by Mtn Lins Gong len Cea Ll 98s Pomel s,s Shakespeare in the Light of Sacred Art, MARTIN LINGS Lande GEORGE ALLEN & UNWIN LTDop fae je “The Ear of Gloser (bind) ‘The tic ofthat woice Ido well remember Tet no the hing? Oy et me hs that hand ‘ing Lear (aad) “etme wie it fists it amelo moraliyPREFACE Shakespeare's greatness lies above alin the total impace that each of his best plays makes upon ws when acted ‘ut being a synthesy this impact isnot easly put into words: and once the curtain is down and we have Lele the there ‘what is said and writen about the plays tends to be on ‘comparatively low level and bears lle or no elation to the greatne ofthe whole, which i acim unable to sceount sor, ‘This book begins and ends with the question of total, impac. The intervening chapters ate an aticapt to do justice to Shakespeare by analysing ten ofthe mature plays in view ofthe ulimateelfect af each, concentrating on what isimmediately obvious from the texts ling the poet speak 2 far as posible for himell, and taking cate not to auribute to him 2 XX, XDA, XVIII oF even RVI ‘zntury outlook. To say that he wat born 4oo years ago it fan undersatement. So extremely tamsdonal was! the ‘century in which he vas brought up aod formed that ie ‘ould almost be expanded into two 28 regards change of ‘outlook; and Shakespeare, highly conservative in alert every respect, belongs despite his actual dates to the Bet of ‘hese two rather than the second, that i, 1 4 prolongation of the XVih century rather than to an aatiipaion of the xvun, London, 19661 m1 w “I vn vu * xt xu xu xv conrents Preface “The Lvelectuaity of Sacred Art Shakespeare's Outlook Henry 1V Halet Othello ‘Meisure for Measure Macbeth king Lear Antony and Cleopatra Cymbeline “The Winuers Tale “The Tempest [Notes on Performance and Production The Audience Index 45 at teeCHAPTER 1 The Intellectuality of Sacred Art 4m the lst few decades there has been a considerable incease of interest in the Middle Ages, whichis no doube partly due to 2 reaction, but itis also, much more, a case of ignorance giving vay to Knowledge. In another sens, iis simply 2 rising fo the surface of something that has always been there aid sexys bing rediscovered. Gould it not be said that wherever the Mie ‘Ages have not ceased to be accesible, wherever despite the barier ofthe Renaissance they have always romained with us sin the poetry of Dante, for instance, orto take 2 more immediately Seceible and inescapable example ae in their atchtecure their superiority has always been fle at hear? This feeling implies aio, if only subconsciously, the acknowledgement of @ tore general superiority, for ite quite imposible tat the great Norman and Gothic cathedral should have sprung from an age that had no inward excellence to correspond to thee supertaiee ‘outward manifestations ‘One of the particular reasons for the present increase of interest in the Middle Age isin itl highly significant: during the lst ity years Europeans have taken much amore interest the art of other civilizations than ever before, and this has no oubt uprooted ‘many. prejudices and opened he door to 2 certain freshness and objectivity of judgment. Having come to now tome ofthe best examples of Binds, Chinese and Japancie art and then as it were returning t thei own ciiliation, many People find that thelr outlok hat irrevocably changed, Aftet looking at great Chinese landscape, for example, where thie ‘world appears ike a vel of sion beyond which alaoe visibly, lies the Infinite and Eteral Realty, or after having been given a glimpse ofthat same Realty through a sate of the Budcha, ‘hey find it difealt to take seriously 2 painting such as Raphaelé famous Madonna, oF Michelangelo's fresco of the Creation, not{0 speak of his sculpture, and Leonardo alo fails to satisty chem. But they find that they cen take very seriously, more sesouly than befor, some of the exely Sienese paintings soch a8 Lippe Menim’s Annunciation, for example, or the statuary and saived ‘las of Chartres Cathedral, oF the Nth and Xilhth ceatry ‘mosaics in St Mark's at Venice or the ikons of the Orthodox Church. ‘The teston why mediaeval art can bear compation with Orienal ar as no other Western at can is undouliedly that ‘the mediaeval outlook, lite that ofthe Oriental civilizations, wat intelectual. Tt considered this world stove all asthe shadow or ‘symbol of the nest, man