Generally speaking, the narrative can be summarized in language, but how about summarizing it in pictures? Sol Worth argues that visual media lack the code and grammar to produce specific meanings, while Wendy Steiner proposes that “the image is not a second way of telling the tale, but a way of evoking” and creating symbolic relation with the text in a systematic sequence (139).
In terms of the narrative in comics or in manga, it tends to be the second argument that the images are not simply plain and static pictures on the page;
nevertheless, they produce the readers’ own interpretations toward the images in unique ways. Comics or manga share the same features, such as images, texts, sequences of panels and stories. The deliberate sequences of juxtaposed pictorial images thus construct integrating narrative throughout the texts, intending to “convey information and/or to produce an aesthetic response in the viewer” (McCloud 9).
Consequently, from McCloud’s point of view, the sequential images can also be regarded as language, a “purely visual language” with the same structural properties and mental process as the verbalized symbolic language (2). No matter in words or in images, the combinations of verbal and visual elements create a kind of language which is more than two categories of narrative media that help readers “read” into everything.
The celebrated ‘God of Manga” Osamu Tezuka once said, “I don’t consider them pictures…in reality I’m not drawing, I’m writing a story with a unique type of
symbol” (Frederik L Schodt 1983, 25). This indicates the potential of images which can be regarded as another system of language conveying meaningful messages. Also, Fredirik Schodt (the first American who writes about manga) comments that “manga are merely another ‘language,’ and the panels and pages are but another type of
‘words’” (Schodt 1996, 26) that constructs the sequence of the story and provides readers with different parts of narrative presentation.
Referring to Shakespearean manga, it is a blend of textual words (dialogues between characters or words creating special effects) and visual images (the setting, portrait of characters, or some striking actions) that completes the whole manga. Also, if the mangaka applies the full text, it will ignore the nature of manga which
emphasizes its graphical depiction and narration. Via the interplay of visual art with textual poetry, it can avoid being heavily-worded and let the audience pay attention to frames, panels, word balloons, and captions because the main point is to “show” and not to “tell” (Hayley 269), and the focus is that “how meaning is conveyed to the reader in the content of sequential images” (Cohn 194).
However, the style of reading Shakespeare plays from the perspective of graphic narratives leads to a paradoxical argument whether Shakespearean manga is
“Shakespearean” enough or not; that is, is the manga true to the plots and tropes of the original play? Or does the manga transform the contents and motives of the play, and simply apply the characters and setting borrowd from the original text?
Lanier observes that when we re-contextualize Shakespearean narratives in a new place or time, “Shakespeare thereby becomes a collection of narratives highly mobile from context to context, verbal style to style, genre to genre, media platform to platform” (107). In addition, he argues that the authority of the text within the
“graphic performance” is reconfigured. The metaphor or styling option is not the primary source of narrative as that of the original plays. In other words, Shakespeare in graphics has undergone the process of converting Shakespeare’s words into visual form and they represented a curious re-textualization of Shakespeare (111).
On the other hand, Ryan suggests that narrative is “a type of meaning that
transcends particular media” (13), and we might understand this as a kind of
consolidating the mobility of Shakespearean narrative across different contexts, and the relationship between the text and the image. As a result, we should focus on the impact on Shakespearean adaptations through the lens of new age by establishing a connection between the literary works and readers’ experiences. Also, we should consider how Shakespeare’s works are reconstructed or reinterpreted through different narrative media with times.
Chapter Two
Manga Shakespeare: Hamlet (2007) and Romeo and Juliet (2007)
Manga is a visual medium used for popular communication and education, increasingly popular in the West. Representing Shakespeare in the form of manga is more than rearranging the play with graphics but translating words and emotions into pictures which may not be able to be conveyed through actors on the stage or a silver screen.
The rise of Shakespeare in graphics in the West can be traced back to two principal periods: the 1950s and the late 1980s to early 1990s. In the 1950s, the main publication of Shakespearean comics was from Classics Illustrated, beginning its publication in 1941, known for its adaptations of literary classics, such as The
Odyssey, Hamlet, Moby Dick, and Gulliver’s Travels. Later, in the late 1980s and
early 1990s, the reemergence of adaptations of the plays targeted more on the “young adult males, appropriation of the plays, and man into the ongoing narratives, such asThe Sandman (Wetmore 172).
