피터 웰란의 역사극 『약초 화단』의복원된 세 가지 진실과 의도적 왜곡

This paper aims at probing into the three reconstructed truths and some deliberate distortions in Peter Whelan’s history play, The Herbal Bed. It dramatizes Susanna Hall vs Jack Lane case through his intellectual imagination by merging the certain truth, the probable one, and the speculative one. As for the certain truth, the play is based on the historical facts on the case and some biographical facts on its related figures. The probable truth on Susanna in the play is that she must have played the role of an apothecary in Hall’s Croft and that she must have been a Catholic before her marriage. Another probable one on Susanna and Rafe in the play is that they must have known each other even after their separate marriages. The speculative truth in the play is that it dramatizes the extreme religious conflicts among characters. However, the play distorts deliberately some historical facts to maintain its dramatic interest and tension. For example, the real vicar-general of Worcester Cathedral in 1613 is not Goche in the play but Arthus Lake. Another example is that Shakespeare is depicted as the retired man who suffers from incurable gonorrhea. However, Park Honan’s and Kate Emery Pogue’s opinions that Shakespeare must have died of typhoid are more persuasive than Whelan’s. For these reasons, readers/audiences are very likely to confuse some fiction in the play with reality. Nevertheless, The Herbal Bed deserves critical attention because it excels in revealing Whelan’s unique view on Susanna Hall vs Jack Lane case and dramatizing the intense religious conflicts in England in the early 17th century. KCI Citation Count: 1