athe shadow or symbol of Gedy and such an atttade, 10 be operative, presupposes the presence of intelectual for cathy things can only be reerred back to theit ‘pictual archetypes through the faculty of intellectual perception, the insight which pieres through the symbol to the univeral reality that lies beyond. In the theocratic civltions if a aust himself was not an intellectual, he none the lea obeyed "ie eanons ofan which had been established on an intl bass ‘A mediaeval portrait is above all a portrait of the Spirit ‘shining fom behind 2 human veil. In cther woud, ie trot 4 window opening from the particuat on in the univer, and while being enshrined in its own age and cilication 24 eminently typical of & particular period and place, i has at the sete time, in virtue of this opening something that ie neither of the Ease zor of the West, nor of any one age more than another, 1 Renaisance art Icks an opening on tothe universal and altogether imprisoned in its ‘own epoch. this is beeuee ie ‘ctlook is humanistic and humanism, which i 4 revolt ofthe awn against the intlle, considers man and ether cathy ‘objects emttely for their own sakes a8 if nothing ay thing ‘hem. In painting the Creation, fr example, Michelangelo treats ‘Adama not ata symbol but at an independent reali, and since chant ancient Grek drama, Japanese Na pte Hints temple dase ae {ue avTELLEcrUauay oF satu ace 3 te does not paint mani the nage of God he inevitable esl i that be paint God inthe tage of tan. There is wore Alviityunderiyiog Simone Martinis painting of Stat Francs than thee fa Michlangelsrepreentation of he Clenor Himsa Shakespeare wat borm le thin thee months after Michel angeles death, and the two are oien spelen of tthe sane Brent as beng among he greet gents of the Reman Yet how dos Shakespeare Sand inthe light of an Intellectual approach which enbances if posible our resp for Dante, but Sitch rey diminiher our ease of scveral others whee preeminence had loog, gone anquesionst? The. following Shaper are an atempt wW anwer ts question in some dt boat's general anowercan be given iutedatly. Let us quote 2 toudhtone, 4 mastery summing up ofthe diference between Reaisanee art and mediaeval at: "When sanding in font ok 4 Romanesque or Coie etheal we fol that we are a0 oh Cente of tbe words when standing intone of 9 Renaivanc, Baroque ot Rococo church we are terely concious of cing i Europe'* Now wilbou uying wo give Shahspeare so ental 3 pace inthe ac of Chrizendom atthe pce which i eld by the mediaeval cathedrals or by The Divine Comedy, could i ot be and that to be present at an adequate perfratance of King ‘ears not merely to watchs play butt Sites mytrousy {he whole history of mankind? ‘Bot this remark could nt posibly be made about th majosiy cf Shakespeare's wriingn an if we wish to form any esate Af the ur dramat whine oloal bexored to Bim t Snivrsaity that is prolongation of the uninenalty of the Middle Ages, the fm thing to be done i o se mont of the plays en one side forthe moment so snot to confuse the ise. Fer wcter can have developed so such Soriog thet period ‘f suthrahip. a Shakespeare did. By the end of the SVL Century he bad wren sn eatyno plays but none ofthese {in be said to represent his matur, though some of thes fn ‘atios ways, give an umasalable fret of what wat cme, Jet tee et sap ad ting ngs nt "ar ou Lite and Toc NighM4 SHAKESPeARE I TE LACKT OF sucReD ARE ‘rientation~that change had come before—but in intensity. Te was a1 if he had suddenly come to gripe with the univers after having contemplated i for some ‘me with s halfdetached serenity, From being in earnest he kad come to be in very deadly camest. This change is forced on our attention fst of all by Hamlet: and except for one or two backward glances ‘monly in the direcion af Romeo end Julict and Heery 17, the scope of this book Hes inclusively between ‘amle ad Shakespeare's lst complete play, The Temper CHAPTER 11 Shakespeare’s Outlook Ir is too often said thatthe marvelous variety of Shakespeare's characters makes it imposible to divine anything about the author himself. About his temperatent this may be tr to ‘ertain extent, but at regards his outlook and ideals itis alto fcr fale. We ean learn much about him indizetly even from his vilaing and from his heroes we can leara stuch more ‘specially towards the end ofa play, alter he has fully developed ‘hem. But