Act Five Footnotes and Glossary

ACT FIVE NOTES

FOOTNOTES & GLOSSARY

Tanquam Ovis is Latin for "like a lamb to the slaughter". I shall leave you to devise the identities of the sacrificial lambs that were slaughtered, why I have opted to slaughter them and why their deaths be significant.

Tanquam Ovis Explanation

I obtained the phrase Tanquam Ovis from my reading on Elizabeth I. Tanquam Ovis appears with the meaning "like a lamb to the slaughter"in John Foxe's Book of Martyrs, published in 1583. All page references in this section refer to the 1583 edition of The Book of Martyrs. In using John Foxe's Book of Martyrs and adopting Sir Philip Sidney's definition of the function of poetry (i.e. fiction) with reference to the Horatian dictum of to teach and delight' (docere et delectare), I am paying homage to the 16th-17th century tradition of literature. In subscribing to Sidney's widely accepted maxim, Foxe positions Book of Martyrs, the title by which his ecclesiastical history was known from the beginning, at the didactic end of the scale. Nevertheless, its array of theological disputations, treatises, heresy examinations, instructive accounts of the painful deaths of martyrs who were burnt alive, and other texts afford frequent moments of aesthetic pleasure through the employment by Foxe or his sources of a diversity of rhetorical schemes, stylistic figures, and devices of characterization. Drawing upon elements of this kind, the Book of Martyrs functions as an encyclopedia of literary genres including many kinds of verse, martyrologies, fables, ballads, beast fables, fanciful tales, romanticized adventure narratives, and many other writings. Tanquam Ovis appears in Book 10 where he discusses the ongoing disputes between Catholics and Protestants. He enjoys using the Tanquam Ovis phrase as an allegory if you like, so much that Elizabeth (when she was just Princess Elizabeth and heir to Mary I) applied the messianic figure of Tanquam Ovis. In the narrative concerning her imprisonment, Princess Elizabeth applies the messianic figure of tanquam ovis ('like a sheep' [led to slaughter], Isa. 53:7; Acts 8:32 – this is more obvious if you read the Vulgate version of the bible where Tanquam Ovis = like a sheep led to the slaughter) to her own endangerment as a Christlike lamb. (p. 2094b). Tanquam Ovis was popular device and saying in Tudor times. Writing from prison, John Bradford declares: 'I am now as a sheep appointed to the slaughter' (p. 1654). In a letter sent from one prisoner to another, John Careless consoles an inmate that he is fortunate not only to testify to his faith in Christ, 'but also to suffer for his sake, as one of his silly [i.e., innocent] sheep appointed to the slaughter' (p. 1928). The narrator of a story about yet another martyr, Julian Palmer, writes that he 'was led away as a lamb to the slaughter' by a prison keeper who was like 'a ravening wolf greedy of his prey' (p. 1937).

Choice of Latin: An Explication

Please bear in mind that the Latin in this play is Mediaeval Latin, i.e. Latin of the High Middle Ages. Henry VIII's reign is considered to fall under the High Middle Ages. Mediaeval Latin is often religious in tone and subject; playwrights, authors, poets and lovers (writing love letters) frequently used such Latin with such overtones in their work. I have written everything in Mediaeval Latin so as to be true to the custom of the time [cf. Author's notes at the start of the play before the title]. It is for this reason that I do not use Roman Latin.

Gentle Warning

Readers and Purists who expect the authoress to remain true to the events of HBP may be offended and displeased with my interpretation of this work. This play is at times anachronistic (as was Shakespeare), idiosyncratic, and singular. Artistic license has been utilised to reinterpret some of the occurrences in HBP. The authoress has also used dramatic license to postulate certain theories in this play. For these reasons, Tanquam Ovis may not be everyone's cup of tea.

Problem Play: An Explication

This is intentionally written as a problem play. Those of you who look on the meaning of "problem plays" as Isben's understanding of 'A type of drama that focuses on a specific social problem', may be disappointed to learn that I follow the Shakespearean style of problem play. To understand what a Shakespearean problem play is, let me quote you W.W. Lawrence's definition; "the essential characteristic of a problem play ... is that a perplexing and distressing complication in human life is presented in a spirit of high seriousness ... the theme is handled so as to arouse not merely interest or excitement, or pity or amusement, but to probe the complicated interrelations of character and action, in a situation admitting of different ethical interpretations .... The 'problem' is not like one in mathematics, to which there is a single true solution, but is one of conduct, as to which there be no fixed and immutable laws. Often it cannot be reduced to any formula, any one question, since human life is too complex to be so neatly simplified" (Shakespeare's Problem Comedies, 1931, p.4).

