Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide
range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and
facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.
Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at
https://about.jstor.org/terms
Oxford University Press is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access
to Shakespeare Quarterly
This content downloaded from 168.176.5.118 on Wed, 12 Jun 2019 00:01:23 UTC
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
The Wooing of Lady Anne:
A Psychological Inquiry
DONALD R. SHUPE
BARLY IN Richard III, Richard, as part of his plot to win the throne, decides
to marry the Lady Anne. He undertakes her wooing at what would ap-
pear to be the least propitious moment for such an enterprise, during the funeral
procession for her father-in-law, Henry VI, whom Richard has murdered.
Richard, already responsible for the death of her husband, could hardly be
surprised at the storm of vituperation Anne pours forth when he accosts the
procession. Yet, less than 180 lines after Anne's "Avaunt, thou dreadful
minister of hell!" (I. ii. 46),1 she takes leave of Richard with the friendly and
playful lines: "But since you teach me how to flatter you, / Imagine I have said
farewell already" (11. 223-24). During this time span Richard has maneuvered,
lied, cajoled, chastised, flattered, and even offered up his own life to Anne.
Despite the considerable virtuosity of Richard's performance, the wooing
scene has often been questioned on grounds of credibility. At best the scene has
great difficulties; and an actor portraying Richard is virtually assured that his
performance will be evaluated, at least in part, in terms of his success in
making the scene persuasive.
In his Shakespeare on the Stage, William Winter said, "Edwin Booth was
the only actor I ever saw who made absolutely credible the winning of Lady
Anne; and, as nearly as I can ascertain, from careful study and inquiry, he was
the only actor of Richard who ever accomplished that effect."2 Either this
represents an overly critical view of the scene's difficulty or our standards for
the scene have changed3-or, perhaps, the quality of acting has improved-
because many modern critics regard the wooing scene as at least potentially
credible. For example, Wolfgang Clemen believes that "Given a good perform-
ance, we are convinced, and only when the scene is read or subsequently
analysed does it seem illogical."4 Similarly, a reviewer of the 1967 Stratford,
1 All Shakespeare quotations are from The Pelican Shakespeare, rev., ed. Alfred Harbage
(London: Penguin, 1969). Unless otherwise indicated the line references are to the "wooing" scene
(I. ii).
2 William Winter, Shakespeare on the Stage, 1st series (New York: B. Blom, 1911, reissued,
1969), p. 108.
3 Harold C. Goddard observes: "Indeed, a time like our own that has out-Machiavelled
Machiavelli has turned into sober realism much in this play that to a reader of forty years ago
sounded like sheer invention" (The Meaning of Shakespeare, I [1951; rpt. Chicago: Phoenix Books,
1960], p. 36).
4 Wolfgang Clemen, A Commentary on Shakespeare's Richard III, trans. Jean Bonheim (Lon-
don: Methuen, 1968), p. 23.
This content downloaded from 168.176.5.118 on Wed, 12 Jun 2019 00:01:23 UTC
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
THE WOOING OF LADY ANNE 29
Ontario production of Richard III said that the director's "interpretation even
made the wooing of Lady Anne feasible, and put the play into a meaningful
perspective for our times."5 Even though the wooing scene is now frequently
viewed as credible, however, modern critics still express reservations about it in
psychological terms. Thus, for example, Clemen says:
Anne's acquiescence following the dialogue between herself and Richard is bound
to seem psychologically implausible according to modern standards, and critics
have regarded the scene as no more than a brilliant bout of verbal fencing. But
within a psychologically improbable framework Shakespeare has succeeded in
achieving an effect both dramatically skilful and even humanly convincing.6
The question I wish to raise is whether the wooing scene is indeed psycho-
logically implausible by modern standards.
The "High Mach" personality type tends to disagree with the first statement
above and agree with the others. Most of Christie's research has involved
subjects, usually college students, who, having responded to the statements,
have then been divided on the basis of the median score into High and Low
Mach groups. The two groups are then subjected to some experimental treat-
ment, often an interpersonal game situation. The difference between Richard
III and a college student who scores above the median on Christie's Mach scale
This content downloaded from 168.176.5.118 on Wed, 12 Jun 2019 00:01:23 UTC
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
30 SHAKESPEARE QUARTERLY
This content downloaded from 168.176.5.118 on Wed, 12 Jun 2019 00:01:23 UTC
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
THE WOOING OF LADY ANNE 31
(3) The High Mach keeps cool and avoids becoming emotionally involved.
The wooing scene is highly emotional, but it is Anne who charges the atmo-
sphere, not Richard; he maintains a steady coolness. His responses to Anne's
most vindictive curses are matter of fact, light, and flattering.
RICHARD
II
What happens, then, when High meets Low? "High Machs manipulate
more, win more, are persuaded less, persuade others more.... "13 Highs make
out better in interpersonal bargaining when three conditions are met: (a) when
the interaction is face-to-face with the other person; (b) when there is latitude
for improvisation; and (c) when the situation allows the arousal of emotions
(for instance, when the stakes are high). In thirteen studies in which all three of
these conditions were met, Richard Christie and Florence L. Geis report that
High Machs won out in all but one case. Clearly these three conditions are met
in the wooing scene.
The success of the High Mach is not simply a result of his innovative and
manipulative abilities; it stems in large part from his singular dedication to the
This content downloaded from 168.176.5.118 on Wed, 12 Jun 2019 00:01:23 UTC
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
32 SHAKESPEARE QUARTERLY
III
This content downloaded from 168.176.5.118 on Wed, 12 Jun 2019 00:01:23 UTC
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
THE WOOING OF LADY ANNE 33
feelings at that point? Could she then experience attraction for Richard-even
love?
