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Fall 2003

English 15: Short Paper: The Play’s Opening

Length: 3-4 pages (c. 1,000 words). Due at start of lecture Tuesday, October 21. Late papers will be penalized one full grade (e.g. B becomes C). After one week late papers will be penalized two full grades.

The opening of any play is particularly important because in it the playwright must introduce the audience to the world of the play and provide some hint of the kinds of subjects with which the play will deal. Also the opening of a play – like that of a movie – must provide an emotional point of departure for the drama that follows. Thus tragedies or, say, modern horror movies, will often open with scenes of relative calm and happiness that provide a contrast for the horrific events to follow. Both The Merchant of Venice and A Midsummer Night’s Dream open with an exchange of speeches. The Merchant of Venice opens with Antonio’s “In sooth, I know not why I am so sad . . .” (I.i.1-7) to which Salarino responds (I.i.8-14). A Midsummer Night’s Dream opens with Theseus’s “Now, fair Hippolyta, our nuptial hour . . .” (I.i.1-6) to which Hippolyta responds (I.i.7-11). Write an 3-4 page essay in which you discuss one of these opening exchanges. (Note: you are not being asked to write on an entire opening scene, only the opening exchanges, which are respectively 14 and 11 lines long.) What kind of dramatic work does the opening exchange accomplish? How does it serve to initiate the audience into the world of the play that follows?

How to approach this assignment? You will probably do best if you start by considering the differences between the ways the opening passages work in the two plays. Read and reread both passages. Be sure that you understand every word. (You may wish to consult the Oxford English Dictionary, available online through Davidson Library.) Consider other ways in which each play might begin. Consider the significance of who is speaking – what is the effect of opening with these characters rather than others? – and the nature of the subjects being discussed. How does the second speaker in each case understand and respond to the first? Consider the language of the exchanges. How does the imagery relate to the plays’ themes? How does the emotional content of each relate to the play that follows? After you have studied and analyzed both passages, you should select the one on which you wish to write and you should decide on the precise nature of your topic. You should be able to present this topic in the form of a single sentence – for example: “The opening exchanges of The Merchant of Venice (or A Midsummer Night’s Dream) provide us with images that hint at the themes the play is to develop.” Your essay should then continue by examining the opening exchanges in detail in order to explain your point.

You may wish to choose a different passage of some 14 lines or less to analyze. If so, you must provide your TA with a brief written proposal and secure your TA’s permission in advance.

Presentation. Your paper should be neatly printed in a normal font. It should be proofread and checked for spelling. Quotations should be from the Pelican Shakespeare paperbacks or Complete Penguin Shakespeare and should indicate the act, scene, and line numbers of the passage. You may abbreviate play titles in citations. For example, “How shalt thou hope for mercy, rendering none?” (Merchant IV.i.88). Your name, the course number, and your TA’s name should appear at the top.