Shakespeare References in Writing The Romantic Comedy

Billy Mernit's book Writing The Romantic Comedy:The Art And Craft Of Writing Screenplays That Sell contains quite a few Shakespeare references, though a good number of them are simply references to the movie Shakespeare In Love. In fact, the first line of the introduction mentions that movie: "Three of the biggest box office successes of the past few years - Shakespeare in Love, There's Something About Mary, and Runaway Bride - are among a slew of recent movies that demonstrate the remarkable staying power of romantic comedy" (p. ix). It is next mentioned in the first chapter: "Though Shakespeare in Love has been justly praised for its wordplay, what many people remember from it isn't a line, but a moment of visual poetry: a luminescent Viola spinning round and round as her poet/playwright lover joyfully unwinds for the first time the cloth that's been binding her femininity" (pages 6-7). It's mentioned again soon after that: "Romantic comedy often offers dual points of view (e.g. the fairly even split in Shakespeare and You've Got Mail)" (p. 9). A little later in the chapter, the author compares Analyze This and Shakespeare in Love: "And isn't Shakespeare more about how the Bard found his Muse and the love of his life?" (p. 12). And then: "But excise Gwyneth Paltrow from Shakespeare in Love, and you'd really have to change its title to Shakespeare" (p. 12). And: "Every subplot in Shakespeare in Love stems from the love affair between Will and Viola. The show goes on only because they go on; their passion fuels every conflict" (p. 12). And: "Thus in Shakespeare in Love, Will and Viola's involvement leads to his completing a masterpiece that stars her; when they're forced apart, both their happiness and the success of his play are jeopardized, but their onstage reunion, however brief, makes Romeo and Juliet a smash and their love immortal" (p. 13). Shakespeare in Love is included in the list of period romantic comedies (p. 25). It is mentioned again a little later: "Mark Norman and Tom Stoppard's costumed tour de farce Shakespeare in Love" (p. 48). And then: "Harry and Sally, Annie Hall and Alvy, Shakespeare and Viola, Michael Dorsey and Julie, Loretta Castorini and Ronny Cammareri - all of these memorable romantic comedy twosomes have at least one important thing in common: we care about them" (p. 53). And then: "More recently, Shakespeare in Love ended with a skillfully crafted, emotionally resonant compromise. In Viola's playing Juliet opposite Will's Romeo during the play's premiere, they enact the symbolic peak and pinnacle of their relationship. This resolution gives way to a poignant parting, suggesting a metaphorical 'ever after': from here to eternity Will and his muse will be united as she lives on in the heroines of his subsequent plays. It's a sad victory - a joyful defeat" (p. 117). And: "Shakespeare in Love's midpoint, a montage sequence following Will and Viola's first lovemaking, melds exterior action and inner emotions in a seamless blend of life and art, as Will and Viola's love fuels the creation of Romeo and Juliet. From the unbinding of Viola in her bedroom to the dual nurses (real nurse and actor nurse) calling the lovers from both bed and stage at the sequence's end, it's the essence of the movie in microcosm" (p. 119). And still more: "Shakespeare in Love, for example, hits some beats right on the nose, while doubling up and reconfiguring others" (p. 122). And: "Oscar-winning Shakespeare in Love is certainly proof that viewers will happily buy into the most incredible of contrivances" (p. 126). And: "Marc Norman, the original writer on Shakespeare in Love, started out with the idea of showing Will in his 'upstart crow' days, just as he was getting his foothold in the world of Elizabethan theater. Even before eventual cowriter Tom Stoppard (a Brit steeped in theatrical lore) signed on, American Norman did his homework and found the very linchpin of his plot, born of a simple historical fact: women were not allowed on the stage in 1585" (pages 126-127). And there's this: "In its opening scene, Shakespeare in Love immediately establishes that it's a farce by playing a situation that involves real, physical pain for laughs. Theater owner Henslowe is having his feet burned by an annoyed backer, Fennyman, but Henslowe's pathetic, crazed wheeling and dealing, as well as Fennyman's malicious indifference, takes the emphasis off the scene's pain and peril - as does the very fast turnaround that occurs when Henslowe saves his hide by bartering Will Shakespeare's new comedy. 'Romeo and Ethel the Pirate's Daughter,' he offers. 'Good title,' says Fennyman, and Henslowe is released" (p. 129). And: "Like Viola's mustache in Shakespeare" (p. 135). And: "Thus Shakespeare in Love, as we've noted, establishes a tone that encompasses both farce and speedy verbal wit in its opening minutes" (p. 155). And: "hero and/or heroine may well end up alone (Shakespeare in Love, My Best Friend's Wedding)" (p. 250). Shakespeare in Love is included in some lists at the end of the book, including Romantic Comedy Winners of "Best Picture" Academy Award and Romantic Comedy Winners Of "Best Screenplay" Academy Award.

There is a reference to my a phrase from my favorite speech from Macbeth: "What's the signficance - the meaning behind all your digital sound and fury?" (p. 6). The line from Shakespeare's play reads, "It is a tale/Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury./Signifying nothing." A Midsummer Night's Dream is also mentioned: "The paradigm for this form (a central couple's conflicts are echoed, contrasted, or parodied through one or more supporting couples) can be found in Shakespeare's ensemble comedies (Midsummer Night, etc.)" (p. 19). There is also this: "from Hugh Grant's diffident persona to Joe Fiennes's Shakespearian fire and poetry" (p. 61). And we get another Macbeth reference: "Working in a medium where getting the butts in the seats and keeping them there is the seeming be-all and end-all, writers agonize over the proper act breaks and plot points" (p. 107). Macbeth says, "that but this blow/Might be the be-all and the end-all." There is also another reference to A Midsummer Night's Dream: "The course of true love, no matter how mysterious or magical it may be in its particulars, has some predictable way stations" (p. 108). That's a play on Lysander's famous line, "The course of true love never did run smooth." The book also contains a reference to Julius Caesar: "No, the fault - to paraphrase Shakespeare, who excelled at such material - lies not with our stars, but with ourselves" (p. 206). The line, as Cassius says it, is "The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars,/But in ourselves, that we are underlings." The next reference is to Hamlet, with Billy Mernit writing: "Brevity's the soul of wit, and overlong, overwritten screenplays don't sell" (p. 234). Polonius says to Claudius, "Therefore, since brevity is the soul of wit,/And tediousness the limbs and outward flourishes,/I will be brief." There is another reference to Romeo And Juliet: "The unlikely but star-crossed lovers do go into their clinch at the end" (p. 249). There is also this reference to Shakespeare: "It may not be Shakespeare, but it's good enough for me" (p. 253).

Writing The Romantic Comedy: The Art And Craft Of Writing Screenplays That Sell was published in 2000.