of these adjuncts is only too evident from the fact that it was the
firing off the cannon which caused a conflagration and the consequent
burning down of the Globe Theatre. The destruction of the manuscripts of
Shakespeare's plays was probably due to this calamity. The incident shows
a lamentable love of stage-mounting for which some of the critics of the
time no doubt took the poet severely to task. In connection with the love
of pageantry which then prevailed, it is well known that Shakespeare and
Ben Jonson were wont to arrange the Masques which were so much in vogue in
their time.
_The Fire_
The Globe Theatre was burnt on June 29th, 1613. Thomas Lorkins, in a
letter to Sir Thomas Puckering on June 30th, says: "No longer since than
yesterday, while Bourbidge his companie were acting at ye Globe the play
of Henry 8, and there shooting of certayne chambers in way of triumph; the
fire catch and fastened upon the thatch of ye house and there burned so
furiously as it consumed ye whole house all in lesse than two hours, the
people having enough to doe to save themselves."
_Other Productions of the Play_
There are records of many other productions of Henry VIII. existing. In
1663 it was produced at Lincoln's Inn Fields as a pageant play. The
redoubtable Mr. Pepys visited this production, without appearing to have
enjoyed the play. In contrast to him, old Dr. Johnson said that whenever
Mrs. Siddons played the part of Katharine, he would "hobble to the theatre
to see her."
In 1707, Henry VIII. was produced at the Haymarket, with an exceptionally
strong cast; in 1722 it was done at Drury Lane, in which production Booth
played Henry VIII.
In 1727 it was again played at Drury Lane. On this occasion the spectacle
of the Coronation of Anne Boleyn was added, on which one scene, we are
told, L1,000 had been expended. It will come to many as a surprise that so
much splendour and so large an expenditure of money were at that time
lavished on the stage. The play had an exceptional run of forty nights,
largely owing, it is said, to the popularity it obtained through the
Coronation of George II., which had taken place a few weeks before.
The play was a great favourite of George II. and was in consequence
frequently revived during his reign. On being asked by a grave nobleman,
after a performance at Hampton Court, how the King liked it, Sir Richard
Steele replied: "So terribly well, my lord, that I was afraid I should
have lost all my actors, for I was not sure the King would not keep them
to fill the posts at Court that he saw them so fit for in the play."
In 1744, Henry VIII. was given for the first time at Covent Garden, but
was not revived until 1772, when it was announced at Covent Garden as
"'Henry VIII.,' not acted for 20 years." The Coronation was again
introduced.
Queen Katharine was one of Mrs. Siddons' great parts. She made her first
appearance in this character at Drury Lane in 1788. In 1808 it was again
revived, and Mrs. Siddons once more played the Queen, Kemble appearing as
Wolsey.
In 1822, Edmund Kean made his first appearance as Wolsey at Drury Lane,
but the play was only given four times.
In 1832, the play was revived at Covent Garden with extraordinary
splendour, and a magnificent cast. Charles Kemble played King Henry; Mr.
Young, Wolsey; Miss Ellen Tree, Anne Boleyn; and Miss Fanny Kemble
appeared for the first time as Queen Katharine. Her success seems to have
been great. We are told that Miss Ellen Tree, as Anne Boleyn, appeared to
great disadvantage; "her headdress was the most frightful and unbecoming
thing imaginable, though we believe it was taken from one of Holbein's."
In those days correctness of costume was considered most lamentable and
most laughable. In this production, too, the Coronation was substituted
for the procession. The criticism adds that "during the progress of the
play the public seized every opportunity of showing their dislike of the
Bishops, and the moment they came on the stage they were assailed with
hissing and hooting, and one of the prelates, in his haste to escape from
such a reception, fell prostrate, which excited bursts of merriment from
all parts of the house."
In 1855, Charles Kean revived the play with his accustomed care and
sumptuousness. In this famous revival Mrs. Kean appeared as "Queen
Katharine."
_Irving's Production_
Sir Henry Irving's magnificent production will still be fresh in the
memory of many playgoers. It was admitted on all hands to be an artistic
achievement of the highest kind, and Sir Henry Irving was richly rewarded
by the support of the public, the play running 203 nights. Miss Ellen
Terry greatly distinguished herself in the part of Queen Katharine,
contributing in no small degree to the success of the production. Sir
Henry Irving, in the part of Wolsey, made a deep impression. Mr. William
Terriss played the King. Mr. Forbes Robertson made a memorable success in
the part of Buckingham; and it is interesting to note that Miss Violet
Vanbrugh played the part of Anne Boleyn.
