Monograf Journal Edebiyat ve İktidar (2014 / 1) | Page 24

ODAK

24 • Anthony P. Pennino
speare’s predominance could only expand across the spectrum.
He writes: “Consequently, the main movement of Shakespeare
now became lateral, his influence broadened geographically
and socially. What had been the river of his reputation was now
the ocean of Shakespeare” (168). The Chartists were without a
doubt a leading force in transforming that river into an ocean.

It is easy to see the appeal Shakespeare would have to the
early radicals, especially since the doors of realism were closed
to them. In works such as As You Like It, the Bard exposes and
dramatizes the tensions between the metropolitan center as represented by the court and the periphery as represented by Arden
Forest. Indeed, time spent in this idealized bucolic setting has a
positive moral effect. Orlando learns to be a more mature lover, Oliver loses his antipathy to his brother, and, indeed, Duke
Frederick ends his illegitimate reign and “was converted/Both
from his enterprise and from the world” (V.iv.53-4). Or consider
Henry V. Here we have a “band of brothers” from all socio-economic levels of society who workin common cause in overcoming a seemingly insurmountable obstacle. Shakespeare honors
the regional distinctiveness of the various members of Harry’s
army – the captains are variously Welsh, Cornish, Irish, Scottish
– and seeks to represent that this diverse community is a notable
strength of the realm. Indeed, at a crucial moment during the Battle of Agincourt, the King and Captain Fluellen share a moment
of camaraderie over their shared Welsh – not English – heritage:

The Reconstructed Bard: Chartism and Shakespeare • 25

“I wear it for a memorable honor/For I am Welsh, you know,
good countryman” (IV.vii.100-1). Characters in other history
plays speak positively of rebellion[Bolingbroke, from Richard
II states, “The caterpillars of the commonwealth/Which I have
sworn to weed and pluck away” (II.iii.166-7)]; many of the
casts are ensemble in nature; and the works -- such as A Winter’s
Tale and The Tempest -- are certainly not restrained by realism.

The Tempest in particular would have great appeal for
early radicals and reformers on both sides of the Atlantic. In the
United States, Margaret Fuller, who as a journalist supported
revolution in Italy, describes herself as an American Miranda
because “Miranda seems to represent a feminist ideal” (Showalter 25-6). The Chartists too would surely find much that is vital and malleable. Caliban’s rage against Prospero – “A plague
upon the tyrant that I serve!” (II.ii.74) – provided much fodder. Perhaps most salient would be Gonzalo’s vision (which
borrows from Thomas More’s Utopia) of a classless society:
I’ the commonwealth I would by contraries
Execute all things; for no kind of traffic
Would I admit; no name of magistrate;
Letters should not be known; riches, poverty,
And use of service, none; contract, succession,
Bourn, bound of land, tilth, vineyard, none;
No use of metal, corn, or wine, or oil;
No occupation; all men idle, all;

monograf 2014/1