Your Imaginary Forces Work: Creating Emotional Contexts to Teach Shakespeare

Ted Tibbetts, Portland High School

On your imaginary forces work.
Suppose within the girdle of these walls
Are now confin’d two mighty monarchies,
Whose high, upreared, and abutting fronts
The perilous narrow ocean parts asunder.
Piece out our imperfections with your thoughts…
Think,when we talk of horses, that you see them
Printing their proud hoofs i’th’ receiving earth;
For ‘tis your thoughts that must now bedeck our kings…. (Henry V)

Shakespeare asks us in this chorus to use our imaginations to turn fantasy to reality. Even with professional actors performing a play he realized that language, actors and a set require the contribution of imagination in order to become art. Yet, as teachers we often ask our students to appreciate the aesthetic of Shakespeare’s plays even without actors or a set. When I first began teaching Shakespeare I would often read the lines aloud to students marveling at the beauty inherent in the language and be surprised when they regarded me as a flake. However, as Shakespeare knew, the language itself is sometimes inadequate…the imagination must be evoked.

Shakespeare should be experienced through multiple modes—visually, orally, kinesthetically and emotionally. In fact, Eric Jensen, in his book Teaching with the Brain in Mind, states that emotionally charged experiences vivify memory and learning. Consequently, these activities create emotional experiences from which the entire class can connect with Shakespeare’s texts.

Character visualization

My students find the following character exercise particularly valuable. We use it at the beginning of the rehearsal process for each play or scene. I also use it in my ninth grade English class in our study of characterization.
I lead students through the activity using the following monologue or a variation thereof.

Lie on the floor on your backs. Flex your toes for several seconds, then relax. (Continue up the body through the calves, thighs, buttocks, abdominals, chest, arms, neck and head.) Focus on a couple of deep breaths, and relax. Feel like a pool of liquid on the floor. Visualize the character that you will portray. What kind of person are you? Optimistic or pessimistic? Benevolent or malevolent? What's your social status? Create a visual picture. What color and style of hair do you have? Skin color and texture? Eyes? Teeth? Facial features? Clothes? How do you stand? What pose best represents the essence of that character? Keeping your eyes closed, stand and strike that pose. What emotions does that pose generate? Experiment with a few variations of that pose until you find one that works. When you’re ready, maintain that pose, but open your eyes at peer out at the other characters in your world. How does your character view these other characters? Close your eyes again. Think about how your character would move. Do you march? Slink? Trudge? Limp? Jaunt? What movement is appropriate to the personality of your character? What motivates you to move? Where do you typically go? Visualize your character's walk. When you are ready, open your eyes and begin walking as your character. Don’t acknowledge any of the other characters yet…focus on your own movements. Where are you going? Why do you need to get there? How do you feel about going there? When you are ready, begin to make brief contact with other characters. How would your character do that? Be sure to consider your status. How does your character feel about these other people? Now exchange greetings with other characters. What might you say? How would you say it? When you’re ready, find a space and strike your pose again. How does this pose make a statement about your character? How does this pose feel? Slowly lower your character to the floor and go to sleep. What nightly ritual might your character have? Allow that character to melt out of you and return to your normal state.

After completing the exercise, discuss everyone’s reactions and observations. What discoveries did they make about your characters? How vividly were they able to imagine your character? What did it feel like? Debriefing this activity is important because it provides students with an opportunity to share their discoveries with each other.
Occasionally I modify the directions. For example, when working on Midsummer I add specific ideas for the Fairies. I ask them to choose a fairy job. Do you put the dew on the grass? Make the sound of the stream? Open the flowers in the morning? What does your job reveal about your personality? Many ideas work well as long as they activate the students’ imaginations.

Seven Levels of Energy

Have you ever endured students slogging through a scene with the energy and disposition of a hibernating bear? Although we can talk about energy, trying to put it into qualitative terms can be difficult. Using this activity, however, provide “bookmarks” to which students can relate the concept of energy.
Like the character visualization exercise, I usually employ this kind of monologue:

Lie on your back with your feet uncrossed and your arms touching the floor. You are at energy level number one, which means that you have no energy. You are tired and heavy. So heavy that you can’t even lift your fingers, although you feel as though you’d like to. This is your Monday morning when the alarm goes off energy. However, we will not remain at this level, we will move to energy level number two. At this level, you can slowly stand up. It takes all your effort to overcome gravity and even then you feel as though you carry a heavy weight on your shoulders. You can barely move; in fact, you stumble as you walk. This energy level is like your walk to the shower on Monday morning. At energy level number three, you can stand straight and walk without stumbling, but it requires all of your concentration to walk in a straight line. You are so focused on your destination that you can’t pay attention to anyone else. This energy mirrors your wanderings around the kitchen waiting for the coffee to finish dripping. At energy level number four you begin to walk more normally. Also, at energy level number four you have a task to do. Perhaps you need to move this piece of paper across the room, or rearrange a chair. Perhaps you need to take off your shoes. This task isn’t really that important, however. You have plenty of time to do it, and at energy level number four it doesn’t really matter if you get it done or not. Perhaps you proceed to your first class on Monday morning at energy level number four. At energy level number five, however, your task becomes important. You have a snap to your step and a genuine purpose to your movement. Your task must get done. You may briefly acknowledge people around you, but you must not be sidetracked! There are significant consequences for failing to complete your task. Usually you work at energy level number four when you have a project due the next day that you just started. Your actions become frantic at energy level number six! Your task must get done! You need to run! You’re late! People need to get out of your way at energy level number six so that you can get your task done. There’s no time to acknowledge anyone. People may die if you don’t get your task done! Run, run, run! At energy level number seven all you can do is just stop and scream. AAAAAAAHHHHHHHH! And then collapse to the ground…back to energy level one. You are heavy and can’t move. Gravity pushes you into the floor.

