Tea at Trianon: Fools and Mortals

John Wilson Croker on Marie-Antoinette

"We have followed the history of Marie Antoinette with the greatest diligence and scrupulosity. We have lived in those times. We have talked with some of her friends and some of her enemies; we have read, certainly not all, but hundreds of the libels written against her; and we have, in short, examined her life with– if we may be allowed to say so of ourselves– something of the accuracy of contemporaries, the diligence of inquirers, and the impartiality of historians, all combined; and we feel it our duty to declare, in as a solemn a manner as literature admits of, our well-matured opinion that every reproach against the morals of the queen was a gross calumny– that she was, as we have said, one of the purest of human beings."

~from History of the Guillotine by John Wilson Croker, 1844

Edmund Burke on Marie-Antoinette

"It is now sixteen or seventeen years since I saw the queen of France, then dauphiness, at Versailles; and surely there never lighted on this orb, which she hardly seemed to touch, a more delightful vision. I saw her just above the horizon, decorating and cheering the elevated sphere she had just begun to move in, glittering like a morning star full of life and splendor and joy. Oh, what a revolution....Little did I dream that I should have lived to see such disasters fall upon her, in a nation of gallant men, in a nation of men of honor and of cavaliers! I thought ten thousand swords must have leaped from their scabbards, to avenge even a look which threatened her with insult. But the age of chivalry is gone; that of sophisters, economists, and calculators has succeeded...."

~Edmund Burke, October 1790

Wednesday, April 4, 2018

Fools and Mortals

From The Federalist:

Cornwell has shown glimpses of historical dramaturgy in a couple of novels, but he pulls out all the stops in “Fools and Mortals.” We get a thorough behind-the-scenes look at the Elizabethan theater — the craft, who the actors were, and even the materials that went into make-up. “Fools and Mortals” may not feature the blood-soaked proto-England of Uhtred or the dangerous American Civil War battlegrounds of Nathaniel Starbuck, but there is plenty of grit, not a little blood, and some realistic heroism and good swordfighting. In other words, it’s a Cornwell historical.

Our hero and narrator is the morally-suspect Richard Shakespeare. As the novel begins, we find that Richard is not a fan of his older brother, William. Seems William treats Richard like hired help. While he’s gotten Richard a job at the theater, he’s left Richard scratching for pennies. Plus, William offers no hope that Richard will be able to climb the theatrical food chain and get better gigs. William can’t resist any opportunity to take a verbal jab at Richard every time he sees him. Then, he twists the knife of contumely even more, just when Richard thinks he’s escaped his brother’s tender ministrations.

Richard had arrived in London several years before, having escaped an odious carpenter’s apprenticeship arranged by his father. His brother, who has fled the confines of Stratford for his own reasons, is not amused to find a teenager at his doorstep wanting to be a player. William rather brutally hands him over to a trainer of chorister boys. There Richard receives training as an actor, a thief, a fighter, a dancer, and a prostitute for those with a taste in boys. In other words, the usual dramatic apprenticeship in 1590s London. (Read more.)