Being a naive and trusting sort of person, I grew up assuming that direct quotations in serious newspapers are accurate, if selective, and that good actors in serious dramatic productions speak the words that the playwright wrote, adding their own inflections, expressions and gestures. Over time, I've learned that both of these assumptions are often false. Both journalists and actors (or their editors) present word sequences that may be remarkably far away from their sources.
A few days ago, I linked to a clip originally presented on a BBC Radio 4 show about an "original accent" production of Troilus and Cressida at the Globe Theatre, giving Colin Hurley's rendition of a few lines from his role as Thersites, which I also transcribed for the benefit of those who might have found them hard to understand (the added color-coding will be explained shortly):
The plague of Greece upon thee, thou mongrel beef-witted lord!
Thou hast no more brain than I have in mine elbows. Scurvy lord!
I would thou didst itch from head to foot and I had the scratching of thee;
I would make thee the loathsomest scab in Greece.
(By the way, though I'm no expert in the history of English, I think that in this case much of the difficulty might be unnecessary. I was taught that the raising of e: to i: in early modern English was essentially complete by 1450, long before Shakespeare's time, and I should have thought that Greece and beef were subject to this process, as opposed to the raising of ε: to i:, which didn't happen until 1700 or so, affecting words like beat and tea; but I digress.)
In order to make sure that I had the quote right, I checked the play, and found to my surprise that the 49 words of quoted material are in fact selected from a sequence of about 240 words from Thersites' part, skipping over 40-odd intervening words spoken by Ajax. Not only that, but the bits are put in a different order from the original, which had the "no more brain than I have in mine elbows" phrase more than nine sentences past the "I would thou didst itch" phrase. (See the end of this post for the details).
When I noticed this, my first thought was that Hurley was just riffing on his part, spinning out a collage of fragments to illustrate the original-accent effect. But now I'm not so sure.
I recently read an interesting article by Joe Falocco on editing Hamlet for production by undergraduates. He describes his experience this way:
I have been working on this project for six months and, if I did not force myself to stop, I could easily work on it for another six. I found that, the more editorial choices I made, the more I began to feel as if I was writing an original script rather than adapting an existing one. While this notion was clearly self-aggrandizing, I flattered myself even further by telling myself that Shakespeare must have experienced the same sensation when working over material from Belleforest and Saxo Grammaticus.
Why is it so hard? He explains
The length of the unedited Second Quarto text of Hamlet is 3732 lines. Even if the actors were to speak at the brisk pace of 1000 lines an hour (and few undergraduate performers can speak this quickly and maintain intelligibility) an unexpurgated Second Quarto Hamlet would run nearly four hours without considering intermissions or time for scene changes. As Polonius so distinctly states, “This is too long” ...
But once you're committed to major cuts, it's hard to maintain dramatic continuity, retain famous lines and your favorite jokes, and so on, without a considerable amount of "creativity", i.e. re-writing. Falocco is writing about a production with special issues, one to be acted by undergraduates at Arkansas State for other students at the same institution -- but an orginal-accent production has at least as many special issues for actors and audience. So it seems possible that the collage of fragments performed by Hurley was in fact a passage from his part as it will be spoken in the production, the result of a similarly laborious and creative process of editing Shakespeare's Troilus and Cressida for this original-accent presentation. Hurley is not the one responsible for the modifications, of course, but it's still not exactly Shakespeare.
Although I don't know much about the history of theatrical performance practice, I guess it's plausible that this is a continuation of long-accepted practices, and nothing new to insiders. I certainly knew that plays are often presented with extensive cuts; but I never realized that such extensive phrase-by-phrase cut-and-paste script-doctoring may be regarded as normal.
Here are the promised details. Colin Hurley's quotation again:
The plague of Greece upon thee, thou mongrel beef-witted lord!
Thou hast no more brain than I have in mine elbows. Scurvy lord!
