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Shakespeare's Double-Dealing Comedies 5 Shakespeare’s Double-Dealing Comedies: Deciphering the “Problem Plays” Shakespeare’s Double-Dealing Comedies: Deciphering the “Problem Plays” By Myron Stagman Shakespeare’s Double-Dealing Comedies: Deciphering the “Problem Plays”, by Myron Stagman This book first published 2010 Cambridge Scholars Publishing 12 Back Chapman Street, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE6 2XX, UK British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Copyright © 2010 by Myron Stagman All rights for this book reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the copyright owner. ISBN (10): 1-4438-1636-1, ISBN (13): 978-1-4438-1636-6 TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction............................................................................ 1 I. Parody and Mock-Sobriety Drama................................... 3 A Few Examples of Shakespearean Parody........................ 3 General Marks of Parody .................................................... 4 A Few More Examples of Shakespearean Parody .............. 5 Shakespeare Self-Parody and Subversive Sexual Quibbles... 6 Shakespearean Satire........................................................... 7 Jacobean ‘Tragedy’ ............................................................. 7 a) The Malcontent ............................................................... 8 b) The Revenger’s Tragedy ............................................... 12 c) The Athiest’s Tragedy ................................................... 18 d) The White Devil............................................................. 26 e) Bussy D’Ambois ............................................................ 28 Conclusion to Jacobean Tragedy....................................... 30 II. The Two Gentlemen of Verona ................................... 31 III. All’s Well That Ends Well........................................... 37 IV. Measure for Measure ................................................... 73 vi Table of Contents V. Cymbeline ..................................................................... 97 VII. Henry V....................................................................... 109 VIII. The Tempest............................................................... 119 IX. The Two Noble Kinsmen ............................................ 161 Conclusion........................................................................... 167 Bibliography ....................................................................... 169 Index.................................................................................... 175 INTRODUCTION It has been my experience with William Shakespeare that, when there is sharp criticism, Shakespeare proves right and critics prove wrong. We have failed to appreciate one aspect of his vast Achievement—ironic comedy . Here we have a shortfall, and Shakespeare’s Double- Dealing Comedies intends to demonstrate the playwright’s simply splendid sense of tongue-in-cheek humor, thus correcting the somber and censorious reactions to his zestful parody (satire in the case of “problem play” All’s Well That Ends Well ). We have been missing so much fun. Let’s have a go at the so-called “problems” to see beneath the surface in order to fathom Shakespeare’s covert comic meanings. I. PARODY AND MOCK -SOBRIETY DRAMA A Few Examples of Shakespearean Parody Shakespeare often composed parody so close to the line of sober romance and drama that they have exasperated critics, leaving them to mutter about “problem plays”. Moreover, to be frank about it, critics have never been particularly savvy when it came to refined ironic humor, even an otherwise sharp fellow like George Bernard Shaw. Take, for instance, what should be an obvious piece of comic irony: In The Two Gentlemen of Verona, Valentine's gift of his ladylove (a Valentine ’s gift) to false friend and ready-rapist Proteus. There's nothing overly elusive about irony of this kind (a parody of ideal male friendship themes in literature, particularly that of Titus and Gisippus), yet it has been repeatedly ridiculed, having been taken ever so earnestly. The parody which pervades Cymbeline, in contrast, is subtle, requiring close scrutiny (and a good knowledge of Othello ). Two of Shakespeare’s finest comedies, All’s Well That Ends Well and Measure for Measure, are often enough deemed two of his worst. The critics blame Shakespeare, but a little understanding—plus a sense of humor—would shift the blame to censorious critics. An entire field of English Literature, miraculous to say, has been created thanks to a failure to comprehend light-hearted comic irony. We call it “Jacobean Tragedy”. There does