At Home in Shakespeare's Tragedies

217 Pages·2010·5.041 MB·English

by  Geraldo U. de Sousa

At Home in
Shakespeare’s Tragedies
Geraldo U. de Sousa
At Home in
SHAkeSpeAre’S trAgedieS
For david Bergeron
A fé é vida e a vida para mim é fé—S. geraldo majella (1726–1755).
At Home in
Shakespeare’s tragedies
gerAldo U. de SoUSA
University of Kansas, USA
© geraldo U. de Sousa 2010
All rights reserved. no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval
system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying,
recording or otherwise without the prior permission of the publisher.
geraldo U. de Sousa has asserted his right under the Copyright, designs and patents Act,
1988, to be identified as the author of this work.
published by
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British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
Sousa, geraldo U. de, 1952–
At home in Shakespeare’s tragedies.
1. Shakespeare, William, 1564–1616 – tragedies. 2. Shakespeare, William, 1564–1616 –
Settings. 3. dwellings in literature.
i. title
822.3’3—dc22
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Sousa, geraldo U. de, 1952–
At home in Shakespeare’s tragedies / by geraldo U. de Sousa.
p. cm.
includes bibliographical references and index.
iSBn 978-0-7546-6886-2 (hardback: alk. paper)—iSBn 978-1-4094-0428-6 (ebook)
1. Shakespeare, William, 1564–1616—tragedies. 2. england—Social life and customs—
16th century. 3. england—Social life and customs—17th century. 4. Families—england—
History—16th century. 5. Families—england—History—17th century. 6. Home in
literature. 7. Families in literature. i. title.
pr2983.S68 2010
822.3’3—dc22
2009050475
iSBn: 9780754668862 (hbk)
iSBn: 9781409404286 (ebk)
Contents
List of Figures vii
Acknowledgments ix
introduction 1
1 the Vanishing Castle in King Lear 23
2 Unhoused in Othello:roots, routes and the edge of darkness 65
3 At Home in Hamlet 111
4 Boundaries of Home in Macbeth 143
Conclusion 169
Bibliography 173
Index 197
This page has been left blank intentionally
list of Figures
1.1 “king philip of macedon in His Bedchamber.” m. de la Serre,
The mirrour which flatters not, trans. t. Cary (london, 1639).
StC 20490. By courtesy of the Folger Shakespeare library. 59
2.1 “mulier in Africa” (African Woman). pietro Bertelli, Diuersarū
nationum habitus (patauij, 1594, 96). © British library Board.
Shelfmark 810.c.2. By permission of the British library. 71
2.2 “nobilis Foemina in Africa” (African noblewoman). pietro
Bertelli, Diuersarū nationum habitus (patauij, 1594, 96).
© British library Board. Shelfmark 810.c.2. By permission of
the British library. 73
2.3 Housing Compound in Cape mesurado, liberia. John green,
A new general collection of voyages and travels. london,
1745–47. © British library Board. Shelfmark V 9733.
By permission of the British library. 76
2.4 emblem of a tent. Henry peacham, Minerva Britanna (london,
1612). StC 19511. Houghton library, Harvard University. 80
2.5 three views of Venice. Vicenzo Coronelli, 1650–1718.
Isolario: descrittione geografico-historica, sacro-profana,
antico-moderna, politica, Venice, 1696–1697. Summerfield
H27. Courtesy of Special Collections, Spencer research
library, University of kansas libraries. 85
2.6 A view of Venice. georg Braun, 1540 or 41–1622, and Abraham
Hogenberg, fl. 1608–58, Civitates orbis terrarum (Brussels,
1574–1618). Summerfield H9. Courtesy of Special Collections,
Spencer research library, University of kansas libraries 86
2.7 A view of Famagusta, Cyprus (detail). georg Braun, 1540 or
41–1622, and Abraham Hogenberg, fl. 1608–58, Civitates orbis
terrarum (Brussels, 1574–1618). Summerfield H9. Courtesy of
Special Collections, Spencer research library, University of
kansas libraries. 92
2.8 michelangelo merisi, called Caravaggio, italian (1571–1610).
Saint John the Baptist in the Wilderness, 1604–05. oil on
canvas, 68 x 52 inches (172.7 x 132.1 cm). the nelson-Atkins
museum of Art, kansas City, missouri. purchase: William
rockhill nelson trust, 52–25. photograph by Jamison miller. 98
