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Chapter 3 - History as Exclusion

Shakespeare’s Feminine Historiography

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 November 2023

Hailey Bachrach
Affiliation:
Roehampton University, London
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Summary

The third chapter explores how female characters narrate history within the plays themselves, particularly when they appear to transgress the boundaries of historical possibility through curses, prophecy, or describing events they have not seen – extra-historical powers enabled by their marginalisation from political power. It proposes the concept at the heart of Shakespeare’s historical dramaturgy: that marginalisation from political power gives way to other types of insight enabled by the medium of the theatre, a specifically feminine relationship to historical narrative that I call Shakespeare’s feminine historiography. Beginning with an analysis of the connection between mourning and cursing, the chapter explores the ‘genealogies of loss’ that permit female characters to articulate their own versions of dynastic history. I then turn to other ways that female characters are marginalised from the centres of historical power, and the clarity of historical vision that their outsider position grants them, rendering them simultaneously suppressed and empowered by their exclusion. Finally, this chapter considers how genre itself operates as a force for this exclusion, exploring scenes which seem to defy the tonal and generic boundaries of their plays, suggesting Shakespeare’s awareness of the limitations of the history play genre for containing certain types of female stories.

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Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2023

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  • History as Exclusion
  • Hailey Bachrach, Roehampton University, London
  • Book: Staging Female Characters in Shakespeare's English History Plays
  • Online publication: 23 November 2023
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009356121.004
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  • History as Exclusion
  • Hailey Bachrach, Roehampton University, London
  • Book: Staging Female Characters in Shakespeare's English History Plays
  • Online publication: 23 November 2023
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009356121.004
Available formats
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Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • History as Exclusion
  • Hailey Bachrach, Roehampton University, London
  • Book: Staging Female Characters in Shakespeare's English History Plays
  • Online publication: 23 November 2023
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009356121.004
Available formats
×