Moreover, Shakespearean manga or comics provides “a bridge between the world of performance and linear text, a way of bringing Shakespeare to life in a visual way of new audience” (Hayley 269). As Douglas Lanier points out in “Recent
Shakespeare Adaptation and the Mutations of Cultural Capital,” he lists three different English-language Shakespeare series in manga style that have been published so far:
the Manga Shakespeare series (14 titles), Shakespeare: The Manga Edition (4 titles), and Puffin Graphics (1 title) (109). The publication of graphic Shakespeare shows the promotion of some Shakespearean plays to the young generation and popular youth culture.
In this thesis, among other editions, I choose Manga Shakespeare’s edition as my primary texts. Manga Shakespeare is published by SelfMadeHero, a British manga and graphic novel publisher founded in 2007. From 2007 to 2009, SelfMadeHero released fourteen Shakespearean manga adaptations with selected texts (about 200 pages) as Manga Shakespeare series, endeavoring to “breathe new life into classics”
(Hayley 267). It is a series of critically acclaimed books featuring illustrations with the original text of Shakespeare and the editorial team consists of a group of Shakespeare scholars and educational editors.
Furthermore, the settings and character designs in Manga Shakespeare series range from samurai, cyborgs, ninjas, and Japanese pop fashion. Manga Shakespeare adds visual and emotional interest, and “demonstrate[s] the format’s capacity to handle complex, serious material of Shakespearean plays.” Also, “Manga
Shakespeare becomes a means to ‘universalize’ the form for a broader audience,
showing manga’s potential power and value as a global [lingua franca]” (Lanier 112).In addition to the advantages of Manga Shakespeare’s series mentioned above, another reason why I choose Manga Shakespeare’s edition is because of its drawing style which is influenced by Japan to a certain degree and novelty of reshaping Shakespeare’s plays with the employment of cyber-modern and Japanese elements.
Also, contrary to the typical format of Japanese manga which is from right to left, the panel layout of Manga Shakespeare series is from left to right as that of Western comics, enabling the readers (most are westerners) to read easily.
The art and form of Manga Shakespeare are clear and engaging with meaningful and stylistic graphics that help readers get closer to Shakespeare’s plays and explore the ideas between lines and pictures. In addition, with the opening color pages of characters and plot summary, readers can follow the story instantly. The following
paragraph is a short introduction to Manga Shakespeare’s edition of Hamlet and
Romeo and Juliet (specifically illustrated by Emma Vieceli and Sonia Leong), and the
textual analysis of two manga adaptations will be explored in detail in the following sections.Unlike the traditional 16th century setting in the original play, resituating the setting in the year 2107, Emma Vieceli’s Hamlet is like a science fiction with cyberspace and futuristic elements4. For instance, characters are equipped with high-tech objects in their bodies to communicate and send messages, and their attires are similar to those in Star Wars. This cyber-world is in a dread of war, and humans have been facing with severe global climate change, so that Prince Hamlet of Denmark has returned home to face anarchy and an uncertain future.
To further inspect Vieceli’s Hamlet, I will dwell on four important scenes in the original text: the ghost scene, the Mousetrap scene, the graveyard scene, and the duel scene. Following the patterns and structures of manga, we can see how manga edition represents these scenes in graphic narration with its strong comparison of color, background pictures, and bolded words to show character’s emotion and the climax of plots.
In the ghost scene, I probe into the significance of the ghost in the manga and Hamlet’s belief in the ghost. In the mousetrap scene, I look into how Hamlet in two adaptations employs different approaches to entrap Claudius that lead to different consequences. The graveyard scene is the turning point when Hamlet begins to contemplate on the meaning of death and stops hesitating. At last, the duel scene depicts the final ending of the characters and portrays whether Hamlet walks into the
4 Emma Vieceli is a key member of the UK manga collective Sweatdrop Studios. She is a keen promoter of the UK manga and anime scene and enjoys offering workshops and seminars on creating manga as well as being a freelance illustrator and mangaka. (experts from Manga Shakespeare’s website: http://www.mangashakespeare.com/)
history or not. Aside from the discussions on the four scenes, Hamlet’s mental struggles will also be considered, such as his pretended madness and feeling of uncertainty and loss.
