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Robert Armin

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470:. "If any player breathed," Hotson tells us, "who could explore with Shakespeare the shadows and fitful flashes of the borderland of insanity, that player was Armin". Robert Armin explored every aspect of the clown, from the natural idiot to the philosopher-fool; from serving man to retained jester. In study, writing, and performance, Armin moved the fool from rustic zany to trained motley. His characters—those he wrote and those he acted—absurdly point out the absurdity of what is otherwise called normal. Instead of appealing to the identity of the English commoner by imitating them, he created a new fool, a high-comic jester for whom wisdom is wit and wit is wisdom. When Robert Armin replaced Kemp in the Chamberlain's Men, it was considered the "taming of the clown". Armin's new style of comedy brought into play the "world-wisely fool". This urged Shakespeare to create 119:. In the course of his duties, the story contends, Armin was sent to collect money from a lodger at Tarlton's inn. Frustrated by the man's refusal to pay, Armin wrote verses in chalk on the wall; Tarlton noticed and, approving their wit, wrote an answer in which he expressed a desire to take Armin as his apprentice. Though not corroborated, this anecdote is far from the least plausible in 22: 488:, Armin wrote about the difference between a fool artificial and a fool natural. And the way Armin defines the two is important: the character Jack Oates is a true fool natural. He never stops being a fool to save himself; he never tries to do anything but anger his master, Sir William. A fool artificial is always trying to please; he’s a lackey." 195:. A dedication to his patron's widow in 1604 suggests some personal acquaintance with the Brydges family; on the other hand, a reference in another work suggests he may have spent some time, like Kempe, as a solo performer. The pair of books Armin published around the turn of the century demonstrate a performer with an interest in his craft. 353:, so the clown "must be a thoroughly good fellow at heart". Touchstone affects the front of a malcontented cynic, thus serving as proof of Rosalind's quick wit. When she confronts both Jaques and Touchstone, she exposes their silliness and prevents the fools from making Arden out to be worse than it really is. 277:
specifically had begun to tire of Kempe's old-fashioned clowning—is still current, though the main evidence for this view consists of Kempe's departure and the type of comic roles Shakespeare wrote after 1600. Armin played on the Globe stage by August 1600; Wiles theorizes that he may have joined the
356:
Feste was almost certainly written for Armin, as he is a scholar, a singer, and a wit. Feste's purpose is to reveal the foolishness of those around him. Lear's fool differs from both Touchstone and Feste as well as from other clowns of his era. Touchstone and Feste are philosopher-fools; Lear's fool
111:, a position of great responsibility. The arrangement moved Armin to a life and a social circle quite different from what he might have expected as a Norfolk tailor. Lonyson died in 1582, and the apprenticeship was transferred to another master. According to a tale preserved in 272:
The timing of Armin's joining the Chamberlain's Men is as mysterious as its occasion. That it was connected to Kempe's departure has been generally accepted; however, the reasons for that departure are not clear. One traditional view—that the company in general or
538:, one of the major characters is Robert Armin (better known as Robin), a Classics and Theater student at a small college in the Midwestern U.S. during the early 1970s who has a surprisingly detailed knowledge of William Shakespeare's life and work. 175:
indicates that he played Blue John, a clown in the vein of Tarlton and Kempe; he also seems to have doubled in the role of Tutch, a witty fool of the type he later played in London. The late quarto is associated with a revival by the
215:, improvised song, or by commenting on a person or event. Rather than exchanging words, he gave words freely. Armin reported in that work that on either Tuesday 25 December 1599, or Tuesday 1 January 1600, he would be travelling to 484:, in an interview, summarizes Armin's ideas about the two kinds of fool: "That fool of Shakespeare's, the actor Robert Armin , became so popular that finally Shakespeare wrote him out of Henry IV. In a book called 361:
before disappearing from the play altogether. Lear's fool is hardly around for entertainment purposes; rather, he is present to forward the plot, remain loyal to the king, and perhaps to stall his madness.
