Anne Shakespeare and what it takes
Was Anne Shakespeare political? One must conclude that she was. Especially when looking across all of her plays; and most obvious in her histories but also in her tragedies. If so, what form of politics was she most interested in?
Before answering that question it is instructive to look at how, as a female, she viewed the political landscape of late Elizabethan and early Jacobean civil society. Because Anne was such an unusually gifted person, she did not fit the usual stereotype of what a female should think or behave in a predominantly patriarchal society. Indeed, Anne did not conform to what a married woman should do, especially in regards to managing a household (something Greer [2007] picks up on). It is true that her husband was away from the family home for long periods of time pursuing his business interests (and other women!) in London, which left Anne in charge of the family home and finances. And, in collaboration with William, writing her plays and poems which would help his business interests. But Anne had more in mind for her plays and poems than just as "business ventures". Her goal was not purely instrumental; she wanted to change society for the better, and this she sought to do through her plays and poems. That is, for Anne, writing was more than a "business"; it was a means for her to express her humanist views, including her thinking on a range of subjects such as politics. Anne was not, therefore, some silent female housewife; unseen and unheard. Anne wanted her audience to take a deeper look into what was happening around them and reach their own conclusions as to the health of the body politic, for instance (but much, much more than just this because she covered so many areas of life).
While Anne started as an idealist pursuing the humanist project of the Platonic Good, through the pursuit of individualism, virtue, rhetoric, justice and democracy (ancient Greek style), she came to see this project crumbling and being destroyed through the historical forces emerging before her very eyes. With the old feudal system crumbling and being replaced with the rising bourgeoisie intent on wealth accumulation through land ownership and increasing their power through the parliament, this threw Anne into an existential crisis. What she had pursued for over 20 years, her belief in the betterment of society through the enactment of her humanist project (that which she had immersed herself in during her travels through Italy around 1576-80) was now itself crumbling. Thus, we find her falling into despair, angst and sadness (tinged with a sense of nihilism) and the writing of her great tragedies. The move from her optimistic histories (especially Henry V), her ideal monarch who placed the welfare of citizens above the intrigue of the palace. Now, she was consumed with the darker side of politics as we witness in her tragedies. Self aggrandisement at the expense of the others, the pursuit of power, the power of jealousy, the failure of Kings in the welfare of their citizens. The tragedies end not with joy but a sullen acknowledgement that while the hero (male) has succumbed to their failings, those left behind cannot see a better future. And while the (male) hero has died, it cannot be overlooked that they have taken with them the female hero as well (Desdemona, Juliet, Lady Macbeth, Ophelia, Cleopatra etc).
More to come.
