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Then Play On: Listening to the Shakespearean Soundscape

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Then Play On: Listening to the Shakespearean Soundscape Then Play On: Listening to the Shakespearean Soundscape Wes Folkerth Deparunent of English McGill University, Montreai A thesis submiaed to the Faculty of Graduate Smdies and Research in parrial fiilfilment of the requirements of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy O Ws Folkerth 1999 National Library Bibliothèque nationale I*I of Canada du Canada Acquisitions and Acquisitions et Bibliographic Services senices bibliog aphiques 395 Wellington Street 395. rue Wellington ûttawaON K1AON4 Ottawa ON K1A ON4 Canada Canada Your 6lo Votre reference our IÏ& Narre reference The author has granted a non- L'auteur a accordé une licence non exclusive licence allowing the exclusive permettant a la National Libraq of Canada to Bibliothèque nationale du Canada de reproduce, loan, distribute or sel1 reproduire, prêter, distribuer ou copies of this thesis in microform, vendre des copies de cette thèse sous paper or electronic formats. la forme de rnicrofiche/film, de reproduction sur papier ou sur format électronique. The author retains ownershp of the L'auteur conserve la propriété du copyright in this thesis. Neither the droit d'auteur qui protège cette thèse. thesis nor substantial extracts fiom it Ni la thèse ni des extraits substantiels may be printed or otherwise de celle-ci ne doivent être imprimés reproduced without the author's ou autrement reproduits sans son permission. autorisation. Folkerth i Abstract Shakespeare's plays articulate their author's understanding of sound at various registers of theatricd and linguistic represenration. I have tried to make listening rny own critical practice by atrending to the ways Shakespeare is attuned co, and rebroadcasts throughout his work, the many interrelared vaiences sound has in the early modern period. "Shakespearience" is the term I use for a re-invigorared phenomenological approach to the study of Shakespeare's works, one which considers them the producrs of an ernbodied consciousness that is itself informed by cultural beliefs and attitudes. Shakespearience allows us to inquire not only into what Shakespeare thoughr about sound, but what he may have thought rhrough ir as well. Reiigious, philosophical, and anatomical discourses on sound and hearing in die early modern period ail associate rhis perceptual domain wirh notions of obedience, receptiviry, transformation, reproduction, and cognitive nourishment. In Coriokznus and other plays, he investigates the subjective and politicai consequences, as well as the dtimace impossibility, of rehsing to hear. In A Midsummer Nighti Drenm he associates sound and hearing with notions of metamorphosis and grotesque conrinuity. Throughout his works, he represents sound as a privileged mode of access to the deep subjectivity of others. These ideas resonate strongly in ouown culture, where references to sound and hearing increasingly figure in Our estimations of his genius. Folkerth ii Résumé Les pièces de Shakespeare articulent sa compréhension du son à registres divers de reprisenr~tionrhc!îrr& cc !Ingiicriqw. J'ai essayé mni-même d'employer I'écn~ire comme méthode critique en prêtant attention à la façon dont Shakespeare se met à l'écoute des maintes sens corrdlatifs qu'avait le son à l'époque moderne, et les (re)transmet partout dans son œuvre. l'utilise le terme (6hakespearience)) pour signaler une méthode phénoménologique revigorée à l'étude de l'œuvre de Shakespeare, une méthode qui considère ces textes comme produits d'une conscience incarnée qui est elle-même informée par les croyances et attitudes culturelles. La Shakespearience nous permet d'examiner non seulement ce que pensait Shakespeare au sujet du son, mais aussi ce qu'il aurait pu penserpar le son. Les discours religieux, philosophique, et anatomique sur le son et l'ouïe A l'dpoque moderne associent ce domaine de perception aux idées d'obéissance, réceptivité, transformation, reproduction, et nourriture cognitif. Dans Coriolan et autres pieces Shakespeare examine les consdquences subjecrives et politiques de reher d'entendre.. .aussi bien que I'irnpossibilité fondamentale d'un tel refus. Dans La Nuit d'une songe d'hi il associe le son et I'ouïe à la métamorphose et la continuité grotesque. Souvent dans ses pièces il représence le son comme un mode d'acch à la subjectivité insondable d'autrui. Ces iddes résonnent profondtment dans notre culture, où des reférences au son et à l'ouïe figurent de plus en plus dans nos estimations du génie de Shakespeare. Folkerth iii Acknowledgements 1 have many people to thank. First of dl, Sue Elmslie sustained me in dl ways . .- L+~DÜ& :the :vr:t:r,g of ~bis,and neicr hiled CC !end her keen criricd ex~hm ! wanted to run a specific passage or idea by her (love on you). She also translated my abstract. It has been my excellent good fortune to be one of Mike Bristol's many apprentices-the regularity, the richness, clarity and originality of his work inspire me. 1 dia& him for al1 of his advice, as wel for his insistence, at an early srage, upon hearing rny voice in this work. I thank Alex Folkerth for his generous patience, his depth of feeling, and for being my wonderful son. Ted Folkerrh and Lenora Shrewsbury, Marvin Shrewsbury and Jean Folkenh, Beth Folkerth and John Rowen dl have my gratitude for their enduring support and steadfast belief in the value of this pursuir. They pur their rnoney where their mourhs were too, and withouc chat support 1 certainly wouldn't be writing this now. Longtime musical comrades Geoffrey Fokerth, Tim Alexander, Kevin McCaughey, Marc Spooner, Jim Cdlahan, Brian Caselden, Ned Jackson, and the late Dale Strachan all helped me to discover much of what went into the present work, while we spent literally tens of thousands of hours learning how to listen to each other. 1 also would like to thank God! 1 have had a great experience at McGill, and I'm gratefd to Leanore Lieblein, Patrick Neilson, Ed Pechter, John Ripley, Denis Salter, and Kate Shaw (collectively, the Shakespeare in Performance Research Team) for providing such a vibrant inteleaual Folkerth iv environment, as weli as many rnuch-needed research assistantships and opportunicies (and to Mike and Leanore singly for the same). Othen I've benefited from working with at McGill include professors Peter Gibian, Ken Borris, Maggie Kilgour, Trevor Ponech, Dorothy Bray, Gary Wihl, and David Williams, as well as currenr and former fellow students Man Bergbusch, Colene Bendey, Brad Clissold, Felicity Enayat, Dianne Fagan, Catherine Graham, Chris ~oimes,Michaei Morgan Hoimes, Dean Irvine, Torsten Kehler, Jen Lokash, Kristin Lucas, John McIntyre, Dawn Morgan, Jackie Pitcher, Janine Rogers, and Jessica Slights. Thanks also to Dororhy Alleyne, Valencina Matsangos, Sina Troiano and Maria Vasile, and to McLennan library reference gurus Kendall Wallis and Lonnie Weatherby. Part of the research for Ais dissertation was conducted with a rravel grant provided in spring 1998 by the McGill English Department, for which i am very gratefd. Special thanks to Kate and Abbey for so graciously sharing their flat with me down at the Folger, and to the staff of that library, especially Georgianna Ziegler and Betsy Walsh. Roger Kaye was my undergraduate mentor at Chico State, and he deserves concinuing acknowledgement here. 1 would also like to thank Ridiard Green of the National Library of Canada for his assistance with the Henry Irving recording. Joan Pong Linton served as the external examiner; 1 thank her for lending a willing ear to this work, and for her very helpful and constructive suggestions. Bruce Smith organized the rggg SAA seminar on "Knowing Bodies," an event char encouraged me considerably while finishing this dissertation. Back at home, I thank Au Tarot and les freres Kara-Brahim, Nourredine, Djarnel, and Monak, and Toufik Ehm. For those with sharper ears, Peter Green and Fleetwood Mac gave me the exact titie. Fol kerth v Dedicated CO Sue, Alex, Lenora, and Ted. Folkerth vi contents Abscract Résumé Acknowiedgements Introduction no tes Sha kespearience Culture in Sound 1 Coarticulations Meaning Phenomenoiogicdy Reading the Soundscape: Early Modern Play-Textudity notes Backing Tracks The Doctrine is Sound One of the Subtilest Pieces of Nature An Explication of Certaine Hard Problerns about the Ears And This is the True Manner of Hearing notes 3 Receptivity The Fundarnent of Genius Hearing in Shakespearean Cognition The Receptive Ear in Coriokznur notes Folkerth vii 4 Transformation and Continuity Woordes within the Ground A Reasonable Good Ear in A Midrummer Nighti Drem The Grotesque Ear Sound Economics: kcess, Surieic, Steding, Giving notes 5 Sounding Out and Overhearing Sounding Out Deep Subjectivity Artists of Sound no tes The Resr is Silence notes Works Cired lntroduction Let us inrpect the Lyre, and wcigh the stress ûfevoy chord, und set whrt mny bc gain 'd Ry wr indurtriortr. nnAntrmrion meer.. -John Keats. "On the Sonntt" This dissertation is about the role of sound in Shakespeare's art, about how he heard the world around him, and what it means for us to listen to him, for us co lisren, centuries larer, to him lisrening. My explorarion of the Shakespearean soundscape begins, naturdiy enough, in London-though you should not envisage the reigning queen as Elizabeth, but rather, Victoria. It is the end of August, 1888. Colonel George E. Gouraud, an American veteran of the Civil War, pays a visit to his friend, die legendary actor Henry Irving. The meeting is a signifiant moment in the hisrory of the Shakespearean soundscape because it results in die creation of the earliest known sound recording of his work. Gouraud, who is Thomas Edison's representative in London, knows Irving through recently advising him on the use of electrid effects in his triumphant and exceedingly lucrative production of Faust. To the present meeting he brings with him Edison's latest invention, the phonograph, wirh which he plans to make a recording of Irving's voice.' The machine captures I~ng'sdistinctive voice delivering the opening lines of Richard III, as well as passages Folkerth 2 from other roles he was famous for playing, su& as Matrhias in The Bek.
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