James Burbage and William Shakespeare: Location-Consciousness and the Significance of Elizabethan Theatre Locations

In discussing James Burbage's choice of locations for his two playhouses, this paper emphasizes the economic and political background and explores Burbage's relationship with the young William Shakespeare. In particular, it looks at Burbage and Shakespeare's location-consciousness, relating this to the role played by space and location in onstage dramatic performances, and reading scenes in Shakespeare's Henry plays in terms of space, location, and the theme of forcefully moving from the outside or margin to the center. It will be argued that the actual location of English Renaissance theatres-＂theatre＂ can also mean ＂map＂ or a ＂collection of maps＂-affected the development of English drama in general, and of the drama of England's national poet, William Shakespeare, in particular. The paper also explores the meaning of the names given to Burbage's first theatre (the Theatre) and the one built with the timbers from the Theatre (the Globe), and engages in a more in-depth interpretation of what may have been the ＂sign of the Globe＂-which was said to have depicted Hercules holding aloft the world or globe-in the light of Greek mythology (Hercules vs. Atlas) and Mercator's art of map or ＂atlas＂-making.

關鍵字

William Shakespeare ； James Burbage ； London theatre locations ； the Theatre ； the Globe ； Atlas ； Hercules ； Gerardus Mercator

並列摘要

本文強調詹姆斯．伯比奇在為他兩個劇場選擇具體的地理位置時，其中所投射出的經濟及政治意涵，並探討其與年輕時的莎士比亞關係，尤其著重於詮釋他們兩者都具有相同且強烈的地點意識，並將此意識與莎翁所著劇作中的空間與地點場景的設計安排相連結，重新解讀由邊陲突破從而邁進中心的主題。本文主張英國文藝復興時期劇院的具體地點──「劇院」一詞也可做「地圖」或「地圖集」解釋──不僅影響英國戲劇總體上的發展，更影響了英國國家詩人莎士比亞的劇作。除了爬梳伯比奇的第一個劇院名字以及後來所建的環球劇院在命名稱謂上所具有的特殊意義外，本文亦藉由希臘神話中海克力斯(Hercules)與阿特拉斯(Atlas)的故事，以及其和吉拉迪斯．墨卡托(Gerardus Mercator)在其流傳盛廣的地圖集卷首中用以表示的圖像，來重新詮釋長久以來備受爭議的環球劇院標誌──也就是海克力斯舉着地球的意象──所具有的意義。