“The Westminster Play” — “Fun” (1867)

The Westminster Play

Arthur Boyd Houghton (1836-1875), artist

Dalziel, engraver

Fun 5 (16 March 1867).

Below the main caption appears the cast of characters — Othello. D*sra*li. Antonio, Mr. Br*ght. Bassanio, Mr. Gl*dst*ne. — and the following dialogue: “Why look how you storm! /I would be friends with you and have your love, / Forget the shames that you have stained me with /Supply your present wants . . . and you’ll not hear me.”

Source: Hathi Digital Library Trust web version of a copy in the University of Minnesota library.

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“The Westminster Play” refers to the Palace of Westminster, which houses Parliament (Big Ben appears at the upper right) where Disraeli wishes to make the “Reform Bill” in his pocket into law. Like the cartoon in Fun that plays upon Kotzebue’s tragedy, Pizarro; or The Spaniards in Peru, this one simply relies on the mock-heroic potential of placing a modern political figure in the context of canonical older literature and doesn’t carry the parallels very far — that is, Disraeli is not the Othello who will kill Desdemona or, as far as the cartoon is concerned, end badly.

One point about the cartoon worthy of remark involves the costumes of the three figures. Gladstone’s Bassanio seems appropriately dressed, but the artist places Bright’s nineteenth-century Quaker hat on his Antonio, and the clothing of Dizzy-as-Othello seems completely inappropriate since he's wearing neither the armor or lavish dress of a great general. In fact, his hand-writing obsequious posture seems more appropriate to Iago than Othello. Intentional? — George P. Landow

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Last modified 8 February 2016