Shakespeare in Love

At the Romeo and Juliet premiere, the actor playing Juliet loses his voice, rendering him incapable of performing. Immediately after her wedding to Lord Wessex, Viola bolts from the church and runs to the theatre to see the play. Overhearing that the performance is in trouble, she steps in as her alter ego, 'Tomas Kent,' and plays Juliet, and Shakespeare plays Romeo. As the play ends, the audience roars with approval. Just then the magistrate bursts in, accusing Shakespeare of breaking the law. "That woman is a WOMAN!" Queen Elizabeth, who is in attendance, intervenes and tells the magistrate he is mistaken; it is obvious 'Thomas Kent' is not a woman although "the illusion is remarkable." Lord Wessex arrives looking for his runaway bride, and Elizabeth informs him he has lost his wager - that a play can show the truth and nature of love. He grudgingly pays up. Elizabeth sends 'Thomas Kent' back into the theatre to fetch Lady Wessex (Viola). She also commands a message be delivered to Master Shakespeare to write a comedy for the upcoming Twelfth Night celebration. Viola and Shakespeare make their sad farewells, and Viola departs with Lord Wessex for the American colonies. Shakespeare writes Twelfth Night as an ode to his muse and lost love, Viola.

A.J.

Continuity mistake: Halfway into the film, Shakespeare is holding Viola's face placing his hands around her jaw, looking closely at her. When the angle is behind Viola, we see that her hair gets caught around his left hand's fingers. The angle changes to a wider side angle and his hand has no hair around, even though he hasn't moved it at all.

Sacha

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Queen Elizabeth: Have her then, but you're a lordly fool: she's been plucked since I saw her last, and not by you. Takes a woman to know it.

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Trivia: The young boy in the film is John Webster. Webster himself became a famous playwright in the 1600's; his speciality was writing gruesome plays foregoing the love and tenderness of Shakespeare and Marlow. Could this be why we see his character feeding the mouse to the cat?

Tallicame

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Question: How did Will not recognise Viloa in her boy disguise? Even in disguise, you can clearly see it's her, and she didn't sound like a boy.

Answer: In real life, Viola, of course, would be recognized as a female in disguise. However, in literature, film, opera, etc, it often is necessary to employ what is known as a "suspension of disbelief." That is, the author expects the reader or audience to know something is impossible, unlikely, or completely unreal, but they have to accept a certain premise in order to allow the plot to unfold. We go along with the idea that no one realizes Viola is actually a woman, so that we can enjoy the overall story.

raywest

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