Shakespeare Sonnets and Soliloquies: Coaching Students
Resource Materials For
Exploring Shakespeare in Performance
On Quoting Shakespeare
Bernard Levin Wrote: If you cannot understand my argument, and declare ``It's Greek to me'', you
are quoting Shakespeare; if you claim to be more sinned against than sinning, you are quoting
Shakespeare; if you recall your salad days, you are quoting Shakespeare; if you act more in
sorrow than in anger; if your wish is father to the thought; if your lost property has vanished
into thin air, you are quoting Shakespeare; if you have ever refused to budge an inch or suffered
from green-eyed jealousy, if you have played fast and loose, if you have been tongue-tied, a
tower of strength, hoodwinked or in a pickle, if you have knitted your brows, made a virtue of
necessity, insisted on fair play, slept not one wink, stood on ceremony, danced attendance (on
your lord and master), laughed yourself into stitches, had short shrift, cold comfort or too much
of a good thing, if you have seen better days or lived in a fool's paradise -why, be that as it may,
the more fool you , for it is a foregone conclusion that you are (as good luck would have it)
quoting Shakespeare; if you think it is early days and clear out bag and baggage, if you think it is
high time and that that is the long and short of it, if you believe that the game is up and that
truth will out even if it involves your own flesh and blood, if you lie low till the crack of doom
because you suspect foul play, if you have your teeth set on edge (at one fell swoop) without
rhyme or reason, then - to give the devil his due - if the truth were known (for surely you have
a tongue in your head) you are quoting Shakespeare; even if you bid me good riddance and send
me packing, if you wish I was dead as a door-nail, if you think I am an eyesore, a laughing stock,
the devil incarnate, a stony-hearted villain, bloody-minded or a blinking idiot, then - by Jove! O
Lord! Tut tut! For goodness' sake! What the dickens! But me no buts! - it is all one to me, for
you are quoting Shakespeare!
Shakespearean Code
Challenge your students to decipher the following speech from TWELFTH
NIGHT (Act II, Scene ii). Use the "Shakespearean Code" and the list of "poetic
devices." Afterward, students can compare their findings!
VIOLA. I left no ring with her: what means this lady?
Fortune forbid my outside have not charm'd her!
She made good view of me; indeed, so much,
That sure methought her eyes had lost her tongue,
For she did speak in starts distractedly.
She loves me, sure; the cunning of her passion
Invites me in this churlish messenger.
None of my lord's ring! why, he sent her none.
I am the man: if it be so, as 'tis,
Poor lady, she were better love a dream.
Disguise, I see, thou art a wickedness,
Wherein the pregnant enemy does much.
How easy is it for the proper-false
In women's waxen hearts to set their forms!
Alas, our frailty is the cause, not we!
For such as we are made of, such we be.
How will this fadge? my master loves her dearly;
And I, poor monster, fond as much on him;
And she, mistaken, seems to dote on me.
What will become of this? As I am man,
My state is desperate for my master's love;
As I am woman,--now alas the day!-What thriftless sighs shall poor Olivia breathe!
O time! thou must untangle this, not I;
It is too hard a knot for me to untie!
GUIDE TO SHAKESPEARE’S CODE (Be sure to mark your findings.)
1. Get a good dictionary.
2. Number each of the lines in the speech. (10)
3. Softly whisper the speech - run the words through the filter of your lips and tongue.
4. Look for instances of Shakespeare’s use of poetic devices (see below)
5. Look up all the unusual words in the dictionary.
POETIC DEVICES (clever uses of word sound, rhythm and meanings)
1. Alliteration: resemblance in consonant sound, such as “Fortune forbid”
2. Rhyme: especially internal rhymes, such as "we be."
3. Metaphor: objects as symbols (such as “untangle/knot”)
4. Antithesis: setting one idea against another (“As I am man/woman”)
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Now then, have at it and remember: Shakespeare wrote for actors. Assume that
every word and mark is there for a reason.
ACTOR REPORT
We've just run our speech through the rehearsal hall, and this is what our actors have
discovered:
• There are 208 words and 25 lines.
• There are 49 words that use either a short or long “o” sound. And there are 16
words beginning with “W.”
• Viola does not realize Olivia’s love for “Cesario” until the ninth line of this speech.
She continues to emphasize the illusion of her disguise and laments her femininity, her
true nature, as “wickedness” comparing Olivia’s “thriftless” love for Orsino to her own
feelings for the Duke.
(Elaborate
and
come
up
with
more
ideas
during
rehearsal)
Shakespeare gives the actor lots of ideas and possibilities in the dialogue.
Remember that there were very few stage directions and that the actors only
received their own lines in single sheets of paper called “sides”. This means the
