“My absolute power and place”: Power and Succession in Shakespeare’s Plays
The Duke in MEASURE FOR MEASURE gives away his power, with dangerous results. How does this act fit in with Shakespeare’s time and canon?
Originally produced during Lantern Theater Company’s 2018/19 season and streaming April 6 through May 2, 2021 as part of our new Plays from the Lantern Archives series, Measure for Measure takes place amidst a leadership crisis in Vienna: Duke Vincentio, the rightful ruler, temporarily steps down and places his deputy Angelo in charge. Angelo’s severity alters the fabric of society and forces its citizens to face life — or death — under a new, much more austere regime. This sets in motion the conflict that powers the plot.
When Shakespeare wrote Measure for Measure sometime around 1603, England was undergoing its own leadership change as Elizabeth I died and James I ascended to the throne. Such transitions of power were fraught throughout the 16th century; when Henry VIII’s son Edward VI died, he gave the throne to Lady Jane Grey, passing over both of his half-sisters. A struggle for power ensued, resulting in Jane’s execution and Mary’s ascension. Mary’s reign was marked by a return to Catholicism and the execution of hundreds of Protestants. Her death led to the reign of Elizabeth I, who brought back Protestantism and ruled through war and food shortages. There was, therefore, some anxiety about the crown’s transfer from Elizabeth to James, as earlier transitions had been marked by conflict and violence.
The question of Elizabeth’s succession produced a good deal of anxiety in Shakespeare’s England. During her long reign (1558–1603), Elizabeth never married and refused to name an heir, and public debate about her succession was criminalized. She was the last of the Tudors, leading several factions on multiple sides to claim their own favorite as the person with the best claim. When Elizabeth died, James’ claim was more or less assured, and though the actual transfer was smooth, there was still concern about how England would look and operate in this new era.
“In our remove be thou at full ourself; / Mortality and mercy in Vienna / Live in thy tongue and heart…” (Measure for Measure, I.i.)
Shakespeare’s career straddles these two monarchs; he wrote from approximately 1592 to about 1610, during the last ten years of Elizabeth’s reign and the first seven of James’. It is easy to see parallels in the anxiety marking England’s power transfers (specifically the 1603 succession) and the Vienna of Measure for Measure. The Duke’s temporary abdication ushers in a new era of leadership, and with it new punishments, adjusted laws, and renewed commitment to religion — just as it often did in England. The citizens of Shakespeare’s Vienna are recalibrating, determining how to work and survive in the new leadership reality, just Shakespeare’s audience was.
“’Tis our fast intent / To shake all cares and business from our age; / Conferring them on younger strengths…” (King Lear, I.i.)
This anxiety about the stability of leadership is present in more of Shakespeare’s plays than Measure for Measure. Another famous abdicating ruler is at the center of one of his most powerful tragedies: King Lear. At the beginning of the play, Lear decides to step away from power and divide his kingdom between his three daughters. But in a lesson also present at the heart of Measure for Measure, he finds that such a power vacuum is destabilizing for the country, and that sudden access to significant power tends to corrupt the new leaders. Because Measure for Measure is a comedy, the Duke is able to return, right the wrongs, and restore order to the kingdom; the tragedy of King Lear stems from Lear’s inability to do the same.
“The government I cast upon my brother / And to my state grew stranger, being transported / And rapt in secret studies.” (The Tempest, I.ii.)
Another example of this willful dereliction of duty is The Tempest. While his role is usurped rather than abdicated, The Tempest’s Prospero admits that he made the betrayal possible by delegating his legislative duties in favor of solitude and learning. By his own choice, Prospero’s dukedom is run by a deputy — as Measure for Measure’s Vienna is — opening a space for leadership change and societal disorder. Like Measure for Measure and King Lear, the ability or lack thereof to solve this leadership problem is central to the end of The Tempest. As it is a romance, the world is set right and Prospero regains his dukedom, but the restoration of the rightful ruler is less important than his ability to see his faults as a leader and forgive those who stole the position from him.
While these are examples of Shakespearean leaders who willfully divest themselves of authority, the anxieties around succession and leadership transition are rampant throughout the canon. Hamlet and Macbeth both hinge on an underling violently seizing power from the rightful ruler with tragic ends for the now disordered world. As You Like It also features a coup, and the history plays are all concerned with succession in one form or another. For Shakespeare, writing at the twilight of one reign and the dawn of another, the anxiety around succession is ripe for drama.
Measure for Measure is part of Plays from the Lantern Archives, a new series celebrating some of the finest productions from recent Lantern seasons, brought vividly back to life on screen. This performance was professionally filmed with a live theater audience in April 2019, and is streaming April 6 — May 2, 2021. Visit our website for tickets and information.
