enjoyed more financial success during the Elizabethan period than Shakespeare. His reputation, however, began to rise in the 19th century with the Romantic poets and writers -- finding such awe and inspiration, and even spiritual meaning in his works that, in a typical burst of satire, George Bernard Shaw called this Shakespeare worship "bardolatry" (Bertolini, 119).

To begin to understand Shakespeare, though, it is first necessary to have a basic understanding of his time period -- Elizabethan England (roughly 1558-1603). Also called the "Golden Age" in English history, this time period was the height of the English Renaissance and English poetry, literature, and theater. The importance of this time period comes due to its many contrasts, however, and although one looks back at it as a relatively calm period, it was filled with intrigue, concern about invasion, court issues, religious war and strife, and a Crown that never quite had enough money. Too, there was a large gap between the rich and the poor, a fact that many poets and authors used to their advantage since so much of the population was illiterate (Hutton). Additionally, after the rather tumultuous reign of her father, Henry VIII, there was strife but not open war between the Protestants and Catholics and relative peace between Parliament and the Queen. Historians credit Elizabeth I with a long period of relative peace, and increasing prosperity. Because of this relative wealth, the population was rife for entertainment and satire, often at the expense of current political and social figures. It was in this world in which there was not the amount of pestilence, war, and disharmony that Shakespeare found an audience -- and used his works to both teach, enrich himself, and make commentary on numerous philosophical truisms.

Clearly, though, one of the major themes that pervades much of Elizabethan literature is the contrast between romance and reality -- romance in the sense of courtly love, reality in the sense of the tawdry life of most people and the resultant identity of the characters. Courtly love was seen as one of the highest forms of art, but the humanity and sometimes not so covert sexuality moved through much of the literature, disguised at times to pass the muster of the censors and other prim and proper government servants, but nevertheless clear enough for the contrast to emerge. For the time period, there was relative freedom for women, not as much corporal punishment and wanton torture as most other European nations, and yet the contrast of a brutal dictatorship and a benign monarch.

Most Elizabethans believed their self-identity was wrapped up in a cosmic paradigm of fate and destiny, and were somehow controlled by the stars and planets and had a power over the baser side of man -- tools of God, but with certain amounts of free will. Thus, a very central idea in Shakespeare is this central view that an individual's identity is set by God, the Planets, the Universe, the Gods, and Nature. But in contrast, the idea of free will for the individual -- or even a single utterance or decision, can change forever the destiny of the individual. A superb example of this is in Romeo and Juliet.

Fate and chance surround the identities of the major and minor characters in RJ almost from the opening scene. Because the audience already believed that their destiny was predetermined, they saw the characters as having very little choice in their situation. It was popular during the time to believe in the Biblical saying from Jeremiah, "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I have appointed you…"

Shakespeare sets the stage by letting the audience know that destiny and fate have already taken their toll for young Romeo and Juliet when the Chorus comments: "From forth the fatal -- of these two foes / a pair of star-cross'd lovers take their life / Whole misadventur'd piteous overthors / Doth with their death bury their parents' strife" (I.i.1-8). It seems ironic that within the first few second of the play, the audience already knows that the lovers are doomed, and that fate has willed them together even though their families are fated to war.