This thesis explores the proposition that to comprehend William Shakespeare better in his social and creative contexts one has to understand both his and his family’s money - where it came from and where it went. The Shakespearian mythos posits that John Shakespeare came penniless to Stratford where he did well in business before losing his wealth. Thereafter, his son William went to London, wrote plays which made him rich and then made a number of investments in Stratford. Among the various errors in this statement there is one that stands out - the “rich” part. It is not simply the fact that he made the investments - his house New Place, land, tithes etc. are well documented - it is when he made them that is of significance. The bulk of the Shakespeare family investments were made before William became part owner of the Globe or Blackfriars theatres. This evaluation has focused on the tangible data from the period, chiefly legal and financial records. Its conclusions challenge many pre-existing notions of how money flowed into the Early Modern Theatre and into William Shakespeare’s pockets. The fable is that young Will Shakespeare, like the pantomime Dick Whittington, left his poverty-stricken family, walked to London and won his fortune. In neither case was this true. The Early Modern theatre in London was brutally commercial and the aim was the acquisition of wealth more than the pursuit of art. For William Shakespeare, Pope put it neatly Shakespeare (whom you and every playhouse bill Style the divine! the matchless! what you will), For gain, not glory, wing’d his roving flight, And grew immortal in his own despite. This thesis provides the evidence to dismiss many of the fantasies that surround William and John Shakespeare’s by replacing these with a clear financial picture of the sources and acquisition of their wealth.

There is no abstract available for this thesis.

There is no abstract available for this thesis.

I have proved that prevarication is a current that initiates the evil actions that are committed. I have traced some of the oblique, dishonest euphemisms used by Macbeth and Lady Macbeth in their language in their attempt to deceive themselves and others of their intentions. This linguistic device sharpens our awareness of their prevarication and avoidance of facing the truth, and their attempt at self-deception and equivocation. They enter into physical and spiritual duplicity. The Witches are structurally important and function in contributing to the ambiguous action of the play, and initiate the symbolism of darkness and evil that prevails. Macbeth's echoic diction links him to the forces of equivocation. Banquo dismisses their information, whereas Macbeth's empathy with the Witches and his ripeness for corruption result in the same information becoming disinformation to him. Macbeth's prevarication continues in order to secure his position obtained through heinous crimes and his lack of integrity in a world where it is difficult to distinguish appearance and reality. Lady Macbeth reveals she is in corrupt collusion with Macbeth, is a prevaricator by means of obliquity and mutual intrigue, and shows her shrewdness and hypocrisy towards Duncan. She undermines logic, imagination and metaphysics and overpowers Macbeth's indecision to commit the murder, as she acts as a "thorn" to his conscience challenging his manhood and courage. Macbeth is coerced into acceding to the murder as a result of Lady Macbeth's bombastic exposure of the frailties violated by evil. The images of blood and sight merge when Macbeth sees his horrific hands after the murder a murder that symbolically "murders" sleep. Shakespeare uses the Porter to indicate the "equivocator" is synonymous with Macbeth, the prevaricator. Storms accompany the central action of the murder of Duncan, and the tremendous upheaval of nature reflects the tempest roaring within Macbeth. Macbeth's swollen, puffed up, deceptive language in his false declaration of his mourning for the loss of Duncan, illustrates his ability to prevaricate at his best. After Duncan's murder, Macbeth continues to secure his power and security by his desperate series of futile murders, which he commits without a moral self-catechismal examination of his conscience: he prevaricates with impunity. From their earlier close intimate association there is a deterioration in the relationship between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth: their ways have separated through guilt and lack of trust. Lady Macbeth declines to a languid, exhausted woman in the sleep-walking scene, as she recalls her past crimes and atrocities. Her personal confusion, anguish and disorientation result in a cataclysmic shudder that leads to her physical and spiritual implosion. Macbeth remains physically aggressive. His tactics for his physical confrontation with death are irrevocable: he suffers an isolated spiritual implosion in his virtual negation of life. I have shown that Macbeth is an orchestrated composition in which prevarication is the tool used for furthering ambition that motivates the action of the drama. / Thesis (MA)--PU vir CHO, 1986

I have proved that prevarication is a current that initiates the evil actions that are committed. I have traced some of the oblique, dishonest euphemisms used by Macbeth and Lady Macbeth in their language in their attempt to deceive themselves and others of their intentions. This linguistic device sharpens our awareness of their prevarication and avoidance of facing the truth, and their attempt at self-deception and equivocation. They enter into physical and spiritual duplicity. The Witches are structurally important and function in contributing to the ambiguous action of the play, and initiate the symbolism of darkness and evil that prevails. Macbeth's echoic diction links him to the forces of equivocation. Banquo dismisses their information, whereas Macbeth's empathy with the Witches and his ripeness for corruption result in the same information becoming disinformation to him. Macbeth's prevarication continues in order to secure his position obtained through heinous crimes and his lack of integrity in a world where it is difficult to distinguish appearance and reality. Lady Macbeth reveals she is in corrupt collusion with Macbeth, is a prevaricator by means of obliquity and mutual intrigue, and shows her shrewdness and hypocrisy towards Duncan. She undermines logic, imagination and metaphysics and overpowers Macbeth's indecision to commit the murder, as she acts as a "thorn" to his conscience challenging his manhood and courage. Macbeth is coerced into acceding to the murder as a result of Lady Macbeth's bombastic exposure of the frailties violated by evil. The images of blood and sight merge when Macbeth sees his horrific hands after the murder a murder that symbolically "murders" sleep. Shakespeare uses the Porter to indicate the "equivocator" is synonymous with Macbeth, the prevaricator. Storms accompany the central action of the murder of Duncan, and the tremendous upheaval of nature reflects the tempest roaring within Macbeth. Macbeth's swollen, puffed up, deceptive language in his false declaration of his mourning for the loss of Duncan, illustrates his ability to prevaricate at his best. After Duncan's murder, Macbeth continues to secure his power and security by his desperate series of futile murders, which he commits without a moral self-catechismal examination of his conscience: he prevaricates with impunity. From their earlier close intimate association there is a deterioration in the relationship between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth: their ways have separated through guilt and lack of trust. Lady Macbeth declines to a languid, exhausted woman in the sleep-walking scene, as she recalls her past crimes and atrocities. Her personal confusion, anguish and disorientation result in a cataclysmic shudder that leads to her physical and spiritual implosion. Macbeth remains physically aggressive. His tactics for his physical confrontation with death are irrevocable: he suffers an isolated spiritual implosion in his virtual negation of life. I have shown that Macbeth is an orchestrated composition in which prevarication is the tool used for furthering ambition that motivates the action of the drama. / Thesis (MA)--PU vir CHO, 1986

No description available.

Zugl.: München, Univ., Diss., 2006

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Murdoch University, 2004. / Thesis submitted to the Division of Arts. Bibliography: leaves [434]-445.

Thesis (MA)--Technischen Universität Carolo-Wilhelmina zu Braunschweig, 2006. / Cover title. Downloaded from the Internet, 4/9/2007. "Dokument Nr. V73758."--Cover. "Magisterarbeit zur Erlangung des Magistergrades (M.A.) am Fachbereich für Geistes- und Erziehungswissenschaften". Includes bibliographical references (p. 167-176)

Inaug.-Diss.--Erlungen. / Literaturverzeichnis: p. [2-5].