Reading Texts (6)

Recent Shakespeare Criticism

Pierce Butler

The Sewanee Review, Vol. 18 No.4 (Oct., 1910)

pp. 490-502

Published by: The Johns Hopkins University Press

Butler provides both praise and criticism for recent (in the period of 1910) critical volumes relating to Shakespeare. His opinion is manifested clearly and engagingly, as he gives a summary of the works (and notes anything important about certain passages) before putting his own perspective on the pieces. Unfortunately, it was not much beyond interesting. There was a useful section on page 493 where Butler notes Dr. Albright’s observations that the Globe likely had an ‘inner’ and ‘outer’ stage, as well as a ‘balcony’ that sat above it – this would be interesting to compare to the staging of TTNK in its illustrations provided by Waith’s Introduction. However, it does not give me any direct information on TTNK.

The Authorship of Henry the Eight

Marjorie H Nicholson

PMLA Vol. 37, No.3 (Sept. 1922)

pp.484-502

Published by: Modern Language Association

Nicholson’s detailed investigation into how Henry VIII was constructed and how its authorship was portioned (she makes the note that it would not have been a collaboration due to the inconsistencies ripe throughout the play, and suggests that an early draft was passed to Fletcher to finish) and her presentation of the facts offers something which is incredibly useful to compare to TTNK. This is because both plays have been derided by Boyle as the work of Massinger, both plays were written around the same time period, both plays concern the work of both Shakespeare and Fletcher, and both plays are frequently regarded as ‘inferior’ when compared to Shakespeare’s earlier works. It also contains the beginnings of accepting Shakespeare’s collaborative nature, although Nicholson makes certain to state that no collaborations had been recorded during this period. 

The Influence of Theatrical Conditions on Shakespeare

Edward Everett Hale Jr.

Modern Philology, Vol. 1, No.1 (June, 1903)

pp.171-192

The University of Chicago Press

A fascinating and deeply engaging essay which discusses at length the difference between modern stage production and the Elizabethan productions. Unfortunately, while it was deeply engrossing, I don’t know how relevant it will be to my own essay. I suppose I should note that a version of The Two Noble Kinsmen performed by a New Zealand University (whose name escapes me right now) that I watched on YouTube after my initial online reading of the text sometime early in the summer was staged in a remarkably similar way that Everett Hale Jr. describes the Elizabethans as to have doing. Palamon and Arcite were likely to have been imprisoned on the balcony, watching Emilia on the lower stage below.