Shakspere and Montaigne | Page 9

Mayor, as well as the other magistrates, held it to be an injustice
towards the actors that the Privy Council gave a hearing to the charges
brought forward by the Puritans. Truly, the feelings of this conservative
Corporation, as well of a large number of those who once looked down
upon the stage with the greatest contempt, must, in the meanwhile,
have undergone a great change.
Unquestionably the Company of the Lord Chamberlain--which in
summer gave its masterly representations in the Globe Theatre, beyond

the Thames, and in winter in Black-Friars--had been the chief agency in
working that change. The first noblemen, the Queen herself, greatly
enjoyed the pieces which Shakspere, in fact, wrote for that society; but
the public at large were not less delighted with them.
When, the day after such a representation, conversation arose in the
family circle as to the three happy hours passed in the theatre, an
opportunity was given for discussing the most important events of the
past and the present. The people's history had not yet been written then.
Solitary events only had been loosely marked down in dry folios. The
stage now brought telling historical facts in vivid colours before the eye.
The powerful speeches of high and mighty lords, of learned bishops,
and of kings were heard--of exalted persons, all different in character,
but all moved, like other mortals, by various passions, and driven by a
series of circumstances to definite actions. It was felt that they, too,
were subject to a certain spirit of the time, the tendency of which, if the
poet was attentively listened to, could be plainly gathered. In this way
conclusions might be drawn which shed light even upon the events of
the present.
True, it was forbidden to bring questions of the State and of religion
upon the stage. But has Shakspere really avoided treating upon them?
Richard Simpson has successfully shown that Shakspere, in his
historical plays, carried on a political discussion easily understood by
his contemporaries. [16] The maxims thus enunciated by the poet have
been ascertained by that penetrating critic in such a manner that the
results obtained can scarcely be subjected to doubt any more.
On comparing the older plays and chronicles of which the poet made
use for his historical dramas, with the creations that arose on this basis
under his powerful hand, one sees that he suppresses certain tendencies
of the subject-matter before him, placing others in their stead. Taking
fully into account all the artistic technicalities calculated to produce a
strong dramatic effect, we still find that he has evidently made a
number of changes with the clear and most persistent intention of
touching upon political questions of his time.

If, for instance, Shakspere's 'King John' is compared with the old play,
'The Troublesome Raigne,' and with the chronicles from which (but
more especially from the former piece) the poet has drawn the plan of
his dramatic action, it will be seen that very definite political tendencies
of what he had before him were suppressed. New ones are put in their
place. Shakspere makes his 'King John' go through two different,
wholly unhistorical struggles: _one against a foe at home, who contests
the King's legitimate right; the other against Romanists who think it a
sacred duty to overthrow the heretic_. These were not the feuds with
which the King John of history had to contend.
But the daughter from the unhappy marriage of Henry VIII. and the
faithless Anne Boleyn--Queen Elizabeth--had, during her whole
lifetime, to contend against rebels who held Mary Stuart to be the
legitimate successor; and it was Queen Elizabeth who had always to
remain armed against a confederacy of enemies who, encouraged by
the Pope, made war upon the 'heretic' on the throne of England.
Thus, in the Globe Theatre, questions of the State were discussed; and
politics had their distinct place there. Yet who would enforce the rules
of censorship upon such language as this:--
This England never did, and never shall,
Lie at the proud feet of a
Conqueror
But when it first did help to wound itself.
... Nought
shall make us rue
If England to herself do rest but true?
Such thoughts were not taken from any old chronicle, but came from
the very soul of the age that had gained the great victory over the
Armada. They emphasized a newly-acquired independent position,
which could only be maintained by united strength against a foreign
foe.
Even as 'King John,' so all the other historical plays contain a clearly
provable political tendency. Not everything done by the great queen
met with applause among the people. Dissatisfaction was felt at the
prominence of personal favourites, who made much abuse of
commercial monopolies granted to them. The burdens of taxation had

become heavier than in former times. In 'Richard the