The Fabric's the Thing: Literal and Figurative References to Textiles in Selected Plays of William Shakespeare

Abstract

Shakespeare revealed his notion of the nature of his times and culture in his plays. In this study the authors concentrate on terms and references identified with textiles used in dress in the plays of William Shakespeare. They categorize those terms which are literal and those which are figurative. The analysis demonstrates that Shakespeare, a product of and interactive with his times, ultimately stated important generalizations regarding social, economic, and political conditions in Elizabethan society by means of those terms and references. Class consciousness, for example, permeated every aspect of Elizabethan society, and this comes through clearly in the distinctions made between three-ply velvet and hempen homespun, between silk and Welsh, flannel. By understanding the historical and social contexts of the terms used in the plays, the reader has a clearer understanding of the meaning of the plays as well as a deeper appreciation of the importance of textiles as used in dress throughout history. In addition, the analysis has validity for our own age as we use material in apparel to state aspects of, conditions of, issues in, or beliefs about our culture. The study, moreover, results in an applied, interpretive strategy for symbolically analyzing language phenomena in a literary creation.