When investigating the connection between Shakespeare and the Reformation, many critics are concerned about the playwright¡¦s religious stance. They rummage throughout his plays for traces that can manifest his religious inclination; however, they often fall easy preys of the theory of dichotomy. Among a great multitude of Shakespearean studies, many are devoted to the iconographical approach, but relatively few attempt to illustrate Shakespeare¡¦s iconoclasm, particularly concerning the representation of kingship in history plays. In view of the two relatively unexplored fields, this dissertation purports to scrutinize how the egalitarian spirit of Protestantism, rather than Protestant theology, contributes to the new perception and iconoclastic representation of kingship in Shakespeare¡¦s history plays. Based on a historical development of the idea of kingship, , this present study will elaborate from a dramatic perspective how Shakespeare manages to subvert the royal icons and spectacle that the ruling class used to rely on heavily. To assist readers with a comprehensive sense of the genre, I propose that the history play is a genre first initiated as part of the propagandistic program of the Henrician Reformation, whose impetus later changes into a driving force that facilities iconoclastic perception of the kingly image. Developed along with the public theater, the representation of kingship in Shakespeare¡¦s history plays takes a secular turn, so the long sanctified image of monarch in royal iconography is challenged. However, the transformation does not take place simply out of political pressure, but dramatic concerns. A new system of imagery, developed on the theoretical basis of the king¡¦s body natural, enriches the poetic language of political drama. Probing into the nature of kingship and the political issues of the Tudor reign, Shakespeare¡¦s re-envision of the Tudor Monarchy is stripped off the allegorical signification of pageantry and then riddled with the medieval view of mutability. This present study will manifest how Shakespeare¡¦s history plays reexamine the idealized royal image and take an aesthetic turn in representing historical events¡Xfeaturing psychological complexity and rich verbal strategies. Further investigation is done to shed light on Shakespeare¡¦s iconoclastic view of kingship to reveal the ways in which the dramatist redefines and demystifies monarchy.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:NSYSU/oai:NSYSU:etd-0901103-113501 |
| Date | 01 September 2003 |
| Creators | Yu, Hui-Chu |
| Contributors | Teeuwen, Rudolphus, I-chun Wang, Hsiao-jen Jiang, Koss, Nicholas, Francis K. H. So |
| Publisher | NSYSU |
| Source Sets | NSYSU Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Archive |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | http://etd.lib.nsysu.edu.tw/ETD-db/ETD-search/view_etd?URN=etd-0901103-113501 |
| Rights | off_campus_withheld, Copyright information available at source archive |
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