Widge From the Shakespeare Stealer Essay

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He feels guilty when he is copying the play and accidentally distracts the attention of the actor who is supposed to fire a cannon, causing the cannon to be misdirected and start a fire (Blackwood 64). Widge takes acting seriously -- when he first appears on stage he is terrified of forgetting his lines, and wants to do a credible job. He becomes a valuable apprentice actor and stagehand. For the first time in his life, his verbal talents are appreciated. Widge's story illustrates how sometimes the most truthful people are actors, who try to reveal unexplored aspects of the human mind through 'pretending.' Acting also gives Widge the ability to find his true, moral identity through 'pretending.'

Despite his intelligence and curiosity, at the beginning of the novel Widge is very naive. He understands little of London and acting, as he has grown up for most of his life in the country. He is even surprised to see the sharp difference between an actor off-stage and on-stage, such as when he discovers that the actor who played the drunken, disheveled gravedigger in Hamlet is actually a gentleman.

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Learning how to act, and how people present themselves in truthful and mendacious ways is one of Widge's struggles over the course of the novel.

At the end of the novel, Widge makes the correct moral choice, and he also finds a home. He is mentored by Sander, one of the actors in the troop, who acts as a surrogate father to the boy. Widge has learned to fence, to speak his lines with confidence, and most importantly he has learned to navigate the often confusing moral universe of the Elizabethan stage, both on and off the boards. Widge, an orphan, has found a true family and a home in the playhouse, among actors. Although acting may be a 'pretend' profession, it gives Widge a very real sense of identity and pride.

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