by Ian Doescher
• Asides. An aside is dialogue that the audience can hear but that the characters other than the speaker do not. These speeches often explain a character’s motivations or inner thoughts or reveal background information to the audience. We might also describe this as a character “breaking the fourth wall,” that is, crossing the imaginary divide between stage and audience to address the spectators directly.
• Soliloquies. These monologues are similar to asides in that often they explain a character’s behavior or motivation. But they occur when the character is alone on stage and tend to be longer than asides.
• Anaphora. Anaphora is the repetition of a word or phrase at the start of successive lines, used for rhetorical effect. See Doc’s speech in Act I, scene 4, lines 236–240 (see this page), in which he starts several lines with “A picture.” (A similar speech appears in Shakespeare’s Henry the Sixth, Part 1, Act II, scene 4, lines 11–15.)
DOC A picture I would earnestly pursue,
A picture I would chase for thirty years,
A picture that was worth a thousand words,
A picture that gave unto me my aim,
My lifelong work: the flux capacitor.
• Extended metaphors. Shakespeare often draws out a metaphor in order to squeeze as much life from it as possible. One example is when Romeo and Juliet first meet and kiss in Act I, scene 5, of Romeo and Juliet; they make references to religion as an extended religious metaphor for their divine, nearly sacred love. Similarly, I used music as a metaphor in Act I, scene 2, lines 47–58 (see this page), in a conversation between Jennifer and Marty.
MARTY When shall I ever have a chance to play
Before an audience with will to hear?
JENNIFER Yet one rejection endeth not the world,
Nor doth it close the door on all thy dreams.
MARTY Belike musician shall not be my trade,
For with an audience I strike no chords.
JENNIFER And yet thy talent sings in ev’ry note.
The record thou hast made of thy sweet songs,
With which thou wilt audition once again,
Doth move me with its splendid melodies.
Send it, I bid thee, to a music shoppe
That will appreciate thine aptitude.
• Songs. Shakespeare’s plays are full of songs! Sometimes playful, sometimes mystical, sometimes sorrowful, songs appear at unexpected moments and often break the rhythm of iambic pentameter. William Shakespeare’s Get Thee Back to the Future includes multiple songs adapted from the film’s famous soundtrack, especially “The Power of Love” by Huey Lewis and the News (see this page).
MARTY [sings:] The pow’r of love, O ’tis a curious thing:
It changeth hawks into a gentle dove,
It maketh one man weep, another sing,
More than a feeling: ’tis the pow’r of love.
SONNET 1.21
Get Thee Back to the Internet…
Doc, Marty, and his Jennifer set sail,
Toward an unknown, futuristic time.
We brave globetrotters, though, here end our tale—
No more of act and scene, of verse and rhyme.
Be not dismay’d—there’s reason to rejoice!
Unto the Quirk Books website swiftly lead:
Discover further tales in Shakespeare’s voice,
Which after this book thou mayst gladly read!
And other types of tomes await there too,
All sorts of wondrous volumes there abide.
Wouldst read an Ian Doescher interview?
Upon our pages such shall be supplied.
Hie thee unto the website in a trice.
Thou need’st not roads—just use thy smart device.
quirkbooks.com/gettheebacktothefuture
About the Author
IAN DOESCHER is the New York Times best-selling author of William Shakespeare’s Star Wars and the Pop Shakespeare series. He lives in Portland, Oregon, with his family. Visit him online at IanDoescher.com.
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