Date of Award
6-1930
Degree Type
Bachelors Essay
Degree Name
Bachelor of Arts (BA)
Department
English
First Advisor
William H. Bucknell
Second Advisor
William J. Grace
Abstract
"When Shakespeare, Jonson, Fletcher, ruled the stage, They took so bold a freedom with the age, That there was scarce a knave or fool in town Of any note but had his picture down." But William Shakespeare has gone farther than this and has woven into his Histories a beautiful story. A story, or rather a colorful pageant that carries us back several centuries to the time when William Shakespeare lived and Queen Elizabeth ruled England. Between lines he gives us a beautiful picture of merry England and her people. He reveals the customs, beliefs, and ideas of his age and makes them live again. Shakespeare wanted his actors to be the abstract or brief chronicles of the time; and these were principles which his plays illustrated. In fact he perhaps carried to a degree farther than he realized. As one Calvert wrote in 1604: "The players do not forbear to present upon the stage the whole course of the present time; for they spare neither the King, state, or religion." In painting these pictures, Shakespeare put upon the canvas the whole picture of the Middle Ages. It is true, some phases are not as brightly painted as others; but they are there in the background and upon close examination are as colorful and as beautiful as the others. We can read the Histories as a portrayal of the lives of the King; but then let us read them again and find the story I found, - a story that reveals everything to give us a complete and minute detail of the Middle Ages. Therefore I will endeavor to present a survey of English life as revealed to us in Shakespeare's historical plays, especially Country and Town life, National Spirit, Religion, Superstition, Recreation and Education.
Recommended Citation
Wolf, Janice M., "Shakespere's Histories as a Dramatic Pageant of the Middle Ages" (1930). Bachelors’ Theses. 1482.
https://epublications.marquette.edu/bachelor_essays/1482
Included in
Literature in English, British Isles Commons, Playwriting Commons, Theatre History Commons
Comments
A thesis submitted partially to fulfill the requirements for the Degree of Bachelor of Philosophy, College of Liberal Arts, Marquette University, Milwaukee, Wisconsin.