Dramatic Censorship in Renaissance England
The attempt of governments to regulate literature and drama dates back to classical antiquity. Satires, superstitious and heretical works, astrological treatises, and other works disagreeable to monarchs or clergy suffered suppression in the days of ancient Greece and Rome. In England, the censorship can be traced at least as far back as the last quarter of the thirteenth century.
The rise of provincial companies in Elizabethan England had a profound effect on the organization and control of drama. A large proportion of acting companies made a business of strolling. In doing so, they escaped local responsibilities and made it difficult for any community to hold them responsible for their conduct. A strolling actor was viewed as a potential menace to society because he was masterless, and therefore irresponsible. The law recognized this, and in 1572, a statute was passed requiring traveling players to “be the retainers of some baron of this realme, or … other honorable personage of greater degree,” or to “have licence of two justices of the peace at the least” (Albright 7). It became mandatory for the group of strollers to have a patron responsible for their conduct in order to give license for them to perform. This law was revived throughout the years and over time, became the chief support for opponents of drama.
Many individuals had influence over the regulation of theater. Although naturally the sovereign had direct control, their wishes were carried out through the Privy Council, Chamberlain, Master of the Revels, Treasurer, Mayor, and occasionally the ecclesiastical officers.
The Master of the Revels was a key figure in the licensing and censorship of professional dr...
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...ressing plays, plays were definitely suppressed. Over the next decade, attempts to revive performances were made but this edict practically closed theaters, marking the end of Elizabethan drama.
Bibliography:
Albright, Evelyn M. 1927a. Dramatic Publication in England, 1580-1640. New York:
D.C. Health. Reprinted 1971
Chambers, E.K. The Elizabethan Stage, 4 vols. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1923
Clark, Eleanor G. 1941. ‘Ralegh and Marlowe: A Study in Elizabethan Fustian.’ New
York: Russel & Russel Inc. Reprinted 1965
Dutton, Richard. 2000 Licensing, Censorship and Authorship in Early Modern England.
New York: Palgrave
Gildersleeve, Virginia Crocheron. 1908 Government Regulation of the Elizabethan
Drama. New York: Columbia University Press
Lee, Sir Sidney. 1916 A Life of William Shakespeare. New York: Macmillan
The Restoration in England was an era ripe for the development of new ideas in the arts. The return of the Stuart monarchy under Charles II marked the end of eighteen years of almost dictatorial control by Oliver Cromwell and his Puritan parliament. Cromwell had campaigned actively to halt all theatrical activity. In the end, however, his laws were actually responsible for helping move England forward in theatrical history. Actors, under Cromwell's laws, were to be apprehended a rogues if they were caught "in the act" so to speak of performing their trade. Some left their careers and sought employment elsewhere. Most, however, remained undaunted by parliament's threats. Productions continued quietly in tennis courts, inns and private houses. Officials were bribed to keep silent their knowledge of violations. The theater in England had moved indoors as it had already done in France and Italy. Although the reasons for the move were different, the end result was the same. Up until this time plays had always been performed outdoors in the early afternoon. Performances traditionally relied on sunlight, natural scenery, and minimal set pieces that could be easily transported from one location to another. Indoor productions required something much more elaborate. The preliminary concepts of scenic design and lighting design began to form in England in the late 1650's. During the Restoration, as controls were lifted, technical theater began to flourish. Many early examples of modern stage techniques were born between 1660 and 1800, making the Restoration a significant era in the history of scenic design and lighting for the theater. The art of scenic design did not begin in England. As early as 1570 the Italians were giving elaborate opera performances in the ducal courts using perspective scenes and various types of stage machinery. The French mimicked the design ideas of the Italian's and gave them a name, la scene a l'italienne. (Southern 221) Although Cromwell had banned public theater, opera was still considered a lawful art form. In England, just prior to the Restoration, John Webb designed the scenery for William D'avenant's 'opera' production of The Siege of Rhodes.