211:, named by him Signor Truncheon. In this he demonstrates his style; instead of having a conversation with the audience, as Tarlton did, and entering into a battle of wits, he jests using multiple 375:, on the grounds that Iago sings two drinking songs (most of the songs in Shakespeare's plays from 1600 to 1610 were sung by Armin's characters) and that this was the sole play between 123:. Influenced by Tarlton or not, Armin already had a literary reputation before he finished his apprenticeship in 1592. In 1590, his name is affixed to the preface of a religious tract, 99:
also of King's Lynn. His brother, John Armyn III, was a merchant tailor in London. Armin did not take up his father's craft; instead, his father apprenticed him to Lonyson in the
357:
is the natural fool of whom Armin studied and wrote. Armin here had the opportunity to display his studies. The fool speaks the prophecy lines, which he tells—largely ignored—to
278:
Chamberlain's Men in 1599, but continued to perform solo pieces at the Curtain; however, he may also have played with the company at the Curtain, while Kempe was still a member.
654:
Nungezer, Edwin (1929), "A Dictionary of Actors and of Other Persons Associated with the Public Representation of Plays in England, before 1642", OUP
249:, the subject matter may reflect his family background of tailors. He was a tailor's son, who paralleled in the Italian tailor's apprentice, and the 843: 828: 365:
Although Armin typically played these intelligent clown roles, it has been suggested by a few scholars that he originated the role of
838: 833: 400:; indeed, Marston may have added the part for him when the play was produced by the King's Men. Armin appears in the cast list for 260:, on the grounds that it was published by the same press, mentions a clown with Armin's nickname, and contains verbal echoes of 349:
or one that affects his cynicism to mask a fundamentally genial spirit". As Palmer continues, a true cynic does not belong in
67:
Armin changed the part of the clown or fool from the rustic servingman turned comedian to that of a high-comedy domestic wit.
238:); only in 1608 was he credited by name, though the earlier title pages would have sufficed to identify him for Londoners. 224: 220: 818: 592: 156: 383:
that has no fool or clown for Armin to play. An alternative suggestion, however, is that Iago was originally acted by
416: 675: 653: 230:
The first editions of these two books were credited to "Clonnico de Curtanio Snuffe"—that is, to the "Clown of the
100: 282: 442:; three of his children named in the parish register appear to have died before adulthood. Fellow King's Man 76:"…the clown is wise because he plays the fool for money, while others have to pay for the same privilege." – 203:), offers the wit of assorted natural fools, some of whom Armin knew personally. The same year he published 305: 492: 219:
to wait on his "right honourable good lord". This was possibly Baron Chandos, who may have been visiting
338: 177: 37: 281:
Armin is generally credited with all the "licensed fools" in the repertory of the Chamberlain's and
159:. With this company, about which little is known, he is presumed to have travelled from the western 246: 823: 518: 513: 451: 439: 346: 480:, who was a philosophical social insurgence. He had a place everywhere, but belonged nowhere. 808: 580: 337:
describes him as "rancidly vicious," and writes that "this more intense rancidity works as a
333:. Of these eight, Touchstone is the fool about which there is the most critical discussion. 813: 406: 342: 329: 311: 8: 391: 41: 676:
The Paris Review, "Ken Kesey, The Art of Fiction No. 136 (Interviewed by Robert Faggen)"
427:(1611), and other evidence suggests that he retired in 1609 or 1610. The preface to the 467: 443: 350: 192: 160: 534: 323: 231: 216: 116: 108: 664: 458:. His burial is recorded in the Registers of St Botolph's as 30 November 1615. 411: 396: 287: 136: 88: 802: 732:
Felver, Charles S. "Robert Armin, Shakespeare's Fool: a Biographical Essay."
476: 293: 235: 77: 45: 410:; he may have played Drugger. He is also presumed to have been the clown in 167:. The nature of his work for the company may be estimated from his parts in 155:
At some point in the 1590s, Armin joined a company of players patronised by
334: 185: 128: 92: 790:
A Nest of Ninnies and Other English Jestbooks of the Seventeenth Century.
