Analyzing Shakespeare's Action: Scene versus Sequence - Hardcover

Hallett, Charles A.; Hallett, Elaine S.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0521392039 ISBN 13: 9780521392037

Publisher: Cambridge University Press, 1991

Synopsis

In this book, Charles and Elaine Hallett invite the reader to follow the actions of Shakespeare's plays. They show that the conventional division of the plays into scenes does not help the reader or play goer to discover how the narrative works. They offer instead a division into smaller units which they define as beats, sequences and frames. Detailed analysis of the unfolding action reveals that Shakespeare's scenes frequently consist of a series of sequences, each with its own individual climax, and these sequences are regularly built up of a succession of smaller units, or beats. Several sequences usually work together to create a still larger action, or frame. Study of these components yields valuable information about Shakespeare's playwriting techniques. The book will be of interest to students and scholars of Shakespeare and theatre studies as well as to actors and directors.

About this title

Book Description

Here the authors invite the reader to follow the actions of Shakespeare's plays. They show that the conventional division of the plays into scenes does not help one to discover how the narrative works; and offer instead a division into smaller units which they define as beats, sequences and frames.

Review

In this book the Halletts have examined dramatic form in Shakespeare's plays and have found the overall pattern of pacing and action to be independent of the scene. They have identified within scenes and acts hidden units of articulation identified here as the beat, the sequence, and the frame, each unit type having a distinct but different purpose within the larger whole. For both scholar and practitioner, their observations offer new insights about how the building blocks of the plays are deployed. Detailed analysis of the unfolding action reveals that Shakespeare's scenes frequently consist of a series of sequences, each with its own individual climax, and these sequences are regularly built up of a succession of smaller units, or beats. Several sequences usually work together to create a still larger action, or frame. Study of these components yields valuable information not readily available elsewhere in critical literature, and is of immense value in articulating the dramatic rhythms and structure of Shakespeare's action. This analytical method, while especially tuned to Shakespeare, can also be adapted to other dramatists in varying degrees. -- Book Description

Edition details

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Publication date: 1991
• ISBN 10: 0521392039
• ISBN 13: 9780521392037
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 244