William Shakespeare by Paul Menzer

Author:Paul Menzer
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

12

Shakespeare at Court

It is a little-known historical fact today that Shakespeare shared the stage with Elizabeth I. The Victorians knew it, however, since back in the early nineteenth century:

It is well known that queen Elizabeth was a great admirer of the immortal Shakespeare, and used frequently (as was the custom with people of great rank in those days) to appear upon the stage before the audience and to sit delighted behind the scenes while the plays of the bard were performed. One evening Shakspeare performed the part of the king (probably Henry the Fourth) the audience knew of her majesty being in the house. She crossed the stage while Shakspeare was performing his part, and on receiving the accustomed greeting from the audience, moved politely to the poet, but he did not notice it! – when behind the scenes, she caught his eye and moved again but still he would not throw off his character to notice her; this made her majesty think of some means to know whether he would or would not depart from the dignity of his character while on the stage. Accordingly, as he was about to make his exit, she stepped before him, dropped her glove, and recrossed the stage; which Shakspeare noticing, took up with these words, so immediately after finishing his speech, that they seemed as belonging to it, ‘And though now bent on this high embassy, / Yet stoop we to take up our cousin’s glove.’ He then walked off the stage, and presented the glove to the queen, who was highly pleased with his behaviour and complimented him on its propriety.1

The idea that Shakespeare handled Elizabeth’s glove and called her his ‘cousin’ is even more implausible than the Richard III anecdote. At least the story doesn’t conclude with Shakespeare reminding Elizabeth I that William the Conqueror came before her as well.

The anecdote is from the early 1800s and who knows where it came from (it shows up ‘first’ in the Dramatic Table Talk of Richard Ryan in 1825). It exaggerates Shakespeare’s familiarity with the Queen, but he was a familiar face at court. In fact, the first mention of him as a member of the ‘Lord Chamberlain’s Servants’ comes on 15 March 1595 when he, Richard Burbage and William Kempe collected twenty pounds for performing ‘Comedies or Enterludes’ the previous Christmas before Elizabeth. (The payment was late. Seems Shakespeare and the Queen both belonged to the order of the tight fist.) It does not take three men to collect twenty pounds, suggesting a formality to the occasion or at least some fun. A chance to fluff your ruff and natter with the nobs.

Shakespeare, Burbage and Kempe were not alone. Edward Alleyn, Richard Jones and John Singer of the Lord Admiral’s Servants were there as well to collect payment for their Christmas entertainments. In fact, the Lord Admiral’s Men had outpaced the Chamberlain players the previous Christmas, giving three plays to the Chamberlain’s two. Could they have resisted the chance to needle Shakespeare and crew about outperforming them? Still, these men were more even than at odds.

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