Mikayla Ludiker

Doug Sugano

EL-207

22 October 2013

The Usual Suspects: Shakespeare and The Wakefield Mysteries

            The Wakefield Mysteries, put on by Whitworth’s theatre department, anticipates both Renaissance comedies and tragedies in several important ways. Since we will be studying Shakespeare for the next few weeks, I have interpreted Wakefield in terms of his works. Shakespeare’s dramatic technique of subverting authority is especially visible in Wakefield. In much the same way that Oswald disrespects King Lear, Lucifer imagines himself on Christ’s throne while an angel encourages his fantasies, Cain withholds the largest of his crops from the sacrifice, and Noah’s wife takes her dear sweet time getting aboard the arc, claiming she has more useful work to do than to escape a flood that will obliterate every human on earth. Other characters throughout display similar subversive behaviors, forerunning Shakespeare’s clowns and fools. (Interestingly, the lowly shepherds [fools] beat the wise men [authorities/nobility] to the stable to see the savior. As in Renaissance or Shakespearean literature, the so-called “fools” are the first to recognize the truth.) However, whereas Shakespeare employs subversion to illuminate the shortcomings of authoritative figures, The Wakefield Mysteries imparts moral instruction about the terrible consequences for disrespecting or disobeying authority figures.

            Another of Shakespeare’s comedic conventions is a progression that heralds the reversal of earlier conditions. For example, an unwed character will become wed or war will progress to courtship. In The Wakefield Mysteries, Lucifer and the angels begin in a state of order, happiness, and union with God that is dashed when Lucifer attempts to usurp his throne. Adam and Eve experience a similar fall from grace. From a state of confusion, discomfort, and separation, the characters in the play constantly strive to reconnect with God and restore their former conditions. While the play does not end in perfect union with God, the birth of Jesus heralds a coming age in which this is possible. Shakespeare employs similar story arcs when Malvolio’s plight is finally untangled, when Hero and Claudio are made happy in marriage, and when Viola and Sebastian are reunited.

            Just as Shakespeare’s comedies mirror the devices at work in the funnier moments of The Wakefield Mysteries, so do his tragedies recall its serious thematic material. The focus of Wakefield is on charismatic individuals—Abraham, Noah, Moses, and the like—with flaws often embodied by Shakespeare’s characters like Othello, who loves his wife so much that he would kill her for the “higher purpose” of preserving their reputations. Abraham would similarly kill his son for God’s higher purpose. There is a sort of domino effect as well: Lucifer is cast out of heaven, and the angels who side with him follow into hell. Eve tastes first of the apple, convincing Adam to do so, and as a result, all of humanity must face death forever. A parallel is found in Iago, whose bitterness convinces a number of characters to perform terrible deeds that lead others into horrible deeds until many are dead.

            If the characters are similar, so are the tragic worldviews of both Shakespeare and The Wakefield Mysteries authors and actors. Shakespeare was a realist, allowing for neither the optimistic view that everyone will live happily nor the pessimistic view that everyone is inherently evil and will fall. Similarly, Wakefield’s “holy trinity” takes a que sera sera attitude: God gives a character a mandate, and the character may or may not obey. Noah obeys and lives, along with his family; Cain disobeys and brings a curse upon himself. Shakespeare may have taken his sense of realism from the same source material as the play: the Bible. In worldview and in many other ways, The Wakefield Mysteries anticipates Renaissance comedic and tragedic conventions, especially where Shakespeare is concerned.