Shakespeare and Myths About Genius

[C0RI0LANUS]

32. Hi Great Gazoo

I read Mucedorus today. This was fast moving and probably as short as Macbeth, but I didn't do a word count. The play reminded me of As You Like It for obvious reasons. There were some memorable lines in the play and parallels to future works. Bremo is a Kaliban predecessor and Mouse is like Touchstone.

After reading this once, and only once, I must say Mucedorus was not written by Shakespeare. I am by no means an Elizabethan scholar, but there were enough subtleties which dissuaded me from his authorship.

I do not recall seeing Shakespeare's heroines or villainesses in combat or even being invited to join in combat in other plays, yet Bremo asks Amandine to fight for her freedom. (e.g. we do not see Lady MacBeth commit murder, but we see her bloody hands). Also in these early plays (circa 1590), the London crowd was amused by the faux-combat and special effects the actors produced. Blood would squirt from limbs and the actors were well-versed in the martial arts (dagger, knife, sword, etc). When Mucedorus finishes Bremo with one comedic blow, this would have been to anti-climactic for 1590 which the Bard of Avon would have understood. Only over time did Gentle Will wean the London crowd from the violent bloody scenes of Titus Andronicus, Henry VI, and Richard III to the non-violent The Tempest.

Shakespeare used the "Greek chorus" to open and close his plays from what I remember. in Mucedorus, Envy and Comedy (as Gods or Muses) break the "fourth wall" with that role. And whom would the actors be addressing in the audience? Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth I, were she in attendance. Gentle Will avoided problems with the monarchy and the Privy Council (unlike Ben Jonson who was jailed) and would have been indirect in addressing the monarchy to avoid lese-majeste. When I read the end of Mucedorus, Envy and Comedy seem to be addressing someone specific.

COMEDY:
"Glorious and wise Arch-Cæsar on this earth,
At whose appearance, Envy’s stricken dumb..."

ENVY:
Amen!
"To Fame and Honor we commend your rest,
Live still more happy, every hour more blest."

I noticed on the Wiki page some scholars suspect George Peele, Robert Greene, or Thomas Lodge as the real author of the comedy. I am not familiar enough with them to proffer a clue. Wiki did not mention Ben Johnson, which is probably correct.

But one suspect Wiki does not mention is a playwright-Parliamentarian named John Lyly (1553–1606) who was considered the "father of English comedy" and possibly bold enough to "address" royalty.