The History Of European Theatre

Episode 223:

Last time, in the first part of my look at ‘Macbeth’, I took you through the plot of the play and discussed the themes of ambition and guilt in it, with a focus on the character of Macbeth himself. I also looked at some of the language in the play and at the possibility that Thomas Middleton updated it for a revival in the 1610s or 1620s, and how he probably developed the scenes with the three witches at a time when devil plays and ideas about witches in the real world were very popular. This is the text that we most likely have in the First Folio, which is the first printed version of the play. Please do listen to that episode first before embarking on this one. Having spent some time on the character of Macbeth in the last episode I’m now going to pick up with a look at his wife.

The character and actions of Lady Macbeth
References to equivocation in the play
The trial of Henry Garnet and the use of equivocation
The witches and the Macbeths as equivocators
The impact of the Porter’s speech
The Porter’s scene as a throwback to medieval cycle plays
‘On The Knocking at the Gate in Macbeth’ by Thomas De Quincey
The critical history of the play
The later performance history of the play
The curse of ‘the Scottish play’
‘Macbeth’ as a very Jacobean play

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Episode 222:

We can’t say for sure that ‘Macbeth’ was Shakespeare's next offering after 'Anthony and Cleopatra' as precise dating of these early 17th century plays is next to impossible, but whatever the case, it certainly has a very different feel and focus from it’s near contemporises. Although recounting historical events it is dominated by the presence and effect of the supernatural. This proved a mix that audiences have flocked to ever since and it remains one of Shakespeare’s most performed plays, for tragedy ranking only behind ‘Hamlet’.

The dating of the play
The text in the First Folio and adaptations by Thomas Middleton
The sources for the play
A brief Synopsis of the play
Macbeth and Julius Caesar
Macbeth’s ambition
The importance of the soliloquy in the play
Macbeth’s feelings of guilt
The reports of the play by Simon Foreman
Banquo’s ghost as a manifestation of Macbeth’s guilt
Blood as a symbol of guilt
The torment of sleeplessness
The tensions between destiny and free will
The three witches

Link to ‘That Shakespeare Life’ episode featuring Prof. Laurie Johnson on the ‘weird sisters’:
https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/that-shakespeare-life/id1372846116?i=1000751203466

Support the podcast at:
www.thehistoryofeuropeantheatre.com
www.patreon.com/thoetp
www.ko-fi.com/thoetp

You can find an advertisement free version of the latest podcast episodes by joining on Patreon at the lowest paid tier level – that’s for just £1 per month.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Episode 221:

Last time I took you into the world of the court masque with the help of Kristen Macdermott who, I think you will agree, painted a very detailed picture of that very particular theatrical form and the way the Stuart court embraced it. As we heard, masques were often written by playwrights and performed by actors who also wrote for and performed in the public playhouse, so it’s no surprise that a few plays feature masques. We have already encountered short masques in ‘Much Ado About Nothing’ and ‘Timon of Athens’, with the best known example from ‘The Tempest’ still to come and Shakespeare’s next offering ‘Anthony and Cleopatra’ would, you might think, have been another opportunity to include a masque featuring exotic characters to add to the glamorous setting. In fact, Shakespeare chose not to include a masque specifically, but we can see that he uses the attributes of the masque throughout the play.

Masque elements used in ‘Antony and Cleopatra’
The dating of the play
The early print history of the play
The sources for the play
The different style of the play from it’s near neighbours
A brief synopsis of the play
How the main characters and the political story and love story are balanced in the play
The hyperbolic language used in the play
The character of Antony
Equals and opposites in the play and how Antony deals with them
The character of Octavius
The character of Cleopatra
The death of Cleopatra
Antony and Cleopatra as a Stuart period play
A short word on the history of criticism of the play
The later performance history of the play

Support the podcast at:
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Episode 220:

This is the second part of my conversation with Kristen McDermott about the court masque. In this part we discuss two masques and the later history of the art form.

Kristen McDermott is professor of English at Central Michigan University and co-author with Ari Berk of ‘William Shakespeare his life and times’ and the collection ‘Masques of Difference’, as well as numerous papers on Shakespeare and renaissance theatre. I have put a link in the show notes to Kristen’s website where you can find further details of her work. Kris is also a listener and supporter of the podcast, so I was particularly happy to welcome her as a contributor on the microphone as well. I spoke to Kris over a zoom call from her home in Michigan.

Find more about Kris at: https://kristen-mcdermott.com

Links to ‘Masques of Difference’

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Masques-Difference-Revels-Student-Editions/dp/071905754X/ref=sr_1_1?

https://www.amazon.com/Masques-Difference-masques-Student-Editions/dp/071905754X/ref=sr_1_1?

https://manchesteruniversitypress.co.uk/9780719057540/

Links to Greer Gilman books: https://smallbeerpress.com/books/2014/09/23/exit-pursued-by-a-bear/

Support the podcast at:
www.thehistoryofeuropeantheatre.com
www.patreon.com/thoetp
www.ko-fi.com/thoetp

You can find an advertisement free version of the latest podcast episodes by joining on Patreon at the lowest paid tier level – that’s for just £1 per month.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Episode 219:

In this episode I take a look at the court masques of the Jacobean period. To do this I’m very lucky to have the guidance of Kristen McDermott who edited and wrote an extensive introduction to a collection of Jonson’s Masques called Masques of Difference. It is a volume that has been in print for an impressive twenty years and one that I found immensely useful in aiding my understanding of the court masque, an art form that can seem very obscure to us now. In the first part of the conversation Kristen describes the development of the masque from it’s very early days through to its flowering in the court of James 1st largely under the care of Ben Jonson and Inigo Jones. Next time Kris and I continue the conversation and discuss some of those ‘masques of difference’ and the later years of the court masque.

Kristen McDermott is professor of English at Central Michigan University and co-author with Ari Berk of ‘William Shakespeare His Life and Times’ and the collection ‘Masques of Difference’, as well as numerous papers on Shakespeare and renaissance theatre.

Find more about Kris at: https://kristen-mcdermott.com

Links to ‘Masques of Difference’

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Masques-Difference-Revels-Student-Editions/dp/071905754X/ref=sr_1_1?

https://www.amazon.com/Masques-Difference-masques-Student-Editions/dp/071905754X/ref=sr_1_1?

https://manchesteruniversitypress.co.uk/9780719057540/

Support the podcast at:
www.thehistoryofeuropeantheatre.com
www.patreon.com/thoetp
www.ko-fi.com/thoetp

You can find an advertisement free version of the latest podcast episodes by joining on Patreon at the lowest paid tier level – that’s for just £1 per month.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.