Seite 43 [43]
OCR
THE DRAMATURGICAL AND THEATRICAL HERITAGE and they function not as texts, but first and foremost as “objects that move between individuals”! On the other hand, the passage cited above also shifts attention from the text of the letter, which in this case is not disclosed, to the significance and complexity of the task of the messenger, who was not simply a carrier, but also reported on the recipient’s reactions and thus contributed to the written correspondence. Unlike in the case of Magnyfycence and the anonymous play, there are two occasions when even the texts of letters are read on stage, and on each occasion, this reading reveals a murder attempt. First, Gloster reads aloud the letter that Edmund forged to make his father believe that Edgar intended to kill him. This scene resembles Fansy’s first meeting with Magnyfycence, since the letter becomes an attribute of a vice character, who remains present and deceitfully influences the process of interpretation: A Letter. Glost. This policie of age makes the world bitter to the best / of our times, keepes our fortunes from vs till our oldnes cannot / relish them, I begin to find an idle and fond bondage in the op- / pression of aged tyranny, who swaies not as it hath power, but as / it is suffered, come to me, that of this I may speake more; if our / father would sleepe till I wakt him, you should inioy halfe his / reuenew for euer, and liue the beloued of your brother Ed-/gar."? This letter has special significance in the subplot, Stewart argues, because Gloster’s fate seems to be decided by closet letters. First, Edmund alleges that he found this forged letter, which ultimately makes Gloster fall victim to his bastard son’s manipulation, “throwne in at the casement of my closet.”!© Later, Cordelia also sends Gloster a letter which he hides in his closet, but to his great regret he also informs Edmund about it, who steals the letter in order to give it to Cornwall as a token of treason, which then leads to Gloster’s blinding on stage. As Stewart concludes, the presence of the letters in the closet thus signals their dangerous nature, yet what makes their misinterpretation and abuse possible is that their messenger is unknown, so there is nobody to answer for their origin.’ Second, in addition to being the victim of a forgery, Edgar also becomes a special reader as he reads aloud another dangerous letter written by Gonorill in which she urges Edmund to kill her husband, Albany: 161 Ibid., 23. Shak-speare: His True Chronicle, sig. C1v. 163 Tbid., sig. Clv. 164 Stewart: Shakespeare's Letters, 217-218. + Al +
