By understanding the factual circumstances of Shakespeare’s life around 1590 and from explicating the appeal of Shakespeare’s plays to his audience in regards to subject, genre, language, and overall style of his first three plays it is clear that Shakespeare’s primary motivation for writing was not for his own personal expression, love of poetry, or plays but more so to simply make a buck and try to establish himself.
The Stage is Set: Quick Index
1. 1590
2. Genre
3. Style Similarity’s
-Rhetorical Language
-Elaborate Metaphors:Conceit
-Blank Verse
4. Diction
5. Subject
6. The Success! & Response to any Chronology, Commissioned, and Success Qualms
1. 1590
Henry IV part’s 1-3 were Shakespeare’s first three plays that he wrote. The plays were written in 1590 but not preformed until four to six years later. Shakespeare was 26 when he wrote the plays, had a wife and three kids that He left in his home town of Stratford while He worked in London as an actor. Actors of that time period did not make much money, they were not trusted, they were Rogues, and Vagabonds. Shakespeare was so poor that He lived with friends and at a parish. Shakespeare couldn’t look to his parents for financial help because his parents were doing nearly as bad as He was. His father lost his government job as a result of persecution for his catholic faith and had to sell everything he owned except for his house on Henley Street just to live. Even though Shakespeare’s parents were not much better off, they were able to let Anne and His three kids live with them while He was away. From Shakespeare biographies, it appears that around 1590 were tumultuous times for Shakespeare and His family. (Bevington) (Schoenbaum) (Encyclopedia Britannica) But necessity is the mother of invention and at that time anyone could write a play and sell it to a theater. Theaters called the un-commissioned purchase of one play from a person a “one-off” (OED). These “one-off” plays were perfect for making extra money on the side. Naturally, an actor with talent in and experience with writing and acting such as Shakespeare began to look at how contemporary plays of His time were written and wrote plays to be sold to theaters. There are no primary documents from Shakespeare stating why He began writing but we do know where He worked and lived and where His family lived and how bad they were doing so the picture of what was going on with Shakespeare around the time Henry IV parts 1-3 is clear. Shakespeare’s family situation wasn’t great and He needed to make extra money for his family. Because Shakespeare was an actor He learned what people liked, He could use His natural talent and extensive education with English verse, previous experience with writing, education, and experience with acting to write a play that would entertain that He could sell and make extra money to support Himself and His family. In 1590, Shakespeare had not received the status of a world’s greatest poet and playwright yet. At this time Shakespeare’s status was that of an actor which hurt his chances of being recognized because the poor reputation of actors. Shakespeare relied on a popular genre, style, diction, and subjects to gain appeal for his plays from his audience. He was trying to piggy back on the popularity of rhetorical devices so people would look less at who wrote it and more on content. Many authors of that time used their already good reputation, wealth, or power to get noticed. Shakespeare had none of that so He had to rely on other conventions that were well liked for people to overlook the author and enjoy the work. By picking popular conventions Shakespeare was trying to appeal to as many as He could and give his plays the best opportunity for success. The genre Shakespeare selected for His first plays is also evidence that His goal was to make a buck and establish himself and not self-expression or for the beauty of it. 2. Genre
In 1588 the Spanish Armada sailed against England. Early attacks on the Spanish Armada by Queen Elizabeth lead to the defeat of it. During the “patriotic aftermath of the war” history plays or plays based on English history became the favorite genre. In 1590, Shakespeare’s audience “knew” and loved the genre well. As an actor, Shakespeare identified the popularity of the History plays so He adopted this genre for His first plays. (Bevington) Because of Shakespeare’s lack of influence and need for success, He used the most popular and established genre to offset his weaknesses and give His play the best opportunity for success, just as mentioned in the above introduction. Shakespeare also used a popular style of that time to gain more appeal for his play.
3. Style Similarity's
Shakespeare used the type of writing styles because they were the “conventional style” of His time and thus gave His work more appeal to popular audiences of the stage. While reading the plays Henry IV parts 1-3 you can identify the “conventional” yet well liked style that He used. The article “Shakespeare’s Dramatic Art: Collection of Essays” by Clemen Wolfgang lists the principles of the conventional style of Shakespeare’s time that art the clearest in his early plays such the play Henry IV. Wolfgang states that the conventional style of that time was that:
1. The language is Rhetorical - written to declaim
2. The poetry depends on extended, sometimes elaborate metaphors and conceits
3. Blank Verse
-Rhetorical Language
The first conventional style Wolfgang lists is: the rhetorical language -written for the actors to declaim rather than speak used in that time. In the video below watch how a conversation erupts into a lengthy speech symbolized by the King (my sister Emily taking a drink) and exciting diction.
