The Romance Cycle

OLD TALES TOLD ANEW
By Lauren Bergquist

The simplest way to describe Shakespeare's Romance Plays—namely Pericles, Cymbeline, The Winter's Tale, and The Tempest—is that they are not as funny as his comedies or as tragic as his tragedies. Instead, these plays fall somewhere in between, mix elements of both comedy and tragedy, and still result in deeply moving and poetic theatre.

Written towards the end of his career, Shakespeare's Romance Plays mark a new and experimental phase of writing for him, which attests to his constant desire to develop as an artist. Influenced by the Greek traditions of comedy and tragedy, Shakespeare's early comedies usually end in marriage, and his tragedies end with the death of the hero. The endings of his romances, however, are not quite as simple. The reconciliation and reunion scenes at the end of these plays feel more hard-won—that Fortune tests the wills of the characters and rewards their strength and perseverance with miraculous happy endings. In performance, the effect of these unlikely endings is often surprisingly cathartic.

Written in roughly 1608 and 1609 respectively, Pericles and Cymbeline were extremely popular during their day. The plots of these plays revolve around the relationships between parents and children, their separation, and then their reconnection through the revelation of identities. Cymbeline and Pericles have the fairy tale-like elements of adventure that would have appealed to Shakespeare's audiences because of their familiarity with this romantic form of
storytelling.

For example, in Cymbeline, Shakespeare employed a common plot device from Medieval literature—the wager between Posthumus and Iachimo testing Imogen's fidelity to Posthumus—which he probably knew from the tale Frederyke of Jennen and Boccaccio's Decameron. The resolution of this wager is perfect material for a romance: the scorned heroine is proven faithful, her husband asks for forgiveness (and receives it), and the villain confesses and repents his wrong-doing. Because this was familiar fare for Shakespeare's audience, all the improbable story lines for this ending would have seemed perfectly acceptable and reasonable. Similarly, they would have recognized that the "evil" forces in Cymbeline—Cloten, Iachimo, and the Queen—are not destructive enough to turn this romance into a tragedy.

For Pericles, Shakespeare's primary source was the tale of “Apolonius of Tyre,” a well-known romance from the Middle Ages and Renaissance that can be traced back to the fifth century A.D., and probably existed even earlier in Greece. The popularity of this tale is supported by its many metamorphoses through the centuries, one of the most influential being Chaucer's contemporary John Gower's Confessio Amantis, Book VIII, which Shakespeare relied upon heavily when writing Pericles. Shakespeare pays his tribute to Gower by making him the chorus in Pericles. Audiences would have immediately picked up on his cue—they were about to watch a tried and true old tale.

While it is believed that Pericles was the first of Shakespeare's plays to be produced after the Restoration in 1660, both Cymbeline and Pericles failed to achieve their former popularity with theatre practitioners and critics in the 18th and 19th centuries. The plots of both plays were considered to be stale, artificial, improbable, and generally devoid of any meaningful characterization. George Bernard Shaw famously rewrote the fifth act of Cymbeline to save the audience from what he believed to be the absurd plot devices, "these infantile joys," needed to bring about the play's resolution. When Cymbeline or Pericles were performed (which was rarely), their plots were significantly cut, altered or embellished. However, it is important to note that while critics generally derided the plays, they did praise Shakespeare's heroines (Imogen in particular) for their strength and courage of conviction.

Fortunately for us, contemporary criticism and theatre have shown a renewed interest in Cymbeline and Pericles. The focus no longer seems to be on how the plays will end, but rather on how Shakespeare masterfully weaves the different stories and situations. Court Theatre's presentation of these romances celebrates the pleasure and faith we share in old tales told anew. We are assured by our innate hope and knowledge that everything will work out the way it should, and therefore we can truly experience the stories and the emotional highs and lows they evoke in us. To that end, Cymbeline and Pericles performed on a white carpet provides the perfect blank canvas for Shakespeare's storytelling to come alive through the collective imaginations of the actors and audience.

Lauren Bergquist holds a master's degree in Shakespeare Studies from The Shakespeare Institute at the University of Birminghan, England. She teaches compostition at Wright College in Chicago, and is also Court Theatre's Assistant Director of Development.