bulk of their information about who they were playing and what the character
was feeling and doing was in the lines themselves. Think of the poetry as a
“secret code about character, action and emotion.” That might help you to
discover even more about what the words do and how their sound affects what
choices the actor makes.
Let's move on and see what kind of sense we can make of the whole thing. First of all,
we want to know what kind of woman Viola is. Is she smart, stupid, friendly, sensitive?
Next, we need to know what she is doing in the quoted speech. Is she speaking carefully
and calmly, or is ranting and raving? Are some possible messages Shakespeare has
offered in the poetry. Come up with a possible diagnosis using evidence from the text
to support your diagnosis.
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POETRY SUMMARY
Poetry or Verse
That category of literature characterized by highly imaginative language selected and
arranged to elicit a specific emotional response. Poets use meaning, sound, and rhythm
to incorporate a concentrated depiction of experience. Usually, poetry appears on the
page with a jagged right margin, and was conceived by the author in line form.
What is blank verse?
Blank verse: verse which satisfies BOTH condition (i) and (ii):
(i): It does not rhyme. It if rhymes, it's not blank verse.
(ii): All the lines have the same number of feet.
Is blank verse iambic pentameter?
Blank verse may be in the form of iambic pentameter, and usually is. However, blank verse does
not have to be iambic pentameter. Other metrical patterns are possible.
Does Shakespeare use blank verse?
In his plays he often does but not always. Remember that if the verse rhymes then it is not blank
verse. Shakespeare's sonnets have rhyme schemes so they are not blank verse.
What is iambic pentameter?
Iambic Pentameter is the verse most frequently used in Shakespeare’s plays. It consists of five
iambic feet. Each iambic foot is made up of an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable.
The rhythm of an iambic pentameter line would therefore go:
De DUM
de DUM
de DUM
de DUM
de DUM
This is a very easy, conversational rhythm and resembles the beating of our hearts. It’s the kind
of rhythm we regularly use in everyday speech, for example: I REA lly WANT to HAVE a CUP
of TEA is a perfect iambic line. An example of an iambic line from Romeo and Juliet would be:
But soft! What light through yonder window breaks?
(II.ii.2)
Scanned and marked:
/ /
/ - /
/
But soft! What light through yonder window breaks?
(II.ii.2)
Shakespeare regularly breaks the rhythm of iambic pentameter and when he does it is usually a
clue; it gives us additional information about the emotional state of the character who is
speaking the line or the situation at the time. Being a very skilled poet, Shakespeare uses many
other metrical Rhythms but iambic pentameter is the one he employs most often.
Although strictly speaking, iambic pentameter refers to five iambs in a row (as above), in
practice, poets vary the rhythm of their iambic pentameter a great deal, while maintaining the
iamb as the most common foot. The first foot, on the other hand, is the most likely to change
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by the use of inversion, which reverses the order of unstressed and stressed in the foot. For
example the first line of Richard III begins with an inversion:
/
- - /
-
/ -
/ - /
Now is the winter of our discontent
As Shakespeare often does, he uses a trochaic inversion to begin the speech; otherwise, the line
scans normally.
Another common departure from standard iambic pentameter is the addition of a final
unstressed syllable, which creates a weak or feminine ending. One of Shakespeare's most famous
lines of iambic pentameter has a weak ending:
-
/ -
/
- /
-
/
-
/
-
To be or not to be that is the question
Scansion
The analysis of poetry or verse to show its metrical pattern. Scansion is the process of
analyzing poetry's rhythm by looking at meter and feet. A foot is a two- or three-syllable
division of stresses. Meter is the predominant rhythm of a poem based on the type and number
of feet per line.
Syllables are marked either as stressed (/) or unstressed (-) depending upon the pronunciation
of a given word within the line. For instance, the word "example" would scan as:
/ ex am ple
Common Metrical Feet in English
Foot
Syllables
Stress Pattern
iamb
2
- /
trochee
2
/ -
spondee
2
/ /
pyrric
2
- -
anapest
3
- - /
dactyl
3
/ - -
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Meter
Meter is defined by the main type of foot and the number of feet within the lines of a poem. For
instance, much of English dramatic verse was written in iambic pentameter, or lines of five iambs,
because the rhythm most closely resembles natural speech patterns. In fact, unrhymed iambic
pentameter was so popular; it had a term of its own: blank verse. Although these speeches are
all written in blank verse, there are other meters as well:

