Comparison: Folio and Riverside

I went to check the “twixt clock and cock” monologue in the folio – to compare it to the Riverside Shakespeare version – and check it out. Line by line. Fascinating. (And yes – “f” are “s”s in the folio. You get used to it after a while.)

Riverside Shakespeare:

False to his bed! What is it to be false?
To lie in watch there and to think on him?
To weep ‘twixt clock and clock? if sleep charge nature,
To break it with a fearful dream of him
And cry myself awake? that’s false to’s bed, is it?

Folio text:

Falfe to his Bed? What is it to be falfe?
To lye in watch there, and to thinke on him?
To weepe ‘twixt clock and clock? If fleep charge Nature,
To breake it with a fearfull dreame of him
And cry my felfe awake? That’s falfe to’s bed? Is it?

Check out the differences. That first “false to his bed” in the monologue is NOT an exclamation in the folio -although it appears in the Riverside as an exclamation. But in the folio it is a QUESTION. Enormous difference, in terms of the playing of it. Also – in terms of the MEANING. What is Imogen DOING here? What is she actually saying?

My interpretation is: when it’s a question, she – after reading his letter – is still trying to process what her husband just said to her. She is still in a state of shock, where she must just repeat what she just heard. “False to his bed?” Whereas, with an exclamation mark, like in Riverside – she immediately jumps to the anger and the hurt. She is pissed. “False to his bed!” (Subtext: the NERVE of that guy!) But no – the folio has it as a question. HUGE difference.

Also, that last line:

In the Riverside, it’s all one sentence – with commas added.

“that’s false to his bed, is it?”

It’s all one thing. In the folio – it’s more choppy. That’s false to his bed? Is it? Her thought process is still erratic (see, Olivier was right: the thought is IN THE LINE.) … so she’s asking one question: “That’s false to his bed?” Then she realizes she is not done, and questions again: “Is it?”

To me – the folio is MUCH more plain, in terms of emotion. You can feel Imogen’s processing of the betrayal – in the punctuation. In the Riverside, it’s ironed out a bit – modernized.

That’s false to his bed? Is it?

I prefer that one.

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3 Responses to Comparison: Folio and Riverside

  1. mitchell says:

    Sheil..my fave part of working on Shakespeare..its like a great word puzzle!!!!

  2. Harriet says:

    Oh my, you’re right! That does make a huge difference. It’s so interesting to hear this from the point of view of an actor. I was an English major, but it always frustrated me that we didn’t get to see more of the plays on stage (although we did take a field trip to see the Chicago Shakespeare Company–they were doing Romeo & Juliet at the time). I’m not sure I’ve ever read this one, but luckily I brought my enormous Norton Shakespeare with me when I packed all my books for grad school, so perhaps I’ll pick it up. (In all my free time that comes from not doing my homework.)

  3. tracey says:

    That IS a huge difference. Requires altogether something else emotionally from the actor. I love that — it’s just deeper, more interesting to play.

    Gotta get me a folio.

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