Discuss the use of doubling in the plays of Shakespeare.

Emma Smith states that Doubling is not just a 'practical necessity, but a representational technique that could also make connections and contrasts between distinct characters or worlds'. She explains it is a practice of theatrical possibility for actors and directors, which is always predicated on the audience’s ability to engage with its implications. The Elizabethan audience may well have watched with anticipation, recognising the character types without necessarily knowing the plot, constructing images of characters who exist simultaneously in present and past versions of themselves. The audience were accustomed to watching plays and characters and then parodies of those plays and are therefore accustomed to think in terms of contrast, shadows, and characters who repeat constantly. Roles like Theseus and Oberon in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, are regal characters with famously short tempers who are often doubled, creating a parody of the Athenian court in the woods. Likewise, Duncan and Macduff in Macbeth are often played by the same actor, exploiting the shared nobility and right to rule of both characters. Doubling allows the play to create deeper links between characters and narrative: in Macbeth, Duncan’s ghostly presence follows in Macduff’s steps, predicting the overthrow of his usurper by his own spectral hand.