3 The head and the (play)house
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Laura Jayne Wright
Abstract
Chapter 3 offers a detailed study of the plays of Ben Jonson, who shows an interest in sound in the abstract as well as in the form of practical stage effects. His use of sound is shown to be contradictory, torn between classical precedent and popular demand, between the power of silence and the difficulty of controlling noise on the early modern stage. His paratextual material dwells on the listening audience; his poetry expresses an awareness of Aristotle’s and Horace’s sonic theories. Aware of his conscious use of sonic theory in the abstract, Chapter 3 nevertheless focuses on Jonson’s interest in the bodily production of sound. It follows work on the embodied voice as a sonic effect by both Bruce Smith and Gina Bloom, who separately consider the implications of ‘sounding through’, one possible etymology of the term ‘persona’ from the Latin per-sonare. For Smith, a human being is ‘through-sounding’, defined by the act of hearing the vibrations of external sounds; for Bloom, the term is more firmly associated with the masks of Latin and Greek drama that ‘helped amplify the actor’s voice via a resonating chamber in its forehead’. For Jonson, the body of an actor (the dramatic persona) and the body of an instrument are interchangeable means through which he can produce sound.
Abstract
Chapter 3 offers a detailed study of the plays of Ben Jonson, who shows an interest in sound in the abstract as well as in the form of practical stage effects. His use of sound is shown to be contradictory, torn between classical precedent and popular demand, between the power of silence and the difficulty of controlling noise on the early modern stage. His paratextual material dwells on the listening audience; his poetry expresses an awareness of Aristotle’s and Horace’s sonic theories. Aware of his conscious use of sonic theory in the abstract, Chapter 3 nevertheless focuses on Jonson’s interest in the bodily production of sound. It follows work on the embodied voice as a sonic effect by both Bruce Smith and Gina Bloom, who separately consider the implications of ‘sounding through’, one possible etymology of the term ‘persona’ from the Latin per-sonare. For Smith, a human being is ‘through-sounding’, defined by the act of hearing the vibrations of external sounds; for Bloom, the term is more firmly associated with the masks of Latin and Greek drama that ‘helped amplify the actor’s voice via a resonating chamber in its forehead’. For Jonson, the body of an actor (the dramatic persona) and the body of an instrument are interchangeable means through which he can produce sound.
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Front matter i
- Dedication v
- Contents vii
- General editors' foreword viii
- Acknowledgements ix
- Conventions xi
- Introduction 1
- 1 Soundgrams on stage 29
- 2 Hearing the night 73
- 3 The head and the (play)house 115
- 4 Unheard' and 'untold' 156
- Conclusion 200
- Select bibliography 208
- Index 224
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Front matter i
- Dedication v
- Contents vii
- General editors' foreword viii
- Acknowledgements ix
- Conventions xi
- Introduction 1
- 1 Soundgrams on stage 29
- 2 Hearing the night 73
- 3 The head and the (play)house 115
- 4 Unheard' and 'untold' 156
- Conclusion 200
- Select bibliography 208
- Index 224
