This close reading will analyze three small pieces of text from different points in The Shoemaker’s Holiday that demonstrate the conflict between public pressures and private desires throughout the play. The use of deceit, disguise, and secrecy all serve to circumvent public expectations in order to fulfill private desires. The “Gentle Craft” is illustrated as not only the art of shoemaking but also of following private desires over public expectations.
In Act I Scene III, Lincoln finds out from Dodger that his nephew, Lacy, did not go to war with the French as promised. He says, “Dares he so carelessly venture his life/ Upon the indignation of a King?/ Hath he despised my love/ and spurned those/ favors/ Which I with Prodigal Hand poured on his, head?” This small passage equates social obedience with love. It is in poetic form, making it more dramatic and personal. During this dialogue it does not feel like Lincoln is speaking in response to Dodger but that he is venting his own frustrations. When he asks the rhetorical question “Dares he so carelessly venture his life/ Upon the indignation of a King?” it is ironic because going to war with the French would put Lacy’s life in danger anyway. This sets up Lincoln’s personal standards, dictated by social expectations: it is better to die in service to the king than to follow private desires elsewhere. Lincoln also sees financial “favors” as corresponding to love. He believes that supporting Lacy financially is the way to show his caring. Lincoln expects Lacy to reciprocate love by being obedient. Money, in this case, is supposed to buy the love of a subordinate and obedience is the way to show love back. The way to express love in Lincoln’s framework works as a business transaction. He is worried that his nephew may have awakened “the indignation of a King.” This angers Lincoln because it hurts his family’s public reputation and standing. Throughout the play, Lincoln is the antagonist who tries to prevent Lacy from reaching his private desire to wed Rose, a woman of lower social standing. From a business perspective, marrying Rose would be a poor transaction because she is of a lower class, a weak alliance that would further taint the Lacy family’s name.
Simon Eyre, on the other hand, represents the values of private desires over public gratification and reputation. In Act I Scene XVII, Eyre says to Lacy (as Hans), “none but the King shall wrong thee. Come, fear nothing. Am not I Sim Eyre? Is not Sim Eyre Lord Mayor of London? Fear nothing, Rose. Let them all say what they can.” Unlike Lincoln who uses his clout to uphold societal standards, Eyre sees his power as an opportunity to help a friend. Later in the text he says to his wife, “It shall never be cast in my teeth that I was unthankful.” Eyre is referring to his gratitude for Lacy’s service as a Dutch shoemaker. Eyre does not take it as a betrayal when he finds that Lacy was in disguise all along. He repeats the mantra “fear nothing,” demonstrating that he agrees with Lacy’s rebellious decision and also, contrary to Lincoln’s moral standards, Eyre finds it noble to go against the established norms. Eyre himself challenges social norms. He finds it amusing that he is “Sim Eyre” and also “Lord Mayor of London.” To further this point he claims, “Prince am I none, yet bear a princely mind.” Eyre represents social mobility and makes it reasonable in the mind of the reader for Lacy and Rose to wed and cross a social barrier—living their private desires in a public fashion despite public opinion.
When Lacy decides to disguise himself as a shoemaker he says, “Oh, love, how powerful art thou that canst/change/High birth to bareness, and a noble mind/To the mean semblance of a shoemaker!…/The Gentle Craft is living for a man!” Here, Lacy contrasts a “high birth” and “noble mind” to the “mean semblance of a shoemaker,” implying that a shoemaker cannot possible have a mind or substance equal to one of his true station. However, he willing subjugates himself in the name of love. Lacy displays a value system equivalent to his uncle’s, though instead of putting public appearance first he chooses to satisfy his private desires. The declaration, “The Gentle Craft is living for a man!” can be interpreted in a few different ways. He may mean that the “Gentle Craft,” or shoemaking, is liberating because it is hands on and therefore truly living. Lacy may also mean that learning how to live means following one’s private desires, in this case to shoemaking in order to win Rose. Or perhaps “Gentle Craft” isn’t shoemaking but the art of rising to a challenge. Lacy may mean that he is purposefully bending social strata and his own conventional outlook regarding social distinction to better himself and triumph in his situation. The “Gentle Craft,” does not specifically mean shoemaking here, but challenging yourself to live rather than mindlessly following social norms and expectations.
The text of The Shoemaker’s Holiday illustrates that the main obstacle in the play was social stratification. Social standards were represented by the antagonist, Lincoln, challenged by the protagonist, Lacy, and initially overcome by the main shoemaker, Eyre. Public expectations were circumvented in the name of love—the most private desire expressed within the play. The “Gentle Craft,” or shoemaking, was redefined to mean the art of living and following ones desires despite public opinion. The title of the play, The Shoemaker’s Holiday, can be interpreted to celebrate those who nobly challenge the status quo and who are merry in doing so. Shoemaking, a vocation for the lower class, liberates a lofty member of society. Simultaneously, the mixing of the classes liberates the main shoemaker, making him feel princely in mind though not by blood.