Welcome to Celebrate Poe - this is episode 232 - We Are Such Stuff. Up to now, I have been taking a rather deep dive into some of Shakespeare’s works that deal with dreams But I am going to try and use some shorter passages for this episode - passages that are also among the most well known.
To start off with, I’d like to look at Calpurnia's Dream Monologue in (Act 2, Scene 2) of Julius Caesar.. Here, Caesar's wife, Calpurnia, describes a terrifying dream that foreshadows Caesar's assassination.
Caesar, I never stood on ceremonies,
Yet now they fright me. There is one within,
Besides the things that we have heard and seen,
Recounts most horrid sights seen by the watch.
A lioness hath whelped in the streets;
And graves have yawn'd, and yielded up their dead;
Fierce fiery warriors fought upon the clouds,
In ranks and squadrons and right form of war,
Which drizzled blood upon the Capitol;
The noise of battle hurtled in the air,
Horses did neigh, and dying men did groan,
And ghosts did shriek and squeal about the streets.
O Caesar! these things are beyond all use,
And I do fear them.
The imagery here is undeniably ominous. Caesar's statue spouting blood from "a hundred places" directly foreshadows his violent death by assassination. The Romans "washing their hands" in the blood symbolizes their potential complicity in the assassination plot.
Also, he dream reveals Calpurnia's loving and concerned nature. She prioritizes Caesar's safety and urges him to heed the bad omen.
It highlights Caesar's growing arrogance because he dismisses Calpurnia's fears and ultimately ignores the warning, showing a dangerous level of pride.
So you see, there’s a dramatic irony in Calpurnia's inability to sway Caesar. The audience understands the dream's significance, while Caesar remains blind to the danger.
The play leaves the interpretation of dreams open-ended. Is Calpurnia's dream a genuine premonition, or is it simply superstition? This ambiguity adds another layer to the drama.
Calpurnia's dream can be seen as a turning point in the play. By ignoring the warning, Caesar sets himself on a path to his inevitable demise.
And then there is fascinating speech by Prince Hal in Act 3, Scene 1 from Henry IV, Part 1. This dream speech reveals a lot about Hal's inner thoughts and ambitions.
“I will wear a garment all of blood, And stain my favors in a bloody mask, Which, washed away, shall scour my shame with it. No, this shall be my glory: for a shame, I’ll canvass thee in factions; for thy death, I’ll give thee all the treasury of my youth. For a shame, I’ll follow Hotspur through the world; And, for thy sake, I’ll tread the path of danger, And make a path of danger for thy sake. For a shame, I’ll make an everlasting monument, And make a monument for thy sake. For a shame, I’ll make a monument for thy sake.”
In this powerful soliloquy, Prince Hal reflects on his past behavior and vows to redeem himself by defeating Hotspur in battle.
Despite his outward appearance, the speech suggests a hidden depth to Hal. He contemplates the responsibilities of kingship and ponders earning respect on his own terms, not just through his birthright. This foreshadows his eventual transformation into the strong and decisive Henry V.
Many scholars feel this passage presents a definite sense of dramatic irony because the audience knows what Hal doesn't – that he will become king.
One of Shakespeare’s greatest texts if the Queen Mab speech from Romeo and Juliet, Act 1, Scene 4. The speech is between Romeo and the bawdy Mercurio - think two rowdy gang members - and starts with Mercutio speaking - the descriptive language in this is really cool!
MERCUTIO
O, then, I see Queen Mab hath been with you.
She is the fairies’ midwife, and she comes
In shape no bigger than an agate-stone
On the fore-finger of an alderman,
Drawn with a team of little atomies
Athwart men's noses as they lie asleep;
Her wagon-spokes made of long spinners’ legs,
The cover of the wings of grasshoppers,
The traces of the smallest spider's web,
The collars of the moonshine's wat'ry beams,
Her whip of cricket's bone; the lash of film;
Her waggoner a small grey-coated gnat,
Not half so big as a round little worm
Pricked from the lazy finger of a maid:
Her chariot is an empty hazelnut
Made by the joiner squirrel or old grub,
Time out o’ mind the fairies’ coachmakers.
And in this state she gallops night by night
Through lovers’ brains, and then they dream of love;
O’er courtiers’ knees, that dream on court'sies straight,
O’er lawyers’ fingers, who straight dream on fees,
O’er ladies ‘ lips, who straight on kisses dream,
Which oft the angry Mab with blisters plagues,
Because their breaths with sweetmeats tainted are:
Sometime she gallops o’er a courtier's nose,
And then dreams he of smelling out a suit;
And sometime comes she with a tithe-pig's tail
Tickling a parson's nose as a’ lies asleep,
Then dreams, he of another benefice:
Sometime she driveth o’er a soldier's neck,
And then dreams he of cutting foreign throats,
Of breaches, ambuscadoes, Spanish blades,
Of healths five-fathom deep; and then anon
Drums in his ear, at which he starts and wakes,
And being thus frighted swears a prayer or two
And sleeps again. This is that very Mab
That plaits the manes of horses in the night,
And bakes the elflocks in foul sluttish hairs,
Which once untangled, much misfortune bodes:
This is the hag, when maids lie on their backs,
That presses them and learns them first to bear,
Making them women of good carriage
This is she—
ROMEO
Peace, peace, Mercutio, peace!
Thou talk'st of nothing.
MERCUTIO
True, I talk of dreams,
Which are the children of an idle brain,
Begot of nothing but vain fantasy,
Which is as thin of substance as the air
And more inconstant than the wind, who wooes
Even now the frozen bosom of the north,
And, being anger'd, puffs away from thence,
Turning his face to the dew-dropping south.
There is a lot you can say about this account of a dream and how the author interweaves it with observations regarding society. The speech presents dreams as whimsical, fleeting experiences tailored to the dreamer's desires. Queen Mab zooms through sleepers' minds, conjuring visions based on their professions and preoccupations. Mercutio uses Queen Mab to poke fun at various social classes. Lawyers dream of fees, courtiers dream of advancement, and ladies dream of kisses. This lighthearted satire exposes the materialistic and self-serving nature of some societal pursuits. And finally, The fantastical imagery of Queen Mab's carriage, constructed from spiderwebs and insect parts, emphasizes the imaginative and dreamlike quality of the speech
Queen Mab's playful dream-giving contrasts with the more prophetic dreams found elsewhere in Shakespeare, like Calpurnia's in Julius Caesar.
I’d like to end this episode with some other famous lines by Shakespeare about dreams - that aren’t quite as long in length. Returning to Hamlet, the leading character delivers many famous lines regarding dreams - including -
There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.’
and A dream itself is but a shadow
The character of Puck concludes A Midsummer Night's Dream with If we shadows have offended, think but this and all is mended, that you have but slumber’d here, while these visions did appear. And this weak and idle theme, no more yielding but a dream
In The Tempest. Prospero says
We are all made of dreams, and our life stretches from sleep before birth to sleep after death.
And also in The Tempest, Prospero utters what is perhaps the most famous dream quote of all time.
We are such stuff as dreams are made of
.
Well, thank you for listening to this three part series about dreams in Shakespeare’s works - and please join Celebrate Poe for Episode 233 for a deep dive into some of Edgar Allan Poe’s dream works.
Sources include The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, Henry IV, Part 1, the Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet, The Tragedy of Hamlet, and The Tempest by William Shakespeare
Thank you for listening to Celebrate Poe.