monometer—lines consisting of 1 foot
“My Lord!”

dimeter—lines consisting of 2 feet
“What is’t o’clock?”

trimeter—lines consisting of 3 feet
“I warrant you my lord”

tetrameter—lines consisting of 4 feet:
“You spotted snakes with double tongue,
Thorny hedgehogs, be not seen;”
A Midsummer Night's Dream (II, ii)

“Double, double, toil and trouble,
Fire burn and cauldron bubble.”
Macbeth, (IV.i)
pentameter—lines consisting of 5 feet (blank verse)
“The sweetest sleep and fairest brooding dreams”
King Richard III (V. iii)
“But soft! What light through yonder window breaks?”
Romeo and Juliet (II.i)

hexameter—lines consisting of 6 feet (alexandrine). Often a topic sentence or carrier
of an important intention of the speaker. It has a strong tendency to divide into two
equal segments.
"Brutus and Caesar, what should be in that Caesar?"
Julius Caesar (I.ii)
"Brutus will start a spirit as soon as Caesar."
Julius Caesar (I, ii)
.
"To have what we would have, we speak not what we mean."
Measure for Measure (II, iv)
Lines of more than six feet are rare in English poetry
Other Helpful Poetry Terms
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
Alliteration - The repetition of consonant sounds in a series of words. The feel of the
consonant will therefore color the moment:
"To post with such dexterity to incestuous sheets.”
Hamlet (I.ii)
"For by thy gracious, golden, glittering gleams,
I trust to take of truest Thisby sight."
A Midsummer Night's Dream (V.i)
"Wherat, with blade, with bloody blameful blade.
He bravely broach'd his boiling bloody breast."
A Midsummer Night’s Dream (V.i)
"But manhood is melted into curtsies, valour into compliment, and
men are only turned into tongue, and trim ones too..."
Much Ado About Nothing (IV.i)
"The hum of either army stilly sounds,
That the fix's sentinels almost receive
The secret whispers of each other's watch."
Henry V (IV.i)
"The country cocks do crow, the clocks do toll..."
Henry V (IV.i)
"Let me not to the marriage of true minds / Admit impediments."
Sonnet 116

Antithesis -
A rhetorical device in which sharply contrasted ideas are linked in
parallel words or phrases. 'Setting the word against the word.'
GERTRUDE: Hamlet, thou hast thy father much offended.
HAMLET: Mother, you have my father much offended.
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GERTRUDE: Come, come, you answer with an idle tongue.
HAMLET: Go, go, you question with a wicked tongue.
Hamlet (III.iv)

Assonance—repetition or a pattern of similar sounds, especially vowel sounds. A
partial rhyme in which the vowel sounds are the same, but the consonant sounds are
different.
"Be but to sleep and feed? A beast, no more."
Hamlet (IV.iv)
“With ruffs and cuffs and farthingales and things;”
The Taming of the Shrew (IV.iii)

Caesura—a natural pause or break in a line of verse, usually occurring near the middle
of the line.
"But soft! What light through yonder window breaks?"
Romeo and Juliet (II.i)
“And Silvia – witness heaven that made her fair!”
The Two Gentlemen of Verona (II.vi)

Couplet— Couplet - Two rhyming lines of verse. Shakespeare's sonnets always end
with a couplet; his earlier plays are full of them. In the later plays, they are used mostly
for special effects, comic effects, and final flourishes.
“As you from crimes would pardon'd be.
Let your indulgence set me free."
The Tempest (Epilogue)
“Shine out fair sun, till I have bought a glass,
That I may see my shadow as I pass.”
Richard III (I.ii)
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
Elision - The omission of a part of a word (usually one syllable) to make pronunciation
easier or to achieve a rhythmic effect.
Ever = e'er Even = e'en Heaven = heav'n
Pi/teous Beau/teous Vir/tous
In/fluence U/sual

