Aghost character, in the bibliographic or scholarly study of texts of dramatic literature, is a term for an inadvertent error committed by the playwright in the act of writing. It is a character who is mentioned as appearing on stage, but who does not do anything, and who seems to have no purpose. As Kristian Smidt put it, they are characters that are "introduced in stage directions or briefly mentioned in dialogue who have no speaking parts and do not otherwise manifest their presence".[1] It is generally interpreted as an author's mistake, indicative of an unresolved revision to the text. If the character was intended to appear and say nothing, it is assumed this would be made clear in the playscript.[2]
The term is used in regard to Elizabethan and Jacobean plays, including the works ofWilliam Shakespeare, all of which may have existed in different revisions leading to publication. The occurrence of a ghost character in a manuscript may be evidence that the published version of a play was taken by the printer directly from an author'sfoul papers.[3]
A ghost character should not be confused with anunseen character, a character who is not portrayed but who is relevant to the plot and to whom the play intentionally makes reference, e.g. Godot fromSamuel Beckett'sWaiting for Godot. A ghost character is also different from the character represented by an extra (background actor orsupernumerary actor).
Modern versions ofMuch Ado About Nothing open act 1, scene 1 with the stage direction "Enter Leonato, Governor of Messina, Hero his daughter, andBeatrice his niece, with a Messenger."[4] In the firstquarto edition (Q1, 1600) however, the stage direction includes, after Leonato, "Innogen his wife". Similarly, in the stage directions for act 2, scene 1, Leonato is followed by "his wife".[5][a] This "Innogen" is mentioned nowhere else in the play, and during Leonato's denunciation of Hero in act 4, scene 1,[9] where it would be natural for her mother to speak or act in some fashion, Shakespeare appears to either have forgotten about her or decided that a father–motherless daughterdyad worked better dramatically.[5] As the editors ofThe Cambridge Shakespeare (1863) put it: "It is impossible to conceive that Hero's mother should have been present during the scenes in which the happiness and honour of her daughter were at issue, without taking a part, or being once referred to."[10] Some productions restore the character of Imogen, e.g. theWyndham's Theatre's 2011 production,[11] giving her many of the lines of Hero's uncle Antonio. In 2017 playwrightAditi Brennan Kapil wrote the playImogen Says Nothing: The Annotated Life of Imogen of Messina, last sighted in the First Folio of William Shakespeare's Much Adoe About Nothing which explores the reasons why Imogen may have been included inMuch Ado About Nothing.
Valentine is a ghost character inRomeo and Juliet.[12] In act 1, scene 2,Romeo assists an illiterate Capulet servant by reading the list of guests for Lord Capulet's feast, and among the "dozen or so named guests with their unnamed but listed daughters, beauteous sisters, and lovely nieces"[13] is listed "Mercutio and his brother Valentine".[14][13]Mercutio appears on stage regularly until his death in act 3, scene 1[15] and is "almost as central a character as Juliet or Romeo, for his death is the keystone of the plot's structure",[16] but Valentine is only mentioned the once in the guest list. The only time it is possible for the character to appear on stage is as one of the crowd of guests at the feast in act 1, scene 5,[17] but if he is, there is nothing in the text to suggest his presence.[13]
While not mentioned in a stage direction as such, Joseph A. Porter considers him to be "a kind of ghost character"[13] like others in Shakespeare's plays, due to his strong connection with Mercutio that differentiates him from the other people mentioned in the guest list, and a possible significance to the plot and characters that is greater than superficially apparent. Shakespeare's immediate source in writingRomeo and Juliet was thenarrative poemThe Tragical History of Romeus and Juliet (1562) byArthur Brooke, and here Mercutio is a very minor character and is presented as a competitor to Romeus (Romeo) for Juliet's affection, rather than as his friend. Porter argues that when Shakespeare dramatised the poem and expanded Mercutio's role, he introduced a brother for him in order to suggest a more fraternal character. Shakespeare appears to be the first dramatist to have used the name Valentine prior toRomeo and Juliet, but he himself had actually used the name previously.[b][c] InThe Two Gentlemen of Verona, a play about two brothers and also set inVerona, Valentine is a true and constant lover and Proteus is a fickle one.[20] While not primarily based on it,The Two Gentlemen of Verona adapts several incidents from Brooke's poem, and in all these instances Valentine's role is based on Romeus'. Thus, when adapting theMercutio–Juliet–Romeus constellation from Brooke, by changing Mercutio from an amorous rival into a friend–brother to Romeo and a "scoffer at love",[21] Shakespeare also rearranged the relationships into Mercutio–Romeo–Juliet, making Romeo the focus and removing Mercutio as a threat to his courtship of Juliet.[22]
Four characters inJohn Webster'sThe White Devil, Christophero, Farnese, Guid-Antonio, and Little Jaques the Moor, have sometimes been referred to as ghost characters because they have no lines in the play.[23]
George Peele'sThe Famous Chronicle of King Edward the First (1593) includes four characters mentioned in stage directions but not given any lines:Signor de Montfort, Earl of Leicester (l. 40), Charles de Montfort (l. 40), a nonexistent brother, Potter (l. 2247), and Mary, Duchess of Lancaster (l. 1453), another non-existent historical figure.[24]
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