The British Theatre Guide: Tenniel's Punch Cartoons and the Theatre

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Tenniel’s Punch Cartoons and the Theatre

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The following is "reduced version of a section" of a thesis by our reviewer Gill Stoker.

Right from its beginnings in 1841 Punch had theatrical leanings, for there were several playwrights and amateur actors on its staff - three of its editors, Mark Lemon, Shirley Brooks and Tom Taylor, all wrote plays, and Punch's chief political cartoonist from 1864 until 1901, John Tenniel, took part in occasional amateur performances. And of course the magazine itself was named after a famous performer: Mr Punch, a combination of puppet and court jester, a grinning entertainer playing to his audience, the reader.

But in Tenniel's political cartoons, the foremost of all performers are the politicians, appearing as theatre managers, actors, fairground, circus and pantomime performers, conjurors, jugglers, magicians and musicians. For example, a double-page cartoon, '"All In To Begin!"' (9 February 1884) transforms the political business of the day into a busy scene on a fairground stage, with each man limbering up to play his part at the beginning of the new parliamentary session. The entertainment analogy is appropriate, for politicians were and still are exploited by the media for their entertainment value. On a more subversive level, just as theatrical entertainment of all kinds relies on an element of illusion, so politicians often appear in Punch as tricksters, concealers, pretenders and role-players.

Throughout much of the second half of the century, political power alternated between Gladstone’s Liberal party and Disraeli’s Conservative party, and this is reflected in many cartoons, where the two men emerge as the most popular double-act in nineteenth-century politics. An early example, 'The Balancing Brothers of Westminster' (28 February 1857), portrays them as acrobats to satirise a rare agreement over the Budget. Similarly, in 1867, Disraeli appears as a delicately poised ballet dancer with wrinkled tights stepping delicately around the County and Borough issues of electoral reform in 'The Political Egg-Dance' (29 June 1867). Gladstone's dancing turn comes in 'His Favourite Part' (2 December 1871), and it's interesting to see here that Gladstone was often portrayed in a slightly more reverential way than was Disraeli. Here, in a play upon his Scottish parentage, the tartan-clad Prime Minister performs a sword dance as he carefully picks his way between Radicalism and Toryism.

Another revealing pair of cartoons is 'Rival Stars' (14 March 1868) and 'Rival Actors' (31 October 1868). 'Rival Stars' (left) presents Disraeli in the coveted role of Hamlet (signifying Prime Ministerial power), while the 'resting' actor Gladstone stands sullenly to one side; in 'Rival Actors' (right) the noble-looking Gladstone finds a satisfying role as man-of-the-people William Tell, while a most decrepit-looking 'Jeremy Diddler' (a character from an 1803 farce) Disraeli sulks in the shadowy wings, having lost much of his popularity.

There is sometimes a space of many years between similar cartoons: it's possible that Tenniel and his colleagues had forgotten the earlier version, but Henry Silver's diary, which gives a record of cartoon discussions, shows that pains were taken not to repeat a subject. For example 'A Political Parallel' (7 November 1868) and 'An "Exit" Speech' (22 May 1886), both on the subject of Ireland, show Disraeli and Gladstone respectively appearing in the Machiavellian role of Shakespeare's Richard III. Pantomime was a popular theatrical form in the nineteenth century, perhaps even more so than it is today, and some cartoons refer to specific pantomimes, for example Jack and the Beanstalk, Cinderella and Dick Whittington, while others contain the familiar Commedia dell’Arte characters from early Italian drama. For example ‘The Last Pantomime of the Season’ (19 March 1859) shows Disraeli stumbling onto the stage as his Reform Bill is rejected at the last minute, to the delight of MPs Bright, Russell and Palmerston as Harlequin, Pantaloon and Clown respectively. The popularity of pantomime spectacle is reflected in 'The "Realms of Gloom"' (7 February 1874): this cartoon shows the leading Liberal and Tory MPs to left and right 'before the transformation scene', feeling their way tentatively towards centre stage as they and their audience wonder what will emerge from the first use of the secret ballot in an election. This is a double-page cartoon, a treatment reserved for special occasions.

Tenniel's love of melodrama and burlesque, also very popular in Victorian Britain, is very much in evidence, with cartoon politicians assuming exaggerated poses and facial expressions, communicating in stage whispers, and using typically heightened melodramatic language, with an accompanying play scene often appearing on the facing page. As in melodrama, characters are often divided into aristocratic villains and peasant heroes, the former generally Tory, the latter Liberal. For example, in 'Lying in Wait' (2 June 1894): here we see the robber-MPs Balfour, Chamberlain and Goschen, their wide-topped boots and floppy, feathered hats contrasting anachronistically with the unsuspecting Harcourt's everyday clothing, as they wait to ambush him as he approaches with his Budget bag; Goschen advises his colleagues in a melodramatic stage whisper, "Not yet! - A time will come!!"