End-Stopped Line - A line of poetry in which the idea is complete and which ends
with a punctuation mark reveals a strong correlation of thought and feeling.
"In sooth, I know not why I am so sad."
The Merchant of Venice (I.i)

Enjambed Line or Run-On Line - A line of poetry in which the sense of the
sentence or clause is not completed (as in an end-stopped line) but which continues into
a succeeding line.
"Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune.
Or to take arms against a sea of troubles
And by opposing end them."
Hamlet (III.i)
“In terms of choice I am not solely led
By nice direction of a maiden’s eyes.”
The Merchant of Venice (II.i)

Feminine ending— An extra, unstressed syllable at the end of a line (which would
ordinarily end with a stressed syllable). Many feminine endings in a row often reveal
tentativeness, a contrast between thought and feeling.
“To be or not to be that is the question.”
Hamlet (III.i)
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“My gracious lord, that which I would discover”
The Two Gentlemen of Verona (III.i)

masculine ending—an extra stressed syllable at the end of a line
“The heavens have blessed you with a goodly son”
Richard III (I.iii)
“The gold I gave to Dromio is laid up”
The Comedy of Errors (II.ii)

Oxymoron - A poetic device in which two words of opposite meaning are brought
together in an emphatic way.
"joyful trouble"

"bright darkness"
"wise fool"
Parenthetical Phrase - A phrase which is secondary to the main thought, and
dependent on it, so that it must be uttered with less emphasis in order for the main
thought to be clear. Mark parentheses around it in your script.
"Sure He that made us with such large discourse,
(Looking before and after), gave us not
That capability and godlike Reason
To fust in us unus'd."
Hamlet (IV.iv)
“His horses are bred better, for (besides that they are fair with their feeding)
they are taught their manage…”
As You Like It (I.i)

Prose - Generally, any written or spoken expression that is not in poetic,
rhythmic patterns. Usually, prose appears on the page with an even right
margin. Shakespeare uses it in informal situations.

Pun - A pun plays with a works that has two or more meanings in order to
twist the sense.
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"Ask for me tomorrow, and you shall find me a grave man."
Romeo and Juliet (III.i)
“Indeed, I am in the waist two yards about – but I am now about no waste; I am
about thrift.”
The Merry Wives of Windsor (I.iii)

Quatrain - A stanza or poem with four lines, with many possible rhyme
schemes. Sonnets are organized into 3 quatrains and 1 couplet.

Rhetoric - The art of discourse and persuasion; skill in the use of language.

versification—the system of rhyme and meter in a poem

Sonnet - A poem, usually reflective, of 14 iambic pentameter lines with a rigidly
prescribed rhyme scheme. A Shakespearean sonnet contains three quatrains and a
couplet. The rhyme scheme is:





ABAB
CDCD
EFEF
GG
Sonnet XCI
A
Some glory in their birth, some in their skill,
B
Some in their wealth, some in their body’s force,
A
Some in their garments, though new fangled ill,
B
Some in their hawks and hounds, some in their horse;
C
And every humor hath his adjunct pleasure
D
Wherein it finds a joy above the rest.
C
But these particulars are not my measure:
D
All these I better in one general best.
E
They love is better than high birth to me,
F
Richer than wealth, prouder than garments’ cost,
E
Of more delight than hawks or horses be;
F
And having thee of all men’s pride I boast:
G
Wretched in this alone, that thou mayst take
G
All this away and me most wretched make.
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Using your imagination, choose the basics:

Who you are:
__________________________________________________________________

How you feel:
__________________________________________________________________

Who you are talking to:
___________________________________________________________

