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PlayShakespeare.com: The Ultimate Free Shakespeare Resource
PlayShakespeare.com: The Ultimate Free Shakespeare Resource
  Sunday, 27 May 2007
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Many consider the clock striking to be an error. Was it really an anachronism?
16 years ago
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#1879
They may indeed have had a means to announce the time, though I doubt it was a mechanical clock with a striker - how about the cobbler's shoes and Brutus' book?
16 years ago
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#1880
I'm sure they didn't have mechanical striking clocks in ancient Rome, but that does not necessarily make it an error. Shakespeare could have included it deliberately for some purpose of his own, integral to the poetry.
16 years ago
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#1881
Shakespeare never really concerns himself with anachnronisms. His plays ostensibly take place in various time periods but his characters, their costumes, and their manners of speech are all very Elizabethan English.
16 years ago
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#1882
Def. an anachronism if the play is set in "Rome"- but then, JC is set in Elizabethan England, so maybe not.
16 years ago
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#1883
^ Exactly.
16 years ago
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#1884
Another eg is the 'book' - lost and then found, somewhat too early for the Romans who would have had a good roll in bed with them.
16 years ago
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#1885
See my post above ;o)
16 years ago
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#1886
Subject: another error-the "toll" of modern editing.

F1 Clocke strikes
Bru. Peace, count the Clocke.
Cas. The Clocke hath stricken three.
Treb. 'Tis time to part.
Cas. But it is doubtful yet,
Whether Caesar will come forth to day, or no:

modern "emendation"-- this one from a Yale edition.

clock strikes
Bru. Peace! Count the clock.
Cas. The clock hath stricken three.
Treb. 'Tis time to part.
Cas. But it is doubtful yet
Whether Caesar will come forth to-day or no;
Why would editors apparently so concerned with the rhythm of the meter be so willing to arrest it in such untimely (excuse) fashion? Clearly, time must be allowed for the clock--heh-heh--(I'm not trying for these...) But any clock that tolls would either have serious trouble completing its "lines", or else be under the influence of a serious dose of amphetamines. --or perhaps Cassius' prescience (evident about many other things that occur in the play) extends to knowing the time of day before the clock can finish its report. Occurrences like these are rife. Not only do they disturb the crest of the wave; they disallow for creative business and interesting blocking and character motivation. And don't get me started on the punctuation, spelling and capitalization. Yet, almost every production in the States uses a modern edition as a "script".
16 years ago
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#1887
An "emendation" to previous post.
Sorry:
Stupidly, I attempted to center the lines on the page and they were brought to the margin when I posted. The Folio lines are as they are, and I think it's evident where the line sharing would come in order to produce a false iambic pentameter arrangement. (Bru/Cas. share, and Cas. completes Treb.'s line.)
11 years ago
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#1888
Clare Asquith's excellent book Shadowplay deals with this issue, the difference in calendars between England and Catholic Europe is part of the secret Catholic code which underlies the plays. Also William Cecil was a great collector of clocks.
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