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Theproblem,or:theShakespeareandebt
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thenticatingapparatuswasnowcreatedtorestorethegenuinetext:this
phasehaditsculminationinEdmundMalone9seditionoftheShake-
speareoeuvrein1790(completewithanewlywrittenbiography),which
summedupthecentury9sefforttogivethenationtheKauthentick»Shake-
speare.4ItwasMalonewhoKsmokedout»William-HenryIrelandas
aforger.TheprocessofKforgingthenation,»inLindaColley9sphrase,5
naturallyinvolveddenouncingShakespeareforgeries.
JonathanBatesumsupShakespeare9srisingpresenceintheAgeof
GarrickandJohnson:KThedemandforeditions,theprevalenceofcasual
quotationsfromtheplaysandtheassimilationsofphrasesintoeveryday
speech,andthesuccessofproductionafterproduction,especiallyonceGar-
ricktookcontrolatDruryLanein1747,aretestimonyofShakespeare9s
realplaceintheeighteenthcentury.»6AccordingtoBate,himselfpartly
responsibleforrenewedinterestintheeighteenth-centuryShakespeare,
K[t]heriseofShakespeare9sculturalstatusbetweentheageofDryden
[d.1700]andtheageofColeridge[d.1834]wassuchthatnoEnglish
poetofthelateeighteenthorearlynineteenthcenturycouldbewithout
asenseofShakespeare9ssuperiority,afeelingthathisplayshadexhaust-
edthewholeofhumannature.»7Whenin1816CharlesMaturin,prefac-
inghisplayBertram,nowaclassicofGothicromanticdrama,spokeof
thelanguageofShakespeareashisnaturalchoice,thecommonadulatory
justificationwouldnothavesurprisedanyone:Kbecauseitmaybecalled
theSacredlanguageoftheEnglishDrama.»8Maturinsimplygivesvoice
tothespiritoftheage.Yet,asmuchasoneofadulation,Maturin9swas
alsoagestureofappropriation,culturalratherthannarrowlyliterary,and
agesturewhich,moreover,revealstheclandestinewayinwhichthe
ShakespearespiritmayhavepenetratedtheGothic.
Ifapersonalconfessionbeallowed,IhavefoundE.J.Clery9smeta-
phorofscratchingtobeagreatstimulustotheinvestigationspresented
inthisbook.WritesClery:
4AdetailedstudyhasbeenundertakenbyMargretadeGraziainShakespeareVer-
batim:TheReproductionofAuthenticityandthe1790Apparatus(Oxford:Clarendon
Press,1991).WritesdeGrazia,KBeforeMalone,textsprofessedtobebasedoncopies
thatwere;genuine,9;original,9;perfected,9or;corrected,9butnot;authentic9»(ibidem,51).
5LindaColley,Britons.ForgingtheNation170711837(NewHavenandLondon:
YaleUniversityPress,1992).ColleyrepeatedlyspeaksofKtheforgingofBritishiden-
tity»(ibidem,1,7).
6JonathanBate,ShakespeareandtheEnglishRomanticImagination(Oxford:Cla-
rendonPress,1986),8.
7Bate,ShakespeareandRomanticImagination,1.
8CharlesMaturin,KPreface»tohisBertram;or,TheCastleofSt.Aldobrand,in:
Cox,ed.,SevenGothicDramas,317.