when the hero, in 2 manifest state of undevelopment, at the beginning or in the middle of a play ives vent to his ideas about this and hat, he is pezhaps revealing his own immaturity and may well even be sping the very opposite of what Shale. ‘speare himself thinks. A aking example ofthis iin King Lear ‘when Gloster, who bas an important part in the subplot, says, before Shakespeare has fully developed hi As lies to wenton boys, are we tothe Gods; They hill ws for ther sport. wo 1 is when Edgar hears these words that he decides to set pow his strange coure of action forthe purpose of saving hi other from despair and suicide. Thanks t his effort, Gloser is able to my eventually: enecforth FU bear ABlcion tii do ery out itely ‘Enough, enougi’, and die (w, 6) and later all You ever gentle Gods, ake my breath from me Let nol my worter srt tempt me again To die before you plea (bid). Now the great weakness of Gloster wich be eventually over: somes. s akin to one of the weakness of Hamlet which he aio ‘overcomes, and which is lak of faith in Providence. The Tobe oF not to be soliloquy, from which 19 much has been deduced about Shakespeare's own views, docs not merely exprest the ‘maturity of Hamlet but it shows him at his mos mate, for in a sense the Prince goes back in development alter te beg ing of the play before he begins to go forward. When tis particular soliloquy comes his faith i atic lowest bb. Having ‘ore or les said at the begianing of the play that he would ‘ormmit suicide if only God ad not forbidden ithe now implies that he would do so but forthe dread of something afer death 1s always posible that Shakespeare may have deawn om his ‘own past experience for this soliloquy. But we can be certain that ik does not represent in any way his sted convictions becuse its whole tenor is completely contradicted in the lst scene of the play by the fully developed, pesfectly balanced Hamlet voicing the maturity which Shakespeare has gradually shaped and built up for him. In this scene we fod that he hat alegetier overcome his doutss. His now fullgrowa royalty of ature eauser Horatio to excai, half ia adtiration, hall in suprise: “Why, what a king is thst: and hs faith in Providence is unshakeable: He saye to Horatio: There's a divinity that shapes our ends, Roughsew them oss we will ‘This conversation leads up wo what is peshaps the greatest speech of the play, though i is seldom quoted, party no doutx because ic isin prose. Hamle’s fencing match with Lacrtes is about to {ake place. Hamlet tells Horatio that he is confident of vetry, Ye atthe same time he has a premonition that he is going 20 ie, and he intimates as much 10 Horatio, who begs to be allowed to postpone the match. But Harmet will not allow thi He says: Not a whi, we defy augury: there's « special Drovidence in the fall of a sparrow. If it be no, ts not to come: if be not to come, it il be mow; if it be not now, yet will coe the readiness i all Since mo tian has aught of what he leaves, what 110 to leave betimes? Let be The gist of this speeh, de readiness is all is repeated almost ‘ord for word in an equally sigaiSeant passage inthe last act stucasruane’s ovrio08 ” of King Lear. The news ofthe defeat and capture of King Lear nd Cordelia plunges Gloster once more into despair. Edgat pulls ‘bm out of i by reminding him that juss 2 man ha submit to Providence as regards the time and manner of his birth, 10 tho he must subent at regards the tne and manne of his ‘death and ot sek to pluck the fruit before ici sie. ‘Men must endure Theis going hence ven as thls coming hither Ripeness ial. 1 will be noid that in tei two speeches of Hamlet and Eagar, a alo ehewbere, Shakepente ts concentaing 00 the tat unieral apes of relion, He ie couozued wath man's ‘Sving the igh ade of sul towards Providence rater than with any parcolar mode of worhp. ut this docs no mean that he isl was noe a devout practsng Caan, Ie spy than tat fa the extreme religaus sorens and seni of ‘enh and veoh ny Foglia a tangent topic elo the edo his esiod of athorhip ityas evn frbden by ito wenden he mame of Cod the ‘sage, Bur one could aways rer tothe godt: and if he elie chee to st tnany of his mature play 2 pre Gian seting It isto be ooiced none the Ves that hie Sttade to Gress and Reme tot sypal ofthe Renlcsnce. He docs not merely borow the suace of daniel angsty He places bimlé a he very