The World Turned Upside Down

The World Turned Upside Down: The Fair as an Escape

Introduction
So what exactly is the concept of "the world turned upside down?" A quick example might be the picture to your left. Here, the world upside down is captured by things that are inverted. We see a man with hands for feet and feet for hands; we see fish flying in the sky; we see a horse driving a cart and a man pulling a wheelbarrow; we see clothes that are put on the wrong way; we see a castle that is turned upside down. How then, does this bizarre picture relate to the issue of the Fair? The fair was a time of excess--a place of "ceaseless overrunning and excess where all is mixed, hybrid, ritually degraded and defiled" (Stallybrass 8*). Expounding upon this fact, the Fair becomes a space where not only is excess permitted, but it is encouraged and this energizes the fair with a spirit of license. It is precisely because excess and lawlessness are permitted that the Fair epitomizes the concept of the world turned upside down. Suddenly, we have characters of the underworld mixing with the middle class and even the higher class elite. We have identities becoming ambiguous and sometimes lost entirely in the parade of masquerade and costume and disguise. We have criminals who are caught red-handed being pardoned on a whim. We have fools turned into philosophers and philosophers turned in madmen. Things are not as they usually are--things are turned upside down within the space of the Fair. In the surge of revelry, in that moment of festivity, the world becomes a confusing and chaotic place, uprooted from custom and tradition and toppling again and again in the throes of excess and license.

The drama of the Renaissance era gives us a look into how its citizens turned their worlds upside down. The event of the fair or carnival possessed an enormous power to turn numerous worlds upside down. We see the fair characterized in this exact way in Ben Jonson's Bartholomew Fair. Events that could never transpire in reality were made fully viable within the liberating environment of the fair. Particularly worthy of note is the blurring and crossing of social boundaries--the world of social classes is disrupted. People within different classes spoke freely and interacted with one another. The stately magistrate, the common middle class, and the shady underworld mingled and conversed with one another without reproach. Furthermore, social positions are inverted. The elite become the low and the low become the elite. Also depicted in Jonson's Fair is the distortion of the legal realm--truly, lawlessness lost its severity. Criminals were dealt with mildly and illegal behavior was even tolerated. Furthermore, individuals were not averse to interacting with known or suspected criminals. Within Jonson's Fair, the gravity of lawlessness loses its potency: the need to prosecute and punish is little at best and the criminal does not suffer consequences for his actions. The fair, then, is a place where rules and regulations become increasingly nebulous. Individuals are given license to behave contrary to their normal selves, violating social boundaries and revolting against established law.

To see an example of the fair's potency in eliminating social and legal boundaries, click here to read an excerpt from Act V, Scene vi in Jonson's Bartholomew Fair. To explore the various worlds turned upside down by the Fair, click the links within the previous paragraph, which are also situated for your convenience at the top and bottom of this webpage. If, at any point you wish to return to this main page, click on "The World Turned Upside Down Link" on any of the following pages to do so.