A Story Review from the 16th Century Essay

CHARACTERS: THE KING THE EARL OF CORNWALL SIR HUGH LACY, Earl of Lincoln. ROWLAND LACY, otherwise disguised as HANS, nephew of Sir Hugh Lacy ASKEW, another nephew of Sir Hugh Lacy SIR ROGER OATELEY, Lord Mayor of London. Master HAMMON, Master WARNER and Master SCOTT: Citizens of London. SIMON EYRE, the Shoemaker. ROGER, commonly called Hodge, a Journeyman of Simon Eyre FIRK, another journeyman of Simon Eyre RALPH, another Journeyman of Simon Eyre LOVELL, a courtier. DODGER, servant to The Earl of Lincoln A DUTCH SKIPPER. A BOY. ROSE, daughter of Sir Roger, the love interest of Rowland Lacy SYBIL, the maid of Rose MARGERY, wife of Simon Eyre JANE, wife of Ralph SETTING: London and Old Ford, England, as it happened in the 16th century PLOT DEVELOPMENT: With the different sub-plots evolving in The Shoemaker’s Holiday, the central plot is about the desperate love between Rowland Lacy and Rose Oateley.     And they defied the odds:   Rowland did not obey his uncle the Earl of Lincoln to go to war and Rose rejected the arranged marriage with Master Hammon, who is of wealth and nobility from London.     Sir Roger thought Rowland went to war.   Instead, Rowland apparently went to study shoemaking in Germany. He eventually went back to London; disguised himself as Hans a Dutch shoemaker and worked for Simon Eyre, a shoe shop owner and a real shoemaker.   Rowland and Rose went through the maze of re-discovering each other; plotting ways and means to be secretly married; and surmounting the ire and the vehemence of their respectively opposing families.   With the backdrop of the rise of Simon Eyre from being a simple man to achieving success and wealth, such paved the way for eventual happy conclusion of the fulfillment of the love of Rowland and Rose. SYMBOLISM: The Shoemaker’s Holiday generally illustrated basic features of the paradoxes in life:   unrequited love vis-à  -vis the determination to achieve its fulfillment; difference in social standing vis-à  -vis sustaining integrity of an individual inspite of any variance; applying duplicity and deceit to achieve a noble objective; how success can come and test humanness. In analyzing the various plots of The Shoemaker’s Holiday, Conover (1969) said:   â€Å"Achievement, promotion, advancement of all kinds are pictured in the play. For several of the characters in the play Simon Eyre is instrumental to success. The shoemakers, too, rise up the social scale – and Eyre tells them that opportunity is open to all.   Simon Eyre is, of course, the central example of the opportunities for success.   As he rises from shoemaker to Alderman, rich man, Sheriff, and Lord Mayor†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.[though the] â€Å"main plot has to do with the love of young Lacy and the mayor’s daughter†, most critics consider the Eyre action to be central in the play.† With such positive characteristic of the play, it is interesting to note that the author Thomas Dekker conversely led a nearly unknown life of deprivation.   He was constantly in debt and was in and out of prison for his inability to meet his obligations. As reviewed by The Harvard Classics:   â€Å"The play is full of an atmosphere of pleasant mirth, varied with characteristic touches of pathos; and it contains in the figure of Simon Eyre a creation of marked individuality and hilarious humor. It is striking that the most high-spirited picture of London life in the time of Elizabeth should come from the pen of the author who seems to have been more hardly treated by fortune than any of his contemporaries.†Ã‚   (Eliot, 1909) Indeed the tenor of the story is honest and realistic.   All the struggles that came by have been met with acceptance and resolve:   to surpass and emerge as victorious.   The need to bridge differences and misunderstanding were sought.   The overall intention of the theme of the story is allowing the truth of love and dignity of individuality its own due course. In a review of the Early Modern Theatre of the Theatre Studies Department of Duke University, it was noted that:   â€Å"Fantasy and reality blur, giving the plot a surreal quality that would be appealing as a holiday play: wishes come true and hopes are fulfilled.   