Shakespeare's Courtly Mirror: Reflexivity and Prudence in All's Well That Ends Well (review)

Reviews 219 study the use of Biblical metaphors to describe contemporary history in England, Ireland and France. These articles are truly international, covering Protestant activities throughout the whole continent rather than concentrating on England, France and Germany as is so often the case with studies of 'Europe'. The comprehensive nature of both volumes of Protestant History and Identity in Sixteenth-Century Europe is undoubtedly one of the strongest features of the collection. One of the weaker characteristics of the books is that both focus exclusively on abstract theological debates without a concern for the ways such Protestant identities m a y have been taken up in popular culture. O n the whole, they examine the ways in which intellectuals reworked history in order to develop Protestant identities without discussing the dissemination of such ideas or their availability to wider audiences. The only exception to this is Bodo Nischan's 'Ritual and Protestant Identity in Late Reformation Germany' which argues that second- and third-generation German Protestants actively engaged in debates between Calvinist and Lutheran theologies and showed their atiegiances through their participation in sanctioned rituals and unsanctioned acts of religious rebellion. Further articles of this sort could have enhanced both volumes by broadening the sorts of Protestant identities under consideration. To s u m up, the repetition of the same theme of Protestant history and identity in the essays is convincing, but leaves the reader wanting to look further into the complexities of the past. E m m a Hawkes Cultural and Historical Studies Griffith University Haley, David, Shakespeare's Courtly Mirror: Reflexivity and Prudence in All's Well That Ends Well, N e w Jersey, Associated University Presses, 1993; cloth; pp. 314; 8 b / w illustrations; R.R.P. US$42.40. Shakespeare's Courtly Mirror offers an unusual and multi-faceted reading of All's Well that Ends Well. David Haley considers the play to be one which, 'next after Hamlet, affords us the nearest look at [Shakespeare's] thoughts about honour, providence, and praxis'. 220 Reviews Accordingly, Haley offers a reading of the play in those terms. Chapters 1 and 2 concentrate on defining the terms of reflexivity, providence and honour which are key concepts in the book, after which Haley examines aspects of these concepts with relation to specific characters and scenes. His reading of the play involves extensive reference to Old Testament scripture, the Boccaccio source story, and the alchemical process. These rather disparate lines of argument might become confusing, were it not for Haley's exceUent practice of supplying a brief resume of the argument so far when changing from one subject to another. His practice in this respect helps to keep the reader on hack, and holds the book together. Haley uses his introduction of his concept of 'reflexivity', in which the courtier shapes his pubtic image through his actions, to engage with Greenblatt's 'seti-fashioning' in Chapter 1. Haley argues that 'the theory of individualism has a very limited application to Shakespeare's society'. H e argues that the role of the autonomous individual is inapplicable to Shakespeare's society because ' i t did not yet exist [his italics]'. Haley argues, instead, that the individuals strive to orient themselves within the community afforded them, to alter the image which society has of them. It is in this line of argument that Haley's terms of reflexivity and transcendence come into play. Bertram's and Helena's actions are reflexive in that they attempt to shape the image which their society has of them in order that they themselves m a y appropriate that image. Haley's criticism of Greenblatt's argument is interesting and persuasive, although it could be said that he uses Greenblatt's o w n 'principle of negation' when he states his o w n concept of the Renaissance seti by rejecting Greenblatt's. The book's main focus is on prudence, or providence. Haley notes that they are 'etymologically identical', and proceeds to treat them as such. 'Providence' is taken to mean careful and deliberate action, rather than its other sense of Divine Providence. Through providential action, Bertram and Helena are able to achieve their goals. Haley...