From the over dramatic acting, we can see that the characters were having a conversation that was establishing the focus and concern of the characters. The King was showing his compassion for his Kingdom and the Earl of Surrey was showing his love and support for the King, when the King bursts into a interrupting, loud, and formal speech. He uses grandious words such as Revolution, solid firmness, neptune, parels, and ensue that diction matches his title as a King. Just as Wolfgang states in his article "the language does not spring naturally from the needs of the character." The speech might be exciting and more entertaining than the boring form of the conversation but the King seems bipolar and pompous when they randomly start speeches between friends. The speech holds up the important actions of the King and his two Earls to stop the downward slope of Kingdom in the coming scene. A closer look at the diction Shakspeare used in his early plays is found under the section diction.
-Elaborate Metaphors:Conceits
Another part of the style that Shakespeare conformed to in his early plays and changed in his later work is the use of elaborate metaphors and conceits. From the video in the section "Retorical Language" we can see the retorical language from the acting. By explicating the King's lines from the play we can see the retorical language as well as the metaphors that match the language. As the first eight lines from the Kings speech are explicated in scene 1 of act three, watch how the figures of speech become too complicated and the excesive detail detracts from the work but could be more entertaining for audiences.
KING
O God, that one might read the book of fate
And see the revolution of the times
Make mountains level, and the continent,
Weary of solid firmness, melt itself
Into the sea, and other times to see
The beachy girdle of the ocean
Too wide for Neptune’s hips;
The first six lines appear to be strait forward if you have prior knowledge of the play. The king has been troubled all night about the outcome of his city and he wants to be able to just ”Read the book of fate to see the revolution of are times” or read a book to know what revolution or changes are coming (OED, Revolution). The King is referring to the Earl of Northumberland and his intention to attack and kill King Henry’s people and take over the Kingdom. The next four lines are him recognizing how “Fate” has changed the mountains, continents, the sea, and oceans. The words “The beachy girdle of the ocean” is the continued lamination and reference to the prayer to “God”. He is saying “We see how the beachy (beach) girdle (undergarment) is sometimes too wide or “beachy” for even the ocean.” The reference to the changes to the earth caused by God’s fate is the King Acknowledging that God is over everything even the earth. That is an elaborate Metaphor given that The King is acknowledging to two friends that whatever will happen to the Kingdom is God’s fate, trying to console himself and not giving a speech in front of an audience. Just imagine if your parent was called on to say a prayer to get back from a church camping trip in safety because they have to go through a blizzard and the parent uses the same diction. The prayer would be considered elaborate and the parent would be looked at as a Pharisee because people that heard the prayer would think he did it just to be cool. The high minded and over dramatic metaphors are what is meant by an elaborate metaphor or Conceit. The first six lines are recognizing how the fate of God is above everything and no one can stop it. The next couple of lines are where it gets even more complicated though.
The next lines are the continuation of the prayer however they take a Shakespearean twist. In line six and seven Shakespeare refers to other societies deities to continue his conceits. The line “too wide for Neptune’s hips” is a reference to Roman mythology. “Neptune” was the Roman God of Water. In Shakespeare’s time “hip” also referred to as “Morbid depression of sprits” (OED, Hip). The reference to “God’s fate” being “too wide” or larger than, “Neptune” or the ocean’s, “Hip” or “depression of spirits” means that fate is bigger than the oceans destructive consequences as a result of circumstances.
The reference to fate is a reoccurring theme in Shakespeare’s plays. Shakespeare is referencing to The Consolation of Philosophy by Boethius. This hugely popular text was the single most influential work in the west on medieval and early Renaissance Christianity. In the text Boethius refers to how evil can exist in a world governed by God. The text refers to the fact that God is a source for Good but that free will can allow bad in because of free will.
From the explicated seven lines above we see a host of complicated references that without a close explication of the text we simply would not understand. This is what is meant by the style of “elaborate metaphors and Conceits”. The lines could have been three guys talking about the kingdom but Instead we a long speech with ornate metaphors to God, the creation, other cultures, and unheard of texts about the astronomical idea of the origins of evil. The huge stanza could be condensed to “ I wish I knew what was going to happen so I don’t have to worry”. This line would not have been as entertaining but it would get the point accross just as well. Shakespeare wrote elaborate comparisons to match his elaborate speech of the King so as to entertain and match the style of his day instead of developing the character later in his life.