Then we come to what the Victorians called the 'legitimate theatre'. In this context, Punch portrays MPs as 'Her Majesty's Servants', with the Houses of Parliament or 'Theatre Royal, Westminster' as their place of work. When in 1866 it fell to Disraeli as Chancellor of the Exchequer to take up the reform question, he was portrayed as a somewhat dishevelled Props Man in 'Political "Economy"' (1 December 1866), suggesting to Theatre Manager-Prime Minister Lord Derby that they use an old 'Reform Bill 1859' banner for the 'opening scene'.

Mr Punch himself assumes the role of theatre manager in 'The Manager's Room' (3 January 1874), in which he asks his two 'dramatists' what their 'hits' will be this 'season'. As before, the bias towards Gladstone is subtle, but clear: typically, he expects to 'have something of a very serious and sensational character', while Disraeli has 'a capital notion for a burlesque, only the plot isn't quite settled'.

Some of the most effective of Tenniel's cartoons rely on allusions to specific plays. Sheridan's satirical comedy The Critic (1779) is the basis for 'Puff at St. Stephen's' (17 August 1867), a cynical portrayal of Disraeli following his success over the new Reform Bill, in which he directs his fellow-MPs to kneel in a row on the stage and pray for blessing on all they do.

But by far the largest proportion of references are to Shakespeare's plays, which would have been the most familiar to Punch's mainly middle-class readership. Not surprisingly, Mr Punch's own favourite Shakespearean role was that of Puck, that figure of fun, practical jokes and satire: for example 'Bottom's Dream' (9 March 1872) shows him ridiculing the working man for his republican leanings. On a rough count, references to Shakespeare in Tenniel's political cartoons between 1860 and 1900 total well over eighty, the choice of plays no doubt reflecting what was being performed at the time on the London stage. The Tempest and Hamlet appear most often, with Macbeth and Othello not far behind; of the history plays Henry IV and Richard III are well represented, as are the comedies As You Like It, A Midsummer Night's Dream and The Merchant of Venice. The humorous slant of the cartoon is often added to by the provision of act and scene number in an obliging gesture of mock scholarship.

Hamlet was one of the most frequently acted plays in the Victorian period, as it is still today, and it featured regularly among Tenniel's cartoons. Premiers Disraeli and Gladstone often assume the leading role, as do the lesser figures of Joseph Chamberlain and Sir William Harcourt, with more or less ridiculous results. Nor was the part confined merely to British politicians: 'Monsieur Hamlet' (7 December 1872) shows the French statesman Louis Adolphe Thiers lecturing France-Gertrude in a parody of the portrait scene, the portrait on the left representing the preferred Conservative Republic, that in the middle the feared Communist Republic, while Monarchy remains a faded and ignored portrait on the right.

Macbeth supplies some particularly effective images, the vision of the line of kings being one of the most frequent: 'Mac-Smith in the Witches' Cave' (May 1887) shows a procession of amendments to the long-running Crimes Bill, whose promoter, WH Smith, exclaims in horror: "What! - Will the line stretch out till the crack of doom?" Gladstone and two other MPs are cast as witches, while the former's Scottish parentage is alluded to in the accompanying play scene, in which Smith is warned that he must beware Mac-Gladstone, the Thane of Flint. Further afield, a comment on the European powers can be found in 'The Imperial Witches' (7 September 1872): following a conference in Berlin between the Emperors of Austria, Germany and Russia, Mr Punch as Macbeth paraphrases Shakespeare in comically colloquial manner with "Now, then, you secret, black, and midnight wags! What's your little game?"

The Tempest is on a par with Hamlet in frequency of appearance, its title alone serving well for any heightened political situation. Over the years various 'tempests' are commented upon, including the American Civil War, Napoleon III's turbulent relationship with the rest of Europe, and Ireland's uncomfortable subjection to England. Of the other plays, A Midsummer Night's Dream is featured in 'Oberon and Titania' (5 April 1862), showing President Lincoln as Oberon and Miss Virginia (the southern states of America) as Titania disagreeing over slavery in the shape of a little black boy. Closer to home is 'Queen Hermione' (23 September 1865): in an analogy to the statue scene in The Winter's Tale, Britannia (as Paulina) urges Victoria (as Hermione) to bring her lengthy mourning for Albert to an end and return to public life.

Portrayals of Mr Punch across the years emphasise his position as controller and presenter of events. Examples of his comic arrogance abound, in a kind of theatrical self-promotion, as if to say 'Look what I can do!' And so, to return in conclusion to his puppet-show origins, '"All Over!!"' (2 October 1886) symbolises the close of the parliamentary session. A set of puppet MPs hang lifelessly over the front edge of the box while, rather irreverently, Punch's dog Toby presents his rump. Ironically, Punch the puppet has become puppetmaster.

Gill Stoker