Shakespeare's Use of Music

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

Shakespeare's Use of Music T wit iloucr and his UTc , With • hay* *»iih a ^oearil ahaytoorir Wellesley College Library + er lacuna + no and j Uayv noruc nocuc no iafpnrgume.;;.i r rr r . ~1 __i __. _c t)i« oolyprcunngcuDCWi f*CCTC Y RFMjlM EDITH BUTLER POOL This book-plate was designed in 1909 s\i tSr fpringc in fpt ing birdHiof:ng t Hjyc loum louc by Edith Butler Pool (Class of 1896) for her library. p r p r It seems appropriate that it should be used to mark the books purchased for the Department of English Literature through her memorial bequest fpring. *Ln£3i!in$adn£. ij. fwrctc loom looc the *ijno|Cf?AA;]L 'mm- -mm JLiltQH OUJ, 14 % fcetwret>e the AVeti ofthe riev Wall a hav, ai* w a ho^nd a hiynonle no, Thdc prem* Coo itnc rooles would lie, Inlpf'in^ r»tnr,thcorcIy pffTucriftgdnc, WrwvB;'d>d »r ling, Inydinga ding i diof, Swrctc toucf>!oye t^ei^nng. | ThU CjtcII thcybr^an thathoure, i Sjy, Wiw wi:h a ho ah J a fuy noruc no# How that 3 liL v^aitnn ^nowcr, In Ipnng tiVn*, the onely prctae ring time, When Bird* doc (ing, hay ding a ding a dujg, S veetc lo jen louc rhefpnng. 4 Then prettir louert tike the time, a w ir!i With hay , a ho xnd* hay nonie no. Fortooets crowned with the primr, Infrwingtinic^beonelypraucnngtirre, When find* doc fine, hay ding a ding a ding. S wcetc lawcts iouc die fpiing. Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2012 with funding from Wellesley College Library http://archive.org/details/shakespearesuseo01long HAKESPEARE USE OF MUSIC: A ST THE MUSIC AND ITS IN THE TION OF SEVEN COMEDIES JOHN H. LONG UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA PRE GAINESVILLE~1955 A UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA PRESS BOOK Copyright, 1955, by the University of Florida L. C. Catalogue Card Number: 55-8082 MANUFACTURED BY THE RECORD PRESS, INC., ST. AUGUSTINE, FLA. f%0 ML Zo SS-L1 Acknowledgmen ts mem *ySk u HE WRITER HERE WISHES TO ACKNOWLEDGE THE generosity of the following organizations in permitting him to quote and to transcribe ^^ /^j^ Wf&^r- from works in their custody: The American L ' J^MB Book Company, New York City; Christ , '_ £E>£%p»2 SY^9J*L: Church Library, Oxford, England, whose man- uscript settings of Ford's "Sigh no more, ladies" and Morley's "0 mistris mine" were transcribed by permission of the Governing Body of Christ Church; The Clarendon Press, Oxford, England; E. P. Dutton & Company, Inc., New York City; The Folger Shake- speare Library, Washington, D. C; Galaxy Music Corporation, New York City, by permission of Galaxy Music Corporation, Sole Agents for Stainer & Bell, Ltd., London, England, the owners of the copyright to E. H. Fellowes' The English School of Lutenist Song Writers; G. Schirmer, Inc., publishers of The Musical Quar- terly, copyright, 1938, by G. Schirmer, Inc., New York City; The Huntington Library, San Marino, California, for permission to reproduce "The Fairie Round" found in A. Holborne's Pavans, galliards, almains . 1599; J. Curwen & Sons, Ltd., London, England; Kamin Dance Bookshop and Gallery, New York City; Lawrence & Wishart, Ltd., London, England; The New York Public Library, New York City; Oxford University Press, New York City; Studies in Philology, The University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill; Theodore Presser Company, Bryn Mawr, Pa., for transcriptions from Vincent's Fifty Shakspere Songs, used by per- mission of the copyright owner, Oliver Ditson Company, Bryn Mawr, Pa. (v) Introduction — ix ONE The Songs in Elizabethan Drama — 1 TWO Instrumental Music in Elizabethan Drama — 16 THREE The Two Gentlemen of Verona — 51 FOUR Love's Labour's Lost — 65 FIVE A Midsummer Night's Dream — 82 SIX The Merchant of Venice — 105 SEVEN Much Ado About Nothing — 120 EIGHT As You Like It — 139 NINE Twelfth Night — 164 TEN Conclusion — 187 Annotated Bibliography — 197 Index — 211 (vii) viii) SHAKESPEARE S USE OF MUSIC It Was a Louer and His Lasse Endpapers I The Galliard, "Because of the Traitor I Die" .... 