The 3-Act Paradigm at Work: Shakespeare in Love

written by Marc Norman and Tom Stoppard

Shakespeare in Love, darling of the 1998 Oscars, is a Hollywood movie at its best: full of romance, big themes, and great wit. Naturally it follows 3-act structure very closely.

Structural Analysis

  1. Hook (0 min.)
    • A debtor is being tortured. He promises to pay off his debt with revenue from a new comedy by Shakespeare, Romeo and Ethel, the Pirate's Daughter.
  2. Complication (3 min.)
    • But Shakespeare has a writing block and is getting nothing done.
  3. Call to Action (27-9 min.)
    • After a "false" call to action, when Shakespeare takes Rosaline to be his muse (until he catches her in bed with someone else), Will meets Viola at a dance and falls for her. As a result of meeting her, he starts writing like crazy, even writing her a sonnet.
  4. Act One Plot Point (35 min.)
    • Rehearsals for Will's new play begin. A young actor, Thomas (who is Viola in disguise), impresses Will.
  5. Midpoint Plot Point (44-8 min.)
    • Will learns Thomas is Viola. They kiss, make love. "It's a new world," says Viola. But she must marry Wessex (37 min.).
  6. Act Two Plot Point (83 min.)
    • The theater is closed down and Thomas is revealed to be a woman, Viola. (See Notes).
  7. Climax and Resolution (87-113 min.)
    • A new stage is offered for Will's play, Romeo and Juliet, now a tragic tale about star-crossed lovers (i.e. Will and Viola). The man playing Juliet can't perform and, arriving after her marriage, Viola is a last-minute substitute. The play is a hit. The Queen, who knows all, lets a lady on stage pass. Will and Viola say their goodbyes, she leaves to Virginia with her husband, and Will begins Twelfth Night, naming a character Viola, his heroine for all time.

    Notes

    Shakespeare in Love uses a number of devices we find in the Bard's plays, such as disguises and mistaken identity. Marlowe's popularity and rivalry are used to great comic effect, then turned temporarily tragic when Marlowe is murdered and Will feels responsible. No doubt Stoppard was brought in to give this story much of the high wit that embellishes an already good story.

    Structurally there are several things especially interesting about this script. As noted above, there is a "false" call to action before the one that moves into the focus of the story. There also are competing "low points" for the end of act two: the revelation that Will is married, the death of Marlowe, the wedding of Viola. How do we know which is the "real" end of act two? I believe it's the closing of the play where Viola is revealed to be a woman because the play (not weddings or murders) provides the context for the resolution of the story. That is, re-opening the play (not Will's getting a divorce or Viola's avoiding marriage) is the context of the resolution, the stage upon which the lovers can express their love in its most poetic expression. The structure of the play thus has focus in its three acts: act one, pre-play to the beginning of rehearsal; act two, the rehearsal and closing; act three, re-opening and performance. The play provides the stage and context for the love affair.

    MODULE 4: SCREENWRIGHT: the craft of screenwriting

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