centre ofthe ancient world” For Hy ad for Dane jt for the ance press and presen 2 Delphi, Apolo notte god of igh bu the Light of God Inthe form of hr rama Shakepeare belongs to his age Marlowes Dr. Fetus is ouberdly tn some repecs more tualinwal chon anibng Shakapeae wrote. Bat In eilook Marlowe was ahogaer& an afte Renassane, 8 were Ben Jonon and Webs, wheres Stabepere seems in 3 eis 0 ge beck 2 tne goes forward and by the tn of the century Eo ked become, uli any of i fellow drama the condouer and the summerap of the pat te lat otpon of 2 quidly tabbing age To ty tis ete rely to sy anyblng tees Ie rather su of ping two and to ogee. Bradley ye King Leer doesnt appes to dive de af agian lon vary far femoved tre the sede wih which we usat Shakespeare was perfec fa The Faerie Queene! Of Othello ‘Othello, Desdemona and Iago are Man, the Divine and the Devt, and he remarks in general that Shakespeare's heroes are ‘purgatorial pilgrims’ OF Macbeth Dover Wilson says ‘Macbeth 4 altos a morality play, and he ays much the same of the {to parts of Henry IV. Moreover, a this Inst connection, and with regard to Shakespeare as 2 continue of past tain, he reminds ust ‘fore ts Binal sculatiation int the fst half of ‘he XVith century. our drama war concemed vith one topic and one topic only: human salvation. Ie was a topie that could be represented in ether of two ways: () historically, by meant of miacle plays which in the Conpus Christi eles uoroled before the spectator’ eyes the whole scheme of salvation from the Creation tothe Last Judgment: or (i) allegrialy, by meant of morality plays, which exhibited the proces of salvation fa the individual soul on its road Between birth and death beet With the snares of the World or the wiles of the Evil One:* Dover Wilton does not dene the word ‘salvation’ and forthe purpose of his book. i is not necetary todo so. But a8 regard mediaeval art in general itis important to distinguish between what may be elled esoteric works, which look beyond salvation {0 sanctification, and exoterie woth in which sancifeation fe at best no more than a remote ideal I Shahespeare isa contin of the past, which of these awo eateries doe his art belong to, {he exoteric or the esoteric? ‘An,example of what may be called an exotic work which stops short at salvation in the lowest sete is The Gaile of Perseverance. In this morality play mankind (aman gens) fs represented as having led a very questionable life, and'be is saved from Hell ia the face of juste by operation ofthe Divine Mercy. A supreme example of an esterie work is The Divine Comedy which presupposes salvation and dealt with man's perifcation and his ultimate sanctification or in ther word his vegnining of what wat lost atthe Fall It may be sid that in the Middle Ages the mass of the laity was considered ar following the path of salvation, whereat the monastic orders and the lay orders attached to them, and one or two other brotherboods such 26 those of the Freemasons and the Com "The Fortine: of Fla, Cambie Ulver Pes, 4 staxesreane’s ovr.00% 9 ‘panions aimed at following the path of sanctification. In other Words they aimed at pasing dough Purgatory ia this if, It {Snow known that Dante belonged to a brothezhood which was ‘listed to the Order of the Temple! and which was more or lest driven underground when the Order of the Temple was abolished. Some have supposed that Shakespeate was 2 member Of the brotherhood af the Rosie Cros; others believe him to Ihave been 2 Freemason. This isa pat of his secret which will probably never be known, and in any cae iti not within the ‘cope of thee pages to dwell oa anything that is not obvious {rom what fie wrote. What is obvious, however, is that bis plays far wanicend the idea of salvation in is more Limited sense; and i may be remarked in pasing that his docs suggest that ‘eis author was following a spriual path, which itself implies attachment to an order. [At the beginning of Act Vof The Winter's Tale, with reference to the long penance done by King Leontes during the sixteen Years which elapse betmeen the two parts of the play, the Priestlke Cleomenes ays: Sir, you have dane enough and have perform’ ‘A tain lke sorrow: no fault could you make Which ou have not redcen‘d; indeed, paid down ‘More penitence then done trespass At the las, Do as the heavens have done, forge your evil With them forgive youre. In King Lear the blind Gloster, recogiting the King’s voice, suk to iss shan Lear replies: Let me wipe it fest; it smells of moriliry. “This remark contain not only the very esence of the play but aio of most of Shakespeare other matore plays for in the ‘course of them what dacr Shakespeare do but wipe away mor tality, that i the in of Adam, from the hand of the hero? The and must be altogether clean: there ino question of more or leas, In Hamlet the prince sas of himself in the middle of the play that eis fairly virtuous? 