"The Comedy of Errors" and - eTheses Repository - University of

332 Pages·2011·21.16 MB·English

by  Wendy Jean Macphee

ARCANA IN SHAKESPEARE'S COMEDIES
WITH SPECIFIC REFERENCE TO
'THE COMEDY OF ERRORS'
AND
'A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM 1
by
WENDY JEAN MACPHEE
A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Arts
of The University of Birmingham
for the degree of
DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY
Volume I
The Shakespeare Institute
School of English
Faculty of Arts
The University of Birmingham
May 1996
University of Birmingham Research Archive

e-theses repository

This unpublished thesis/dissertation is copyright of the author and/or third
parties. The intellectual property rights of the author or third parties in respect
of this work are as defined by The Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988 or
as modified by any successor legislation.

Any use made of information contained in this thesis/dissertation must be in
accordance with that legislation and must be properly acknowledged. Further
distribution or reproduction in any format is prohibited without the permission
of the copyright holder.

ABSTRACT
This thesis aims to demonstrate that Shakespeare encoded
his comedies with spiritual arcana including: theurgy;
Celtic mysticism; alchemy; Renaissance Platonism; and
the Bible. An analysis of The Comedy of Errors and A
Midsummer Night's Dream shows that the plays are
polysemous, providing simultaneous readings of a number of
spiritual allegories.
The arcana are examined in the light of material to
which Shakespeare could have had access. They are
separately documented in chapters designed to provide a
resource of information on their contemporary nature
mediated for modern understanding.
The research is based on an exploration of plays in
production, represented in programme notes in the
appendices. The work was undertaken to clarify the
director's notes to cast and audiences of the
international professional Theatre Set-Up company and the
results of this study informed their productions from 1983
to 1996. It was found that explanations of the scripts'
iconography which the research revealed, clarified and
lightened their performance.
Early chapters review a range of opinions from
literary criticism on the issues discussed in the thesis,
revealing considerable sympathy with its tenets.
(108,870 words)
With many thanks to
Tom and Angela
Susan and Brian
Celia and Brian
CONTENTS
Volume I
Introduction ...p.1
Chapter One: Literary Criticism: the definition of
comedy; the structure and nature of
Shakespearean Comedy; the function of
Shakespearean comedy; comedy may have a
serious intention and be treated as
seriously as tragedy; Shakespearean comedy
is idealistic and mythical. ...p.28
Chapter Two: Literary Criticism: Shakespeare's plays
are allegorical. ...p.72
Chapter Three Literary Criticism: Shakespeare's plays
are polysemous; there are arcana in
Shakespeare's plays significant to their
interpretation. ...p.109
Chapter Four: The Arcana: Theurgy and Celtic Mysticism
...p.149
Chapter Five: The Arcana: Alchemy ...p.197
Chapter Six: The Arcana: Renaissance Platonism , 0 .p.236
Chapter Seven The Arcana: The Bible ...p.287
Volume II
Chapter Eight: Analysis of The Comedy of Errors ...p.288
Chapter Nine: Analysis of A Midsummer Night's Dream p.415
Conclusions ...p.518
Notes ...p.522
Bibliography ...p.535
APPENDIX A (inside folder at back of Volume II)
A.I. The Comedy of Errors 1986
A.2. A Midsummer Night's Dream 1983
A.3. A Midsummer Night's Dream 1995
APPENDIX B (inside folder at back of Volume II)
B.I. The Tempest 1982
B.2. Love's Labour's Lost 1984
B.3. The Merry Wives of Windsor 1985
B.4. The Two Gentlemen of Verona 1987
B.5. The Winter's Tale 1988
B.6. Cymbeline 1989
B.7. All's Well That Ends Well 1990
B.8. Measure For Measure 1991
B.9. The Merchant of Venice 1992
B.10. Hamlet 1993
B.ll. The Taming of the Shrew 1994
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
Figure 1: Man as microcosm, 'The Macrocosm and the
Microcosm 1 Robert Fludd, Utrittsque Cosmi
_Hi_s_t_o_r_i_a (London, 1617) title page.
... p 164
Figure 2: John Dee's Hieroglyphic Monad, The symbol of
the monad as it appears in his book, Monas
Hieroglyphica, translated and with a commentary
by J.W. Hamilton-Jones (New York, 1977), facing
p.9. ...p.167
Figure 3: Labyrinths. Sig Lonegren analyses in
diagrammatic form how a Classical Seven
Circuit labyrinth is made and gives an example
of this in the plan of the Lindbacke Labyrinth
in Sweden. Labyrinths; Ancient Myths and
Modern Uses (Glastonbury,1991), pp.33, 38.
...p.171
Figure 4: George Ripley's Diagrammatic Wheel of
correspondences between the elements, the four
directions, the planets, the signs of the
zodiac, alchemy and Christianity. Compound of
Alchymy (London, 1591) sig.M2v. ...p.201
Figure 5: Melencolia From the copper-plate engraving by
Albrecht Durer (1514). Facsimile-Reproduction
der Reichsdruckerei, Berlin. Reproduced from
Plate 14 of The Alchemist; in Life, Literature
