{"id":106,"date":"2016-03-09T12:55:23","date_gmt":"2016-03-09T12:55:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/shakespeare-and-his-sisters\/?page_id=106"},"modified":"2016-05-02T19:05:31","modified_gmt":"2016-05-02T19:05:31","slug":"hands-in-measure-for-measure","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/shakespeare-and-his-sisters\/hands-in-measure-for-measure\/","title":{"rendered":"Hands in Measure for Measure"},"content":{"rendered":"

Led by the Research Associate for Shakespeare and his Sisters on Site, Imogen Felstead.<\/p>\n

Imogen Felstead is a PhD student at Lancaster University researching the hand in early modern drama.<\/p>\n

\"hands\"<\/p>\n

Hands speak silently but commandingly. They can express emotion, be raised in supplication, clasped in prayer or clenched in anger. Hands can communicate our humanity or empathy as they make a physical contact. \u00a0By using two excerpts from\u00a0Measure for Measure<\/em>\u00a0the workshop was divided into two and split into pairs asked to introduce themselves by shaking hands with their partner.<\/p>\n

The first group\u00a0focused on and\u00a0acted the Duke’s handshake with Angelo in Act I Scene I:<\/p>\n

(I, i) <\/strong>Vincentio<\/strong><\/a>. <\/strong>My haste may not admit it;
\nNor need you, on mine honour, have to do
\nWith any scruple; your scope is as mine own
\nSo to enforce or qualify the laws
\nAs to your soul seems good. Give me your hand:
\nI’ll privily away. I love the people,
\nBut do not like to stage me to their eyes:
\nThrough it do well, I do not relish well
\nTheir loud applause and Aves vehement;
\nNor do I think the man of safe discretion
\nThat does affect it. Once more, fare you well.<\/p>\n

The second group focused on and acted the Duke’s request for Isabella’s hand in Act V Scene I:<\/p>\n

(V, i) <\/strong>Vincentio<\/strong><\/a>. <\/strong>O, your desert speaks loud; and I should wrong it,
\nTo lock it in the wards of covert bosom,
\nWhen it deserves, with characters of brass,
\nA forted residence ‘gainst the tooth of time
\nAnd razure of oblivion. Give me your hand,
\nAnd let the subject see, to make them know
\nThat outward courtesies would fain proclaim
\nFavours that keep within. Come, Escalus,
\nYou must walk by us on our other hand;
\nAnd good supporters are you.<\/p>\n

As my research explores the request \u2018give me your hand\u2019 is very common between men as a symbol of bonding, however, between men and women, the gesture is very different as women\u2019s hands are to be given by men.\u00a0By utilising the space of A Wing in Lancaster Castle the pairs acted out the scenes and were able to differentiate the masculine authoritative handshake between Angelo and the Duke in Act I Scene I in direct contrast to the act of betrothal in Act V Scene I. Using the haunting space of the prison to turn away into the cells or use the bars of the prison to shut themselves in with the Duke’s open hand in theirs, members of the workshop could direct their own ending to the play.<\/p>\n

\"DSC02108\"<\/p>\n

Imogen Felstead (i.felstead1@lancaster.ac.uk)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Led by the Research Associate for Shakespeare and his Sisters on Site, Imogen Felstead. Imogen Felstead is a PhD student at Lancaster University researching the hand in early modern drama. Hands speak silently but commandingly. They can express emotion, be raised in supplication, clasped in prayer or clenched in anger. Hands can communicate our humanity […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":462,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-106","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/P7IR4b-1I","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/shakespeare-and-his-sisters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/106","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/shakespeare-and-his-sisters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/shakespeare-and-his-sisters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/shakespeare-and-his-sisters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/462"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/shakespeare-and-his-sisters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=106"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/shakespeare-and-his-sisters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/106\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":152,"href":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/shakespeare-and-his-sisters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/106\/revisions\/152"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/shakespeare-and-his-sisters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=106"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}