I would like to argue that numerous positive accounts of the Venetian constitution in particular were not simply generous encomia to an admired city-state and important ally, but, as often as not, ways of criticising a repressive government at home and attempts to formulate an alternative political vision when direct comment was difficult. When James I came to the throne in 1603 he was already a monarch of twenty years' experience with a style of his own and clearly developed ideas of kingship. It must certainly have been in Shakespeare's hand, together with The Trew Law of Free Monarchies , for its influence on Measure for Measure is unmistakable. The play is set in Vienna, not London, the ruler is a duke, not a king, but the concerns are definitely those of a court and society of England in the first flush of the new Stuart reign. It is estimated that Shakespeare uses messengers five times as often as other playwrights of the time, taking advantage of their practical and symbolic potential.
Messengers are expedient figures for dramatic texts.
They can explain backgrounds, set up situations and convey information about unstaged events or dialogue. Their reports provide pretexts for continuing or altering action and characterization. In addition to formal effects, messengers may tap into complex patterns of interpretation and spectacle, exemplifying the capacity of 'bit parts' to 'function as meaningful parts of a dramatic whole'. Reflections on Metaphor, Narrative Construction and the Early Modern Historian Like a dog, any word might have its day, but as Horace famously remarked, words can die and be reborn, all because of the vagaries of use, which have thus an ever fickle authority over us all. Academic discourse might well seem to support his judgement, not least because casual linguistic habits can dissipate meanings and damage the efficacy of once useful or harmless terms.