I would thou didst itch from head to foot and I had the scratching of thee;
I would make thee the loathsomest scab in Greece.
A color-keyed version of the original scene, from an on-line e-text in modernized spelling:
Enter Ajax and THERSITES
AJAX. Thersites!
THERSITES. Agamemnon-how if he had boils full, an over, generally?
AJAX. Thersites!
THERSITES. And those boils did run-say so. Did not the general run then? Were not that a botchy core? AJAX. Dog!
THERSITES. Then there would come some matter from him; I see none now.
AJAX. Thou bitch-wolf's son, canst thou not hear? Feel, then.
[Strikes him]
THERSITES. The plague of Greece upon thee, thou mongrel beef-witted lord!
AJAX. Speak, then, thou whinid'st leaven, speak. I will beat thee into handsomeness.
THERSITES. I shall sooner rail thee into wit and holiness; but I think thy horse will sooner con an oration than thou learn a prayer without book. Thou canst strike, canst thou? A red murrain o' thy jade's tricks!
AJAX. Toadstool, learn me the proclamation.
THERSITES. Dost thou think I have no sense, thou strikest me thus?
AJAX. The proclamation!
THERSITES. Thou art proclaim'd, a fool, I think.
AJAX. Do not, porpentine, do not; my fingers itch.
THERSITES. I would thou didst itch from head to foot and I had the scratching of thee; I would make thee the loathsomest scab in Greece. When thou art forth in the incursions, thou strikest as slow as another.
AJAX. I say, the proclamation.
THERSITES. Thou grumblest and railest every hour on Achilles; and thou art as full of envy at his greatness as Cerberus is at Proserpina's beauty-ay, that thou bark'st at him.
AJAX. Mistress Thersites!
THERSITES. Thou shouldst strike him.
AJAX. Cobloaf!
THERSITES. He would pun thee into shivers with his fist, as a sailor breaks a biscuit.
AJAX. You whoreson cur! [Strikes him]
THERSITES. Do, do.
AJAX. Thou stool for a witch!
THERSITES. Ay, do, do; thou sodden-witted lord! Thou hast no more brain than I have in mine elbows; an assinico may tutor thee. You scurvy valiant ass! Thou art here but to thrash Troyans, and thou art bought and sold among those of any wit like a barbarian slave. If thou use to beat me, I will begin at thy heel and tell what thou art by inches, thou thing of no bowels, thou!
AJAX. You dog!
THERSITES. You scurvy lord!
AJAX. You cur! [Strikes him]
THERSITES. Mars his idiot! Do, rudeness; do, camel; do, do.
The Internet Shakespeare's edition is here, giving the 1609 quarto text:
Enter Aiax and Thersites.
Aiax. Thersites.
Ther. Agamemnon, how if he had biles, full, all ouer, generally.
Aiax. Thersites.
Ther. And those byles did run (say so), did not the generall run then, were not that a botchy core.
Aiax. Dogge.
Ther. Then would come some matter from him, I see none now.
Aia. Thou bitchwolfs son canst thou not heare, feele then.
Ther. The plague of Greece vpon thee thou mongrell beefe witted Lord.
Aiax. Speake then thou vnsalted leauen, speake, I will beate thee into hansomnesse.
Ther. I shall sooner raile thee into wit and holinesse, but I thinke thy horse will sooner cunne an oration without
booke, then thou learne praier without booke, thou canst strike canst thou? a red murrion ath thy Iades trickes.
Aiax. Tode-stoole? learne me the proclamation.
Ther. Doost thou thinke I haue no sence thou strikest mee thus?
Aiax. The proclamation.
Ther. Thou art proclaim'd foole I thinke.
Aiax. Do not Porpentin, do not, my fingers itch:
Ther. I would thou didst itch from head to foote, and I had the scratching of the, I would make thee the lothsomest scab in Greece, when thou art forth in the incursions thou strikest as slow as another.