274: 164: 401: 384: 181: 104: 481: 358: 299: 172: 147:; none of his work in this vein, however, is known to have survived. 96: 40:. He became the leading comedy actor with the troupe associated with 447: 387:, with Armin instead taking the smaller part of Othello's servant. 455: 371: 317: 212: 208: 256:
Sutcliffe argues that Armin wrote a pamphlet published in 1599,
144: 21: 431:
quarto confides, "I would have again enacted John myself, but
207:, a collection of seemingly extemporaneous dialogues with his 471: 241:
Another work of uncertain date (it was published in 1609) is
48:
around 1600. Also a popular comic author, he wrote a comedy,
569:
The Case for Shakespeare: The End of the Authorship Question
390:
In non-Shakespearean roles, he probably played Pasarello in
253:
ring of the play's lore parallels the goldsmith apprentice.
435:, and I cannot do as I would". He was buried in late 1615. 366: 250: 234:". The 1605 edition changes "Curtain" to "Mundo" (that is, 115:, Armin came to the attention of the Queen's famous jester 16:
Member of the Lord Chamberlain's Men, a Shakespearean actor
722:
Oxford & New York: Oxford University Press, 1995. Web.
609:. Macmillan International Higher Education. pp. 6, 8. 641:
The Elizabethan Theatre and "The Book of Sir Thomas More"
87:
Armin was one of three children born to John Armyn II of
36:(c. 1568 – 1615) was an English actor, and member of the 466:
Armin may have played a key role in the development of
753:
Lippincott, H. F. "King Lear and the Fools of Armin."
341:
should, to prove the true gold of Rosalind's spirit".
643:. Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press. p. 63. 345:
disagrees and writes that "he must be either a true
191:
Little else is known precisely of Armin's time with
188:, but it was almost certainly written around 1597. 800: 103:in 1581. Lonyson was the Master of Works at the 620:Kawai, Shoichiro (1992). "John Lowin as Iago". 785:. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1987. 776:The Canon of Robert Armin's Work: An Addition. 604: 494:The works of Robert Armin , actor, (1605-1609) 423:He is not named in the cast list for Jonson's 792:Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1970. 764:. London: Macmillan and Co., Limited, 1953. 729:. The Paris Review: Issue 130, Spring 1994. 688:Foole vpon foole, or, sixe sortes of sottes 512:Robert Armin is a significant character in 169:The History of the Two Maids of More-clacke 50:The History of the Two Maids of More-clacke 27:The History of the two Maids of More-Clacke 750:. New York: Oxford University Press, 1952. 739:Gray, Austin. "Robert Armine, the Foole." 720:The Oxford Illustrated History of Theatre. 505: 267: 778:Notes and Queries (1996) 43(2): 171–175. 771:Notes and Queries (1994) 41(4): 503–504. 638: 125:A Brief Resolution of the Right Religion 29:, 1609. The woodcut shows Armin onstage. 20: 713:Shakespeare: The Invention of the Human 692:The history of two maids of more-clacke 581:Verdi's Shakespeare: Men of the Theater 438:In London, he resided in the parish of 801: 150: 619: 500: 491:His works were in 1880 published as 91:, a successful tailor and friend to 769:Robert Armin: Apprentice Goldsmith. 225:Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford 221:Edward la Zouche, 11th Baron Zouche 13: 844:People associated with Shakespeare 715:. New York: Riverhead Books, 1998. 