by Ian Doescher
GOLD FIVE Stay thou on target!
GOLD LEAD. —Wretch, pray give me room!
[Darth Vader shoots. Explosion.
Gold Leader dies.
GOLD FIVE Gold Five doth this ill news report: we have
Lost Dutch and Tiree both.
RED LEAD. —In troth, I hear!
Stay ready.
GOLD FIVE —From behind they do attack!
[Darth Vader shoots. Explosion. Gold Five dies.
LUKE [aside:] So much of desolation and of death.
Is this Rebellion worth the lives here lost?
Yet I would gladly my life give to it—
Thus reason not the need, my troubl’d soul.
CHORUS Whilst all the rebels mourn the loss of life,
Upon the Death Star tensions have been prov’d.
The rebels’ plan hath rear’d the threat of strife,
But Gov’nor Tarkin stands assur’d, unmov’d.
Enter GRAND MOFF TARKIN with CHIEF OFFICER aside, in Death Star.
CH. OFFICER The rebels’ sharp attack hath been well prob’d
And now it doth appear a danger looms.
I do confess my love to thee, good Sir,
And would my very life lay down for thee.
Wouldst thou that I make ready thine own ship,
That thou may’st flee should fighting turn to death?
TARKIN Retreat whilst we do win the day? You jest!
Forsooth, I stand unmovèd like a rock.
[Exeunt Grand Moff Tarkin and Chief Officer.
COMPUTER The Death Star shall within three minutes be
Upon the rebel base.
RED LEAD. —Red boys, ’tis I,
Thy tried and true Red Leader. We shall meet
Upon the mark at six-point-one. Make haste!
WEDGE Red Two doth stand obedi’nt at thy side.
BIGGS Red Three doth come.
DODONNA —Red Leader, hear me now.
It is Base One who speaks to thee. Keep half
Thy fighters out of range upon thy next
Attempt. If one group sadly falls, belike
The other shall succeed: so shall we make
The Empire take our fleet by halves, not wholes.
RED LEAD. I hear and understand, good Sir. Now Luke,
Take thou Red Two and Three with thee and wait
Upon my signal ere thou mak’st thy run.
Now hence we go an Empire for to slay!
CHORUS Red Leader, with the others, Twelve and Ten,
Make their descent into the trench with speed.
Their brav’ry, cunning, and their acumen
May give these men the victory they need.
RED TEN Dost thou agree, it should be in our sights?
RED LEAD. Pray keep thine eyes a’watching for those ships
That have our comrades cruelly destroy’d!
RED TEN The interference hath become too wide.
Red Five, canst thou yet see them where thou standst?
LUKE I see no ships, but—wait. Aye, they approach!
They come at point-three-five.
RED TEN —I see them now.
RED LEAD. My ship hath come in range of that sly port,
The port that hath evaded us so far.
But now, aye now, the target shall be mine.
If ye, good friends, may hold them there awhile,
I shall this battle end with one swift stroke!
VADER Close in, my lads—we three shall ride as one.
RED LEAD. Heigh, almost there.
[Darth Vader shoots. Explosion. Red Twelve dies.
RED TEN —Pray fire, else we die too!
RED LEAD. Heigh, almost there.
RED TEN —They set upon my back!
I can no more withstand their quick attack.
[Darth Vader shoots. Explosion. Red Ten dies.
RED LEAD. I shoot, I shoot! For rebels’ glory, shoot!
The blast hath left the shaft!
RED NINE —Hast hit? Hast hit?
Is vict’ry yet within our sights?
RED LEAD. —Alas,
My finest effort I have giv’n, and yet,
The blast falls errant and doth miss the mark.
’Tis but an impact on the surface. Pooh!
LUKE Red Leader, be thou not dismay’d. We shall
Protect thee even now. Turn thou toward
The point-oh-five and we shall cover thee.
RED LEAD. Nay, save me not! My engine hath been crush’d
And death is welcome now. Instead, dear Luke,
Good Wedge, brave Biggs, be thou preparèd for
Thy run, for thou art now our only hope!
[Darth Vader shoots. Explosion. Red Leader dies.
