William Shakespeare’s Mucedorus and the Market of Forms

Abstract

he anonymous comedyMucedorus, the most reprinted playbook of early modern England, follows a simple plot: the titular prince Mucedorus, t disguised as a shepherd, overcomes a series of obstacles to gain the hand of his beloved, Amadine. These obstacles include a bear, a jealous and cowardly rival, an assassination attempt, unjust banishment, and a “wild man” who abducts Amadine. Interspersed amid these mock-serious scenes appear nonserious scenes featuring Mouse, the clown who engages in fulsome wordplay, drinking, and bear-themed physical comedy. Spectators and readers of Mucedorus experience something like fun, or what the title page of the play’s first edition (1598) calls “mirth” and the 1610 edition’s title page calls “conceited mirth.” Probably written sometime in the early 1590s, Mucedorus first appeared in print in 1598. The second edition (1606) featured minor alterations reflecting the change from Queen Elizabeth to King James. The third edition, published in 1610, included significant changes to the play. Someone—presumably the King’sMen, who asserted ownership on the title page—introduced two new scenes and substantially revised the final scene, a reconciliation followed by a showdown between thefigures of Comedy and Envy. Not without reason, scholars have argued for Shakespeare’s authorship of the additions. This third, augmented version was