Tools of Characterization

Characterization in Shakespeare in Love

Clothing

Shakespeare in Love won the Academy Award for Best Costume Design, (congratulations, Sandy Powell!) so you know its costumes are good. But they're not just there to tantalize your eyes. They show social status—or lack of it.

The Queen dominates the screen in dresses that seem to take up the whole widescreen frame. Viola dazzles in elegant dresses. Shakespeare's shirts are a little tatty—he isn't living in a gutter, but he can't afford a big wardrobe either. And the lowly street urchin does live in a gutter, so his clothes are appropriately filthy.

Location

Shakespeare in Love also won the Academy Award for Best Art Direction for its stunning sets. The theatre is a striking recreation of an Elizabethan playhouse, but for characterization purposes, look no further than the rooms of Will and Viola.

Will seems to sleep in a bunk bed in an apartment above the theatre, like a shopkeeper who sleeps above his shop. Meanwhile, the theatre itself could fit four or five times into Viola's massive mansion. The class difference is apparent the first time we get a wide shot of the de Lesseps estate. If you're watching the film in full-screen, they probably have to amputate a wing or two.

Physical Appearances

Our two leads— Joseph Fiennes and Gwyneth Paltrow—are gorgeous. By just blinking those big beautiful eyes, dozens of people fall in love. (And we're just talking about Fiennes here.)

The rest of the actors… not so much. The film diminishes the attractiveness of Colin Firth to set him up as the sleazy Wessex, giving him a gross goatee and weird pearl earring. And Judi Dench is made to look as scary as possible, to give the Queen an appropriately imposing feel.