Comments on: Shakespeare’s "Sir Thomas More"

By: Don Chatfield

Don Chatfield — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 16:22:20 +0000

Hello, Bruce–

I was glad to find this speech here! I was hunting for it because I had just read about it on the blog of Episcopal Bishop Gene Robinson of New Hampshire, in England for the Lambeth Conference (from which he was pointedly disinvited by the Abp. of Canterbury, clearly because Gene is gay, out and partnered).

In Bp. Robinson’s blog of Friday, July 17, 2008, he reports an evening in the South Bank Centre for the Arts the previous Monday. Robinson writes:

‘Earlier, I had contacted Sir Ian McKellen, arguably the greatest living Shakespearean actor (and Gandalf in the Lord of the Rings series), to see if he wanted to help introduce the documentary “For the Bible Tells Me So” in its British premiere on Monday evening. He enthusiastically said yes. After welcoming the audience of some 700-800, and viewing the film, he introduced me, and we sat and had a conversation about the issues raised in the movie.

‘Sir Ian had told me about a rarely-heard speech written by Shakespeare . . . included as part of a play written by a group of playwrights. In the play, the people of London have rioted, demanding that all foreigners be expelled from London and from England. Sir Thomas More comes out on a balcony to address the angry mob, and delivers a speech urging the welcoming of strangers, and cautioning them that they too, someday, in some other context, might be considered “the other.” They too might someday pray for compassionate treatment of “the other.” I had asked Sir Ian to deliver this soliloquy as a way to end the evening. (He had recited it for me when we had dinner, and I was stunned by its relevance to our current situation.)

‘As we closed the evening, I asked Ian to share this recitation with us. He stepped forward to the edge of the stage, away from the microphones, and proceeded to fill the theatre with his distinctive and thrilling voice, becoming Sir Thomas More as we watched and listened. It was a breathtaking moment none will soon forget.’

I (DC) do wonder if McKellan wouldn’t have included the rest of that line of More’s, and then the latter half of his second speech following (beginning at “You’ll put down strangers, Kill them, cut their throats, possess their houses, And lead the majesty of law in line, To slip him like a hound.”). I know I would have.

Thanks again!

By: Jeff

Jeff — Tue, 28 Mar 2006 15:01:50 +0000

Good to hear that, Bruce – and just to prove that I’m not doing plugs for Thames & Hudson I first encountered the book in a copy which I borrowed from the library. However, I enjoyed it so much that I bought my own copy so that I could read it again…and again. I hope you enjoy it too.

By: Bruce

Bruce — Tue, 28 Mar 2006 13:05:28 +0000

Thanks for the tip, Jeff. I’m gonna order that today.

By: Jeff

Jeff — Tue, 28 Mar 2006 09:03:21 +0000

For a long time the account of the creation given in Genesis was the generally accepted truth, at least by peoples of the West; latterly science has cast grave doubts upon these notions. I know that millions still hang on to these beliefs – but what was that you were saying about Looney?
If one starts to examine seriously all the evidence concerning the idea that William Shakespeare of Stratford wrote the works attributed to him, the only part of the theory that emerges unscathed is that he did, indeed, exist.
Yes, I think there was an elaborate conspiracy behind the Shakespeare business; those responsible for promoting the Stratford tourist business perpetuate it still, for example, by passing off a cottage as Anne Hathaway’s which appears to have had nothing whatsoever to do with that particular lady.
Over the years I’ve read scores of books on this subject and have heard the cases of Shakespeare of Stratford, de Vere, Rutland, Bacon and others but, for me, the strongest case for authorship is that of William Stanley, 6th Earl of Derby.
If your own beliefs on the matter have been formed by just accepting “the generally accepted truth at face value”, Bruce, I would suggest you might have them rocked just a little if you were to investigate the subject with a more open mind. A really excellent, entertaining, (and inexpensive!) book on the subject is John Michell’s “Who Wrote Shakespeare?” which can be read as an intriguing mystery thriller even by the sceptical.

By: Bruce

Bruce — Sat, 25 Mar 2006 09:33:35 +0000

On the other hand, the aptly named J. Thomas Looney identified "Shakespeare" as being Edward De Vere, the Seventeenth Earl of Oxford. I'm a great wielder of Occam's Razor, Jeff. It seems more sensible to me to take the generally accepted truth at face value - that William Shakespeare did exist, he was extraordnarily gifted and he wrote the stuff that's attributed to him. Otherwise, there's an enormously elaborate conspiracy going on: Heming, Condell, Jonson all liars etc etc.

By: Jeff

Jeff — Fri, 24 Mar 2006 15:52:46 +0000

You state that the speech “is in Shakeapeare’s own handwriting” but I defy anyone to compare the handwriting of the passage in question with any of the signatures believed to be by Shakespeare of Stratford and not have serious doubts about the differences.
The handwriting of the said passage is remarkably similar to that of William Stanley, 6th Earl of Derby who has been proposed as the actual author of Shakespeare’s plays. An example can be found here:
http://www.rahul.net/raithel/Derby/apocrypha.html#hand