56 II She Whose Matchless Beauty 59 III Melody of the galliard called "Love let us Kiss" . 70 IV Of All the Birds 76 V When Dasies Pied and Violets Blew 77 VI Lullabie 86-87 VII The Woosel Cock, so Black of Hewe 90 VIII Sleep, Wayward Thoughts 92 IX Pavane 95 X Wolsey's Wild 96 XI The Urchin's Dance 101 XII Who Hath His Fancy Pleased 109 XIII The Peaceful Western Wind 117 XIV All You That Love Good Fellows 123 XV The Lord Zouche's Masque 125 XVI Sigh No More, Ladies, Sigh No More 130 XVII Sigh No More, Ladies, Sigh No More 132-133 XVIII Flow, My Tears (Lacrimae) 135 XIX Galliard, Sweet Margaret (Cushion Dance) 136 XX Under the Greenwood Tree 144 XXI Blow, Blow, Thou Winter Wind 149 XXII What Shall He Have That Killed the Deer? 151 XXIII It Was a Louer and His Lasse 154 XXIV Pavane in Six Parts 157 XXV Welcome, Black Night 159 XXVI The Haye 161 XXVII The Lord Salisbury his Pavin 167 XXVIII O Mistris Mine 170 XXIX O Mistris Myne 171 XXX Hold Thy Peace , 173 XXXI Three Merry Men be We and There dwelt a man in Babylon 174 XXXII Farewell, Dear Love 175 XXXIII Come Away, Come Away Death 178 XXXIV Hey Robin 179 XXXV When that I was a little tiny boy 182 i T IS THE PURPOSE OF THIS STUDY TO PRESENT THE results of an examination of the use of music, both instrumental and vocal, as a dramatic de- vice in seven comedies by Shakespeare: The Two Gentlemen of Verona, Love's Labour's Lost, A Midsummer Night's Dream, The Mer- chant of Venice, Much Ado About Nothing, As You Like It, and Twelfth Night. (The Taming of the Shrew is omitted because its po- sition in sequence is uncertain.) By the term "dramatic device" is meant the use of music as an aid not only to the intensification of the impact of the language, but also to the forwarding of the action, the portrayal of character, the delineation of settings, and the cre- ation of an appropriate atmosphere, such as a mood of mystery or awe. Also included in the term "dramatic device" is the use of music in solving problems of stage production in instances where music covers the sound of stage machinery, denotes a lapse of time, or indicates off-stage action. This study includes only those performances of the plays given before the publication of the First Folio. I have used as texts the Folio of 1623 and contemporary quartos, on the assumption that a greater degree of eclecticism is justifiable in this study than in the establishment of a severe and completely defensible verbal text. Hence, I have taken my evidence wherever I could find it clear. However, I have tried to assess the authority for each shred of evidence and to avoid combining data, except with the justifica- tion of a sound textual theory. For instance, I have never used as the basis for any piece of evidence a text arrived at by a modern editor. In view of the admitted importance of music in the plays of Shakespeare and his contemporaries, it is surprising that the sub- ject has received slight attention from scholars. Several books have (ix) x) SHAKESPEARE S USE OF MUSIC been written on the background of Elizabethan inusic against which Shakespeare's plays appear, but their focus of interest is not upon the way he used the music. A number of scholarly articles such as those by Richmond Noble and Edmund H. Fellowes have treated the subject, but these are concerned with isolated problems and do not constitute a survey of the phenomena. Only one book, so far as I know, contains a serious and sustained