In Act 5.3 lines 6-102, Paulina offers to bring the statue of Hermione to life. Leontes insists that she does, and Paulina casts a spell on the statue. In this passage, Paulina claims that people may protest that she is “assisted by wicked powers,” (90) and insists that “those that think it is unlawful business..let them depart” (96). However, readers know that Paulina is more virtuous than evil. She has a lot of positive characteristics and readers praise her for being strong willed and fearless. Therefore, as a director, I would have Paulina glowing while she is bringing the statue to life. It would help give positive light to Paulina and reveal that her magic is only used for goodness. In a sense, she would resemble more holy characteristics, and her spell would be perceived more like a prayer. I would like to give a righteous effect, similar to how Jesus prays and allows the blind to see.
After Paulina says her prayer, Hermione would come to life. This reminds me of Michael Jackson’s video, “Do You Remember the Time,” where performers are trying to entertain the Pharaoh and his wife. A hooded man sprinkles dust on the floor and then gets sucked to the ground. Then the dust continuously swirls around until it formulates into Michael Jackson. In this sense, instead of the statue just subtlety transforming into a human, I would like if the statue changed into dust, swirled to the ground, and formulated into Hermione. In the play, this event is understated, but I believe this should emphasized because something magical just happened; Hermione is brought back to life. Thus, I believe the dust effect would build suspense and add admiration for the characters observing this event.
This passage may be difficult to interpret because all the characters are assumed to be regular humans. Then all of a sudden, Paulina nonchalantly suggests bringing the statue to life. Reader s never hear about Paulina’s powers beforehand, making the whole event seam surreal. The whole ordeal is rather bizarre, and it makes one think if Hermione really came back to life, if it was a dream, or if it was Leontes’ creative imagination.
If I were into watching movies and keeping up with celebrities’ names, I would be able to pick out a decent actor for Hermione and Paulina. But since don’t I keep up with movies and television, I’d suggest someone who has a strong personality for Paulina and someone whole is very charismatic for Hermione.
I like your direction to make the event more miraculous. When I read the scene, I did not interpret the event to be fantastical. If anything, I thought Paulina and Hermione planned something out together. However, given the peculiar plot flow of the play, the surprising event could easily be interpreted as a magical event.
ReplyDeleteI think you need to be careful when assuming that readers consider Paulina to be “virtuous.” She definitely has a strong, confident personality, but I do not associate virtue with her. For instance, her incessant chiding of Leontes is merciless and excessive. Although Leontes’ behavior is extremely foolishl in Act I, would a “virtuous” person be so merciless towards him? Nonetheless, Paulina does have good intentions in her actions and I could see her being “virtuous.” Lastly, although Paulina’s act can be portrayed as miraculous, I wouldn’t put it on the scale of something “holy” and “righteous.” That might be a little too over the top. But then again, Paulina’s character could be read a lot more dramatically than I did. Your portrayal of the scene would definitely be a booming climax. ^_-