Eighteenth century British theatre was perhaps the starting point that would evolve into modern theatre. Women started to be allowed on stage and acting techniques were beginning to change. Leading performers were like celebrities with a number of fans. Theatre was an intricate part of the social ladder. In the overall scheme of things the actors and actresses played an important part in making the theatre what it was. Without the performers there wouldn’t really be theatre, so in order to understand the eighteenth century British theatre the performers of that era need to be understood.
In Fahrenheit 451, they speak of how all kinds of literature is banned. Although the government allows the citizens to watch television because they are able to control and monitor what is being put in front of people. The authorities ruling banned books in order to gain more knowledge than their citizens. Like Stalin the government, that Montag lives under, censors what they do not want others to know about. In The Crucible, the town of Salem, allowed its people to read but with a twist, being only the Bible was allowed. Going against what the Bible teaches, you are seen as one that is not with
Censorship dates all the way back to 443 BC in ancient Rome with the Office of Censor. In that time this was an office of great repute, the Office of Censor was charged with the shaping of the character of the people. Thus it was considered to be an honorable task, since then the connotation of the word and such an office has changed greatly. Today censorship is the practice of officially examining books, movies, etc. and suppressing “unacceptable parts” based on whoever is defining “unacceptable.” Unacceptable has been considered to be a wide range of concepts from ideas to sexually explicit content. Historically in the USSR most leaders used censorship in every form as a means of suppressing whatever or whoever was perceived as a possible threat. George Bernard Shaw once said, “Assassination is the extreme form of censorship.” A common practice in the book is the “vaporization” of citizens. According to the Newspeak Dictionary this was when The Party would completely wipe out any trace of the citizen and either kill them or send them to a forced labor camps.
Censorship can be traced back as early as 399 BCE. it originated in Rome. When Socrates was executed because the Roman people believed his teachings were impious. Even though he didn't have any writings the government wanted to censor his teachings because they were afraid of the effects his ideas had on the children (E.L. p.1). There are many stories on how The Great Library of Alexandria was des...
Censorship has been used all throughout history, mainly to prevent the spread of a way of life different than what is accepted. “One of the earliest acts of state-sponsored censorship conducted for the “supposed” common good of the people came in 399 B.C. with the execution of Socrates” (randomhistory.com). The reason for his execution was corruption of the young, but really he was only inspiring a new way of thinking. His teaching drew the youth of Athens away from the traditional Greek culture. This angered the Athenian government and made them fear a revolt. To prevent (censor) his teachings from spreading they sentenced to death.
Societies often struggle to define censorship. Interestingly, the nineteenth-century did not explicitly define the word “censorship” as Westerners understand it today. The nineteenth-century's definition of censorship is “the office of a censor” and the definition of censor is “an officer of Rome who had the power of correcting manners” (Johnson 112).
What is censorship? An encyclopedia defines censorship as "the control of what people may say or hear, write or read, or see or do1." There are many reasons why people censor entertainment such as literature and music. Many governments or groups try to preserve their standards of morality by preventing people from learning about or following other standards2, commonly found in the two previously mentioned mediums. There are different ways to censor things. It can be on a local level, such as libraries refusing to carry a controversial book. It can also be on an entirely larger scale. In the 1770’s, French author Beaumarchais had two of his plays, The Barber of Seville and The Marriage of Figaro, banned by King Louis XVI.2 Back then, these plays were considered outrageous and sometimes blasphemous. To fully understand how our system of censorship works today, we have to look into history to see how censorship got started.
"Elizabethan Theatre Audiences." Elizabethan Theatre Audiences. Strayer University, 16 May 2012. Web. 24 Mar. 2014.
This new theatre was an extremely risky venture. Any actor caught performing would be imprisoned. Box office receipts would be confiscated for the Commonwealth. Enormous fines would be levied against any daring to sit in an audience. Entire playhouses would be destroyed, their interiors gutted or exteriors burned. Theatre faced extinction. It became an obsequious art, catering to Cromwell's strict moral code. Killigrew would survive, and eventually form the Theatre Royal, but he lived in constant fear. Davenant worked through legal channels to produce theatre Cromwell could not dispute. His pieces were simple, more opera then play, and propaganda for the Commonwealth. Interestingly, the first woman to appear on the British stage did so in this time, in Davenant's The Siege of Rhodes. He began pushing the envelope, uncomfortable in his new sycophantic role. He renewed his ties to the British aristocracy, exiled to France. He befriended Charles II, and when the young king made his triumphant return to power, Davenant was given the monopoly on all theatre in London. He shared this power with his old friend Thomas Killigrew. Under their guidance, the theatre exploded back into being.