1am msl] indiferent honest: but Stakespear’s purpose goa! far beyond such mediocrity. The ee Reb Goon, L'strme de Dante (Callin 6-1)Potter to the Gate of Purgatory, that ig the gate to salvation, is by definition of unfathomable mere. Hamlet could have pased by him at the beginning of the play so could Leones othe ‘moment of repentance, sixcen Years belore the speech just ‘quoted and to could Lear long before the end of the play. Bat the porter to the Gate of Paradise, that in the gate to aciben tion, is relendesly exacting: and for his heroes and heroines, Shakespeare stands as that porter. He wil let nothing pass cxeo peefection; and so he makes Hamlet add to the above quoted words: but ye could accuse me of sch things ‘ha it were beter my mother had not born me. Character after characteris developed to a sate of virtue which 4 pushed, one feels, to the very limite of hutnan nature, ual ‘ach could say, with Cleopatra: Give me my robe; put on my crown; 1 have Inmoral longing in me Even those who refute to admit that Shakespeare himself speaks ‘trough any of his characters cannat escape from the fact that it Js Shakespeare hinsll and no one ele, who is the architect of his plays And when, after a certaia matarity has Been neachede play after ply follows the supe ques for hursan perfection, each Play in is totality (over and above the marvellous vaicty af detail, hammering home the same message, we have no alernative but to conclude that Shakespeare was alogether preoccupied, 3 any rate forthe last iten year of his life or more, by the same questions which preoccupied Dante, CHAPTER 111 Henry IV Ie Hamlet is Shakespeare's fret really great play, the outlook hich dominates itis none hele already to be found in several of his eatir plays. Particularly srking in this respects Henry AY wich, in its two parts, must have been writen within three ot four years before Hamict, probably between 1597 and 1509. Dover “Henry 17 as eetsinly intended to ‘convey a moral. It is in fac Shakespeare's great morality play. He adas: ‘Shakespeate plays no tricks with hie audience... Prince Hal is fhe prodigal, and his repentance isnot only to be taken seriously, it is wo be admized and commended, Moreover the sory of the prodigal sculaized and modemized ar i might be, Tan the Same coure ar ever and contained the same three principal haracers: the tempter, the younker, and the father with ‘property to bequeath and counsl so pve” ‘This ix altogether convincing, but it leaves unanswered the weston a to whether the play is exoteric or exter. Or i ‘not in fact both? The idea of diferent meanings existing simoltancously at diferent levels, however strange i may sem {ous was altogether familiar to'men of letters throvghout the ‘Middle Apes and even Inte—witnest Spenser's Faerie Queene ‘According to Dante, "writings are to be understood and sould be expounded chiefly according to four meanings” or in other words the literal meaning should be considered ab 2 veil over three others, which he specifies as allegorical, moral “and anagogica™. The same principle i to be found alo in other frst the idea that 2 tre work of architecture shoul have at Teast three meanings war certainly familiar to Freematons 2¢ Tate as the XVith century. A cathedral, in addition eo its literal imeaning asa place of worship was planned a6 a symbolic image ofthe whole universe and by analogy, as an image ofthe huneoe bing" both body and soul. The symbolism of» building ay an image of the human soul, the inner world of maa, coeponds to the fourth and highest mesning mentioned by Dante, the ‘ne which be calls “anagogical’, and which he ilutates by interpreting the Exodus ofthe Jews from Egypt tothe Promised Land to mean, in addltion to its literal of historical meaning, the exodus ofthe soul from the sate of orginal in to the sa of sanctification. Now thsi alo the