However, realities do not completely disappear in this drama, ‘they keep returning, unexpectedly, to interrupt, trouble, and question any easy reading that would entertain by way of ignorance or innocence the real cost of social mobility and fluidity that is necessary in a class-ridden society’†¦..Thomas Dekker wrote a drama for the citizens of London, and incorporated social issues and ideas that citizens would be interested in.† (Duke University, undated) HOW THE STORY REFLECTED THE ASPECTS OF THE 16TH CENTURY† It has been described that:   â€Å"Literary development in the earlier part of the 16th century was weakened by the diversion of intellectual energies to the polemics of the religious struggle †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. The English part in the European movement known as humanism also belongs to this time. Humanism encouraged greater care in the study of the literature of classical antiquity and reformed education in such a way as to make literary expression of paramount importance for the cultured person. Literary style, in part modeled on that of the ancients, soon became a self-conscious preoccupation of English poets and prose writers. Thus, the richness and metaphorical profusion of style at the end of the century indirectly owed much to the educational force of this movement. The most immediate effect of humanism lay, however, in the dissemination of the cultivated, clear, and sensible attitude of its classically educated adherents, who rejected medieval theological misteaching and superstition.   The school of thought known as humanism, promoted the revival of Greek and Roman artistic and philosophical models that celebrated the worth of the individual.† (MSN Encarta, 2007). Because of a re-invention of the literary style at that time, the common pursuits for greatness and distinctiveness surfaced amongst the writers of that time.   â€Å"The Elizabethan Era is the period associated with the reign of Queen Elizabeth I (1558–1603) and is often considered to be a golden age in English history. It was the height of the English Renaissance, and saw the flowering of English literature and poetry. This was also the time during which Elizabethan theatre flourished and William Shakespeare, among others, composed plays that broke away from England’s past style of plays and theatre.† (Elizabethan Era, http://www.answers.com/topic/elizabethan-era) With such overall characteristics that prevailed during the 16th century, the aura of prosperity and practical domination and excellence in every aspect of life is exemplified in The Shoemaker’s Holiday.  Ã‚  Ã‚   â€Å"London in the 16th century underwent a transformation. Its population grew 400% during the 1500s, swelling to nearly 200,000 people in the city proper and outlying region by the time an immigrant from Stratford came to town. A rising merchant middle class carved out a productive livelihood, and the economy boomed.†Ã‚   (Shakespeare Resource Center, 2008) The Shoemaker’s Holiday indeed encapsulated everything that is real and positive abounding in that period where new leaps in perspective about life and identity emerged. References: 16th Century Literary History.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   http://classiclit.about.com/od/16thcenturyinliterature/16th_Century_AD_Literary_History.htm Bellinger, M.F. (1927). â€Å"A Short History of the Drama† www.theatredatabase.com/17th_century/shoemakers_holiday.html Conover, J.H. (1969). The Shoemaker’s Holiday:   A Critical Commentary.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   http://www.geocities.com/magdamun/dekkerconover.html Early Modern Theatre, Theatre Studies Department, Duke University,   www.duke.edu/web/emt/student_projects/prentice/shoemakersholiday.html Eliot, C.W. (1909-14). The Harvard Classics. www.bartleby.com/47/1/. â€Å"Elizabethan England†.   2008.   Shakespeare Resource Centre   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   http://www.bardweb.net/england.html â€Å"Elizabethan Era†. http://www.answers.com/topic/elizabethan-era) â€Å"English Literature,† Microsoft ® Encarta ® Online Encyclopedia 2007 http://encarta.msn.com  © 1997-2007 Microsoft Corporation. All Rights Reserved. â€Å"French Literature,† Microsoft ® Encarta ® Online Encyclopedia 2007 http://encarta.msn.com  © 1997-2007 Microsoft Corporation. All Rights Reserved. The Shoemaker’s Holiday:   A Synopsis www.theatredatabase.com/17th_century/shoemakers_holiday.html An Abstract: Rowland Lacy, the nephew of Sir Hugh Lacy, the Earl of Lincoln, and Rose, the daughter of Sir Roger Oateley, the Lord Mayor of London – are in love, but their families do not approve.     