Elizabethan times in the 1600s was a progression for the world of the theater. A period named after Queen Elizabeth I of England, it is from this period that modern day society has its foundation for the entertainment industry. From the violence that was prevalent because of the Black Death, people turned to the theater for its poetry and romance. During this time period, there were two types of theatrical performances that were available for the people’s viewing, comedies or tragedies. These two genres were never really intertwined until the time of William Shakespeare. His play, Romeo and Juliet, is an example of both a comedy and a tragedy. It starts off as a comedy with Romeo weeping like a baby because of his love Rosaline, who did not love him back and ends as a tragedy when Romeo and Juliet, a pair of star crossed lovers, commit suicide because the lost of each other. It was also during Shakespeare’s time that writer were finally acknowledged by the people. Before this time, writers were not considered upper classman. Another group of people that began to rise into a higher social class were the actors. Actresses were not present back then because women were not allowed on stage. It was considered unladylike to have a female actor. Men played all the parts. Theater owners were dependent on actors to make them a profit. Rehearsals for the plays were fairly short, only lasting for about a week. The performances themselves would only show for three to four days.
Censorship has been a factor in the lives of humans since long ago in the times of the ancients, however, its prominence increased during the Middle Ages when literature became more common. Take censorship of books, for example, which has been relevant since the time after the persecution of the church, when it banned books about and/or including superstitions or opposition towards them, such as the condemnation of Thalia by Arius, a novel which portrayed “a literal, rationalist approach to the New Testament texts” (http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/589822/Thalia), when “The First Ecumenical Council of Nicæa (325) condemned, not only Arius personally, but also his book... …The Emperor Constantine commanded that the writings of Arius and his friends should be burned and that concealing them was a capital crime, punishable by death.” (Rick Russell Former editor of AB Bookman's Weekly.) We look back on this as monstrous and wretched to deny someone their opinions and hide away the history from the public simply because it was in the favor of any particular group or sect. However, when we use censorship as a way for parents and teachers of children to regulate the reading material that we allow them to associate with, it’s suddenly justified and correct. Those censoring the books obviously think so. They hold the belief that they are protecting their youth from violence, harsh language, and crude humor. Parents and teachers around the nation censor The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain for similar reasons, but they continue to overlook the bigger picture. This title teaches the history of our nation, important life lessons, and the responsibilities of maturity and of growing up.
inaccurate citation Censorship can be dated back to ancient Greek and Roman times. Some of the works of art and literature that were considered taboo a long time ago are widely available in modern day life. William Shakespeare, Michelangelo, John Lennon, Diego Rivera, and the Venus de Milo, were all thought to be morally wrong or offensive at one time or another. In the 20th twentieth century, censorship has gone to more extreme measures by involving the government and legal system. AMA what is this?says, “Art censorship has disrupted the relationship between us and the art that has been made. Tracey Emin or Marina Abramovic might suggest we are in a daring era of uncompromised free speech, artists continue to face censorship by political and religious authorities, protestors, and – occasionally – gallerists themselves” ("The Naked Truth: A History of Art Censorship”). It has been a constant battle between society and the artist because it is hard to find a balance and making sure that they are both equally happy with it all. Michael Lebron from
Not only was disease an obstacle William Shakespeare had to overcome in his work, he was also forced to face hampering from religious aspects as well. Leaders in the Puritan community looked down upon plays, acting, and other things of that nature. These authorities thought that these activities would sway people from focusing on the importance of practicing their religion. Plays and such were not allowed to be performed while in the city of London. They were banned. Eventually, despite all the obstructions, plays and theater came to be a popular thing although still forced outside the city (“The Changing Status...”).
“Theatre makes us think about power and the way our society works and it does this with a clear purpose, to make a change.”