Winter 2007 Shakespeare Matters page 1 6:2 "Let me not to the marriage of true minds admit impediments..." Winter 2007 “Tilting Under Frieries”: Narcissus (1595) and the Affair At Blackfriars ver since the printing of W.E. Buckley’s 1882 Roxburghe Club limited edition1 of Thomas Edwardes’ Cephalus & EProcris and Narcissus,2 printed from the unique Peterborough copy of the 1595 quarto, the Narcissus L’envoy has posed an enigma for literary historians. Although convoluted syntax complicates analysis, the L’envoy unambiguously functions as an honorific catalogue of major Elizabethan poets: Spenser, Daniel, and Marlowe are all implicated under their respective sobri-quets, as Collyn Clout (v.1), Rosamond (vii.1), and Leander (vii.3).3 The Shakspere Allusion Book4 identifies the passage “Adon 5 6 7 Dr. Robin Fox, Professor of Social Theory at Rutgers University and deafly masking thro,/stately troupes rich conceited” (ix.1-2) as former director of the Guggenheim Foundation headlined the 2006 a reference to the 1593 satiric epyllion Venus and Adonis and, by Joint Conference of the Shakespeare Fellowship and the synecdoche, to Shakespeare himself, an identification followed by Shakespeare Oxford Society Katherine Duncan-Jones among others.8 Stanzas immediately following the Adonis passage have, however, puzzled scholars by reference to an unidentified poet-dramatist whose “golden art” and nd “bewitching pen” should have made him “of our rime/The only 2 Annual Joint Conference object and the star” (x.5-6). Ingleby includes these stanzas in his in Ann Arbor a Success excerpt but remarks that the poet “has not been identified”: 9 Eke in purple roabes distaind, Amid’st the Center of this clime, wo distinguished visitors — Brigham Young University I have heard saie doth remaine, Scholar-in-residence Dr. Michael Egan, and Dr. Robin Fox, One whose power floweth far, TProfessor of Social Theory at Rutgers University and former That should have been of our rime, director of the Guggenheim Foundation — headlined the second The only obiect and the star. annual joint SF-SOS conference in Anne Arbor, Michigan, Well could his bewitching pen, November 9-12. Highlights of the Conference included a Done the muses obiects to us, breathtaking Royal Shakespeare Company production of The Although he differs much from men, Tempest, starring Patrick Stewart as Prospero, a provocative Tilting under Frieries, luncheon speech by Oregon Shakespeare Festival actor James Yet his golden art might woo us, Newcomb, the airing of Shakespeare Behind Bars, an inspiring To have honored him with baies. documentary about a production of The Tempest by medium (ix-x) security prisoners at the Luther Luckett Correctional Complex in LaGrange, Kentucky, and more than twenty presentations, (cont. on p. 13) (cont. on p. 18) page 2 Shakespeare Matters Winter 2007 Letters: To The Editor: than any chance to ‘publish or perish.’ He invited me to Ann Arbor to attend the He wrote a kind, if somewhat cynical, Royal Shakespeare Company’s In appreciation for your hospitality note in reply. “I doubt you will find the performances of The Tempest, Antony at the annual meeting, I submit “The field much improved by the time your and Cleopatra, and Julius Caesar. Naked Bard.” boys are grown.” While researching the Residency, I Thus, I feel quite sympathetic Just as luck accounts for 50% of the clicked a “related link” on the RSC toward the predicament of scholars who variation of success in life, serendipity website. The SF/SOS Annual invested in the Stratfordian tradition. remains the scholar’s best friend. Conference would be meeting right at But how refreshing to spend four For fourteen years I labored in the my hotel. Well, why not? days this fall in Shakespeare Fellowship fields of Academe. On a fellowship, And I found myself among kindred with Shakespeare Oxford Society in Ann under the auspices of the Provost of spirits. Though I cannot yet claim the Arbor, Michigan! I found meticulous Northwestern University, I studied compelling sense of mission I recognize researchers — diligent in their pursuit of Higher Education with a faculty that in the more seasoned among you, I am historical fact, confident enough in the included anthropologist Paul Bohannon, grateful for your sincere welcome. I foundations of their work to speak gently, research methodologist Donald T. thank you for your hard work. I found courageous enough to speak their truth Campbell, and Stanford University you not only entertaining, but persuasive. as honestly as the little girl in my favorite linguistics scholar Mary Hass. I look forward to knowing you better. fairy tale. They taught me to think. I’ve never No reader will be surprised to learn forgotten their lessons. that the baby who drank science with his I undertook a study of the role of Sincerely, mother’s milk became an MD/PhD professors in universities. This may candidate at the University of Michigan. sound simple, but