[Illustration: ANNE BOLEYN
From the Portrait by Holbein, at Warwick Castle]
_The Music_
An outstanding feature of the Lyceum production was Edward German's music.
I deem myself fortunate that this music was available for the present
production. It may be mentioned that Mr. German has composed some
additional numbers, amongst which is the Anthem sung in the Coronation of
Anne Boleyn.
_Shakespeare's Accuracy of Detail_
I cannot help quoting one passage from Cavendish at length to show how
closely Shakespeare keeps to the chronicles of his time. It will be found
that Scene 3 of Act I. is practically identical with the following
description:--
The banquets were set forth, with masks and mummeries, in so gorgeous
a sort, and costly manner, that it was a heaven to behold.
... I have seen the king suddenly come in thither in a mask, with a
dozen of other maskers, all in garments like shepherds.
... And at his coming and before he came into the hall, ye shall
understand that he came by water to the water gate, without any
noise; where, against his coming, were laid charged many chambers,
and at his landing they were all shot off, which made such a rumble
in the air, that it was like thunder. It made all the noblemen,
ladies and gentlewomen to muse what it should mean coming so
suddenly, they sitting quietly at a solemn banquet. Then immediately
after this great shot of guns, the cardinal desired the Lord
Chamberlain, and Comptroller, to look what this sudden shot should
mean, as though he knew nothing of the matter. They thereupon looking
out of the windows into Thames, returned again, and showed him, that
it seemed to them there should be some noblemen and strangers arrived
at his bridge, as ambassadors from some foreign prince. With that,
quoth the Cardinal, "I shall desire you, because ye can speak French,
to take the pains to go down into the hall to encounter and to
receive them, according to their estates, and to conduct them into
this chamber, where they shall see us, and all these noble personages
sitting merrily at our banquet, desiring them to sit down with us and
to take part of our fare and pastime." Then they went incontinent
down into the hall, where they received them with twenty new torches,
and conveyed them up into the chamber, with such a number of drums
and fifes as I have seldom seen together, at one time in any masque.
At their arrival into the chamber, two and two together, they went
directly before the cardinal where he sat, saluting him very
reverently, to whom the Lord Chamberlain for them said: "Sir,
forasmuch as they be strangers, and can speak no English, they have
desired me to declare unto your Grace thus: they, having
understanding of this your triumphant banquet, where was assembled
such a number of excellent fair dames, could do no less, under the
supportation of your good grace, but to repair hither to view as well
their incomparable beauty, as for to accompany them to mumchance, and
then after to dance with them, and so to have of them acquaintance.
And, sir, they furthermore require of your Grace licence to
accomplish the cause of their repair." To whom the Cardinal answered,
that he was very well contented they should do so. Then the masquers
went first and saluted all the dames as they sat, and then returned
to the most worthiest.
... Then quoth the Cardinal to my Lord Chamberlain, "I pray you,"
quoth he, "show them that it seemeth me that there should be among
them some noble man, whom I suppose to be much more worthy of honour
to sit and occupy this room and place than I; to whom I would most
gladly, if I knew him, surrender my place according to my duty." Then
spake my Lord Chamberlain, unto them in French, declaring my Lord
Cardinal's mind, and they rounding him again in the ear, my Lord
Chamberlain said to my Lord Cardinal, "Sir, they confess," quoth he,
"that among them there is such a noble personage, whom, if your Grace
can appoint him from the other, he is contented to disclose himself,
and to accept your place most worthily." With that the cardinal,
taking a good advisement among them, at the last, quoth he, "Me
seemeth the gentleman with the black beard should be even he." And
with that he arose out of his chair, and offered the same to the
gentleman in the black beard, with his cap in his hand. The person to
whom he offered then his chair was Sir Edward Neville, a comely
knight of goodly personage, that much more resembled the king's
person in that mask, than any other. The king, hearing and perceiving
the cardinal so deceived in his estimation and choice, could not
forbear laughing; but plucked down his visor, and Master Neville's
also, and dashed out with such a pleasant countenance and cheer, that
all noble estates there assembled, seeing the king to be there
amongst them, rejoiced very much.
If Shakespeare could be so true to the actualities, why should not we seek
to realise the scene so vividly described by the chronicler and the
dramatist?