COMPUTER The Death Star now in but a minute shall
Upon the rebel base on Yavin come.
LUKE Once more unto the trench, dear friends, once more!
The death of our dear friends we see today,
And by my troth their souls shall be aveng’d!
I was not angry since I came to space
Until this instant! Strike at us and thou
Shalt know the power of the Force, thou brute,
Thou Empire full of hate and evil deeds.
Aye, pluck us down and we shall rise again—
Our cause is not alone for these good men
Who here were kill’d today. Our cause is not
Alone for those on Alderaan who died.
Our cause is for the truth, for righteousness,
For anyone who e’er oppression knew.
’Tis not rebellion for the sake of one,
’Tis not a cause to serve a priv’leg’d few—
This moment shall resound in history
For ev’ry person who would freedom know!
So Biggs, stand with me now, and be my aide,
And Wedge, fly at my side to lead the charge—
We three, we happy three, we band of brothers,
Shall fly unto the trench with throttles full!
WEDGE We stand with thee, a’ready for the fight.
BIGGS But Luke, at that quick pace shalt thou escape
Before thy speedy ship is blown in twain?
LUKE ’Twill be like Beggars Canyon back at home.
CHORUS The youth descend at once into the trench
Wherein their fates shall surely written be.
Darth Vader, close behind, prepares to quench
His thirst upon the blood of martyrs three.
BIGGS We shall stand fast at hand to give thee help.
WEDGE My scope doth show the tower, but the port
Appeareth not. How certain art thou, Luke,
That our computers each can hit the mark?
LUKE Good pilot, watch thyself! Increase to full.
WEDGE I prithee, what shall we do ’bout the tow’r?
LUKE Give thou unto the enemy thy thoughts,
But let the tow’r be my concern alone.
[To R2-D2:] Now R2, fix the stabilizer that
Hath once more come unhing’d. Pray, fix it fast!
R2-D2 [aside:] Now shall I be not fool, but fix!
[To Luke:] Beep, squeak!
WEDGE The fighters are behind us, at point-three.
They come upon my rear too fast. Alack!
I have been hit, and must depart, my friends.
LUKE Aye, get thee clear, good Wedge. Thou shalt not help
Our cause if thy ship flyeth not. Anon!
And live to fight another day with me.
WEDGE With all my heart, I truly wish thee well.
[Exit Wedge.
VADER Aye, let him go—the leader we pursue!
BIGGS Make haste, O Luke. Methinks they do approach
E’en faster than before. I shall not hold
Them back for long!
LUKE —Now, R2, straight increase
The pow’r.
R2-D2 —Beep, whee.
BIGGS —Make haste, Luke. O, alas!<
br />
[Darth Vader shoots. Explosion. Biggs dies.
LUKE That ever I should see this day, O woe!
My childhood friend from Tatooine now slain
Protecting me from harm. Thou ow’dst a life—
Dear Biggs, sweet Biggs—and thou hast paid. And now
’Tis down to me: the boy turn’d warrior.
Be still, my errant heart, and seek the Force.
VADER The leader now is mine.
R2-D2 —Meep, beep.
C-3PO —Take care
Sweet R2-D2! Come thou back, I pray!
CHORUS Luke’s ship comes closer to the little port
While Vader and his crew draw all too near.
Young Luke to his computer doth resort
Until he hears the voice speak in his ear.
Enter GHOST OF OBI-WAN KENOBI.
GHOST O use the Force, dear Luke. Let go and trust!
VADER I sense the Force in this one here, almost
As if I did my younger self espy.
GHOST I prithee, trust me, Luke. All shall be well.
LUKE The hearing of these words is like a balm
Unto my soul. So shall I trust the Force
And not this fallible computer here.
[Luke turns off computer.
COMPUTER What is this, Luke? Thy targeting machine
Hath been turn’d off. What can be wrong? Pray tell!
LUKE Nay, all is well. Fear not, good friends.
R2-D2 —Beep, squeak.
[Darth Vader shoots. R2-D2 is hit.
Ahh hoo!
LUKE —Small R2-D2 hath been lost!
