Taking the Measure of Global Space

Euclidean geometry instructs us to think of space in visual terms as points, lines, and shapes, but a more adventurous geometry would take into account the subjectivity of the perceiver. When we try out that approach on Shakespeare and his contemporaries, situating them within the built environment of the 1599 Globe Theater, we discover not one measure of space but ten: (1) geographical, (2) temporal, (3) fictional, (4) characterological, (5) social, (6) political, (7) interpersonal, (8) performative, (9) receptive, and (10) phenomenal. The confluence of the ten measures of space is marked by a preposition, as. With one hand, as gestures toward a situation here; with the other hand, it points toward something else over there. The paradox of theater is that it is neither here nor there, but both at the same time.