The Problem Plays, 1920–1970: A Retrospect

Summary

A survey of attitudes since 1920 towards Shakespeare’s Problem Plays or Dark Comedies, Troilus and Cressida, All’s Well That Ends Well and Measure for Measure, invites two observations neither of which would be true of any other Shakespearian group. First, the plays – particularly Measure for Measure and Troilus – have undergone a revaluation so radical as to amount to a rediscovery, and this re-assessment itself reflects changes in literary and theatrical taste. Second, the aesthetic validity and critical usefulness of regarding these plays as a group has been increasingly questioned. A third point is that, while the study of texts and sources has advanced, research has unearthed no new fact about the original date of writing or the circumstances of first performance of any of the plays.

Today, when Measure for Measure and Troilus and Cressida are set books at 'A'-level, and when all three plays come up regularly, not just for a token staging, but for their full quota of performances in repertory at Stratford and elsewhere, it seems incredible that around 1870 William Poel (the first modern director ever to stage all three plays) was recommended by his tutor never to read Measure for Measure and Troilus and Cressida, as being improper; or that in 1906 townspeople in Oxford opposed an undergraduate performance of Measure for Measure; or that in 1913 F. R. Benson had such qualms about himself staging Troilus at Stratford that he preferred to invite Poel to revive his production for two performances on a single day.