Shakespearean motifs in Winterset

SHAKESPEAR E AN MOTIFS IN MAXWELL ANDERSON’S PLAY WINTERSET
The work of William Shakespeare (1564 – 1616) has been a frequent source of inspiration
for many other playwrights and film makers. Rich in themes, plots and psychological diversity of
characters, his plays are literally a well of knowledge about human nature and relationships.
Maxwell Anderson (1888 – 1959), an acknowledged American playwright, wrote a political
play in the 1930’s called The Winterset (1935) which deals with universal philosophical issues such
as truth, faith, guilt, sacrifice, duty and justice. The play was inspired by a real case of two Italian
immigrants who were executed for their radical political beliefs. The critics often ompared it to a
Shakespearean tragedy, not only for its verse form but mostly for the allusions to some
Shakespearean plays.
The story of MIO, the son of BARTOLOMEO ROMAGNA, an Italian immigrant convicted of
murder he did not commit, who seeks to revenge his father’s death is comparable with the major
plot in HAMLET. Mio ressembles Hamlet not only in way of constantly seeking revenge but also by
his philosophical meditations, even though there is one thing in which the two tragic heroes are
not alike – the attitude towards their partners. Hamlet loves Ophelia but then he repudiates her.
Mio falls ultimately for MIRIAMNE, the fifteen-year-old daughter of RABBI ESDRAS, who is torn by
love for Mio and loyalty to her brother Garth. Her internal conflict reminds us of another famous
Shakespearian romantic heroine – Juliet – especially when Mio dies at the end in Miriamne’s arms.
Apart from Hamlet and Romeo and Juliet, there is also a parallel with another Shakespearean tragic
hero – King Lear. The JUDGE GAUNT who was responsible for sentencing Mio’s father ressembles
this character by his blindness, pride and insanity when he goes mad asking people on the street to
prove him that his verdict was right:
TROCK: You’re forgetting the judge. Where’s the damn judge ?
GARTH: What judge ?
TROCK: Read the morning papers. It says Judge Gaunt’s gone off his nut. He’s got that damn trial
on his mind, and been going round proving to everybody he was right all the time and the radicals
were guilty – stopping people in the street to prove it – and now he’s nuts entirely and nobody
knows where he is.
(Anderson 42)
Sources:
1) https://www.moodle.anglistika.upol.cz/file.php/230/Six_Modern_American_Plays.pdf
2) Adler, H. Jacob. “Shakespeare in “Winterset”.” Education Theatre Journal 6.3 (1954): 241 – 248.
Web. 26 Oct. 2013.