Virginia Woolf’s A Room of One’s Own is a significant literary work that offers an analysis of the changing role of female authors. Woolf repeatedly references William Shakespeare and the play Antony and Cleopatra when discussing past and contemporary writers. She calls Shakespeare’s writing an “ideal style” for authors to emulate. Woolf is clear when she says that Shakespeare has a rare authorial voice that few can match. Woolf refers to Shakespeare on numerous occasions as having an “incandescent style” that allows the reader’s interpretation to be the final one. Woolf has a particular style in her writing that she holds high. She uses the deliberately undistinct words that Shakespeare used to describe his characters, and the metaphors that he employed.
Woolf uses Shakespeare to illustrate the “ideal conditions” under which literature can be produced. She says:
. . . Shakespeare’s genius was an example of a mind that burnt brightly. . . Shakespeare is not well known, and this may be the reason why. . . We are not helped by some “revelation” which reminds us of the writer. It is not a “revelation” of the writer that helps us. His poetry is therefore free and unhindered. Shakespeare was the first human to express his thoughts completely. I thought, if ever there was a mind incandescent or unobstructed, it must be Shakespeare. . . It was Shakespeare’s Mind” (Woolf 56).
Woolf’s words directly support her view of Shakespeare as an artist. But they also provide a wider door for readers to explore, since Woolf doesn’t reveal what she means by “incandescent”, “without impediment”, etc. It is up to them to dig deeper into Shakespeare’s works to see if Woolf is right.
You can find specific examples of this style of writing in Shakespeare’s Antony and Cleopatra. Shakespeare uses his verse to create ambiguous characters. Shakespeare uses words that are ambiguous by design. Woolf praises Shakespeare’s unprejudiced writing. He uses carefully chosen words to describe characters in a way that doesn’t promote any particular viewpoint. Shakespeare uses this aspect to keep his personal views and preferences latent. In Antony and Cleopatra for example, he uses specific wordplays to show his characters changing constantly. As a result, the characters cannot be described in one dimension and they shift with the reader’s perspective from scene-to-scene. Shakespeare’s androgynous character descriptions allow readers to see his characters from a variety of perspectives, not just one.
Shakespeare’s language, Woolf says, makes it difficult to determine how the author feels about characters.
In Act I, scene iii, Cleopatra makes a comment to Antony about becoming his future queen. She says: “But sir forgive me / Since my becomings kill me when they do not / Eye well to you” (Shakespeare I.i.52-53). Cleopatra makes a statement to Antony in Act I sc. Cleopatra can be seen as making a statement about her ability to make Antony a better queen by transforming into different personalities. However, the word becomings has other meanings. They also refer to Cleopatra’s constant mood changes and many versions that she shows to the reader. Cleopatra’s ability to transform and shift from one scene to the next is evident. Shakespeare’s words are able to convey this. Shakespeare’s use of language, which appears to be one way, can actually promote the characters in many different ways.
Shakespeare deliberately uses ambiguous words to convey a complex message. This is evident in Enobarbus’ description of Cleopatra’s character. Enobarbus claims, “Age will not wither or stale/Her infinitude. She makes people hungry where she is most satisfied. “The vilest of things are / becoming themselves in her so that holy priests can bless her when she’s rigish” (Shakespeare, II.iii.276-281). This passage contains the phrase “infinite varieties” which also deserves further interpretation. Shakespeare is letting readers know that Cleopatra’s character is not a one-dimensional definition. The word “varieties,” as an example, has no one accepted meaning. It can be interpreted in a variety of ways. Shakespeare’s focus on changing “varieties,” or the characters in his plays, from scene-to-scene allows readers to decide how they should be described. Woolf referred to Shakespeare as writing without prejudice and about obstacles. The characters do not convey Shakespeare’s own personal view, but by using words that show their fluidity and mutability the play is more open to interpretation.
Shakespeare uses wordplay in the play to describe Antony’s changing personality and actions. Shakespeare’s V.xv.13-14 states that Antony says, “Here is Antony. / Yet I cannot hold this apparent shape, My Knave.” Shakespeare’s use of the phrase “hold that shape” again serves to make Antony indefinable. Both Antony’s and Cleopatra’s “shape” changes from scene-to scene. This ambiguity gives his characters a wider definition, as they are shaped by the unpredictable and ever-changing actions of both Antony and Cleopatra, not by Shakespeare. Shakespeare’s artful choice to let Antony and Cleopatra have so many different representations leaves the final characterisation in the hands of his readers, rather than Shakespeare himself. It’s the reader who decides whether Antony ends up as a warhero, a love-stricken naivete, or a zealous political actress. Shakespeare is able to keep his biases and sympathies out of his characters. Shakespeare doesn’t speak through or on behalf of his characters. They do.
Shakespeare uses metaphors to help describe this phenomenon and give his writing an “incandescent” or creative quality. Shakespeare uses metaphors as a way to allow readers to have a different perspective on characters.
Antony’s Act V lines, for example, can be used to convey the changing emotions and actions of characters from one scene to another. Antony describes the main characters of the play through his statement on clouds.
We see clouds that look like dragons, / Vapors that look like bears or lions, / towered citadels, pendant rocks, / forked mountains, or blue promontories / With trees that mock our eyes. These / signs have been seen by you. These are the black vesper pageants. […] The rack makes the horse indistinct, as water does when it is submerged in water. / (Shakespeare IV.xiv 3-14)
Shakespeare is able to cross boundaries with metaphorical descriptions like this. This allows readers to see Cleopatra as a “lioness” or “dragonish Cleopatra” depending on the scene. It shows how flexible her character is. Shakespeare uses metaphors to show the variety of his characters. This allows him to present his writing in its unique form or, as Woolf puts it, “incandescence.” Shakespeare’s use is a metaphor to assure readers that they can use a wide range of lenses in order to understand Antony. Shakespeare uses metaphors as a way to encourage reader interpretation. It allows readers the freedom to develop their own characters and does not reflect the author’s agenda or latent sympathies.
Cleopatra makes a similar statement in Shakespeare V.ii.344, just before she expires. As with Antony’s cloud metaphor, the reader is free to interpret it in any way they see fit. The reader can interpret “fire” in many different ways, and the same goes for “air”. This is a great example of Shakespeare’s writing. Shakespeare leaves it up to the readers to decide how to interpret Cleopatra’s actions and words.
Shakespeare’s metaphors, and his careful word selections, allow readers to interpret the characters and play in a variety of ways even after it is finished. Was Antony’s death honorable? Cleopatra, was she a mere actress? Shakespeare’s characters and writing style are both mutable. Readers may use single words or metaphors to reveal multiple meanings about a particular character. Shakespeare’s brilliance is evident in the fact that his play leaves its audience with more questions than answers. Shakespeare’s writing is complex because he can write without bias, and let his words control him. Shakespeare’s ability to write without prejudice, allowing his words to hold power over his person, leaves his writing with a successful complexity.
