Society Women Of Shakespeare's Time

SOCIETY WOMEN OF SHAKESPEARES TIME BY VIOLET A. WILSON WITH TWELVE ILLUSTRATIONS LONDON JOHN LANE THE BODLEY HEAD LIMITED PREFACE SHAKESPEARES heroines undoubtedly had their origin in the society women of the time. The dramatist may not have come into close social contaft with the great Elizabethan ladies, but he had ample opportunity of knowing them well, both by sight and reputation. Daily he would pass them in the London streets, driving in their resplendent coaches, or walking afoot attended by pages and ushers. At Court performances they formed an appreciative audience of the authors plays, and frequently sent for the Globe players to give performances at their private houses. Shakespeare had no lack of interesting women to study for his portrait gallery learned women like Lady Russell clever stateswomen as Lady Raleigh and Lady Warwick vengeful women like Lady Shrewsbury and Lady Somerset a devout one in Lady Hoby, and a devoted mother in her sister-in-law, Lady Sidney. Beautiful, vivacious Lady Rich, impetuous Lady North umberland humble wives, defiant wives, gentle docile wives like Lady Southampton and Lady Essex. Not only did Shakespeare know the great ladies well by sight, but their charafters and concerns were vii PREFACE common property in a gossip-loving age, when news papers were unknown, and news circulated by word of mouth. How do you Whats the news was the accustomed salutation of man to man, Aubrey says that Shakespeare and Ben Jonson did gather humours of men dayly whenever they came, frequenting the fashionable throng, walking up and down the middle aisle of St. Pauls Cathedral, the mint of all famous lies. There rumour circu lated freely true news, false news, goodnews, bad news, news from the Court, news from abroad, news from the law courts, grave news, scandalous news, A great mans friend, a favourites minion, a lawyers clerk, a statesmans secretary, a returned seaman, and a discharged soldier, all brought grist to the mill. For purveyors of domestic chitchat servants from the great houses held pride of place. My lords gentleman and my ladys page were valued imparters of secret matters. Servants who waited at table had great opportunities like those in Coriolanus, who were so quickly surrounded by an ear-tingling crowd 3rd Serv., . . I can tell you news news, you rascals 1st and 2nd Sew. What, what, what Lets partake. 1st Sm . But more of thy news, Coriolanus, v, 5-Playwrights of the day had no scruple about making use of the news they colle ed, and by 1 60 1 the topical and personal allusions in their plays had gone to such lengths that the Lords of the Privy Council ordered the Middlesex magistrates to make careful viii PREFACE scrutiny of all plays, and censor offensive personalities. Playwrights whose audiences delighted in topical refer ence, contrived to satisfy the demand by sufficiently obvious allusions, which, though avoiding the law of libel, were perfe ly intelligible to the patrons of the Globe Theatre whilst the aftors could no doubt be depended on to mimic the gestures and appearance of intended viftims In this connexion I came across the accounts of two contemporary quarrels which were tried in London and set the whole town talking, Shakespeare un doubtedly knew the parties, and there is so great similarity between the disputes and certain passages in The Merry Wives of Windsor, and Twelfth Night that I have printed thedocuments in the Appendix of this book, under the headings of Shakespeare and a Windsor Quarrel, and Shakespeare and a Yorkshire Quarrel the latter appeared in The North American Review for May 1924. For the illustrations in this volume, I am indebted to the kindness of the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Duke of Bedford, the Duke of Portland, Lord de LIsle and Dudley, Lady Vansittart Neale the Bodleian Library, Oxford the Oxford University Press St...