The Play’s The Thing

On the surface, the beach might seem like a natural stage. In some sense, it is. Any setting is nothing more than a backdrop for human drama. When looking at a play, a literary critic is trying to see the meaning that lurks beneath the words on the page. The play, like any form of literature, is a pool that can reflect human emotions and timeless ideas.

Although analyzing a play may seem similar to other forms of literature, be aware of the intended purpose and audience. Unlike prose or poetry, a play is not meant to be simply written and absorbed by a reader. A play is designed to be performed for an audience, and any analysis should at least consider this. Consequently, there are visual and auditory components to a play that text alone cannot duplicate. This does not make the form better or worse than others, but it has distinctive elements that a literary analyst should consider.

Firstly, a play will not have the same level of vivid description that a prose story will, although it may include classic literary elements. A play will generally include setting information and stage directions, though these will usually be very brief. Because of the shortage of detail, the reader must determine how the stage directions should be interpreted.

Different readers will imagine the setting and the action in various ways. For instance, one recent BBC interpretation of Hamlet imagined Hamlet’s father and uncle as twin brothers, which allowed one actor to play as both characters. While there is nothing in the original play to suggest that Shakespeare ever intended this, it also doesn’t contradict anything Shakespeare wrote. Different performances will interpret the script and stage directions differently, which any analysis of the play should be able to account for.

A modern performance of a classic play will take liberties with the original script. Sometimes the differences will be based in the performance itself. For instance, in Shakespeare’s day, female characters were portrayed by male actors. A modern performance of Romeo and Juliet would not be performed that way today.

In addition, modern interpretations of a timeless play will often cast the story in a new light.  A character that was treated as heroic centuries ago might be seen as deeply flawed today, since social views have evolved after the play was written. A modern performance might even update the setting to modern times, so the story may change to reflect the new setting.

Part of the reason that many plays are studied for centuries is that they may be interpreted in many different ways. Any literary analysis of a play should be able to find a new way to look at a work that has lasted the test of time. Account for the elements that make a play distinctive, and the analysis explores a deeper layer of meaning.

See you next time the breeze is cool, the sun is up, and the waves roll into view! ‘Til then, hang ten!