Here we have “The Muster of Bays’s Troops,” what appears to be a satirical cartoon featuring many fictional characters getting ready to fight a war by singing a little ditty. Most of these characters are unfamiliar or insignificant in terms of Shakespeare (although it is fun to see Punch of Punch and Judy in there), but scattered around the battlefield we see King Richard (#2), Shylock from Merchant of Venice (#8), and Othello from the play of the same name (#17, holding the flag in the middle).
These three Shakespearean characters span the range of Shakespeare’s works; Richard (I believe he is Richard III but I can’t really tell) is from a history, Othello a tragedy, and Shylock a comedy. Unfortunately, as I am not yet an expert on mid-18th century humor, and because the internet was mostly unhelpful, I can’t tell you why these three characters specifically made the cut, or even what this piece satirizes…Bibliotheca histrionica, a catalogue of the theatrical and miscellaneous library of Mr. John Field which will be sold by
auction -the catchiest of titles- briefly mentions this image as a “satirical on Garrick and Lacy, with verses.”
David Garrick was a widely celebrated actor, well known for his performances of Shakespeare. In the cast list of this image, King Richard is specified as the performance of “G—–,” which I am interpreting as a reference to Garrick.Â
In the song attached to this piece, characters are often referred to not as the character, but as the actor who portrays them, which places the reader at a distance from the characters and emphasizes the strong relationship that often arose between actor and character. It also seems to suggest that the character no longer matters; Garrick could be playing anyone at all and still have his spot in the image. Character is secondary to actor.
In this song, each character is mentioned briefly as part of the army that will overwhelm the rebels. Part of the joke, I think, is that these men are mostly unassuming/unimpressive… The viewer should “See puny Richard with high Heels, / In G—–‘s Figure perking…And Serjeant Punch, pure Sport afford, / With mauling these Rascallions.” Punch is dressed like a jester, and although known for, well, punching, he is not the commanding physical or leaderly presence one might expect from a sergeant. Richard here is emasculated and used as an example of a non-intimidating fighter.
Although the writer here uses specific details from the plays – Shylock has sworn to “have your Lights and Liver” – these characters do not seem meant to be faithful representations of Shakespeare’s characters. They pass out of the realm of being specific characters in his plays to being convenient archetypes or examples to carry on a joke. In the Hamlet burlesque (comedic, irreverent retelling of Hamlet in one act), the preface brings up the people who would be offended by mistreating the Bard and his characters in such a way, and mentions that there is no writer better suited to a burlesque. Not to change his plays
and characters in such a way would imply that Shakespeare’s work is not strong enough on its own to withstand a liberal retelling, that Shakespeare’s reputation is fragile and can be ruined by a parody. This idea reframes extremely different productions as not taking away from the brilliance of Shakespeare but adding to it by showing how recognizable the play is even in something like a burlesque, and as a symbol of how far Shakespeare inspired the next writer to go.