only until you discover Margaret Zacharias, PhD He remembered that I had discovered that no two pieces of research in that Shakespeare’s work at the age of ten, field had been conducted with a similar when childhood stories lost their luster. Special thanks tothe multi-talented theoretical model, or any consistent proofreaders for this issue: Alex McNeil methodology. I was forced to turn to and K.C. Ligon. epistemology, to create a schema for categorizing theories and methods, in order to review the literature. Shakespeare Matters Subscriptions to Shakespeare Matters are $40 per year ($20 for online issues only). Soon this project began to encounter Published quarterly by the The Shakespeare Fellowship Family or institution subscriptions are $45 per repeated changes to incorporate the Please address correspondence to: year. Patrons of the Fellowship are $75 and up. interests of various assistant professors, Please send subscription requests to: none of whom achieved tenure. They Editorial Offices P.O. Box 65335 The Shakespeare Fellowship kept coming in, and going out, the Baltimore, MD 21209 PO Box 421 revolving door of my dissertation Hudson, MA 01749 committee like rogue candidates for Editor: authorship of Shakespeare’s plays. Roger Stritmatter, PhD The purpose of the Shakespeare Fellowship By the time I became a mother, I is to promote public awareness and acceptance Contributing Editors: of the authorship of the Shakespeare Canon by was nursing my firstborn son in my left Mark Anderson, K.C. Ligon, Lynne Kositsky, Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford (1550- arm while debating statistical methods Howard Schumann, Dr. Charles Berney, 1604), and further to encourage a high level of used in surveys of the academic Charles Boyle, Dr. Felicia Londre, scholarly research and publication into all Alex McNeil, aspects of Shakespeare studies, and also into professions with Yale mathematician Dr. Anne Pluto, Elisabeth Sears, the history and culture of the Elizabethan era. Serge Lang, over a telephone clutched in William Boyle, Richard Whalen, The Society was founded and incorporated my right hand. Hank Whittemore, Dr. Daniel L. Wright in 2001 in the State of Massachusetts and is chartered under the membership corporation When I finally obtained my PhD, I Phone (Baltimore, MD): (410) 764-9202 laws of that state. It is a recognized 501(c)(3) sent a copy of my work to the President email: [email protected] nonprofit (Fed ID 04-3578550). of the American Association of Higher All contents copyright 2007 Dues, grants and contributions are tax- The Shakespeare Fellowship deductible to the extent allowed by law. Education, with the comment, “The Shakespeare Matters welcomes articles, essays, Emperor Has No Clothes.” I told him commentary, book reviews, letters and news items. Contributions should be reasonably concise and, when that the bare bottoms of my by then two appropriate, validated by peer review. The views expressed by contributors do not necessarily reflect those of the darling little boys looked more appealing Fellowship as a literary and educational organization. Winter 2007 Shakespeare Matters page 3 December 30, 2006 To the Editor: The President’s Blog... Perhaps John M. Rollett’s solution to the Sonnet dedication puzzle: THESE SONNETS ALL BY EVER THE FORTH is unfinished. I believe a complete solution is: THESE SONNETS ALL BY EVER don’t know about the rest of you who THE BEGETTER. I reached this came to Ann Arbor, but I had a great conclusion after hearing about the Sonnet Itime. In addition to the conference dedication puzzle and Rollett’s solution speakers, which Roger will tell you all in a presentation by Sean Phillips, about, it was the second time the SOS and “Decrypting Shakespeare,” at the joint the Fellowship have successfully run a SOS-SF Shakespeare Authorship joint conference. Not only did we come Conference in Ann Arbor in November away with money in our pocket, I think we 2006. Phillips said a solution has to make all came away with a new sense of sense, and Rollett’s ends in nonsense. But camaraderie and unity. Oxford would have how could such a promising start lead nowhere? Something must be missing. Looking in the dedication for clues, I counted the words (using Rollett’s 6-2-4 In Ann Arbor, five of us actually scheme suggested by the layout of the three blocks of text) and included the met face to face for a brief signature “T.T.” This seemed reasonable impromptu meeting which, I because the words of the dedication and groups of often overlapping members and the signature initials all are separated by think, convinced all of us that two conferences competing for speakers full stops. I found this solution in two this is doable. Personally, if I and attendees. steps. Counting the initials, the first part Common sense screams at us that is: THESE SONNETS ALL BY EVER can facilitate our organizations’ having only one organization would fix THE FORTH T.