Widge From the Shakespeare Stealer

Widge From the Shakespeare Stealer

Garry L. Blackwood's the Shakespeare Stealer tells the tale of a lonely orphan boy named Widge who is adopted by William Shakespeare's acting company, after he is originally sent to 'steal' the text of the original version of Hamlet before it is printed. The tale begins with Widge learning a unique form of shorthand from his first master, Dr. Bright, which enables Widge to swiftly transcribe almost anything he hears. This allows Dr. Bright to plagiarize the sermons of the preachers Widge transcribes, while using this new form of shorthand (Blackwood 6). Then, Widge is apprenticed to a new, cruel master who is determined to use Widge's talents for his own enrichment. The novel chronicles the moral development of Widge, from someone who is willing to do almost anything to stay alive and who fears adults to a young man with a true moral conscience who finds his calling in life as an actor.

Because Widge is an orphan, he is not brought up with a strong moral code of ethics, other than survival. He is willing to steal the words of Shakespeare's play simply to avoid punishment. At first he is apprenticed to the immoral Dr. Bright, where he learns the trade of shorthand. Then he is 'bought' by a man named Falconer who sends him to London and tells him to steal from Shakespeare, or else he will meet with a terrible punishment. For most of the novel Widge is paralyzed with fear of punishment, since cruelty is the only thing he has known since he was a child. But the players he eventually joins give him a sense of family and community and purpose in life, beyond staying alive. They teach him that drama can feed the soul.

Despite his intellectually impoverished upbringing, Widge is still intellectually curious, loves the theater, and has an innate moral compass. He becomes so absorbed in the first viewing of Hamlet he is unable to take down all of the words, due to his love of the sound of the verse. He feels guilty when he is copying the play and accidentally distracts the attention of the actor who is supposed to fire a cannon, causing the cannon to be misdirected and start a fire (Blackwood 64). Widge takes acting seriously -- when he first appears on stage he is terrified of forgetting his lines, and wants to do a credible job. He becomes a valuable apprentice actor and stagehand. For the first time in his life, his verbal talents are appreciated. Widge's story illustrates how sometimes the most truthful people are actors, who try to reveal unexplored aspects of the human mind through 'pretending.' Acting also gives Widge the ability to find his true, moral identity through 'pretending.'

Despite his intelligence and curiosity, at the beginning of the novel Widge is very naive. He understands little of London and acting, as he has grown up for most of his life in the country. He is even surprised to see the sharp difference between an actor off-stage and on-stage, such as when he discovers that the actor who played the drunken, disheveled gravedigger in Hamlet is actually a gentleman. Learning how to act, and how people present themselves in truthful and mendacious ways is one of Widge's struggles over the course of the novel.