14 Screenplays -- Day 1: Shakespeare In Love

Today is Day 1 of the 14 Days of Screenplays: Version 2.0. The script of the day is Shakespeare In Love (1998). Co-written by Mark Norman & Tom Stoppard, the movie won 7 Academy Awards including Best Original Screenplay. After reading the script again, I was struck by a number of narrative dynamics.

One of the most interesting and distinctive elements in the script is how it plays with the 'traditional' approach to the Protagonist's transformation. Here's how I break down that arc (with massive acknowledgments to Joseph Campbell):

In Act One, the Protagonist typically starts out in a state of Disunity. There is some sort of divide between head and heart, conscious and subconscious self. The Protag will often start the story with a goal they think they want, but 'inside' where their more authentic Self exists, they have a more powerful need. Sometimes the Protag is aware of this need, sometimes not, but in the life of the Protag until FADE IN, they have pulled together an existence which typically includes ignoring or suppressing their Inner Self including what they need.

Events occur in the first act set-up which eventually cause the Protag to leave their Ordinary World and enter the Extraordinary World of Adventure. Here the rules are different than where / how they have been used to living. And so for the first half of Act Two, the Protag is on their heels and behind the curve. What often happens through events and interactions with other characters is that the Protagonist's defense mechanisms, coping skills, and belief systems are subject to assault. I call this part of the transformation process Deconstruction. This process may seem (to the Protagonist) a 'negative' one, but in actuality it's a positive because by punching holes in the Protagonist's emotional and psychological defenses, this allows the 'stuff' in their Inner Self to emerge.

The Protagonist begins to find their 'sea legs' in the Extraordinary World. They meet mentor figures who provide them with wisdom. They meet attractor characters who provide them with emotional support. But most importantly as the Protagonist sheds their old belief systems and defense mechanisms, they start to rely more and more of their authentic self. Those emotions, feelings, instincts, and passions turn out to be 'true' and what's more, a source of power. This part of the transformation process, which occurs in the second half of Act Two, is Reconstruction.

Act Three, culminating in a Final Struggle, is a big test: Has the Protagonist really learned the wisdom, gotten in touch with their Inner Self, accessed that power? If the answer is yes, they will succeed. If not, they fail. But what often happens symbolically and psychologically is that the Protagonist's want and need meld into a single goal, their head and heart combining -- hence the end point which I call Unity.

In Shakespeare in Love, the Protagonist -- Will -- starts out in a clear Disunity state, visible from the very first moment we see him, scratching out various version of his signature. This suggests he's not only searching for his true identity, Will also has an inflated sense of himself, that he should be a great writer. However, that dream seems far away at first because he can not write. "I have lost my gift," Will confesses. A writer who can not write -- that's Disunity. As a result, Will has created a set of circumstances to survive -- lying, conniving money from others, sleeping around with illicit women, all the while avoiding writing, living a desultory and dispassionate life.

Then he meets Viola who fast becomes his muse. During the first half of Act Two, he comes alive both with passion and creativity. Thus, this Deconstruction part of the process is not a 'negative,' but rather a positive, as the behaviors he has developed to protect him in Act One start to get knocked down as a result of his burgeoning romance with Viola.

However, once the realization settles in -- that Viola will go through with her marriage vows to Lord Wessex -- Will realizes that for both the fictional characters Romeo and Juliet as well as the real-life lovers, he and Viola -- things will not turn out well. And so it goes in the second half of Act Two, where Viola discovers that Will is married and Will believes that it was he who inadvertently caused Christopher Marlowe's death. These dual events combine to drive Will toward despair. This 'negative' aura doesn't seem to fit with the Reconstruction dynamic, however, if Will's arc is eventually to become a great writer, he needs to move from living on the surface and only dabbling with his inner self to immersing himself in emotions, both high and low. Seen in this light, the despair into which Will enters toward the end of Act Two provides a necessary step in his transformation.

And what of Act Three? Well, most notably, Will does not 'get the girl,' as is usually the case, rather his true love is torn away from him, but not before Viola inspires him to write a play that is grounded in his grief. Thus, his Unity state is one where Will has finally entered fully into his emotional life, tasted true love and despair, joy and grief, enabling him to use the power of his feelings to become the great writer he always imagined himself to be.

Shakespeare In Love is a wonderful script, full of insight, wit and charm. And perhaps one of its greatest gifts is to demonstrate how a story can rely on a traditional narrative formula, but not come off as formulaic.

Please use this post to add your comments and reflections you had when reading the script.