Hendiadys

I finished "1599: A Year in the Life of William Shakespeare" by James Shapiro and published by Faber (2005) yesterday. It has taken me some time to read but I have enjoyed a great deal of it. I especially enjoyed the chapters concerning Hamlet, which Shakespeare wrote in 1599. Hamlet is a production long in mental preparation for the Bench Theatre. For 2008 I am torn between offering Hamlet or Love and Money by Dennis Kelly. The latter appeals because after the two plays scheduled for February and April 2008, which are very much ensemble plays, the Dennis Kelly play definitely isn't an ensemble piece.
Anyway, returning to Professor James Shapiro, who teaches at Columbia University in New York (how confusing is that?), he identifies an old verbal trick used by Shakespeare. This trick is called "hendiadys" - I can't work out why it isn't called hendiadies as it is plural. It means "one by means of two", a single idea conveyed through a pairing of nouns linked by "and". For those who know my literary style, verbose and longwinded, I am prone to using hendiadys although up until now I didn't know that was what they were.

The following examples come from Hamlet:

"Angels and ministers of grace defend us" (I,iv,39);
"the book and volume of my brain" (I, v, 103)
"a fantasy and trick of fame" (IV, iv, 61)

I love Shapiro's conclusion: (page 322) "The destabilizing effect of how these words play off each other is slightly and temporarily unnerving. It's only on reflection - which is, of course, Hamlet's problem - that we trip."

I recommend Shapiro's book to any interested in theatre and Shakespeare and especially my son in law, the Natty Chap.

I will return to Hamlet and a possible production idea in this blog.