Shakespeare, Sir Thomas More and Asylum Seekers

Shakespearean hospitalities in Sir Thomas More

“…This aspect of Shakespeare's assumed contribution is also singled out by E. A. J. Honigmann who identifies personal motives for D's More's 'noble plea for toleration'. 18 The following pages do not argue against these claims that More's speech in Hand D presents a 'noble plea' of a sort not found elsewhere in the playtext. Nor do they take issue with the notion that Shakespeare may have been personally moved to write such an appeal (not least because it is unclear how such a claim could be disproven).…”

The "sweet-gorged Maw": Feeding and Physic in the Elizabethan Dramatic Life of Sir Thomas More

“…But Honigmann is right that Shakespeare is apparently emphasizing the difficulty of living according to "simple platitudes" rather than suggesting hypocrisy on More's part; he "appears to speak in good faith." 13 Yet, this view of More as a sincere man living in difficult times is less evident in those parts of the play in Munday's hand. Before considering Munday's depiction of More, it will be useful to glance at those sections of the play where references to food and feeding also feature: those in Hand C, identified by Greg as a scribe 14 and by Vittorio Gabrieli and Giorgio Melchiori as "a copyist, or more precisely a professional book-keeper" who "edited the revised manuscript for the stage, transforming it into a promptbook."…”

Fear and the Other in Sir Thomas More

“…Honigmann considers Shakespeare's three pages to be important because "they demonstrate the quality of More's mind and personality" but they would also constitute the most politically sensitive scene in the play. 2 Honigmann also judges that "the writing of the Three Pages was an act of considerable courage," on Shakespeare's part. 3 Certainly, all of the writers would have been correct to fear censorship or even their "own perils."…”

“…Fear, in other words, might not only be the reason that the play was neither printed nor produced for hundreds of years, but also the reason that Shakespeare was included in the project at all. 2 Tilney was not the first authority to fear the fictive rebellion. Within the excised scenes themselves, Surrey remarks that "This tide of rage, that with the eddy strives, / I fear me much will drown too many lives" (3.62-63).…”