Jane Shore

Jane Shore (first performed in 1714) is a particular type of tragedy that was invented in and became popular during the eighteenth century. It is called a “She Tragedy.” All tragedies involve a character that falls from high social position because of a tragic error or tragic flaw. The purpose of the play is to provide a catharsis, or cleansing of the emotions of the spectator by exciting in them the emotions of pity and fear. You feel sorry for an otherwise noble character that fell from grace, but you also feel fear because the very character traits that make them noble also lead to their fall. Frequently such characters suffer from pride or hubris (as the Greeks called it). In the eighteenth century, people felt that this process of catharsis would have a moral function because it would instruct people to be better morally by appealing to their feelings and imagination working in the service of reason. Hence they argued for the doctrine of poetic justice—whereby the play shows how the good are rewarded and the evil are punished (though sometimes only in the afterlife). "She Tragedies" were supposed to be morally effective because they showed the fall of a woman from grace, and this was supposed to have a greater moral impact because the sight of a suffering heroine would be more likely to evoke a strong emotional response from the audience, and thus have a greater moral influence. The most important theme in this play is honor, as it exists in the private and the public realms. The eighteenth century is the first time period to make the distinction between the private and the public realm. There might be any number of reasons for this happening at this time. It may have had something with the influence of empiricism and science that differentiated the objective from the subjective world, and therefore the inner from the outer—which in turn may have been translated into the social categories of public and private. Either way, public and private were important categories for the world of the eighteenth century. Houses designed in the eighteenth century were the first to have boot scrapers at their doorsteps, an indication that the private world of the home was distinct from the public. Also important was the connection between the private and public life of the individual in terms of their worth as moral agents. In the cynical world of the Restoration, you could behave in your private life however, you wanted, as long as no one in public knew about it. But in the eighteenth century, people believed that you should be as moral in private as you were in public. We still think this way. Many people lost respect for President Clinton after his affair with Monica Lewinski. They felt that a socially progressive president who advocated progress and women’s rights in public should not behave this way in private. To do so would represent the worst hypocrisy. Nicholas Rowe’s Jane Shore seems to be interested in the same kind of ethical problem. Keep all of that in mind as you consider the questions below and provide consensus answers. Questions: 1. Think of honor in the play as a moral quality similar to that espoused in Beowulf. Think of it as integrity; as being what you appear to be, as keeping your word and acting as a moral agent who has both a rational mind and a sensitive, sympathetic imagination. Using such a conception of honor, which of the characters below seem to possess public honor? a. Jane Shore b. Lord Hastings c. Alicia d. The Duke of Gloster 2. Using the same conception of honor, which characters below seem to possess it in private? a. Jane Shore b. Lord Hastings c. Alicia d. The Duke of Gloster 3. Which of them seems to possess it in both realms? 4. What point is Rowe trying to make by contrasting these characters’ sense of honor? Who seem to be the most honorable characters in both realms (your answers to Question 3) and why is Rowe calling our attention to it? 5. Sum up what you think Rowe’s main moral point is based on what you have said about public and private honor in the play. 6. To what extent does the play exhibit poetic justice? How does that contribute to the moral impact of the play? 7. Compare Shakespeare’s “To Be or Not to Be” to the Prologue of the Jane Shore. How accurately does Rowe imitate Shakespeare’s style, diction, tone, and overall impact?