and Art, by John Read (London, 1947) ...p.203
Figure 6: The King eats the Son. From the Book of
Lambspring, Museaum Hermeticum Reformatum et
Amplificatum...Continens Tractatus Chimicos XXI
praestantissimos, 2 vols, Frankfurt, 1678;
expanded from the original edition, Frankfurt,
1625. Translated by A.E. Waite, The Hermetic
Museum Restored and Enlarged, 2 vols (London,
1893). Paperback edition by Samuel Weiser 1
vol. (Maine, 1994), p.301 ...p.206
Figure 7: The Wolf eats the King: 'The Death and
Resurrection of the King', Michael Maier,
Atalanta Fugiens: hoc est, Emblemata nova de
secretis naturae Chymica (Oppenheim, 1618),
p.105. ...p.207
Figure 8: The Old King Drowning and the Birth of the New
King, Splendor Solis, ascribed to Salomon
Trismosin, Harley MS 3469 in British Library,
1582, Plate 7. ...p.208
Figure 9: The two sets of twins in the 1986 Theatre Set
up production of The Comedy of Errors ...p.410
Figure 10: Antipholus and Dromio of Ephesus. Theatre Set-
Up 1986 ...p.411
Figure 11: Scenes IV.iv and IV.ii. Theatre Set-Up 1986
...p.412
Figure 12: IV.i.86., IV.iv.123, Theatre Set-Up, 1986
...p.413
Figure 13: IV.i.104., IV.i.27. Theatre Set-Up, 1986
...p.414
Figure 14: Set and costumes coloured to symbolise the
lovers as the four elements. Theatre Set-Up
1983. ...p.506
Figure 15: The roundel's colours changed to match the
main phases of alchemy. Theatre Set-Up 1983
...p.507
Figure 16: Titania as Sun and Moon. Titania as Isis with
her attendant fairies as herbal medicines
...p.508
Figure 17: Hermia as air. Theatre Set-Up 1983 ...p.509
Figure 18: Peaseblossom and Cobweb. Theatre Set-Up 1995
...p.510
Figure 19: Helena in disarray. Theatre Set-Up 1995..p.511
Figure 20: The lovers' quarrel. Theatre Set-Up 1995
... p.512
Figure 21: Hermia and Helena fighting. Theatre Set-Up
1995. ...p.513
Figure 22: Titania and Oberon as nature spirits. Theatre
Set-Up 1995. ...p.514
Figure 23: Oberon as nature spirit. Theatre Set-Up 1995
...p.515
Figure 24: The mechanicals. Theatre Set-Up, 1995...p.516
Figure 25: Pyramus and Thisbe. Theatre Set-Up 1995.
...p.517
INTRODUCTION
This thesis is based on the proposition that Shakespeare
encoded his plays with arcana the understanding of which
removes implausibilities in characterisation and plot,
explains mysteries in the language used and reveals deeper
levels of meaning and significance. 'Arcana 1 , as used in
this thesis is defined by Dr Ernest Klein as a 'secret,
mystery 1 . He claims that the word derives from 'Orcus,
name of the god of the infernal regions in Roman
mythology'.
The proposition of the thesis is examined in the
light of a range of critical opinion on Shakespeare's
comedies in Chapters One to Three. Chapters Four to Seven
discuss potential secret meanings in Shakespeare's plays,
examining them in detail from sources available to
Shakespeare himself and relating them to the broad
spectrum of his work, including his tragedies. Chapters
Eight and Nine record the exploration and application of
these secret meanings to two particular comedies, The
Comedy of Errors and A Midsummer Night's Dream. In these
chapters internal evidence is presented in support of the
notion that the arcana discussed in detail in Chapters
Four to Seven are embodied in the plays. They are
detected by comparing the text with its source material
and by identifying significant language, characterisation
and stage action. This interpretation, undertaken for
practical purposes, is related where appropriate to
perceptions from a spectrum of literary criticism. The
INTRODUCTION
process of presenting the plays in performance in the
light of the research is also recorded and the effects of
the research, (within the limits of monitoring them
imposed by the performance conditions) on actors and
audiences of the professional international touring
theatre company, Theatre Set-Up (described in detail
below), is included in each relevant chapter. The
programme notes for each Theatre Set-Up production present
the research which has informed it to the audience and are
included in Appendices A (The Comedy of Errors and A
Midsummer Night's Dream) and B (all other productions
presented by Theatre Set-Up between 1982 and 1995). My
analysis of The Comedy of Errors does not exactly
correspond to the production presented by Theatre Set-Up
(as reference to the plays' programme notes in Appendix A
will indicate), as I have written with the benefit of
hindsight, later research illuminating the earlier
production work. However the exposition of A Midsummer
Night's Dream, including productions mounted in 1983 at
the beginning and in 1995 at the end of the research
period, builds on the 1995 director's notes given to the
cast, and presented in the programme notes to the
production's audiences, thereby giving an accurate record
of material upon which the production was based.
The impulse to undertake this study was created by
the academic needs of Theatre Set-Up, which I direct and
manage and whose summer seasons from 1983 to 1995 provided