2.1 Manga Shakespeare: Hamlet (2007)
An Analysis of Four Vital Scenes: The Ghost Scene, the Mousetrap Scene, the Graveyard Scene, and the Duel Scene
2.1.1 The Ghost Scene
In Shakespeare’s play, the ghost scene happens in the very beginning and follows up in the subsequent scenes. The continuous appearances of the ghost imply its
importance to the whole play and its influence on Hamlet. Of course the authenticity of the ghost is in doubt, so he keeps appearing in the play and reminds Hamlet that he should not forget his father’s death.
Similarly, in Vieceli’s Hamlet, the opening scene starts with the soldiers holding the lights to take turns for the observant watch, pointing out the technological
background of the story. Such introduction provides two effects toward the
supernatural appearance of the ghost. One is the unacceptable statement of the illusion which is not correctly proved by science and technology. The other is the belief and awe in the power of supernatural phenomenon which science and technology cannot explain. These two effects toward the illusion can be perceived in Horatio’s encounter with the ghost.
At first, Horatio does not believe in the ghost and considers it only soldiers’
fantasy. However, when Horatio sees the ghost appearing in a big cloak and military armor with his beaver up, he is totally stunned, especially when he sees the
appearance of the ghost looks like the late King Hamlet. The ghost has a stern face
with long hair and beard blowing violently in the sky. The picture of the ghost is set in the middle across two pages, while Horatio and other soldiers only appear within small panels, highlighting the importance and overwhelming power of the
supernatural illusion.
In the original text, when Horatio speaks to the ghost for the first time, he questions if the ghost is old King Hamlet:
What art thou that usurp’st this time of night, Together with that fair and warlike form In which the majesty of buried Denmark
Did sometimes march? By heaven, I charge thee speak. (1.1.44-47) Nevertheless, in Emma Vieceli’s manga version, instead of questioning the ghost from its resemblance and authenticity, the way Horatio questions the ghost seems to believe that the ghost is the late King who has something to convey: “If thou hast any sound, or use of voice, / Speak to me. / If thou art privy to thy country’s fate […]”
(1.1.109-14; Vieceli 6). Even if Horatio tries hard to ask the ghost to speak to him, the ghost disappears like a mist dissipating into the air.
Before Hamlet sees the ghost of his late father, there are several pages to
delineate his sadness toward his father’s death under strict surveillance of monitors in the palace. For instance, after Hamlet finishes the conversation between Claudius and Gertrude, he walks along the hallway accompanied with a monitor moving around him. Simultaneously, the images of Hamlet are instantly projected on the screens as Hamlet is monitored. When Hamlet sees his images on the screens, he can no longer curb his rage. He shouts uncontrollably with fists and knees down: “Frailty, thy name is woman” (1.2.146).
Basically, what Hamlet assumes in the above quote can be related to his mother,
Gertrude’s overhasty marriage to his uncle after his father’s death. Here, I suggest that the word “frality” both refers to Gertrude and Hamlet himself. On the one hand, Hamlet blames his mother’s overhasty marriage and betrayal to his father. On the other hand, he resents his lack of power to challenge his uncle, like a weak woman who has no authority to strike back. Interestingly, Hamlet is portrayed as a bishōnen5 (a beautiful boy) with feminine appearance and emotions, and this depiction makes Hamlet look less masculine but more feminine in the manga, like a woman rather than a man.
Later on, when Horatio tells Hamlet that he sees the ghost of his late father, at first, Hamlet considers it a joke, and becomes furious at Horatio because he thinks that Horatio is teasing him for his sorrow and love for his dead father. After Horatio’s explanation, Hamlet believes him and wants to see the ghost himself. When Hamlet begins his monologue after Horatio leaves, the drawing of Hamlet’s half face with one determined eye is filled within one page without frames, and the lines are posited randomly in proper order. He says: “My father’s spirit? / All is not well [. . .] / Foul deeds will rise [. . .] / Though all the earth o’erwhelm them to men’s eyes”
(1.2.254-57; Vieceli 25).