exist such a thing as Jacobean Tragedy (e.g. John Webster’s The 4 Parody and Mock-Sobriety Drama Duchess of Malfi ), but much of what glides under that name is parody . “Grim tragedies”, often depicting “corrupt Italy”, have been written by first class authors—William Chapman, Robert Middleton, John Webster, Cyril Tourneur, John Marston, and (if he did but change the final passages and kill someone off) William Shakespeare. Yet these murderous “tragedies" happen to be hilarious comedies, replete with mock-tragic speeches, mock-heroism, mock-evil, and mock-virtue where storybook heroines à la Cinderella utter obscene remarks right to our faces while we commiserate and commend their virtue under such trying circumstances. The real tragedy is that these clever playwrights do not reincarnate today to read our literary criticism. They could then return to their eternal homes, and laugh forever. General Marks of Parody This type of humor can be confused with artlessness, melodrama, oddity, strange authorial values, over-enthusiasm, or serious drama. In the latter case, the more sensitive reader may feel a mite uncomfortable or suspicious now and then, but the irony can nonetheless slip by. Rule number 1: If a good writer seems surprisingly inept and has been known to be a wit or humorist, suspect parody. “Artlessness” can assume various forms: excess and exaggeration, incongruity, extravagance, melodrama, flamboyance, all-too conventional themes, irksome unreality, apparent imitation of someone or something you recognize, anything which implies that this fine writer ought to know better. Shakespeare's Double-Dealing Comedies 5 A Few More Examples of Shakespearean Parody In Henry V , Young kisses the wounds of his dead friend and delivers a flowery oration with his dying gasps. Shakespeare meant such gruesome sentimentality no more gravely than he intended The Comedy of Errors . In The Two Noble Kinsmen, Shakespeare adopted a similar macabre-comic motif when his suppliant women describe the corpses of their dearly departed. When in I Henry VI he has Talbot terrorize a French army by throwing stones at it, one must interpret parody. How could he have written that seriously?! In Cymbeline , Shakespeare uses a deus ex machina, a classical artifice just begging for a comic twist . Read the speeches of Jupiter and the ghosts with a wary eye. Not an earnest thing is involved there. The Duke at the conclusion of the Measure for Measure “problem-play” acts in rather the capacity of a deus ex machina , does he not? He dictates marriages that resolve everything and nothing. The Measure for Measure finale cannot be taken at face value, and—as we shall see—the same can be said for the entire play. George Bernard Shaw blockishly panned Cymbeline’s finale, which spins out one recognition after another. Indeed, there are over 20 of them, and the whole scene thereby registers quaint parodying fun—nothing sober about it. (One must add that Posthumus’ slapping of Imogen who is disguised as a page, a seemingly pointless act, was designed to mimic Othello's slapping of Desdemona.) Big buildup and then deflation is an ironic comedy technique employed by the playful Mr. Shakespeare. For but one example, in The Two Gentlemen of Verona . The knight Eglamour, an exemplar of chivalry devoted to the memory of 6 Parody and Mock-Sobriety Drama his deceased love, escorts Silvia through the woods. One glimpse of the bandits and he leaves her high-and-dry. The cavalier Eglamour may still be running. Mock-heroic, mock- chivalric. Not "odd”. It likewise delighted Shakespeare to parody other writers. Henry V features mock-Marlowe. The Falstaff death-scene of Henry V parodies the death of Socrates in the Phaedo. The Two Noble Kinsmen caricatures Chaucer's Knight's Tale. Speaking of that greatly underrated play, The Two Noble Kinsmen , most anyone who has read Hamlet ought to at least suspect that the Jailor’s Daughter is a comic caricature of Ophelia. An outstanding feature of Shakespearean comedy involves ironic comic imitation of the entire tradition of romance narrative conventions, of which the Valentine-gift / Eglamour jests are samples. The Tempest and Cymbeline together hit virtually all of these targets. What they do not hit, Measure for Measure and All's Well That End's Well do. In this jovial onslaught targeting romance literature, Shakespeare affords us much mirth that has gone unappreciated. Once we have distinguished between Appearance and Reality, the “problems” end and Shakespeare receives his due. Shakespearean Self-Parody and Subversive Sexual Quibbles We should remark two special characteristics of Shakespeare’s ironic comedy. First, Shakespeare spoofs Shakespeare, mocking
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