What you want the other person to feel (the intention) of your speech: “I want them to…”
___________________________________________________________
Find the “Turn”
Volta (Italian: “turn”)
The transition, reversal or conclusion in thought in a sonnet, that is often indicated by such initial words
as But, Yet, And yet or Then. (See line 7 above: “But these particulars…”) In a Shakespearean sonnet, the
Volta occurs anywhere between halfway through (the 7th line and 13th lines) through to the final couplet.
Sometimes the couplet is the Volta.
Know what you are saying:
Use the annotated books and dictionaries provided (The C. T. Onions Glossary and The Lexicon are
Shakespeare-specific dictionaries), or ask questions. Notate your page in pencil to remind you as you do
your “cold reading”.
Page 11
Vocal Warm Up
1. Breathing - Breath
2. Head Drop - Roll Head
3. Drop Downs (One of breath only, then add sounds)
• Hu-Hu
• Hu-Hummmm-Ahhh
• Broommmm-Ahhhh
4. Drop Down on Hum, Build Up and Shake Out
5. Tongue Stretch
6. Soft-Palate Stretch (Yawn)
7. Hard "K"s, In and Out
8. "Nn-gah, Nn-gah, Nn-gah"
• Place Tongue on Lower Lip
• The Feeling of a Yawn.
9. Drop Down (Relaxed Tongue) on "He-yah, He yah, He-yah"
• Feeling similar to tongue stretch, but much more relaxed.
10. Jaw Release, Shake it Out.
11. Chest Resonators
12. Freeing the Voice - Down and Dirty Shake-Out
13. Facial Isolations
• Eyebrows
• Nose
• Cheeks
• Upper Lip
• Lower Lip
• Pucker and Part
• Popping
17. Mask Resonators
• On "Me"
• "May"
• "My"
• "Way"
• "Bay"
• Shake Jaw (Hand)
• First Place in Head Then Nose
19. Swing Throughs - On "Hey" for Mask
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Speech and Articulation Warm-Up
Stretch your face like a lion/Scrunch it up like a fish
Lions, Fish, Lions, Fish
o Shake it out
Lip Circles Both Ways
Massage the Jaw Hinge
Pull through with the backs of the thumbs and separate the Jaw from the skull
Let the Jaw hang loose
o Hold the top of the head and Shake out the jaw up and down
– tongue behind the bottom teeth and loose
o Tongue Stretch In and Out
o Head Back Tongue Stretch
MAKE SOUND: OOO-EEE. WEE-WAW
o Gently stretch the lips
– Blow Through Lips like a horse
o Sinus Massage in Nasal Sound
o Soft Palate - Horizontal Yawn
MAKE SOUND: NG-AH NG-AH NG-AH
MAKE SOUND: POM PAM PUM
– Continue with B, T, D, K, and G
o Soft Palate raised for vowel sounds
MAKE SOUND: LONG SONG, HAND SAND
o Soft Palate raised for vowel sounds
MAKE SOUND: MA MOO. MA MOH, MOO MOH. MOH MA
– Continue same pattern with P,B, F, V, L, N, D, T, K, G, Z, ZH, R and TH
o LEE LEE LEE – LAY LAY LAY – LAH LAH LAH
o BEE BEE BEE – BAY BAY BAY – BAH BAH BAH
o DEE DEE DEE – DAY DAY DAY – DAH DAH DAH
o GEE GEE GEE – GAY GAY GAY – GAH GAH GAH
– Continue with T, D,
Now, mix them up:
MAKE SOUND:
BUH-DUH-GUH-DUH – BUH-DUH-GUH-DUH
BUH-DUH-GUH-DUH – DUH-GUH-GUH-DUH
GUH-DUH-DUH-GUH – GUH-DUH-BUH-GUH
DUH-GUH DUH-GUH DUH-GUH
WILL YOU WILLIAM
CAN'T YOU, WON'T YOU. DON'T YOU WILLIAM
DID YOU. WOULD YOU. COULD YOU WILLIAM
THE LIPS. THE TEETH THE TIP OF THE TONGUE
THE TIP OF THE TONGUE. THE TEETH. THE LIPS
Consonant Patter Work for clarity
For Dry "t"s
WHAT A TO DO TO DIE TODAY AT A MINUTE OR TWO TIL TWO
A THING DISTINCTLY HARD TO SAY AND HARDER STILL TO DO
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FOR THEY'LL BEAT A TATTO AT TWENTY TIL TWO
A RAT TAT TAT TAT TAT TAT TAT TA TA-TOO
AND THE DRAGON WILL COME WHEN HE HEARS THE DRUM
AT A MINUTE OR TWO TIL TWO TODAY, AT A MINUTE OR TWO TIL TWO.
For Short Vowels and Sharpness of Consonants:
To sit in solemn silence in a dull dark dock
In a pestilenfial prison with a lifelong lock
Awaiting the sensation of a short sharp shock
From a cheap and chippy chopper on a big black block.
For Long Vowels and Final z.
We are the music makers
And we are the dreamers of dreams.
Wandering by lone sea breakers
And sitting by desolate streams.
World losers and world forsakers
On whom the pale moon gleams
But we are the movers and shakers
Of the world forever, it seems.
For Liguid L:
Jellicle cats come out tonight
Jellicle cats come one come all
The Jellicle moon is shining bright
Jellciles come to the Jellicle ball.
For Dry "t":
Tommy and Tina were tattooed in Tooting
But Tommy was only tattooed on his toe.
So Tommy told Tina where Tommy was tattooed
And Tina said Tommy's tattoo wouldn't show.
