Irish Bards in Shakespeare’s Richard III and As You Like it

Shakespeare alludes twice to Irish bards. In Richard III, the king mentions a prophecy by one of his imminent death; in As You Like It, Rosalind jokes on how Irish bards can supposedly rhyme rats to death. Both refer to supposed bardic powers of seeing the future and of ritual cursing of enemies. A survey of the literature shows satire and prophecy as going back to ancient times. There is in addition ample material on the (sometimes deadly) effects of satire in medieval and later Ireland, where it is known from chronicles, legal tracts, handbooks of poetry, and various surviving poems. There are in addition comic tales on how bards exploited their power, including an eleventh-century one on King Guaire's Burdensome Company, wherein the poet Senchán rhymes to death certain mice that had spoiled an egg reserved for him. Shakespeare's references can thus be related to traditions well-known in Gaul and medieval (or early modern) Ireland and Scotland.

Themes of Chronicle Drama

Chronicle drama occupies a central position in modern literature which represents a field for interaction of ideas and actions, as it works as storage for historical and human experience. It records a sequence for the history. This study aims to examine the main themes of chronicle drama. Thus, it tracks the history of modern literature as a wide source for this literary genre. The study adopts a historical and analytical methodology in order to clarify the broader dimensions related to chronicle drama and its sources. Historically, chronicle drama was used to dramatize the facts and work as an expression of factory life of kings. That’s why King John of Shakespeare in 1553 was the first one of this genre. The study concludes that chronicle drama mirrored surrounding circumstances of the facts since its early times. So, it was effected by the historical conditions. This is clearly appeared in the early works like Henry the Fifths, Tragedy of Richard III The life and Death of Jaike Strew and so, the previously mentioned "The King John". So it was affected politically and socially by the European historical context. The research also indicates that the Elizabethan Dramatists put the basics of the later stage of literature development especially on the level of techniques. This appears in Shakespeare’s works who used to end the drama with restoration and disordering which still exists in postmodern literature.

Shakespeare's Historiography

<p>This study explores, in a sixteenth century context, the historical thought and consciousness of a selection of Shakespeare's English history plays. Looked at in relation to contemporary historiographical works, it is concluded that the plays in question qualify as a form of dramatic historiography both transitional and progressive in nature. The study, after considering some aspects of Tudor historiography relevant to Shakespeare and his drama in the introductory chapter, goes on in Chapter One to explore Shakespeare's Henry VI sequence. My discussion finds that the interaction of the roles and requirements of both dramatist and historian has two important results: firstly an emerging awareness of the impossibility of presenting the historical "truth"; and secondly an appreciation that the (re)construction of a linear historical narrative (dramatisation), especially when developed from diverse Chronicle accounts, requires the dramatist/historian's critical and historical judgement concerning probability. Also observed in this chapter is the drama's capacity for making character as much a part of history as event. In Chapter Two Shakespeare's Richard III is juxtaposed with its main source, Sir Thomas More's History of King Richard III. These texts provide a springboard for discussion of the tradition of oral history and the problems associated with its use as a source for authoritative historiography, and the apparent resemblance between the historian's and lawyer's pursuit of the "truth". The methods and principles of the courtroom are intimately related to those used by the dramatist/historian. The final chapter couples the anonymous history play Edward III with Shakespeare's most sophisticated history, Henry V. In this chapter I first discuss the growing sixteenth century distinction between poetry (the medium of the history play) and historiography. The history presented in Edward III is interrupted and disrupted by the "poetic" interlude of King Edward's residence at the Countess of Salisbury's castle; I argue that the play (ironically, given its own status as verse drama) privileges "history" at the expense of "poetry". In Henry V, in contrast, there is evidence of a conceptual shift in the use and perception of history. Here, also, is found the full realisation of the ineluctable evasiveness of historical "truth" through the contradictory accounts of the Chorus and the stage action, and the opacity of King Henry.</p>

Shakespeare's Historiography

<p>This study explores, in a sixteenth century context, the historical thought and consciousness of a selection of Shakespeare's English history plays. Looked at in relation to contemporary historiographical works, it is concluded that the plays in question qualify as a form of dramatic historiography both transitional and progressive in nature. The study, after considering some aspects of Tudor historiography relevant to Shakespeare and his drama in the introductory chapter, goes on in Chapter One to explore Shakespeare's Henry VI sequence. My discussion finds that the interaction of the roles and requirements of both dramatist and historian has two important results: firstly an emerging awareness of the impossibility of presenting the historical "truth"; and secondly an appreciation that the (re)construction of a linear historical narrative (dramatisation), especially when developed from diverse Chronicle accounts, requires the dramatist/historian's critical and historical judgement concerning probability. Also observed in this chapter is the drama's capacity for making character as much a part of history as event. In Chapter Two Shakespeare's Richard III is juxtaposed with its main source, Sir Thomas More's History of King Richard III. These texts provide a springboard for discussion of the tradition of oral history and the problems associated with its use as a source for authoritative historiography, and the apparent resemblance between the historian's and lawyer's pursuit of the "truth". The methods and principles of the courtroom are intimately related to those used by the dramatist/historian. The final chapter couples the anonymous history play Edward III with Shakespeare's most sophisticated history, Henry V. In this chapter I first discuss the growing sixteenth century distinction between poetry (the medium of the history play) and historiography. The history presented in Edward III is interrupted and disrupted by the "poetic" interlude of King Edward's residence at the Countess of Salisbury's castle; I argue that the play (ironically, given its own status as verse drama) privileges "history" at the expense of "poetry". In Henry V, in contrast, there is evidence of a conceptual shift in the use and perception of history. Here, also, is found the full realisation of the ineluctable evasiveness of historical "truth" through the contradictory accounts of the Chorus and the stage action, and the opacity of King Henry.</p>

Shakespeare’s Clarence

This article argues that Shakespeare’s George of Clarence is a war veteran traumatised by his wartime experience, and that he can be regarded as a prototype of the modern shell-shocked soldier. Seizing on Jonathan Shay’s study on war trauma, it explores how Clarence becomes traumatised through a trajectory of degradation of personality due to his commander’s breach of themis in 3Henry VI. Edward’s breach of honour triggers the destabilisation of Clarence’s character, which, the article argues, suffers a traumatic breakdown in consequence of the murdering of Prince Edward. Turning to Richard III, the article explores how Clarence is haunted by his war trauma by examining Clarence’s insulation in the Tower of London, which powerfully symbolises the medieval veteran’s postwar dilemma. The repetition of war trauma is further borne out by Clarence’s nightmare, which, the article suggests, is not unlike the compulsive dream that occurs to the Freudian veteran after the Great War.

“Spoofing Celebrities”

Nicoletta Caputo, “‘Spoofing Celebrities’: Shakespearean Parodies of Edmund Kean” (pp. 163–191) The Romantic age, and theater in particular, figure large in celebrity studies. Edmund Kean was the most celebrated actor and the preeminent Shakespearean interpreter of the time. Kean, however, was also straightforwardly notorious. Exceedingly exhibitionist and extravagant in his personal life, he reveled in scandal. His signature stage role was Richard III, and when, in January 1825, the actor became the target of ferocious parody in the press in consequence of a trial for criminal conversation, this and other Shakespearean roles that he had successfully interpreted over the years were suddenly used to attack him. The essay examines the verbal and visual parodies of Kean based on Shakespeare that were produced for the occasion, focusing on the multilevel appropriation (or misappropriation) of the Bard in the affair.