-Blank verse
The next example of Shakespeare using the popular style of writing in His plays is the most obvious. Shakespeare used the poetic form called blank verse. About Three-quarters of all English poetry is done in blank verse (Paul) and Shakespeare's writing was similar in that the majority of it was in blank verse. Blank verse is describe as “verse without rhyme esp. iambic pentameter.” (OED, Blank Verse) The first lines of the first play that Shakespeare wrote begin with it. In the video below from Henry IV part 2 you can hear the unstressed iambic syllable followed by a stressed syllable and the pentameter or five stressed syllable in a ten syllable line. In the video below I strum the strings of my guitar with each syllable. When I strum down on my guitar that means it is a stressed syllable and I strum up when its unstressed.
By strumming my guitar for each syllable you can recognize how every other syllable in blank verse goes from stressed to unstressed. You can also see that there is little change in the form which allows no artistic expression from the writer. In the text below we can visually see the strict form of the style of that time.
Open your ears; for which of you will stop
The vent of hearing when loud Rumour speaks?
I, from the orient to the drooping west,
Making the wind my post-horse, still unfold
The acts commenced on this ball of earth:
Upon my tongues continual slanders ride,
The which in every language I pronounce,
Stuffing the ears of men with false reports.
The vent of hearing when loud Rumour speaks?
I, from the orient to the drooping west,
Making the wind my post-horse, still unfold
The acts commenced on this ball of earth:
Upon my tongues continual slanders ride,
The which in every language I pronounce,
Stuffing the ears of men with false reports.
Each metrical line of the stanza is close to the same length and it appears ridged. The speech does not continue past the end of the verse line without a heavy stop. The lines are discrete and connected in a sequence of thought but each line is independent metrically and verbally. (Bevington)
In the video below we can see how the lines from the play are verbally independent and follow a strict rhythm.
You can also identify that that words with more than one syllable are placed so that the stress falls on the right syllable. Shakespeare did not deviate from stressed, unstressed pattern in His first plays. There were no pauses in the midst of the line and He didn’t run on past the end of the line with no stop punctuation. (Bevington) The strictness of the adherence to the style conventions of that time shows that Shakespeare aimed for popular appeal and not self-expression, from the Language in the play we can also draws that conclusion. Shakespeare focus was to adhering to popular conventions not artistic and self expression as it is later.
4. Diction
The text book states that “the history plays (were written) for the socially diversified, though generally intelligent and well to-do-, audience”. Shakespeare’s plays easily transition between scenes of nobility and scenes of commoners which creates variety of different diction between the two castes. Shakespeare wanted His plays to appeal to rich and poor because both the rich and poor came to his plays. Shakespeare's use of words that would appeal to the rich and the poor, the learned and the unlearned proves that He was less interested in the art of His work than for it to be entertaining, well liked, and purchased by the theater. In the example below we identify how Shakespeare’s diction might have appealed to upper class in the play. In the two examples taken we see one person rebuking another. The first one is King Henry IV rebuking his son Prince Hal for being disrespectful in act4 scene 3. The second example is the rebuke of Mistress Quickly to Pistol for being disrespectful in act 2 scene 4. Notice the vocabulary choice and the style in which it is expressed. In the first example, taken from a major turning point in the play, King Henry IV rebukes his son for being greedy for the crown and not loving him. In the play Henry IV is at fault because Prince Hal was in the other room sobbing because of the weight of the crown and we know later that he was a successful upstanding King in the play. However his father rebukes him saying:
Thy wish was father, Harry, to that thought.
Thy wish was father, Harry, to that thought.
I stay too long by thee; I weary thee.
Dost thou so hunger for mine empty chair
That thou wilt needs invest thee with my honors
Before thy hour be ripe? O foolish youth,
Thou seek’st the greatness that will overwhelm thee.
Stay but a little, for my cloud of dignity
Is held from falling with so weak a wind
That it will quickly drop. My day is dim.
Thou hast stol'n that which after some few hours
Were thine without offense, and at my death
Thou hast sealed up my expectation.
Thy life did manifest thou loved’st me not,
And thou wilt have me die assured of it.
Thou hid’st a thousand daggers in thy thoughts,
Which thou hast whetted on thy stony heart
To stab at half an hour of my life.
