Oldal 40 [40]
SHAKESPEARE’S ART OF POESY IN KING LEAR
From the realistic point of view itisno doubt a dramatic flaw that Shakespeare does
not account more clearly for the fate of the real man in motley; but his disappearance
was a poetic necessity, for the King having lost everything, including his wits, has
now himself become the Fool. He has touched bottom, he is an outcast from society,
he has no longer any private axe to grind, so he now sees and speaks the truth.”
RECURRING DRAMATURGICAL ELEMENTS
Having examined and contrasted the three texts, I have found several
dramaturgical elements which they share, but which are arranged in diverse
patterns. These elements or motifs, which include letters, disguises, meetings
with beggars, suicide attempts, recoveries, have a significant role in structuring
the events of plot, and thus, they contribute to the main character’s moral
development. In what follows, this chapter discusses the appearance and
function of these elements, letters and visual and verbal disguises in particular,
in order to highlight more of the macrostructural similarities and differences
among the three playtexts.
Letters
Even on the Early Modern stage, letters were conventional dramatic elements
that served to develop and complicate the plot. In Magnyfycence, there is
only one letter, but it is significant. It is a letter that Fansy (Largess) hands
over to the protagonist, saying that his friend Sad Circumspection has sent
it.“° Although Magnyfycence is suspicious about the letter, which is in fact
a forgery, the dramatic moment when Fansy hands it over to Magnyfycence
provides a perfect occasion for Fansy to give a detailed description of the
journey he needed to take in order to deliver it. Fansy’s smooth flow of speech
persuades Magnyfycence that the letter is authentic, and he puts his trust in
the newcomer, a mistake which clearly signals his grave error in judgment.
Nevertheless, from a dramaturgical point of view, this letter remains a prop
the contents of which is never disclosed. The dramatic moment, however,
perfectly fits into a common pattern in Tudor drama, in which letters, having
been “stolen, lost, forged, opened without permission or read by the wrong
person,” are meant to signal some sort of disruption.” On the other hand,
Happé remarks that the very act of forging letters is a typical attribute of vice
M45 Welsford: The Fool, 266.
46 Skelton: Magnyfycence, lines 326-340.
47 Alan Stewart: Shakespeare’s Letters, Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2008, 19.
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