Economic Nationalism in Haughton’s Englishmen for My Money and Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice

Close to the time of Elizabeth’s expulsion of the Hanseatic merchants and the closing of the Steelyard (der Stahlhof) in the years 1597-98, two London plays engaged extensively with the business of trade, the merchant class, foreign merchants, and moneylending: early modern England’s first city comedy, William Haughton’s Englishmen for My Money, or A Woman Will Have Her Will (1598); and Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice (registered 22 July 1598). Whereas Haughton’s play uses foreignness, embodied in a foreign merchant, three half-English daughters, and three foreign suitors, as a means of promoting national consciousness and pride, Shakespeare indirectly uses the foreign not to unify but to reveal the divisions within England’s own economic values and culture

“As catching as the plague, though not all so general”: Syphilis in Tudor and Stuart literature

In this paper I shall address the theme Comment le mal vient aux hommes ? in what might seem an unorthodox manner. Rather than consider any primarily metaphysical or theological issues involving le mal, I shall be pondering the rather more material, physical, or corporal issues affecting the theme, and its repercussions for Anglo-French relations in and around the work of Shakespeare. For this approach, I take my cue from Michel Foucault who, throughout his Folie et déraison (1961), but also..

In Exile with Shakespeare: British Civilian Internee Theatre at Ruhleben Camp, 1914-1918

In August 1916 an anonymous pedestrian in exile took a stroll along what he called the “Promenade des Anglais.” He described it as follows:The world contains no vista more noble and majestic. [...] Travellers who know only the Nevsky Prospekt, the Champs Elysées and the High Street, Kensington can have but a faint conception of the animated and picturesque scene which is revealed by the massive tiers of concrete, the noble sweep of gravel, and the delicate but boldly conceived tracery of wire which form the outstanding features of this cosmopolitan causeway. Here, the erudite phraseology of the Rhodes Scholar may be heard mingling with the homely patois of Wapping; the faultlessly groomed product of Hope Brothers lounges with his less fortunate compatriot garbed in relief pattern short wear; the student of Berlitz and Colenso is seen in friendly converse with the casual stiff. Fearless athletes, with chests bared to the breeze; musicians and actors of almost international fame; burly mariners from the Dogger Bank; diminutive jockeys, tramps, nature men, vegetarians and assorted cranks – all these and many others combine to render the Promenade a scene of picturesque and diversified confusion, a perfect riot of colour, a kaleidoscope of European curiosities. (Ruhleben Camp Magazine 1 11

The other in the mirror : prejudice and stereotypes on the English Renaissance stage

Stereotyping is inherent not only in everyday social behavior but equally in literature. The creative interaction of ideas that we define as literature, once it obtains a status in print, captures elevated ideas as much as it fossilizes fallacious beliefs about national character. This discussion reveals that critics may well themselves have been prejudiced about the Renaissance dramatists’ prejudices. Late-sixteenth and early-seventeenth century literature presents a widespread debate on the subject in explicit terms, in an attempt to break through existing prejudice and self-deception and to generate a more balanced view of Englishmen and foreigners. In the drama, the argument is pervasive, though implicit and largely given expression through satire. The satire serves as an iconoclastic means of expressing discontent. It operates by overturning established beliefs but there is no attempt, beyond skepticism, to present a new mirror of minds.L’Autre dans le miroir : les préjugés et les stéréotypes dans le théâtre élisabéthain. Créer les stéréotypes est inhérent non seulement au comportement social quotidien, mais aussi à la littérature. Cette interaction d’idées intégrée dans la sphère de la création et que nous appelons littérature, une fois imprimée sur le papier, capture les idées les plus nobles, mais peut aussi bien fossiliser des idées trompeuses au sujet du caractère national. L’article tente de montrer comment les critiques eux-mêmes ont pu éprouver des préjugés au sujet des préjugés des dramaturges de la Renaissance. La littérature de la fin du seizième siècle et du début du dix-septième présente un large débat à ce sujet en termes explicites. Elle tente de briser les préjugés existants ainsi que les illusions du public, de susciter une vue plus judicieuse des Anglais ainsi que des étrangers. Au théâtre, la controverse se fait particulièrement sentir, malgré la place importante qui leur est implicitement donnée par le biais de la satire. La satire sert de moyen iconoclaste d’exprimer le mécontentement. Elle renverse les idées reçues, mais au-delà du scepticisme, aucune tentative de présenter une nouvelle image des mentalités n’est visible.Hoenselaars Ton. The other in the mirror : prejudice and stereotypes on the English Renaissance stage. In: Cahiers Charles V, n°24, avril 1998. Shakespeare. Préjugés et tolérance. pp. 85-101