223:over the holidays, or more likely 157:William Brydges, 4th Baron Chandos 14: 855: 829:English male Shakespearean actors 417:The Miseries of Enforced Marriage 199:(1600, 1605; reissued in 1608 as 839:16th-century English male actors 834:17th-century English male actors 558:, New York: Columbia UP, p. 267. 762:Comic Characters of Shakespeare 696:The Italian tailor and his boys 680: 669: 605:Hampton-Reeves, Stuart (2010). 593:Shakespeare and the Poet's Life 245:. A translation of a tale from 734:Kent State University Bulletin 658: 647: 632: 613: 598: 586: 574: 561: 556:Shakespeare and the Poet's War 548: 532:In the 1991 Pamela Dean novel 243:The Italian Tailor and his Boy 62:The Italian Taylor and his Boy 1: 541: 461: 143:) mention him as a writer of 70: 727:Ken Kesey-The Art of Fiction 571:, Westport: Praeger, p. 169. 454:wrote Armin a complimentary 7: 622:Shakespeare Studies (Japan) 309:, and perhaps Thersites in 44:following the departure of 10: 860: 705: 525: 258:A Pil to Purge Melancholie 180:, a short-lived troupe of 171:. The preface to the 1609 819:English male stage actors 595:, Gary Schmidgall, p. 157 554:Bednarz. James P. (2001) 433:tempora mutantur in illis 306:All's Well That Ends Well 639:McMillin, Scott (1987). 262:Two Maids of More-clacke 247:Gianfrancesco Straparola 127:. Two years later, both 583:, Garry Wills, p. 88-90 519:The Shakespeare Stealer 507:The Shakespeare Stealer 452:John Davies of Hereford 141:Pierce's Supererogation 567:McCrea, Scott (2005), 516:'s historical fiction 497:(ed. by A.B. Grosart) 446:bequeathed him twenty 268:Lord Chamberlain's Men 227:who lived in Hackney. 178:King's Revels Children 38:Lord Chamberlain's Men 30: 25:Title page of Armin's 755:Shakespeare Quarterly 718:Brown, John Russell. 24: 748:Shakespeare’s Motley 440:St Botolph's Aldgate 312:Troilus and Cressida 205:Quips upon Questions 82:Shakespeare's Motley 783:Shakespeare's Clown 757:26 (1975), 243–253. 743:42 (1927), 673–685. 736:49(1) January 1961. 665:History of the Fool 468:Shakespearian fools 327:, and Autolycus in 151:The Chandos company 101:Goldsmiths' Company 42:William Shakespeare 774:Sutcliffe, Chris. 767:Sutcliffe, Chris. 444:Augustine Phillips 31: 788:Zall, P. M., ed. 746:Hotson, Leslie. 501:Modern References 486:A Nest of Ninnies 330:The Winter's Tale 201:A Nest of Ninnies 58:A Nest of Ninnies 851: 725:Faggen, Robert. 699: 684: 678: 673: 667: 662: 656: 651: 645: 644: 636: 630: 629: 617: 611: 610: 602: 596: 590: 584: 578: 572: 565: 559: 552: 315:, the Porter in 285:: Touchstone in 54:Foole upon Foole 859: 858: 854: 853: 852: 850: 849: 848: 799: 798: 796: 711:Bloom, Harold. 708: 703: 702: 686:Containing: I. 685: 681: 674: 670: 663: 659: 652: 648: 637: 633: 618: 614: 603: 599: 591: 587: 579: 575: 566: 562: 553: 549: 544: 530: 510: 503: 464: 450:as a "fellow"; 381:Timon of Athens 324:Timon of Athens 270: 153: 121:Tarlton's Jests 117:Richard Tarlton 113:Tarlton's Jests 109:Tower of London 73: 17: 12: 11: 5: 857: 847: 846: 841: 836: 831: 826: 824:English clowns 821: 816: 811: 794: 793: 786: 781:Wiles, David. 