Ok, I think that a history play with William the Conqueror has a lot of potential. We've got the big hero (or villain), potential for some great pump-up speeches, character development, etc. Especially cause I found out that William became a duke when he was only about 8 years old and there was a LOT of chaos around him as he was growing up and maturing as people were feuding around him. And remember the illegitimate birth around 1027ish...
Then when he became king of Normandy and conquered England in the Battle of Hastings in 1066, he had to deal with treacherous English lords and political marriages and all that good stuff.
So plot development. Maybe the play could open with Duke Robert, William's father, leaving to go on his pilgrimage to Jerusalem. Before he left, he made the Norman magnates (I don't really know what that word means...I'm assuming its like the Norman lords around there...yep. Just dictionary.commed it. I'm right.) swear fealty to William, even though he was an illegitimate son. Then, Robert ends up dying on his way back. I'm not exactly sure how we could show the time change and growth of young William. Maybe have a scene where he finds out his dad died and he's recognized as the duke. And then...have snippets of plotting lords trying to kill him or something and his narrow escapes...so I feel like this act would be dedicated to William's growth and taking on the responsibility of being a duke. Seriously, there had to have been a lot of growth. Men were getting killed in his sleeping chamber and his uncle had to hide him in peasant's houses to keep him from being killed!
Act 2 - Conquest? Of his own lands? Yeah, I don't know when this should all take place...but let's include his political marriage to Matilda of Flanders in 1050 that helped him out.
Act 3 - Conquest of England? Battle of Hastings? Apparently King Edward of England decided that he wanted William to be his successor in 1051. So maybe Shakespeare would have portrayed him as the hero after all.
I don't know. Shakespeare was way better at writing this stuff than me. Somehow in Henry V he managed to have the battle as the pinnacle point in the play but then also managed to end with some romantic cuteness. I'm not sure how we should work it with William.
And...to tie in Nickson's African story, maybe we could have an act during William's character growth and conquest stage where he gets cocky like the hyena and loses the battle because of it. But he's able to learn so he doesn't make the mistake again and is able to conquer England. I think it works :)
I like the idea of William the Conqueror, but I think you've tried to put in way too much history into one play. Note that we see Henry V grow up over the course of Richard II, Henry IV parts one and two, and also Henry V.
ReplyDeleteI don't think also Shakespeare has ever had a character go from being a child to an adult in the same play. It usually took place, again, over the space of many plays.
You have a great beginning idea, it just needs to be honed down and specified to single few months/ years to make it authentically Shakespearean