What could have inspired the greatest love story ever told? The film Shakespeare in Love, written by Tom Stoppard and Marc Norman, imaginatively answers this question. The little that is known of Shakespeare's actual life provides a patchy framework for the story. The gaps are filled in with fictional narratives played off of Shakespeare's written works -- Hamlet, Twelfth Night, Two Gentlemen of Verona, Romeo and Juliet -- and the history of London theatre. "A plague on both your houses!" an overly zealous puritan yells at random passers-by. In 1593, the theatre was seen as a lowly, filthy place. Accused thusly of spreading licentiousness as well as disease, the theatres were routinely closed down, citing one reason or the other. In the midst of the struggle we have Will Shakespeare; an emerging playwright suffering from a horrible case of writer's block. His newest work, "Romeo and Ethel, the Pirate's Daughter", suffers in a nascent stage. "It's all locked safe in here," Will assuredly taps his forehead. The problem is getting the story out.
"I have lost my gift," Will laments from a sprawled position on his Doctor's chaise lounge, "It's as if my quill is broken. As if the organ of the imagination has dried up. As if the proud tower of my genius has collapsed." Dr. Moth -- apothecary, seer, interpreter of dreams, and all around Elizabethan shrink -- finds this all very interesting. "And yet you tell me you lie with women?" The problem, as Dr. Moth sees it, lies not in his parched quill but in his parched love life. He prescribes a healthy dose of female affection to restore Will's gift. "Words will flow like a river," he promises. But who could possibly inspire the poetry of Romeo and Juliet to drip from his quill? Enter Viola.
"Dream on" is the well-meant advice offered to Will as he ogles the beautiful, wealthy, Viola De Lesseps. But he doesn't have to dream. Lucky for Will, Viola finds the greatest pleasures of life in poetry. "There's a lady knows your play by heart," Philip Henslow, bumbling patron of the arts and owner of the Rose theatre notices from afar. We spot Viola in the audience, more than just amused by a performance of Two Gentlemen of Verona -- she's enthralled. As her body arches dreamily forward, she silently mouths the words the actors speak. This is not just your ordinary theatre lover; this is someone that has made poetry, plays, the romantic focus of their life. And who could possibly occupy a more erotic position in this person's life than the creator of the plays himself?
Viola so ardently loves Shakespeare's words that she is not satisfied to merely mouth along, but to say them out-loud. She dreams to be an actress; a profession denied to her gender as a whole. To stand on the stage, she must stand in disguise. Mustachioed, breasts bound, and hair hidden, Viola infiltrates Shakespeare's all-male theatre company and wins the lead role in his play. Shakespeare is enamored with his new Romeo -- never has someone spoken his lines with such ardor!
Viola is in love with words. The daughter of a wealthy merchant, she is pursued dually for her physical and financial assets. The debt-ridden but high born Lord Wessex arranges for a marriage with Viola to restore his families wealth. "But why me?" Viola gasps upon hearing the news. "It was your eyes -- no, your lips" Wessex romantically explains before making a bold lunge to kiss her. Shakespeare admires the same qualities in Viola but unlike Wessex, is able to make a case in poetry: "Oh, Thomas, her lips! The early morning rose would wither on the branch, if it could feel envy!" Viola, still disguised as her male counter-part, is unmasked as she melts into Will's words and his arms. Unlike in Romeo and Juliet, the pesky pretense of marriage is side stepped and soon Viola and Will have fallen into bed together.
The plot thickens. Not only has Will bed the girl of his dreams, she is the lead actor in his play--a play which he has yet to finish. After their first night together, the lovers are reluctant to accept that a new day has broken. Will, passionately abdicating his commitment to a day's writing for Mr. Henslow, declares, "let him be damned for his pages!" Viola, realizing the thing she loves most about Will -- his writing -- is in danger of being lost, violently evicts him from the bed: "You would leave us players without a scene to read today?!" This is the turning point, when "Romeo and Ethel" become Romeo and Juliet, when his writing becomes not only good, but genius: when the bridge between desire and satisfaction can only be crossed with poetry.
Will has found his inspiration. As Viola voraciously devours each new scene Will devours her with kisses. Their life bleeds into the play and the play bleeds into their life. His quill salivates over every new page. When they are not rehearsing scenes, they are feeding each other lines in between lovemaking. Fantasy and reality merge as the story evolves from comedy to tragedy -- "A broad river divides my lovers -- family, duty, fate -- as unchangeable as nature." But the result will be the hit of the season.
In Shakespeare in Love we get a portrait of the genius not as some kind of untouchable demi-god, but a fool like the rest of us. He doesn't spend his days pouring over history books or attending fancy luncheons, he's elbow deep in life, battered by love, and putting it all on the stage.