Elaine Walster has developed a theory of love, based on the two-
component theory of emotion, which may answer this question.
We would suggest that perhaps it does not really matter how one produces an
agitated state in an individual. Stimuli that usually produce sexual arousal, grat-
itude, anxiety, guilt, loneliness, hatred, jealousy, or confusion may all increase
one's physiological arousal, and thus increase the intensity of his emotional experi-
ence. As long as one attributes his agitated state to passion, he should experience
true passionate love. As soon as he ceases to attribute his tumultuous feelings to
passion, love should die.17
It is certainly not uncommon in literature for the emotions of fear, hate, love,
and jealousy to be closely associated, one leading to another. Walster quotes
an intriguing remark from the work of an early psychologist, H. T. Finck:
Love can only be excited by strong and vivid emotion, and it is almost immaterial
whether these-emotions are agreeable or disagreeable. The Cid wooed the proud
heart of Diana Ximene, whose father he had slain, by shooting one after another of
her pet pigeons. Such persons as arouse in us only weak emotions or none at all,
are obviously least likely to incline us toward them.... Our aversion is most likely
to be bestowed on individuals who, as the phrase goes, are neither 'warm' nor
'cold'; whereas impulsive, choleric people, though they may readily offend us, are
just as capable of making us warmly attached to them.18
This content downloaded from 168.176.5.118 on Wed, 12 Jun 2019 00:01:23 UTC
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
34 SHAKESPEARE QUARTERLY
IV
Part of what makes Anne's conversion credible and the whole scene psy-
chologically plausible is Anne's refusal to take Richard's life or order him to
take his own. The competing psychological theories of cognitive dissonance
and of self perception both lead to the same conclusion: that in light of Anne's
refusal, her change in attitude is not only possible but likely.
The first theory postulates, among other things, that two incongruent
attitudes (or a behavior and an attitude which are, incongruent) will create a
state called "cognitive dissonance."" The discomfiture of cognitive dissonance
motivates an individual to resolve an incongruity through attitude change.
This theory has shown great power, not only in enabling us to interpret and
predict some rather unusual laboratory findings, but also in explaining the day-
to-day rationalizations people engage in when justifying decisions.2"
Cognitive dissonance occurs for Anne between her two speeches in the
following exchanges:
RICHARD
Thine eyes, sweet lady, have infected mine.
ANNE
Would they were basilisks to strike thee dead!
RICHARD
If Anne could bring herself to kill Richard, her attitudes, feelings, and behavior
would be consonant and no cognitive dissonance would occur; but she cannot,
nor can she directly order him to kill himself. Cognitive dissonance is therefore
created, and Anne's attitude toward Richard must change to resolve this
dissonance. As Richard says, she must "Take up the sword again, or take up
me."
Daryl Bem has proposed a self-perception theory that explains many of the
findings in the studies of cognitive dissonance, and does so without recourse to
20 The theory was developed by Leon Festinger, A Theory of Cognitive Dissonance (Stanford,
Calif.: Stanford Univ. Press., 1957). For a brief, highly readable statement of the theory by one of
its prominent spokesmen see Elliot Aronson, "The Rationalizing Animal," Psychology Today, 6
(May 1973), 46-52.
21 Research supporting this conclusion is Ira J. Firestone's "Insulted and Provoked: The Effects
of Choice and Provocation on Hostility and Aggression," in The Cognitive Control of Motivation,
ed. Philip G. Zimbardo (Glenview, Ill.: Scott, Foresman, 1969), pp. 229-50.
This content downloaded from 168.176.5.118 on Wed, 12 Jun 2019 00:01:23 UTC
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
THE WOOING OF LADY ANNE 35
Which is a poetic way of saying that "behavior and the conditions under which
it occurs are one of the major foundations of an individual's beliefs and
attitudes. And, although the cognitive, emotional, and social factors also have
their effect, it remains true that changing an individual's behavior is one of the
ways of causing change in his beliefs and attitudes. His new behavior provides
a source from which he draws a new set of inferences about what he feels and
believes."23 But an "individual's inferences about his beliefs may be based not
only on acts he performs but also on alternative acts he rejects."25 By rejecting
the alternative of killing Richard, Anne puts herself in a position where her
feelings toward him must change.25 Thus the very crux of the scene, according
to both the theories of cognitive dissonance and of self perception, is in Anne's
refusal to take Richard's life. It is after this refusal that Anne's attitude must
and does change, and Richard's success is assured.
In summary, we find much in the way of psychological evidence that lends
credibility to the wooing scene. The personalities of Richard and Anne are of
such a nature that Richard enjoys an advantage from the start. Anne's hatred
of Richard and the untimely situation in which the wooing occurs create
22 An outline of this theory and references to the studies mentioned may be found in Daryl J.
Berm, "Self-Perception Theory," in Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, VI, ed. Leonard
Berkowitz (New York: Academic Press, 1972).
23 Daryl J. Bem, Beliefs, Attitudes, and Human Affairs (Belmont, Calif.: Brooks/Cole, 1970), p.
66.
24 Bem, p. 17.
25 Besides the considerable change in Anne's attitude after her rejection of this alternative, critics
(e.g., Clemen, pp. 27-28) have commented on the change in her form of address from the
contemptuous use of "thou" and "thy" to the more polite "you" and "your." This change takes
place beginning with "Well, well, put up your sword" (1. 197), which is her final resolution that she
can not be responsible for his death.
This content downloaded from 168.176.5.118 on Wed, 12 Jun 2019 00:01:23 UTC
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
36 SHAKESPEARE QUARTERLY
This content downloaded from 168.176.5.118 on Wed, 12 Jun 2019 00:01:23 UTC
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms