ABSTRACT

It is the purpose of this article to examine the treatment of actors (and other ‘outlaws’) by the state in the late Elizabethan and early Jacobean period, with the intention of exploring the general theme of ‘otherness’ and the particular role of the legal institution in regulating and reforming the image of the citizen or subject of law in post-Reformation, English society. I refer throughout to seminal, primary sources on the subject (especially) of theatre. I draw on several contemporaneous, polemical works (notably The Schoole of Abuse by Stephen Gosson and The Anatomie of Abuses by Phillip Stubbes), most of which demonstrate an iconoclastic attitude towards the theatrical image, consonant with devout Protestant opposition to idolatry. In the second half of the article, I examine prevailing and pressing concerns surrounding plague and disease, which I interpret as metaphors for a diseased and decaying society, in urgent need of reform. I make extensive reference here to Shakespeare’s Measure for Measure, and its thinly veiled allusions to the social and political ills of Jacobean society. I conclude with the observation that Shakespeare’s Vienna provides a depiction of an ossified state, in which the plight of the underprivileged, the poor, and the oppressed is ignored by an autocratic and self-serving ruler. The parallels with Jacobean society and its magistracy are compelling.

摘要

本文的目的是考察国家在伊丽莎白时代晚期和詹姆士一世早期对演员（和其他“不法之徒”）的待遇，目的是探讨“他者”的总主题和“他者”的特殊作用。改革后英国社会中规范和改革公民或法律主体形象的法律制度。我自始至终都参考了有关戏剧主题（尤其是）的开创性的主要来源。我借鉴了几本同时代的、有争议的作品（特别是斯蒂芬·戈森的《虐待学校》和《虐待的解剖学》菲利普·斯塔布斯 (Phillip Stubbs) 着），其中大部分都表现出对戏剧形象的反传统态度，与虔诚的新教徒反对偶像崇拜相呼应。在文章的后半部分，我研究了围绕瘟疫和疾病的普遍而紧迫的问题，我将其解释为对急需改革的病态和腐朽社会的隐喻。我在这里广泛引用了莎士比亚的《衡量标准》，以及它对詹姆士一世社会的社会和政治弊病的隐晦暗示。我的结论是，莎士比亚的《维也纳》描绘了一种僵化的状态，在这种状态下，一个专制和自私自利的统治者忽视了弱势群体、穷人和受压迫者的困境。与詹姆士一世社会及其行政机构的相似之处令人信服。