For Final i
His rage edged slowly
And images enraged his mind.
A besieged judgment
Pledged a moment
Wedged a way
And made a ledge to stand on
To nudge all pain away.
To differentiate "wh" from "w"
Whether the weather be cold
Or whether the weather be hot
We'll be together, whatever the weather
Whether we like it or not.
Page 14
For "sts" clusters
Amidst the mists and coldest frosts
With stoutest wrists and loudest boasts.
He thrusts his fists against the posts,
And sfill admits he sees the ghosts.
For Flutter T
Betty bought a bit of butter.
"But, "she said, "this butter's bitter!
If I put it in my batter,
It will make my batter bitter!"
So she bought some better butter.
And she put it in her batter,
And it made her batter better.
More Practice Patters
Guns and Drums and Drums and Guns
The Leith Police Dismisseth Us.
Red Leather, Yellow Leather
Red Bug's Blood, Black Bugs Blood
Why? What Would You?
When She Golfs in Gulfs, She Helps With Yelps.
The Duke's New Tune
Super llluminating
WARM UP Exercise
GRIP TOP SOCK
GIVE ME THE GIFT OF A GRIP TOP SOCK
A CLIP DRAPE SHIP SHAPE TIP TOP SOCK
NOT YOUR SPIV SLICK SLAPSTICK SLIP SHOD STOCK
BUT A PLASTIC ELASTIC GRIP TOP SOCK (beat)
NQN OF YOUR FANTASTIC SLACK SWOP SLOP
FROM A SLAP DASH FLASH CAST HABERDASH SHOP
NOT A KNICK KNACK KNITLOCK KNOCK KNEED KNICKERBOCKER SOCK
WITH A MICK SHOT BLOB MOTTLED TRICK TICKER TOOK CLOCK (beat)
NOT A RUCKED UP PUCKERED UP FLOP TOP SOCK
NOR A SUPER SHEER SEERSUCKER PUKKA SACK SMOCK SOCK (beat)
NOT A SPOT SPECKLED FROG FRECKLED CHEAP SHIEK'S SOCK
OFF A HODGE PODGE MOSS BLOTCHED BOTCHED SCOTCH BLOCK
NOTHING SLIP SHOP DRIP DROP FLIP FLOP OR GLIP GLOP
TIP ME TO A TIP TOP GRIP TOP SOCK
A voice exercise – to get the voice forward and to build breath capacity:
Many men
Many merry men
Many merry married
Many merry married mumbling men
Many merry married mumbling moaning men
Many merry married mumbling moaning men making much money
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Many merry married mumbling moaning men making much money in the month of may
Many merry married mumbling moaning men making much money in the month of may in miami
and montana
TEXT EXPERIMENTATION
Lines word by word
from Peter Brook
Everyone sits in a circle. Pick well known lines from a Shakespeare play, such as
'Now is the winter of our discontent made glorious summer by this son of York'
Each person has one word, recite the words in order around the circle. The aim is to first make
sense of the line and then to change the sense of the line.
RW
Finding Hamlet’s Voice
There are a number of ways to split up a soliloquy in order to discover and identify the
conflicting feelings and ideas a character may have. This method is used by Chris Renino of
Scarsdale High School in Scarsdale, NY, who developed it from techniques used by Tony Hill,
formerly Education Director of the Royal Shakespeare Company, and Michael Tolaydo. In
Shakespeare Set Free: Vol. 1, Renino applies a more detailed version of this method to Macbeth’s
“If it were done when ‘tis done” soliloquy, on which it works equally well.
Ask students to stand in a circle in an open space. Distribute copies of the 19 lines from
Hamlet’s classic “To be or not to be” soliloquy from Act III, Scene i (see Appendix 3 for the
script).
Ask one student to begin reading aloud from the beginning of the passage until he or she
encounters a full stop - a period, semicolon, question mark, or exclamation point. After the
full stop, the next student reads until the next full stop, and so on around the circle.
After the group has gone through the soliloquy once, ask two students to come into the center
of the circle and, facing one another, alternate reading until a full stop.
Example:
STUDENT 1 To be or not to be: that is the question;
STUDENT 2 Whether ‘tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,
Or to take arms against a sea of troubles,
And by opposing end them?
STUDENT 1 To die: to sleep;
STUDENT 2 To sleep: perchance to dream:
...and so on.
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Pause to discuss the meaning of the lines and the conflicting emotions Hamlet feels here. What
would happen to him should he take his own life? Does he think death will end his pain?
Does he even know what happens in the afterlife?