highest or despa mexaing of the sory of the return of the Prodigal Son, and it could Be ‘sid to undertie all faithfully tld stories of the predigl, t cluding Sakespeare's Henry IV, even without the actor’ intention, But Shakespeare's intention is undoubtedly theres we do not need to examine his text over cateflly to sce that he conceived the newly rowned King Henry Ws rejection of Fall 2s representing more than salvation inthe ordinary limited sense ‘ofthe word; for him its elatly no les than the equivalent of the Red Crosse Knights victory over the dragon ia'The Faerie Queen; and this victory, whatever che it tay mean, early signifies above all the sous nal purification, is final complete ‘humph over the dei ‘We must be grateful to Dover Wilton for his timely reminder that ‘Shakespeare lived in the world of Plato and St Augustine, Since the French Revolution we have been living ia the world of Rouse y¥ many traps of misunderstanding for unsuspecting readers He also tye? “The main theme of Shakespeare’ moraliy play is the growing up of a madcap Prince into the ideal King." Putting two and two together k must be remembered that in the word of Plato and St Augustine ‘no man who was less than 2 saint could possibly passat “the Heal ing” No limit can bese 10 the extent of Prince Hal's reform. His wold is very remote indeed from the wor we live inthe word (of moliocities and relaivities in whieh epic i wild Seyoed breathing pon, while the psychological novel thrives snd prom at cence Pi ese wv 5 fat Thar i an unatesble ing ofthe able about the 1st sens of Henry IV which wakes it dicate rm ay poe ei view, to ats 19 te new Lng anything that fale Short ‘{ patection, None the ls ths pap can be said to have tos seatings in sclation othe human sul, one exter nd ral, 2d the oer enteric day but my chenere In Shake spare thee to meanings ate not alogeter dine for te tower meanings re opens on te hie Hest oF oe Be eonered a8 4 moray phy in wih the eal peeing fenains fr above the seco” heal albough itv sea Shrine of evientation for their ele ad i cn be eomsdced fsa eerie or jal drama the purpose of whch it dea the spectator ito the mes of te pins In the vey paon chibehere. The meaning of Heny 17 a8» moray play is its tera smeaning and Reals no commen Arto is deeper mcsng, ve ofthe principal keys whch the tx llr ue the ot {deeication of elf with his deaf stangealcbony has taken place By whic the spr ofthe old ing reborn the pron of the new king whose forme: faults afertons or tldnes as be eas themhave died and lie bare with he ‘a King ‘My father ie gone wild into his grave, For in his tomb lie my efections, ‘And sadly with his spirit I rurvive. (Psa V, 2) ‘The young king also uses the image ofthe corrupt tide of vanity owing out ato the waters of the ocean so that x new and truly royal de may fow in. Not far below the suiface here. a6 elie wherein Shakespeare's plays le the words ofthe Gospel ‘Except ‘man be born aguin he cannot se the Kingdom of Gow ‘The bei’ identifeation of himself with his father i important because In order to havea fll understanding of Henry 1? ils necesary to understand that ‘Everyman’ of the human soul it represented not merely by the Prince alone and by the King alone but also, above all, by 4 sythese of the Prince and he ‘King: In its state aspect aba fallen soal that “ells of morality and mus die before a new woul can be bor, the sul is person. fed by the King: and the symbolism i stengthened by the fact that the King ie usurper tothe throng, just 3p fallen man ftM4 suaeespeane i rf ctr oF sacaaD any pet to te hone of crt which blogs by sighs oy to ‘man in his nga tate, man cated in the huge Go Os the other hand, i its dynamic spec inasmuch it nopabes of being pied, and iowa atthe foudston of ew soul ate being li there th ou pron by oe Prins ho, a any tte according tthe loge othe pay. wll ee ta surper when he becomes King Tes not onl te fal a inc whi de wit is ates death be ab the sop obg ‘cow that tad been usurped. The dying King tay ohc cue ‘ona seu ofthe ene: Al the sei of ei achicement goes With me into the earth OS How cane by ticeroon, O God orgie, And grat ity wth he tac poe ie. “The subwance of the soul of “Ereryman’ is also represented by England whichis ina sate of aitcotd and whieh i padcaly brought into a sate of peace The two Pl of te Cg a binging to ores ofthe Prince andthe bringing to order ok