(Iambic Pentameter - Part 3) Feminine Endings and Shakespeare's Hidden Direction

Instances of irregular scansion, such as feminine endings, are Shakespeare’s hidden direction.

Shakespeare himself was an actor, and it’s widely understood that he dropped a multitude of hints and tips on how to play his material within his plays. Hamlet’s speech to the Players, for instance:

Speak the speech, I pray you, as I pronounced it to you…

While that entire speech is a fantastic admonition, and it really should be studied (perhaps we will examine it in another post), that’s not the secret I want to discuss here. This post continues our exploration of Iambic Pentameter, and specifically addresses one of the many clues left for us within the verse. I’m talking about feminine endings and Shakespeare's hidden direction.

A feminine ending is an unstressed, extra-metrical syllable at the end of a line of verse. If you’re looking for an example of this, and you’ve been following our Iambic Pentameter series, there’s been one right in front of us all along. Let’s take another look at that famous opening line to Hamlet’s iconic soliloquy.

To be or not to be, that is the question.

As you know, we begin scanning this piece by first doing our best to fit it into perfect Iambic Pentameter.

To BE / or NOT / to BE, / that IS / the QUEST / ion.

deDUM / deDUM / deDUM / deDUM / deDUM / de

Now, you’ll recall that in a previous post, we discovered a unique opportunity to blend our own interpretation with the scansion that Shakespeare has given us, allowing us to put a trochee in the fourth foot of the line. So, now it reads:

To BE / or NOT / to BE, / THAT is / the QUEST / ion

Now we’re getting somewhere. But for those of you who were paying attention, you may have noticed that extra syllable at the end. Yep, that’s a feminine ending. The last syllable of the word “question” is unstressed. This word does more than complete the sentence; it also causes the line to overrun the meter. Did Shakespeare make a mistake?

The short answer: No.

Believe it or not, this was deliberate, and it’s a clue for the actor on how to play the line, as well as the character. It’s Shakespeare’s hidden direction. And just like when we put that trochee in the fourth foot, we’ll incorporate our own interpretation, matching it to the clues Shakespeare has left us, to shape a deeper and more compelling delivery of the text. That may sound convoluted, but let’s take it a step at a time.

First, we should notice that in this case, our feminine ending comes in the opening line of the soliloquy. The fact that the very first line here has not one, but two irregularities in the scansion should tell us that Hamlet is starting off on shaky ground, so to speak. He’s uncomfortable at best; in absolute turmoil at worst. This is confirmed by the context of the speech, of course. (We know that Hamlet is suicidal based on our paraphrasing of the line.)

Now, we’ve already uncovered the hiccup in the rhythm of the verse with that trochee in foot four. That’s got our attention. But what other clues does the scansion give us?

What if the feminine ending is telling us that Hamlet is having trouble actually saying this? He’s speaking directly to the audience, and it’s very difficult to get these words out. The verse has just hiccupped in the fourth foot, and now it’s overrun the meter. The audience will hear this and, even if only subconsciously, think to themselves, “Something’s not right here.” And they’d be correct. Something isn’t right.

But how do we play this? As an actor, what actionable direction can we glean from this feminine ending? I’d like to submit the idea that Hamlet is dealing with so much emotion here that it’s welling up inside him. It’s spilling out of him in a way that regular Iambic Pentameter just can’t contain. The verse itself is the vehicle for the emotional and intellectual message Hamlet is delivering, and it’s just not big enough to handle this moment.

And so, Hamlet’s first line in this soliloquy breaks with the rhythm, both in the fourth foot, and in that eleventh syllable. In a play where the rhythm of the verse is obvious, irregularities will stand out to the audience. They should stand out to the actor as well. It’s direction from the playwright himself. He’s giving us clues on how to play the character. We’d be wise to listen to him.

Here's the kicker: there are a lot of instances just like this, across many of Shakespeare’s plays. Now, when you come across one, you’ll hopefully have a better understanding of the ways in which you can play them.