After you can get students back out of energy level number one, talk about how this exercise felt. What emotions did it generate? What energy level might be most appropriate for the general stage? When might you want to slip into energy level three? Or six? What energy level would you most want to avoid?
Most students will see that energy level five would be most appropriate for stage. It has a motivated purpose. Actors want to avoid energy level number four because it is too bland. If you were playing an old or sick character, perhaps you could utilize energy level three. Six would be used in cases of provocation or excitement.
After establishing a working knowledge of energy levels, teachers and directors can refer to them during scene work. If subsequently in rehearsal actors wander listlessly around the stage you can tell them to choose a specific purpose and engage at energy level number five. Moreover, the activity gives actors a sense of urgency and importance. I often use variations of this exercise not only to help actors find specificity within in continuum but also to push them beyond a limit that they were previously unable to cross. For example, last month I used the “seven levels of emotion” with anger with a scene from King John. When Pembroke, Salisbury and Bigot discover little Arthur dead at the foot of the wall they accuse Philip the Bastard of murdering him. During the rehearsal, however, the scene seemed emotionally barren. I led the actors through the “seven levels of anger” by asking them to move around the space at anger level number one for a minute or so, then two, up to seven, and then back down to one. After the exercise, we talked about which characters exhibited anger at what level. Moreover, did the characters function at only one anger level or did the levels vary throughout the scene? With a qualitative experience from which to draw, each actor could make an informed choice. When the actors ran the scene again each character’s slightly different but emotionally charged energy level added texture to the scene.

Establishing Contexts

Using performance to teach Shakespeare can be challenging because the plays have fewer parts per scene than most people have students in the class. Consequently, students not acting often become disengaged or engaged in a not-so-constructive manner. Other problems can occur in that without making the scene the new reality, students struggle with “getting into the mood” of the scene. However, by utilizing everybody to create a new reality in which the students with “official” parts can immerse themselves, the entire class can create an emotionally laden scene.
For example, in Julius Caesar, Mark Antony must appease an angry mob after the death of Caesar. One student addressing a group of quiet, sitting students captures neither the urgency of the scene nor the interest of the students. However, by creating a reality for all the students, the scene becomes charged with energy.
First, establish the context of the scene. The conspirators recently assassinated Caesar. Brutus consequently spoke to the masses justifying Caesar’s death and winning the allegiance, albeit temporary, from the Roman citizens. Antony’s objective, therefore, is to win the allegiance of the Roman citizens from Antony. As a friend of Caesar’s, however, he faces a hostile crowd. Therefore, the room must become the Forum, one participant must become Antony, and the remainder of the participants must become the Plebeians.
After establishing this context through a discussion, Antony should leave the room. Then the remaining participants should then assume the roles of Plebeians in turmoil buzzing in discussion about the implications of the assassination of one of the most powerful men in the world. I then tell them that Antony, as a friend of Casear, will speak to them. However, they should be hostile to him at first. Boo, hiss, or throw paper at him when they disagree. However, if he makes a valid point, react to that with approval.
After establishing these guidelines, I bring Antony into the room. At this point, the energy becomes charged. Antony, facing a heckling crowd, must work hard in order to be heard and recognized. In addition, rather than tuning out the language as students often do while merely sitting in their seats, the Plebeians listen carefully so that they may react in the appropriate way. After all, who wants to miss an opportunity to throw paper at a classmate? As Antony gradually wins their opinions, all of the participants experience the emotion of swaying loyalties.
After Antony finishes the speech, facilitate a discussion in order to hear everyone’s observations and reactions to the experience. Debriefing the experience is often one of the most valuable aspects of the activity. It creates a time for students to process the experience and make connections with classmates.
Students playing Antony usually talk about first experiencing fear, then a sense of satisfaction after winning the support of the crowd. They often say that they had to shout at first in order to be heard. Students in the crowd usually say that the rowdy energy especially at the beginning of the scene is fun. Also, that they could gradually feel their energy and anger decrease in the middle of Antony’s speech, but increase again as he turned them against Brutus.
This activity can be applied to almost any Shakespearean scene. For example, when working with Henry V’s “We few” speech the class needs to experience cold, hunger, and fear. Therefore, I use the character visualization activity to establish that context then tell the student playing Henry to rally these troops to battle. In Midsummer when Oberon and Titania argue over the changeling boy I use the rest of the class as attendant fairies. Half support Oberon while the other half support Titania. I tell the fairies to react accordingly when Oberon or Titania insult each other or score a point in the argument. Having an audience of Fairies as support and to which to play creates an emotional context for the students.

My students really enjoy these activities. They engage students, appeal to a variety of learning styles, and involve everyone. Moreover, the debriefing at the end of each activity can serve as a good departure point for further class discussion or more traditional writing prompts. Most importantly, charging the activities with energy and emotion make the learning long-lasting.

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