Symmetry in Shakespeare
Gordon Rugg
November 10, 2011
This article shows how the Search Visualizer can be used to gain insights into
structures within written works – in this case, plays by Shakespeare. The illustrations
below include names used in stage directions, and also names mentioned by other
characters.
A recurrent feature of classical literature, and of literature informed by the classical
tradition, is the use of structural juxtaposition in various forms. These forms include
dramatic prefiguration, where a theme is introduced fleetingly before being resumed at
greater length later in the story, and juxtapositions of thematic elements such as love
and death.
This article describes two cases of juxtaposition in the work of Shakespeare. The first
involves two themes in Macbeth – witches and sleep – and the second involves two
themes in Romeo and Juliet – love and death.
Macbeth
Witches are one prominent theme in Macbeth; it is likely that their prominence is
related to the accession of James I and VI, who took a personal interest in witchcraft
and who was the author of a book on the topic. Sleep is another prominent theme,
with juxtapositions such as Duncan being murdered in his sleep, while Macbeth and
his wife both have troubled sleep in the aftermath of their crime.
The illustration below shows the relative locations of the terms “witch” and “sleep”
within the play. Occurrences of “witch” are shown in green, and of “sleep” in red.
Opening scene – repeated
mentions of witches and one
mention, in red, of sleep
Repeated mentions of sleep,
and one mention, in green, of
witches
Intermingled mentions of
sleep and witches
Mentions of sleep
This display shows how the themes of witches and sleep are confined to discrete
sections of the play, rather than being scattered throughout it. It also shows how there
are two juxtapositions which may be deliberate. The first is that the play opens with
witches, and then uses sleep as a recurrent theme towards its close. The second is
subtler.
This illustration shows the beginning of the play.
The opening part is dominated by mentions of witches (in green), with just one
mention of sleep (in red) in the middle of the “witch” section.
There is then a section which contains no mentions either of witches or of sleep.
This is followed by a section which is dominated by mentions of sleep, with one
mention of witches in the middle of the section.
This is an interesting symmetry in structure, which sparks various questions. One
obvious question is whether this symmetry is deliberate or accidental. Given the quite
extensive use of juxtapositions in classical rhetoric, a deliberate juxtaposition is
plausible. One way of addressing this question is to see whether similar juxtapositions
for dominant themes occurs in other works by the same author. Initial investigation
suggests that this is the case; the next section describes a similar juxtaposition in
Romeo and Juliet.
If this juxtaposition in Macbeth is deliberate, then it has interesting implications. For
instance, there has been a suggestion that the text which we have is not the full original
text, but is an abridged version – perhaps prompt notes. The presence of this set of
juxtapositions suggests that the text which we have has not been significantly changed
(though it may have been abridged).
Romeo and Juliet
Two traditionally-recognised dominant themes in Romeo and Juliet are love and
death, shown below in red and green respectively.
Opening section of Romeo and Juliet, showing “death” (in green) and “love” (in red).
Closing section of Romeo and Juliet, showing “death” (in green) and “love” (in red).
In both the opening and the closing sections, we see a predominance of “death”
juxtaposed with two mentions of “love”.
Other structural features
Displaying a text in this form is useful for other structural features. One example is
the relative frequencies of themes across two or more works. The example below
shows the relative frequencies of the word “love” in Romeo and Juliet and in Antony
and Cleopatra.
“Love” in Romeo and Juliet
“Love” in Antony and Cleopatra
Conclusion and further work
There is initial evidence for structural juxtapositions in Shakespeare’s work involving
symmetries in distribution of major themes.
Further work includes systematic comparison of juxtapositions across Shakespeare’s
works, to assess whether this is a regular feature, and also to address questions such
as whether this feature varies from his earlier works to his later works. There is also
scope for comparing structural features within Shakespeare with the same features in
other writers of the same period, and of other periods.