OLD TALES TOLD ANEW By Lauren Bergquist The simplest way to describe Shakespeare's Romance Plays—namely Pericles, Cymbeline, The Winter's Tale, and The Tempest—is that they are not as funny as his comedies or as tragic as his tragedies. Instead, these plays fall somewhere in between, mix elements of both comedy and tragedy, and still result in deeply moving and poetic theatre. Written towards the end of his career, Shakespeare's Romance Plays mark a new and experimental phase of writing for him, which attests to his constant desire to develop as an artist. Influenced by the Greek traditions of comedy and tragedy, Shakespeare's early comedies usually end in marriage, and his tragedies end with the death of the hero. The endings of his romances, however, are not quite as simple. The reconciliation and reunion scenes at the end of these plays feel more hard-won—that Fortune tests the wills of the characters and rewards their strength and perseverance with miraculous happy endings. In performance, the effect of these unlikely endings is often surprisingly cathartic. Written in roughly 1608 and 1609 respectively, Pericles and Cymbeline were extremely popular during their day. The plots of these plays revolve around the relationships between parents and children, their separation, and then their reconnection through the revelation of identities. Cymbeline and Pericles have the fairy tale-like elements of adventure that would have appealed to Shakespeare's audiences because of their familiarity with this romantic form of storytelling. For example, in Cymbeline, Shakespeare employed a common plot device from Medieval literature—the wager between Posthumus and Iachimo testing Imogen's fidelity to Posthumus—which he probably knew from the tale Frederyke of Jennen and Boccaccio's Decameron. The resolution of this wager is perfect material for a romance: the scorned heroine is proven faithful, her husband asks for forgiveness (and receives it), and the villain confesses and repents his wrong-doing. Because this was familiar fare for Shakespeare's audience, all the improbable story lines for this ending would have seemed perfectly acceptable and reasonable. Similarly, they would have recognized that the "evil" forces in Cymbeline—Cloten, Iachimo, and the Queen—are not destructive enough to turn this romance into a tragedy. For Pericles, Shakespeare's primary source was the tale of “Apolonius of Tyre,” a well-known romance from the Middle Ages and Renaissance that can be traced back to the fifth century A.D., and probably existed even earlier in Greece. The popularity of this tale is supported by its many metamorphoses through the centuries, one of the most influential being Chaucer's contemporary John Gower's Confessio Amantis, Book VIII, which Shakespeare relied upon heavily when writing Pericles. Shakespeare pays his tribute to Gower by making him the chorus in Pericles. Audiences would have immediately picked up on his cue—they were about to watch a tried and true old tale. While it is believed that Pericles was the first of Shakespeare's plays to be produced after the Restoration in 1660, both Cymbeline and Pericles failed to achieve their former popularity with theatre practitioners and critics in the 18th and 19th centuries. The plots of both plays were considered to be stale, artificial, improbable, and generally devoid of any meaningful characterization. George Bernard Shaw famously rewrote the fifth act of Cymbeline to save the audience from what he believed to be the absurd plot devices, "these infantile joys," needed to bring about the play's resolution. When Cymbeline or Pericles were performed (which was rarely), their plots were significantly cut, altered or embellished. However, it is important to note that while critics generally derided the plays, they did praise Shakespeare's heroines (Imogen in particular) for their strength and courage of conviction. Fortunately for us, contemporary criticism and theatre have shown a renewed interest in Cymbeline and Pericles. The focus no longer seems to be on how the plays will end, but rather on how Shakespeare masterfully weaves the different stories and situations. Court Theatre's presentation of these romances celebrates the pleasure and faith we share in old tales told anew. We are assured by our innate hope and knowledge that everything will work out the way it should, and therefore we can truly experience the stories and the emotional highs and lows they evoke in us. To that end, Cymbeline and Pericles performed on a white carpet provides the perfect blank canvas for Shakespeare's storytelling to come alive through the collective imaginations of the actors and audience. Lauren Bergquist holds a master's degree in Shakespeare Studies from The Shakespeare Institute at the University of Birminghan, England. She teaches compostition at Wright College in Chicago, and is also Court Theatre's Assistant Director of Development.
	close window