파쿼의 『신병모집관』 읽기: 명예혁명 이후 지배가치관의 변화를 중심으로

Abstract

In early modern England, the nation-building process consists of the power struggle between the landed aristocracy and the newly-rising middle class. The latter gradually gained more power even during the Restoration though the hierarchy was seemingly firm. After the Glorious Revolution, the power had transferred from the monarch to the Parliament. This transition had an effect on theatre audiences and productions. Restoration Comedies tried to represent the aristocratic values such as the divine right of kings, patriarchism and classical education. After the Glorious Revolution, however, comedies positively began to depict the transition from an aristocratic to a bourgeois hegemony. The publication of Collier’s A Short View accelerated the ideological change in drama. While wit as the quality that distinguishes superior characters was declined, moral qualities became more important. In his early work Farquhar was often squeezed between the conflicting demands of two ideologically divided audiences, but in The Recruiting Officer (1706), one of his final great plays, he tried to unite them by shifting the setting from London to a country. This is obviously the innovative and influential aspect of this play. Before him, countries had been despised on the stage. There are two plots of recruiting in this play: ‘the recruitment for the army’ and ‘the recruitment for the marriage’. The two are united by Silvia. She disguises herself as a young man in order to test Plume's love and intrinsic worth. At first Plume seems to be an immoral rake. But his love for Silvia is sincere and not influenced by a financial consideration. Finally disguised Silvia finds the intrinsic value of Plume and receives her father’s blessings for their marriage. Farquhar represented the marriage of Plume and Silvia as the ethical basis of the world both classes could accept each other’s values. The chief weakness of The Recruiting Officer is that the playwright did not extend his social consciousness beyond the class interests between the aristocratic and the newly-rising middle class and so glossed over the fates of the lower class characters such as Rose and unfortunate recruits for the foreign and bloody war.