As you read the text you notice high minded, eloquent speech like that of the Bible. In the castes of that time, Kings were considered just below God. You see that the Kings language is similar to the Bible, using words such as thou, sealed up, thy life, Doest, and foolish. The diction used is clear, poetic, and mask a feeling of greatness. You see the use of larger words which would appeal to a more educated upper class when a short word could suffice such as “thy life did manifest thou lovedst me not”. The King could have said “the way you acted showed me you don’t love me”. But he used words like “manifest” and “loved’st”. He also used words associated with an aristocracy such as “honors” and “is held from falling”. Someone not associated or socialized in an aristocratic caste would not think or refer to those topics when talking to their son on their death bed because their son would not be gaining a “height” or “honors” at their father’s death. In the example below, we will identify how Shakespeare’s diction appealed to less educated and less wealthy.
In act 2 scene 4 of Henry IV, we find Falstaff having dinner at the Boar’s Head tavern with Bardolph, Mistress Quickly, Doll Tearsheet and Pistol. Quickly has become sick with qualm and Doll and Falstaff are making jokes about it using her job as prostitute and comparing it to war. Eventually Doll gets upset after one such sexual innuendo is pointed in her direction and she tries to physically reprimand Pistol. This scene is not a castle like in the other scene but a tavern so Shakespeare uses words and actions common to a tavern. Notice the use of coarse language and the way the words become dirty in the example of the sexual innuendo below.
PISTOL
I will discharge upon her, Sir John, with two bullets
FALSTAFF
She is pistol-proof. Sir, you shall not hardly offend her.
MISTRESS QUICKLY
Come, I’ll drink no proofs nor no bullets. I’ll drink no more
than will do me good, for no man’s pleasure, I
PISTOL
Then to you, Mistress Dorothy! I will charge you
DOLL TEARSHEET
Charge me! I scorn you, scurvy companion. What, you poor,
base, rascally, cheating lack-linen mate! Away, you mouldy
rogue, away! I am meat for your master.
PISTOL
I know you, Mistress Dorothy.
DOLL TEARSHEET
Away, you cutpurse rascal, you filthy bung, away! By this
Away, you cutpurse rascal, you filthy bung, away! By this
wine, I’ll thrust my knife in your mouldy chaps an you play
the saucy cuttle with me. Away, you bottle-ale rascal, you
basket-hilt stale juggler, you. Since when, I pray you, sir?
God’s light, with two points on your shoulder?
PISTOL
God let me not live, but I will murder your ruff for this.
In the play a tavern is referred to as a place for low life’s and scoundrels. Prince Hal is considered “off-course” while he is frequents them. We do not see the eloquent speech we do with Prince Hal and King Henry IV but rude and coarse Language. In the scene in the tavern we see dirty sexual jokes, not becoming of an educated man. In the example above, Mistress Quickly quickly becomes upset because Falstaff stays to “pistol” to “discharge upon her”. But a closer look shows that testicles were also referred to as “bullets” in that day. Falstaff is not saying discharge your bullets but discharge your testacies. They are not talking about war but as before stated it’s a sexual joke Quickly expense. Now that Quickly is upset she doesn’t try to calmly communicate why she didn’t like the joke but angrily calls Pistol a scurvy, rascally, cheating lack-linen mate, mouldy, rougue, and cutpurse among other things. She threatens to “thrust my knife” into many places in Pistol as if to physically threaten the man to respect her. Before the scene we see Quickly curse Pistol as well, calling him a “bastard” among other things. It’s almost as if Quickly understands Pistol’s vial nature of no respect for women and she must instill that respect with fear. Pistol only becomes enraged and threatens Mistress quickly in return and a brawl is narrowly averted because others step in. The physical threatening and coarse language could be entertaining for the educated and upper class of Shakespeare's time but the lower class that frequented taverns would certainly be more familiar with that type of communication and would enjoy it much more. During the fight you see a lot of pros which appeal more to less educated and less sophisticated because it would be easier to understand than the blank verse, that the majority of the play is comprised of.
5. Subject
5. Subject
Another level of the many levels of Henry IV Tudor propaganda is that in the play King Henry’s plans to lead a crusade is interrupted by the Percy’s. A crusade is a military expedition undertaken by Christians. Crusades were thought to be undertaken to build up the power of God and disrupt the power of Satin. When the Percy’s interrupt Henry IV crusade it was showing that they were in direct contrast to the will of God because they interrupted a leader of Gods war to disrupt satin. By showing Henry IV as the leader of the crusade, the play is showing that Henry IV is consecrated by God thus one way Shakespeare celebrates the house of Tudor leadership.
