Measure for Measure holds clues to Shakespeare’s awareness of how church marriage laws affected Jacobean audiences . .
Cassidy Cash, host of the podcast, That Shakespeare Life, recently interviewed Cynthia Greenwood about her close study of Measure for Measure, and her research into the way in which Shakespeare’s audiences of 1604 found themselves in the crosshairs of the church courts if they entered into an informal marriage, a practice that had been considered legal for centuries under English common law. In this episode Cynthia explores a revision to canon law in 1604 and how the plot of Measure for Measure suggests Shakespeare’s own awareness of how the law affected ordinary Jacobean citizens.
As quoted on ‘That Shakespeare Life’ (Episode 276) at CassidyCash.com:
If you really want to know Shakespeare, you have to step inside his world . . .
In Shakespeare’s play, Measure for Measure, we’re introduced to a fictional court case against Claudio for extra-marital misconduct. The play separately asks the audience to pass judgment on Angelo regarding a marriage pre-contract that was known as a “Spousal” during Shakespeare’s lifetime. In 1604, when Measure for Measure was first performed, such cases of immoral behavior were being tried in real life in what were known as “ecclesiastical courts,” or colloquially, as the “Bawdy Courts.” Many English citizens that had been brought up on charges in these bawdy court cases were members of the audience being addressed by the play’s fictional court portrayal. During this same year, the church courts started cracking down on engaged couples who were becoming secretly engaged or “bethrothed” to one another without witnesses or parental consent. Here today to tell us about the battle between civil and canon law that governed couples intending to get married, and the specific changes to to canon law that were issued in 1604, is our guest and theatrical historian, Cynthia Greenwood (Listen to the full episode, and see the complete show notes on CassidyCash.com).
Consider me a professional interpreter of William Shakespeare for intelligent readers who never warmed up to the world’s greatest playwright in high school or college. I delight in helping modern readers and audiences translate iconic texts, especially antiquated dramatic works that were meant to be experienced inside the theatre.