study of Shake- speare's use of music, and it omits a consideration of the purely instrumental music in the plays. This book is Richmond Noble's Shakespeare's Use of Song. It is possible that research has been handicapped by complete lack of musical scores which can be assigned to the plays of Shakespeare. This lack is indeed a serious one, but much can still be learned from a careful assessment of the available evidence. The procedure followed is necessarily complex. I first made an intensive study of the text and stage directions of the Shakespeare plays in the versions described above, and an evaluation and in- terpretation of the interior evidence found. This part of the study, in itself, was inadequate for a clear presentation of the use and performance of the music. I therefore turned to plays contempo- raneous with Shakespeare in order to determine from their stage directions and dialogue what could at this point be learned about the habits and conventions governing the use of music in the Eliza- bethan theaters. The next step involved an examination of con- temporary accounts of the drama and music of the times as found in early records, in reliable reprints of relevant documents and texts, and in quotations from writers of the period found in sec- ondary studies of both subjects. Finally, I assessed the conclusions reached by authors of secondary studies and in editorial comments concerning the use of music by Shakespeare and contemporary dramatists. Of the materials thus considered, the contemporary accounts and the interior evidence from the plays are the most important. An explanation of the treatment of this material is therefore per- tinent. If we wish to discover how music was performed in Elizabethan : INTRODUCTION (xi plays, the best source of information is perforce the plays them- selves.
Recommended publications
  • Masaryk University Faculty of Education Department of English Language and Literature
    MASARYK UNIVERSITY FACULTY OF EDUCATION DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE Renaissance theatre in England and its comparison with the theatre in the Czech Lands in the Renaissance period Bachelor Thesis Brno 2016 Supervisor: Author: Mgr. Lucie Podroužková, Ph.D. Lucie Pupalová Prohlášení Prohlašuji, že jsem bakalářskou práci vypracovala samostatně, s využitím pouze citovaných literárních pramenů, dalších informací a zdrojů v souladu s Disciplinárním řádem pro studenty Pedagogické fakulty Masarykovy univerzity a se zákonem č. 121/2000 Sb., o právu autorském, o právech souvisejících s právem autorským a o změně některých zákonů (autorský zákon), ve znění pozdějších předpisů. Brno, 25. března 2016 …….………………… Lucie Pupalová Acknowledgement In the first place, I would like to thank my supervisor Mgr. Lucie Podroužková, Ph.D. for her valued help, patience and kind advice. Secondly, I would like to thank my parents as well as my dear classmates and friends for motivation and support, namely Magdalena Kyzlinková and Kateřina Zadinová. Abstract This Bachelor thesis focuses on the development of theatre in the period of Renaissance in England and in the Czech Lands as well as on their comparison. The thesis is divided into four main chapters. The first chapter briefly describes the theatre development in Europe prior to the Renaissance period. The following two chapters outline the theatre development of Renaissance theatre in both compared countries. The last chapter provides a comparison of these two theatre developments and seeks for similarities and differences between them. Key words theatre, drama, Renaissance, development, history, England, Czech Lands Anotace Tato bakalářská práce se zabývá vývojem renesančního divadla v Anglii a v Českých zemích a jejich porovnáním.