The last level that will be shown is that when Percy tries to overthrow England he does it for his own self interests of gaining power for himself and he allies himself with the enemies of England to overthrow King Henry IV. At the end of Henry IV part 1we see that King Henry has to waste time, money, and the life of the English in order to finally beat the rebellion back.
Shakespeare included other subjects in His plays that appealed to diverse audiences. One example is that in the plays Henry IV, Prince Hal is depicted as less intelligent than his friend Falstaff. Falstaff represents lower class. By Shakespeare depicting Prince Hal as less intelligent than Falstaff, He is saying the middle class are brighter than Kings. Prince Hal later becomes a great King in part two of Henry IV plays but it is in part because of his lower class education from the influence they had on him because of his experience with them. By showing that Prince Hal becomes a great King at the experience of the lower class, Shakespeare would appeal to the lower class who would attend the play.
In Henry IV part one Shakespeare uses subject to appeal to his diverse audiences with the contrasts of the different cultures. He discusses and analyzes accents, folk traditions, stereotypes, and geographies through the Welsh and Scottish characters such as Glyndwr and Douglas.
In Henry IV part 1, King Henry attained his place as King as a result of rebellion. However He is troubled because later in life he sees his act of rebellion as dishonorable.
Perhaps the most evident evidence of subject that appeals to his audience is the idea of land in England. England is a small island and land is a symbol for honor, power, and always is an issue that comes up, especially during the time the plays were written in 1590. When the plays were written the monarchy in England had recently enacted a law that there was to be no more public land for grassing animals (Bevington). Many farmers in England couldn’t afford land for their animals to graze on so they needed that public land; the new law negatively affected how the lower class was to support their families. This change upset many of the lower class in England. In the plays Shakespeare identifies many ideas of the view of honor and end the end honor is simply defined less by guidelines but more by personal values and goals. Hotspur feels honor has to do with glory on the battlefield and with defending ones reputation. King Henry's view of honor is the well-being of the nation and retaining his title as King.
6. Success! and Chronology, Commission, and Success Qualms?
Even though the popular conventions were very strict that Shakespeare adhered to, His early work was still a “huge early success”. (Bevington) When the first history plays were performed He was catapulted to the wealth and fame that he was after. Today “Shakespeare is given more credit for pioneering in the genre of the English history play than he once was”. The text book then goes on to say that the character of Lord Talbot in 1Henry VI was well liked and “by the time Richard Duke of Gloucester had emerged from Henry VI plays to become King Richard III Shakespeare’s fame as a dramatist was assured.” The text book also says that “Shakespeare genius manifests itself in his early work”. The text book then goes on to say how His genius is manifest by what he learned from his predecessors and from the diversity depicted in his early plays. What He learned from his “predecessors” is seen by looking at how he copied that which is popular (which this blog already did), among other things. However, the biography quoted below called “Will and the World" by Stephen Greenblatt, argues that Shakespeare was more than just a guy writing to make a money.“This is interesting to remember when you hear people glibly saying that Shakespeare was "merely" the Stephen King of his times. Usually, what they mean is he wasn't an intellectual giant, just a guy writing prolific quantities of popular fiction, as if there are scores of Governor General and Nobel-worthy geniuses lost in time. Shakespeare, in this view, is just a man who gives the masses the slop that they want so that he can make a buck. Its an attempt to diminish his work, to lower him to the status of a hack.”
In this blog post thus far we have argued that Shakespeare is just what Greenblatt resents, “just a man who gives the masses the slop that they want so that he can make a buck” but in the next section called “The Closing Act” we will identify the aesthetically pleasing beauty that made Shakespeare texts a work of art. The evidence surrounding his first written plays Henry IV parts 1-3 suggest that “a Buck” was his intentions as well as becoming noticed. By using the “slop” He first gave and contrasting it with Him at his finest we can identify the truly timeless art in His text and his character. The history plays were simply just the first ones written and also his brake out literature. Just like the famous Uncle Kracker had to pay his price to become famous by being the back up singer/D.J. to the unpleasant Kid Rock, so did Shakespeare have to sacrifice some of His artistic genius to pay the price to become noticed and then popular and that's okay. That's how life works, and that's how we learn more about are selves from those that influence us such as Shakespeare.
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