The Genesis of a Ritual: The Shakespeare Cult in English Romanticism

Abstract

The Stratford ‘Jubilee’, organized in 1769 by David Garrick, provided a ritual pattern for many subsequent celebrations of Shakespeare. In 1770 the jubilee of the previous year was labelled ‘theatrical idolatry’¹ by Francis Gentleman, the actor, playwright and critic. If purged of its strongly pejorative connotations the expression would be suitable for describing the attitude that brought about a whole new paradigm in dealing with Shakespeare and his works. This attitude applies not only to such overtly idolatrous ritual manifestations of respect as the ceremonial adoration of Shakespeare’s statue in the theatre or the enactment of his apotheosis, but also to the verbal system of myth-making requisites around the much repeated analogy between the Bard and the Creator. The resistance to the new paradigm was sporadic, feeble and occasionally half-hearted; as was pointed out, even the satirical portrayal of Garrick as the saint of a new religion indicated ‘a sort of shamefaced approbation’.² The charismatic actor was endowed with the psychological shrewdness and dramaturgical skills required for organizing spectacular events into a rhythmical and meaningful sequence.