    [Show full text]
  • “A Poor Player That Struts and Frets His Hour Upon the Stage…”
    “A POOR PLAYER THAT STRUTS AND FRETS HIS HOUR UPON THE STAGE…” THE ENGLISH THEATRE IN TRANSITION A Thesis Presented to The Graduate Faculty of The University of Akron In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Arts Christin N. Gambill May, 2016 “A POOR PLAYER THAT STRUTS AND FRETS HIS HOUR UPON THE STAGE…” THE ENGLISH THEATRE IN TRANSITION Christin N. Gambill Thesis Approved: Accepted: _______________________________ _______________________________ Advisor Dean of the College Mr. James Slowiak Dr. John Green _______________________________ _______________________________ Faculty Reader Dean of the Graduate School Mr. Adel Migid Dr. Chand Midha _______________________________ _______________________________ Faculty Reader Date Dr. Hillary Nunn _______________________________ School Director Dr. J. Thomas Dukes ii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page CHAPTER I. “THIS ROYAL THRONE THIS SCEPTERED ISLE…” THE THEATRE OF THE ENGLISH RENAISSANCE ............................................................................................... 1 II. THE COMING STORM .............................................................................................. 14 III. THE AXE FALLS ...................................................................................................... 29 IV. UNDER THEIR NOSES ............................................................................................ 42 V. THE NEW ORDER ..................................................................................................... 53 VI. FUTURE CONSIDERATIONS
    [Show full text]
  • Shakespeare's Will…
    Brief Chronicles Vol. I (2009) 169 Shakespeare’s Will….. Considered Too Curiously Bonner Miller Cutting he last will and testament of William Shakespeare went unnoticed for approximately a century after his death in Stratford-on-Avon on April 23, 1616. !e engraver and antiquarian George Vertue is credited with noting the T 1, 2, 3 existence of a copy in 1737. !e will that is considered to be the original may (or may not) be the one discovered by the Reverend Joseph Greene ten years later in 1747.4, 5, 6 Subsequently, several copies of the Will were published,7 though the Prerogative Court of Canterbury steadfastly refused to allow an actual facsimile to be made. 8 Finally in 1851, the eminent 19th century scholar James Halliwell obtained permission from the Court to release Shakespeare’s Will to the “patient world” in a form as close to the original as possible. In a limited edition of 100 copies, the original character of the will was displayed with the interlineations and alterations set forth as best as could be done in type.9 On viewing the content of the will in its entirety, the Prerogative Court’s reluctance to make the will available in its original form can be easily understood. !e purpose of this paper is to put the will of William Shackspere of Stratford-on-Avon in its social, historical, and legal perspective. !is will be accomplished by a comparison with contemporaneous wills of the day, and by an examination of the circumstances surrounding the creation of the document itself.
    [Show full text]
  • The National Archives Prob 11/88/255 1 ______
    THE NATIONAL ARCHIVES PROB 11/88/255 1 ________________________________________________________________________ SUMMARY: The document below is the Prerogative Court of Canterbury copy of the last will and testament, dated 20 August 1591 and proved 30 October 1596, of Rowland Maylard (d.1596) of Hampton Court, gentleman, brother-in-law of Nicholas Brend (d. 12 October 1601), who leased the ground on which the Globe playhouse was built by lease dated 21 February 1599 to Richard Burbage (1568-1619), Cuthbert Burbage (1564/5- 1636), William Kempe, Augustine Phillips (d.1605), Thomas Pope (d.1603) John Heminges (1566-1630) and William Shakespeare (1564-1616) of Stratford upon Avon (see TNA REQ 4/1/2): for the said gardens and grounds whereupon the said playhouse & galleries were afterwards builded were demised & letten by the said Nicholas Brend by his indenture of lease tripartite bearing date in or about the 21st day of February in the 41st year of the reign of the late Queen Elizabeth [=21 February 1599] unto Cuthbert Burbage, Richard Burbage, William Shakespeare, the said Augustine Phillips, Thomas Pope, the said John Heminges, one of the said defendants, and William Kempe, to have and to hold the one moiety of the said garden plots and ground to the said Cuthbert Burbage and Richard Burbage, their executors, administrators & assigns, from the feast of the birth of Our Lord God last past before the date of the said indenture [=25 December 1598] unto the end & term of 31 years from thence next ensuing [=24 December 1629] for the yearly rent of seven pounds & five shillings, and to have & to hold the other moiety of the said garden plots & grounds unto the said William Shakespeare, Augustine Phillips, Thomas Pope, the said John Heminges, one of the said defendants, & William Kempe, their executors, administrators & assigns, from the said feast of the birth of Our Lord God then last past before the date of the said indenture unto the said full end & term of 31 years from thence next ensuing for the like yearly rent of seven pounds & five shillings.