In my notes and conclusions on "Henry VIII. and his Court," I have been
largely indebted to the guidance of the following books:--
Ernest Law's "History of Hampton Court"; Strickland's "Queens of England";
Taunton's "Thomas Wolsey, Legate and Reformer"; and Cavendish's "Life of
Wolsey."
AN APOLOGY AND A FOOTNOTE
Here I am tempted to hark back to the modern manner of producing
Shakespeare, and to say a few words in extenuation of those methods, which
have been assailed in a recent article with almost equal brilliancy and
vehemence.
The writer tells us that there are two different kinds of plays, the
realistic and the symbolic. Shakespeare's plays, we are assured, belong to
the latter category. "The scenery," it is insisted, "not only may, but
should be imperfect." This seems an extraordinary doctrine, for if it be
right that a play should be imperfectly mounted, it follows that it should
be imperfectly acted, and further that it should be imperfectly written.
The modern methods, we are assured, employed in the production of
Shakespeare, do not properly illustrate the play, but are merely made for
vulgar display, with the result of crushing the author and obscuring his
meaning. In this assertion, I venture to think that our critic is
mistaken; I claim that not the least important mission of the modern
theatre is to give to the public representations of history which shall be
at once an education and a delight. To do this, the manager should avail
himself of the best archaeological and artistic help his generation can
afford him, while endeavouring to preserve what he believes to be the
spirit and the intention of the author.
It is of course possible for the technically informed reader to imagine
the wonderful and stirring scenes which form part of the play without
visualizing them. It is, I contend, better to reserve Shakespeare for the
study than to see him presented half-heartedly.
The merely archaic presentation of the play can be of interest only to
those epicures who do not pay their shilling to enter the theatre. The
contemporary theatre must make its appeal to the great public, and I hold
that while one should respect every form of art, that art which appeals
only to a coterie is on a lower plane than that which speaks to the world.
Surely, it is not too much to claim that a truer and more vivid
impression of a period of history can be given by its representation on
the stage than by any other means of information. Though the archaeologist
with symbolic leanings may cry out, the theatre is primarily for those who
love the drama, who love the joy of life and the true presentation of
history. It is only secondarily for those who fulfil their souls in
footnotes.[6]
I hold that whatever may tend to destroy the illusion and the people's
understanding is to be condemned. Whatever may tend to heighten the
illusion and to help the audience to a better understanding of the play
and the author's meaning, is to be commended. Shakespeare and Burbage,
Betterton, Colley Cibber, the Kembles, the Keans, Phelps, Calvert and
Henry Irving, as artists, recognised that there was but one way to treat
the play of Henry VIII. It is pleasant to sin in such good company.
I contend that Henry VIII. is essentially a realistic and not a symbolic
play. Indeed, probably no English author is less "symbolic" than
Shakespeare. "Hamlet" is a play which, to my mind, does not suffer by the
simplest setting; indeed, a severe simplicity of treatment seems to me to
assist rather than to detract from the imaginative development of that
masterpiece. But I hold that, with the exception of certain scenes in "The
Tempest," no plays of Shakespeare are susceptible to what is called
"symbolic" treatment. To attempt to present Henry VIII. in other than a
realistic manner would be to ensure absolute failure. Let us take an
instance from the text. By what symbolism can Shakespeare's stage
directions in the Trial scene be represented on the stage?
"A Hall in Blackfriars. Enter two vergers with short silver wands; next
them two scribes in the habit of doctors.... Next them with some small
distance, follows a gentleman bearing the purse with the great seal and a
Cardinal's hat; then two priests bearing each a silver cross; then a
gentleman usher bareheaded, accompanied with a sergeant-at-arms bearing a
silver mace; then two gentlemen bearing two great silver pillars; after
them, side by side, the two Cardinals, Wolsey and Campeius; two noblemen
with the sword and mace," etc.
I confess my symbolic imagination was completely gravelled, and in the
absence of any symbolic substitute, I have been compelled to fall back on
the stage directions.
Yet we are gravely told by the writer of a recent article that "all
Shakespeare's plays" lend themselves of course to such symbolic treatment.
We hear, indeed, that the National Theatre is to be run on symbolic lines.
If it be so, then God help the National Theatre--the symbolists will not.
No "ism" ever made a great cause. The National Theatre, to be the
dignified memorial we all hope it may be, will owe its birth, its being
and its preservation to the artists, who alone are the guardians of any
art. It is the painter, not the frame-maker, who upholds the art of
painting; it is the poet, not the book-binder, who carries the torch of
poetry. It was the sculptor, and not the owner of the quarry, who made the
Venus of Milo. It is sometimes necessary to re-assert the obvious.
