Monograf Journal Edebiyat ve İktidar (2014 / 1) | Page 18

ODAK

18 • Anthony P. Pennino
and hence the lines are blurred between, to use Williams’ terminology, “the development of a pre-revolutionary or potentially
revolutionary or briefly revolutionary” (67) aspects of the movement. Second, even though the Chartist Movement itself never
saw this political platform enacted into law, the genetic fabric of
its ideology entered into the continuing mainstream of the public discourse and five of its six demands would be successfully
passed as legislation over the course of the nineteenth century.

Chartism was the rare movement that attempted to create
a mass appeal across a broad spectrum of political, social, and
cultural contexts. With the emergence of a large and influential popular press (which was made possible by further mechanization of the printing process which in turn led to cheaper
printing costs), Sally Ledger reports that those in the Chartist
leadership needed to compete with this early form of mass media. The historical significance of this cannot be understated as
she explains: “Chartism’s own efforts to wield mass influence,
through a negotiation of the popular, ultimately failed. The result was that British radicalism after Chartism became a culturally and politically distinct enterprise, no longer bolstered by
popular culture in the way that had been possible in the first decades of the nineteenth century” (“Chartist Aesthetics” 32). It is
with this pivot to the popular that Chartists crafted many of their
cultural practices, including their appropriation of Shakespeare.

In order to comprehend this appropriation of Shakespeare,

The Reconstructed Bard: Chartism and Shakespeare • 19

it is necessary to place it within its historical context by examining the publications of Thomas Spence, whose work served as
precursor to that of the Chartists. Spence is perhaps best known
for his publishing and selling of Thomas Paine’s Rights of Man
as well as his own publication of the same title in the 1790’s.He
was jailed for this publication and would often find himself in
prison for charges of treason. The publisher was one of the leading satirists during the Regency period, and he was often criticized for his radical ideals: an end to land enclosures, universal
suffrage for all, and national engagement to prevent children
from growing up in an impoverished and cruel environment.
Starting in 1793, Spence published the journal Pig’s Meat,
which directly challenges the hegemonic order. The publication
includes, among other features, the first English translation of
the French revolutionary anthem “La Marseillaise”, a comparison of the living conditions of a West Indies slave and an Irish
laborer, and reprints of documents from Britain’s own Interregnum. He makes common cause with Paine, and compares him
with the historic Brutus, “who spoke to a people” as opposed to
Burke and by extension Cicero “who spoke to a Parliament”. Additionally, Spence examines Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar and,
not surprisingly, finds Brutus to be the hero. The assassination
of Caesar is a necessary if unfortunate act to ensure the liberty
of the people, “[F]or my part/I know no personal cause to spurn
at him/But for the general” (II.i.10-2). If Brutus has a fault, it

monograf 2014/1