Alternatively, you may prefer Schanzer's definition, cf. Ernest Schanzer, The Problem Plays of Shakespeare: A Study of "Julius Caesar, Measure for Measure, and Antony and Cleopatra, London, 1963. He says, "The definition of the Shakespearian problems play which I therefore suggest is: 'A play in which we find a concern with a moral problem which is central to it, presented in such a manner that we be unsure of our moral bearings, so that uncertain and divided responses to it in the minds of the audience be possible or even probable' (p. 6)."It will also be noted that, in opposition to Boas, Lawrence, and Tillyard, I do not mark off the problem play from the comedies and tragedies as a separate type. What, to my mind, distinguishes the problem play is a particular mode of presenting moral problems and this can be found in Shakespeare's tragedies and comedies alike' (pp. 6 & 7).

This means that as a Shakespearean problem play, Tanquam Ovis sets out to do the following: (a) forward a refusal or failure to wholly credit the dignity of man, and the significance that that gives the individual in tragedy; (b) place An emphasis (comic, derisive, satiric) on human shortcoming, even when man is engaged in great affairs; (c) suggest that there is usually another side to all human affairs, and that the "other side" to the serious, dignified, noble, famous and so forth, is comic. This implies scepticism of man's worth, importance and value; and may range from the quizzical through the ironical to the cynical; (d) expressing unhappiness, disappointment, resentfulness or bitterness about human life, by inverting these feelings and presenting the causes of them as something ironic; (e) possess a corresponding attitude towards traditionally funny subjects which insinuates that in some way they be serious, or that the stock response to them bypasses pain at human shortcomings or wickedness; or that this stock response depends on a lack of sympathy or insight which an author can make us aware of without abolishing the comic situation (f) Interpolated into the critical analytical patterns we find "ideal" figures who check our prattle of "cynicism," "satire" or "misanthropy"; (g) involve us in discoveries always of a bad reality beneath the fair appearances of things: revelations, painful in the extreme and we be made to feel the pain – of the distressing, disintegrating possibilities of human meanness (ignobility and treachery, craft and selfishness).

All Shakespeare's Problem Plays be profoundly concerned with seeming and being; and this can cover both sex and human worth (as each claims nobility). Combine this with what I have just said about "disintegrating" discoveries, and, with a wider generalisation, you can say that they share a quality which can be called "maskedness" not only because "unmaskng" describes so many of the actions, but because the total effect is to present a world of appearances (very close to a realistically observed reality) capable of opening –like a masque set transformation scene – and disclosing something totally different. This "maskedness" brings doubt, mixed feelings, a "nervous" curiosity and/or a kind of fear.

Whether I have successfully produced a Shakespearean style problem play is for you to decide.

Brief Primer on Tudor and Jacobean English

In Tudor times right up to Jacobean times, "your" and "you" were used either in the plural or to denote a certain formality of speech. "Thee", "thine", "thou" were more intimate and informal. I have kept to this general ruling in this play. This trend of "thou" being singular and "you" as plural started in the 13th century to copy French (vous and tu). It was usual for "you" to be used by inferiors to superiors, such as children to parents, or servants to masters. The superiors will use "thou" or one of its variants to their inferiors. "Thou" was used to invoke the gods and it was usual when lower classes talk to each other, they use "thou". Upper classes used "you" when talking to each other, though this rule may be bent if the parties decide to be informal and use "thou". Thus, changing from "thou" to "you" (and vice versa) in a conversation always conveys special meaning. "Thou" can be used as either a sign of intimacy (among the Upper classes) or as an insult (when the Upper classes speak to the lower classes). It depends how the actor/director wants to play it. Example: Gertrude tells Hamlet, "You have thy father much offended". Hamlet replies, "You have my father much offended." It is clear Hamlet is insulting his mother. Mother, i.e. Gertrude insists that Hamlet has insulted Claudius (notice she uses 'thou' with him. But Hamlet, who alternates between 'thou' and 'you' with his mother, uses "You" in this context as an insult. There be many such examples in Hamlet and Shakespeare in general, look out for it in the play.

In Shakespearean English there is no such thing as "are". You either use "be", "beest", "be'st" or "been".

In Shakespearean English, there is no such thing as "was" or "were", you either use "wert" or "wast".

I'll'd is the Shakespearean way of writing "I will had" or "I would have". It is pronounced with 1 syllable.