Next, divide the entire class into two lines, facing each other. Each chorus reads to a full stop,
as before. Before they begin, tell students to speak louder and louder as they read, so that
by the end of the reading they crescendo to shouting at each other.
Finally, divide the class into groups of five or six. Ask them to divide the script so that it reads
like an argument between Hamlet’s several conflicting “voices.” They may find more than
two voices at this point.
Ask each subgroup to report back on the way its members divided the script.
Discuss what discoveries students made in the course of this activity.
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HAMLET, Act III – Scene 1
To be, or not to be: that is the question:
Whether ‘tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,
Or to take arms against a sea of troubles,
And by opposing end them? To die: to sleep;
To sleep: perchance to dream: ay, there’s the rub;
For in that sleep of death what dreams may come
When we have shuffled off this mortal coil,
Must give us pause: there’s the respect
That makes calamity of so long life;
For who would bear the whips and scorns of time,
But that the dread of something after death,
The undiscover’d country from whose bourn
No traveller returns, puzzles the will
And makes us rather bear those ills we have?
Thus conscience does make cowards of us all;
And enterprises of great pith and moment
With this regard their currents turn awry,
And lose the name of action.
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CHARACTERIZATION
Period Movement: Basically just bows, curtseys and walks with info about how clothing affected
movement. Pavane, a very simple Renaissance dance EK
Circle Reacting
Split the group in two. Group A lines up SR, group B lines up SR.
A member of each group walks to the other group. When they meet in the middle they react to
each other as characters in the play being rehearsed. First without dialogue. After they have
learned lines they react with lines from the play.
RW
Character Walks
Have the kids walk around the space. As they continue to walk, tell them to imagine
themselves as a character in the play (here we will use Midsummer). As they continue to walk,
have them take on the physicality of that character - do they walk with their chest out, their
chin jutted forward, looking up, eyes on the ground...etc. Then, once they have firmly
established their characterization, have them meet and introduce themselves to the other
“characters”, paying special attention to how their physicality might differ and just how clearly
one can physically create a character.
SW
RELATIONSHIP
Hunter / Hunted: This is a game that I use to teach basic acting technique: objective, obstacle,
tactic, etc.
Hamlet & Ophelia
This exercise has its roots in the movement-based method called “Viewpoints,” developed
by Anne Bogart and Tina Landau. Hamlet and Ophelia are two characters who demonstrate a
very strong emotional connection, and that connection is crucial; the audience has to believe it
is a core relationship in this complex play, it is something to which students will relate. The
specifics of this connection (i.e. young love) do not need to be discussed among the students; it
should be explained that this is entirely in the students’ own imagination and they should react
to their partner as they would on stage, so the connection is created organically as the scene is
played, naturally and spontaneously. This exercise will help students focus on the other person
in the scene; it’s also suggested you use 3 or 4 minutes of instrumental music.
REVISION FOR GRADES 1-5: Instead of “Hamlet & Ophelia”, substitute “Hamlet and
the Ghost,” emphasizing the father/son relationship rather than a boyfriend/girlfriend situation.
Adapt other facets of the exercise as necessary.
Students will form two lines of 3 - 4 facing each other. One line is slightly more downstage from
the other so when the lines start walking towards each other, each student will pass
between two others.
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Each line should move as one; students must connect not only with their partner across the
room, but with the others in their respective line.
FIRST PASS: When the music starts, the lines move towards the other end of the space,