    [Show full text]
  • Records Ofeabjyengfis Drama
    volume 9, number 2 (1984) A Newsletter published by University of Toronto Press in association with Erindale College, University of Toronto. JoAnna Dutka, editor Records ofEabjY Engfis Drama We regret to announce the sudden death of Professor A .G .R. Petti . Professor Petti, a founder member of REED, retired from the Executive in 1983 to join the Advisory Board . He provided a creative critique on our activities durings his years of service on the Executive. Our special debt to him will be for his central role in devising REED's Rules of Transcription. His sensible middle road between strict diplomatic transcription and complete modernization has had an impact in editorial practices beyond our own vol- umes . We are grateful to have had the services of such a talented paleographer at the early stages of the project . AFJ Ian Lancashire's bibliography of works dealing with records of drama and related activities is accompanied in this issue by the first section of Abigail Young's study, based on her work with a selection of REED and Malone Society record collections, of Latin terms for plays, players and performance . IAN LANCASHIRE Annotated bibliography of printed records of early British drama and minstrelsy for 1982-83 This list covers documentary or material records of performers and performance that appear in books, periodicals and record series publishing on pre-18th-century British history, literature and archaeology up to 1984. Only publications on the Shakespeare claimants are omitted . Any item I could not personally read is described as `Not seen .' This introduction cannot mention every valuable contribution in the following list, but it should register that important advances have been made in five areas : the London theatres; general theatre history ; provincial drama, especially in the north ; court revels from Edward iv to Charles I ; and the biography of players and patrons .
    [Show full text]
  • London Theaters in the 16Th Century
    London Theaters in the 16th Century Commercial Theaters Before the building of theaters specifically designed for theatrical performances, professional acting companies performed in inn yards or other suitable buildings. The Famous Victories of Henry the Fifth, for instance, was performed by the Queen's Men at the Bull Inn (on/before 1588). The first theater erected specifically for the purpose of performing plays was The Theatre, built by James Burbage in 1576 (see below). Blackfriars Theater: Part of a medieval monastery, Blackfriars Priory. Unlike other theaters, Blackfriars Theater had a roof. Its admission fees were high, and audiences wealthier, more socially prominent and better educated than the average playgoer. Smaller than other theaters, with a candle-lit stage, Blackfriars was considered a "private" theater. Affiliations: Combined Children of the Chapel/Paul's Children (early 1580's-1584), led by Henry Evans (assisted by Edward De Vere, Earl of Oxford) with plays by the gifted John Lyly performed at Blackfriars and at Court; James Burbage and his sons held the lease from 1584; Children of the Chapel (1600-09); King's Men (1609-) Curtain Theater (1577): Second London playhouse, probably built by Henry Laneman. Round or multi-sided three-story building, located in Shoreditch near The Theatre near the neighborhood of Curtain Close. Last mentioned in 1627. Affiliations: Strange's Men (1590-92); Lord Chamberlain's Men (1597-98). Queen's Men (1603-1609). Fortune Theatre (1600): Built in a northern London suburb by Philip Henslowe and William Alleyn. Built to rival the Globe and in the same general manner. A status of the Goddess of Fortune presided over the entrance.
    [Show full text]
  • An Examination of the Travels and Texts of the Shakespearean Company
    AN EXAMINATION OF THE TRAVELS AND TEXTS OF THE SHAKESPEAREAN COMPANY i A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH AND THE GRADUATE COUNCIL OF THE KANSAS STATE TEACHERS COLLEGE OF EMPORIA IN PARTIAL FULFILlMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS BY DARYL E. TROYER July, 1965 Approved for the Major Department .~.~ Approved' for the Graduate Counoil ...­ ~;~~:~.J'} i·~/.~ S PREFACE Throughout the centuries since Shakespeare lived, soholars have delved into almost every conceivable aspect of his life and work, and the age which produced them. But, in spite of the vast amount of research that has been done, many important areas remain underdeveloped or subject to further investigation. One such field is the provincial travels of the company of actors with which Shakespeare was associated and the problems that these tours involved. Several works, including J. T. Murray's English Dramatic Companies, Sir E. K. Chambers's The Elizabethan Stage, A. Thaler's series of artioles on travelling players, and Glynne Wickham's Early English Stages, oontain valuable examinations of aspeots of provinoial dramatic activity and are basic to any examination of this SUbject. The need that exists is to collect the various view­ points on the travels and texts of the Shakespearean oompany. To achieve the goal of a oomprehensive look at the many con­ siderations of the travelling company is the aim of this study. For aid in making this project a reality, this writer wishes to express particular gratitude to two individuals: Dr. Charles E. Walton, through whose inspiration and advice the study took shape; and Dr.
