Journal article
'Order gave each thing view': 'shows, pageants and sights of honour' in King Henry VIII
Word & image (London. 1985), v 3(1), pp 95-103
01 Jan 1987
Abstract
From its very beginnings, the most remarkable aspect of the Shakespearean drama King Henry VIII has been its spectacle. Two contemporary accounts of the Globe production are most famous for their descriptions of the burning of the theatre, but they are also notable records of contemporary impressions of the spectacular nature of the play. The earlier letter, from Thomas Lorkin to Sir Thomas Puckering, dated 'this last of June 1613', connects the fire with the 'shooting of certayne chambers in way of triumph'.
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In a letter dated 2 July 1613, Sir Henry Wotton also describes the fire, and he too associates the fire with the spectacular nature of the play, but he comments at greater length about the show, 'which was set forth with many extraordinary circumstances of Pomp and Majesty, even to the matting of the stage; the Knights of the Order, with their Georges and Garter, the Guards with their embroidered Coats, and the like: sufficient in truth within a while to make greatness very familiar, if not ridiculous'.
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And when the play was produced at Covent Garden in 1773, it was selected from among Shakespeare's plays, according to Westminster Magazine, 'because it exhibited the most numerous Pageantry'.
3
Metrics
2 Record Views
6 citations in Scopus
Details
- Title
- 'Order gave each thing view': 'shows, pageants and sights of honour' in King Henry VIII
- Creators
- Mary E. Hazard
- Publication Details
- Word & image (London. 1985), v 3(1), pp 95-103
- Publisher
- Taylor & Francis Group
- Number of pages
- 9
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Language
- English
- Academic Unit
- English and Philosophy; [Retired Faculty]
- Scopus ID
- 2-s2.0-79957829747
- Other Identifier
- 991022028232804721