slowly and deliberately (much like the “Mirrors” exercise earlier in this guide) and the walk
should be a gradual “heel-toe” movement; the students should not make eye contact during
the first pass, but should sense the beginnings of a strong connection.
ROTATION: As the students reach the other end of the space, everyone turns downstage to
make eye contact with their partner across the space for the first time; the idea being that
the connection would be strong enough to make that person turn around and make eye
contact with his/her partner.
SECOND PASS: While maintaining eye contact, the students move towards each other,
strengthening the connection through the eye contact. As the students pass each other, they
should turn their heads and continue moving forward, always keeping eye contact until they
can turn heads no further.
ENDING: Once the eye contact is broken, students return to facing forward and continue
moving towards the other end of the space. Once there, the students decide whether or
not to turn back to completely face their partner, a half or quarter turn, or to not turn at
all. This all depends on how strong they think their connection was.
Afterwards, discuss the experience during the exercise and how the students perceived it.
This is a rather advanced exercise and hopefully over the past four sections, the students have
developed a foundation on which they can perform this exercise quite well, preparing them
for the emotional complexities of performing Shakespeare’s Hamlet.
NON-VERBAL COMMUNICATION
Objective: to show how non-verbal communication is a spilling over of excess emotion and that
gestures should be used only to express something that is not able to be expressed otherwise.
Gestures and non-verbal expression can also include vocal sounds which are not words.
EXERCISE ONE:
One person is in a phone booth making a call. The rest of the group
cannot hear their conversation. By movement and gestures the caller is to convey who is on
the other end of the line.
Callers pick the person at the other end of the line from a hat.
Examples:
your mother, a boyfriend or girlfriend, your hair dresser, your doctor, your
boss, your dentist, a florist, a bill collector, an auto mechanic.
EXERCISE TWO: Try, without body motion, to emit a sound that indicates a reaction to the
following:
1. You find your old pet dog dead.
2. A total stranger is driving your car away.
3. You have just hit your knee on something hard.
4. That touchdown wins the game!
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5.
6.
7.
8.
The ground you are digging in is hard.
The gift you open is a real surprise!
The letter you open tells you that you will not graduate.
The person you have a crush on tells you they like you too.
How many kinds of sighs can you come up with? Groans? Grunts?
AB
IMAGINING
"Naming"
Everyone walks around the room, and when something (could be anything, an object, a person
etc.) strikes them, they stop, close their eyes, imagine the "thing" in their mind, open their eyes
and then name it (literally, or with sound or movement). Then they keep walking until they find
something else.
AI
Sounds of the Forest (EXPLORING ENVIRONMENT /IMAGINATION)
In the activity, have the kids start by walking on the “grid.” As they continue to walk, tell them
to imagine the enchanted fairy forest in Midsummer, and walk on the grid through this forest.
Ask them to say what they see and hear as they move through the space. Then, as the walks
become more dramatized, have them add those sounds as they continue to explore.
SW
"Attack" (MOVING/BLOCKING/STAGE PICTURES)
While music is playing (upbeat and sort of fast moving) everyone walks around the room
starting and stopping. When they start, they ATTACK the walk. It doesn't mean they yell or
punch or anything, but they commit to it and walk with purpose.
AI
"Attack Compositions"
While the same music is playing, everyone walks, and attacks, but this time when they stop, they
make a composition with other people, they hold the composition, then they leave it, with an
attack, walk, and find another composition.
AI
"Perfect Slow Motion"
No music. Everyone moves in super slow motion. The objective is to walk across the room,
finding a place to sit down, or tumble IN SLOW MOTION before they reach the other side of
the room.
AI
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