Contexts and Connections of Italian Elements in Shakespeare’s Plays

Linda L. Carroll is Professor Emerita of Italian at Tulane University, USA. Her interests include Renaissance performance arts. She is the author of Thomas Jefferson’s Italian and Italian-Related Books in the History of Universal Personal Rights (2020) and Commerce, Peace, and the Arts in Renaissance Venice (2016).

"The articulated references to Italian scripted and improvised comedies of lesser-known and well-known playwrights and the novella tradition provide new models of cultural exchange and forms of intertextuality that impacted early modern English theater at all levels of dramatic structures, including sources, imagery, rhetoric, set speeches, characters, and seminal theatergrams." - Michele Marrapodi, Università degli Studi, Palermo

• Table of ContentsMethodologyExperiencing Shakespeare’s Plays through Their Contexts: Contemporary and Historical, Creative and SocialAcknowledgmentsIntroductionItalian Elements in the Plays of Shakespeare: Contexts and Connections, Especially VenetianPart OneEarly Commerce, Diplomacy, and Cultural InfluenceChapter OneItalians in England from the Mid-Thirteenth to the Early Sixteenth Centuries: From Merchants to Bankers to Royal CouncilorsThe Fourteenth Century: Commerce and the First Diplomatic Contacts, Literary and Humanistic InfluencesThe Fifteenth Century: English Interest in Italian Humanism and Artistic Expression Italian Humanists as (Shadow) Diplomats and Royal SecretariesVenetian Commerce DeclinesVenetian Patrician Amalgamation of Commerce, Governance, and Cultural Patronage Chapter TwoHenry’s Reign, Warring Leagues, and the End of Venice’s Flanders GalleysThe Wars of the League of Cambrai, Suspension of Venetian Maritime Commerce with EnglandThe Treaty of London, the Resumption of Trade, and the Search for AlternativesWar by Other Means: Charles and Henry Pressure Venice War Resumes on the Italian Peninsula Francis is Captured, Implications for Henry The Sack of Rome, An Independent Wolsey (?), and Henry VIII Pursuing Henry’s Divorce The End of the War, of the Flanders Galleys, and of Divorce Efforts in Rome. The Coronation of Charles New Religious Differences Generate Political ConflictChapter ThreeTurbulent TransitionsHenry’s Aggressive Late Relations with Italian States. The Brief Reign of Edward VI Italian Protestants Make Their Way to England, English Catholics to ItalyQueen Mary and Renewed Relations with Venice A Cultured Young Venetian Merchant Visits England Elizabeth’s Reign: Growing Interest in Italian Language, Literature, and Arts Italian Theater Arrives in EnglandDiplomatic Ties with Italian States Suspended, England Competes in Commerce with the MediterraneanThe Battle of Lepanto and the Venetian Loss of CyprusIncreasing English Commerce in the Mediterranean and Connections with the Turkish Porte A New Wave of Italian Religious Refugees, Increasing Interest in Italian Literature in EnglandThe Decline of Italian Performers and the Rise of the English ClownItalian Inspiration EnglishedThe Crown, English Merchants, an Italian Financier and Diplomat Elizabeth’s Final YearsCommerce and Theater: England as Marketplace of the WorldPart TwoShakespeare’s ItalyChapter FourShakespeare’s Creative Use of Italian Elements in His PlaysPart OneShakespeare Opens in His ItalyFacts, Language, Texts, Performance Practices, and Imagination UnitedElizabeth and the Promotion of Italian CultureShakespeare’s Bishopsgate Residence and Real-Life Italian Elements Two Gentlemen of Verona Civic Settings and Literary ConnectionsThe Theatrical Context: Italian ElementsCompany Patrons and Government Authorities: All in the FamilyTwo Gentlemen’s Italian(-Inspired) Elements Speed as Clown, Sheep Literary and Real Lance: doubling, shoes, family, dog Considering Ruzante as Source Part TwoHenry VI Parts 2 and 3, The Taming of the Shrew, Titus Andronicus and Comedy of ErrorsHenry VI, Parts 2 and 3 The Taming of the Shrew and (Possible) Italian Contributions Literary and Theatrical TextsPolitical GeographyImprovisational PracticesWomen’s Real and Imagined LivesTitus AndronicusComedy of ErrorsChapter FiveShakespeare’s Mature Vision of ItalyPart OneShakespeare’s Verona, Mantua, Milan, Venice, and Padua from Life and from the ArtsLove’s Labours LostRichard IIRomeo and JulietMidsummer Night’s DreamHenry IV, Part 2The Merchant of VenicePart TwoMuch Ado About Nothing, Merry Wives of Windsor, As You Like It, Henry V, Hamlet, Twelfth NightMuch Ado About NothingMerry Wives of WindsorAs You Like It Henry V HamletTwelfth NightChapter SixOthello: A New Monarch Takes the Throne and Venetian Ambassadors ReturnVenice Responds to the Transition from Elizabeth to JamesEarly Performances of OthelloThe Italian Historical Contexts of OthelloVenice’s Tripartite Defense SystemVenice at War on the Mainland and at SeaThe Turkish Threat to CyprusThe Literary/Theatrical ContextA New Source for Bandello’s novellaA Savorgnan Connection?Giraldi’s novellaShakespeare’s OthelloThe Challenge to Authority as ParadigmNomen omen (name = destiny)Defense as MotivatorDesdemona, A ‘Fair Warrior’ Othello as Military Officer Defense of the Maritime State as BackgroundA Note on the ClownConclusion: The Play and the State, the Play as the StateChapter SevenEpilogue: Italian Elements in Shakespeare’s Late WorksMeasure for Measure King LearAll’s Well That Ends WellTimon of AthensThe Queen’s Masque and PericlesTroilus and CressidaA Change of Ambassadors The TempestThe Winter’s Tale Henry VIIITwo Noble KinsmenCodaConclusionThe Pivotal Role of Commerce and Theater in the Transition to the Early Modern EraBibliographyIndex