Audio Speeches

CLASSIFICATIONS

CLASSIFICATION NOTES

• SOCIAL STATUS    Initial status is fairly clear in most characters.  However:

  • characters may change status temporarily or permanently during the course of the action (the Bastard in King John, Edgar in King Lear, Macbeth, Perdita in The Winter's Tale, etc.)

  • sometimes status is very open to interpretation.  Is Tubal in The Merchant of Venice Shylock's social inferior or superior?  Shakespeare doesn't say.  But one way plays better than another.  If you're familiar with the play, can you figure out which way that might be and why?

  
  

• RACE & REGION    This category can be interesting for actors wishing to show their range by doing accents, or for directors looking for novel ways to cast.  Again there is some subjectivity involved in our selections.




• AGE    It is not often someone's specific age is given - Juliet (just shy of 14) and the Duchess of York in Richard lll (aged 80) are rare cases, - so mostly we suggest approximate age groupings.  Keep in mind too Shakespeare paid lip service to biographical accuracy, so his historical characters are often loose interpretations of the real-life figures they are inspired by - age included.  Hotspur and Prince Hal (the future Henry V) are made to be roughly the same age in Henry IV Pt 1, but in real life Hotspur was 23 years older.  Sometimes there is no clue at all, the above mentioned Tubal being such an example.  Still, we have fun evaluating certain characters, particularly women, where their age can be more critical to the dynamics of plot.  Feel free to join the debate on Facebook or email us.