We have talked a few times in class about why Shakespeare's work has always been so popular. I think there are many reasons such as his ability to use words in such a rhythmic pattern and his ability to incorporate mythology so seamlessly into works that were modern when written. However one way that I don't think has been discussed within the confines of our classroom is that he makes his characters so real that they become actual people in our minds. I have been reading Northrop Frye on on Shakespeare in the last couple of days and this is a topic that he addresses. He says that "the hero or central character is the theatre itself." I believe that this is true and one of the things that draws us to Shakespearean dramas. To appreciate Shakespeare, we don't need the settings because we are not given very much of the settings really. One character may tell us about his/her surroundings but that doesn't necessarily add to the actual setting but to the character's personality as it tells us that they have the eloquence to describe such things and the attention to notice them. Most books and dramas that are written today give us the setting in some way that often comes not from an individual character. By making it so the characters describe the actual setting, Shakespeare makes them more real to us because we have to notice our own surroundings ourselves and are not fed them through a sort of narrator.
Another reason that Shakespeare's characters endear us to his work is because there is a character that people can relate to, at least I can relate to. I have not read a lot of Shakespeare's plays but of the ones that I have read I have found an individual character that endears me to them and makes me want to be able to script them in my mind and image how I think the play should look. This character more often that not represents something that I have at one time or another felt or said in my life. This character allows me to be able to relate to the play thus making it more real to me. While I thinking about this I am mostly considering the characters in A Midsummer's Dream. I specifically liked the four lovers as I believe that I have felt an inkling of the dominant personality of all four of them at the same time.
As I have been writing this I have been expanding and exploring how I truly view Shakespeare's plays. With what I am about to say I may contradict what I have previously said. However, this is one of the points of blogging I believe so if I confuse anyone I am sorry but you will just have to deal with it. Above I quoted Frye saying that the theater is the main character that Shakespeare focused on and now I completely agree with him. In saying theater I mean the plot/character/emotions of the drama as a whole. I don't see each character as an individual character but as a faucet of the drama's personality. For example, A Midsummer's Night Dream. Each character has their dominating aspect. Oberon is forceful knowing his power is absolute. There is some sphere in a person's life that they are absolute, Oberon represents this. Puck represents the side of person when they are mischievous and acting like a little kid. The list goes on. Each individual person who watches the play or reads it, has the power to assign the part of the personality that they see in each character making the personality of the play more in tune with their own personality thus making it a little bit of their own. Like I said above I am not sure if I have contradicted myself or even made any sense. I hope it has because just realizing this will make Shakespeare a little easier to read because it will allow me to be able to understand why I and most people are so affected and fascinated with Shakespeare's work.