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Writer's Weekly Question #20: Cloaking Characters
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Saturday, June 17, 2006
11:28:00 AM EDT
As you can probably tell, I've been having a wonderful time reading Will in the World. It's like taking a class in Shakespeare without having to write a paper at the end. This week, I moved into a chapter that discusses the people Will probably got to know once he moved to London and began to make an impact on the playwriting and theatre-going community. Apparently, there were some that resented his ability as a writer because he wasn't "University material." The resentment was based in the fact that he could take a subject that they had written scripts for and write a better, more entertaining work in a short amount of time.
What is cool is Shakespeare's response. Rather than just issuing ugly edicts, like many of his contemporaries would, (this is especially interesting because printing was just becoming cheap enough for individuals to affort--think of it as Elizabethan flamewars), Shakespeare would have more fun. He would use them as characters in his plays. One "enemy" in particular became one of Shakespeare's most famous and enduring comic characters--Sir John Falstaff of Henry IV parts 1 and 2 and of Merry Wives of Windsor fame. John Falstaff is based, at least according to Stephen Greenblatt, on one of the poets (playwrites) of Shakespeare's time named Robert Greene. Green apparently blasted Shakespeare in one of his pamphlet, by calling him an "upstart crow."
Greene was well-known as well-educated, but morally bankrupt man. Shakespeare reflects these traits in Falstaff. I find all of this amusing because some 500 years later, people still speak the name Shakespeare, and everyone understands that he was the greatest English playwrite and poet ever. If you mention Robert Greene, however, most of us will have to look him up in Wikipedia or read a book to learn about him.
Now that we've finished the weekly Shakespeare lesson, on to our Writer's Weekly Question!
Writer's Weekly Question # 19:
Have you ever created a character based on someone you know? Was it because you liked the person, or disliked the person? How was the character different or like the person you based him or her on?
My Answer:
I have created characters based on people I know for all sorts of different reasons. Many times I will do it because I like a person's voice. When I was working on my first play, I based the main male character on this man in my playwriting class, mostly because I loved his voice. He also ended up reading the character in our class, which made it easier to adjust lines and such. I also do this when I write skits for church. I cast often as I'm writing dialogue because the character ends up saying things the way certain members speak, or they have certain ideas that I know a certain person at church might support.
I also will base characters on people that have great stories. I wrote a monologue last year based on a person I heard about on the news. I've also based characters on people I knew in other places and in other times. My largest fear is that someone will see those characters one day and know that they are really them in disguise.
I guess if we didn't have people to base our characters on, the characters would end up being pretty flat and boring.
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11:28:00 AM EDT
Writer's Weekly Question #20: Cloaking Characters
As you can probably tell, I've been having a wonderful time reading Will in the World. It's like taking a class in Shakespeare without having to write a paper at the end. This week, I moved into a chapter that discusses the people Will probably got to know once he moved to London and began to make an impact on the playwriting and theatre-going community. Apparently, there were some that resented his ability as a writer because he wasn't "University material." The resentment was based in the fact that he could take a subject that they had written scripts for and write a better, more entertaining work in a short amount of time.
What is cool is Shakespeare's response. Rather than just issuing ugly edicts, like many of his contemporaries would, (this is especially interesting because printing was just becoming cheap enough for individuals to affort--think of it as Elizabethan flamewars), Shakespeare would have more fun. He would use them as characters in his plays. One "enemy" in particular became one of Shakespeare's most famous and enduring comic characters--Sir John Falstaff of Henry IV parts 1 and 2 and of Merry Wives of Windsor fame. John Falstaff is based, at least according to Stephen Greenblatt, on one of the poets (playwrites) of Shakespeare's time named Robert Greene. Green apparently blasted Shakespeare in one of his pamphlet, by calling him an "upstart crow."
Greene was well-known as well-educated, but morally bankrupt man. Shakespeare reflects these traits in Falstaff. I find all of this amusing because some 500 years later, people still speak the name Shakespeare, and everyone understands that he was the greatest English playwrite and poet ever. If you mention Robert Greene, however, most of us will have to look him up in Wikipedia or read a book to learn about him.
Now that we've finished the weekly Shakespeare lesson, on to our Writer's Weekly Question!
Writer's Weekly Question # 19:
Have you ever created a character based on someone you know? Was it because you liked the person, or disliked the person? How was the character different or like the person you based him or her on?
My Answer:
I have created characters based on people I know for all sorts of different reasons. Many times I will do it because I like a person's voice. When I was working on my first play, I based the main male character on this man in my playwriting class, mostly because I loved his voice. He also ended up reading the character in our class, which made it easier to adjust lines and such. I also do this when I write skits for church. I cast often as I'm writing dialogue because the character ends up saying things the way certain members speak, or they have certain ideas that I know a certain person at church might support.
I also will base characters on people that have great stories. I wrote a monologue last year based on a person I heard about on the news. I've also based characters on people I knew in other places and in other times. My largest fear is that someone will see those characters one day and know that they are really them in disguise.
I guess if we didn't have people to base our characters on, the characters would end up being pretty flat and boring.
And now the skiddlydiddly:
As usual, you don't have to be a writer to respond to these questions. This meme is meant as a community building sort of project. All you have to do answer the question either in the comment box below, or in your own journal. If you post in your journal, be sure to drop by and leave a link in the comment box so that we all can share in the joy of your response.Written by aurielalata Blog about this entry |
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This entry has 4 comments: (Add your own)
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Probably only part one:
http://outmavarin.blogspot.com/2006/06/no-theyre-themselves .html -
Definitely had fun with this one. A major trip down amnesia lane!
Bill, the Wildcat
http://wildcatslair.blogspot.com/2006/06/secret-identities- ww-20.html
http://journals.aol.com/knightbek/TheWildcatsLair/entries/5 98 -
you know i like it when the writer's question is one i can answer!! lol...
http://journals.aol.com/deslily/HereThereandEverywhere/
6/23/06 3:22 AM
http://snoozelets.blogspot.co
wil