The Artistic Links Between William Shakespeare and Sir Thomas More: Radically Different Richards

296 Pages·2011·4.789 MB·English

by  Charles A. Hallett, Elaine S. Hallett (auth.)

THE ARTISTIC LINKS BETWEEN
WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE AND
SIR THOMAS MORE
OTHER WORKS BY CHARLES A. HALLETT AND
ELAINE S. HALLETT
Charles
Middleton’s Cynics: Middleton’s Insight into the Moral Psychology of the Mediocre
Man (1975)
Charles and Elaine
The Revenger’s Madness: A Study of Revenge Tragedy Motifs (1980)
Analyzing Shakespeare’s Action: Scene versus Sequence (1991, 2006)
THE ARTISTIC LINKS BETWEEN
WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE AND
SIR THOMAS MORE
RADICALLY DIFFERENT RICHARDS
Charles A. Hallett and Elaine S. Hallett
THE ARTISTIC LINKS BETWEEN WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE AND SIR THOMAS MORE
Copyright © Charles A. Hallett and Elaine S. Hallett, 2011.
Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2011 978-0-230-11367-1
All rights reserved.
First published in 2011 by
PALGRAVE MACMILLAN®
in the United States—a division of St. Martin’s Press LLC,
175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010.
Where this book is distributed in the UK, Europe and the rest of the world,
this is by Palgrave Macmillan, a division of Macmillan Publishers Limited,
registered in England, company number 785998, of Houndmills,
Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS.
Palgrave Macmillan is the global academic imprint of the above companies
and has companies and representatives throughout the world.
Palgrave® and Macmillan® are registered trademarks in the United States,
the United Kingdom, Europe and other countries.
ISBN 978-1-349-29536-4 ISBN 978-0-230-11952-9 (eBook)
DOI 10.1057/9780230119529
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Hallett, Charles A., 1935–
The Artistic Links Between William Shakespeare and Sir Thomas
More : Radically Different Richards / Charles A. Hallett, Elaine S. Hallett.
p. cm.
1. Shakespeare, William, 1564–1616. King Richard III. 2. More,
Thomas, Sir, Saint, 1478–1535. History of King Richard the Third.
3. Shakespeare, William, 1564–1616. King Richard III—Sources.
4. Richard III, King of England, 1452–1485—In literature.
5. Shakespeare, William, 1564–1616—Technique I. Hallett, Elaine S.,
1935– II. Title.
PR2821.H35 2011
822.3(cid:2)3—dc22 2010049888
A catalogue record of the book is available from the British Library.
Design by Newgen Imaging Systems (P) Ltd., Chennai, India.
First edition: June 2011
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Transferred to Digital Printing in 2012
To June Schlueter,
who asked some pertinent questions—
why does Shakespeare want to write drama?
what does a work of drama do?
CONTENTS
Acknowledgments ix
Introduction
Preface: Shakespeare’s Search for the Essence of Dramatic Form 3
1 “More Virtually Does Shakespeare’s Work for Him”:
Dogmas of the “More Myth” 13
Part I Inspiration: Re-e nvisioning the Historical
Narrative from the Protagonist’s Point of View
2 “Thou Art a Traitor. Off with His Head!”: Applying the
Ricardian Shock to De Casibus Narrative 41
3 “For on That Ground I’ll Make a Holy Descant—”:
Two Con Men Show How Their Thespian Skills
Brought Richard’s Cause “to a Happy Issue” 85
Part II The Supreme Achievement: Shakespeare’s
Discoveries Perfected and Applied
4 “Was Ever Woman in This Humor Woo’d? / Was Ever
Woman in This Humor Won?”: Richard’s Boast of
His Prowess as Lover and Playwright 133
Part III Expanding the Perspective: The Dynamics
of the Play’s “Geological Fault”
5 “The Most Arch Act of Piteous Massacre / That Ever Yet
This Land Was Guilty of”: How Shakespeare’s Method of
Exposing Richard Differs from More’s 167
viii CONTENTS
6 “To Her Go I, a Jolly Thriving Wooer”:
The Second Wooing Scene (4.4.199–431) 185
7 “Here Pitch Our Tent, Even Here in Bosworth Field”:
Meanwhile, Back at the Tetralogy . . . 219
