What Was Happening in England in 1604,
Especially with King James I
When Elizabeth's health started to fail her, there was a lot of unease about succession. This wobbly attitude is present in Shakespeare's other plays from around the same period--most notably, in "Julius Caesar."
Elizabeth didn't have a heir, so there was some question for a while about who would take the crown. James I of Scotland won the race for succession. James I was very different from Elizabeth. The most obvious difference was that he was Scottish, a people whom the British had little respect for. James was also more religious, less social, and more of a scholar than Elizabeth was.
Why did this matter to Shakespeare? Shakespeare was dependent on patronage to make a living and to get to keep writing his plays. Elizabeth had been a big supporter of Shakespeare, it was unclear when James took the throne if he would continue the support or not. As we know now, he certainly did, making Shakespeare and his fellow actors "The King's Men." Shakespeare wrote many plays for James, the most famous example being "Macbeth." He also wrote propaganda for the crown, as seen in "Cymbeline."
Queen Elizabeth I’s death ended a 44-year period of monarchial stability, but King James I determined it was time
for a change. England was still embroiled in wars with Spain, the bubonic plague killed 30,000 Londoners in 1603, and lax laws led to conflicting interpretations. One unique early decree of King James was to standardize the universal English length of a foot—the size of his foot. At first glance, Measure for Measure could be read as a five-act flattery of the new King. But the play transcends mere flattery to give us a mirror world of King James’s London in the Duke Vincentio’s Vienna. Shakespeare is far too talented and cynical a writer to only produce flattery.
If the Duke is intended literally James or not is almost irrelevant to our day and age. (The Duke is shy, James was shy! The Duke is obsessive about order; so was James! The Duke loves religion, so did James! And so on....) However, there are certain elements of the play that seem to relate to James that are worth noting. For instance: King James I’s views of the ideal wife. A best seller of 1603 was the Basilicon Doron, or “Kingly Gift,” which was framed as a letter to James’s son who was left to rule Scotland. The Basilicon Doron expounds on James’s convictions of the proper conduct and beliefs of a king. Shakespeare probably would have read this, and it is possible it influenced the play. Notably, James advised his son to mix “justice with mercie,” which manifests as conflict between merciless principles and unprincipled mercy in Measure for Measure.
The King addresses the topic of marriage in the Basilicon Doron by detailing the sort of woman he wishes his son would marry. James by no means thinks a wife should be equal to her husband—“Yee are the head, she is your bodie: it is your office to command, and hers to obey”—but does think it is important to marry a woman who is pious, devoid of lust, and “a helper like himselfe.” Those were the three most important features to James, but he also believed in three “acessories:” beauty, riches and friend- ship—but he cautions against: “beautie with- out bountie, wealth without wisedome, and great friendship without grace and honestie.” The character of Isabella in Measure for Measure has all of these qualities. Take of that what you will.
There is a tiny contingent of people and scholars who look at Isabella, whose name is the Spanish version of "Elizabeth," with her virginity and her saintliness and compare her to Queen Elizabeth. If that is the case, then the end of the play is a reflection of James' uneasy "marriage" with the Tudor dynasty.
Elizabeth didn't have a heir, so there was some question for a while about who would take the crown. James I of Scotland won the race for succession. James I was very different from Elizabeth. The most obvious difference was that he was Scottish, a people whom the British had little respect for. James was also more religious, less social, and more of a scholar than Elizabeth was.
Why did this matter to Shakespeare? Shakespeare was dependent on patronage to make a living and to get to keep writing his plays. Elizabeth had been a big supporter of Shakespeare, it was unclear when James took the throne if he would continue the support or not. As we know now, he certainly did, making Shakespeare and his fellow actors "The King's Men." Shakespeare wrote many plays for James, the most famous example being "Macbeth." He also wrote propaganda for the crown, as seen in "Cymbeline."
Queen Elizabeth I’s death ended a 44-year period of monarchial stability, but King James I determined it was time
for a change. England was still embroiled in wars with Spain, the bubonic plague killed 30,000 Londoners in 1603, and lax laws led to conflicting interpretations. One unique early decree of King James was to standardize the universal English length of a foot—the size of his foot. At first glance, Measure for Measure could be read as a five-act flattery of the new King. But the play transcends mere flattery to give us a mirror world of King James’s London in the Duke Vincentio’s Vienna. Shakespeare is far too talented and cynical a writer to only produce flattery.
If the Duke is intended literally James or not is almost irrelevant to our day and age. (The Duke is shy, James was shy! The Duke is obsessive about order; so was James! The Duke loves religion, so did James! And so on....) However, there are certain elements of the play that seem to relate to James that are worth noting. For instance: King James I’s views of the ideal wife. A best seller of 1603 was the Basilicon Doron, or “Kingly Gift,” which was framed as a letter to James’s son who was left to rule Scotland. The Basilicon Doron expounds on James’s convictions of the proper conduct and beliefs of a king. Shakespeare probably would have read this, and it is possible it influenced the play. Notably, James advised his son to mix “justice with mercie,” which manifests as conflict between merciless principles and unprincipled mercy in Measure for Measure.
The King addresses the topic of marriage in the Basilicon Doron by detailing the sort of woman he wishes his son would marry. James by no means thinks a wife should be equal to her husband—“Yee are the head, she is your bodie: it is your office to command, and hers to obey”—but does think it is important to marry a woman who is pious, devoid of lust, and “a helper like himselfe.” Those were the three most important features to James, but he also believed in three “acessories:” beauty, riches and friend- ship—but he cautions against: “beautie with- out bountie, wealth without wisedome, and great friendship without grace and honestie.” The character of Isabella in Measure for Measure has all of these qualities. Take of that what you will.
There is a tiny contingent of people and scholars who look at Isabella, whose name is the Spanish version of "Elizabeth," with her virginity and her saintliness and compare her to Queen Elizabeth. If that is the case, then the end of the play is a reflection of James' uneasy "marriage" with the Tudor dynasty.
Includes excerpts from this from PA Shakes Quill article (I wrote the article, no plagiarism here. |
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This article is about James in M4M, if you're grabbed by the topic.
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