To separate them, Sir Roger sends Rose to the country, in Old Ford.   Sir Hugh sends Rowland to war in France.   Rowland disobeyed Sir Hugh and instead went to Germany and study shoemaking.   Rowland returns to London.   Disguised as a Dutch shoemaker, Rowland went to Simon Eyre, a shoe shop owner, for work and introduced himself as Hans.   Rowland and Simon sealed a very good friendship because when a cargo shipment at a very good price came up for sale, Rowland gave his war gift money to Simon to purchase the cargo.   This made Simon very wealthy.   Sir Hugh learned that Rowland is not in the war in France.   Meantime, Sir Roger was already arranging the marriage of Rose to Master Hammon, rich nobleman from London.   Rose vehemently refuses to marry Master Hammon. Meanwhile, Simon becomes the Sheriff of London and Sir Roger threw a party celebration for Simon in his house in Old Ford.   Simon and his shoemakers were invited.   During the dancing and merrymaking, Rose suspects that Hans is Rowland – inspite of Rowland talking in gibberish English to safeguard his disguise.   After the celebration, Rose and Sybil went to London.   Sybil asked Hans to take the shoe size of Rose and make a new pair of shoes. While Rowland and Rose are struggling for their love in the story, Simon has a journeyman named Ralph who was also sent to war.   Ralph is married to Jane.   Jane thought Ralph was killed in the war.   So she left off and no one knows of her whereabouts. Jane met Master Hammon – not knowing that a failed marriage arrangement transpired between Master Hammon and Rose.   So, Master Hammon was besotted to Jane and asked her to marry him.   Believing that Ralph is dead, Jane agreed and they were set to marry in St. Faith Church in London.   However, Jane wants the last gift of Ralph, a pair of shoes specially made for her, be duplicated to a brand new one to become her wedding shoes.   Master Hammon obliged and went to the shoe shop of Simon Eyre and ordered the duplication.   Meanwhile, Ralph returned to London because he was hurt in the war and was discharged.   Ralph returned to work with Simon and sadly learned that his wife left him for nowhere.    On that day that the shoe duplication for Jane was ordered, Ralph saw it and was therefore sure that it will lead her to his wife Jane.   Going back to the time when Rowland was taking the shoe size of Rose, Rowland had the chance to quietly and secretly instruct Rose to go to the house of Simon Eyre.   At this time, Simon became the new Mayor of London.   And as such, Simon could marry Rose and Rowland.   Eventually, Rose did so and they finally got married.   Sybil revealed the treachery of Rose and Rowland to Sir Roger and Sir Hugh.   But Sir Roger and Sir Hugh was told that the wedding will take place in the St. Faith Church. Whilst Sir Roger and Sir Hugh were on their way to St. Faith Church to take Rose from Rowland (as Hans), Ralph and with his shoemaker friends are already waiting in the church to take Jane from Master Hammon.  Ã‚   When Sir Roger and Sir Hugh arrived, it was a moment that Jane lovingly recognized her husband Ralph and apologized to Master Hammon for the cancellation of the wedding as she is still in love with Ralph.   Sir Roger and Sir Hugh were disgusted that they were seemingly duped because it was a different wedding that was suppose to transpire that moment.    Sir Hugh and Sir Roger nevertheless learned that Rowland and Rose are already married.   Sir Hugh and Sir Roger appealed to the King to nullify the marriage.   But King who has been enamoured with the antics and humanness of Simon as he treats his shoemaker workers fairly; he remains humble inspite of his wealth – worked out a solution to the enmity between the parents of Rowland and Rose and them.   The King divorced Rowland and Rose and re-married them and declared Rowland a knight just so the issue of differences in social standing come to an end.