ALIENATION AND RESTORATION IN SHAKESPEARE

Theater is conflict. It is the acting out of opposing forces for the sake of examining aspects of the human condition. Conflicts come in many forms. Individuals may be poised against society, themselves, supernatural forces, or other individuals. Furthermore, the conflicts themselves can be subdivided into emotional states and temperaments. Jealousy may be expressed within the context of a conflict, as might greed or ambition. Frequently, these emotions or states are the generating force and exacerbating condition of these conflicts.

One particular characteristic of much conflict is alienation. An individual isolated from a particular desirable aspect of his or her life is placed in a position of need, and therefore of conflict. An individual isolated from others may desire love or power. An individual isolated from his or her selfhood may desire self-awareness. An individual isolated from society may seek reintegration.

These various species of alienation occur throughout Shakespeare's plays. Individuals find themselves cut off from other characters, removed from society, isolated from their true natures, placed in opposition to that which they desire. From these conditions comes conflict. Frequently, the resolution of these conflicts makes up the substance of the plot action. Alienation is resolved through restoration, and the process of restoration, whether with self, others, society or God, provides the impetus of the drama.

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me. In short, she may play the concluding scene as if she were entering social restoration and personal alienation. Viola is not acting. She is fully and unambiguously restored. Performance practices regarding Kate have indicated that the role may be played either way. Whichever interpretation the actress chooses will not affect the comic nature of the play. However, the question of alienation is not completely resolved. Society is restored, but is Kate? Christopher Sly, whose episode serves as an induction to the play proper, also endures self-alienation, and yet in this case he is totally unaware of it. He is hoodwinked into believing that he is not a mere tinker but a lord, master of servants and high born. As such, he has a vested interest in his alienation. It is an alienation he is happy to accept. Oddly, he is never restored in the play. He remains blissfully unaware of the joke played on him and is happily existing in his alienated state. Shakespeare decides not to restore Sly. Several explanations have been offered for this lack of closure, the most plausible being that it would have been a groaning anti-climax to follow Kate's speech with a brief restoration of Sly simply for the sake of closure. The tension of alienat

Category: Literature - A