William Shakespeares Use of Song in the Early Comedies Essay -- Biogr

Shakespeares Use of Song in the Early Comedies downstairstaken to determine what features make a song germane to the story in successful musical theater, this study outlines some characteristics of Shakespeares use of song. Chosen from the plays with which the present author is most familiar-the early comedies-are iii substantial pieces (each headed in the play by either Song or sing, and each with at least two stanzas and refrain) You Spotted Snakes, Sigh No More, and Under the Greenwood Tree. A close reading of the lyrics and surrounding text will establish the contri thoion of the song to plot, theme, and character, and a study of the form itself will support these aspects and perhaps explain the success of the lyrics in making a song.First in the study of Shakespeares songs, You Spotted Snakes of A Midsummer Nights Dream (II.ii.9-24) demonstrates each of the aspects outlined above. To begin, by answering Queen Titanias command Sing me now asleep (II.ii.7), this lullaby serves t o advance the plot during the song the queen not only retires but achieves much(prenominal) slumber as endures undisturbed by King Oberons ensuing mischief. This function resembles that of Let Me the Canakin Clink in Othello II.iii.71-75), explains Seng not only to establish an atmosphere . . . but to stretch stage-time and make Cassios rapid drunkenness plausible (186).Further, Seng relates, an Elizabethan audience believed that music had actual therapeutic value the fairy song is more than a lullaby, or even a magic lullaby it is a charm to ward off evils (31-32). That the song lulls Titania asleep is its obvious function, but that it also saves her from the snakes and spiders should be apparent even to modern audiences... ...r, 10 May 1993 97-98. Long, John H. Shakespeares Use of Music A Study of the Music and its Performance in the Original merchandise of Seven Comedies. Gainesville U of Florida P, 1961. HSU ML8O.55.L7Rollin, Lucy. Cradle and All A Cultural and Psychoanalytic Reading of Nursery Rhymes. Jackson UP of Mississippi, 1992. HSU PR.976.R6Seng, Peter J. The Vocal Songs in the Plays of Shakespeare A Critical History. Cambridge Harvard UP, 1967. HSU ML80.55.535Shakespeare, William. The Complete Works of William Shakespeare. Ed. W. G. Clark and W. Aldis Wright. 2 vols. Garden City, N.Y. Doubleday, n.d.Sternfeld, F. W. Music in Shakespearean Tragedy. London Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1963. HSU ML8O.55.58Walter, J. H. Introduction to King Henry V. Ed. Walter. The Arden Ed. of the Works of William Shakespeare. London Methuen, 1954. HSU PR.2812.A2.W3.