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In 1593 Shakespeare himself fell in love, or so the film "Shakespeare in Love" would have us believe. Will Shakespeare (Joseph Fiennes), caught in the throes of writer's block, searches for his muse and finds her in Lady Viola (Gwyneth Paltrow). The love he feels for Viola is translated into theater. The result is the transformation of the comedy "Romeo and Ethel, the Pirate's Daughter" into "Romeo and Juliet". In the style of true Shakespearean tragedy, the affair between Shakespeare and Viola is colored by social and familial duty as Viola is to marry Lord Wessex (Colin Firth). Shakespeare is only a "mere player" and thus neither rich nor aristocratic enough to deserve Viola's affections. The film is reminiscent of Shakespeare not only in content, but in form as it manages to capture Shakespeare's bawdy humor, cutting remarks, drunkenness, and sarcasm.One of the main themes offered by "Shakespeare in Love" is the possibility of a complete reversal in the roles of men and women. The 16th century is a time when women are not permitted on stage. Viola, who wishes to be an actor, dons tights and a fake mustache in order to act a man, both in life and on the stage. The switch is hauntingly familiar. As one looks at the early feminist movement in the United States, one of its mistakes is that it attempted to turn women into men. It was just assumed that if a woman were going to play a traditionally male "part" she would need to dress, talk, and act like a man. By the film's end, however, the reversal is never fully realized. The presentation of these issues is intentional, suggesting perhaps that while men and women should hold the same job, they should hold it as themselves. Marriage, sex, and the divide between them is also a prevalent theme, and one that is intimately tied to feminist thought. In the film, marriage is not an expression of love but a means of preserving wealth and status. One marries for property and name only. Today the ceremony of marriage is still tarnished. As we watch our parents divorce, we wonder if it's worth the trouble. Sex always seems much easier and much more fulfilling than bothering with matrimony. The film notes the dangers of this attitude, however. Although Viola and Shakespeare are lovers, their love is not professed seriously until the end of the film. The two know that they have lied to each other about their ties to other mates, and each have allowed the other to fall in love. Shakespeare, wanting to blame fate is corrected by Viola when she says, "We brought it upon ourselves". As Viola and Shakespeare take responsibility for the way they live, so must we. The sexual intimacy portrayed in the film only results in emotional pain, either for the audience or the characters themselves. There are two types of sex represented in the film: the sex between Shakespeare and Viola, which is seemingly beautiful and supposedly okay because they truly love each other, and that which is portrayed by Rosalyn the seamstress. The first time I saw the film Rosalyn's character seemed one-dimensional. Her only purpose was to serve as comedic relief and in gratuitous sex scenes. The second time I watched the film, I saw that she has depth. Every time we see her, she is being reduced to the local whore. Men walk in on her in the midst of sex and take no notice of her. At first ones thinks that she doesn't care, that it's all in a days work for her. One even thinks that her proclamations of love for Shakespeare are fluff, until the bracelet he has given her breaks, and we see in her reaction that she actually does feel something for him. What media is doing for us today is trashing the old Madonna/whore dichotomy and building up a new one. We seem to have no interest in virginal purity anymore, but we are interested in emotional purity. Unfortunately, what that looks like is being defined for us. Viola is the modified Madonna. She is not required to refrain from sex before marriage, but she does have to wait a day or two to make sure that she loves the guy before she sleeps with him. Rosalyn is the modified whore. She sleeps with just about anybody, and it is about money, or at least security. It would seem that she's more interested in emotional fulfillment, however; when she can't find it, sex will have to suffice for the time being. What is interesting is that the film suggests that neither of these strategies for finding fulfillment is working. There is a biting comparison between Viola and Rosalyn. It is painful to watch Rosalyn engaging in an act that five minutes ago was considered beautiful when it involved Viola and Shakespeare. She is made to appear less than woman. Perhaps even animal-like. Ironically, she wears a serpent around her wrist, perhaps alluding to Eve and the Fall. Is she really so different from Viola? Couldn't we say Viola sells out in the end, just like Rosalyn has been selling out her entire adult life? The juxtaposition of these two scenes forces us to question our motivations and expectations in relationships. In the end neither relationship is glorified. The only way Shakespeare and Viola can continue their relationship is through memories of each other. They will never know each other outside of the week in which they were together. The director, writers and producers give us what we think we want to see, but not without challenging us. Shakespeare refused to include comedy for the sake of comedy, or love for the sake of love (in a very funny scene, a theater-owner tells Shakespeare "what every successful play needs"-sex, violence, and a dog). Each scene, each act contained a lesson. "Shakespeare in Love" does no less. In the end neither relationship is glorified. Our values are just as twisted in the 1990's as they were in the 1590's. Nothing has really changed except the medium through which it is delivered. By drawing our attention to these issues the film insists that we take them seriously. If we don't, the freedom we that think we are experiencing is really just an illusion.
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