    [Show full text]
  • FINAL 2019 Resource Pack, Elizabethan England, the Globe
    GCSE HISTORY (8145) Paper 2 Shaping the Nation Resource pack for the 2019 historic environment specified site The Globe Theatre Elizabethan England, 1568–1603 The purpose of this pack is to provide you with guidance and resources to support your teaching about the Globe Theatre, the 2019 specified site for the historic environment part of Elizabethan England, 1568–1603. It is intended as a guide only and you may wish to use other sources of information about the Globe Theatre. The resources are provided to help you develop your students’ knowledge and understanding of the specified site. They will not be tested in the examination, as the question targets AO1 (knowledge and understanding) and AO2 (explaining second order concepts). IB/M/Jun19/E1 8145/2B/C 2 General guidance The study of the historic environment will focus on a particular site in its historical context and should examine the relationship between a specific site and the key events, features or developments of the period. As a result, when teaching a specified site for the historic environment element, it is useful to think about ways of linking the site to the specified content in Parts 1, 2 and/or 3 of the specification. There is no requirement to visit the specified site as this element of the course is designed to be classroom based. Students will be expected to answer a question that draws on second order concepts of change, continuity, causation and/or consequence, and to explore them in the context of the specified site and wider events and developments of the period studied.
    [Show full text]
  • The Seven Deadly Sins</Em>
    Early Theatre 7.1 (2004) David Kathman Reconsidering The Seven Deadly Sins Among the Henslowe-Alleyn papers at Dulwich College is a document long prized by theatre historians: the handwritten ‘plot’ of a play called The Second Part of the Seven Deadly Sins (Dulwich College MS XIX), apparently designed to be hung on a peg backstage at a playhouse. The text of this play does not survive, but it is usually thought to be identical with Richard Tarlton’s ‘famous play of the seauen Deadly sinnes’, referred to in 1592 by Gabriel Harvey and Thomas Nashe.1 The plot is extremely valuable for its scene-by-scene descrip- tion of the play’s action, which lists the characters and (most of) the players who played those characters in each scene. There are twenty players’ names in all: Mr. Brian, Mr. Phillipps, Mr. Pope, R. Burbadg, W. Sly, R. Cowly, John Duke, Ro. Pallant, John Sincler, Tho. Goodale, John Holland, T. Belt, Ro. Go., Harry, Kit, Vincent, Saunder, Nick, Ned, and Will. In addition, two major roles (King Henry VI and Lydgate) and several minor ones are not accompanied by any player’s name. Since this is the most complete cast list we have for any performance of a pre-restoration play, it has often been used as evidence in reconstructing the history of Elizabethan playing companies, as well as the careers of the individual players named therein.2 One problem is that the company which performed this play is nowhere named in the plot. For more than a century, most theatre historians have assumed that the company in question was some version of Lord Strange’s Men performing in the early 1590s.
