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Eibeibunka 48 33 『英米文化』48, 33–46 (2018) ISSN: 0917–3536 Honour or Defamation in Chastity and Fertility: The Paradoxical Effects of Erotic Conversation in Henry VIII NIWA Saki Abstract In this paper, I examine the connection between Katherine’s and Anne’s honour in Henry VIII as reflected in portrayals of their chastity and fertility and how descriptions of the two women ironically reflect the ‘truth’ of this historical play. As the audience was familiar with the real historical situation of these two women, they could discern where the truth ran counter to their dramatic depiction. My paper addresses that women’s worth was evaluated in Shakespearean England based on their chastity, but that maintaining their chastity and faithfulness did not ultimately protect noblewomen within the contract of marriage, as is evident in the cases of both Katherine and Anne. Introduction In early modern English drama, the patriarchal view of morality meant that women’s hon- our was strongly connected to their chastity or faithfulness. Even when exposed to grave danger, heroines almost always maintained their chastity until the end of the play, which, in consequence, contributed to denouements involving marital harmony, reconciliation after perception, or heroic death as a result of losing their chastity. Examples include Hermione in Shakespeare’s The Winter’s Tale (1610), Desdemona in Othello (1604) and Lucrece in The Rape of Lucrece (1594). On the one hand, the dramatic patterns of these plays demon- strate the high value placed on preserving chastity in Shakespeare’s time and how these hero ines could symbolise the ideal woman, even if their chastity and fidelity ultimately cost them their lives;1 on the other hand, however, as Keir Elam points out, many of the early Jacobean playwrights dealt with the theme of chastity in the opposite way to meet ‘the demand for sensationalism, especially blood and sex’ (Marrapodi, 235).2 Playwrights of this period, such as Thomas Middleton and John Webster, vividly described not only courtesans 34 『英米文化』48 (2018) but also ordinary women living everyday lives, particularly in cities like London, and how they lived as they pleased by outwitting their husbands or controlling their gallants in the patriarchal society of the time.3 It should be noted that chastity was thus ever a central theme of the plays at various levels in this period, and playwrights raised for the audience the question of how chastity was or should be defined. All the above plays were fundamen- tally written based on the moralistic view of chastity at that time: It should be protected as women’s honour and if they abused it, they must be prepared to lose everything they were expected to possess in society and consequently lose the mutual trust of their relationship with other people. However, we should observe that the description of losing chastity could sometimes be interpreted as having other aspects in the plays. This means that the theme of ‘chastity’ in the plays functions not only as proof of women’s honour or the trigger for defamation, but also as a hint of an alternative source of fame, both of which highlight the destiny of heroines and hint to the audience the hidden and complex manoeuvring of the female situation at that time. This paper focuses on two female characters in Henry VIII, Katherine and Anne, to explore how chastity was intermingled with honour and defamation for royal women in the period when the play was written. By ‘defamation’, I mean not only the act of insulting someone directly but also acts or words that elicit mocking laughter and thereby serve to ridicule someone. In this context, the erotic wordplay between Anne and the Old Lady and the rumours between courtiers in Henry VIII can be interpreted according to whether they include defamatory or derisive terms. I also clarify how the descriptions of the two women reflect the ‘truth’ of the play by comparing honour with defamation in that period when scan- dalous news of celebrities helped to spread libel in the city and fuelled the imagination of playwrights (Bellany, ‘The Court’, 121). Katherine’s Chastity and The Honour that She Deserves In Henry VIII, Queen Katherine’s honour is enhanced by her ‘truth’ or fidelity to her hus- band. ‘Truth’ is the key word in this play as the Prologue proclaims the play’s truthfulness to the story of noble people. Truth refers here not only to the plausibility of the words or phrases spoken by each character and the credibility of their personalities, but also to the unspoken aspects pertinent to each scene that the audience is expected to use to interpret the NIWA Saki Honour or Defamation in Chastity and Fertility 35 deeper meaning of the play.4 