8 Later Uses of the Ricardian Template:
Crafting the Fifth Act of Coriolanus 229
Epilogue 241
Appendix: Interlocking Episodes of Action:
Shakespeare’s Use of More’s “Rusty Armor”
Scene (3.5.1–109) 245
Notes 255
Works Cited 275
Shakespeare’s Richard III—Index of Scenes Analyzed 281
Index 285
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Our perpetual gratitude, first, to Hugh Richmond, our peer re-
viewer, and to Brigitte Shull, Jo Roberts, and the staff at Palgrave
Macmillan, who relieved us of the labors of slaving over our manuscript
by determining that it was ready for print. June Schlueter deserves many
blessings as well for playing the role of the Grim Ripper in helping us to
meet Palgrave’s word limit (and for offering her insights on the book’s
numerous early drafts). For critiquing the entire manuscript from the
perspective of his many years on stage and from his recent experience as
a Theatre Panelist for London’s Olivier Awards, we owe much to Frederick
Pyne. Thanks, too, to all of those kind friends who suggested improve-
ments in individual chapters—Sarah Stanton, Heather Dubrow, Hugh
Boulton, and our array of Davids—David Kastan, David Landman, David
Casagrande. Their early challenges helped us to refine our arguments.
Production details were kindly overseen by Richard Bellis and Rohini
Krishnan, and, at the perfect moment, Betsy Kruger supplied us, in re-
producible digital form, with the Motley image that graces our cover.
Debts to our predecessors whose work on Richard III made our task
easier have been acknowledged in the Notes; however, Emrys Jones,
Robert Turner, Chris Hassel, Peter Holland, and John Jowett deserve
special notice in this regard, as does George M. Logan, whose timely
publication of an excellent “reading edition” of The History of King Richard
III made Sir Thomas More’s work conveniently accessible. The works of
Eric Voegelin, Maynard Mack, and Brian Vickers have also informed this
study.
For financial assistance that allowed us to visit Shakespeare libraries in
England and helped to underwrite the costs of writing and preparing the
manuscript, we owe much to Fordham University, and for graciously
awarding Charles the status of Visiting Scholar, thereby putting its li-
braries and computer facilities at our disposal, we extend thanks to
Dartmouth College, where most of this book was written, and to
Dartmouth’s Peter Travis and Susan Bibeau. We are also grateful for the
x ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
generosity of Eric Rosenberg and Michele Kolb, who provided our
“home office” in New York City.
And let us not forget those who gave us needed encouragement as we
prepared this book—Harry Keyishian, Mark Caldwell, Barbara Hanrahan,
Matthew Frost, Ronnie Mulryne, and George Zournas.
Shakespeare quotations are from G. Blakemore Evans, ed., The Riverside
Shakespeare, 2e, © 1997 Heinle/Arts & Sciences, a part of Cengage Learning,
Inc. Reproduced by permission. www.cengage.com/permissions.
Citations to Thomas More’s History of King Richard the Third in our text
are to the edition prepared by George M. Logan: The History of King
Richard the Third: A Reading Edition. By Thomas More. Bloomington:
Indiana University Press, 2005. Reproduced by permission.
www.indiana.edu/~iupress/rights/rightsbook.html.
Paul Budra, “Drama” from A Mirror for Magistrates and the de casibus tradi-
tion. © University of Toronto Press, 2000 (pp. 79–82). Reprinted with
permission of the publisher.
Van Laan, Thomas F. Role-playing in Shakespeare © University of Toronto
Press, 1978 (p. 144). Reprinted with permission of the publisher.
Cover image from the Motley Designs Collection is used courtesy of The
Rare Book & Manuscript Library of the University of Illinois at Urbana-
Champaign. The costume was designed for the Glen Byam Shaw produc-
tion of Richard III at the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre, Stratford-upon-
Avon (1953).