COMPUTER The Death Star now has come within our range.
TARKIN Commander, thou may’st fire when thou hast made
All goodly preparation thereunto.
VADER Now face thy death, thou rebel.
PILOT —Sir, take heed!
CHORUS Now in a trice brave Han is on the scene!
The smuggler hath return’d on errand kind.
With sly approach he makes his way unseen
And slays th’Imperi’l pilots from behind.
[Enter Han Solo with Chewbacca, firing on
Darth Vader and Imperial Pilots. Explosion.
Imperial Pilots 1 and 2 die.
VADER But how?—
[Darth Vader exits in confusion, his ship spinning out of control.
HAN —Thy path is clear, young Luke. Now do
Thy deed and let us all make way back home.
LUKE I stretch my feelings out and use the Force,
And on the instant seems the porthole vast—
Not small or difficult to strike, but large.
The ship is arm’d, and now I take the chance—
The blast’s away, and with it all our hopes!
[Luke shoots and hits the target.
CHORUS The laser hits its mark with certain aim,
And as the Death Star arms to strike the base
The chain reaction sets the orb aflame:
The Death Star hath exploded into space.
HAN Thy timely blast hath hit the perfect mark—
One in a million was thy Force-fill’d shot!
GHOST Remember me, O Luke, remember me,
And ever shall the Force remain with thee.
[Exeunt.
SCENE 6.
The rebel base on Yavin IV.
Enter LUKE SKYWALKER from ship, with PRINCESS LEIA and various rebels.
REBELS Hurrah!
LUKE —O Leia!
LEIA —Luke! Thou didst succeed!
Enter HAN SOLO.
HAN Heigh-ho!
LUKE —Good friend! I knew thou wouldst return.
I knew thou must, ’twas in thy spirit good.
HAN Nay, should a pirate let another take
His own reward?
LEIA —Thou gentle soul, I knew
Thou wert of sterner stuff than money made.
Enter R2-D2, injured, and C-3PO.
C-3PO O R2, R2, canst thou hear me? Speak!
Canst thou repair him? Say thou canst, I beg!
If any of my parts may be of use,
Pray say the word!
LUKE —Fear not, he’ll be made whole.
REBEL 2 We shall at once begin our best repair.
[Exeunt C-3PO with R2-D2 and Rebel Leader 2.
LUKE Now ends a noble quest, a battle won.
Now hath a true adventure reach’d its goal.
Now hath the good Rebellion fac’d its foe
And triumph’d though it seem’d that all was lost.
LEIA Along the way, dear friends were lost and made,
Along the way, strange creatures have we found.
The stories have been told, the villains met,
The griefs and exultations all play’d out.
HAN A chance for new beginnings we have made,
Directing hearts unto the rebels’ cause.
These are the star wars we have fought and won—
For now our battles and our scenes are done.
Enter CHORUS as epilogue.
CHORUS Now dawns a new day with the sun of Peace,
The day whereon the rebels welcome Fate.
For from their enemies they find release
And now with mirth they come to celebrate.
Young Luke, strong in the Force, doth walk beside
The noble Han, whose valor won the day.
The rebels form an aisle and rise with pride,
As Luke and Han march forth in grand display.
Now Leia smiles and gives them their reward,
As each bows low with hope and joy sincere.
C-3PO and R2, now restor’d,
Look on as brave Chewbacca sounds the cheer.
There let our heroes rest free from attack,
Till darkness rise and Empire striketh back.
[Exeunt omnes.
END.
AFTERWORD.
William Shakespeare’s Star Wars.
At first glance, the title seems absurd.
But there’s a surprising and very real connection between George Lucas’s cinematic masterpiece and the thirty-seven (give or take) plays of William Shakespeare. That connection is a man named Joseph Campbell, author of the landmark book The Hero with a Thousand Faces.
Campbell was famous for his pioneering work as a mythologist. He studied legends and myths from throughout world history to identify the recurring elements—or archetypes—that power all great storytelling. Through his research, Campbell discovered that certain archetypes appeared again and again in narratives separated by hundreds of years, from ancient Greek mythologies to classic Hollywood westerns. Naturally, the plays of William Shakespeare were an important source for Campbell’s scholarship, with brooding prince Hamlet among his cadre of archetypal heroes.