They'll'd is the Shakespearean way of writing "they will have" or "I would have". It is pronounced with 1 syllable.

Do not allow your modern pronunciation of words colour your reading of this play. As a rule, anything in past tense that ends with 'ed' (e.g. underlined) is pronounced in Tudor/Elizabethan/Jacobean times with an extra syllable. You must pronounce the 'ed'. For instance, 'underlined' is pronounced as 'un-der-line-nead'. The opposite holds true when a word has a 'd at its end. Let X be a word. When a word with spelt as X'd (e.g. underlin'd), it is pronounced as we would in modern day English, as underlined, with a silent 'nead'.

Brief Primer on Stage Directions used in Tudor-Jacobean Masques and Plays

Stage direction glossary is as follows:

Aside – A speech direction. A speech not heard by other characters on stage. Also has alternative meaning as movement direction.

Above – A movement direction that occurs in the gallery or upper stage.

Aloft – A movement direction that occurs on the upper stage.

Apart – A movement direction that occurs to one side, a short distance away.

Aside – A movement direction that occurs to one side, away from the others.

Below – A movement direction that occurs on the lower stage.

Break in – A movement direction that is burst on to the stage.

Brought out – A movement direction that is brought out on to the stage.

Enter – A movement direction that occurs when one or more characters come on to the stage.

Exeunt – A movement direction that occurs when more than one character leaves the stage.

Exit – A movement direction that occurs when one character leaves the stage.

In – A movement direction that occurs when one or more characters go into the dressing room at the back of the stage.

Manent – A movement direction that occurs when the characters remain on stage.

Off – A movement direction that occurs off-stage.

Severally/several ways – A movement direction that occurs in different directions (said of people arriving or leaving).

Solus – A movement direction denoting that a character enters by himself/herself alone.

Top, on the – A movement direction that occurs on the upper stage.

Within – A movement direction that occurs behind the stage façade (i.e. outside).

Alarum/Alarums – An event direction denoting a call to arms.

Excursions/ excursions, in an – An event direction denoting a bout of fighting across the stage.

Cornet – A music direction denoting a fanfare (as played by cornets, a horn-like wind instrument).

Drum – A music direction denoting drummers are present and playing their drums, usually for wars, coronations and funerals.

Flourish – A music direction denoting a fanfare of trumpets or horns, usually accompanying an exit or entrance.

Hautboys – A music direction denoting the playing of a woodwind double-reed instrument resembling an oboe.

Sennet – A music direction denoting a trumpet call signalling a procession.

Trump / Trumpet – A music direction denoting a trumpeter playing.

Tucket – A music direction denoting a personal trumpet call.

From this point on, when I refer to Voldemort's many souls, I am referring to his horcruxes.

Explicatory Notes and Glossary Proper

Explanatory notations for lines in the specific act, scene and lines will be denoted thus: Act, scene, line. This means that Act 1, scene 4, line 48 will be noted as I.iv.48.

V.i.10 – Holp is Tudor English for 'helped'.

V.i.15 – The line "The Dark Lord, saith my faithful ear" means that Severus has followers in the Death Eater camp and they look forward to joining the Order in the fight against Voldemort. Furthermore, some of these supporters of Severus have been spying on Voldemort and have been reporting back to Severus. Severus, in turn, reports the things he hear from his contacts to Minerva.

V.i.22 – The line "but to Lucius was my position bestowed" simply means that Severus's line-up in the battle plans was given to Lucius.

V.i.73 – This is a tribute to Chapter 18 of Machiavelli's The Prince where he introduces the notion of force and fraud and the chimera. Chapter 18, entitled "In what mode princes should keep their words" is significant to the plot as whole and what will come in the subsequent scene and final denouement. This chapter, as I am fond of telling my students, is telling you (a prince in your own right) how to keep your words and trust others. This means having faith in another person other than yourself. We know that Machiavelli doesn't advocate that we trust anyone and Voldemort in this play follows this precept. In chapter 18 of The Prince, Machiavelli says we cannot be thus; we cannot and should not be Machiavellians because we all have these intrinsic values and morals deep within us and what Machiavelli is telling us is that we shouldn't keep these morals. Machiavelli would say that princes should lie all the time and try to get away with it, in other words, be scheming dissemblers. He begins this chapter by talking about 2 kinds of combat: Law (man) and Force (beast), then he says, "Often the first is not sufficient because it is necessary to resort to the second", that is, the use of force. Therefore, the prince must learn how to use both the beast and man. It seems that the prince must be kind of a chimera – with both a beastly and a manly (humanly) aspect. In recalling that Machiavelli said that to have good arms, you need good laws, we should ask ourselves this question – is law superfluous? In short, all we need is to depend on arms and all we need is to depend on the beastly aspect. He can't be serious about law after what he originally said about law; in other words, the good prince is entirely a beast, or to be exact, 2 animals: the lion and the fox. The lion equates to force and the fox, fraud. I shall let you determine how this fits into the play and the plot.