Now there are plays in which symbolism is appropriate--those of
Maeterlinck, for instance. But if, as has been said, Maeterlinck resembles
Shakespeare, Shakespeare does not resemble Maeterlinck. Let us remember
that Shakespeare was a humanist, not a symbolist.
_The End_
The end of the play of Henry VIII. once more illustrates the pageantry of
realism, as prescribed in the elaborate directions as to the christening
of the new-born princess.
It is this incident of the christening of the future Queen Elizabeth that
brings to an appropriate close the strange eventful history as depicted in
the play of Henry VIII. And thus the injustice of the world is once more
triumphantly vindicated: Wolsey, the devoted servant of the King, has
crept into an ignominious sanctuary; Katharine has been driven to a
martyr's doom; the adulterous union has been blessed by the Court of
Bishops; minor poets have sung their blasphemous paeans in unison. The
offspring of Anne Boleyn, over whose head the Shadow of the Axe is already
hovering, has been christened amid the acclamations of the mob; the King
paces forth to hold the child up to the gaze of a shouting populace,
accompanied by the Court and the Clergy--trumpets blare, drums roll, the
organ thunders, cannons boom, hymns are sung, the joy bells are pealing. A
lonely figure in black enters weeping. It is the Fool!
CHRONOLOGY OF PUBLIC EVENTS DURING THE LIFETIME OF KING HENRY VIII.
1491. Birth of Henry, second son of Henry VII. and Elizabeth of York.
1501. Marriage of Arthur, Prince of Wales, eldest son of Henry VII. and
Elizabeth of York, to Katharine of Aragon, daughter of Ferdinand
and Isabella of Spain.
1502. Death of Arthur, Prince of Wales.
1509. Death of King Henry VII.
Marriage of Henry VIII. at Westminster Abbey with Katharine of
Aragon, his brother's widow.
Thomas Wolsey made King's Almoner.
1511. Thomas Wolsey called to the King's Council.
The Holy League established by the Pope.
1512. War with France.
1513. Battles of the Spurs and of Flodden.
Wolsey becomes Chief Minister.
1516. Wolsey made Legate.
Dissolution of the Holy League.
1517. Luther denounces Indulgences.
1520. Henry meets Francis at "Field of Cloth of Gold."
Luther burns the Pope's Bull.
1521. Quarrel of Luther with Henry.
Henry's book against Luther presented to the Pope.
Pope Leo confers on Henry the title "_Fidei Defensor_."
1522. Renewal of war with France.
1523. Wolsey quarrels with the Commons on question of 20 per cent.
property tax.
1525. Benevolences of one-tenth from the laity and of one-fourth from
clergy demanded.
Exaction of Benevolences defeated.
Peace with France.
1527. Henry resolves on a Divorce.
Sack of Rome.
1528. Pope Clement VII. issues a commission to the Cardinals Wolsey and
Campeggio for a trial of the facts on which Henry's application
for a divorce was based.
1529. Trial of Queen Katharine at Blackfriars' Hall.
Katharine appeals to Rome.
Fall of Wolsey. Ministry of Norfolk and Sir Thomas More.
Rise of Thomas Cromwell.
1530. Wolsey arrested for treason.
Wolsey's death at Leicester Abbey.
1531. Henry acknowledged as "Supreme Head of the Church of England."
1533. Henry secretly marries Anne Boleyn.
Cranmer, in Archbishop of Canterbury's Court, declares
Katharine's marriage invalid and the marriage of Henry and Anne
lawful. Anne Boleyn crowned Queen in Westminster Abbey.
Birth of Elizabeth (Queen Elizabeth).
1535. Henry's title as Supreme Head of the Church incorporated in the
royal style by letters patent.
Execution of Sir Thomas More.
1536. English Bible issued.
Dissolution of lesser Monasteries.
Death of Katharine of Aragon.
Execution of Anne Boleyn.
Henry's marriage with Jane Seymour.
1537. Birth of Edward VI.
Death of Jane Seymour.
Dissolution of greater Monasteries.
1540. Henry's marriage with Anne of Cleves.
Execution of Thomas Cromwell.
Henry divorces Anne of Cleves.
Henry's marriage with Catherine Howard.
1542. Execution of Catherine Howard.
Completion of the Tudor Conquest of Ireland.