viii At Home in Shakespeare’s Tragedies
2.9 Bedchamber. Salomon de Caus, Perspective avec la Raison
(london 1611). StC 4868.7. typ 605.11.264 F. Houghton
library, Harvard University. 100
2.10 Venetian gondolas. Cesare Vecellio, ca. 1521–1601. De gli
habiti antichi, et moderni di diuerse parti del mondo.
Venetia, 1590. Summerfield B1840. Courtesy of Special
Collections, Spencer research library, University of
kansas libraries. 102
3.1 kronborg Castle, elsinore (detail). georg Braun and Abraham
Hogenberg, Civitates orbis terrarum, vol. 4 (Brussels,
1574–1618). Courtesy of Special Collections, Spencer research
library, University of kansas libraries. 114
4.1 Banquet Scene. Bartolomeo Scappi, Opera (Venice, 1570).
typ 525.70.773. Houghton library, Harvard University. 155
4.2 emblem of a king onstage. Juan de Solórzano pereyra,
Emblemata Centum. Matriti, 1653. Summerfield D523.
Courtesy of Special Collections, Spencer research library,
University of kansas libraries. 164
Acknowledgments
As a meditation or memory exercise, i frequently revisit in my mind’s eye my
childhood home in the Brazilian highlands, visualizing every detail i can. our
house became the center of our family life and the source of our family’s livelihood.
Built when i was two years old, the house and adjacent buildings functioned as our
family home, my father’s road-side café, and an all-purpose Brazilian venda—a
family-run entrepôt, retail shop, and general store. Such multi-purpose compounds
can be found around the world, early examples of which include the housing
compound in eighteenth-century liberia, West Africa. eighteenth- and nineteenth-
century accounts of travel to the interior of Brazil include numerous references to
similar vendas.
my family’s estate was known as Estiva, a word derived from latin, æstivare,
“to estivate,” to reside during the summer. in regional portuguese, estiva also
means a wooden bridge; and the verb “estivar” refers to the stowing, loading,
and unloading of a ship. Although estiva was my parents’ year-round residence,
far away from any fluvial or sea port, and had no bridge, the name seemed oddly
suitable: my school-age siblings and i, who attended school in nearby towns, used
to return home only on weekends, for school holidays, and during the summer.
Buses, private cars, trucks, and caravans of pack animals, following ancient trade
routes, would regularly make a stop at our home, which bridged many worlds.
eventually, home became a cluster of associations revolving around a
commercial center, family life, and the uncultivated, wild countryside. Whenever
i was home, i wanted to explore estiva. perhaps against their better judgment,
my parents always granted permission for me to organize and lead day-long
expeditions into the surrounding areas, provided that at least one adult came along.
Almost anything would serve as an excuse for exploration, although i often made
a case based on my credentials as a student of science and on the uncontestable
scientific significance of the expedition: to collect exotic plants and flowers,
study geological formations and geographical landmarks, and watch the birds
and wildlife. Frequently, however, i simply argued that i wanted to gather wild
mangaba, the fruit of the Hancornia speciosa, everybody’s favorite.
estiva was my little corner of the universe. it afforded shelter, refuge, and
security; yet it also seemed to abut not just the great unchartered wilds of the
Brazilian interior but a mysterious, dangerous, sometimes tragic world, fraught
with human drama. A close encounter with a rattlesnake in our own backyard,
sightings of an onça-pintada (Panthera onca) or a very large sucuri or anaconda
(Eunectes murinus), or reports of the dangers posed by the deadly venomous
urutu (Bothrops alternata) were frequent reminders that a house can give us but a
provisional sense of stability.
From time to time, a shocking event would dislocate our habits of mind and
shake our sense of domestic security and stability. When i was growing up, i