School of Night/Hughes' Essay Response

           Many people hold William Shakespeare in such high regard as a poet and playwright and many people even consider him to be the founder and originator of the modern play as we know it. When asked, a friend of mine freely associated Shakespeare with Romeo & Juliet, Hamlet, tragedy, Othello and forbidden love that ends badly. The source of his legendary resonance in English literature probably is founded in his ability to write to and entertain all facets of his audience. Not only did he create in a language that wasn’t exactly used and spoken in daily life but he also possessed relatability in his works that blanketed the entirety of English society. Ted Hughes provides a detailed background and description of influences and effects of Shakespeare’s plays in that a lot of his monologues and dialogues included both “high” language of the times as well as lines and parts understood by the masses. Hughes provides a good example of the opening speech from Twelfth Night:

If music be the food of love, play on,

O spirit of love! how quick and fresh art thou,

That, notwithstanding thy capacity

Receiveth as the sea, nought enters there,

Of what validity and pitch soe’er,

But falls into abatement and low price,

Even in a minute.

Hughes evaluates this further:

                “The three words here that might have given his groundlings pause are ‘capacity’, ‘validity’, and ‘abatement’. On the other hand, they were all words that some other Shakespearean character might have pounced on, fondled and turned: ‘Fine word, capacity!’ (as several here and there are inclined to do). And they are all words that would be appreciated by that higher audience, the classically educated phrase-collecting lords.
                The striking thing is what Shakespeare does with each of these words. ‘Capacity’ is immediately reduced to a plain image: ‘Receiveth as the sea.’ In other words, it is translated: capacity=spaciousness, roominess, infinite ability to contain.”
The ability to speak to literally any audience is one of the most difficult challenges an author or artist faces in attempt to create an original, relevant and entertaining piece. This, I believe is exactly the reason for the appreciation and use/reference of Shakespeare often still today. William Shakespeare has resonance!