1543. War with France.
Henry's marriage with Catherine Parr.
1547. Death of Henry. Age 55 years and 7 months.
He reigned 37 years and 9 months.
SHAKESPEAREAN PLAYS PRODUCED UNDER HERBERT BEERBOHM TREE'S MANAGEMENT.
A.--AT THE HAYMARKET THEATRE
1889. "The Merry Wives of Windsor."
1892. "Hamlet."
1896. "King Henry IV." (Part I.)
B.--AT HIS MAJESTY'S THEATRE
1898. "Julius Caesar."
1899. "King John."
1900. "A Midsummer's Night's Dream."
1901. "Twelfth Night."
1903. "King Richard II."
1904. "The Tempest."
1905. "Much Ado About Nothing."
First Annual Shakespeare Festival:
"King Richard II."
"Twelfth Night."
"The Merry Wives of Windsor."
"Hamlet."
"Much Ado About Nothing."
"Julius Caesar."
1906. "The Winter's Tale."
"Antony and Cleopatra."
Second Annual Shakespeare Festival:
"The Tempest."
"Hamlet."
"King Henry IV." (Part I.)
"Julius Caesar."
"The Merry Wives of Windsor."
1907. Third Annual Shakespeare Festival:
"The Tempest."
"The Winter's Tale."
"Hamlet."
"Twelfth Night."
"Julius Caesar."
"The Merry Wives of Windsor."
1908. "The Merchant of Venice."
Fourth Annual Shakespeare Festival:
"The Merry Wives of Windsor."
"The Merchant of Venice."
"Twelfth Night."
"Hamlet."
1909. Fifth Annual Shakespeare Festival:
"King Richard III."
"Twelfth Night."
"The Merry Wives of Windsor."
"Hamlet."
"Julius Caesar."
"The Merchant of Venice."
"Macbeth." (Mr. Arthur Bourchier's Company.)
"Antony and Cleopatra" (Act II., Scene 2).
1910. Sixth Annual Shakespeare Festival:
"The Merry Wives of Windsor."
"Julius Caesar."
"Twelfth Night."
"Hamlet." (By His Majesty's Theatre Company and by Mr. H. B.
Irving's Company.)
"The Merchant of Venice." (By His Majesty's Theatre Company
and by Mr. Arthur Bourchier's Company.)
"King Lear." (Mr. Herbert Trench's Company.)
"The Taming of the Shrew." (Mr. F. R. Benson and Company.)
"Coriolanus." (Mr. F. R. Benson and Company.)
"Two Gentlemen of Verona." (The Elizabethan Stage Society's
Company.)
"King Henry V." (Mr. Lewis Waller and Company.)
"King Richard II."
Scenes from "Macbeth" and "Romeo and Juliet."
1910. September 1st, "King Henry VIII."
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The Henry VIII Volume bears on its cover a Colour Reproduction of Mr.
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Footnotes:
[1] Cavendish was Wolsey's faithful secretary, and after his fall wrote
the interesting "Life of Wolsey," one of the manuscript copies of which
evidently fell into Shakespeare's hands before he wrote _Henry VIII._
[2] "Pastime with Good Company," composed and written by Henry, is sung in
the production at His Majesty's Theatre.
[3] Hypocras--"A favourite medicated drink, compound of wine, usually red,
with spices and sugar."
[4] It is Wolsey's fool to whom is given the final note of the play in the
production at His Majesty's Theatre.
[5] The ceremony of bringing the Blessed Sacrament from the sepulchre
where it had lain since the Good Friday. This took place early on Easter
Monday.
[6] Personally, I have been a sentimental adherent of symbolism since my
first Noah's Ark. Ever since I first beheld the generous curves of Mrs.
Noah, and first tasted the insidious carmine of her lips, have I regarded
the wife of Noah as symbolical of the supreme type of womanhood. I have
learnt that the most exclusive symbolists, when painting a meadow, regard
purple as symbolical of bright green; but we live in a realistic age and
have not yet overtaken the _art nouveau_ of the pale future. It is
difficult to deal seriously with so much earnestness. I am forced into
symbolic parable. Artemus Ward, when delivering a lecture on his great
moral panorama, pointed with his wand to a blur on the horizon, and said:
"Ladies and gentlemen, that is a horse--the artist who painted that
picture called on me yesterday with tears in his eyes, and said he would
disguise that fact from me no longer!" He, too, was a symbolist.
Transcriber's Notes: