The Effects of the Licensing Act of 1737

After presenting on “Low People and High People” on Tuesday, I became very interested in the cause of the Licensing Act of 1737 and the closing of the Haymarket Theatre. So, I proceeded to look up some more history on what actually happened in Henry Fielding’s day in order for the Act to be passed. 

            On the official website of the Theatre Royal Haymarket, there is a very clear depiction of the history surrounding the events of 1737.  The webpage quotes, “Hot on the heels of Hurlothrumbo’s success in 1729, a young Henry Fielding, fresh-faced at the age of 23 arrived from Oxford, hugely ambitious and brimming with ideas” (“1729 - Henry Fielding”).  With his blossoming new career, Fielding began writing plays that were almost instantly popular among the audience at the Haymarket Theatre.  His first popular work, Tom Thumb, “packed the House night after night” (“1729 – Henry Fielding”).  In 1734 he proceeded to write the play The Historical Register that portrayed “Quidam” as the main character.  This character uncannily resembled the Prime Minister Robert Walpole because of Fielding’s characterization of Quidam as a, “villainous, bribing politician” (1729 – Henry Fielding”).  Once Walpole caught on to Fielding’s satirizing work, he instated the Licensing Act of 1737, giving the Lord Chamberlain the power to censor theatres all over London.  This caused the Haymarket Theatre to close down for the entirety of eight years.  This Act changed, “the face of theatre for nearly three hundred years” but was finally abolished in 1968 (1729 – Henry Fielding).  This not shows the immense influence that one author had over the entirety of the English theatre, but it is also similar to the closing of the theatre during the Puritan Regime in 1642, which we learned about in our class with Doug.
With this information, I was then interested in learning what the effect of this movement was over England’s theatre and literature. 
            According to an essay written by a university student at The Richard Stockton College of NJ, after the Licensing Act of 1737, plays and shows became “more sentimental and domestically oriented,” meaning that plays were no longer publically displayed (Straughn).  Since these performances were no longer staged, “Prospective works of theatrical geniuses were left unfulfilled, and their brilliance left in the dust, overshadowed by dominating political figures” (Straughn). This shows that the Act of 1737 did have a detrimental effect on blossoming and prospective writers across London.  However, writers, playwrights, and even poets looked for other venues to publish instead, thus causing the rise of the novel (Straughn).  Fielding was one of these contemporary writers, and thus led him to become the “Inventor and master of the English novel” (“Henry Fielding”).  This is ironic because it shows that despite the government’s efforts to shut down rebellious writers of the day, such as Fielding, they actually handed these geniuses more power when they chose to write in the novel as a replacement.  As Staughn mentions, the novel was an even more powerful tool against authoritative figures because it was a lasting commentary in the hands of the common audience. 

Works Cited:

"1729 - Henry Fielding." Theatre Royal Haymarket. The Theatre Royal Haymarket, 2012. Web. 05 Dec. 2013.

"Henry Fielding." Ed. Stephen Greenblatt, George H. Logan, Katharine E. Maus, and Barbara K. Lewalski. The Norton Anthology of English Literature. Ninth ed. Vol. C. New York: W.W. Norton, 2012. Print.

Straughn, Danielle. "Damage Done: Effects of the Licensing Act of 1737 on the London Theatre and beyond." Historical Register for the Year 1736. The Richard Stockton College of New Jersey, 6 May 2006. Web. 05 Dec. 2013.