779: 772: 765: 760:Palmer, John. 758: 751: 744: 737: 730: 723: 716: 707: 704: 701: 700: 679: 668: 657: 646: 631: 612: 597: 585: 573: 560: 546: 545: 543: 540: 529: 524: 514:Gary Blackwood 509: 504: 502: 499: 463: 460: 412:George Wilkins 397:The Malcontent 377:As You Like It 321:, the Fool in 297:, the Fool in 288:As You Like It 269: 266: 197:Fool Upon Fool 152: 149: 137:Gabriel Harvey 85: 84: 72: 69: 15: 9: 6: 4: 3: 2: 856: 845: 842: 840: 837: 835: 832: 830: 827: 825: 822: 820: 817: 815: 812: 810: 807: 806: 804: 797: 791: 787: 784: 780: 777: 773: 770: 766: 763: 759: 756: 752: 749: 745: 742: 738: 735: 731: 728: 724: 721: 717: 714: 710: 709: 697: 693: 689: 683: 677: 672: 666: 661: 655: 650: 642: 635: 627: 623: 616: 608: 601: 594: 589: 582: 577: 570: 564: 557: 551: 547: 539: 537: 536: 528: 523: 521: 520: 515: 508: 498: 496: 495: 489: 487: 483: 479: 478: 477:Twelfth Night 473: 469: 459: 457: 453: 449: 445: 441: 436: 434: 430: 426: 421: 419: 418: 413: 409: 408: 407:The Alchemist 403: 399: 398: 393: 388: 386: 382: 378: 374: 373: 368: 363: 360: 354: 352: 348: 344: 340: 336: 332: 331: 326: 325: 320: 319: 314: 313: 308: 307: 303:, Lavatch in 302: 301: 296: 295: 294:Twelfth Night 290: 289: 284: 279: 276: 265: 263: 259: 254: 252: 248: 244: 239: 237: 233: 228: 226: 222: 218: 214: 210: 206: 202: 198: 194: 193:Chandos's Men 189: 187: 183: 179: 174: 170: 166: 162: 158: 148: 146: 142: 138: 134: 130: 126: 122: 118: 114: 110: 106: 102: 98: 94: 90: 83: 79: 78:Leslie Hotson 75: 74: 68: 65: 63: 59: 55: 52:, as well as 51: 47: 43: 39: 35: 28: 23: 19: 809:1560s births 795: 789: 782: 775: 768: 761: 754: 747: 740: 733: 726: 719: 712: 695: 691: 687: 682: 671: 660: 649: 640: 634: 625: 621: 615: 606: 600: 588: 576: 568: 563: 555: 550: 533: 531: 526: 517: 511: 506: 493: 490: 485: 475: 465: 437: 432: 428: 424: 422: 415: 405: 395: 392:John Marston 389: 380: 376: 370: 364: 355: 335:Harold Bloom 328: 322: 316: 310: 304: 298: 292: 286: 280: 271: 261: 257: 255: 242: 240: 229: 204: 200: 196: 190: 186:Nathan Field 168: 154: 140: 133:Strange News 132: 129:Thomas Nashe 124: 120: 112: 93:John Lonyson 86: 81: 66: 61: 57: 53: 49: 34:Robert Armin 33: 32: 26: 18: 814:1615 deaths 343:John Palmer 291:, Feste in 275:Shakespeare 182:boy players 165:East Anglia 89:King's Lynn 60:(1608) and 803:Categories 542:References 462:A new fool 402:Ben Jonson 385:John Lowin 339:touchstone 283:King's Men 105:Royal Mint 71:Early life 46:Will Kempe 482:Ken Kesey 448:shillings 429:Two Maids 300:King Lear 97:goldsmith 628:: 17–34. 425:Catiline 213:personas 161:Midlands 706:Sources 694:; III. 607:Othello 535:Tam Lin 527:Tam Lin 474:in his 456:epigram 372:Othello 318:Macbeth 232:Curtain 217:Hackney 209:marotte 184:led by 145:ballads 107:in the 690:; II. 173:quarto 135:) and 472:Feste 351:Arden 347:cynic 236:Globe 741:PMLA 379:and 367:Iago 359:Lear 251:ruby 139:(in 131:(in 95:, a 414:'s 404:'s 394:'s 369:in 163:to 80:in 805:: 626:30 624:. 522:. 420:. 264:. 64:. 56:, 698:.

Index


Lord Chamberlain's Men
William Shakespeare
Will Kempe
Leslie Hotson
King's Lynn
John Lonyson
goldsmith
Goldsmiths' Company
Royal Mint
Tower of London
Richard Tarlton
Thomas Nashe
Gabriel Harvey
ballads
William Brydges, 4th Baron Chandos
Midlands
East Anglia
quarto
King's Revels Children
boy players
Nathan Field
Chandos's Men
marotte
personas
Hackney
Edward la Zouche, 11th Baron Zouche
Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford
Curtain
Globe

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