V.i.88 – The word "ranks" mentioned in this line, "Those among thine ranks loyal to thee" is a double entendre. I mean (1) rank as in position, and (2) rank as in foul and disgusting.

V.i.101-102 – The lines "To bring my momentous enterprises / To an unwarranted, unmerited / And scandalous end" is adapted from Jane Austen's Juvenilia.

V.i.124 – Mercy is a double entendre. In Tudor and Jacobean days, 'mercy' = forgiveness. Our modern meaning of "mercy" only came into being in the later Jacobean period in the meantime, they used 'clemency'.

V.i.191 – "Chirurgeons" is Elizabethan and Tudor English for surgeon.

V.i.207 – "Blow'd" (pronounced with 1 syllable) and "Blowed" (pronounced with 2 syllables) is Tudor/Elizabethan English for "blown".

V.i.217 – Hermione says, "O stay awhile and I will die with thee!" This line has three meanings woven into it (four if you include what is to come in V.iii.62) "To die" in Tudor and Elizabethan English was to have a sexual orgasm. This is why some modern day lovers tell their partners after sex that they have 'killed' them. This line has three meanings: (a) if Severus hadn't expired so quickly, she would have raised her wand at herself and killed herself, thereby joining him, (b) she is speaking to Death, and telling him to wait. If Death waits, he gets to claim her too, for by coupling with Death, Hermione can be with Severus at last; (c) use your imagination to unravel the last meaning. Remember that this line is an aside. No one on stage is supposed to hear. Remus stops her because he saw her raise her wand at herself.

V.i.217, stage direction – "Stopt" is the old-fashioned spelling of "stopped".

V.i.218 – Remus says, "Thus cracks a noble heart". "Crack" here has the same meaning as "break". This line has many meanings and many layers, I will give you the seven most obvious. You will have to think on the rest yourself. (a) Dumbledore is dead. If he had known that Severus willingly sacrificed himself for Harry, his heart would have cracked/broken. (b) Remus has observed Harry's reaction (through words, expression and action) and notices that he has a look of contrition and abashment on his face. (c) Minerva is upset that Severus had died in this manner when she had promised to protect him with the Order, cf. IV.v.94-96 and was in fact coming to his residence to take him away for his own safety cf. Severus' soliloquy before Voldemort and gang enter in this scene. Thus, Minerva's heart has cracked/broken. (d) Severus, at last shows his nobility and his dying words that he had kept his promise is heartbreaking. (e) Severus' heart literally broke as he died, and/or (dramatic irony) Severus' heart breaks on leaving Hermione. (f) Hermione's attempt at suicide shows she has a broken heart too. (g) Remus is upset too for of all his contemporaries on the side of the Order, he is the only one left. There are many other meanings to this line, go figure it out yourselves.

V.i.220 – Harry says, "Yet much good he hath done". This echoes what Moody said in Act I Scene II. Consider the implications.

V.i.242 – "Handkercher" is one of the many Tudor and Elizabethan words for "handkerchief". I chose it over "napkin" for the metre.

Act V Scene II – The first part of this scene is based loosely on a scene from Shakespeare's Richard III.

V.ii.9-10 – This is my theory on Aberforth's fiddling with goats and spells. Cf. to note on Act IV Scene I about Aberforth Dumbledore.

V.ii.90 – The ghost of James Potter says, "I, by attorney, bless thee for thy father". The term "attorney" in Tudor and Elizabethan English is "to employ as an agent" or "to perform by an agent". I deliberately had a so-called ghost say this. Notice I wrote so-called ghost. We know in canon that the Potters did not return as ghosts. This scene with the ghosts acknowledges that. Confused? Think about it. If the spectre is indeed James Potter's ghost why would he have to say (I will put this in modern English), "I bless you on behalf of your father." Think about it. Harry already said earlier that he fears "these images be corruptions / Of Voldemort's manifest evil eye", so he knows that thee people are dead and will not return as ghosts, otherwise we would have seen the ghosts of the Potters and Sirius running rampant in the books. The question here then is – if these are not really the ghosts of people who have died, what are they? Figments of Harry's imagination? Signs of Harry's mentality instability (which is hinted at several junctures in this play)? I leave it to you to decide. Maybe you can tell me what you think.

