Shakespeare Plot and Modern Counterparts

We’ve seen a lot of deception in the past few plays: As You Like It, Merchant of Venice, and Twelfth Night. When I looked at the basics of these plots, I realized these plays are similar to many movies today. There’s the double-identity plot in As You Like It, manipulative scheming in Merchant of Venice, and the imposter and cross-dressing of Twelfth Night. These elements are certainly not limited to Shakespearean theater, and if you think about it, they are probably present in some of your favorite movies.

For example, here are some of my favorite plot counterparts:

You’ve Got Mail (1998)

Like Rosalind, Joe Fox (Tom Hanks) acts as both Kathleen Kelly’s (Meg Ryan) best friend and object of her affection. She doesn’t realize that Joe Fox, who she actually hated at first but then befriended—is also the man she met online. By acting as Kathleen Kelly’s best friend, Joe Fox asserts her feelings for himself, the anonymous email buddy—just as Rosalind does. The big reveal of Joe Fox as her online love interest ends in the epic line: “I wanted it to be you” (sobs), as sweet as Orlando’s realization, “If there be truth in sight, you are my Rosalind” (5.4.108).

Mean Girls (2004)

If you really think about it, this classic is not far off from The Merchant of Venice. Just hear me out. Cady (Lohan) pretends to be friends with the most popular girls in school in order to get closer to Aaron and secure her friendship with Janis and Damien. In a similar way, Portia impersonates a judge to secure her finances (Bassanio’s debt) and her husband’s loyalty. In both situations, the impersonators seem to bite off more than they can chew: Portia ruins the life of Shylock by taking away his livelihood; Cady hurts Janis and Damien by becoming a mean girl herself. Portia nearly loses Bassanio’s loyalty when he says “I would lose all [wife and life], ay, sacrifice them all / … to deliver you [Antonio]” (4.1.281-2)—willing to get rid of his own wife for the sake of his best friend. Similarly, Cady loses her true friends when Janis says, “You’re a bitch. You’re a mean girl.” Luckily, both heroines win back the affection of their friends and lovers by revealing themselves as imposters. Cady reconciles with her friends by breaking the tiara and apologizing; while Portia succeeds in her scheme and asserts her success, “You are all amazed” (5.1.265).

Some Like It Hot (1959)

Like Viola and Sebastian, Joe (Tony Curtis) and Jerry (Jack Lemmon) are forced to flee from dire situations. The shipwreck of Twelfth Night is similar to the mob killings Joe and Jerry witness, leading them to run from the mafia with an all-girls singing group. Dressed in drag, like Viola, both men end up falling for their lead singer, Sugar (Marilyn Monroe). While Joe ends up with Sugar, Jerry has to ward off the millionaire Osgood who fell in love with him in drag. Most interesting about this relationship is Osgood’s response to Jerry: when Jerry says, “I’m a man!” Osgood responds, “Well, nobody’s perfect.” Osgood’s quasi-acceptance of the gender-reversal loosely parallels Orsino’s continuing habit of calling Viola “boy” (5.1.260). Overall, the tension between the characters in and out of drag is portrayed as comical and seemingly experimental. 

What does this say about Shakespeare? His works are indeed everlasting, and in part for their timeless drama and plot devices. If we look closely, we can see a lot of similarities between the works of old, like Shakespeare, and the new.

Cross-Dressing in Modern Media: Progressive or Harmful?

In several plays we have read this semester, it is clear that Shakespeare is addressing gender roles in his work.  In both As You Like It and The Merchant of Venice, female protagonists don the clothes of men in order to solve a dilemma that the male characters have failed to figure out.  As we have noted continually in class, Shakespeare complicates this further by acknowledging that these characters are played exclusively by men.  Yet, this is hardly the last time cross dressing has been addressed in storytelling.  Countless depictions of cross dressing have entered the video landscape since the medium began in the dawn of the twentieth century.  B films such as Glen or Glenda, Hollywood star driven films like Mrs. Doubtfire and Some Like it Hot, and even TV shows such as Portlandia present characters who wear clothes of the opposite sex.  But do these works attempt to tackle the problem of gender roles in society?  Or do they use this tactic exclusively for the sake of laughter?

While Shakespeare was forced to write for a royal audience and had to be mindful of making a political statement, his implementation of cross dressing characters such as Portia and Rosalind subtly craft an argument against restriction of hetero-normative gender roles.  In The Merchant of Venice, Portia dresses as Balthazar, a doctor of the law.  Without her help, Antonio would have been convicted and Bassanio, her husband, heartbroken.  In the majority of historic drama, females create problems, and males have solutions.  Odysseus in the Odyssey leaves an island filled with female sirens, just to name one example.  Here, however, Portia independently creates a plan to save Bassanio.  Yet, at the plays end, Bassanio eventually offers Balthazar his wedding ring, despite her telling him to never lose, sell or give it away.  He breaks the sanctity of his promise with his wife in order to save his best friend.  True, their marriage is restored at the end of the play-stabilizing a heteronormative state- but this can be attributed more to Shakespeare’s royal audience than the content of the play itself.​  Shakespeare presents cross-dressing not as a focal point for comedy, but as a vehicle for portraying the unfair inequality between gender roles.  Male’s, almost by default, are allowed more agency than females.  Only by wearing the wardrobe of a man can Rosalind achieve this independence.

However, modern media does not have royal audiences as an excuse.  In Some Like it Hot for example, a pair of jazz playing musicians cross dress in order to escape from mafia gangsters.  The humor is centered on the males acting in feminine ways: talking in high pitched voices, fretting over expensive luxury items, and wishing for the attention of men.  Soon, their objective becomes not only simple escape from members of the mafia, but of seducing Marilyn Monroe’s character (with her typical ditzy attitude) as well.  Lines such as “I wish I could just go out with you!  You’re so much better than most men!” reveal the misogyny present in the film.  The jazz musicians take advantage of their close proximity on women to spy, gain insight, and generally act creepy.  It’s harmful because it’s logic emphasizes that men act one way, and women act another.

While films such as Mrs. Doubtfire at least have some sort of motivation other than laughs (he wants to be around his children), it’s hard to argue that all of modern media is more progressive than that of the 1950’s in this regard.  White Chicks, while interesting when examining racial differences, offers the same blasé attitude of simple “laughs” while cross-dressing.  On the other hand, Portlandia is noteworthy in its handling of gender roles.  In some of the sketches, the leads (Fred Armisten and  Carrie Brownstein respectively) switch their gender to male and female respectively.  Yet, similar to Shakespeare’s male only cast playing females, it is never acknowledged that this is happening.  The humor is based off wordplay, satire, and other jokes.  The cross dressing is an aspect of it, but it’s not the focal point of the humor.  It is not making fun of it for a laugh.

Modern media’s cross dressing is a mixed bag.  Some of it is harmful and would probably have Shakespeare weeping soliloquy’s in his grave.  Yet, shows such as Portlandia provide interesting dynamics between genders, and at least provoke thought in the minds of Netflix bingers everywhere.