George Lucas was among the first filmmakers to consciously apply Campbell’s scholarship to motion pictures. “In reading The Hero with a Thousand Faces,” he told Campbell’s biographers, “I began to realize that my first draft of Star Wars was following classic motifs … so I modified my next draft according to what I’d been learning about classical motifs and made it a little bit more consistent.”
To put it more simply, Campbell studied Shakespeare to produce The Hero with a Thousand Faces, and Lucas studied Campbell to produce Star Wars. So it’s not at all surprising that the Star Wars saga features archetypal characters and relationships similar to those found in Shakespearean drama. The complicated parent/child relationship of Darth Vader/Luke Skywalker (and the mentor/student relationship of Obi-Wan Kenobi/Luke Skywalker) recalls plays like Henry IV Parts 1 and 2, The Tempest, and Hamlet. Like Sith lords, many of Shakespeare’s villains are easily identifiable and almost entirely evil, with notable baddies including Iago (Othello), Edmund (King Lear), and Don John (Much Ado about Nothing). Still others, like Darth Vader, are more conflicted and complex in their malevolence: Hamlet’s Claudius and the band of conspirators in Julius
Caesar. Destiny and fate are key themes of Star Wars, as they are in Romeo and Juliet, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and Macbeth.
Shakespeare’s plays and Star Wars also feature a host of colorful supporting players. C-3PO and R2-D2 observe and comment on the action like Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. Chewbacca is as untamable as Caliban. Lando is as smooth and self-interested (at first) as Brutus. Obi-Wan Kenobi is like a wise Prospero (before death) or a haunting King Hamlet (after). Jabba the Hutt enjoys a diet worthy of Falstaff. Boba Fett is like Richard III’s murderers 1, 2, and 3, but with a jetpack and blaster instead of a knife. Yoda’s speech is as backward as Dogberry’s but as wise as Polonius’s.
The works of Shakespeare and the Star Wars movies also share a comparable level of popularity and relevance. All well-rounded postmodern cultural connoisseurs are expected to have at least passing familiarity with both sets of stories, and both have percolated into our everyday language: you’re as likely to hear one of Shakespeare’s enduring phrases (“good riddance,” “faint-hearted,” “elbow room,” and many others) as an encouragement to “use the force.” If Star Wars were an actual Shakespearean play, we would most likely classify it as a fantasy, in the vein of The Tempest. However, it also has elements of a history (the story of the Galactic Empire with all the intrigue of Richard III), a comedy (all’s well that ends well, after all), or, taken as a six-movie arc, the Tragedy of Anakin Skywalker.
I had the idea for William Shakespeare’s Star Wars after watching the original trilogy for the millionth time and (soon afterward) attending four shows at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. I’d already committed every scene and speech of the Star Wars saga to memory, but the Shakespeare festival introduced me to something new: The Very Merry Wives of Windsor, Iowa, an adaptation by Alison Carey of the classic comedy set in contemporary Iowa among a populace happily embracing gay marriage. I saw the appeal of applying the Shakespearean tradition to surprising and nontraditional story elements, and the next morning I woke up with the idea for this book.
My interests in language and wordplay came in handy while attempting to translate so much classic movie dialogue into iambic pentameter. For those unfamiliar with the phrase, iambic pentameter is the metrical form that Shakespeare uses in his plays and sonnets. An iamb is the syllable pattern unstressed-stressed, and pentameter means each line has five iambs, so a line of iambic pentameter sounds like this: da-DUM da-DUM da-DUM da-DUM da-DUM (Simon and Garfunkel’s “I’d rather be a hammer than a nail” is a perfect example). The rhythm of iambic pentameter feels natural and intuitive to me, so I had a lot of fun writing 3,076 lines of it. Geeky trivia: this puts William Shakespeare’s Star Wars at an average length for a Shakespearean play (A Comedy of Errors is the shortest, at 1,786 lines; Hamlet is the longest, at 4,024).