Katherine is portrayed as a typically idealised woman of Renaissance England, in which chastity and purity were, as Berry notes, often connected with both the Virgin Mary and Sophia in Christian thought (11–17).5 Most of Katherine’s words are based on Holinshed’s Chronicles, which Shakespeare, like other playwrights, was thought to have used very often to expand his knowledge of historical characters. Chronicles was first published in 1577 and later became one of the major sources for history plays, although any chronological writings were themselves ‘subject to heavy castration at the command of the Privy Council’ (McMullan, 163). As McMullan says, Holinshed wrote ‘a kind of history which aims to encourage independent critical thinking on the part of the reader’ (162). Playwrights who wrote history plays treated ‘the audience as readers of history, responsive to the possibility of a range of political nuance in the ways in which chronicle history could be represented’, so it is plausible that the audience of Henry VIII should have recognised how the description of Katherine’s words was rearranged and expanded to include wider and more dramatic expressions (166). In Chronicles, the judgment procedure in the court scene is described in a comparatively moderate and restricted tone. The facts are sequenced, and Katherine’s behaviour before and after her confession sounds calm and controlled. This mode of description is effective, on the one hand because readers can imagine how she stands up against her predicament by her calm tone. After her confession, the scene continues as follows: The king being advertised that shee was readie to go out of the house, commanded the crier to call hir againe, who called hir by these words; Katherine queene of England, come into the court. With that (quoth maister Griffith) Madame, you be called againe. On on (quoth she) it maketh no matter, I will not tarrie, go on your waies. And thus she departed, without anie further answer at that time, or anie other, and never would appear after in anie court. (Bullough, IV, 468) Here, readers are only told the facts, but the facts show her feelings effectively. Shakespeare also cites Katherine’s words, but he sets this scene just after the scene of erotic conversation between Anne and the Old Lady. In addition, Katherine’s plea to the King on stage is a dramatic monologue, while Anne’s mode of speaking sounds comical. Consequently, compared with the descriptions in Chronicles, the contrast between these two 36 『英米文化』48 (2018) women becomes clearer to the audience, and the scene simultaneously depicts Katherine’s miserable situation and her solemn attitude. Her virtuous image is effectively enhanced by her dignified and resolute words at the trial in Act 2, Scene 4, in which she holds her com- posure, stating as follows: Katherine: Sir, call to mind That I have been your wife in this obedience Upward of twenty years, and have been blessed With many children by you. If, in the course And process of this time, you can report, And prove it too, against mine honour aught, My bond to wedlock, or my love and duty Against your sacred person, in God’s name Turn me away and let the foulest contempt Shut door upon me, and so give me up To sharpest kind of justice. (2.4.32–42)6 Bullough mentions that, despite the fact that her words at the court mimic those from the Chronicles, Shakespeare develops them beyond a mere ‘refusal to attend the court . into the portrait of a noble, long-suffering, indignant and determined woman’ (Bullough, IV, 446). This helps assure the audience that Katherine deserves honour not only as a queen but also as a woman who knows what she is doing. The dramatization of Katherine’s words is elaborately harmonised with the dramatization of both Lord Buckingham’s words in Act 2, Scene 1 and Wolsey’s words in Act 3, Scene 2. As ‘the prisoner’ (2.1.4), Lord Buckingham declares, ‘My vows and prayers / Yet are the King’s and, till my soul forsake, / Shall cry for blessing on him’ (2.1.88–90). He even says, ‘I forgive all’ (2.1.83). Wolsey also speaks to Cromwell, his secretary, after noticing that he has already lost the ‘princes’ favours’ (3.2.367) as follows: Wolsey: I know myself now, and I feel within me A peace above all earthly dignities, A still and quiet conscience. The King has cured me, I humbly thank his grace, and from these shoulders, NIWA Saki Honour or Defamation in Chastity and Fertility 37 These ruined pillars, out of pity, taken A load would sink a navy—too much honour. (3.2.378–83) Wolsey speaks of the vanity of ‘dignities’ and ‘honour’ at the very time when he most attracts sympathy and thus creates that atmosphere of dignity and honour within himself.
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