V.ii.96 – The ghost of Cedric Diggory explicitly states that Harry will die at the end of the battle, echoing what Harry already knows of his fate.

V.ii.106-108 – Dumbledore's line on "the lion and the fox" and its following quotation are tributes to Niccolo Machiavelli's The Prince, cf. chapter 18, entitled "In what mode princes should keep their words". Refer to note on Machiavelli above. The quote "It is better to act and repent / Than not act and regret" is taken from Machiavelli's letters. He apparently lived by this motto. I shall let you determine how this fits into the play and the plot.

V.ii.111 – The phrase "ere Eos gently stirs" means "before dawn breaks". Harry calls the dawn Aurora instead of using the "Apollo's fiery chariot" imagery. I do this for good reason. You may know the dawn by the Latinised name, Aurora. I prefer to use the ancient Greek version of the name, Eos. I let Harry use Eos / Aurora for good reason. Voldemort, as you will see later uses Apollo to refer to dawn. Apollo is an Olympian God, but Eos / Aurora is a Titan. She is the mother of the winds and was often depicted as a goddess whose rosy fingers opened the gates of heaven to the chariot of the sun. Even though Apollo drives the chariot (i.e. the sun), Eos must open the gates for him. If she does not do so, there will be eternal night. A Titan is more powerful than an Olympian god in my books. Cf. this reference of Eos to V.ii.123 where Voldemort uses the 'Apollo' imagery.

V.ii.117-118 – cf. II.iii.297-298 where Dumbledore's love of sweets was mentioned as a physician's whore that will protect all temporarily. The sweets here are likened to medicine. Medicine doesn't cure it only treats the symptoms. Think what you will of this.

V.ii.123 – The term "Apollo's chariot" refers to coming of dawn. I deliberately had Voldemort refer to dawn as "Apollo's chariot" rather than "Aurora". To understand this, you must know a little of Apollo. Apollo is the twin of Artemis. His father was Zeus and mother, Leto. Hera was very cross when she found out Leto was pregnant. Rather than offend Hera, the whole world refused to welcome Leto. Only a floating island called Ortygia (in some accounts called Asteria) agreed to shelter Leto. At that island, Leto waited for 9 days and nights to give birth. But Hera kept Eilithyia, the goddess of childbirth from going to Leto, so she couldn't deliver her children. Eventually the other goddesses sent Iris to intercede on Leto's behalf with a very large necklace as a bribe. So Apollo was born. But he was born after his sister. Artemis had to help with the delivery of her twin. Aurora is a Titan and Apollo is an Olympian god. Aurora opens the gates of heavens. Even though Apollo drives the chariot (i.e. the sun), Eos must open the gates for him. Now, apply this to context of Voldemort, his history and tell me what you see.

V.iii.8 – The phrase "lion's den" could refer to the camp of the good guys, i.e. the Order; or the side full of Gryffindors, or to Dumbledore, or to the Machiavellian reference of the lion and the fox.

V.iii.26 – "Drave" is Tudor/Elizabethan English for "drove" or "driven".

V.iii.62 – "O stay awhile and I will die with thee..." is a pun. "To die" in Tudor and Elizabethan English was to have a sexual orgasm. It can be taken on its own, i.e. that Hermione intends to literally die with Bellatrix or on the other sense where she is speaking to Death. By coupling (having an imaginary sexual relationship) with Death, Hermione can be with Severus at last. Hermione said this earlier in V.i.217, cf. to the notes there.

V.iii.63 – The line "For that in this shell hath die'd with Severus!" means that Hermione feels dead after the death of Severus and longs to die herself.

V.iii.57 – Hermione is saying that Bellatrix's spell has done nothing but made her bleed. She is taunting Bellatrix by implying, 'If you want to kill me, you had better do better than that.'

V.iii.89 – "Corse" is Tudor and Elizabethan English for "corpse"

V.iii.90 – Scylla is a sea-monster who lived in the straits of Messina. She has the form of a woman with six dogs' heads around the lower part of her body. These creatures devoured all that passed within their reach. I allowed Ron (at last) one intelligent thing to say. Bellatrix is almost like Scylla. Think about it and tell me the significance.

V.iv.77 – "Nunc iners cadat manus" is Latin for "Now let my hand fall idle".