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Shakespeare and Politics in the Time of the Gunpowder Plot

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 September 2016

Andrew Hadfield
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Abstract

Shakespeare's plays are best studied in clusters if we want to understand the political thought and preoccupations which inform their action rather than, as has been more usual practice, their generic identity. Plays written around the time of the Gunpowder Plot (1605) and the subsequent imposition of the Oath of Allegiance share common concerns regarding the swearing of oaths, honest speech, trustworthiness, and loyalty—issues that transcend distinctions between tragedies, comedies, histories and Roman Plays. I explore the relationship between political language and ideas in Coriolanus and All's Well That Ends Well, plays that are rarely analyzed together yet which use similar language, represent related issues, and address similar anxieties. Both are part of a larger group—including Othello and Macbeth—which engage a contemporary audience of London citizens, representing the difficulty of life in times of acute paranoia.

Type
Research Article
Information
The Review of Politics , Volume 78 , Special Issue 4: Shakespeare's Politics in Honor of the 400th Anniversary of his Birth , Fall 2016 , pp. 571 - 588
Copyright
Copyright © University of Notre Dame 2016 

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