In this comedy, loosely based on the early career of William Shakespeare, one character breaks an ironclad Elizabethan rule by:
A) Appearing on the stage, though female ü B) Wearing women’s clothes, though male C) Creating a play containing prose as well as verse D) Publicly parodying the queen and her courtiers
Although Shakespeare In Love gleefully ignores many elementary facts of Elizabethan life in general and the Bard’s life in particular, this essential plot point is accurate. In Shakespeare’s day it was not only unorthodox but illegal for a woman to take part in a public theatrical performance. The beautiful — but conveniently slim — Viola (Gwyneth Paltrow), flouts this law by appearing as the female lead in a brand-new play called Romeo and Juliet, following a brief, passionate and untenable romance with its author, played by Joseph Fiennes. The Oscar-winning original script for the film was co-written (with Marc Norman) by veteran Tom Stoppard. His other works include the celebrated play (and movie) Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, which humorously retells Shakespeare’s Hamlet from the point of view of two minor characters. Shakespeare In Love won seven Academy Awards, including Best Actress for Paltrow and Best Supporting Actress for Dame Judi Dench as Queen Elizabeth.