Peculiarly, the shape of the words “foul deeds” are in bold and larger than other words, indicating something evil is about to come. If we go back to the original text in Act 1 Scene 2, we can notice that even if some lines are omitted in the manga, the picture still echoes to those missing lines. The original lines are as below:
5 Catering to young Japanese women’s interest in male homosexuality, representations of gay men are quite common in Japanese manga, anime, and other media products. The trend of male-male love, particularly the love between beautiful boys, began in the early 1970s. Generally speaking, these gay men are usually portrayed as bishōnen (beautiful boys) with feminine appearance and emotions and form a romantic relationship with another handsome man (boy-love, the so-called shōnen-ai). Also, these beautiful boys share something in common: “they are always beautiful, slender, depicted with the big eyes and flowing hair that often characterizes female figures” of ambiguous gender (McLelland 82).
Most beautiful boys are portrayed with “caring and enduring” characteristics that usually create struggling atmosphere or climax in the manga, enabling the readers (most are female readers) to identify with them.
HAMLET. My father’s spirit in arms! All is not well.
I doubt some foul play. Would the night were come.
Till then, sit still, my soul. Foul deeds will rise,
Though all the earth o’erwhelm them, to men’s eyes. (1.2.254-57) In manga, Hamlet’s determined eyes reveal his calmness and resolution to disclose the so-called foul deeds, and he believes that he will see the truth through his eyes, too.
At almost the same time in the midnight, the ghost suddenly appears in front of them, beckoning Hamlet. Even though Hamlet is starkly astonished, he jumps down from the tower and follows the ghost into the gloomy woods without hesitation.
In preference to start from his recent suffering, the ghost directly reveals its identity to Hamlet and narrates how he was murdered by Claudius6: “I am thy father’s spirit. If thou didst ever thy dear father love. . . Revenge his foul and most unnatural murder. Now, Hamlet, hear. It’s given out that, sleeping in mine orchard, a serpent stung me. . . But know. . . The serpent that did sting thy father’s life now wears his crown. . . Won to his shameful lust the will of my most seeming-virtuous queen”
(Vieceli 37).
When the ghost delivers his speech, the picture of a wicked serpent moves closely to the old King’s ear with its tongue widely opening. Besides, at the bottom of the same page, there are two panels. One is Hamlet’s shocked face with curved word balloon written with “mine uncle?” in bold shape (1.5.41). The curved word balloon not only shows Hamlet’s surprising astonishment but also prompts the readers to imagine how Hamlet articulates the words “mine uncle” from his trembling voice.
The other is an unknown black paper-cut silhouette of the murderer who smiles widely.
6 The ghost’s statements are abridged and summarized from the Ghost’s lines in Act 1 Scene 4, lines 9-28 and lines 34-46.
Then, turning to the next page, the panel shifts from the late king’s back to his front, and thus enabling the readers to investigate more clearly how the old King is murdered. The old King sleeps peacefully in the orchard when the black paper-cut silhouette of the murderer drops the poisoned fluid from a syringe. Beneath this picture shows the pale face of the ghost who seems to talk painfully with Hamlet.
Finally, delineated in two small panels, as the ghost’s figure becomes obscure, like smoke circumpassing Hamlet, he reaches out one of his hands to touch Hamlet’s cheek and says goodbye to him, revealing the intimate relationship between father and son. At the same page next to the two small panels, with the thundering background to accentuate his fury and his determination to seek revenge, Hamlet holds his fists tightly with tears rolling down from his face. He roars: “So, uncle, there you are [. . .]
/ I have sworn it!” (1.5.111-13; Vieceli 39).
From these two pages, we can observe that even if Hamlet firmly believes in the ghost’s story, the illustrator does not directly draw the picture of Claudius’s face, while the ghost says the murderer is Claudius. Instead, what the readers can see is only a black paper-cut silhouette of the murderer. In other words, the identity of the murderer is still in doubt. Rather than leading the readers to consider Claudius as the murderer like Hamlet does, the illustrator gives the readers more chances to question the authenticity of the ghost and guess who the real murderer is.
The last time the ghost shows up in Queen Gertrude’s bedchamber. After Hamlet slays Polonius, he looks indifferently at the dead and kneels down in front of Gertrude.
He projects the images of the old King and Claudius, trying to invoke Gertrude’s conscience and faithfulness for his father. As Hamlet becomes more and more agitated, the ghost suddenly appears and inquires Hamlet to speak to Gertrude and comfort her.
Even though the ghost is only presented in two small panels, we can notice that it is