Aiax. I say the proclamation.
Ther. Thou gromblest and raylest euery houre on Achilles, and thou art as full of enuy at his greatnesse, as Cerberus
is at Proserpinas beauty, I that thou barkst at him.
Aiax. Mistres Thersites.
Ther. Thou shouldst strike him.
Aiax. Coblofe,
Ther. Hee would punne thee into shiuers with his fist, as a sayler breakes a bisket, you horson curre. Do? do?
Aiax: Thou stoole for a witch.
Ther. I, Do? do? thou sodden witted Lord, thou hast no more braine then I haue in mine elbowes, an Asinico may tutor thee, you scuruy valiant asse, thou art heere but to thrash Troyans, and thou art bought and sould among those of any wit, like a Barbarian slaue. If thou vse to beate mee I will beginne at thy heele, and tell what thou art by ynches, thou thing of no bowells thou.
Aiax. You dog.
Ther. You scuruy Lord.
Aiax. You curre.
Ther. Mars his Idiot, do rudenesse, do Camel, do, do.
Here's the 1623 folio text from LION (you can also find a version on the Internet Shakespeare site above)
Posted by Mark Liberman at July 30, 2005 09:41 AMTHE TRAGEDIE OF Troylus and Cressida
Author Name: Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616
Volume Title: Troylus and Cressida (1623)
Publisher: Printed by Isaac Iaggard, and Ed. Blount
Year: 1623
From a copy in the library of Trinity College, Cambridge by permissionEnter Aiax, and Thersites.
Aia. Thersites? /
Ther. Agamemnon, how if he had Biles (ful) all ouer / generally. /
Aia. Thersites? /
Ther. And those Byles did runne, say so; did not the / General run, were not that a botchy core? /
Aia. Dogge. /
Ther. Then there would come some matter from him: / I see none now. /
Aia. Thou Bitch-Wolfes-Sonne, canst y / u not heare? Feele then. /
Strikes him.
Ther. The plague of Greece vpon thee thou Mungrel / beefe-witted Lord. /
Aia. Speake then you whinid'st leauen speake, I will / beate thee into handsomnesse. /
Ther. I shal sooner rayle thee into wit and holinesse: / but I thinke thy Horse wil sooner con an Oration, then y / u learn a prayer without booke: Thou canst strike, canst / thou? A red Murren o'th thy lades trickes. /
Aia. Toads stoole, learne me the Proclamation. /
Ther. Doest thou thinke I haue no sence thou strik'st me thus? /
Aia. The Proclamation. /
Ther. Thou art proclaim'd a foole, I thinke. /
Aia. Do not Porpentine, do not; my fingers itch. /
Ther. I would thou didst itch from head to foot, and / I had the scratching of thee, I would make thee the lothsom'st / scab in Greece. /
Aia. I say the Proclamation. /
Ther. Thou grumblest & railest euery houre on Achilles, / and thou art as ful of enuy at his greatnes, as Cerberus / is at Proserpina's beauty. I, that thou barkst at him. /
Aia. Mistresse Thersites. /
Ther. Thou shouldst strike him. /
Aia. Coblofe. /
Ther. He would pun thee into shiuers with his fist, as / a Sailor breakes a bisket. /
Aia. You horson Curre. /
Ther. Do, do. /
Aia. Thou stoole for a Witch. /
Ther. I, do, do, thou sodden-witted Lord: thou hast / no more braine then I haue in mine elbows: An Asinico / may tutor thee. Thou scuruy valiant Asse, thou art heere / but to thresh Troyans, and thou art bought and solde among / those of any wit, like a Barbarian slaue. If thou vse / to beat me, I wil begin at thy heele, and tel what thou art / by inches, thou thing of no bowels thou. /
Aia. You dogge. /
Ther. You scuruy Lord. /
Aia. You Curre. /
Ther. Mars his Ideot: do rudenes, do Camell, do, do. /