    [Show full text]
  • How We Know That Shakespeare Wrote Shakespeare: the Historical Facts by Tom Reedy and David Kathman
    How We Know That Shakespeare Wrote Shakespeare: The Historical Facts by Tom Reedy and David Kathman Contents Introduction William Shakespeare was born in April, 1564, the oldest son of John Shakespeare. His father, a glover, trader, and landowner, married Mary Arden, the daughter of an affluent landowner of Wilmcote. John Shakespeare was ambitious, and he filled many municipal offices in Stratford including that of burgess, which privileged him to educate his children without charge at the King's New School in Stratford. He rose by election to the position of Alderman in 1565; and in 1568 he was elected Bailiff (equivalent to mayor), and in that year he made an application to the Herald's office for a grant of arms. In his position as Bailiff he was responsible for licensing companies of actors who applied to play in the Guild Hall. William Shakespeare married Ann Hathaway in November, 1582, and six months later their daughter, Susanna, was born. Two other children were born, the twins Hamnet and Judith, in February, 1585. Sometime after this he joined a troupe of players and made his way to London. As a member of London's leading theater company, the Lord Chamberlain's Company, he wrote plays and eventually became a sharer in the Globe theater. He was so successful that in 1596 he successfully renewed his father's application for a grant of arms, and the following year he bought and restored New Place, the second-largest house in Stratford. He also bought other real estate in Stratford and London. Shakespeare semi-retired from London life some time around 1610.
    [Show full text]
  • Abstract Title of Thesis: PERFORMING IDENTITY: EARLY MODERN
    Abstract Title of Thesis: PERFORMING IDENTITY: EARLY MODERN PLAYERS AND THE CRAFTING OF PROFESSIONAL LEGITIMACY Rachel Spitz-Lieberman, Master of Arts, 2014 Thesis directed by: Professor Stefano Villani Department of History Professional theater developed in Europe during the sixteenth century. Though it quickly became a popular form of entertainment, some viewed professional actors with skepticism and hostility. This thesis seeks to contextualize hostile responses to the theater and professional player by examining the social, religious, and economic conditions perceived by critics of the theater. This thesis begins with an examination of the commedia dell’arte and Jesuit school dramas to gain a broader understanding of perceptions of theater across social and religious boundaries. It then turns to England for a close examination of anti-theatrical literature and the methods players employed to craft an aura of professional respectability that contradicted the claims of their detractors. Performing Identity: Early Modern Players and the Crafting of Professional Legitimacy by Rachel Spitz-Lieberman Thesis submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School of the University of Maryland, College Park in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts 2014 Advisory Committee: Professor Stefano Villani, Chair Professor Bernard D. Cooperman Professor Phillip M. Soergel ii Table of Contents Introduction…………………………………………………………………………1 Chapter 1: Harlequins and Jesuits…………………………………………………..13 Commediadell’arte………………………………………………………….13
    [Show full text]
  • Globe Theatre
    Coordinates: 51.506779°N 0.094935°W Globe Theatre The Globe Theatre was a theatre in London associated withW illiam Shakespeare. It The Globe Theatre was built in 1599 by Shakespeare's playing company, the Lord Chamberlain's Men, on land owned by Thomas Brend and inherited by his son, Nicholas Brend and grandson Sir Matthew Brend, and was destroyed by fire on 29 June 1613.[4] A second Globe Theatre was built on the same site by June 1614 and closed by an Ordinance issued on 6 September 1642.[5] A modern reconstruction of the Globe, named "Shakespeare's Globe", opened in 1997 approximately 750 feet (230 m) from the site of the original theatre.[6] From 1909, the current Gielgud Theatre was called "Globe Theatre", until it was renamed The second Globe, preliminary (in honour of John Gielgud) in 1994. sketch (c. 1638) for Hollar's 1647 Long View of London[1] Address Maiden Lane (now Contents Park Street) Southwark[2][3] Locations London History England Layout Coordinates 51.506779°N Name 0.094935°W Notes Designation Destroyed by the References Puritans External links Type Elizabethan theatre Construction Locations Opened 1599 Examination of old property records has identified the plot of land occupied by the Closed 1642 Globe as extending from the west side of modern-day Southwark Bridge Road Rebuilt 1614 eastwards as far as Porter Street and from Park Street southwards as far as the back of Gatehouse Square.[7][8] However, the precise location of the building remained unknown until a small part of the foundations, including one original pier base, was discovered in 1989 by the Department of Greater London Archaeology (now Museum of London Archaeology) beneath the car park at the rear of Anchor Terrace on Park Street.[9] The shape of the foundations is now replicated on the surface.
    [Show full text]